“The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria”
Annual Meeting Rector’s Address
Father Fred Heard
January 20, 2013
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. AMEN
This is a very special place. There is a Saint Paul’s Cambria-way and then there are other ways. A significant part of the “Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria”involves our outreach commitment. The years have been significant in that respect because we continue to give thousands of dollars to programs affecting the poor and the homeless. We gave money to the arts…we gave money to children. We enriched the lives of our animals with blessings at HART…the local animal shelter…and on our own campus during Saint Francis Day. We sent money to our missions. Our ministry continued to reach out to Bayside and to the Senior Nutrition program. We delivered cookies to the community at Christmastime.
We opened our doors to the Twelve-Step programs and beginning next week, Cambria’s largest women’s AA meeting will begin conducting its meetings on our campus. They will join two other Twelve-Step programs. We welcomed a music recital for the second year on our campus. Inquiring folks continued to walk our labyrinth and meditate in our Quiet
Garden; others find comfort in the twice monthly Grief or Caregivers Support Groups.
We will focus on outreach February 3 when we ask everyone to return their “thanksgiving canisters.” The money from this program which was envisioned by our Outreach Chair and our Vestry Clerk Alva and Van Jahnes-Smith, will be solely used for feeding the hungry in Cambria. Additionally, at its retreat in February, the new vestry will discuss how it might further Outreach which is the “Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.”
In May, we will host our first guest concert on campus when the group from Saint Petersburg, Russia arrives to favor us with a community concert…half religious and half folk. We will open our doors for this very important musical event to the
community.
Last June, we started monthly children’s sermons and this summer we will sponsor a one day Vacation Bible School for Cambria children. We need volunteers for this program and you can speak to me if you are interested in volunteering for this ministry. The children will come if we provide.
There is love at Saint Paul’s and while we might disagree from time to time on certain issues…this special place remains, as I was told at the beginning of my ministry in Cambria, a church without cliques. It is vital for the success of God’s work that we never allow cliques or gossip to overtake the purpose of our mission on this hill.
“The way of Saint Paul’s Cambria” is in the bones of those who volunteer so many hours. This is not a church just
planning next Sunday’s services. This is a church planning for those we can touch while we are here on this journey. We are a church filled with members who are planning for the time when we have “gone home.” This is a church that is filled with people who choose unity over divisiveness. Our outstanding Senior Warden Betty Malone has led our vestry for two years and she deserves and has earned a standing ovation. Betty is delightful to work with…she is fun…she is well formed in theology…she is a person of prayer…and I cannot begin to thank her enough for her devotion to Saint Paul’s and her friendship and support for me as Rector. Besides, she is a cat person!
I also want to say something about our treasurer, Frank Michel. You know, when I was at my first meeting of the vestry in Salem’s Saint Paul’s…a big argument broke out about the nature of the treasurer’s reports. It was a bloody battle. I wondered what I had gotten into and the treasurer abruptly resigned in the middle of the retreat…so that was my beginning. Frank Michel is a gentleman and he knows what he is doing as treasurer…he is a committed Christian and always that is his guide. As your rector and chief administrator of the church, I can depend on what he tells me. He knows what he is doing. He has history. I am really glad he is our treasurer. And the support and care of the remaining members of the treasurer’s team: Lou Ann Carter, Phyllis Golowka and Louise Windisch provide back up for the treasurer and leadership in his absence.
We have grown this year and one of the things I always hear is how friendly we are. I know we exchange the peace
well…but I believe we really come through with visitors during the coffee hour. Newcomers don’t just stand around. They are welcomed. Our hospitality team headed by Joni Michel and all the people who volunteer each week to host the service coffee hours and the big events like this morning’s brunch or yesterday’s reception and all the other events during the year, help us to reach out to newcomers, and I think, contribute to the “family sense”… “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.”
Would everyone who is involved in hospitality at Saint Paul’s please stand and receive our thanks?
A word about the retiring vestry members: Now beginning my fifth year as your rector, I have been blessed with
strong, Christ-committed vestries. I will miss each of those who retire today. Particularly I want to mention Junior Warden Dick DeLauer, who only one year ago was faced with a life threatening illness. He kept at it and hung on and even once when I came to see him when he thought I was there to give him Last Rites, he kept fighting and today is back to good health. He is a good man. He was worked hard as your Junior Warden and his accomplishments have been many and solid. Jim Wilson has been the wise counsel in so many ways. His years of business experience and his commitment to rich theology have made him a valuable vestry member and a wise counselor to me. Thanks also to Jim Huchthausen for the time and thoughtful contributions he made during his two years on vestry.
