By John Nolan Hello. I'm John Nolan, the incoming editor of the Spirit of St. Barnabas newsletter. For those of you who don't know me, I joined the parish with my wife, Nancy, in 1993. Since then, I've served on the St. Barnabas vestry and as senior warden, among other capacities. I want to thank Kim LaSala for her four years of ministry as editor of the newsletter. Her efforts, and those of the regular contributors to these pages, have made it a very valuable ministry for our church. She is passing the torch, as she takes on other commitments. I welcome your suggestions and comments (and any articles or photos you might like to contribute) as we continue the newsletter in 2013. It will be a key year for our con- gregation, as Father Keydel helps us in our search for a permanent new rector. It can serve as a journey of re-examination for us. Onward we go! By Fr. John Keydel Article II of the Regulations of St Barnabas Episcopal Church (Article I states the name) begins by noting that, “The annual meeting of this Congregation shall be held on the first Sunday of February in the Church or at other such location designated by the Vestry. At the meeting, the election of Vestry Members shall be held. Such other business as may be necessary and appropriate may also be transacted. Notice of the meeting shall be made by announcement during regular Sunday services for two weeks prior to the meeting.” Formal notice of such a meeting is often referred to as a “Warning of the Meeting” - Dear reader, you may now consider yourself formally warned! Similar warnings of the meeting will also be made in church on both the 20 th and the 27 th of January. Furthermore, Article IV, “NOMINATIONS FOR VESTRY” states that “a Nominating Committee consisting of two members of the Vestry and the Rector … shall present at least one nominee for each office to be filled.” Furthermore, “Such nominations shall be announced at regular worship services for at least two weeks prior to the annual meeting.” Finally, we are further advised that “Members of the Congregation entitled to vote may submit additional nominations at the time of the annual meeting, upon securing the written consent of the nominee.” This means that any eligible member who may be sitting by the phone waiting (perhaps in vain) for that one special call from a member of the Nominating Committee, is automatically empowered to make such a nomination, even of themselves. According to An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church , “the basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances. ” If you would like the commentary on this summary that was provided in April, please email Fr. John ( [email protected]) and further information can be yours! While other business as necessary and appropriate may come before the meeting in February, the election of persons to the Vestry is one of the critical ways that St Barnabas continues to move into the future. Inside this issue: Annual Meeting 1 Worship Notes 5 Outreach 5-6 Church Calendar 7 New Editor WWW.ST-BARNABAS.ORG The SPIRIT of St. Barnabas January 16, 2013 January 2013 Sunday Services 8 AM Spoken Eucharist 10:00 AM Eucharist with Music All are Welcome at the Lord’s Table (Holy Communion) as we celebrate the Grace Annual Meeting — Sunday February 3, 2013
Transcript
By John Nolan
Hello. I'm John Nolan, the incoming editor of the Spirit of St. Barnabas newsletter. For those of you who don't know me, I joined the parish with my wife, Nancy, in 1993. Since then, I've served on the St. Barnabas vestry and as senior warden, among other capacities.
I want to thank Kim LaSala for her four years of ministry as editor of the newsletter. Her efforts, and those of the regular contributors to these pages, have made it a very valuable ministry for our church. She is passing the torch, as she takes on other commitments.
I welcome your suggestions and comments (and any articles or photos you might like to contribute) as we continue the newsletter in 2013. It will be a key year for our con-gregation, as Father Keydel helps us in our search for a permanent new rector. It can serve as a journey of re-examination for us.
Onward we go!
By Fr. John Keydel
Article II of the Regulations of St Barnabas Episcopal Church (Article I states the name) begins by noting that,
“The annual meeting of this Congregation shall be held on the first Sunday of February in the Church or at other such location designated by the Vestry. At the meeting, the election of Vestry Members shall be held. Such other business as may be necessary and appropriate may also be transacted. Notice of the meeting shall be made by announcement during regular Sunday services for two weeks prior to the meeting.”
Formal notice of such a meeting is often referred to as a “Warning of the Meeting” - Dear reader, you may now consider yourself formally warned! Similar warnings of the meeting will also be made in church on both the 20
th and the
27th of January.
Furthermore, Article IV, “NOMINATIONS FOR VESTRY” states that “a Nominating Committee consisting of two members of the Vestry and the Rector … shall present at least one nominee for each office to be filled.” Furthermore, “Such nominations shall be announced at regular worship services for at least two weeks prior to the annual meeting.”
