Chalice & Tongs Newsletter - St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church

The
Chalice & Tongs
News from St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church and Preschool
5635 E. 71st Street • Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136 • 918-492-7140
November 2014
Live the Resurrection. Proclaim the hope. Serve all people.
St. Dunstan’s
The
Episcopal
Church
Rector’s
Corner
Clergy &
Staff
The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector
The Rev. Alan Barrow, Deacon
The Rev. Lois H. Gatchell, Deacon
Eliot Glaser, Organist &
Choir Master
Kyleigh Brewer, Parish Administrator
Sylvia Nay, Financial
Administrator
Terry Watts, Parish Chef &
Kitchen Manager
Lauren McGuire, Preschool
Director
Services
Sunday:
Holy Eucharist at:
8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.
1:00 p.m. Spanish Eucharist
Weekdays:
3rd Wed: Holy Eucharist at
Montereau
Weekly Wed.: Holy Eucharist and
prayers for Healing at 5:30 p.m.
2nd Wed., Holy Eucharist at
Monterau, 4:00 p.m.
1st Thurs., Holy Eucharist with Grand
Pride
dunstantulsa.org
VISION:
The world
transformed
through
Christ
Notes from
Mother Mary Ann Hill
An Age of Transition
“When you notice geese heading south for the winter, notice
their v-shaped formation.
Scientists say each bird’s flapping creates uplift for the bird
immediately behind. The entire
flock gains at least 70% greater
range than a bird flying alone.
A goose that drops out of
formation encounters drag and
resistance. That prompts her
quick return to the formation.
As the lead goose tires, it rotates back and another take the
point. Geese behind honk to
encourage those in the front to
maintain speed.
Working together and encouraging each other will take us farther
than our going it alone.”
highcaling.org
--- Howard Butt Jr.
There is a lot being written these days
about the future of the Church. Some
say the Church is dying. Some say the
Church is already dead.
Some say the Church is transforming.
Others say that it is obsolete.
Theologically speaking, the Church
cannot “die.” The Church is Christ’s
Body. Since Christ is not dead, the
Church cannot be dead. But I do
think we are definitely in an age of
transition – a mighty transition, in
fact.
A couple of years ago, the Barna
Institute published a study about the
“Nones” – those who do not claim
to be part of a faith tradition. Once a
very slim minority, the percentage of
“Nones” in our country has risen to
20%.
But now a new study has been published.
-continued on page 8
On the cover....
St. Dunstan’s own Chef Terry Watts and volunteers with Tulsa’s
Table prepare a brunch in Daniel’s Hall for the ‘pay as you can’ dining program.
2
3
What Goes Around, Comes Around
Eliot By Eliot Glaser
Organist & Choir Master
It’s doubly nice when our generosity to others
also benefits us. St. Dunstan’s choral scholar program is a perfect example of this. We help students
with college and other costs while benefiting from
their talent and energy by hiring them to fill out
sections of our choir.
A real win-win situation for everyone. But
(you knew there was a catch, right?) we can’t do it
without your help! Scholars are paid $25 for each
rehearsal and service they attend, totaling close to
$2,000 per year for each scholar. Donations are
accepted year round, just mark your contribution
“choral scholar fund”.
This year, we have four new choral scholars.
Wyatt Cobb, bass, is a senior at Broken Arrow
High and plans to attend college next year. He
writes: “as a kid I always sang Dixie Chicks and
in middle school I grew to love choir, I became a
choral scholar because I love to sing and I think
it’s very important to sing as much as you can to
be happy.”
Grace Heaberlin, soprano, is a senior at Edi-
son Preparatory School and plans to attend either
Washington University in St. Louis or Duke University in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina.
She’s “always been interested in performing
and first started at Theatre Arts in Broken Arrow
when I was 5 (where Kristen Chenoweth attended
as a child, who coincidentally was also a choral
scholar). I did a slew of shows, such as Annie, Oliver, Bye Bye Birdie, and Grease.