I am very grateful for the solid and time consuming work of the Monetary Task Force. They were charged with raising the money and implementing the new Audio Visual System at Saint Paul’s. They were told we could not offer pledge money or place it in the budget…that the money for the project would have to be raised outside of our budget. They have done that. There was a major parish fundraiser, there was a vestry allocation from the remaining Butterfield and Stark estates, memorial gifts, and previous fundraisers—none from the annual operating budget and finally, nearly $8600 from an anonymous donor. The project is now moving to installation and will be accomplished in a few weeks. We will now be able to offer audio enhanced capabilities for our members and public who have hearing issues. We will be able to offer programs from the national church that previously had not been available to us. I am pleased that Rosie Leidig has agreed to head up this project and soon we will have available programs from the national church featuring things like estate planning or presentations from some of the top theologians in the church today. This will greatly enhance our worship capabilities at Saint Paul’s. We will be using our AV program when we implement our Vacation Bible School this summer. Also, the Saint Petersburg concert will include the community and we will have overflow capabilities followed by a reception and opportunity to meet the musicians. Company is coming, Saint Paul’s, and with 102 present on Christmas Eve, every seat was taken. Funerals and Memorial Services will be comfortably accommodated with over flow capabilities in the Parish Hall. What we have done and what the Task Force has accomplished is “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.” This will become very evident as the potential is fully realized during the coming months and years. Truly the Task Force: Sharkey Warrick, Barbara Marks, Joni Michel, Bob Cichowski, Anne Harris-Smith, Don Dallmann, Dick DeLauer…under the leadership of Julian Crocker, has looked to the future and they have embraced the idea that “it isn’t
important until it is.” Let us celebrate what we have done!
I want to extend my thanks to the Episcopal Church Women for their generosity in spirit and treasure…they have contributed mightily to “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.” The quality of life and worship at Saint Paul’s and indeed in this community would be greatly diminished without the presence of these dedicated spiritual women.
What would the Episcopal Church be without the support of a vibrant Altar Guild? I have maintained for a long time that
ours is the best…but we need more volunteers for this vital ministry. Continuity and mentoring is important in Altar Guild. This is a ministry that was long open only to women in the parish…but as the vestry and indeed the ordained clergy has opened to women, so altar guild membership is now available to both men and women. Dick DeLauer is now counted in the ranks of Altar Guild and he has made this a priority ministry in his life. Please speak to Barbara Marks, director of Altar Guild or to me if you would like to be involved.
When so many churches have either collapsed financially or are walking a perilous path because of investment issues in their securities…we have been fortunate to have maintained a healthy portfolio. Under the watchful eye of its chair Frank Schutz, we see our investment returns improving, and we have weathered the storm. Our deep thanks go to current and past members for their study and recommendations in this important area.
Our campus isn’t beautiful because it is just naturally that way. It has taken a lot of work from many volunteers led by Barbara Hagiwara. As people get older, it gets more difficult to get a team. Accordingly, it is necessary to hire professionals to come to the campus to cut tree limbs and groom our shrubs. These projects cost money. We asked that a line item for landscaping and gardening be placed in this year’s budget. We have a few hundred dollars that have been donated for this purpose, but vestry has not been able to appropriate money in this direction. At the vestry retreat, I will ask them to discuss a program similar to that used by our Outreach Commission where they have invested reserves and spend the dividends. I am trying to formulate a plan that will allow us to be proper stewards of this beautiful land and at the same time recognize that for some it is no longer possible to personally work the dirt.
Finally, who wouldn’t want to come to work each day to work with Michelle? God has been generous in sending her to work with us at Saint Paul’s. She has been innovative and creative. She is smart and talented. As we moved even closer
to a paperless world and moved the Epistle to the computer, and as she designed her “quick notes” to keep us informed…we have really established an amazing communication system for our parish family. I am also very pleased with what Adair
has done with our web page and soon we will be offering our sermons and selected services on our web page. I listen to colleagues discuss the “office,” and it is amazing what we have done in Cambria. I truly believe that Michelle’s strength is that she loves everyone in this community and we all love her. She truly represents “The Way of Saint Paul’s
Cambria.”
We acknowledge gratefully the significant physical gifts received this year: the nativity scene and the icon of Jesus and Mary have enhanced the beauty of our church.
Marty Durrett and I were delighted at the Diocesan Convention to see the slide presentation featuring the churches in our Diocese…but when the slide of our garden was flashed on the screen, it was there longer than anyone else’s. We were proud. I am proud of each of you. I am proud to be your rector. I love you all.
