The Sunrise ...at Episcopal Church of the Resurrection Starkville, Mississippi April, 2005 Dear Brothers and Sisters, On February 25 and 26, your Vestry held its annual retreat. Our focus of this year was to clearly articulate our goals for 2005 and design a plan for implementing the organization structure approved in November 2004. These two tasks are inseparable because the organizational structure will be the means by which the goals are accomplished. The Vestry invited 6 newer members to meet with us to share with us what drew them to the Church of the Resurrection, their initial impressions, and suggestions of how we might be more welcoming and inclusive with our newer members. From this feedback and an overall assessment of our parish, the following were areas identified as our parish strengths and areas where we might improve as a parish. Our Parish Strengths: overall sense of community, variety of parish happenings, excellent quality of our nursery care, approach to the theology of stewardship, improvements in the buildings and grounds and quality of maintenance, worship music, sermons (quality and having different preachers), a well organized altar guild and wedding guild, MSU students involvement in the full life of the parish, availability of children's Christian education, the quality and variety of service opportunities through our ministries in the community, fun parish events, excellent Sunday morning refreshments, pastoral care contacts (with long term and newer members; through calls, meals, other support), the Lazarus Guild, welcoming guests and newer members, and newer members feeling included. Opportunities to Improve: establish and activate a nursery committee to provide nursery feedback, make facilities more physically accessible and directions more clearly marked, activate the Landscape Committee to better coordinate the various grounds projects, make better use of the Worship Committee to coordinate worship planning, offer more diversity in worship music to be more accessible to all, have ushers delay late arrivals until appropriate times to be seated, increase the number of MSU students involved in parish and Canterbury, have a broader participation in the leadership of community service activities, better publicize the community service opportunities, have more children participating in Children's Christian education, increase parental participation (not necessarily teaching) and enthusiasm in Children's Christian education, recruit more Sunday school teachers, better orient/train Sunday school teachers (material content, responsibilities, dealing with special situations), improve the consistency of the Children's Christian education (better integrated curriculum, reliability that classes will meet and teacher will be on time), increase Christian formation offerings to older youth and better coordinate with what happens in EYC, increase EYC participation, offer more Sunday adult Christian education that attracts more participation, offer better orientation regarding formation and norms regarding the Episcopal Church and the Church of the Resurrection, offer more festival events that include families, better publicize festival events, extend personal invitations to special events to newer members, develop a system to address longer term members who seem to be drifting away, have broader participation in Pastoral Meals and Guild of the Christ Child, and better coordinate overall pastoral care activities. While each of these opportunities to improve will be addressed, the Vestry determined the following items to be the highest priority goals for 2005: Increase participation in children and youth Christian formation Increase participation in adult Christian formation Expand inviting and welcoming efforts Create a system to deal with members who seem to be drifting away from the parish Please offer your assistance wherever you can in making these improvements. Christ's Peace, NEWS & EVENTS April, 2005 Newsletter Gifts of Life Gifts of Life online catalog allows you to choose gifts to honor someone special in your live - at Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthday, graduation, or any other special occasion. By doing so you make a life-changing difference in the lives of children and families around the world. Go to www.er-d.org/giftsforlife. Check it out!   Music Notes Oops! Rachel McCann's name was omitted from the list of those who sang in the choir for the African mass at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in February for Black History Month. Home Communion Thanks Thanks to guitarists Frank Switzer and Rachel McCann and to James McCormick on the autoharp for leading music at home communions. Thanks, Adults & Children's Choirs Thanks to the Adult and Children's Choir for beautiful, joyous music during Lent, Holy Week, and Easter Sunday! Think you can't sing? If you can talk, you can sing. If you can walk, you can dance. - from Zimbabwe tradition   EYC News Great thanks to all EYCers - and our bunny, Shane Sanders - who helped plan games and activities for the annual Easter Egg Hunt! Nice job guys! Applications are still being accepted for the summer sessions at camp. Get them in ASAP. Staff applications are also being accepted!!! All applications are available in the church office. The Annual DOY weekends for this spring are April 1-3 for Senior High and April 29-May 1 for Junior High. Applications are available from your church, from www.dioms.org/episcoyouth.htm and from the diocesan office. A convocational youth gathering will be held Saturday and Sunday April 9-10 at St. Paul's, Corinth. For more information, contact Jessica Callahan at 312-3119.   