The Sunrise Newsletter - February 2006

A few years ago Diane and I made a two week visit to Germany while our son Christopher studied in Berlin as a Fulbright Scholar. I quickly realized my 4 semesters of German which I had struggled through at MSU some 30 years earlier offered me nothing more than the ability to say, “Ich kann nicht Deutsches sprechen,” and to ask, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” In Berlin and other cities I found most folks spoke English and were tolerant of my language deficiency. In rural areas, however, I had to rely on Christopher, who, besides his Fulbright year, had lived in Germany as an exchange student, to be my translator. Without his assistance I would have been lost. Such is the plight of being a tourist in a foreign land: relying on the graciousness of the hosts and needing a guide fluent in the language. We may see the tourist sites, read the history and attempt the language, but until we take up residence and immerse ourselves in the culture, we remain tourists. As a tourist I could appreciate the taste of German beer but feel no pride in it, I could admire and climb the Bavarian Alps that summer but not know what it is like to see them covered in spring flowers nor experience the waning days of fall as they become a winter wonderland; and I could see where the Berlin Wall had stood but do so without tears wailing in my eyes.

Perhaps the same is true of the Christian life. We may read books, watch television preachers or listen to tapes or CDs, attend on major worship days and occasionally at other convenient times, even use some of the Christian jargon, but until we work and live out our faith in a Christian community we remain tourists. Yes, like those I encountered in Germany, our hosts welcome us, meet our needs, share meals with us at the Table, and don’t call us tourists.

But, as Christians we are invited to move beyond being tourists to become disciples, to become ministers. Rather than major feast days and when convenient, disciples realize they need to share communal worship most when it’s least convenient. Ministers want to be visited and have food delivered during illnesses and crises but also know the joy of visiting a homebound parishioner and delivering a meal to a family who’s had a death. Rather than dropping money in the offering plate when they’re there (more if they liked the sermon, none or less if they didn’t), disciples pledge in thanksgiving for the blessings God has given them. Rather than wanting Christian education available for the Sundays they may bring their children, disciples want all of God’s children to experience the Good News. Rather than misconstruing another’s comments and criticizing the culture, disciples know that within families we sometimes unintentionally hurt one another and offer and receive forgiveness. Instead of wanting to be welcomed, ministers celebrate all who visit and celebrate each new disciple even more.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Germany, but my son tells me there was so much more I could experience only after I immersed myself in the culture and lived in the community. The Church is an enjoyable place to visit: all are welcomed; the people are kind and caring; the scenery is serene and comforting; usually the entertainment is pretty good; and the food on the Table is nourishing and tasteful. Taking up residence, however, immersing in the community, being a disciple, a minister, while not without occasional suffering and tears, is joyous beyond belief.

At the January 29 Annual Parish Meeting, you reelected Babs Deas as Senior Warden and elected Clarissa Balbalian as Junior Warden, and to the Vestry: Martha McAlpin (for Pastoral Care) and Jim Jones (for Parish Life). They join with other Vestry members: Guy Hargrove (Children and Youth Formation), Rachel McCann (Adult Formation), Peyton Passons (Evangelism) and David McMillen (Festival and Events).

As noted in the Rector’s and Senior Warden’s reports (See Annual Parish Report), we acknowledge and thank those rotating off the Vestry: Michael Fazio (Junior Warden), Tom Coleman (Pastoral Care) and Beth Batson (Parish Life).

On February 11 your Vestry, committee/ministry chairs, and representatives of children and youth parents, Christian education teachers, EYC, and Canterbury will review the feedback from the parish discernment process (see Annual Parish Report) and the Diocesan vision path to establish the goals Resurrection will accomplish over the next one to three years. Please pray for the planning retreat before they gather and while they meet. Please pray for and support the goals established during this retreat.

At the Annual Parish meeting, we thanked those rotating off the Vestry. However, there are some folks whose duties are not time limited and who continually offer their time and energy. Therefore, we offer heartfelt thank-yous.

