I learned this week that I’ll be going to Indianapolis for a week+ this July, as 1^st alternate clergy deputy from Western North Carolina to the 77^th Triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church.  With 2 of our elected clergy deputies recently accepting calls outside of our own diocese (The Rev Austin Rios is heading to Rome, and the Rev Brian Cole is going to Kentucky), our deputation shrank.  Like each of the 117 other dioceses, WNC will send its bishop(s), 4 lay deputies, 4 clergy deputies, and 1 alternate in each of the orders to make sure we’re always covered.  I volunteered my help at the 73^rd GenCon, held in Denver when I was living there, so I’ve had a glimpse of what this might be like.

If you’ve been doing the math you’ll realize that there will be a lot of people there – at least 9 from each diocese, plus spouses in some cases, plus volunteers, and staff, and vendors for the display hall…  In fact, the Episcopal Church’s General Convention is the largest regularly scheduled religious gathering in the world.  It’s crazy big.  And intense – committee meetings can begin at 6 am, and other events can go as late as 10 pm.  So it’s part reunion, part legislative congress, part prayer meeting & worship service, part marathon, and part bazaar.  I’m looking forward with some mixed feelings. J  So you can expect to hear more about this once-every-3-years event – both the issues and the preparations.

My summer has actually filled up rather suddenly – our nephew Alexander has prepared for his bar mitzvah for years, so Pamela and I will be traveling to Florida in June for that joyous occasion.  Pamela will be taking a Continuing Education class on Cape Cod, also in June, so we’ll spend some vacation time there.  After General Convention, I’ll be a chaplain for the 1^st Boomer Camp to be offered by the Shrinemont Conference Center in Orkney Springs, VA.  Seems there are a lot of us “children grown old” who miss the mountain where we spent so many summers.  I’m delighted to be asked to help plan such a gathering and to serve my friends in a way they’ve never seen me before (ie. in a collar).  After that, I’ll be the chaplain at Camp Henry for the 7^th-9^th grade session.  Camp Henry is our Diocesan Retreat Center, located in Canton NC.  Hmm, maybe I’ll actually get a tan this summer…

THANK YOU for your prayers!

• Molly Pace is heading home from Mission Hospital today.  She fell in our church parking lot last Sunday before services, resulting in her suffering a dislocated elbow.  Various other issues (none major) cropped up each day this week, and her doctors were careful to not discharge her too soon.  Thank God for her healing, and pray for Molly’s continued recovery.
• Sue Seacord phoned me this week with an update on her daughter in New York.  On the news that Jamie had suffered a heart attack, Sue rushed back north after just being back in Mills River for a few days.  It was subsequently determined that there had been no heart attack, but a “perfect storm” of other less serious ailments.  Lifestyle changes were needed, and Sue will be returning soon after setting some new routines for her family.  Please pray for them all!
• Terri Karlsson has had a difficult and painful recovery from her recent surgery, but she is on the mend and feeling better as this week unfolded.  Please pray for her continued return to full health.

One of the marks of Christian community throughout the centuries is the care we show one another.  With our prayers and actions, we show Christ to the world.  Be ever mindful of that responsibility, Christian!

This Sunday is Camp Henry Sunday at Holy Family!  Camp Director Ian Williams and other camp staff members will join us for worship, and Ian will make a presentation during our regular Forum time, held after worship on the first Sunday of each month.  Former camper Parker Bailes will preach, calling us to an awareness of the role that Camp Henry has played in his life.  Parents and grandparents, please plan to attend – your questions will be addressed.  Kids, you’re invited to join in some camp games after church, led by counselors from Camp Henry.  Everyone else?  I hope you’ll come to learn about the way in which our church is reaching out to the teens and children in our midst.  There are ways in which you can support this vital ministry of faith formation.  I am quite certain I would not be a priest today were it not for my church camp experiences 40 years ago!  This is about planting seeds.

