Parish Newsletter – September 2021
NEWSLETTER THOUGHTS FROM FATHER DUANE . . . The psalmist declares, “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity” (Psalm 133:1). Unity or not, I get the strong sense from our congregation that they would just like to get back to living together normally. The virus continues to wear on us daily, driving its wedge more deeply between us.
We long for, we pray for human contact – a mask less smile, a gentle, loving touch or a hug even.. What then to do? Continue to pray of course. More good is accomplished by prayer than without it, certainly. But please let’s all continue to reach out to one another in ways we safely can. Give a call. Check in. Write an email. Write a letter even. (Let’s not make this a lost art.) Express your concerns, your love, your encouragement and our prayers. Pray together by phone. And then cherish every contact you can give or receive. With gratitude and grace God’s Spirit leads us through. We will make it to the other side, and our lives richer together than we’ve felt our isolation apart. Amen!
JR. WARDEN INFO: Cheri reports she continues to seek estimates on landscaping services, to mow, blow leaves and keep our parking lot clean. If anyone has a recommendation please contact Cheri Ratay at cdr14@comcast.net . We also need to have some roofing adapted to better fit our gutters so that we do not get trapped leaves filling the gutters and causing backflow damage. The Garden Group will be preparing plants for the Fall and Winter to support our plant varieties in anticipation of spring emergence. A booklet is being created to identify our garden areas. There are many stories in our garden so we hope to share them with you.
TREASURERS INFO: Patti Case reports – St. David’s is like most churches. We don’t like to talk about finances, it’s sort of the “dirty underbelly” of the church and we’d rather talk about liturgy and sermons and dare I suggest? – coffee hour.
Fact is, it takes money to run a church. At St. David’s we spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $9000 a month keeping the heat on, the lights on, the priest and the musician and the sexton (that’s custodian in English) employed. Over the years, we’ve scrubbed and scrubbed to get that figure.
It also takes financial acumen, and Laurie McClanahan has done yeoman’s work as a volunteer bookkeeper/accountant/treasurer for many years. She is ready to move on, and we are looking for expertise to fill that total role. For those who haven’t heard, I hope I am not telling tales out of school when I share that Laurie’s building a hoop house at her home that will allow her to supply beautiful blooms nearly year-round. I’m sure that St. David’s will continue to benefit from Laurie’s amazing creations featuring God’s handiwork and her nurturing.
In the meantime, I have volunteered to step into the role of Treasurer. That is a volunteer job that holds responsibility for reporting our financial position to the Vestry. I did not volunteer as St. David’s bookkeeper. Just to be clear, I know how to read a financial statement with the best of them – my daddy the accountant taught me well – but writing one is another level entirely. We are not in this alone, Laurie is assisting when she can and we have been promised help from the diocese in sorting out our financial picture. The Vestry will hear more about this assistance when Reverend Arienne Davison, Canon to the Ordinary, visits on September 12.
If you have ideas, please give me a call or drop me an email. I welcome feedback as well as your patience during this transition.
PRAYER LIST… One of the gifts of our worship is the listing of our loved one’s names during the Prayers of the People each week. If there is someone you would like us to pray for, please email both Fr. Duane (djfister@email.com) and Cathy Warner (cathy@cathywarner.com) who will add their names to the bulletin. Please remember to notify them when the prayer need has changed so names can be removed when appropriate.
Here is our current list: Shawn, Mike & Judy, Doug, Barrett, Janet, Greg, Dave, David, Ann, Robin, Betty, Margaret, Jonathan & Christina, Sue, Jesse, Don, Kayla & Ryan, Anthony, Kurt & family, Suzy, Rogan & his family, Aimee, Kate and Myrna… Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
It helps our leadership to know who those names “belong to,” and there is a number of names on the list that we haven’t been able to identify, noted in italics above. If you know anything about them, please contact Fr. Duane and Cathy at the email addresses above.
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS . . . Pat Honeysuckle, 9/7; Machel Ledford, 9/13; Robyn Dassel Peterson, 9/17; Dave Bayley 9/29 and Fr. Duane, 9/30 . . . Happy Birthday to all, enjoy your day, many happy returns!
SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS . . .
- Pat Honeysuckle, 9/7;
- Machel Ledford, 9/13;
- Robyn Dassel Peterson, 9/17;
- Dave Bayley, 9/29; and
- Fr. Duane, 9/30.
Happy Birthday to all, enjoy your day, many happy returns!
DATES TO REMEMBER. . .
September 1, at 10:30 am
VESTRY MEETING – Church Music Room.
September 5, 12, 19, 26, at 10:30 am
Worship Service at St. David’s and Live Streaming on YouTube.
September 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29, from 10:00 am – Noon
Sit and Pray – Come when you can, stay as long as you like!
September 12, at 11:45 am
VESTRY MEETING – following Worship
Message from Don – August 2021
Greetings St. David Parishioners:
I am honored to serve as St. David’s new Sr. Warden. I am deeply dedicated to the well-being of our Parish and each of you. I am a relative newcomer to St. David’s and still getting to know all of our members and traditions. Yet, l feel that St. David’s is my “home” and all of you are an amazingly loving extended family. I look forward to all of us working together to grow our family and keep St. David’s a beacon of loving light shining in the community.
During my short time as Sr. Warden, several parishioners have brought two significant concerns to my attention that I want to share with all of you so everyone is in the loop with my responses: To be sober means to be serious. God through Paul instructs us to be serious about practicing the Christian virtues: faith, love and hope.
1. In-Person Services – Why are faces masks still being required and why isn’t wine being served with communion?
Response – Out of an abundance of caution, the Vestry decided to take all steps to minimize any potential risks of spreading the Covid infection, especially the Delta Variant, among our parishioners and to protect young children in our families who are not yet vaccinated. There is a particular desire to protect young grandchildren and great-grandchildren from being infected if any of us who are vaccinated should unknowingly become infected without symptoms and spread the virus to them. Therefore, it was decided that during in-person Sunday services we will continue wearing face masks, maintain social distancing, and forego sharing wine during communion. We know the risks are low, but would rather be safe than sorry.
Since resuming in-person services, we are averaging 25-30 attendees every Sunday; and
15- 20 individuals continue viewing our livestream services on YouTube every week. Six guests have joined our in-person services over the last few Sundays. Let’s pray that they return to join us as new parishioners! All are welcome in our home.
Response – There has been a delay in depositing Offertory contributions in to St. David’s bank account. However, Patti Case, Treasurer, is aware of the issue and taking steps to correct it. Please continue making your generous Offerings; they are needed and GREATLY appreciated.
My “Unique Accent”
Those who have heard me talk know that I speak with a really unique accent that is often difficult to understand. I was born with cerebral palsy, which is a neuro-muscular condition that affects my speech and some fine motor functioning. Please tell me when you cannot understand my speech! When I talk, the speech that I hear in my head sounds completely “normal” to me so I don’t know when others cannot understand what I’m saying unless they tell me. You will not embarrass or make me feel uncomfortable.
Some refer to my CP as an affliction or disability. Please do not look at me that way. I choose to refer to it as a blessing from God. I live a blessed and charmed life that only gets more wonderful the longer I live and the more that I learn to love.
I retired in 2020 as Deputy Director of the Washington state Vocational Rehabilitation agency after 45 years working to advance the equality, employment and prosperity of people with disabilities. I bring a wide array of professional skills to the role of Sr. Warden that I believe will be useful.
I look forward to working with all of you to create St. David’s future as we eventually get on the other side of the Covid pandemic. Please contact me anytime with your thoughts, questions or concerns.
Blessings to all of you and yours. -Don
Don Kay, Sr. Warden
Email: mardon12@comcast.net
Cell/Text: 360-789-5528
Parish Newsletter – August 2021
A Message from Father Duane . . . You have all heard about the “Dog Days of Summer.” To the Greeks and Romans, the days occur around the time when Sirius, bright ”Dog Star” of the constellation Canis Major, appears to rise alongside the sun in late July. Sirius is the bright star in the night sky, and the ancients believed that Sirius and the sun combined their heat to make these particular days the hottest of the year.