I left once I was in middle school and began doing school choir and plays. I also did Metro Honor
Choir all of my middle school years and most
of my high school years, which is an all-district
honors choir put on by Tulsa Public Schools.
My junior year of high school, I participated in
OKMEA All-State, along with my fellow choral
scholar Michael.
It was one of the best experiences of my life
and I learned more about singing in those 3 days
than I ever have. . . . I have yet to figure out
what exactly I want to do, but no matter what, I
know I want music to always stay in my life.”
Makenna Herl, alto, is a junior at the Uni-
versity of Tulsa, majoring in biochemistry and
plans to go on to graduate school possibly in
medicine, research, or law. Makenna has “been
involved in music my whole life. I started being
involved in singing when I was eight.
I studied with a private tutor for a few years
before discovering my interest in choral music. I was introduced to choir by my instructor,
and fell in love with it. Since then I have been
involved with many choirs including Oklahoma
Baptist University’s youth choirs, the Bison
Glee Club, the University of Tulsa Capella
Choir, All-State Choirs in Oklahoma and Tennessee, the Harvard Summer school Chorus,
and in church choirs at St. Luke’s Episcopal
Church in Jackson TN, and Emmanuel Episcopal church in Shawnee Oklahoma. . . . I became
a choral scholar because although I am involved
in Capella Choir at the University of Tulsa, I
have always had a passion for sacred music.
I feel that by contributing my talents to the
choir, I will be able to learn more about different types of music, their interpretation and their
performance. . . . Although my career path is
non-musical, I intend to continue my music education throughout my life. I hope to eventually
learn to conduct and play the organ.”
Michael Morris, tenor, graduated from
Edison Preparatory School last spring and is
hoping to attend college in the near future as
a vocal major with an eye toward singing or
teaching voice professionally. Michael states:
“I started singing when I was about 3 years old;
And throughout the years I’ve grown so fond
of music, what it stands for, the way it brings
people together,
-continued on page 5
the way it lets
4
-continued from page 4
you forget about the present, and focus on the beautiful music being created, especially singing. The
reason I decided to become a Choral Scholar was to
be able to give back to people in the form of music.
Music is what I love, it’s my life, and to be able to
make people smile through music makes it even better. Plus, I personally enjoy the new people I meet,
the relationships we build with one another, and the
way we come together to make fantastic music, it
brings me happiness. I have participated in numerous plays/musicals, and [played] lead roles in two:
‘Byebye Birdie’, and ‘The Pajama Game’. I also made
it into the O.K.M.E.A (Oklahoma Music Educators
Association) All-state Mixed chorus, which was a
massive accomplishment, beyond all belief! I was also
awarded the ‘State Superintendent Award for Arts
Excellence’ in the category of Vocal.”
Finally, our graduate scholar from last year,
Chelsey Hines, alto, reports: “I’m currently [a
freshman] at OCU and things are awesome!
I’m surrounded by musicians that are on my
level all day, everyday. Justin Rosser, my old
choir teacher, has actually asked me to come
back to Broken Arrow to sing the alto aria in
Handel’s Dixit Dominus for the Broken Arrow
High School Christmas concert, so I believe I’ll
be back in Broken Arrow to sing with my old
school again. My classes are all musical with
a few exceptions. I’m taking English Diction,
Theory, Aural Skills, Piano, Voice Studio,
Women’s choir, Comp 1, and Intro to Philosophy. I am actually already teaching as well. I
seem to be a favorite with the director of the
educator program here and currently volunteer
at a homeless children’s elementary school and
teach 3rd and 4th graders music every Friday.
It’s wonderful here and I think this is where I
belong.”
Thanks so much for making this all possible,
Eliot
St. Dunstan’s Choir
2014-2015
5
Servicio en Español
St. Dunstan es
ahora el anfitrión
de un servicio en
español los
domingos
a la 1 pm
Todos son
bienvenidos!
