| All Saints Episcopal Church Newsletter |
| March 2015 | All Saints Episcopal Parish, San Leandro, California
www.saintsalive.net | | | Whatever
you believe, whatever your experience of organized religion has been
and wherever you are on your spiritual journey, you are welcome at All
Saints.
|
| From Rev. Karen Lenten Worship and Study on Wednesday Evenings The
All Saints Lenten program this year will begin on Wednesday, March 4
and continue through March 11, 18, and 25. Each evening will begin with a
worship service at 7 p.m. in the church, followed by a class in the
Fireplace Room from 7:30-9:00 p.m. We will focus on understanding church
and family systems, and how individuals can contribute to their health
and well-being. In particular, the writings of Edwin Friedman will be
considered. Child care will be available. Plan Ahead for Holy Week and Easter Services Palm/Passion Sunday Sunday, March 29 at 8 and 10:15 a.m. Palms will be blessed and distributed, and the story of the Passion will be read in parts by the congregation Tenebrae
Wednesday, April 1 at 7 p.m. A reflective service of light and darkness with psalms and readings will be offered. Maundy
Thursday
Thursday, April 2 at 6 p.m.
A Mediterranean meal will be shared, feet will be washed, and communion
will be shared in a family friendly atmosphere in the Parish Hall. The
church altar will be stripped bare as the evening draws to a close. Good
Friday
Friday, April 3 at noon An ecumenical San Leandro service will be offered at St. Leander's Church. Rev. Karen will be one of the seven preachers. Good Friday
Friday, April 3 at 7 p.m. The Good Friday service from the Prayer Book will be offered at All Saints. Easter
Vigil
Saturday, April 4 at 6 p.m. Members
of the church will share in telling the stories of our faith, a child
will be baptized, and the first Eucharist of Easter will be celebrated
in an informal and joyous service. Easter
Day
Sunday, April 5 at 8 and 10:15 a.m. Celebratory Holy Eucharist services will mark this most joyful of days. |
A Day of Discovery Report by The Search Committee We continue to meet every two weeks as we plan our Day of Discovery on March 22. This
will be an all day (don't groan!) fun-filled day of discovery about
ourselves and our parish. It is also important that our teens be a part
of this experience with us. We will start with our joint prayer service
at 9 am and then begin our break-out groups. During this time snacks and
coffee/tea will be available. We will stop for lunch together and then
move on to our next phase. We will end our day with Eucharist at about
3:30 before leaving after a very fulfilling day. We encourage all
members to come. If some member is too frail to be with us for the day,
please arrange for care for that person so that as many as possible can
participate. Child care will be provided. So
what is a Day of Discovery? The Search Committee must put together a
document regarding who our parish is, what our values are, what things
are we currently doing, how do we worship together and reach out to
others, and what are our dreams. This document, along with other
specific information will go to the diocese and in turn be published for
those priests who are seeking new calls. Each applicant in turn will
fill out the same document about their own experience. From there, we
review the applicants and begin our search for the right person to come
to All Saints. This process will result in the Search Committee
proposing three candidates to the Vestry who will then interview them
and finally make an offer to one of the applicants, leading us to the
beginning of working with a new rector. Each
step of the way, the Search Committee is prayerfully seeking guidance
from God as we go through the steps necessary to complete this process.
We are all excited and happy to be going through this process together. As
we move to learning about applicants, please understand that the
Committee is bound by confidentiality and will not be able to provide
any information about who we are looking at or who has applied. We thank
the parish for it's continued prayers for the Committee and for your participation in our Day of Discovery. |
Spring Clean up Morning submitted by Jack Kincaid All
Saints has a tradition of "sprucing-up" our wonderful facility to make
it look even more "cared-for" and inviting for Easter Week celebrations.
We typically wash the windows, scrub the Narthex, dust and mop the Nave
and Chancel, sweep the decks and clean weeds and debris from the
parking lots and make the kitchen sparkle. This year, Spring Clean-up is scheduled for Saturday March 28, 2015 from 9:00 AM to Noon.
It is Ok to come for only an hour if that is all the time you have.
Coffee, pastries and all cleaning supplies are provided. It is a lot of
fun and a good time together so please join us. |
SPECIAL REPORT FROM your RECTOR'S WARDEN CORAZON HOUSEBUILDING TRIP JUNE 19 - 21, 2015 Corazon
is a volunteer-run, nonprofit, nondenominational corporation formed in
1978 to meet the needs of Mexican families with food, clothing and
housing. The volunteer teams from our Southern Alameda Deanery have
traveled to Mexico for several years to assist in an amazing
all-in-one-day house building for and with the family who will live in
the house. Volunteers from All Saints have reported having a
life-changing experience helping families so directly. .
This year's trip begins with a drive on Friday, June 19, to Chula
Vista, near the Mexican border. St. John's Episcopal Church in Chula
Vista will host us on Friday and Saturday nights, or you may stay at a
nearby motel. On Saturday a bus will take us across the border to the
house building site and back to Chula Vista at the end of the day. We
will worship with our host congregation on Sunday morning before
returning home. A fact sheet with complete information is available. Please send an email to clairenote@msn.com and a fact sheet will be sent to you.
This trip offers a wonderful service opportunity to our members. I hope
that we will have many participants! Claire Burke |
Altar Guild Needs Helpers Dear
Ones, once again we have lost members of altar guild due to family
circumstances and we are in need of new helpers. It takes on average 2
hours per month to set up and clean up for communion. If more
people would sign up that "per month" would extend to six or seven or
maybe 8 weeks. Training is readily available and all you
have to do is contact Connie Camp, Rev. Karen or any of the other altar
guild members to offer your help. Please don't hesitate to lighten the
load of other altar guild members. If you can wash a dish and
sweep a floor, you can do this job. Thank you for prayerfully
considering it. |
Sing For America submitted by Joy Graham-Korst Sing for America, Sing for Artful Steps.