Finally, we are further advised that “Members of the Congregation entitled to vote may submit additional nominations at the time of the annual meeting, upon securing the written consent of the nominee.” This means that any eligible member who may be sitting by the phone waiting (perhaps in vain) for that one special call from a member of the Nominating Committee, is automatically empowered to make such a nomination, even of themselves.
According to An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, “the basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.” If you would like the commentary on this summary that was provided in April, please email Fr. John ([email protected]) and further information can be yours!
While other business as necessary and appropriate may come before the meeting in February, the election of persons to the Vestry is one of the critical ways that St Barnabas continues to move into the future.
Inside this issue:
Annual Meeting 1
Worship Notes 5
Outreach 5-6
Church Calendar 7
New Editor
WWW.ST-BARNABAS.ORG
The SPIRIT of St. Barnabas
January 16, 2013
January 2013
Sunday Services
8 AM Spoken Eucharist
10:00 AM Eucharist with
Music
All are Welcome at the
Lord’s Table
(Holy Communion) as
we celebrate the Grace Annual Meeting — Sunday February 3, 2013
The time after Epiphany may be thought of as a portion of ordinary time (not directly linked to a Holy Day, like Lent or Advent) that reflects the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah “Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.” (Isa 60.1) Illumined by the light of the star that led the Wise Men to the manifestation of God in Jesus, the Christ, Epiphany is a wonderful time for our lives to reflect and transmit the holy light that we receive into the world around us and the communities of which we are a part.
It is, therefore perhaps no accident that the 31st Annual Meeting will take place during this period. While there are certain
items of organizational business that always need to be attended to (election of Vestry Members and Diocesan Convention Delegates), an Annual Meeting is really an opportunity to re-collect, and to renew our offerings of time and talent in thanksgiving for the abundance of blessings that we receive as members of St Barnabas, gifts that also help to secure our future. This year, the active and effective uses of your abundant gifts of time and talent are especially important. This year St. Barnabas will engage in a thorough self-study, a process which will tell a great deal about how we see ourselves as a community of faith at the beginning of its third decade; what are your strengths, what are areas that you feel called to improve or develop, what are the directions that God may be calling all of us to respond to…
All of this will require the active involvement and full engagement of the people of St Barnabas (who are the ministers of the Church in this place). Part of the task of any good self study is that of understanding and explanation; of actually knowing and being able to say Who does (or doesn’t, who should or shouldn’t) do What with Whom, with more than a little emphasis on the matters of When and Why and How. For many of you who have been a part of St Barnabas since the time at the high school, these things may seem to be utterly self-evident, the habits and patterns and assumptions that have shaped who you are, and the ways that things have always been. For Others, and especially for newcomers, these bits of information are something of a mystery, something that both intrigues (hopefully!) and makes easy and relaxed inclusion and involvement occasionally quite difficult.
During this coming year, we will all have abundant opportunities to let our personal and collective light shine forth, strong and steady, pointing into a future that is one that we are called to engage, invest our time and our talents and our treasures; a future that is worthy of presenting our selves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable holy and living sacrifice to the wonderful future that God calls us into.
John+
Let Your Light So Shine ...
The SPIRIT of St. Barnabas
St Barnabas Acolyte Ministry
By Anne Miller
If you or someone you know is interested in becoming an acolyte, please contact Anne Miller at [email protected] or 860-418-9690.
Anyone age 10 and above can serve as an acolyte. This opportunity is not designated for youth of our parish only. It is open to all and I encourage you to consider joining this important ministry. Our worship services are greatly enhanced by the support of the acolytes. When they are not present, there is something obviously missing and that leaves an impression upon members, old and new.
St. Barnabas would like to create a hearty group of acolytes to spread out the responsibility. With enough acolytes, one would ideally serve one Sunday per quarter.
If you have a family member interested but is apprehensive, why not consider joining them either as crucifer (one who carries the cross) or as a torch bearer (one who carries the candles)? It is a wonderful opportunity for a family to serve together.
Training sessions will be scheduled for those new to the ministry. You will be given all the tools and information you need ahead of time so that you will feel comfortable once your Sunday to serve arrives. Once you have joined the acolyte ministry, you would simply go the St. Barnabas website (st-barnabas.org) to sign up for the dates that work best for you.
The Feast of Lights service was held on Sunday January 6th, Epiphany Sunday.
This festival celebrated the Wise men’s (or Magi’s)
visit to the Christ Child through scripture, prayers, and
music from the Bell Choir and Youth Choir. The traditional 13 candles were light to symbolize the light of Christ and
His message spread through the 12 apostles. A Kings Cake, baked by the
Atkinson Family, concluded the service. The special items within the cake gave blessings for some and provided the
church a new Queen, plus assigned the baker of the Kings Cake next year!
