annualmessage2004_for

Father Ray's Annual Address
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2004

“Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Welcome and thanks for coming to this Eucharist preceding the Business part of the St. Alban’s Annual Parish Meeting for the year Two Thousand and Four.

This Annual Address highlights some things from 2003 and looks ahead to some things we hope to accomplish in 2004.

My general assessment of the past year is that it has been a very good year in the life of St. Alban’s Parish.

All of our special activities such as the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, the Ham Dinner, the Rummage Sale and the Christmas Bazaar were all highly successful events.

What made them highly successful is not only that they produced income to meet the expectations of the annual budget, but even more importantly many people gave many hours of time and expertise working together for the betterment of the parish.

Participation in one or more of these activities, and or some of the other facets of parish life is essential to the well being of St. Alban’s.

One of the things that the parish does that I am very proud of is the Monday Night Suppers for All Who Need a Meal.

The support, both financial and volunteer labor from the parish and the wider community has been most gratifying.

We continue to feed an increasing number of people on Monday nights who need a meal.

Even with the many helpers and good financial support, this ministry could not continue without a person committed to coordinating it and making it happen.

We are blessed to have Donna Biewen who is our Monday Night Supper coordinator. This is a volunteer position. Over the last year, I am aware of only one Monday that Donna wasn’t at the church and on duty for the Monday Night Supper. Donna also takes care of the pantry, and often comes in on days besides Mondays to work out details of food donations and other business related to the Monday Night event.

I hope that everyone is aware that Papa Murphy’s Pizza donates pizza on the first Monday of every Month to feed our guests. And Kentucky Fried Chicken donates complete
chicken dinners several times a year on Monday Nights.

I encourage you to support these businesses. And if you know Byron and Linda Richardson of Papa Murphy’s, and Stan and Mary Pat Eckley of Kentucky Fried Chicken, let them know you are a member of St. Alban’s, and that St. Alban’s appreciates their support of our Monday Night Suppers.

Back in December, a representative of Meyer Memorial Trust called me and invited St. Alban’s to apply for a grant for our Monday Night Suppers. Walt Rigterink and I prepared a proposal and submitted it to Fred Meyers.

We didn’t need money for food and supplies for the dinners, but we do have a need for a larger freezer, and new refrigerator, a commercial mixer and other kitchen supplies that would make the Monday Night Dinner preparation much easier. The total amount we asked for was $2,400. A decision on our proposal will be made it February.

One of the saddest things for me is to go by or visit a church whose building and grounds send out a message that no one loves it any more.

I am happy to say that St. Alban’s building and grounds always give the impression that it is very much loved and cared for.

In the past few years we have made a number of improvements. This past year in particular, two major things have been accomplished. One is the upgrading of the restrooms done entirely by our Jr. Warden, Bill Brown. Some of the upgrade was completed to make the restrooms handicapped accessible. We have tile for the floor and paint has been purchased for the walls and ceilings. New doors will finish up the remodel.

The ECW – Episcopal Church Women, of which every woman in the parish is a member, even though they may not be aware of it, voted to have the Formica replaced as part of their donation to the church.

The old Formica was installed in about 1985 by Dave Stephens, Dick Murray, John McLain Ray Ferguson and Old Granddad.

It was an improvement over the Linoleum we replaced, but it did have some rough edges. Anyway, our thanks to the ECW for the new Formica, installed by a professional without the help of Old Granddad.

Our thanks also go to Lyle Specht who for many years has kept the lawn looking good. It may be that he has done the East lawn for the last time before it becomes a parking lot.

We don’t, but if we did have an award at St. Alban’s for Daddy of the Year, it would definitely go to Chris Dorsett. After Chris, Sharlene, Rocky and new infant daughter,
Cheyenne were baptized, Sharlene resumed her job at the cheese factory. Her job requires her to work on Sunday mornings.

Since that time, at least 3 months, Chris and Rocky and Cheyenne have been in church every Sunday. Chris comes with food and diaper bag and children, taking care of every need. He is a good Daddy, and I am proud of him.

I want to thank Dana Clay, Jeff Wilson, Kathye Fricia, and Kirk Callier for their service to the church through serving on the Vestry. They have now completed their 3 year terms.

Nominated to fill their vacancies are: John Sandusky, Sally Clay and Marilyn Fricia. Nominations will be accepted from the floor. I appreciate their willingness to serve

Remaining on the Vestry for one or two more years are: Donita Pierce, Connie Nielsen, Bill Bennett, Don Sheneberger, Bill Brown, and Ev Brown.

