• Fr. David's Message
• Senior Warden Message
• Vestry Corner
• Music Director Message
• Highlighting More Thanksgivings
• News from the Community of the Lamb
• Community Engagement
• Upcoming Events

Next Sunday’s Readings

You have heard me say, many times, that God blesses us with a purpose. God blesses us to be a blessing to others. God gives us the light of the Spirit so that we can shine with that light. Why? So that others might see the light and come to God! What does that look like? Read this week’s lesson from Isaiah to get a very clear answer. This week’s readings call us into covenant relationship with God and describe what life lived in God looks like.

Read Next Sunday’s Lessons here.

Last Sunday’s Sermon: God Bless You

This week we heard the beautiful and famous opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount, lovingly called The Beatitudes. In this sermon I encourage you to hear the blessing along with the teaching in what Jesus says. Yes, blessed are the poor, the meek, and the hungry. The people Jesus says are blessed are the people he saw sitting around him as he taught. Jesus was speaking to them and he is speaking to us. Not sure you are included? Let me try to convince you.

Listen to Last Sunday's Sermon Here.

Moving Forward More and More

Dear Friends,

We just held our Annual Meeting at St. Dunstan’s Church and I am pleased that we had so many parishioners attend.  I also want to thank our four outgoing vestry members again for their dedication and hard work.  They are Joan Baker, Chris Johns, Mary Sweeney and Glen Pacher.  I have enjoyed working with all of you.  At the meeting we elected four new vestry members: Liz Hinkofer, Paul Holt, Lynford Donivan and Dawn Friend.  Don Riccardo will be rotating off as Treasurer, but will be serving out the last year of Dawn Miller’s term. We welcome you all and look forward to the next three years. 

This month we will be introducing our new Mission Statement to the congregation.  This was created by a group of your fellow parishioners and has been many months in the making.  This group studied scripture, prayed together, and spent many hours in reflecting what St. Dunstan’s is, what we want to grow into, and what God is calling us to be. There will be many opportunities for you to learn about what the statement means, give your thoughts and input,  and to take an active part in putting it into motion.  Each one of you has special gifts and talents and I encourage you to use those gifts and get involved.  We are a growing congregation and as we reach out to others to be a blessing to them, we grow in our love for each other and our love for God. 

The Christian Education Committee will be meeting this Sunday to begin the planning for this summer’s Vacation Bible Camp.  We will be planning lots of wonderful activities for the children, so please tell your friends and neighbors about it.  The dates are July 11^th  through July 15^th.  The time is 9:00 a.m. until noon.   We are also looking for volunteers to be with us.  If this is something that you would like to do, please let me know.  If you have a special talent that you would like to share with the children, I would love to hear about it.  Working with children is such a wonderful gift and to make a difference in a child’s life is a blessing.  Get involved.  We would love to have you.

Blessings,

Mary E. Pacher

Vestry Corner

February 3, 2010

Some time ago, a $25,000.00 memorial donation was made to St. Dunstan’s Church in memory of our former Deacon, John Shiveley. This was a generous gift and we are grateful to have received it.
We have spoken with John’s widow, Dorothy, and asked her permission to use this gift to invest in the future growth of St. Dunstan’s. We have also spoken with her son, Richard. We are pleased to report that Dorothy and Richard have enthusiastically given us their permission to use the funds to invest in the growth of St. Dunstan’s Church.

The funds would be used in two ways: first, in communication to non-members ( and members) to let them know what we have to offer via the website, mailings, banners, advertising, and other means. Secondly, to support the staff time necessary to do the added outreach communications that will enable us to build the congregation.

We believe that there may have been other contributors to the John Shiveley memorial fund. If you were a contributor to the John Shiveley memorial fund, and have an objection to what our plans are, we ask that you notify the Sr. Warden, Mary E. Pacher, or any member of the Vestry, in writing by February 28, 2010. You will be asked for proof of your donation at that time.

We are very grateful to Dorothy and her son Richard for their generosity. Both felt that John would have whole heartedly approved of our plans. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
 

Worship Planning

Father David and I need you help planning worship.  In February we will be asking you what your favorite hymns are, so we can incorporate that information with the many other considerations about worship planning.  You will have the opportunity to give us your favorite hymn numbers on a littel form that will be in your Sunday bulletin soon. I hope you will take a few minutes to go through the hymnal, find you favorites and help us craft meaningful worship.

Tim Drewes
 

More Thank Yous...

From St. Agnes..

On December 3, St. Agnes held it's annual Christmas party. Tim Drewes, our music director, generously agreed to attend our meeting and accompany us in singing carols. Our singing was aided greatly by Tim's piano accompaniement and we enjoyed the enhancements he added to the music. Alice Marshall provided booklets of carols for us to use, which were a treat. Lunch was a potluck.

In January, we celebrated our yearly corporate communion. We thank Father David for presiding at this service. When we returned to the narthex, Father David and Mary Pacher, our Senior Warden, updated us on church affairs. Lunch again was a potluck.

From the Youth and Sunday School Coordinators...

