| Father Ray's Annual Address SUNDAY, JANUARY 23, 2005 |
| .. |
| Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I appreciate your being here to day for our Annual Meeting Eucharist- and I sincerely hope that you will all stay for the business portion of the Annual Meeting which is held immediately following today’s Eucharist. It is the Annual Parish Meeting which governs our church. What we decide at this meeting sets the stage for this new calendar year. Two important things that happen at Annual Meetings are the adoption of a budget and the election of new vestry members. The vestry carries on the business of the parish between Annual Meetings. Any decisions made by the vestry may not conflict with policies or business adopted by the annual parish meeting. I want to thank Donita P., Bill Br. and Ev B. who have faithfully served the parish as vestry members during the past 3 years. They served with great distinction and their input and service has benefited our parish greatly. I am also thankful to those who have expressed a willingness to be nominated for the vestry at our parish meeting this morning when we elect 3 new members for 3 year terms. Our Treasurer, Walt R., serves this parish with great skill and dedication. Though not a member of the vestry, Walt is elected by the vestry to serve as parish treasurer. Nancy P. is the assistant treasurer. Their expertise is critical in keeping the parish solvent and advising the parish and vestry of our ongoing financial condition. One of the facts we would all agree with is that St. Alban’s Church is one of the most beautiful churches in Tillamook. It’s architecture, windows and furnishings attribute to it’s beauty. But St. Alban’s Church is also a spiritual space. Many visitors who come here remark to me not only about the church’s beauty, but also about its spiritual atmosphere. Connie N. presented St Alban’s with an Icon of our Lord which was blessed and dedicated in September. This wonderful gift adds to the beauty and spiritual atmosphere of our church building. The message our Lord brings to us through this Icon is that Jesus and His Body the church brings rest to the weary. Both the Lord and the church are a source of rest, refreshment and strength. This presentation I am now giving is not a sermon but a state of the church report. But, I want to say something about sermons. My friend Lee C. brought me a copy of US News and World Report. The Front Cover was featuring an article on Conquering Your Phobias. Lee shared with me that there was even a Phobia about sermons. I thought he was kidding at first. But, he was right. The article contained the word Homilophobia – fear of sermons. I thought about that phobia for a while. Then I got to thinking that the only ones who should suffer from Homilophobia are the preachers, not the hearers. I know that I have a fear of my sermons. A fear that it might be boring, a fear that it might not get the message across, a fear that I could have and should have done better, a fear that I might say something really stupid, and not even realize it, and the list goes on. But obviously its not a big enough fear to keep me from doing it. Then I got to thinking we are all preachers. Therefore we might all suffer from Homilophobia. As a great man said years ago, the greatest sermons ever preached are the lives we live as Christians. Therefore, you and I, all of us might fear what kind of sermon we are preaching by the lives we are living. We have the church, the Body of Christ, where we are reminded of how we should live our lives, and the closer we come to following what we learn here, the better the sermon that is preached by your life and mine. Many good and positive things happened in the past year. One of the most significant is the Parking Lot which is a gift of TLC Federal Credit Union. It is an added benefit to our operation and a great convenience to our membership. It is wonderful to have the kind of cooperation between the two facilities that allows for a joint project that benefits both endeavors. Having the parking lot lighted is appreciated as a safety factor for those who use the church at night. This has made a world of difference. Remember how excited we were when Dave S. became our organist? Some of us were just as excited when Dave became the parish secretary. Dave has made a world of difference in the operation of the office and how it affects the whole church. He provides us with a high level of service for which we are very appreciative. I was very excited when I entered into talks with Kempton Hewitt at Northwest House of Theological Studies and Carol B. about the possibility of Carol becoming a parish intern at St. Alban’s. I felt very strongly in my own mind that such an arrangement would be good for the parish, good for Carol, and good for me as the teaching pastor. It is our responsibility to give Carol as full an experience as possible in terms of what ordained ministry is all about. Since I am the one who made the decision for the parish to have Carol as our parish intern, I want to thank all of you for your welcome to Carol and for your willingness to be involved in being a teaching parish. I also want to express my appreciation to the Parish Intern Committee. It meets with Carol monthly, and Carol and I meet weekly to talk about her intern experience. I am thankful for all that Carol brings to us through the parish intern program. Over the years we have singled out various