The Vestry is the elected council which oversees the work of the church between Annual Meetings. It meets on the first Monday of the month. Vestry Meetings are open to all members of the parish and you would be welcome to sit in on any of the meetings.

I appreciate Fr. Ted and Pastor John for all they do for this parish. Fr. Ted continues to celebrate the Eucharist on Wednesdays and on the last Sunday of the month. John preaches on the last Sunday of the month, and Fr. Ted and Pastor John fill in when the rector is on vacation or out of commission for some other reason. It is reassuring for me to have this dynamic duo on board in the parish ready and willing to preside at the Eucharist and preach at a moments notice.

I will personally miss Fr. Jim and Anne while they are doing their interim work where it’s warm and sunny almost all of the time. I know that you will miss them as well. But, the good news is, they are building a house at the Capes while they are gone. So when their interim is over they will be coming back to our area. For this, (stealing a line from Marilyn Rigterink my Administrative Assistant) we say, as always, Thanks be to God!

Please remember to keep Fr. Jim and Anne in your prayers. Being an interim priest, even if it is in the Hawaiian Islands, is not guaranteed to be a piece of cake.

On the Saturday night before Advent Sunday, Louise and I came over to the Church to unpack and display the contents of the big box in the office. I found the storm door at the office entrance hanging by a chain and a couple of small screws.

Being afraid that it might fall and hit someone, and that we might get sued, I disconnected it. It was all bent out of shape. When I got it disconnected, I was going to take it over to
the dumpster for the trash haulers to haul away. But it was too heavy. I had all I could do to just get it along side the handicap ramp.

A couple of days later, Bill Brown, our Junior Warden, the guy in charge of building and grounds, showed up at church. He said he was there to put the storm door back on. I said, “I think it’s ruined. It’s all bent out of shape.”

Bill said, “Let me take a look at it.”

Well, Bill fixed it. It is better now than it was before it blew off. Sybil has named Bill Brown, Saint Fix-it. It is an appropriate title, and I think its here to stay.

You might have noticed that the Altar Candles no longer resemble the Leaning Tower of Pizza. St. Fix-it is responsible for that as well, not to mention a whole lot of other things that just seem to get fixed.

There are many people who deserve special mention. However, since I usually take several weeks to work on my Annual Address, and this year have worked on it only part of Friday and part of Saturday, it will not be as complete or as long as in years past.

Many of the really good things about the year 2003 will carry over into the current year. And much of that is people who have ongoing ministries and continually make good things happen at St. Alban’s. You know who you are, I know who you are, and even more importantly, God knows who you are.

As you all know by now, Bishop Itty was scheduled to be at St. Alban’s for his official visitation and to preside over the Eucharist and the Rite of Confirmation and to preach.

Due to scheduling problems Bishop Itty did not make it on January 11th, and his office has suggested a date of July 11th. With so many people gone in the summer, do we want the Bishop’s visitation on July 11th, or do we want to wait another year and request that he come on the second Sunday in January 2005. I would most like to hear from those who are possible candidates for confirmation. If you have a preference please speak with me before you leave today.

Speaking of the Bishop, during his Annual Address to the Diocesan Convention, he outlined many things he would like to see the parishes of the diocese doing. A few others were passed as resolutions of policy. The truth is, that St. Alban’s is already involved in many of these things. But we don’t have the documentation in order.

With leadership from the Vestry, we will document what we have done, and look to see if the other items are feasible for us as a parish.

One of the things I have had pop in and out of my head from time to time is the parish mission statement. I know we have one, but I don’t have the slightest idea of what it is or even even where to find it. A Mission Statement that no one knows, or is hidden away, is pretty worthless. One of the goals I have for this year is the establishment of a new mission statement and some new goals for the parish and for the rector. You will hear more about this as the development progresses.

I need to get into some practical matters that will affect the Church in this current year.

The first is, the ramp door. Many of you have had trouble trying to get this door to open. I have had trouble with it myself, though I have always gotten it open eventually.

I believe it was the day of the Bazaar that Bill Bennett came into my office and said, “Fr. Ray, I wanted to bring Mildred Davy up the ramp to the elevator but I can’t get the ramp door open. I said, “I will get it open for you.”

What I hadn’t realized and Bill hadn’t thought to tell me was that Mildred was already at the ramp door. And of course there are no windows in the door. I went and gave it my best shot, the door opened under my force, and just in the nick of time, I saw Mildred and made a quick maneuver which kept the door from knocking her over and from rolling her down the ramp. I don’t think Mildred ever knew what a close call she had.