Bell Choir
directed by Janet Beckmeyer Youth Choir
directed by Diane Byrne &
Bert Nelson
Three Kings Procession
The New Queen of the
Church The Kings Cake baker for next
year! The Kings Cake
Baked by the Atkinson Family
Candlelit Procession
4
The SPIRIT of St. Barnabas
Facebook Boosts Our Church’s Visibility
By John Nolan
The Facebook network offers a worldwide forum in cyberspace. St. Barnabas Church has been a part of it since November 2010. The church's page on Facebook gives visibility to our congregation and its activities. It is useful exposure, when you consider that Facebook is used by tens of millions of people.
The page allows the posting of text and photographs illustrating what and where St. Barnabas is, what our congregants have been doing, and what visitors might expect if they were shopping for a church to attend. We can, and do, post updated information on the page. Hopefully, that can encourage more interaction with online users, who may choose to "check in" while they are visiting the page.
St. Barnabas' page on Facebook can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Barnabas-Episcopal-Church. People who want to express support for a Facebook page's content can click with their computer mouse to "like" it. St. Barnabas has 82 "likes" on its page. That gives us access to at least 12,000 people, the total number of online "friends" of the 82 people that have clicked to show that they like the page. That effectively links them to it. Visitors who have linked to our page can post comments and share photos on it.
Through Facebook, we can gain more information about the people who have liked our page -- which could help us in efforts to attract new parishioners. Of the 82 who have indicated they like our page, approximately 65 percent are female and 35 percent male.
We welcome your visits to St. Barnabas' page. For more information, you can call the church office at (513) 984-8401, or John Nolan at (513) 263-0399.
By Wendy Gustafson
Thank you for your patience while the St. Barnabas library inventory was under way. The library is now open for checkouts. Be sure you have filled out a borrower’s card and put it in the little black file box alphabetically by your last name. An email address is very helpful to me (Wendy Gustafson) in case I need to contact you about a book, so please write carefully and include this information on your card. Then, come in, browse, and choose a book, video, or music cassette.
Take the card from the pocket in the back of the book and write your name and the date on it (month/day/year). File it in the checkout tray under the author’s last name. Checkouts are usually for two weeks, but we are pretty easy about that, as long as we know who has the book. Enjoy your books thoroughly, and return them to the basket under the desk when you are finished with them. The librarians will re-shelve them. The books in each category have a unique sticker on the spine to make them easier to find. A key to the stickers is on the bulletin board over the desk for your reference.
The inventory revealed a number of missing books, about 70 to be exact. There are some whose cards I have, but no borrower’s name. If any St. Barnabas books have found haven in your home, please bring them back to the library and put them in the basket under the desk. If you have any questions, give me a call.
There’s something for everyone in the St. Barnabas Library. Come in and see which book chooses you! For more information, please call Wendy Gustafson at 683-0286.
Thanks to St. Barnabas parishioners, the church generously supported Findlay Street Neighborhood House (FSNH) families during the annual effort to provide food and gifts to them for the Christmas season.
St. Barnabas "adopted" 32 families, providing food and gifts for more than 140 individuals. Parishioners shopped for food and gift items to make the contributions possible.
St. Barnabas also provided gifts to 24 single elderly citizens and food for Christmas Day, as well as furnishing food for Christmas dinner and a week's worth of basic provisions for an additional 24 families. Approximately 40 St. Barnabas families provided food and gifts. About a dozen of the church's junior high and senior high students shopped for toys, using their own money to purchase those gifts.
Leaders of the church's annual FSNH Christmas campaign estimate that about 85 percent of St. Barnabas congregants participated in the annual giving. Our heartfelt thanks to all of you who contributed money and time to help those less fortunate to be able to enjoy the Christmas season.
The recipient families are selected by staff of the FSNH. Most of those families have children participating in an after-school program that St. Barnabas helps to support. The program offers children to come to the FSNH facility for homework help and to play in a safe environment. Their parents can participate in self-improvement programs offered at Findlay Street.
FSNH is located in Cincinnati's West End at the intersection of Findlay and Baymiller streets, two blocks east of Inter-state 75. Our church has been supporting the Findlay Street center since St. Barnabas Parish was formed in the 1980s.