Servant Ministry Easter Tree Success Many thanks to all who responded to the Easter Tree to help supply items for our four adopted families for Easter. A beautiful basket was delivered to each family during Holy Week and each family was thrilled and asked that the church be thanked. Our Adopted Families An update on our adopted families so that you can continue to keep them in your prayers is as follows: Mellie, 84 year old bed-bound person, expresses gratefulness for each new day of life. She is quick to express this attitude whenever she is called or visited. Frequently she comments that she prays for our church and that she loves us. Always she is an inspiration to us as she sits with her Bible propped up before her. Ora and her 3 children struggle with dealing with the death of Ora's mother. Ora was very close to her mother who provided much emotional support to her. Caring for her children takes much energy and Ora wants to do her best. Lataraisha and her 2 very young children continue to deal with serious medical trials. Lupus has damaged Lataraisha's kidneys and she continues under the care of doctors. She hopes that her condition will not worsen because she wants very much to be able to care for her children. Her mother and father are tremendous supports for her. Grace and her 12 year old granddaughter are very close. Currently Grace has had to undergo several medical tests and will receive reports at the end of March. She is hopeful that there will be good news. She is very proud of her granddaughter who significantly brought up her math grade on the last report card. Honoring Social Workers The Servant Ministry Committee looks forward to honoring area social workers on Wednesday, April 20 at a noon luncheon in the Parish Hall. We did this two years ago for the first time and have been wanting to repeat it. Social workers are often front line workers with many in our community who have serious needs. They must be attentive, sensitive, knowledgeable and brave in many of the duties that they perform. If you would like to help, please let Diane know. Food Pantry & Safe Haven Items to bring during April to help area food pantries and Safe Haven Family Shelter are MACARONI and CHEESE and any SOAP product. Thanks for your continued sharing to help those in need. Also, thanks to the children who offer these items on the last Sunday of the month at the 10:30 eucharist. As always, Safe Haven needs household items and furniture as women and children leave the shelter to set up their own home. Let Alice Jones or Diane know if you ever have large items that we can help with.   Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy Convenes at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2 and concludes after Lunch on Sunday, August 7, 2005 JOIN US AS WE RETURN HOME TO GRAY CENTER Visit www.mississippiconference.org for details on faculty and registration or contact conference director via email, ellenj95@bellsouth.net   April Birthdays Jennifer Damms 1 Fred Hansford 2 Grace Strahan-Pipe 2 Bill Batson 3 Tiffany Evans 3 Peyton Passons 4 J.B. VanLandingham 4 Elizabeth Yarbrough 4 Katie Bullman 6 David Christiansen 7 Tim Cook 8 Ellen Newsom 8 Bill Hardin 9 Beatrice Dobson 9 Vera VanLandingham 13 Ernie Russell 16 Nicole Tranchina 17 Rae Wilkinson 18 Warnie Kennington 20 Harry (Tres) Tipton 20 Thank you from Habitat and All Saints A thank you letter from Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity for our "very generous contribution" to the new Apostles House is posted on the bulletin board. There is also a card from the Truman State Habitat Chapter posted in the narthex. They enjoyed all the food - especially the cake that went home with them - and wonderful company and joining our group for prayer. All Saints' Episcopal School in Vicksburg thanks us for our donation. Their letter is posted in the narthex.   