Bright sunshine and bright moon and stars at night remind us to be living as children of light. Indeed Paul exhorts us to live as children of the bright daylight. In his earliest known epistle he writes, “You are all children of light and children of the day . . . . Since you belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation, for God has destined us . . . . for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-9)
To be sober means to be serious. God through Paul instructs us to be serious about practicing the Christian virtues: faith, love and hope.
Recently our Vestry has determined that the best wisdom for us as a faith community is to continue to operate under Phase Three guidelines. This means we are being very careful not to expose especially our grandchildren and great-grandchildren to unnecessary pandemic risk. But, it also means we continue to be somewhat isolated from one another.
So then in order for us to be serious about sharing faith, love and hope we need to take thoughtful consideration about reaching out to one another by using intentionally alternate means. Please make room in your activities to check with your St. David’s friends. Give a call. Catch up. Drop a card. Write an encouraging note or letter. Let others know you are thinking about them and that we are praying for them. Your faith, love and hope are not limited to having face-to-face physical contact and fellowship. Because many people are still feeling alone and disconnected, they need yet to be reminded you are present in their life and still care. In this way you can certainly turn the summer’s warm, long days into times of refreshing for those whom you love.
Thank-you Laurie McClanahan for serving as Treasurer of St. David’s and the many years you have spent in this position. In addition, you have been able to serve as a Eucharistic Minister and grow flowers for the Altar – not to mention your coffee-hour cinnamon rolls! We may be letting you off as Treasurer but you will still be held accountable for all the other ways you contribute to the health and welfare of St. David’s. We thank you and we appreciate you.
Hello, Don KAY, in his own words . . . I have served on the Vestry as Co-Senior Warden with Patti Case as Senior Warden since Father Duane joined us. Patti gives so much to St. David’s in so many roles. When the role of Treasurer recently came up for appointment, the Vestry unanimously voted to accept Patti’s resignation as Sr. Warden and appointed her to the position of Treasurer. I learned a lot from Patti’s role as Sr. Warden and am so glad she has been appointed Treasurer. We owe much gratitude to Laurie McClanahan for her many years of service as Treasurer and keeping the finances in order.
Good Luck Patti Case and welcome to your new position as Treasurer of St. David’s. In accepting this position we are confident that you have accepted the challenges ahead of you and will do them to the best of your ability.
Jr. Warden Cheri Ratay reports that progress is being made on getting estimates to have the gutters repaired on the church building and that St. David’s Garden Club has been busy tidying up the church grounds. Thank you to all the ‘green thumb’ folks in our congregation.
PLEASE PRAY for our families, friends and neighbors, remembering especially: Shawn, Mike & Judy, Doug, Barrett. Janet, Greg, Dave, David, Ann, Robin, Betty, Margaret, Jonathan & Christina, Sue, Jesse, Don, Kayla & Ryan, Anthony, Kurt & family, Suzy, Rogen & his family, Barbara, Aimee, Kate and Coco.
AUGUST BIRTHDAYS . . .
- Ann Olli on the 1st;
- Gary Weza on the 8th;
- Bill Johnson on the 10th;
- Betty McClanahan on the 15th; and
- Connie Reandeau on the 30th.
Happy Birthday to all. Many happy returns of the day and may God Bless You!
DATES TO REMEMBER. . .
August 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29, at 10:30 am
Worship Service at St. David’s and Live Streaming on YouTube.
August 4, 11, 18, & 25, from 10:00 am – Noon
Sit and Pray – Come as you are, stay as long as you like!
August 15, at 11:45 am
VESTRY MEETING – following Service of Worship
Parish Newsletter – July 2021
A NOTE FROM FR. DUANE . . . A couple of songs come to mind in this long summer season of Pentecost: “Tropical Heatwave” and “It’s too Darn Hot.” It has been bad enough for us to have been suffering through the pandemic and now the local temperatures reaching as high as 109 degrees. Whew! Stay inside. Stay cool. Stay hydrated. Stay safe. Please call if you need help. My direct line is 509-998-6716 or 253-853-5869. Both numbers are received by my mobile phone.