I look forward to seeing you Sunday -

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Rob+

The Rev Robert Lundquist, Rector

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family

419 Turnpike Rd

Mills River, NC  28759

(828)891-9375

www.ourholyfamily.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/holyfamnc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HolyFamNC

FourSquare: http://foursquare.com/venue/5378380

Spiritual Gifts & Talents workshop in Lent

 During Lent the Rector will offer Gifts & Talents for Ministry of All Baptized Persons, a 6-part study developed in Tennessee. Each class is 2 hours long, and involves homework. But it is personal homework, to help you in identifying your God-given gifts. This class will meet from 9:30-11:30am on Saturdays – Feb 25 through March 31. You  may have taken a home questionnaire or such on spiritual gifts at some point – this is an affirming, small group-based and Biblical approach to the topic. It can be life changing.  It’s certainly life challenging.  Please contact the parish office (828-891-9375 or secretary@ourholyfamily.org) to register for this course during Lent.                                                                                                                                                                                

Leslie Stott will convene a book study on The Questions of Jesus by John Dear every Sunday in Lent (from February 26^th through April 1^st), at the church, at 6:30pm. Molly Pace has made arrangements for the books to be ordered through Accent on Books at a 20% discount off the $14.95 cover price. The book lists 307 questions that Jesus asks during the course of his life and ministry, offering the answers that he gave in a way that invites us deeper into the mystery of his teaching. The study promises to be a revealing look at our Lord and a fitting pursuit during Lent. Contact Leslie Stott at 891-5756 or lmstott@bellsouth.net by Sunday, February 19^th if you are interested in being a part of this study group.

Becoming the Church Together

Immigration, the Bible, and our new neighbors

Discussion group at Holy Family

An ongoing study of the Bible to see how it addresses the issue of modern day immigration takes place this month on February 28, due to Shrove Tuesday falling on the third Tuesday, at 6:30 pm.  These discussion provide an opportunity to dialogue on and study immigration and worker justice through the lens of faith.  Becoming the Church Together, a revised study guide on immigration, compiled by the NC Council of Churches, is used to facilitate the discussion.

Everyone is invited to join the group at any time.  For more information, contact Michele Burnette jmebur11@gmail.com, or 828-243-1338.

The study guide is available for your review and additional information can be found at www.nccouncilofchurches.org

(Michele Burnette is a member of Beyond Borders, a Latino Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.)

Opportunities abound in Holy Family’s Ministry of Welcome. Would you like to put a face on our warm and hospitable church by serving as a greeter and usher on Sundays? Or maybe you would like to enter into the liturgy as an active participant by becoming an acolyte or a chalice bearer. These are wonderful ways to serve the parish and enrich your worship experience. Contact Molly Pace ,Jim Brush or Rob+ if you are interested. Holy Family is an equal opportunity volunteer organization.

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Every Sunday Holy Family has a Prayer Ministry team of 2 that will pray for you and those who are dear to you – you’ll find them in the back of the church during Communion.  You are always welcome to call upon them for help with your prayers and concerns.

There is also a Prayer Box near the entry to the sanctuary.  You are invited to write your prayer on a card and leave it in the box any time during the week – members of the Prayer Ministry will lift up the prayers in the box once each week.  

Chili Dinner

Saturday, Feb 18

5 – 7 pm

A benefit for Allen Sharpe – to retire medical bills from his recent transplant surgery

$5/plate

Azalea Church of God

20 Moffitt Branch Rd

Asheville  28805

As Eugenia approached her 80th birthday what she observed in her parish gave her reason for concern. Members of her generation who had helped to establish the congregation were dwindling. Very few new people were joining the congregation. “Why would a family with young children come to our parish?” Eugenia thought to herself. “There is nothing to attract them, just a group of gray heads who gather for worship, a weekly lunch and bible study.”

Eugenia pondered and prayed about the future of her parish. Then an idea slowly began to take shape in her heart. She had read an article in her neighbor’s church newsletter about remembering the church in your will.  

 When Eugenia died, her family and special friends received bequests as tokens of her deep regard for them. But her home went to her parish with the expressed intention that proceeds from its sale establish an endowment fund for ministries to children in the larger community. This gift allowed her church to hire a Christian education outreach worker. Soon a sign appeared in front of the church, “After-School Music & Art Programs.” An article appeared in the local newspaper about a support group at the church for mothers with young children. A children’s choir school was established, with monthly performances on Sunday mornings at the main worship service.

As new families began coming to worship and some of them to join, the congregation began to grow again. A corner had been turned. This was all a direct result of someone remembering the congregation through a bequest from her will. One of the original members of the congregation had, in effect, single-handedly re-founded it through a gift in her will.

One gift can make a life-or-death difference in the future of a congregation. Even a small gift can, through an endowment fund, make a perpetual difference in the Church’s mission.

 What difference would you like to make?

The Rev. Richard Schaper, CFP

Gift Planning Officer, Diocese of California 

An Exceptional Gift from an Exceptional Child

When six-year-old Hannah, a young member of St. George’s Episcopal Church in La Cañada, California, heard about the tsunami that devastated northern Japan, she approached the emergency as she did most things in life– with questions and compassion.