AMEN
This is a very special place. There is a Saint Paul’s Cambria-way and then there are other ways. A significant part of the “Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria”involves our outreach commitment. The years have been significant in that respect because we continue to give thousands of dollars to programs affecting the poor and the homeless. We gave money to the arts…we gave money to children. We enriched the lives of our animals with blessings at HART…the local animal shelter…and on our own campus during Saint Francis Day. We sent money to our missions. Our ministry continued to reach out to Bayside and to the Senior Nutrition program. We delivered cookies to the community at Christmastime.
We opened our doors to the Twelve-Step programs and beginning next week, Cambria’s largest women’s AA meeting will begin conducting its meetings on our campus. They will join two other Twelve-Step programs. We welcomed a music recital for the second year on our campus. Inquiring folks continued to walk our labyrinth and meditate in our Quiet
Garden; others find comfort in the twice monthly Grief or Caregivers Support Groups.
We will focus on outreach February 3 when we ask everyone to return their “thanksgiving canisters.” The money from this program which was envisioned by our Outreach Chair and our Vestry Clerk Alva and Van Jahnes-Smith, will be solely used for feeding the hungry in Cambria. Additionally, at its retreat in February, the new vestry will discuss how it might further Outreach which is the “Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.”
In May, we will host our first guest concert on campus when the group from Saint Petersburg, Russia arrives to favor us with a community concert…half religious and half folk. We will open our doors for this very important musical event to the
community.
Last June, we started monthly children’s sermons and this summer we will sponsor a one day Vacation Bible School for Cambria children. We need volunteers for this program and you can speak to me if you are interested in volunteering for this ministry. The children will come if we provide.
There is love at Saint Paul’s and while we might disagree from time to time on certain issues…this special place remains, as I was told at the beginning of my ministry in Cambria, a church without cliques. It is vital for the success of God’s work that we never allow cliques or gossip to overtake the purpose of our mission on this hill.
“The way of Saint Paul’s Cambria” is in the bones of those who volunteer so many hours. This is not a church just
planning next Sunday’s services. This is a church planning for those we can touch while we are here on this journey. We are a church filled with members who are planning for the time when we have “gone home.” This is a church that is filled with people who choose unity over divisiveness. Our outstanding Senior Warden Betty Malone has led our vestry for two years and she deserves and has earned a standing ovation. Betty is delightful to work with…she is fun…she is well formed in theology…she is a person of prayer…and I cannot begin to thank her enough for her devotion to Saint Paul’s and her friendship and support for me as Rector. Besides, she is a cat person!
I also want to say something about our treasurer, Frank Michel. You know, when I was at my first meeting of the vestry in Salem’s Saint Paul’s…a big argument broke out about the nature of the treasurer’s reports. It was a bloody battle. I wondered what I had gotten into and the treasurer abruptly resigned in the middle of the retreat…so that was my beginning. Frank Michel is a gentleman and he knows what he is doing as treasurer…he is a committed Christian and always that is his guide. As your rector and chief administrator of the church, I can depend on what he tells me. He knows what he is doing. He has history. I am really glad he is our treasurer. And the support and care of the remaining members of the treasurer’s team: Lou Ann Carter, Phyllis Golowka and Louise Windisch provide back up for the treasurer and leadership in his absence.
We have grown this year and one of the things I always hear is how friendly we are. I know we exchange the peace
well…but I believe we really come through with visitors during the coffee hour. Newcomers don’t just stand around. They are welcomed. Our hospitality team headed by Joni Michel and all the people who volunteer each week to host the service coffee hours and the big events like this morning’s brunch or yesterday’s reception and all the other events during the year, help us to reach out to newcomers, and I think, contribute to the “family sense”… “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.”
Would everyone who is involved in hospitality at Saint Paul’s please stand and receive our thanks?
A word about the retiring vestry members: Now beginning my fifth year as your rector, I have been blessed with
strong, Christ-committed vestries. I will miss each of those who retire today. Particularly I want to mention Junior Warden Dick DeLauer, who only one year ago was faced with a life threatening illness. He kept at it and hung on and even once when I came to see him when he thought I was there to give him Last Rites, he kept fighting and today is back to good health. He is a good man. He was worked hard as your Junior Warden and his accomplishments have been many and solid. Jim Wilson has been the wise counsel in so many ways. His years of business experience and his commitment to rich theology have made him a valuable vestry member and a wise counselor to me. Thanks also to Jim Huchthausen for the time and thoughtful contributions he made during his two years on vestry.
