Bruce Dockter, Building Committee
Update on the Administrative Building
(December
6, 2007)
I met with Wayne Flissar of
FS&A Development yesterday morning.
He is the engineer doing the Site plan. He had not submitted the site
plan to the City yet because the City Engineer requested a pre-submittal
meeting to try and iron out issues before the plan goes formally to the city.
That meeting has now been held and was successful. The Engineering department
had no additional comments. They will
not require a separate hydrology report, which Wayne
had already drafted up. He can just make
hydrology notations on the site plan.
Wayne has not been
able to meet with the Fire Chief yet. That will probably yield some
requirements. At issue is the need for a
sprinkler system. Wayne suspects
the Fire Department may insist on it.
They required Kino Chapel by St. Andrews to put
one in. They may also require us to pay for a fire hydrant. The closest one has to be no more than 250
feet from all portions of the building.
And Wayne suspects that the
current one down the street may not meet that criterion. No one has measured it yet.
Other comments that were raised won't affect site plan
approval but will have to be addressed when we do the building permit. The Building Department will want all the
utility details shown on the plan submitted for the building permit. They will
also need a code analysis to be done by the building architect. The building
department will want to know what all the uses of the building are - this will
affect what they require.
They will need the foundation plan. We may need a grease interceptor if we use
the kitchen to cook food that will be sold (Shrove Tuesday may fall in this
category). Most of the above should be covered by the building contractor, but
I wanted to mention them here for the record.
Wayne has
prepared the letter requesting we be exempt from site plan fees due to our
non-profit status, and he has also prepared a letter requesting we be exempt
from certain code requirements, such as the side walks and light barrier.
The site plan should go to the city before the end of the
year.
Jean Dearman, President, St. Barbara Chapter,
Daughters of the King, (520) 459-8931
This was excerpted from the ‘Royal Cross’, a quarterly
publication for Daughters of the King, and explains the cross we wear.
This past summer the National Office got a call about EBay
having posted a cross for sale as the “Kenyon College Crucifix”. The cross was subsequently purchased for the
National Office Archives.
Research with Kenyon
College, in Ohio,
revealed that Kenyon College
had been named after Lord Kenyon of England
who gave the funds to found the college and to build Bexley
Hall, the Episcopal Seminary attached to the college. In gratitude for his gift, the college
adopted the Kenyon Family Crest as the shield of the college.
The crest has four Greek fleury crosses upon it, and a ribbon at the bottom
with the words “Magnanimeter Crucem
Sustine” written on the ribbon. Our first national Chaplain, named by
Margaret Franklin in 1889, was the Rev. Ralph Wood Kenyon. Fr. Kenyon encouraged Margaret and our first
sisters to design a “badge” for the Order – a cross to be worn daily as our
habit. This cross is a Greek fleury cross with the words
emblazoned on the crossbar: Magnanimeter Crucem Sustine.
Some of Fr. Kenyon’s personal papers are in the National
Office Archives. One very special
artifact is his official seal, which is a stamp with a cross exactly like the
one on the Kenyon family crest.
What can easily be deducted from this research is that
Margaret and Fr. Kenyon worked together to design our cross.
How marvelous of the Lord to use EBay to show the way to
discover the true origin of the DOK cross.
And how simply astounding that the origin of the cross
is Anglican.
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Dottie Gutwein, Education for Ministry
EDUCATION FOR MINISTRY---EFM
A four year extension course offered by
the School of Theology of the University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee.
Mentor: Dottie
Gutwein, 520-515-0679
* Participants commit to one year at a time to meet weekly
in a seminar led by trained mentors. The program begins with a year of Bible
study of the Hebrew Scriptures. The second year of Bible study focus is the
Christian Testament. The third year examines church history and the fourth is
twentieth century theology.
* The weekly sessions meet on Sunday afternoons at 2 PM and last 2 1/2 hours. It includes discussion, worship and
theological reflection.
* This course is for the laity. It provides the basics of
a theological education that helps develop knowledge and confidence about the
ministry all Christians share.
WE RECEIVED THAT CALL AT BAPTISM
* The program started in 1975 and has grown to
international status. Over 60,000 persons have participated in EFM. The School
of Theology has now added On-Line
seminar capability for remote areas.