Service in Spanish
St. Dunstan’s in now offering the
liturgy in Spanish on Sunday afternoons at 1 p.m. Everyone is welcome to attend, and the bulletin is
printed in both Spanish and English.
This is a great time to share this
new opportunity at our parish for
any friends and neighbors who may
be native Spanish speakers.
All are welcome!
Vive la Resurrección. Proclamar la esperanza. Servir a todas las personas
St. Dunstan’s Medical Out-Reach
Local and International
International Outreach In 1996 Long time St. Dunstan member, Jack
Maxwell, started a Rotary project called Medical
Supplies Network, Inc. (MSNI) as an International Rotary Project.
Now MSNI is a 501-c-(3) not for profit organization. In the last 18 years MSNI has shipped 200
40-foot sea containers to 34 developing countries.
All contents have been donated to MSNI and
each shipment has donated the contents to the
recipient free of charge.
We ship one sea container overseas each month.
Local Outreach –
Anyone can call MSNI and make an appointment to donate supplies that loved ones have left
behind and get a 501-c-(3) letter of thanks and
get a tax write-off. Or if you or anyone you now
needs a wheel chair, walker, crutches, potty chair,
etc. just call MSNI to get a time when you can
visit and select anything you need. You can have
the items free of charge.
Many people may use a walker for 3 months
and then not need it and return it for someone
else to use, or they may pass it on to the next person they know. This is fine with MSNI.
Local - International Outreach – Local Tulsa area
Doctors and Nurses and Faith Based groups that
are going overseas on a medical mission can
visit MSNI and look through the Pile of uninventoried boxes and take any items they can
use. Things like needles, syringes, sutures, gauze,
bandages, Surgical Gloves, etc. are all available to
them free of charge. MSNI does not accept Medicines, only equipment.
MSNI is open every Saturday morning and 8-10
volunteers are there inventorying the Pile supplies. This would be a good time to visit and see
the work in progress.
Located at: 1123 South Erie Drive. (on Route 66)
Rotarian Larry Biron, Director of Operations Cell is
918-639-1492
Rotarian V. J. Lively is Assistant Director and Cell is
918-582-3668
Rotarian Jack Maxwell can be reached on Cell 918637-8456
Angel Tree coming to St. D’s
St. Dunstan’s will again offer names of children from
New Hope for Christmas.
New Hope began in 1992 as an organization to help
children with a parent in prison. It now provides after
school programs, summer camps, retreats, and case
management services free for children and their families.
There will be an “Angel Tree” in Daniel Hall if you
would like to purchase Christmas gifts for a child.
7
-continued from page 2
It looks at a new category called churchless: “If
asked, the “churchless” would likely check the
“Christian” box on a survey, even though they
may not have darkened the door of a church in
years.”
When researcher David Kinnamen calculated
the number of unchurched, neverchurched, skeptics and nones together, he came
up 38%. That means that roughly 4 in 10 Americans are what can be called “post-Christian.”
Post-Christian persons aren’t necessarily
atheists; they just don’t have anything to do
with church.
Looking around St. Dunstan’s these days, you
might assume that we are shrinking.The number of people attending church has decreased
from four years ago.
What is interesting about that is that we’ve
actually had a small net increase in members. So
what’s happening?
A couple of things stand out immediately. St.
Dunstan’s lost a lot of young families in
the mid to late 1990s due to some issues we were
dealing with then. People who were part
of our parish family and who would now be
middle-aged left, and so now, our smallest
demographic group is the younger tier of Baby
Boomers.
Meanwhile, in the seven years I have been
here, many of our 75+ year-old members have
died. Older people tend to have more time to go
to church and are historically more regular in
their attendance.
We have gained a large number of families
with young children in the last several years,
but as young children grow older, many of them
become involved in sports that have games and
tournaments on Sunday morning. This even applies to kindergarteners.
And while a coach may feel perfectly justified
in penalizing a child for choosing church over
sports, I will never tell kids that they can’t be an
acolyte if sports interfere with them serving.