Ann McVey:
Week in and week out Ann collects the worship offering from all services and with Sandra’s assistance, counts and deposits these offerings, records all donations, pays all bills and balances all accounts. Through Ann’s sage guidance as Treasurer, she has assisted Resurrection in being good stewards of our parishioners’ gifts and to weather lean times. For her financial skills and the generous giving of her time both as Treasurer, for keeping our clergy informed of pastoral needs and for her service in many other areas of our parish life, we say, “Thank you!”

John Beal:
Ever wonder who makes sure the Bible is marked with the Sunday Propers, the Worship Board marked for the correct liturgy and day of the season, the sidewalk and ramp are swept of debris and that all acolytes and lay eucharistic ministers are present and ready when the services start? These invisible tasks are performed each week by John. We thank him for this and congratulate him on the recent recruitment of Bill Batson and Bob Collins who have graciously agreed to and have been trained to assist him with these verging duties.

Sandra Sistrunk:
We all know the hard work Sandra gives us each day: graciously welcoming each office visitor and making sure the parish office runs smoothly. However, a special thanks goes to Sandra for how well our annual parish meeting went. The meeting could not have been as orderly and brief without the thorough parish report. Along with finalizing the financial reports with Ann, Sandra also requests (sometimes several times) the committee/ministry reports, organizes the draft report and makes the copies for distribution. Because some of this cannot be accomplished until the last minute, this requires long and late hours the Friday and Saturday before our parish meeting.

Marsha Williams:
Our thanks to Marsha who coordinated the lunch following the Annual Parish Meeting. Having someone to arrange the lunch set up, money collection, serving, and cleanup frees the staff and Vestry to focus on the meeting and not the lunch. Thanks, Marsha, for a job well done!

Boys & Girls Club
The Servant Ministry Committee is taking the opportunity to provide some activities for children after school on Friday, February 24, 2006, at the Boys And Girls Club in Starkville. These activities require minimal planning. We need a few volunteers to help with this outreach into the community. Please call Martha McAlpin at 323-7206 for more information.

Nuts & Facial Tissue
Nuts and Facial Tissue are needed this month for the Food Pantry and Safe Haven, respectively. Please, help get these items to those who need them. Any non-perishable or toiletry item is, of course, welcomed. The donation basket is located in the Narthex for your convenience. Thank you for your participation in this ministry!

Get Involved!
Be part of our Servant Ministry by attending the next meeting on Wednesday, February 15th at noon in the Student Center. Bring a lunch ~ all are welcome.

ECW will have their annual planning meeting on Thursday, February 16 at 10:30 a.m. in the Student Center.

There will be a short business meeting, followed by the election of officers and discussion on new ideas for the coming year.

After the meeting, all are invited to attend the regular noon Healing Service and the Dutch Treat lunch at Oby’s.

The playgroup date has changed from its original date, so please make a note. Since the Vestry Retreat is planned for February 11, the "Yoga for Kids" playgroup will be moved to Saturday, February 25th from 9:30 - 10:30 am.
For more information call (662-418-5421) or e-mail Emily (emily.easterling@gmail.com) to confirm participation and for directions. Hope to see you there. Namaste.

Caroling:
The choir was joined by members of the Parish on December 15, traveling to homes of members of the parish and to nursing homes to sing. This journey was followed by a casual supper in the Student Center.

Christmas Eve:
A belated thanks to the following guest musicians for singing with the choir at the 10:30 service: Milo Burnham, Jim Richter, Mary Hermann, Ellen Goodman (who also played the flute), Abby Cathcart, Matthew Christiansen

Epiphany service:
Soloists Clarissa Balbalian, and Charles Little as well as the Adult Choir, and the three Magi—James McCormick, Pam Collins and Paul Martin—assisted the Congregation in singing for this service.

The Adult Choir is working on music for the Ash Wednesday service on March 1 and for services during Holy Week in addition to music for the regular services.