A week and a half after asking her mother Katie about the disaster and praying for guidance, Hannah announced that she would have a bake sale to help out. She told her mother, “Mommy, I was talking to God about what to do, and God said I should have a bake sale! I’m going to bake brownies and sell them for $1 each at church, and send the money to Japan. Those poor people are going to need homes, and I need your money to help them.” Katie asked why her money was needed. “Well, I have to buy the supplies,” Hannah pointed out.

With Katie’s help, Hannah made several dozen brownies, along with a sign that read, “Brownies for Sale. All money goes to help Japan.” At church that Sunday, Katie shared about Hannah’s bake sale during service. The Rev. Amy Pringle, St. George’s rector, stood up, announced she would buy the first brownie for $100, and challenged the congregation to help Hannah out. “If we can’t support a six-year-old in something like this,” she said, “I don’t know what we’re doing in church today.”

At the bake sale table, people were handing Hannah fives, tens and twenties for their brownies. She tried to give them change and was confused when they wouldn’t accept it. When all 53 brownies were gone, Hannah was excited to find she had raised $428. Then a thought struck her. “I don’t know how I’m going to get the money to Japan,” she told her mom. Katie reminded her that they had talked about the Red Cross and she said, “But I don’t know those people.” Katie then suggested giving the money to Episcopal Relief & Development, and she quickly agreed.

A note enclosed with the checks described how church members went all out to buy “these exceptional brownies from an exceptional child,” and concluded with, “She knows you’ll put this to good use.” It was signed, “The (Teary) Rev. Amy Pringle.”

Hannah’s compassion and vision are inspiring, and we’re very grateful that she has entrusted us with these funds. We have made sure that this gift from her heart will support people in Japan affected by this disaster. Hannah has truly set an example of what it means to live out our Baptismal Covenant vows to ‘seek and serve Christ in all persons’ and ‘love our neighbors as ourselves.’

http://www.er-d.org/An_Exceptional_Gift
Donate Now

Dear friends,

I was struck by the theme of “Gift” today putting together this email to you.  Both stories – one about an 80 year-old making her last gift, and the other about a 6 year-old putting together the Gospel and a newspaper – tell me something important about the Church of Jesus Christ.  God puts it into each of our hearts to give gifts, to receive gifts (which honors the giver), and to be gifts to one another.  You are invited, daily, to open your hands to the gifts of God.  We, as the community of the Holy Family, are invited to open our hands – to each other, to our neighbors, to God.  A little secret I learned years ago:  Giving is contagious.  Both stories start my mind working on how I can be a better giver.  How about you?

The question has come to me:  “Why are we letting some of the grass grow down in the field behind the church?  Why aren’t we mowing all the way to the trees?”  Good question!  Nearly a year ago Holy Family’s Vestry approved an agreement with the Henderson County Soil & Water Conservation District – in exchange for a type of grant from the state of North Carolina, we agreed to preserve a “set-back” from the stream.  We received nearly $6,000 to stabilize the banks of Boylston Creek and Sweetwater Branch.  That work was done between Christmas and New Year’s Day in 2010 by Allison Construction, and it included planting several thousand “live stakes,” cuttings from native trees and bushes that are now visible above the uncut grass. 

Allowing nature to take over (30 feet from Sweetwater Branch on the south, and 50 feet from Boylston Creek to the east of our building) protects the native water.  The roots systems help hold the soil on the bank, keeping the streams healthy.  And the natural set-backs allow wildlife to thrive.  Back a couple years ago when we were mowing to the edge of the water, we noticed the steady erosion of the soil from the banks.  With the stabilization and our new approach to mowing, we are better stewards of the land placed in our collective care.  The ongoing work of our Streamkeepers group is to identify and remove the invasive plants (weeds) that are not native to our area.  Because they’re not native they have no built-in checks on growth, so they often spread much faster than native species. 