William Lee Senf, III was born March 9. He is the son of Bill and Dorothy Senf and the grandson of Tom and Frances Coleman. From The Dio Gram The Diocese of Mississippi : April 2005   The Episcopal Fear Factor A Conference on Evangelism National Webcast April 30, 9:00 am The Diocese of Texas has partnered with Trinity Wall Street to feature parts of the Discovery Series (also available in Spanish) and the Rev. Jim Nutter, winner of the VTS John Hines preaching award this year, in a national webcast. All materials are online and there is no cost for the program. Each church that participates is responsible for their own location&emdash;the one hour webcast will be followed by about 2 hours of small group work teaching and practicing how to share our stories of faith For more information on how to plug into this FREE webcast, including directions on downloading all workshop materials, visit www.trinitywallstreet.org or www.epicenter.org Faire Sur La Mer From April 30 - May 1, step back in time when romance and chivalry ruled. Come lords & ladies to the Ocean Springs Renaissance Festival, hosted by St. John's Episcopal Church, sponsored by area businesses and organizations. All profits will be donated to area community organizations, including Lord is My Help and Interfaith Hospitality Network. Call 228-872-4454 or 228-872-4424 for more information. Come join the intimate, family oriented festivities at Mississippi's only Renaissance Festival !! ECW Spring Conference The Annual ECW Spring Conference is April 15 & 16 at Gray Center. The speaker is Celeste Zepponi, an artist and musician. Her program is entitled Using Creativity to Pray. Brochures have been sent out; Registration is $25 plus room and board at Gray Center. For more information, contact Lollie Everett, 601-824-0791 or email lollieeverett@suscom.net. Also, look for more information soon on a pilgrimage to Sewanee in December for their annual presentation of Lessons and Carols. CHALLENGE IN THE 21st CENTURY Bishop Gray will again offer his teaching and reflections on the challenges facing the Episcopal Church as he develops a vision for his episcopacy. This teaching will be in conjunction with his annual visit to St. Paul's, Columbus on April 13. The service begins at 5:30; the time of the teaching is TBA. For more information, call the diocesan office at 601-948-5954. College Spanish Immersion Experience Students who are interested in a week-long mission trip to the Diocese of Panama are encouraged to reserve the dates from August 8-15 and to secure their passports before June 1. Formal registration brochures will be available soon. However, because of tightened security measures, anyone interested in making this trip should locate and/or apply for a passport; all participants will be required to have their passport turned into the diocesan office on or before June 1. The cost of the trip is still being finalized but should not run any higher than $900, to include airfare, meals, lodging and materials. If you are interested, please contact either the Rev. Canon Chuck Culpepper, 601-948-5954 x116 or Kculpep343@aol.com or the Rev. Canon Yamily Bass-Choate, 601-969-9461 or yamily@standrewscathedral.org. Other Events & Dates The April DioGram Other Coming Events and Important Dates can be found on page 8 of this month's Sunrise. Information on the Mississippi Conference on Church Music and Liturgy is on page 2. CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY is extended to the family of Samuel Webb Scales, who died March 25, 2005. "Rest eternal grant him O Father, and let light perpetual shine upon him."   SUMMER NURSING OPPORTUNITY AT GRAY CENTER Gray Center is looking for an RN who is available from May 22 - August 5 to serve as staff nurse for the summer sessions of CBG. All sessions are 6-7 day residential camps, and the director of each camp session will provide a qualified volunteer medical professional to assist and back-up the RN. Meals and housing will be provided along with a salary; position requires living at the Camp. Call Bill Horne, Executive Director, at (601) 859-1556 or email horne@graycenter.com for more information. Visit our website at www.graycenter.com.   Anonymous Gift Received Resurrection has received an anonymous gift of $10,000 to be applied toward our Capital Improvements loan. In offering this gift, the donor seeks to substantially reduce the loan so less of our income is spent in interest payments and so that once the loan has been paid, more of our income can be spent toward increasing our various ministries. Those who are able to give above and beyond their pledge or who may have additional income than anticipated when submitting their pledge, please consider giving a designated gift to pay of this loan. Also, please include Resurrection in your will or consider a trust gift which provides you a higher interest return on the interest and allows you to claim the charitable gift deduction now. If interested, speak to Fr. Bill.   