It is currently working on recording the texts on CDs for
those who would benefit from them.
* Since 2001, eight people have graduated from the St.
Stephen's seminar group.
*The sessions at St. Stephen's begin in September and run
through to June. There are 34 weeks of study per year.
* At the completion of the course, participants are given
a certificate and 18 Continuing Education units for each year of EFM.
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Ernie and Sally
Montagne Travel to West
Africa
St. Stephen’s members, Ernie and Sally Montagne, are
traveling to Togo
and Niger in West
Africa from 5 to 24 December. They will be meeting with Rotarians
and community leaders to plan humanitarian Rotary projects, primarily in the
areas of water, health, and education.
Ernie and Sally previously visited this area in November
2005 and saw first hand the need for clean water. They visited many communities that lacked
most of the basic necessities we take for granted, including electricity,
running water, schools and health care.
They observed the women walking miles every day to fetch
water, and were dismayed to see pigs and cattle drinking from the same unclean
open sources.
In many communities, Ernie and Sally learned, "Access
to clean water is our number one need."
The women said, "When we get a well, our babies will stop
dying."
Since that first trip, Ernie and Sally have helped raise
almost $300,000 to fund 30 on-going Rotary projects to provide water wells and
other essential humanitarian aid in the neediest areas.
The objective of the current trip is to plan additional
projects.
Top of FormBottom of
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Andy Anderson Wants Your Aluminum Cans
Sierra Vista,
as the 12th largest city in the state, has the highest percentage of
its waste stream (telephone books, Christmas trees, motor oil, scrap metal, street signs,
used tires, asphalt road millings and concrete sidewalk rubble) recycled than
any of the other larger cities. We here at St. Stephens do a little to help
with recycling of aluminum cans and the pulling of can tabs for a very special
program, The Ronald McDonald House. Did you know that:
·
Aluminum was discovered in 1820 and is the most
abundant metal on earth.
·
Over 50% of aluminum cans produced are recycled.
·
A used and recycled aluminum can is back on the
grocery shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days.
·
Every minute of the day, an average of 113,204
aluminum cans are recycled.
·
Last year 54 BILLION cans were recycled, saving
energy equivalent to 15 million barrels of crude oil.
·
It takes 22 cans to make up one pound
(estimated).
·
And, the empty aluminum can is worth about 1
cent.
Not hard to figure out we need everyone’s help with collecting
cans. It would really help if each
family were to pull off the tabs, put them in a zip lock bag, and leave the zip
lock bag in the trash can with the bigger bag of cans. The money we collect
here at St Stephens goes into the general fund and, as mentioned earlier, the
tabs are turned in for money which is dedicated to the Ronald McDonald House.
We have placed several plastic trash cans on the north side of the building for
all aluminum cans being turned in for recycle and about once a month they are
collected and turned in. Be a team player, drink from those aluminum cans! Any questions contact Andrew M. Anderson at
459-1852. I will come and pick them up
if necessary.
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Doris Millard, Episcopal Church Women (ECW)
At the November meeting, those present voted to provide
Christmas presents and food for four families of the Carmichael
School District. Carmichael
School provides the ages and needs
of the families.
Additionally, they voted to provide toys for the boys and
girls who are seen at the St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic, Nogales. The children get to pick a toy to take home
after they have been seen by a doctor at the clinic.
These two projects are ongoing ECW projects.
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The Wednesday Morning Conspiracy
Each Wednesday morning at 9:30
a group of co-conspirators gather in the back of your church. We meet to
sit in silence, meditate, pray --- to con-spire, breathe together (spire =
breathe, con = together). We try to emulate a “Conspiracy of Compassion,”
breathing together for a wounded world. A litany for healing is prayed
for those on our intercessory list who are ill. Prayers for strength and
protection, ministries, travelers, are breathed as we hold in our hearts and
minds the persons whose names we receive and bring. As we end with
Thanksgivings we are reminded how blessed we are to be called to this
ministry. We welcome you to join us for this and/or the Bible Study which
follows at 10:30. (We finish
at 12:00).
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Bible Study
Bible Study during this season is an intensive study of St.