Speaking of mowing… Yes, the season is drawing to a close.  But the church grounds still need attention every week.  If you can give 2 or more hours, even once, Junior Warden Gene Davis (uncheels5@morrisbb.net) would be happy to show you how to operate our John Deere.  Our mowing team has dwindled over the summer, so there are fresh opportunities for you to be part of the “Grounds Crew” – which is a subset of the “Lay Weeders…”

This Sunday I’ll be preaching.  Our August Forum will follow worship, and it will be the report from the Faith Formation Task Force.  Your Vestry received their report with enthusiasm last Sunday!  There are some exciting new approaches to our “continuing in the apostles’ teaching,” as we promised in our baptisms.  The Vestry also received the resignation of Micki Hill, who has been hired by another congregation to help with their Sunday morning Faith Formation program.  We will honor and thank Micki in the very near future!  Be sure to congratulate her…

See you Sunday!  Yours in Christ Jesus,

Rob+

The Rev Robert Lundquist, Rector

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family

419 Turnpike Rd

Mills River, NC  28759

(828)891-9375

www.ourholyfamily.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/holyfamnc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HolyFamNC

FourSquare: http://foursquare.com/venue/5378380

Thank you for your responses to the Faith Formation Task Force’s survey over the past 2 weeks!  36 completed forms were received, with several thoughtful suggestions in addition to the preference  rankings.  Michele Burnette and the Task Force are excited about the directions in which their work will take us, and they’ll make a report to the Vestry on Aug 7.

And thanks to everyone who has registered for the Aug 6 workshop here at Holy Family – please scroll down to see the announcement about Spiritual Care for Healthy Congregations.  Thanks as well to all who’ve registered with the parish office for the Aug 4 Stewardship for a New Millennium workshop in Asheville – again, scroll down for details.  There’s still time to register for both!

A couple of Sunday morning housekeeping items:

1. Keeping the temperature right for everyone is always a challenge with any group of people.  If you are hot or cold during the worship service, please tell an usher rather than adjusting the thermostat yourself.
2. End of service announcements threaten to take on a life of their own!  Announcements should be of immediate interest to the worshippers assembled that day.  Longer or more complex news should be submitted for publication in the weekly bulletin (send to Parish Secretary Ellery Aldrich by noon Tuesday), in my weekly email (send to me by noon Wednesday), and/or in our monthly newsletter (send to me – for the time being – by the 25^th of the month).  Please limit any spoken Sunday morning announcement to 3 sentences maximum.  If the news is already in the bulletin, trust folks to read it.  I want us to move away from an “open mike” feeling toward “brief, pertinent news of our worshipping community.”  I’ll appreciate your assistance in this matter!*

Tomorrow Pamela, Nathan and I will travel to Arlington, VA, for my father’s 80^th birthday.  My four brothers and their families will be there as well.  The weekend plans include a Saturday block party at Dad’s house – where our family moved when I was 4.  The arrangements have been made – the police will cordon off the street, the guy with the sound system and BBQ rig has been contracted, and invitations to everyone within a 3-block radius have been sent.  “You know, I only turn 80 once,” says Dad.

And I’ve been invited to preach at St George’s Episcopal Church in Arlington this Sunday – this is the parish where I was baptized and confirmed, where I was an acolyte, junior choir member, and vice president of the youth group.  My mother was a Sunday School Teacher and Choir member for decades.  My father was the Acolyte Coordinator and Assistant Treasurer, also for decades, and now serves as the Verger.  Their new Rector, the Rev Shearon Sykes Williams, is most gracious to extend such an invitation to me, and I’m eagerly anticipating the opportunity.  (www.saintgeorgeschurch.org)

The Rev Posy Jackson will preach and celebrate at Holy Family this Sunday.  Remember, this is a 5^th Sunday, which means a potluck luncheon after worship!

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Rob+

The Rev Robert Lundquist, Rector

The Episcopal Church of the Holy Family

419 Turnpike Rd

Mills River, NC  28759

(828)891-9375

www.ourholyfamily.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/holyfamnc

Facebook: www.facebook.com/HolyFamNC

FourSquare: http://foursquare.com/venue/5378380

Streamkeepers

will have a work day this Saturday, July 30, from 9 am – Noon.

ALL are welcome to come and help remove non-native weeds from our stream banks on church property.

Wear long sleeves & pants, closed-toe shoes, bug spray and sunscreen!

Come help be a part of our stewardship of Creation!

Biotesting our creeks

One of the neat things we can do with our creeks

is to test them twice each year, to determine what is living in them.

This information is compiled with other data from around our region, giving a picture of the environmental health of our watershed.

Diane Carter and Thea Everett have volunteered to receive the training to do this for our property.

We need at least 3 volunteers.

The 3-hour training will be offered in September, if we have enough volunteers.

Please contact the Rector, or Diane Carter (bmcdsc@att.net or 891-9410) with your interest.  Thanks!