I am very grateful for the solid and time consuming work of the Monetary Task Force. They were charged with raising the money and implementing the new Audio Visual System at Saint Paul’s. They were told we could not offer pledge money or place it in the budget…that the money for the project would have to be raised outside of our budget. They have done that. There was a major parish fundraiser, there was a vestry allocation from the remaining Butterfield and Stark estates, memorial gifts, and previous fundraisers—none from the annual operating budget and finally, nearly $8600 from an anonymous donor. The project is now moving to installation and will be accomplished in a few weeks. We will now be able to offer audio enhanced capabilities for our members and public who have hearing issues. We will be able to offer programs from the national church that previously had not been available to us. I am pleased that Rosie Leidig has agreed to head up this project and soon we will have available programs from the national church featuring things like estate planning or presentations from some of the top theologians in the church today. This will greatly enhance our worship capabilities at Saint Paul’s. We will be using our AV program when we implement our Vacation Bible School this summer. Also, the Saint Petersburg concert will include the community and we will have overflow capabilities followed by a reception and opportunity to meet the musicians. Company is coming, Saint Paul’s, and with 102 present on Christmas Eve, every seat was taken. Funerals and Memorial Services will be comfortably accommodated with over flow capabilities in the Parish Hall. What we have done and what the Task Force has accomplished is “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.” This will become very evident as the potential is fully realized during the coming months and years. Truly the Task Force: Sharkey Warrick, Barbara Marks, Joni Michel, Bob Cichowski, Anne Harris-Smith, Don Dallmann, Dick DeLauer…under the leadership of Julian Crocker, has looked to the future and they have embraced the idea that “it isn’t
important until it is.” Let us celebrate what we have done!
I want to extend my thanks to the Episcopal Church Women for their generosity in spirit and treasure…they have contributed mightily to “The Way of Saint Paul’s Cambria.” The quality of life and worship at Saint Paul’s and indeed in this community would be greatly diminished without the presence of these dedicated spiritual women.
What would the Episcopal Church be without the support of a vibrant Altar Guild? I have maintained for a long time that
ours is the best…but we need more volunteers for this vital ministry. Continuity and mentoring is important in Altar Guild. This is a ministry that was long open only to women in the parish…but as the vestry and indeed the ordained clergy has opened to women, so altar guild membership is now available to both men and women. Dick DeLauer is now counted in the ranks of Altar Guild and he has made this a priority ministry in his life. Please speak to Barbara Marks, director of Altar Guild or to me if you would like to be involved.
When so many churches have either collapsed financially or are walking a perilous path because of investment issues in their securities…we have been fortunate to have maintained a healthy portfolio. Under the watchful eye of its chair Frank Schutz, we see our investment returns improving, and we have weathered the storm. Our deep thanks go to current and past members for their study and recommendations in this important area.
Our campus isn’t beautiful because it is just naturally that way. It has taken a lot of work from many volunteers led by Barbara Hagiwara. As people get older, it gets more difficult to get a team. Accordingly, it is necessary to hire professionals to come to the campus to cut tree limbs and groom our shrubs. These projects cost money. We asked that a line item for landscaping and gardening be placed in this year’s budget. We have a few hundred dollars that have been donated for this purpose, but vestry has not been able to appropriate money in this direction. At the vestry retreat, I will ask them to discuss a program similar to that used by our Outreach Commission where they have invested reserves and spend the dividends. I am trying to formulate a plan that will allow us to be proper stewards of this beautiful land and at the same time recognize that for some it is no longer possible to personally work the dirt.
Finally, who wouldn’t want to come to work each day to work with Michelle? God has been generous in sending her to work with us at Saint Paul’s. She has been innovative and creative. She is smart and talented. As we moved even closer
to a paperless world and moved the Epistle to the computer, and as she designed her “quick notes” to keep us informed…we have really established an amazing communication system for our parish family. I am also very pleased with what Adair
has done with our web page and soon we will be offering our sermons and selected services on our web page. I listen to colleagues discuss the “office,” and it is amazing what we have done in Cambria. I truly believe that Michelle’s strength is that she loves everyone in this community and we all love her. She truly represents “The Way of Saint Paul’s
Cambria.”
We acknowledge gratefully the significant physical gifts received this year: the nativity scene and the icon of Jesus and Mary have enhanced the beauty of our church.
Marty Durrett and I were delighted at the Diocesan Convention to see the slide presentation featuring the churches in our Diocese…but when the slide of our garden was flashed on the screen, it was there longer than anyone else’s. We were proud. I am proud of each of you. I am proud to be your rector. I love you all.
AMEN