people for their important and valued ministry to St. Alban’s. Last year or the year before, I suspended my Annual Address to present an award to Lyle S., Swede S. and Don S. as auxiliary Altar Guild Members. I am continually informed by the Altar Guild how valuable Lyle, Swede and Don are to their ongoing work. Today I want to suspend my Annual Address to present another award for outstanding ministry. The recipient of this award could be getting it for being an outstanding ticket salesperson over the years for all of our fundraisers. He could be getting it for continuous and on-going participation in the Monday Night Suppers. But it’s not for either of these things. I want to honor Chuck B. today on behalf of St. Alban’s for Chuck’s many years of ministry as Parish Greeter. In the days when we had 2 services, Chuck was here every Sunday way before the 10:00 am service to welcome everyone to our worship service and to hand them the Sunday Bulletin and to announce the preacher of the day. When St. Alban’s went to its present schedule of one service at 9:00 am, Chuck started showing up early in the morning. I arrive at the church on Sundays between 7:00 and 7:30 am. Chuck has been arriving shortly after 8:00 am, and sometimes earlier. He comes into the office and greets me and sometimes tells me Fr. Ray is preaching today. Then he goes to the Narthex, that’s Episcopalian for entry way, and sits there waiting to greet the first arrival, give them a bulletin and let them know whose preaching. It’s a wonderful ministry to us all, and especially to those who are new and visiting. Chuck, please come forward and accept this Greeter Pin and the appreciation of us all for your valued ministry as Greeter of St. Alban’s Parish. I am really proud to be the rector of St. Alban’s Parish. In Tillamook County, St. Alban’s is recognized as a congregation that is serious about living up to our Lord’s message about ministry to those who are less fortunate. I want to thank again everyone in side and out side of the parish who make the Monday Night Suppers work and work so well. Our crew has never missed putting on a Monday Night Supper since the program began in September of 2000. We didn’t start to formally collect data on the Monday Night Suppers until 2001. Here are some statistics on how much help we have been to others and how much volunteer has been put into the program. In 2001 we served 1,356 dinners In 2002 1,591, In 2003 1,810 In the first 9 months of 2004 1,988 As of September 30th, of 2004 our crew has served 6,745 meals. From May to December of 2001 our people put in 690 volunteer hours for the Monday Night Supper program. In the year 2002 1,020 hours, In 2003 958 hours, and in The first 9 months of 2004 662 hours. In total since we began keeping records, and going through September 30th of 2004 we have accumulated 3,330 volunteer hours for the Monday Night Suppers. I would like Donna B. and everyone who is now working on the Monday Night Suppers and all of those who have worked on them in the past to know that we appreciate you. I want to call to your attention that when we began the Monday Night Suppers, our decision was to make them available to every one who needed a meal. Not just to those who couldn’t afford a meal. And not all of the people who come to the Monday Night Suppers are homeless, poor and destitute. Some need a meal where they can enjoy it with others because eating alone day after day and meal after meal is just too lonely and depressing. It may be because of no groceries and no way to get to the store. A meal may be needed because of sickness or injury in the household. Almost every single person who shows up on Monday night needs a meal for some particular reason. The reason may or may not be financial. But there is still a need. This is a wonderful ministry we do in the name and spirit of Jesus Christ. Then there is the Christmas Basket Program which was coordinated by Tillamook Ecumenical Community of which St. Alban’s is a part. Most of the coordinating work was done by Pastor Mike H. of St.John’s United Church of Christ and Dick G. from St. Alban’s. TEC as it is called received 253 applications from families for a total of 1035 people of which 557 were children. This number was up from the 211 families we served last year. St. Alban’s took on three families. I want to thank Donita P. and Lorie W. and her daughter who did all of the shopping for food and presents, and got the presents wrapped and the boxes of food filled. And thanks to Bill Br. Walt R. and Swede S. who made the deliveries. To those of you who contributed food and or money to make this happen are very much appreciated. Without you we could not have gotten the job done. Then there is St. Alban’s Discretionary Account. A total of $3,932.30 was distributed through the discretionary account. $3,348.80 were St. Alban’s funds and $583.50 were Tillamook Ecumenical Community Funds administered through St. Alban’s discretionary fund. We had 151 requests for assistance. 17 of the requests were not filled due to lack of follow-up by the one requesting assistance or because we turned down their request. 