There has been an Episcopal mission to Findlay Street since the 1940s, when Christ Church in downtown Cincinnati supported programs at a struggling Episcopal-Presbyterian church in the West End, coincidentally named St. Barnabas. The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio eventually gave the land of the church's location to the Seven Hills Neighborhood Houses organization, and the Findlay Street Neighborhood House was built there.
For more information about supporting the FSNH, call the church office at 984-8401.
Results of Findlay Street Christmas Outreach
By Fr. John Keydel
An occasional series discussing various elements of our worship; a place to talk about seasons, changes (What, and Why), respond to questions, or simply highlight one part of worship or another.
The Sundays following Epiphany are considered ordinary (numbered) time and we will continue the use of Rite II (using the language of the 20
th Century, in which we address God as “you.”), making use of some of the various options that the
Prayer Book and Hymnal allow.
We will continue the practice of using the various Prayers of the People from the 6 forms offered by the Prayer Book, and other resources, using a locally adapted form of Prayer 6 for the period from Epiphany to Ash Wednesday.
The Service Music (The Gloria - “Glory to God in the Highest,” and the Sanctus - “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord”) will change to the musical settings of William Matthias. We used these settings in the season after Easter, and as new as they seemed to some at that time, they sounded great on Epiphany Sunday!
The Eucharistic Prayer will shift to Prayer B, with its emphasis on the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Incarnation.
At both services, the money offerings of the people remains on the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer (Eucharist means Thanksgiving) as a sign of our personal offerings of thanksgiving for the many wonderful things that God has done for us in and through Jesus Christ.
Worship Notes
6
The SPIRIT of St. Barnabas
By John Nolan
The Eastside Coalition of Churches, part of Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity, proudly dedicated a new home for a partner family in Cincinnati on Dec. 22. The house is located in Roselawn, on Kenova Avenue just off Reading Road, and will be owned and occupied by the family of Ladenia Puttway, a nurse who worked with Habitat volunteers on completing the house. This helps her to achieve her goal of affordable home ownership.
The coalition also completed two other houses in the fall, for partner families in Lockland.
The Eastside Coalition includes St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, which contributed $2,262.30 to the local Habitat for Humanity organization in 2012 through our Panera bread ministry. Many thanks to all of you for your generous support of this ongoing community outreach mission.
In 2013, the Eastside Coalition's volunteers plan to build three more homes for deserving families in Cincinnati's Avondale neighborhood. It is the goal of St. Barnabas to resume our prior practice of sending volunteers on Habitat-designated work days in 2013 to participate in the homebuilding efforts. The building season is to commence in April or May, as the weather permits. Please take a few minutes to learn more about the program and the 2012 homebuilding efforts at the website,
eastsidecoalition.homestead.com.
Habitat for Humanity
What to Expect When Serving at CAIN
By Maaike Chertock
Volunteers from St. Barnabas have been serving meals at CAIN (Churches Active In Northside) since 2010. Our church has become very popular with the guests of CAIN because they love the quality and variety of our homemade meals. We are now serving around 75 people each month.
Have you been interested in the CAIN ministry and wondered what would be expected of you if you joined?? Let me give you an overview of what takes place.
All the meals are planned for each month by the St Barnabas volunteers. Everyone’s suggestions are welcome. An email is sent out listing all the suggested dishes and you are given the opportunity to sign up for one dish – or more, or bring a suggested dish. For example, St Barnabas will be serving a Thanksgiving meal on January 25th, and the sug-gested items are:
Turkey Stuffing Potatoes Gravy Green beans Corn Cranberry Sauce Bread rolls Desert/Pie or Cookies
If you are able to serve as well, bring your dish and meet everyone at CAIN (4230 Hamilton Ave, 45223) or come to St Barnabas at 4:00 pm on the assigned Friday (to pick up supplies and contributed dishes) and ride with us to CAIN. We understand that life happens and you might not always be able to serve or provide a dish. That’s okay! If you’re not able to serve but you can provide something, you can drop off your dish at the church and leave it in the kitchen (or the refrigerator).
When at CAIN, we set up the tables and chairs and serve dinner at 5:00 pm. At 6:00 pm we clean up and we’re done. If you caught a ride from St Barnabas, you’ll return to church by 7:00 pm.
Please consider joining this outreach opportunity in a community that needs our help. This ministry has been very rewarding for me and my family and I hope it will be for you too.
The Children’s Christmas Eve service celebrated the birth of
Christ with music from the Bell, Youth, and Chimes Choir, as well as special guest singers, Brandon Cole and Kara Shay Thomson. Of course, the highlight of the service
was listening to the Children re-telling
the story of the birth of Christ during the sermon.