Canterbury Notes A BIG THANK YOU to Alyson & Bill Hardin, Sue & Tom Bell and Mary Lee & John Beal for providing wonderful dinners for us recently! What a treat! Thank you! Also, MANY THANKS to the members of the St. Joseph's Guild who have made the grounds outside of the Canterbury Lodge so welcoming! With the removal of several overgrown flora and the addition of a beautiful new sign, the outside is looking great! Thanks. SPRING BREAK HABITAT WORK By invitation of the MSU Catholic Student Association, two representatives from Canterbury, Watson Lamb and Ginny Powell, traveled over Spring Break to Beattyville, KY to work on the Habitat Collegiate Challenge. Their work consisted of repairing several houses in need of attention and updating the town's municipal buildings, a.k.a. "The Habitat Hilton." Way to go, Watson and Ginny! THANK YOU DINNER A thank-you dinner for all who have provided meals for Canterbury this year is being planned for mid-April. Please be on the lookout for your invitation in the coming days as we hope to thank you for keeping us wonderfully fed! Hope you can make it! DEAD SEA SCROLLS TRIP PLANNED Canterbury is planning a trip to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit on Saturday, April 16. Anyone interested in attending with the group should contact Brian in the church office by April 6. More information will be available shortly concerning cost, transportation, meals, etc. MISSION TRIP / SPANISH IMMERSION EXPERIENCE The Diocese of Mississippi is planning a Mission and Total Immersion Experience for August to Panama for college-aged students. If you'd like further information, please contact Brian in the church office.   Spring Blood Drive Set The Spring Blood drive will be held Sunday, April 24th from 10:30 til 2:00 in the Merchants and Farmers parking lot. If you have recently given blood elsewhere through United Blood Services, please notify Ellen Newsom so we can get credit. If we meet our quota of 20 units the entire parish family will be covered for blood needs for 6 months. Watch for a sign up sheet in the narthex.   ECW Spring Salad Lunch The ECW has their annual spring salad lunch on Monday, April 25 at 12:00 noon in the Student Center. This fun and festive event is open to all women of the parish. Traditionally, those who have a short lunch hour are welcome to be first in line. Bring your favorite salad and a friend and join the ECW for lunch!   From the Vestry In addition to the Vestry Retreat, the Vestry held its February meeting on February 25. The following are the highlights of that meeting. The Bishop is scheduled to visit Resurrection April 10, 2005 at 5:30 PM. The vestry decided it would be appropriate to have Morning Prayer at the 8:00 am and 10:30 am services and the Eucharistic Service at 5:30pm with a reception following. A special council has been called for October 1, 2005 to deal with issues relating to the broader Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The Vestry approved seeking nominations for Council delegates and specified those elected attend planned Windsor Report discussions and parish and convocation meetings relating to pre-filed Council resolutions. The Stewardship Covenant outlining our parish, Vestry, and individual Vestry member commitment to personal stewardship was reviewed and approved. At the March 21st meeting, Vestry approved and welcomed Rae Wilkinson to serve as Clerk to the vestry. The audit committee consisting of chairman, Mary Herman, Mike Vance and Eric Watland was approved. Delegates and alternates to the October 1 Special Council and Diocesan Annual Council in January 2006 were elected (details elsewhere in this newsletter). Following up on the discussion during the Vestry Retreat, each vestry member reported on their area of responsibility.   Council Delegate Elections The interest in the Special Council and 2006 Council stimulated numerous nominations &endash; exceeding the number of delegates and alternates to be elected. While the Vestry was pleased with this interest, it left the Vestry with the difficult task of choosing the delegates and alternates. From the nominations received, the Vestry sought to elect a slate of delegates and alternates representing a cross section of the parish, in regards to age, views on current church polity, gender, involvement in various aspects of the parish. Delegates are Leonard Brandon, Happy Deas and Dolton McAlpin, and alternates are Jim Jones, Eric Watland and Alyson Hardin as alternates. The Vestry further restated the criteria established for these elections and that if any delegate elected is unable to fulfill the criteria would be replaced by an alternate who has met the criteria and if any alternate is unable to fulfill the criteria, other persons who have met the criteria would be consider for election as an alternate.   The Choir Chair Project Sturdy and made for extended singing/sitting, this chair (shown in the picture on the right) would make a handsome addition to the choir loft. The chairs, solid oak stained to match our pews, will cost approximately $300 each. The choir has made an initial contribution to the project. Be the end of May, we hope to gather the remainder of the monies needed. Contributions may be made as a memorial designated for the CHAIR PROJECT, as single donations, or as a pledge for any amount over the next few months. If you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact Leanne Fazio at leannefazio@hotmail.com or Leigh Jensen Crawford at ljensen@studentaffairs.msstate.edu.   Susan Cook 's The Book of Galahad Susan Cook has made a modest publishing venture with the publication of The Book of Galahad, a novel that fuses Arthurian legend and history to retell the story of the Holy Grail from a new perspective. The back cover blurb is as follows: Europe: the sixth century.  