Nation wide churches are experiencing lower
attendance even if not losing members. If you
have someone who once attended four Sundays
a month, they may now only be attending 2-3.
Does it bother me that fewer people are in church on
Sunday morning? Sure it does. It feels better when the
nave is full. But more than that, I genuinely miss those
who aren’t here.
But lagging Sunday attendance isn’t what’s really
concerning me. What keeps me awake at night is
wondering what will happen as more and more faithful members depart this world.
What worries me is that I believe that communities like St. Dunstan’s are desperately needed. There
aren’t very many places where anyone can walk in
and be welcome, where people are generous-hearted
and open-minded, where the Good News of Christ is
preached and believed, and where the ancient practices of the Church are very much alive.
Tulsa needs St. Dunstan’s, and the world needs more
communities like this too. So as numbers decline,
both in attendance and in pledging, what can we do?
When you can, invite your friends to join us. I don’t
mean taking people away from churches in which
they are active. But we all know plenty of people who
aren’t going to church but who might like to if they
found the right one. For some of them, St. Duntan’s
may very well be that place.
If you aren’t regularly supporting the church financially, please consider doing so. We have a very frugal
operating budget for a church our size. We are able to
offer a lot with our ‘skeleton crew’ of paid employees
we have because we have wonderful and talented
people who volunteer in many, many different ways.
Despite the lack of fluff in our budget, it still costs
a lot to maintain a bare-bones operation. But it’s this
operation that enables all of the good that St. Dunstan’s is able to do.
If you are in the position to do so, you might want to
consider supporting the church through a gift in your
will. If your are interested, we have members who
would be glad to talk with you about that.
Lastly,
I want to share something with you. I have been
concerned for a long time about the lack of bathrooms on the south end that are accessible to those
using wheelchairs or walkers.
We were in the process of trying to figure out how
to get the funds to renovate and make our Nartex
bathrooms accessible when a very generous family
offered to pay for the project as a memorial for one of
our members.
-continued on page 11
8
Notes & Announcements
From the
Litany of Thanksgiving,
BCP p. 837
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth
and sky and sea.
We thank you, Lord.
For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
We thank you, Lord.
For our daily food and drink, our homes and families,
and our friends,
We thank you, Lord.
For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to
serve,
We thank you, Lord.
For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest
and play,
We thank you, Lord.
For the brave and courageous, who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
We thank you, Lord.
For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
We thank you, Lord.
For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
We thank you, Lord.
Let’s Stay Connected!
We like to stay connected, don’t you? Please help
us update our records with your contact and emergency contact information. As a growing Parish we
need to make sure we have current records to stay
in touch with you. Please take the time and fill out
the form in the Narthex and return in the offering
plate or church office at your convenience. We will
also be sending the forms out via email.
Adult Forum
What is the Adult Forum Series all about?
Author Peter Vail describes the current day demands
we face as living in a “state of permanent whitewater.” The Adult Forum Series topics help us consider
how we can navigate this whitewater. Through guest
speakers and panel discussions, we consider the ethical dimensions of choices and what our faith draw us
towards.
What have you studied so far?
September and October were spent on the subjects
of Christian ethics, immigration and human rights. We
had amazing speakers whose insights encouraged us
to consider new ways of seeing these issues.
Is it too late to start coming to the Forum? Do I need
to read anything in advance?
Now is a great time to start! No reading required!
In November, we’ll begin a four week series on “Our
Fragile Earth”. Following that, you can look forward to
recorded video sessions with Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, a series on the death penalty, a series on goodness, and a series on medical ethics. Join us every
Sunday at 9:45am in the Parish Hall.
Feeding the Homeless
St. Dunstan’s provided a supper of BBQ brisket sandwiches, baked beans, and slaw for about 100 people
at the Day Center on Wednesday, October 8th. Cindy
Bergin, Dru Madamba, and Carolyn Pitcock prepared
the meal. John and Penny Pondelick transported the
food and served at the Center.