The Children’s Choir will be singing for services on February 19, Palm Sunday on April 9 and for the Bishop’s visit on April 30.

The children’s choir will greatly miss Lanae Watland who has moved to California. The children celebrated the time Lanae has spent with us during a regular choir rehearsal on February 1.

Guest recital
On Thursday March 2 at 7:30 in the nave a recital will be presented by Quatuor du Sud (Quartet of the South), a trombone quartet made up of faculty from various universities. Check your pew sheets for details and reminders.

If you’ve gone out the Student Center door that leads out to the nursery, you’ve noticed the new ramp that transitions from the sidewalk up to the Student Center.

Thanks to Ren Crowell, David Lewis, and James McCormick for helping to make another area of the church accessible to all our parishioners and visitors.

Thanks to everyone who made the Feast of the Epiphany such a wonderful success! Thanks to choristers and acolytes who made the evening so special. Thanks to Dolton McAlpin, organist for the service, and to John Beal, our verger. Thanks to our Wise Ones: James McCormick, Pam Collins and Paul Martin. Thanks to Nancy Christiansen and Ginny Powell, who helped with the festive reception. Thanks, one and all!

Carey Price, our EYC director, has been selected as a member of the summer 2006 Camp Bratton-Green Permanent Staff. Carey’s long affiliation with camp and his giftedness in leadership with and amongst the youth of the diocese, especially here at Resurrection, will serve him well as a member of this group of college-aged students who commit a full summer or two of service to the programming, life, ministry and workings of our diocesan camp.

His camp area will be at the Ropes Course, a grouping of high and low elements that, in addition to being a lot of fun, build personal confidence and team-building skills.

March 1, 2006, 12:05 p.m.
Holy Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes
Chapel of Memories, Mississippi State University

Our 2006 Lenten study will invite you to study, discuss and reflect and meditate on the Apostle’s Creed. As last year’s Lenten study invited us to never again mumble the Lord’s Prayer without thought, this year’s study will invite us to do the same for the Creed and renewal of our baptism covenant.

Starting March 8, we will study In Search of Belief by Joan Chittister, O.S.B. The outside reading will be approximately 40 pages per week.

If you would like a book ordered for you, please pay $16 no later than Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Applications for three diocesan undergraduate scholarships are now available! Misticos Scholarships are awarded annually to three young men and one young woman who are active members of the Mississippi Episcopal or Greek Orthodox Churches. These scholarships are awarded on the basis of financial need, academic achievement, accomplishments and leadership. The Charlotte Capers Scholarship is awarded each year to (an) Episcopal college student(s) from Mississippi who is/are receiving an education with an emphasis in the liberal arts. One or two Capers scholarships are awarded each year with those in financial need given preference. Several Okolona Scholarships are also granted annually and are awarded “for the education of black youths.” The deadline for each of these applications is March 1, and prior recipients may reapply. For more information or to obtain an application, contact Brian in the parish office.

Dates have been set for diocesan youth and young adult activities for spring 2006. Applications for these events are available through the parish office, the Canterbury Lodge, and/or the EpiscoYouth link at www.dioms.org.

For more information, please contact Carey Price (cdanprice@yahoo.com) or Brian Ponder (323.3483 ext. 102 or msu_canterbury@bellsouth.net).

March
3-5 Happening Staff Training
10-12 Jr. High DOY, Camp Bratton-Green
24-26 Vocare in MS, Camp Bratton-Green
31-Apr 2 Happening in MS #63, St. Paul’s, Meridian

The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi offers a wonderful camping program through Camp Bratton-Green in Canton with regular sessions for those who have completed grades 1-9, special sessions for those living with physical, mental and emotional disabilities, and another for those in grades 7-12 who want an off-site “pioneer” experience.

Camper and staff applications are now available and can be obtained in the parish office. Those who have completed grades 9 and above (YOUTH & ADULTS) are encouraged to apply for cabin leader positions! All applications must be endorsed by a priest.