12 requests were not filled due to a lack of funds at the time of the request. The following is a breakdown on the requests received: Rental assistance 39 Transportation and Gas for vehicles 14 Electric Bill assistance 28 Heating Oil 1 Court Costs and Citation 2 Food 3 Prescriptions 8 Water Bill assistance 2 Diapers and Baby supplies 3 Campground Fees 2 Motel 5 Cooking utensils 1 Shower 1 How is the discretionary account funded? Each year I make an appeal during Lent for Donations to this account. Most of our money comes from this appeal. Other donations are received throughout the year. Any money I receive from honorariums goes into the discretionary account. The ECW, the women’s guild, put $1,000 into the account in November. Except in a very few cases our grants for rental and utility assistance do not exceed $50 per request. One of the things that I have discovered over the years from ministering on an Indian Reservation with very poor Ojibway Indians, doing inner city ministry in the slums of Minneapolis, and being an advocate for the poor in every community in which I have ministered, is that not everyone that requests help and receives help is polite, appreciative and thankful. Last week we had a client that neither Dave nor I was inclined to help. The person was arrogant, demanding and rude. It would have been easy to send the person away empty handed. But the fact remained that there was a legitimate need. I thought about what Jesus would want me to do in this situation. The answer was simple. Jesus would want me to put away my personal feelings and do the right thing. Whether it’s the Monday Night Suppers, the Christmas Baskets, the discretionary account or any other out reach, not everyone will deserve it, appreciate it and treat you in a thankful manner. We don’t assist people to make ourselves feel good, (though its nice when that happens); we assist people because it’s the right thing to do and because it’s a mandate given to us by Jesus himself. All of what we do for others falls into this category, I will call a special vestry meeting right after the Parish Meeting to conduct some very brief and yet very important business. The remaining vestry and newly elected vestry members will be called to order to elect the treasurer, assistant treasurer, clerk of the vestry and Jr. Warden. St. Fixit, Bill Br. rotates off the vestry this year and will no longer be our Junior Warden. Bill does an exceptional job of keeping things running and operating whether he is Jr. Warden or not. For this we are very grateful. Larry B. has decided not to accept a nomination to be the Clerk of the Parish this year. I want to thank Larry for his many years of service as the clerk. He is a good sport and is fun to have at our meetings. I am pleased to announce that Bill Br. will be nominated Clerk of the parish and that he will accept the nomination. As rector of the parish I am privileged to appoint the Sr. Warden. The Senior Warden serves as the rector’s chief advisor and confidant. The Senior Warden is really the second in command and runs the vestry meetings and the parish in the absence or incapacitation of the rector. Last year I chose John S. to be the Senior Warden. It has been a good choice, and I appreciate all that John has done for the parish and for me. I believe that my choice this year will be a good choice as well. I am appointing Don S. Senior Warden of St. Alban’s Parish. I have already asked him, and he said yes. Have you ever wanted to elected to the Vestry? If you would like to serve on the vestry and have never been asked, please let me or Don S. know. The way we get vestry nominations is by asking those who are rotating off to find their own replacement. Sometimes that is not an easy task. We would love to have a pool of people who want to be on the vestry. If you need more information, ask Don, any vestry member or me. Fr. Ken W. was one of our volunteer clergy at St. Alban’s during 2002 and 2003 before he died from cancer. His widow Joan enlisted Frankie D. and Margaret B. to work with her to design a new Banner for St. Alban’s. After it was designed, it was sent to Mary Moore in Gleneeden Beach to finish the Banner and put it together. We received it in November. The Banner was carried in Procession this morning and now hangs on the west wall of the church. We will bless and dedicate the Banner this morning as a memorial to Fr. Ken W. Thanks to Ken’s widow, Joan, Margaret, Frankie and Mary for providing St. Alban’s with this beautiful memorial to Fr. Ken. Many thanks to Bill Be., Myra W. and St. Fixit Bill Br. for research, design, purchase of the poles and rods making it possible for the banner to be carried in procession and then fastened to the wall. One of our volunteer clergy is on special assignment in Hawaii. Fr. Jim B. and his wife Anne are doing an intern at a parish where its warm and sunny most of the time even in January. I would like to send greetings to Fr. Jim and Anne from our Annual Parish Meeting, assuring them of our prayers and best wishes. We are anxious to have them back in our fellowship. I would like to express my gratitude to Fr. Ted and Pastor John for their ongoing ministry to St. Alban’s. I am privileged to have them as part of our ministerial team. I am thankful for their ministry to this parish. Remember the great success of the program to send school kits to Afghanistan? The Diocese of Oregon shipped 1,247 of these kits. Twenty of them came from St. Alban’s. The Sunday School under the direction of Priscilla B. put the school kits together. It was a wonderful mission program that the whole Episcopal Church Nationwide participated in and I am happy that we were a part of it. Now there is an appeal for a new kind of Kit. It’s a Health Kit. Health Kits