Other servers were Darrell and Susanne Miskell,
Jinny Confer and son, Harrison, and Carolyn. Jay Williams donated a case of bananas and Emily Runge
provided the milk.
There was enough food for second servings, and
many thanks from the people at the Day Center.
9
2015 Pet Blessing at St. Dunstan’s
Parishoners both
human and canine,
celebrated The Feast of
St. Francis in October
with the Pet Blessing in
the garden.
The pets were blessed
by Mother Mary Ann.
It was a beautiful day
to gather in the garden
and enjoy the company
of friends and their
pets.
10
Wednesday Night Dinners
Wednesday dinners were originally started to
provide a meal for choir members who were coming to practice from work. It quickly grew to include
others who were here on Wednesdays or some folks
who just came for supper.
It’s become an important time of fellowship for
people as well as a convenience for people who
want a “from scratch” dinner for the cost of a fast
food meal. Also, we’ve discovered that when people
come to us who don’t have enough to eat, one of
the ways we can help is to invite them to join us on
Wednesday evenings.
I’m very pleased to say that no matter how unusual some of our guests are, they are always welcomed
and included by our parishioners.
Most meals include an entree, salad, bread/rolls,
and fresh baked cookies or brownies for dessert.
The cost of the meals is $6 - about as much as one
would pay at McDonalds or Subway.
The meals are shopped for and prepped on
Tuesday and then cooked and cleaned up after on
Wednesdays. It involves about 8-10 hours of work.
All of the work Chef Terry does for Wednesday
night dinners during the school year is completely
voluntary - he is not paid. If he were, we would
need to charge more.
Because we try to keep the cost low, it’s very im
portant that we get an accurate head count *every*
week. If diners show up without signing up, there
may not be enough food, and the chef and rector
often give up their own dinners to cover the deficit.
If diners sign up but don’t show up and pay for the
dinner they signed up for, we don’t have enough
money to cover the cost of the meal. If not enough
people sign up to eat, we can’t afford to provide
dinner, in terms of financial and time commitment.
We need to have at least 20 people sign up to eat in
order for it to be feasible to offer this ministry.
How can you help us be able to continue to serve
supper on Wednesdays?
1) Sign up every time you plan to eat.
2) If you sign up, please come or cancel your reservation by noon on Tuesday.
3) Consider making this part of your regular routine - its a good meal and a fun way to get to know
your fellow parishioners.
Here are four ways to sign up:
You can do this by emailing Terry at terrywatts57@
icloud.com, signing up on the sign-up sheet in the
narthex, calling the office at 918-492-7140, or emailing kyleigh@stduntulsa.org. If you have questions
or comments about Wednesday night dinners please
email Chef Terry.
-continued from page 8
As time goes on, we will be able to share more details,
but I do want you to know that good things keep happening for us.
In the meantime, stay “in formation” and keep honking!
11
2015 Stewardship Campaign
If you have been around St. Dunstan’s for any
length of time you know that October is typically when we conduct our annual Stewardship
Campaign.
We are doing things a little differently this
year and I wanted to piqué your interest about
a couple of changes.
First, we will be adding news ways in which
you can give. In the past, cash and check were
the only two options. We will be adding the
ability to charge by credit/debit card, electronic funds transfer (EFT) and on-line giving.
Hopefully the added convenience and giving
options will allow parishioners and visitors to
make contributions in a manner that is most
convenient to them.
Second, we are going to be providing “Giving”
envelopes to all households in the congregation.
So, whether or not you make a pledge, you will have
the option of using the envelopes as a convenience
to manage your giving. Also, if you would like a set of
envelopes for your child(ren)to help them learn about
stewardship and giving, please let us know.
We are in the process of writing a special edition of
the Chalice and Tongs with several special articles and
messages will be offered as well as more information
about the changes which we are making which will be
distributed to our parish family on November 14th.
Bill Young
Senior Warden
Advent is around the corner!
Save the Date: Dec. 7
St. Nicholas Festival
9:45 am