For more information, contact Brian in the parish office, or visit www.graycenter.com.

* If listed, “grades” represents grade completed by the beginning of the summer season
** Staff arrives two days prior to the beginning of each session’s published dates.

The Bishop’s Mission Corps, introduced at the Bishop’s Tent Meeting last fall, will provide an opportunity for people in their 20s to prepare themselves theologically and spiritually for life in the emerging, mission-oriented church.
From June 4th to July 14th, 2006, up to a dozen inaugural members of the Bishop's Mission Corps will spend 40 days living in community at the Gray Center, adopting a Benedictine pattern of life of worship, study, training and work.
If you are interested in learning more about being involved in this exciting new venture, contact the Rev. Tim Jones at St. Paul's, Corinth (662.286.2922) or visit www.bmc.dioms.org.

Across the US and abroad, there are a number of exciting opportunities for young adults to participate in internship, mission and continuing education experiences. Several of these opportunities are offered during the summer months to accommodate academic schedules, and others are year-long opportunities affording time to go even deeper! Some of the opportunities include:

• A scholarship offered through Virginia Seminary for those interested in exploring ordination or vocation
• A yearlong Episcopal Urban Internships in Los Angeles working actively as case managers and service providers with people dealing with learning disabilities, homelessness, violence and hunger
• A 9-month internship focusing on urban parishes, chaplaincy and peace and justice issues in Massachusetts
• A summer or 10-month internship focusing on vocation and ministry offering a parish immersion experience in Dallas, TX
• An academic year internship for recent college graduates emphasizing vocational discernment, hands-on ministry and community living in Omaha, NE
• A yearlong urban ministry exploration in the context of after school programs, disaster relief, volunteer recruitment/coordination, hunger, etc. in Philadelphia, PA
• A 10-month AmeriCorps volunteer service experience with intentional devotion to social justice, spirituality and community living in Chapel Hill, NC
• A yearlong opportunity to live together in intentional Christian community while working fulltime for local social service agencies in the greater Washington, DC area
• A service-learning year in the context of social service agencies with simple and intentional living and theological reflection and spiritual growth in New York City
• A Kentucky Refugee Ministries internship, assisting with English tutoring, youth services, case management support, advocacy, fundraising and church development
• Internships working as rural community health advocates, in Hispanic ministries, multi-cultural after school program aides, community meals assistance program assistants, OR case management assistants, etc. in Sacramento, CA
• Interns assisting case mangers in the provision of direct services to refugees, and volunteer/sponsorship development in parishes and congregations in Concord, NH
• Internships with Refugee Resettlement and Immigration Services of Atlanta
• An internship working in a soup kitchen with the opportunity to design a more in-depth program at Trinity Jubilee Center in Lewiston, ME
• Several servant-ministry internships in Tampa/Immokalee, FL working with people who speak English, Spanish, French and/or Creole
• An ecumenical conference—Together: Facing Challenges…Finding Hope—held July26-August 6, exploring Christianity in the Holy Land and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
• Internships abroad offered through the Episcopal Church

For more information concerning any of these internships and program details (stipends, housing options, academic credit, etc.), please contact Brian at 323.3483 ext. 102 or by email at msu_canterbury@bellsouth.net.

The Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop is pleased to announce the names of those bishops it will place in nomination for Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, to succeed the Most Rev. Frank Griswold. These names will be formally submitted to the General Convention at a joint session on June 18, 2006, the day prior to the day appointed for the election of the 26th Presiding Bishop by the House of Bishops. The Nominees are:

The Committee is grateful to all those bishops who were willing to be considered for nomination. The grace with which those bishops considered entered into discernment with the Committee is a witness to the faithful ministries each has offered to the Church and a sign of the enduring health of our Church.

The discernment process included a Call to Discernment, an initial questionnaire, interviews with references for all those whose names were submitted, interviews with those selected for further consideration, and site visits with those who continued in consideration. At its January 20-22, 2006, meeting the Committee then made the determination to nominate these persons.