The Roman Empire has collapsed, and many rival kingdoms have grown up in its place.  In the northern regions of Britannia, a last stronghold of Roman ways, the young Prince Galahad broods vengeance on the man who fathered him and abandoned him to an insane mother and a terrifying, druid grandfather: the king's general, Launcelot. His plan takes him to the court of Arthur, High King of Britannia, and into the elite fellowship sent forth to acquire the greatest relic in Christendom - the Holy Grail.  Caught up in an uneasy alliance, he and his fellow warriors must journey across a treacherous continent, pitting their skills against the earthly powers of the Franks and Goths and confronting the spiritual might of the Church itself.  The Grail will demand the utmost - even the ultimate - sacrifice from all the questors, but it is Galahad alone who, when their goal is within reach, must make the final decision between revenge and redemption. The book is available from the standard online bookstores, or from Susan herself (while supplies last, as they say). There may be a few signed copies in the Parish office, too.   Nancy Hargrove: Distinguished Fulbright Grant Nancy Hargrove has received a Distinguished Fulbright Grant to teach in Austria. She will teach several courses of English Literature. This is Nancy's fifth Fulbright Grant. She and Guy will reside in Vienna from September 2005 through January 2006. She and Guy met in Parish when both had student Fulbrights in 1963. Guy Hargrove: Sentimental Journey, April 7 Recital Guy Hargrove will present a popular music recital Thursday evening, April 7, at 7:30 in the evening. The recital is in the Bettersworth Auditorium of the Giles Architecture Building at Mississippi State University. The recital, Sentimental Journey, will feature songs of the 1940s and 1950s. The concert is open to the public. Neither tickets nor reservations are required.   Other Coming Events and Important Dates April 1-2 Wardens' Conference, Gray Center 1-3 SR High DOY Weekend, CBG 6-9 Women's Kairos, CMCF 9-10 Convocational Youth Gathering, St. Paul's, Corinth 10 Bishop's Visitation, 5:30 p.m. 15-16 ECW Spring Conference, Gray Center Canterbury Trip: Dead Sea Scrolls 20 Servant Ministry Lunch Honoring Area Social Workers A Celebration of a New Ministry for the Rev. Canon Samuel Lloyd at Washington National Cathedral, 10:00 a.m. 24 Resurrection's Spring Blood Drive 25 ECW's Annual Spring Salad Lunch 29-1 JR High DOY, Camp Bratton-Green May 1 Graduation Sunday 5 National Day of Prayer. Theme: "God Shed his Grace on Thee". For more information on local events, contact Joan Simpson, state coordinator, at 228-875-5701 or email joan@stpaulos.org. 15 PENTECOST June 7-8 Province IV House of Bishops 8-10 Province IV Synod 18-23 Camp Caritas, Gray Center. For more information on this extraordinary ministry to chil- dren with a parent or with both parents in prison, contact Gay Yerger, 601-856-1776 or email byerger@jam.rr.com. July 21-24 Cursillo #107, Gray Center August BISHOP'S TENT EVENT, Gray Center 26-28 Fifth Annual AWWY Conference, Gray Center September 17 Annual Day on the Diaconate October 5-9 Women's Kairos 10-13 Annual Presbyter Conference, Gray Center 20-23 Cursillo #108, Gray Center 27-30 Men's Kairos   Your prayers are asked for…... those with child, especially Julia Silverman, Laura Livingston, Holly Potts, Casey Cole, Kathleen Thomas, Claire van Ogtrop, Meg Hargrove Miller….…those who suffer in mind, body or spirit, especially Margie, Jeanne, Melanie, Lorenzo, Dee, Edna, Don, Oma Lee, Ophelia, Nel, Becky Seago Simrall, Donald Mosley, Jim Little, Charles Finane, Madeline, Jimmy Lorimer, Wendy & Steve VanLandingham and Brett & Brody VanLandingham, Adrian Lewis, Jeff, Zachary, Jack Moore, Roy, Billy Godman, Larry Ivey, Alice Latham, Jan Ebers, Julie & Charles Crump, Warnie Kennington, Kathy Stallings, Margaret Hester, Flora...those who serve in the military, especially Steve, David, Chris, Justin, Fran, Bob, Banks, Richard, Keith Harris, T. J. , Eric Kennington, Tim McKay…….and those in harm's way.   Bishop's Visitation Bishop Gray's visitation for 2005 will be on Sunday, April 10, at 5:30 p.m. (reflecting a request by Bishop Gray to visit parishes alternating with a Sunday morning visitation one year and an evening visitation the next year). The service will include Confirmation and Holy Eucharist and will be followed with a festive reception. To encourage parish attendance, the Vestry has approved having Morning Prayer (with no sermon) for the 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. services. Everyone is encouraged to attend both one of the morning services and the Confirmation service. However, for those who choose to attend one, please consider the Confirmation service the higher priority. Also, please remember that the plate offering for that service, along with any moneys so designated, are donated to the Bishop's Purse, a discretionary fund for the Bishop.