If you know about a heat-suffering person who needs help, reach out, try to connect them with resources they need and if necessary, have them call directly. Whenever I am in the building, the church office is open I would be happy to welcome anyone who needs to come in for a time of cooling off. We have bottled water in the fridge and a solid, functioning air conditioning system in Echols Hall.
This summer season is a time waiting and resting. For farmers it is the season of anticipating harvest and the planting of new crops. Lots of great possibilities lie ahead. And what are we to do? I encourage you to find your rest by focusing on the self-care of prayer. We Episcopalians are a people of prayer, and “prayer changes things.” So, dust off your Prayer Book and begin again to renew your habit of daily devotions. Be invited to join us at church for Wednesday Sit and Pray. “It’ll do you good,” as my parents used to say; “It’s good for what ails you.” And be sure to remind yourselves, the words of this hymn.
Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land.
A home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat
and the burden of the day . . .. Amen
A NOTE FROM OUR SENIOR WARDEN, PATTI CASE . . . It brings me such joy
to see and hear people in the pews at St. David’s, and I hope that in the near future we will see additional signs of adaptation toward a “new normal.” I have this to say about that. Yay God!
Last month I shared some early thinking about Rector/Vestry Mutual Ministry Goals. Thanks to a lot of great thinking by members, fueled by the spirit, we adopted the following goals at our last Vestry meeting. I think you’ll find they reflect a stepwise approach to fit our culture as a parish, with emphasis on coming back together, ed:
1. By September 30, 2021, Rector to initiate and conduct conversations with each member of St. David’s that ensures ongoing communication, nurturing and supportive pastoral relationships.
2. By December 31, 2021, Rector to learn and functionally internalize key aspects of St. David’s culture, history and pastoral practices in order to honor those elements when fulfilling pastoral responsibilities and creating the Strategic Plan (See Goal 4)
3. By September 30. 2021. Rector and Vestry to ensure effective management and timely reporting of all facets of St David’s financial and administrative operations, including:
– Budget and financial position
– Physical plant
4. By June 30, 2022, Rector and Vestry together lead the development of a five-year Congregational Strategic Plan for St. David’s sustainability and growth.
Of course these goals are a work in progress and they are only as effective as we, the congregation of St. David’s make them. To that end, we welcome your feedback and support.
PLEASE PRAY for all who have commended themselves to our prayers; for our families, friends and neighbors, remembering especially: Shawn, Mike & Judy, Doug, Barrett, Janet, Greg, David S., David A., Ann, Robin, Betty, Margaret, Jonathan & Christina, Sue, Jesse, Don, Kayla & Ryan, Anthony, Derek, Kurt & family, James, Andy, Suzy, and Rogen & family. Lord have mercy.
JULY BIRTHDAYS . . .
- Judy Callaghan on the 9th;
- Annie-Beth Henry on the 20th; and
- Cathy Warner on the 22nd.
Happy Birthday to all and many happy returns of the day.
DATES TO REMEMBER. . .
July 4th
Independence Day – GOD BLESS AMERICA!
July 4, 11, 18, & 25, 10:30 am
Worship Service at St. David’s and Live Streaming on YouTube.
July 7, 14, 21, & 28, 10:00 am – Noon
Sit and Pray – Come as you are, stay as long as you like!
FROM BETH DAYWATERS . . . The Master Gardeners of Grays Harbor & Pacific Counties will hold their annual garden tour on Saturday, July 24th. The tour will include Beth’s garden at 1333 Satsop Rd. W., Montesano. Beth says “there will be good music playing throughout the day (indicative of my life as a teen of the 60’s), and it will be a fun day.” There will be three gardens on the tour, one of which is a world-class garden. Tickets will be available at several local businesses for about $12.00 – addresses & directions to each will be included on the tickets.(For further info Email Beth at bethatwatersedge@gmail.com or call 360-249-2231 or 360-580-1810)