The Committee consists of 29 persons - a bishop, clergy and lay person from each of the nine provinces of the Episcopal Church, elected by the House of Bishops, and two young persons appointed by the President of the House of Deputies. The Committee has met five times and sub groups have been on interview teams across the Church.

We have discovered in our work together that our love for the Church and our affection for one another have been strengthened in common prayer, in reflection on the ministry given each of us and in the effort to respond to the challenge God and the Church have placed before us. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the Episcopal Church in this way. Our nomination of these persons is presented as a report of the whole Committee and without reservation.

Background, medical and psychological examinations were conducted for
all those nominated.

We believe any of the persons named, if elected, and with God's help and the prayerful support of the church, can provide the leadership required in the Episcopal Church at this time. We commend these nominees to the Church and ask that prayers be offered for them, for the Bishops at General Convention who will elect and for the Deputies who will be asked to consent to the election. Most especially we ask prayers for the Episcopal Church and its leadership and for its continuing ministry among the peoples of the several countries it serves in the name of Jesus Christ.

The Committee held its final meeting January 20-22 at the Duncan Conference Center, Delray Beach, Florida, and there completed the work required of it by the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church. Provided that there are no circumstances that would require our meeting prior to General Convention as a Committee, we will next present ourselves to the General Convention at the time designated to formally place these persons in nomination.

The House of Bishops, at its September 2005 meeting, resolved that the House will consider only those additional nominations by Bishops or Deputies to the 2006 General Convention that are made with time sufficient to conduct the background, medical and psychological examinations required of all nominees. It has set a date of April 1, 2006, for receipt of those nominations, which shall be considered nominations from the floor.

Such nominations are to be made in writing to the Bishop Co-Chair of the Joint Nominating Committee for the Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, and assent must be received in writing by the Bishop so named.

Support the unique ministry of All Saints' School! We are 1/3 of the way to meeting the financial goals set by the Board of Trustees prior to their March 10 meeting. To donate funds, time or talent, call 601-636-5266 or visit visit www.allsaintsweb.com

NEW CD FOR KATRINA RELIEF IS NOW AVAILABLE! "Songs of Tragedy and Hope from Deep, Mysterious South" is available for $15 (includes shipping); mail checks payable to "Diocese of Mississippi," with "Rattlesnake CD" in the memo line c/o Dr. Hilton O'neal, 126 Bayou Rd., Greenville, MS, 38701.

2006 CALENDARS FOR SALE
Please help us surpass our financial goals by calling in or sending your order for one of the gorgeous, limited edition Gray Center Calendars. A minimum contribution of $40 is requested. Contact Bill Horn; 1530 Way Road; Canton, MS 39046; phone 601-859-1556 or Jerry Hudson; P O Box 1056, Clarksdale, MS 38614; phone 662-627-4752(day) or 662-627-4367(night).

Your prayers are asked for….those with child, especially Kristen, Jennifer Beal Duncan, Wendy VanLandingham, Paige Simmons...those who suffer in mind, body or spirit, especially Margie, Jeanne, Lorenzo, Edna, Don, Oma Lee, Ophelia, Donald Mosley, Madeline, Tom Bell, Jim Little, Jimmy Lorimer, Janet Mason, Jonathon Sobley, Brooke Schnitman, Mona Terry, Lorene Martin, Grace Jones, Bridget Burdan, Alexandria Lorimer, Amber McNider, Hunter Maye, Tommy Prince, Frank, Lisa Dickey, Frances Finane, Chad Green....those who serve in the military, especially Steve, David, Chris, Fran, Tim McKay, Justin, John Burdan, Rob Kennington, Cedric....and those in harm’s way.

Altar Flowers

January 8
To the glory of God and in memory of Katharine Hollister, by Sara Hazard and Nel George

January 22
To the glory of God and in celebration of the anniversary of the ordination to the priesthood of Brian Ponder, by Mary Frances Ponder