The new door, it was ordered before the Mildred incident, will be installed this year. It should work better than the old door. But just in case it doesn’t, it will come equipped with some glass to keep us from knocking people over.

I must take some time here to say something about Will Stuivenga. Wow, what does one say about Will? I knew the day would come when Will would have the opportunity to make a career move that he just couldn’t and shouldn’t refuse.

Will has always shared with me when he was applying for a job out of the community. I’m happy to report that I never prayed that he wouldn’t get the job in order to keep him here. As I said, last Sunday, I am happy for Will while at the same time I am sad for us, and for this community.

Today, I give thanks to God for Will and what he bought to St. Alban’s Church. When Will came here we were struggling musically. We knew we needed to so something, but organists were in short supply in this community.

In an answer to prayer, we received a letter from Will as did other churches in the community. The letter announced who he was, what he did, where he had played the organ and his music education and experience.

We invited Will to come and audition for us. There were 3 or 4 of us who were on hand to listen. It took us about 5 seconds to discover that this was the organist for us if we were lucky enough to strike a deal. And we did.

Will, through your ministry of music in this parish, many good things have happened. The organ has been played like it has never been played before. You have helped to educate us in the field of music. You have revitalized the singing in this congregation. You have done your part to raise worship to a new level.

Besides all of that, you are an all around nice guy. We will miss you, and we will miss looking to see what neck tie you are wearing each Sunday.

You will leave us in much better shape than you found us in when you became our organist. Our prayers and best wishes go with you and Arlene. We will miss you.

A reception will be held for Will and Arline following the Eucharist on February 29th.

My friend and administrative assistant, Marilyn Rigterink, travels in the right circles. She is one of our musical people, and she knows a lot of other musical people.

As soon as Marilyn knew that Will would be leaving the community, she began scouting for a new organist for St. Alban’s. And I am happy to report that our new organist will be David Stuck who is a member of St. Peter Lutheran Church.

I have never heard David play the organ. But I am looking forward to it. Others have told me that he will do a good job as our organist. Thank God, and thank Marilyn that once again we have had an answer to our prayer concerning the ministry of music at St. Alban’s.

I think that God was with us when we made the decision to change our service time to 9:00 a.m. If we were still in the 10 o’clock mode I suspect we would still be wondering what we are going to do about the ministry of music.

We received another answer to prayer in January concerning the music of the church. Delena Engsberg has lent the parish her piano. It’s the perfect model to fit in our space available. Some of us have been praying that one would come our way. We are glad to have the options that a piano affords us. Thank you Delena for the answer to prayer.

As you are sitting here this morning, did you know that the choir is facing north, the organist and the ministers are facing south, and the rest of you are facing east.

Now, before you think the rector has completely lost it, and you want to run out and buy me a compass, let me explain.

In churches with Altars, it is traditional that Altars be placed at the East end of the church. The problem is, that the lot and or church design may not accommodate the Altar at the East end of the church.

Therefore, the Church devised this wonderful scheme that gives churches the leeway to dedicate the best area for the Altar as the Liturgical East for that particular building.

So, even though you are facing compass West, you are also facing Liturgical East.

I told you all this so that you don’t get confused about what trees we are cutting down.

We have some large trees at the West end or Liturgical East end of our building. They are pretty large trees. They are hitting against the church and are causing damage, not to mention the damage of the roots.

The Vestry has made the decision to have the trees taken down. The ECW has agreed to pay the tab to get the job done.

Therefore, in the very near future, you will see someone taking down the trees at whatever that end of the church is. Now you will know why it is being done.

There is another issue associated with and yet separate from the removal of the trees. With the trees gone, we will be provided with the possibility of putting in a Stained Glass Window in memory of Clive Davies. Since Clive was a brilliant artist himself, an artistic stained glass window matching the style of our other windows would be a fitting tribute.

Frankie and I have discussed this, and Frankie has discussed it with her family. Therefore, I will purse the feasibility of a window in this spot for a memorial to Clive Davies.

As many of you know, Carol Brown, director of Tillamook County Pioneer Museum is studying for ministry in the Methodist church.

Carol needs to set up a contract with a local congregation to do Field Study Intern Service. Carol and I have talked about this at length, and we are hoping that St. Alban’s and I can provide an opportunity for her to do her intern field study at St. Alban’s. However, that decision is up to the director of field study programs at Northwest House of Theological Studies.

I think that it would be good for Carol and good for St. Alban’s to be in partnership for this program. Please keep this possibility in your prayers.