are being collected by the Episcopal Church Nationwide and will be shipped to Church World Service for distribution to survivors of the Tsunami in South Asia. The Health Kits are inexpensive, simple to assemble, very badly needed, and will certainly be appreciated. Here is what a Health Kit consists of: One hand towel One washcloth One comb One metal nail file or nail clipper One bar of soap (bath size) One toothbrush One tube of toothpaste (4-7 ounces ) Six band-Aids These items are to be placed in a one-gallon plastic bag with a zipper closure. The bags can be brought to the church and we will send them all at once to Church World Service. My hope is that we can send off at least 50 of these Health Kits. The Kit contents will be published in the Grapevine and the Bulletin. I plan to send the kits off on the 28th of February. A young couple I married at St. Allban’s about 5 years ago have been serving in the Army together. They have been stationed in Italy every since their marriage. And each year I receive a gift from them. This year I received this box with a message which read: “Hello again! Hope the year has treated you well and that the Christmas Season is special for you! To explain the present…we were able to attend a special Mass with the Pope in Rome and brought the beads to be especially blessed by him for you. We know that you are not Roman Catholic, but thought you would like it all the same. The box is inlaid wood from a town on the Almalfi Coast called Sorrento. We are scheduled to leave Italy at the end of March, 2005. We are going to Newport Rhode Island, for three years. When we get to Rhode Island we are going to begin the adoption process and are very excited about that! Hope to hear from you soon! We think about you a lot! Love, Chris and Jeremy C. This past year we had the first annual Advent Lessons and Carols service at St. Alban’s. It was a very spiritually uplifting service. The Bible readings and the music told well the story of the coming of Christ. The Tillamook Community Chorus under the direction of Adam Sch. was excellent. We had a good turnout for a first time ever event. I am looking forward to the 2nd Annual Advent Lessons and Carols at the end of this year. Carol B. is gearing up for some Bible Study as soon as day and time that works for people is determined. I am ready to begin Lay Eucharistic Minister study and training. Some of the people are looking to be licensed to bring the Eucharist to shut-ins on Sunday after service, and others to administer the bread and wine at our service here at the church, and some to do both. The Memorial Window to go on the West Wall is still in the works. I am waiting to hear from contractor Dennis W. as to what it will take to cut the hole, and shore up whatever needs to be shorn up. In next year’s Annual Address I hope to report the completion of the 5 foot diameter window and the people in whose memory the window has been given. I am looking forward to our ministry together throughout this New Year. And I hope that part of what we will do is to continue to invite others to “come and see”. We have a lot to offer here for those on their spiritual journey. We need to invite them to come and see Jesus, and to provide them with an opportunity to be with and to journey with Jesus. I want to close with a story I received over the internet just about a year ago. It’s about a young lady named Sally and she relates an experience she had in a seminary class, given by her professor, Dr Smith. Sally says that Dr. Smith was known for his elaborate object lessons. One particular day, Sally walked into the seminary class and knew they were in for a fun day. On the wall was a big target and on a nearby table were many darts. Dr. Smith told the students to draw a picture of some one they disliked or someone who had made them angry, and he would allow them to throw darts at the person’s picture. Sally’s friend drew a picture of a girl who had stolen her boyfriend. Another friend drew a picture of his little brother. Sally drew a picture of a former friend , putting in a great deal of detail into her drawing, even drawing pimples of her face. Sally was pleased with the overall effect she had achieved. The class lined up and began throwing darts. Some of the students threw their darts with such force that their targets were ripping apart. Sally looked forward to her turn, and was filled with disappointment when Dr. Smith, because of time limits, asked the students to return to their seats. As Sally sat thinking about how angry she was because she didn’t have a chance to throw any darts at her target, Dr Smith began removing the target from the wall. Underneath the target was a picture of Jesus. A hush fell over the room as each student viewed the mangled picture of Jesus; holes and jagged marks covered His face and His eyes were pierced. Dr. Smith said only these words…..”Just as you did it unto one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40) End of story. Its interesting to look at Matthew 25:40 in the context in which is said. Here is what Jesus said: "Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteousness will answer him, Lord when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? " And then in Matthew 25:40 Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." The truth of the matter is, that whether we purposely do good to one another, or purposely do evil to one another, we have done it to Jesus. AMEN |