Paul’s life and letters. The Pauline Epistles,
which we hear so often in liturgy readings, are the earliest New Testament
writings. I Thessalonians was probably written in 50 CE, twenty years
before Mark’s Gospel. Thirteen (or fourteen) of the New Testament’s
twenty seven books are attributed to Paul. So much of how we think as
Christians is from this one man’s influence; it behooves us to learn what, why
and how he proclaimed Jesus. Following him around his Mediterranean world
brings us in touch with the geography, history, culture of his times and a way
to reflect on our own. His is an amazing adventure story as he works out
with the congregations he established the implications of all the issues that
arise. How are they to live together in this new life in Christ?
How do they take the “Mind of Christ “into the world? What teachings are
most important? What are the Christian virtues? How to deal with
conflict? We are now reading Corinthians and are finding out what led him
to write the ode to love that we read at weddings! There may even be some
issues we have today that Paul can address for us, though there have been times
he is quoted on both sides of a debate! Come join us. There may not
be many definitive answers in our study but the questions and the dialogue may
well bring insight and energy to your own journey with Jesus.
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Tim Holsonback, Stewardship
The Stewardship dinner was a smashing success. All
had a good time. The festivities started at 5:30 PM with social hour. This gave everyone a
chance to mingle. After dinner was served at 6:30 PM, Chaplain Mark Beals
gave the homily for the evening. The highlight of his talk was
communication. He pointed out how the Episcopalians have an established
tradition that enables us to build upon. But as we are building upon it,
we must communicate with each other to achieve whatever goal we are striving
for. I feel that this is a good message as we pledge our support for the
coming church calendar year. The ministry coordinators must communicate
to those who help, what needs to be accomplished. In turn, the helpers
need to communicate what issues arise during the interim as we move towards the
accomplishment. This is the good old give and take routine. By
sharing up and down, we can make it. I know as this stewardship campaign evolved, the help that I received from our Senior Warden and
Office Manager was instrumental in our successful stewardship dinner event.
The Stewardship coordination is actually a campaign.
We need to support our church both monetarily and with our individual
gifts. By giving, we receive also. Jill and I, both, worked on this
campaign. We started by obtaining the membership from the church
office. Knowing that stewardship breads are part of the stewardship
package, we contacted Joan Strom. Joan coordinated with the ladies of the
church to produce the breads. Also, we asked the Senior Warden,
Treasurer, and Father Vic to write letters detailing what Stewardship means
from their positions in the church. Bonnie Bosworth mailed three sets of
mailings with the letters from each person weekly. While this was going
on, we canvassed several local caterers on the actual dinner. After
research and upon advisement and consent of the Vestry, the Windemere
was awarded the contract for our Stewardship dinner. At the check-in
table, attendees were given a stewardship bag. Each bag contained
bread, a pledge card, and the three letters. After the dinner event, we
focused on collecting the pledges. This includes the all member
canvass. This year, the members of the Vestry were given lists of persons
to contact. We divided up the church roster for this. The pledges
are collected weekly and Bonnie reports to me who gave. For the members
who did not pledge yet, we asked the Vestry member who was assigned the missing
pledgers to remind them of this needed information.
It is never too late to pledge.
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St. Stephen’s Young Adults (Liz York & Tim Ash)
“Engaging Our Young Adults” is one of the Year of St.
Stephens Focus Areas. We have had
several great meetings with our Young Adults to get their thoughts and ideas
for what “Engaging our Young Adults” at St. Stephen’s
really means to them. Our Young Adults
have been forthcoming with their ideas and in general are centered on: 1)
dealing with Real World issues facing Young Adults today; 2) Bible Study and
discussion on what is the Bible saying to Young Adults; 3) Young Adult Church
Services geared towards Young Adults with Sermons and Discussion addressing
their phase in Adulthood and Spiritual Formation. Minimum structure, getting together and the
freedom to explore and share ideas and experiences are also key. Our next set of activities will be meeting
with Fr. Vic and our Young Adults to begin developing a format and planning a
Young Adult Service.
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High School Youth Group (Tony Roselli & Sara
McCauley).
Outreach
Activities: The Journey to Adulthood
group, under the leadership of Sara McCauley and the invaluable assistance of
Allison Tigert, assisted a family in need with a $170 gift certificate to
Wal-Mart. The family suffered a tragic
fire that burned many of their belongings and J2A rallied around this effort to
assist them in their time of need. We
have planned a bake sale, spaghetti dinner and a possible barbeque to start to
earn money for our pilgrimage next year.