A special thank you to the Sunday School volunteers that have been downstairs so far this year! Alice Marshall, Kate Marshall, Helen Marshall, Mary O. Pacher, Tom Paulson, Mary E. Pacher, Harley Wahl, Melinda Wahl, and Joan Baker. A very special thank you to Mei-Ling Morrison-Beals, who is our permanent Youth Group volunteer! Thank you for the attendance, parent support, and choir participation in our Christmas pageant, The Jesse Tree.

 

Stories of Salt and Light

Jesus says, you are the salt of the earth . You are the light of the world! He said this to the disciples sitting around him and he said it to the people gathered to hear the Sermon on the Mount. He looked around at all the people and saw that they were tired, poor, hungry, and meek. He saw that they hungered to know God and he saw that they were peacemakers. So, he blessed them, and then he encouraged them to be a blessing. We are the people who follow Jesus. We have a purpose. Jesus is speaking to us. You are the salt of the earth. You and I are the light of the world. 

Maybe you have a reason why you don’t think Jesus could be saying that YOU are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. You may read this and think, “David is our minister. He is supposed to say things like that.” We seem to have trouble accepting that Jesus is speaking about each and every one of us in these verses. 

I’ll be preaching about this reading on Sunday, but I need your help. I’d like us to try an exercise together that may help us hear Jesus’ words as personal blessing and sending. This will be sort of like the Lazarus $1.00 Project last summer in which I invited you to take $1 and find a way to make a difference in someone else’s life. This week, I invite you to share a story about a time when God worked through you to help someone else. The stories we heard from the Lazarus project are a great example of what I am looking for here. People took the $1 as a challenge to see the needs of others and then do something to help. We heard of a meal purchased for a homeless man. We heard of people who took the $1 and added money of their own because they saw a real need that they could do something about. 

You have helped a friend. You have comforted someone you love that is suffering. You have helped strangers. Maybe you saw someone trying to push his car out of an intersection and you went to help. Maybe you were a reading tutor or a mentor to a young person. Maybe you did something big, like volunteering your time or contributing to a cause you believe in. Or perhaps you did something more modest, like buying a Fair Change newspaper from the lady outside the grocery store or visiting someone who is lonely. 

The challenge is to come up with one story where you did something to help someone else. Then, tell me how God worked through you in that story. If you just can’t bring yourself to tell a story about God working through you, try starting with a story about God working through someone you know. You can share your stories with me by posting a comment at my blog (see link below) or you can send me an email, or you could send me a note in the mail. 

Your brother in Christ,

The Rev. David Marshall

Click here to respond to this posting in my blog.
 
*I am once again indebted to David Lose at workingpreacher.org for his inspiring reflections on this week’s Gospel.

The Community of the Lamb Winter 2011

Lent Mini-Retreat: Support for the Observance of a Holy Lent:
Begin your observance of Lent with a meditation retreat. Here is a short space of time dedicated to personal reflection about why it would be good to engage in a special spiritual discipline or practice during Lent, what that would provide for you, and how you might go about it. Explore how prayer and fasting are addressed by meditating with the Prayer of the Lamb.

Time: Saturday, March 12, 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM

Location: St. Dunstan Episcopal Church, 722 North 145th Street, Shoreline

St. Dunstan offers a peaceful setting surrounded by towering evergreens, a meditative space full of the beauty of holiness.

Suggested donation for this half-day retreat: $25.

Please pre-register by calling 206-713-5321 or email PrayeroftheLamb@mac.com.   
 
Community Engagement

The Souper Bowl of Caring: Tackle Hunger!

February 6 is Super Bowl Sunday! As has been our tradition, the youth group and the Sunday School will be sponsoring a “Souper Bowl of Caring”. This year the sub title is “Tackle Hunger.” On Sunday, February 6, please bring in any canned items and any loose change. Both items will be donated to the downtown Union Gospel Mission. We will also be combining Sunday School and Youth Group that day to donate Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches to the downtown Mission. We are asking the following:

1) Every parishioner bring in a loaf of bread
2) Last names ending with A–K, a jar of peanut butter
3) Last names ending with L–Z a jar of jelly

The Youth Group will be selling various items in the next couple of months to raise money for buying a cow to participate in the "Heifer Project". Heifer's mission is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth. Since 1944, Heifer has provided food and income producing animals and training in their care to 13.6 million resource poor families in more than 125 countries. Be sure and watch our poster that tells how much money we have raised to date for the Heifer project. You may also contribute to the Heifer project by check to St. Dunstan's Church with a memo "Heifer". More information is available at www.heifer.org/congregation.

Sunday School continues to meet each Sunday at 9:30 am. Youth Group meets on the first and third Sundays' at 9:30 and again from 11am - 1 pm, in Room 8.

Thank you in advance for your support!
Ann Patrice and Sandy

St. Agnes Guild sends Valentines to all college students away from home or not. If you have a college student, please let us know. You can contact Lu Gardiner @ barryluii@msn.com, Joan Mackie @ jbmackie52@msn.com, or Dean Ellis @ Grameloyse@aol.com, or any other member of the St. Agnes Guild. You may also call into the church office Tuesday -Thursday from 8:30 am to 4 pm @ 206-363-4319.