That's my mission - to raise my voice in song to support a program that
has been serving the community since 1975. Sing
for America (SFA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on
supporting the arts. Unlike other organizations, SFA allows their
members to influence where their contributions go. Artful Steps is
offered through the Stepping Stones Growth Center in San Leandro,
CA. Their mission is to teach individuals, of every level of
ability, self-expression through the visual arts. To support Artful Steps and the SFA Foundation by making a tax-deductible donation, go to singforamerica.org. The process is fast, easy, and secure. You
can hear Sing for America in concert on April 19, 2015, 7PM, at the
Palace of Fine Arts. One performance only! The concert's featured guests
will be the Oakland Interfaith Choir and Livingston Taylor. You
can buy tickets to the show
by using my unique box office code, SFA030. Half of the
ticket price will go directly to Artful Steps. You may also write a
check, made out to Sing For America, including my special code, SFA030,
in the memo area. Thanks you for your support. Joy Graham-Korst |
Special Note from your Editors
The
following articles were inadvertently omitted from our 2014 annual
report. Please read them and appreciate the good work that has
been done this year by members of our church family. If you are able to help in anyway, please contact the people in charge of that committee or one of your church wardens. Thank you.
|
Coffee Hour submitted by Don Siefkes and Rosemary Lake In 2014, Coffee Hour welcomed 40 to 50 adults and children after the 10:15 service. The
fellowship shared at Coffee Hour is just terrific. It is a warm and
welcoming place not only for parishioners but also for those who are
repeat visitors and first time visitors. People at Coffee Hour usually linger for 45 to 60 minutes after services and do lots of table hopping. The
Coffee Hour hosts are free to choose whatever treats they wish to serve
and we encourage simplicity in the menu. We hope that a simple menu
will keep costs down for the hosts and also encourage others in the
parish to be volunteer hosts. In
2014, we have had a Coffee Hour host for every Sunday and we are
grateful to the 20 different families that have volunteered. But,
in order to fill every Sunday slot, the Coffee Hour coordinators have
had to host seventeen Sundays. We need more help from more families. How
to be a host is spelled out in detail (i.e. ratio of coffee to water)
on a Helpful Hints sheet posted in 3 places in the kitchen. There are
also several copies of Helpful Hints on the Coffee Hour sign-up
clipboard in the church entry. In
addition, we thank 3 individuals who supported Coffee Hour with money.
We also thank the Youth Group who hosted Coffee Hour twice. We are committed to continue as Coffee Hour Coordinators for 2015 and look forward to working with you. |
Gardening Committee submitted by Rosemary Lake and Don Siefkes - volunteers A
Pelargonium, Dusty Miller and Day Lily have been planted on the east
side of the front of the church next to Roosevelt School. We removed a
dead Escallonia bush from that area. At
the front entry to the church, we have been cutting out dead wood from
the very old Rosemary bush and have removed the dead Escallonia bushes
on the left (east) approach to the church entry. The yellow African
daises in the flower pots have not fared well this year and some have
died. We have replaced the four pots with a variety of pansies. We just
planted a large jade plant donated by Mary and Jack Kincaid at the
front entry. Our
big project this year has been the west garden on Merle
Court. We have removed the overgrown Fortnight Lily and Hebe
bush that was blocking/choking the sprinkler heads. Jack Kincaid and
Don Siefkes tuned up the sprinklers and replaced some sprinkler heads
throughout to prevent water run off. The aggressive Lily of
the Nile plants are being cut back and the open areas are being planted
with succulents and drought resistant decorative grasses. The paid gardeners continue to do a nice job trimming the hedges and cutting/edging the grass. Anyone wishing to join the gardening group is most welcome. |
The Facilities Care Committee Report for 2014 The
FCC is the committee of the vestry that is responsible for the care and
maintenance of our buildings and grounds. It has several sub groups
which specialize in the care of certain areas, eg. Landcaping
group, We-Can-Do-It-Ourselves special projects group and the
Liturgy-of-the-Steward monthly prayer and maintenance group. These are
all part of our ministry and help to make our beautiful facility even
more welcoming. This
past year, we did a number of important projects such as Spring
Cleaning for Easter Week, installation of water saving landscapes and
new Irrigation controls, a 10 ft x 20 ft Shade Cover for the tots play
yard, new silent fans in the sanctuary that were donated by Don Siefkes
and Rosemary Lake. There were many small repair and maintenance items
that were looked after by a lot of folks on many occasions. For
2015 we are especially in need of someone who will lead the Liturgy-of-
the-Steward monthly maintenance group. It is only two (2) hours on the
first Saturday each month and only does light but important cleaning and
repairs. Jack Kincaid for the FCC |
Contacts
Church Office:allsaintsepiscopal@att.net, 510-569-7020 Neighborhood Center: John Trubina,neighborhood.center.at.all.saints@gmail.com Please
check the calendar for scheduled meetings and to see what spaces and
times are available for a meeting you are planning. To add a meeting
time and space to the calendar, contact John. Priest: Reverend Karen Swanson, allsaintsepiscopal@att.net Rector's Warden:Claire Burke, clairenote@msn.com People's Warden:Connie Camp, connie.camp60@yahoo.com Care Team Leader: Anne Phillips, aphillips@chcnetwork.org Newsletter Editors: Connie Camp, Claire Burke Parish Musician: Dylan Snodgrass, dvsnodgrass@yahoo.com |
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