Winter Retreat
(Chapel Rock). Also, coming up on
December 28 is a trip to Chapel Rock Episcopal camp for three days. We have three students going, along with
Carol and Tony Roselli.
One of my goals for the year was to introduce our
teenagers to the prospect of the priesthood as a career choice, so on January
15th we have two members of the clergy coming to share their stories. If our church is to grow we need the very
best of our youth coming on board in the near future. The J2A program calls for a project by each
student to put their faith into action.
We are currently working on finalizing their individual projects and
setting them up with a member of the congregation as a mentor.
We have established communications with our new Diocesan
Youth and Young Adult Director, Matt Marino, and are hoping to become much more
involved with the happenings for youth within the wider Episcopal
community. Travel time is an issue for
us but, who knows, it might be a real opportunity for the kids to meet other
Episcopalian youth.
The Christmas Pageant.
Our Children, Youth and Young Adults will present the
“Christmas Story” on Christmas Eve during the 5:00
pm Eucharist. We hope to
deepen our relationship with Jesus, the people of the bible and each
other. The pageant script is prepared
from the Gospels of John, Luke and Matthew.
Come and share “The Good News”.
St. Stephen’s Youth Group
Rite-13 Youth Group (Christy
Smith & Tim Ash) Rite-13 is a program designed to build self-esteem in
the context of the Christian community.
We will work together to establish a framework for friendships which
bridge gender stereotypes. This will be
done in a safe, structured environment.
Our Meetings: Our group meets
on Wednesdays, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Our time together includes:
6:00 – 6:30 Gather, Grace & Eat
6:30 – 6:45 Introduce the Lesson
6:45 – 7:15 Lesson Activity
7:15 – 7:30 Free time & Closure
Our Youth. Our Rite-13 Youth Group
(aka Triple “S” or St. Stephen’s Saints) consists of 12 wonderful 5th
thru 7th Graders. We
would like for you to get to know our young people in a more personal sense, so
we will feature one or several of our youth in each release of the
Messenger. In this release, let’s meet Holden
Keith Smith.
Holden
was born on July 22, 1997
(the Feast of Mary Magdalene), in San
Antonio, TX. Holden’s mother’s name is Christy and
father’s name is Brian. Holden has one
sister Alaina, who’s in the High School Youth
Group. He is in the 5th Grade
and attends Meyer Elementary
School and is a member of Beginning Band. Holden is a member of the Boy Scouts of
America. His favorite activities are
video games, reading, math, time with family and camping. His favorite and most inspirational people
and heroes are his dad, mom and friends.
Holden does not like vegetables and soccer. Holden recently attended the Boy Scout
Conclave in Marana in November and will be playing in his first Band Concert on
December 19th.
Our Activities: We are planning several activities to
form a close bond with our group, support our local, national and worldwide
friends. We have also been discussing
activities we can sponsor to support our friends and the earth.
Turkey Raffle. Our
group will be selling raffle tickets for a Christmas Turkey through the weekend
of 15 and 16 Dec. Tickets are one dollar
and all proceeds will be donated to the Salvation Army and St.
Stephens Building Fund. “A small way to do our small part!”
Millennium Development Goals. Our
group will continue in the example started by the J2A Group last year in
support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The goals were developed by the leaders of
the world’s nations, in cooperation with the United Nations. One of the goals our group will support this year
is “Eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger”. One of several activities
our group will support is donation of rice through Free Rice
(freerice.com). Through this site youth
will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program
for each word they define correctly. WARNING:
This game may make you smarter. It may
improve your speaking, writing, thinking, grades and job performance.
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Keith Sterns - Outreach
The 2008 editions of the newsletter will be used to report
Outreach information and highlight selected Outreach partners. The Outreach budget and pertinent material
received from Outreach partners will be displayed on the bulletin board near
the coffee area.
The local Salvation Army continues to be an important
Outreach partner. As of December 12, 2007, we will have
served 12 weekly luncheons. The monthly
lunch requires three to four servers and food prepared by six to eight parish
volunteers. The lunch usually serves 40
to 50 individuals 55 to 65 plates of food.
The December meal was targeted for 60 customers. The lunch is served on the second Wednesday
of the month from 12:30 PM until 3:00 PM.
