J.S. Bach - Prelude & Fugue in E Minor

J.S. Bach organ piece, performed by Charles Rus at St. Thomas on August 8, 2010

St. Thomas high school youth on Tiger Mountain

The St. Thomas high school youth group hiked Tiger Mountain yesterday before crossing the lake for dinner and Compline with the high school youth of St. Mark's Cathedral.

Fresh back from El Salvador in July, many of our high schoolers are also working to create a souvenir booklet for the El Salvador stockholders. The booklet will include full-color photos and written perspectives from the pilgrims.

The El Salvador stockholders' dinner will be held Sunday, September 19, at 6:00 p.m. A raffle will be held for prizes from El Salvador. To RSVP, please contact Josh Hosler.

Great News! Karen Haig Joins The St Thomas Staff

As St Thomas continues to welcome new persons and families and to expand our understanding of the practice of the hospitality of God, our need for faithful and capable staff to support and encourage new and existing ministries grows as well. It is accordingly with great joy and anticipation that we welcome the Rev. Karen Haig as the newest member of the St Thomas ministry team. Karen is a recent graduate of The Church Divinity School of the Pacific and was ordained to the transitional diaconate in April. She was for many years an active member of Grace Church, Bainbridge Island. It was at that vital, lively, contemplative community that she discerned her call to ordained ministry. You can read more about Karen in her letter of introduction that immediately follows this post.
Karen will have significant responsibilities in the areas of adult formation, including energizing and supporting small group ministries, supporting our ministries of welcome and incorporation for newcomers, pastoral care, and liturgical planning and practice. She brings to her work a keen intellect, a warm and engaging personality, a passionately lived faith, and a compassionate
heart for God's people whatever their circumstances.
Everyone at St Thomas who has met Karen has been impressed by her warmth and her maturity. I am so pleased that we will all be sharing ministry with her. Karen joins us September 1.
Faithfully,
Lex

Meet The Rev. Karen Haig

"The experiences of our lives, when we let God use them, become the mysterious and perfect preparation for the work God will give us to do..."  --Corrie ten Boom

These good and true words have long been foundational to my spiritual life. As the beloved community, we are called to bring Christ’s reconciling love into a world that hungers both for bread and for the bread of life. Our church is uniquely equipped for this work - grounded in Word and sacrament, we engage the mystery of God with open hearts, curious minds and wonderful liturgical imagination. We have been blessed, and ours is to share that blessing with the world. I feel particularly blessed to have been called into this work with you, here at St Thomas. The prospect of sharing our lives, our worship and prayer, and of living out the Good News of God’s redeeming love with you gives me more joy than you can imagine. Each time we experience the richness of being the Body of Christ in particular place with particular people, we are blessed in ways we might never otherwise have imagined.

While I hope to come to know each one of you in the not-so-distant future, I thought I’d tell you a bit about my life prior to St Thomas so that you might begin to know me! I am married to Jim Friedrich, an Episcopal priest (about to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his priesthood) who calls himself an “Itinerant Religious Imagineer.” He is an avid runner and hiker, filmmaker (The Story of Anglicanism), writer, creative liturgist and musician, with a deep love of God and the Church. We’ve been married just over five years and feel utterly blessed by our lives together. My son Simon is 26 years old, a graduate student at Seattle University and one of the brightest lights in my life. Simon is studying toward a Master of Teaching degree and hopes to teach high school history and social studies. Teaching in public schools is an act of social justice for Simon, who believes strongly in equal access to excellence in education. A baseball player through college, Simon also coaches a 13-14 year old Bainbridge Island baseball team.

My career prior to seminary was as a business management consultant to small businesses and non-profits, and as co-founder, business manager and director for Earth & Space Research, a non-profit scientific institute doing climate change research through physical oceanography. I was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church on Bainbridge Island (Bishop’s Committee Membership Coordinator, Eucharistic Minister, Adult Faith Formation Coordinator and presenter, Retreat & Quiet Day Facilitator, etc…), and it was there that I discerned a call to ordained ministry. I was, and continue to be supported, nurtured and encouraged by the people of Grace, and am grateful for my time and formation there.

I am a recent graduate of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific – the Episcopal Seminary of the West located in Berkeley, California – where Jim and I lived for three years. CDSP is one of nine seminaries and several other ecumenical institutes that make up the Graduate Theological Union. In addition to three years of classes at the Episcopal seminary, I had the privilege of studying theology with the Jesuits, spirituality with the Franciscans, and Christian Education with the Lutherans.. all that and the finest theological library west of the Mississippi! My time in seminary was an extraordinary educational gift, and I indulged in every possible book, lecture, conversation, paper and sermon! Concentrating in theology, liturgy, pastoral care and preaching, my studies have been put to good use in my service as hospital chaplain, creative liturgist, pastoral care-giver and preacher in the US and in Panama. During my three years in seminary, my husband Jim was busy researching, writing and teaching at the Graduate Theological Union.

I have come to understand that seminary formation is not purely academic. Residential seminary offers the valuable opportunity to live in an intentional Christian community, and that experience too has profoundly influenced my formation. I know clearly how much our lives and relationships deepen as we pray the offices and celebrate Eucharist together, as we make difficult decisions through the process of discernment, as we celebrate the sacramental nature of life and death, as we love and support one another and offer our gifts to heal a world in need of God’s redeeming love.