Ash Wednesday is pressing upon us very quickly. This year, Tillamook Ecumenical Community has chosen St. Alban’s as the site for the Ash Wednesday ecumenical service. It is my hope that there will be a good showing of our own people for this kick off to Lent.
I suspect we will have a good turnout from the other churches. Ash Wednesday and the Imposition of Ashes has been one of the best attended of the ecumenical Lenten services. If you have never attended an Ash Wednesday Service, I highly recommend it. It does a good job getting us geared up for the Lenten Season and for the joy of Easter.

Now for a moment let me go back to Christmas. One of the Christmas gifts Louise and I received from our daughter Judy, our son-in-law Rick, and their children is that they would take us on a Caribbean Cruise.

Well that sounded really really wonderful. The cruise is to take place during Washington State’s spring vacation because that’s when the children are out of school. The problem we discovered is, that Washington State has their spring vacation from April 4th through April 10th this year. Looking at a calendar, that is when Holy Week falls. This presented me with a dilemma. Should I accept the cruise and be gone from the parish during Holy Week – or should I not take the gift?

I brought this up to my closest advisors. They didn’t see it as a problem and suggested that I bring it up at a Vestry meeting.

At the Vestry meeting in January, I brought them my dilemma of a vacation occurring during Holy Week. They asked how we would cover the services. I explained that Fr. Ted would preside at the Eucharist and pastor John would preach on Palm Sunday. Maundy Thursday, St. Alban’s would accept the invitation of Tillamook United Methodist and St. John’s United Church of Christ. Good Friday pastor John would lead the Good Friday Liturgy at both Noon and 7:00 pm. Pastor John would preach at Noon and Pastor Phillip Kearse would preach at 7:00 pm. Fr. Ted or one of the other pastor’s would administer Communion from the reserved sacrament.

I will be prepared to celebrate and preach on Easter, April 11th, jet lag and all.

The plan is for us to arrive in Portland late Saturday night. I have Fr. Ted and pastor John alerted for Easter just in case something happens and the flight does not get off the ground.
However, the plan is that I will be celebrating the Eucharist and preach on Easter. God willing and the creek don’t rise etc. etc.

At the Vestry Meeting a motion was made, seconded and passed that of course Louise and I take are to take this trip given to us as a Christmas gift.

Louise and I appreciate this very much.

Last year at the Annual Parish Meeting, I brought up the issue of teaming up with TLC Credit Union to make our east lawn a parking lot. The parish voted to proceed with the plans, and when everything was ready to go to have a Parish meeting to take a final vote.

During the past year, TLC has spent a considerable amount of time and money to proceed. Plans have been submitted to the parish and to St. Alban’s parking lot committee. Every suggestion made by our committee has been worked into the plan.

Last Thursday night Mike Pierce and I brought our parking lot plan to the city planning
committee. It was unanimously passed. The projected month to begin the parking lot construction is May of this year.

I personally want to thank TLC Federal Credit Union and its CEO Mike Pierce for everything they have done to make this parking lot possible. I am thankful for their generosity.

This morning the parking lot will come up under unfinished business. We already decided at our last Annual Meeting that we wanted our East Lawn to become a parking lot to benefit both St. Alban’s and TLC.

The motion at our meeting today, will be either yes, we want the parking lot, or no, we don’t want the parking lot.

All of the preliminary work has been done. We will not discuss the design. We have already given our input and the final design takes those things into consideration.

I believe that the parking lot is going to be good for St. Alban’s now and in the future. This offer by TLC could very well be the only opportunity we have for a parking lot.

There are many more things I could talk about in this Annual Address, but I’m about to stop talking and get on with the liturgy.

But let me say first, thank you for your prayers, kind thoughts and cards during my recent surgery and recuperation. I have made a very rapid recovery. I have not yet been fully released by my surgeons. I am still limited to lifting less than 13 pounds or exerting the equivalent pressure.

I am back to work and I am available.

It is my great fortune to be your priest. I thank God daily for this blessing. It is my privilege to be your servant in Christ.

I am going to close with a joke I received from Lee Clemens: A one dollar bill met a twenty dollar bill and said, “Hey where’ve you been? I haven’t seen you around here much." The twenty answered, “I’ve been hanging our at the casinos, went on a cruise and did the rounds of the ship, back to the United States for awhile, went to a couple of baseball games, to the mall, that kind of stuff. How about you?”

The one dollar bill said, “You know, same old stuff, church, church, church."

God bless us all. AMEN.