The Red Wagon food collection is delivered to the Salvation Army food
bank by Bonnie Bosworth. During the 2007
food year, it is estimated that the parish has contributed over 1200 pounds of
food to the Salvation Army food bank.
The Salvation Army Outreach budget for 2007 was $600.00. Year to-date Outreach fund contributions
include $300.00 in cash and $201.00 for food costs. Cash contributions were received from members
of the parish that were directed for lunch cost use. At this time there is a
need to expand the base of individuals preparing and serving the food for the
monthly luncheons.
The Good Neighbor Alliance (GNA) is the only shelter in
the county that provides shelter for homeless men and families (including but
not limited to families with children).
The homeless are served at Samaritan Station on North
Seventh Street.
Meal service, a shower program and life skills training are provided
onsite for guests. The Rev. David Barkley, pastor of the Sierra
Vista United Methodist
Church, was the driving force
leading to full development of GNA. St.
Stephen's has had a long-term relationship with GNA. When GNA was still an idea, Bill Dages served
on the board of directors. When his
term was up Ben Sommerville, rector of St. Stephen's, served on the board of directors. Episcopal Social Service of Arizona provided
an early seed money grant which assisted in the employment of an executive
director. During 2007, members of the
parish have served as onsite volunteers and on the board of directors and the
executive board. GNA has a continuing
need for onsite volunteers for the bath program, office assistance, meal
preparation, board game assistance and basic computer assistance for guests.
The GNA Outreach budget for 2007 was $2000. Year to-date $1500 of the budget
amount has been provided to GNA. GNA
depends on a variety of funding sources.
Contributions and volunteers from local churches and other
community groups are critical assets necessary for its ability to serve.
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The Ministry of the Episcopal Church Women
ECW Episcopal Church Women consists of all the women in
the Parish. We meet monthly (except June July and December) on the third
Wednesday of the month at Noon. We
bring brown bag lunches to the porch classroom for fellowship and welcome all
who are able to join us. Our moneymakers consist of Spring
and Fall rummage sales (Great recycling!) an October Holiday Bazaar (on the
last Saturday in October) and the Cookie and Bake Sale (on the second Saturday
in December). This year, the Cookie Sale just past made nearly $1,600.00. As
Father Vic has pointed out most of the money goes out nearly as fast as it
comes in. Ten percent of our profits go into the general fund of the Parish,
and another ten percent goes to the Rectors Discretionary Fund, which the
Rector uses for those who come to him in need. A portion is set aside for the
refurbished kitchen when we build. Camp scholarships for our young people, aid
to families in need whether inside or outside the parish, Good Neighbor
Alliance, Forgach House and the Salvation Army are
other beneficiaries. These activities promote good fellowship. The men are
wonderful about helping not only at moving heavy objects, but also contributing
their cookie making expertise, etc. ECW’s next
meeting will be on 16 January. It is to be a luncheon meeting at a restaurant
yet to be determined. Watch the E-Scene for details. If you have questions,
please call Dinah McCreery at 378-1138.
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Worship Ministry
The Worship Ministry covers the following areas of
worship:
Altar Guild support
Acolytes
Music, choir and organist
Lay Eucharistic Ministry
Lectors
Processions
Seeing that the necessary worship items are available, (e.g.,
wine, wafers, lectionaries, Gospels, Altar Book, etc.)
All of the foregoing are done in
close coordination with, and in support to, the Rector who is ultimately
responsible for worship.
At present, the ministry urgently needs at least two and
hopefully three additional Lay Eucharistic Ministers (those who assist at the altar)
and the same number of Lay Eucharistic Visitors (those who take the Eucharist
to shut-ins or anyone who cannot come to regular services). Also involved in
this ministry is the monthly scheduling of LEMs, LEVs, and Lectors plus their recruitment and training
Please see, or contact (378-1138) Ron McCreery if you
would like to be of help in these ministries.
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From Anonymous: A Special Thank You to Dinah for again
stepping forth and chairing the Bake Sale. You thanked everyone for
working and buying and now we would like to Thank You
for being so Special and spending so much time and money on this wonderful
project. We are truly Blessed to have so many
wonderful workers, and are you Volunteering for 2008?
The Rev. Victor J. Sarrazin, Rector