And now I’ve been called to St Thomas at this exciting time of new beginnings. Having talked with some of you and met with the vestry and many of the staff, I have witnessed the good and holy work you are committed to. And I am beginning to see who you are as the Body of Christ… how lovingly you care for each other, and how willing you are to give of yourselves in service to God and God’s creation. Your desire to build a future where St Thomas will be a part of the wider community for generations to come is beautiful to behold. Your trust in God’s abundance and in each other is evident in your commitment to building a Parish Life Center that will serve us well today, and in the future serve the many who have yet to find their way to us.

I feel so blessed to have been called into this community. Know that you are daily in my heart and prayers and that I thank our God for putting me in your midst. May God richly bless you as you have already blessed me.

In Christ’s abundant love, Karen

An evening with 13 middle schoolers

I enjoy reminding people that when it comes to youth ministry, numbers don’t matter. What matters is the quality of experience for each individual, no matter how many people show up. However, “critical mass” certainly does help, and yesterday, we had “critical mass.” Thirteen youth in grades 6-8 participated, an auspicious beginning as we make an effort this year to give both the middle school and high school groups more activities of their own.

In our kickoff youth event for the new school year, and in an effort to welcome new 6^th graders, we threw a beach party. Could we have chosen a better day? With temperatures in the high 90s, we gladly plunged into Lake Washington, but we also shared an intense game of Apples to Apples on the shore. And we played a name game that involved hitting each other on the head with a foam bat—that one was especially a “hit” with the boys.

After the beach, we packed up and crossed the bridge into Seattle. Our destination was St. Mark’s Cathedral, where we met up with Cindy Spencer and her middle school youth group. After a quick tour of the cathedral—which involved spending some time in the underground “crypt”—we walked to Broadway and ate at Pagliacci’s. Some of us topped it off with ice cream at Dick’s, and then we walked all the way back to the cathedral.

We gathered on the lawn at 9:25 p.m. I told the kids about the service of Compline: that it is one of the six daily monastic church services, that it is traditionally done at bedtime, and that a group of male singers has been praying the service of Compline every Sunday night at St. Mark’s since the 1950s. Each week, hundreds of people, many of them university students and high schoolers, descend on the cathedral for this half-hour contemplative worship service.

Then we entered the dimly lit cathedral nave and gathered on the steps leading to the altar. Some of us sat down, but most of us lay down on the floor, as is traditional at this service, in order to meditate on the music as it washed over us. We were surrounded by young people, some of whom I know from diocesan youth events. I would guess that there were 400 people there, and that the average age of the crowd was under 25.

It was a full day for this group of middle schoolers. I know I had fun, so I sure hope they did, too. And it wouldn’t have happened without youth ministers Matt Lanier and Sarah Evison, my new Sunday school teaching partner Tammy Waddell, and the moms who helped drive us around, Jana Baker and Jeannie Palm. Thank you all.

Maria Avenue

Prelude by Charles Rus, presented at St. Thomas on the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin, August 15, 2010. Charles Rus, organ; Ben Zobel, saxophone.

The Colletts – Dedicated to Creating a Welcoming Space

The significance of a well-rounded spiritual experience is not lost on Robert and Sue Colletts. Robert said, “The preaching, teaching, music and underlying theology is all important, but the space is important too.”

The Colletts are serving on the Capital Stewardship Campaign Building Committee. They recognize the lack of proper child service facilities, youth space and a general gathering area. Sue pointed out cathedrals and their grounds used to be built by kings and queens. However, she ardently continued, “There are no kings and queens anymore. It’s up to us or it’s not going to be there.”

Previously, Sue worked on the Chapel addition. She saw first-hand how meeting the church’s needs, while preserving the aesthetic beauty of the campus, benefited parishioners. She and Robert are both committed to creating a welcoming space. Sue put it very well, “You get people here how and when you can so that they can hear the Good Word.”

by Mikaela Cowles

The Four Fold Blessing of St Francis

Today we observed the Feast Day of Clare of Assisi, founder of the Poor Clares, a religious community that continues to this day in both the Anglican and Roman churches. She was also a companion and and colleague of Francis of Assisi. At this morning's celebration of the Holy Eucharist,given Clare's connection to Francis, I thought it appropriate to close with a contemporary version of the four fold blessing that Francis offered to his followers and friends. A number of folks were touched by the blessing so I'll share it with all of us now.

A four-fold Franciscan blessing:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God's grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word Who is our Brother and Savior, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.
Amen.

Faithfully,
Lex

Wherever Your Treasure Is

"Wherever Your Treasure Is"

Written by Charles Rus, Associate for Liturgical Arts at St. Thomas.

Sung by Charles Rus and Catherine Blundell at the 10:15 Eucharist on August 8, 2010.

The Loyds - Committed to keeping St. Thomas a “Place People Want to be a Part Of”

Vesta and Ev Loyd are committed to keeping St. Thomas a place people want to be a part of. They have been St. Thomas parishioners since 1982. Ev has served the parish as an usher, on the Vestry, as Treasurer, and as Chairman of the Finance Committee. As Treasurer, he collected the pledge cards and read the notes attached. One note from a man who had recently joined the parish stuck with him. The man wrote, “I used to drive by here every day for years and it just looked good. I wanted to be part of it.”

Vesta and Ev are participating in the Capital Stewardship Campaign for the Parish Life Center, because they believe it is an important tool to share the Good News. Vesta hopes it will be like the Behnke Music Programs in the Sanctuary, drawing those unfamiliar to St. Thomas into its welcoming doors. She said, “The word gets spread slowly and subtly, which works better then pounding people over the head and saying come to church, because they are coming of their own will.” The Loyds have seen how a welcoming church home gives the space to plant spiritual roots. They are excited about new developments at St. Thomas.

by Mikaela Cowles