Announcements

Announcements, June 23

THIS WEEKEND & THE WEEK AHEAD…

Rev. Miranda’s Vacation: Rev. Miranda will be on vacation from June 25 through July 2. Father John Rasmus will preach and celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday, June 26. Father John will be available if anyone urgently needs to speak with a priest during Rev. Miranda’s absence.

Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, June 26, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the gathering area to help out. To learn more, talk with Rose Mueller at (608) 836-1028.

Diocesan Opportunities to Serve:  If you are interested in having a greater role in the Diocese, there are several positions becoming available. Open nominations are happening from now until August 8, 2016. To learn more about the positions, talk with Rev. Miranda and/or see the information sheets posted under the bulletin board calendar.

Take Out Church: If you haven’t yet picked up a “Take Out Church” box, please do! It’s full of ways to practice and explore your faith over the summer. Take Out Church is for all ages. One box per household; if you need extra coloring pages, ask Rev. Miranda. Take Out church is a gift to you, but if you wish you may make a $3 donation to help cover material costs.

Summer Thursday Evening Eucharist and Supper, 5:30-7pm: Got weekend plans? Come to church Thursday evening for an information Eucharist (outdoors, if weather permits!) and simple meal. Starting June 16, our Thursday evening Sandbox Worship will include an informal Eucharist every week. We also plan to worship outdoors as much as possible. All ages very welcome; dinner provided. If you have special dietary needs, let Rev. Miranda know and if you like to cook you can sign up to contribute to a meal sometime.

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, June 24, 6:30pm: Join our monthly get-together as we dine at area restaurants and enjoy good conversation among women of all ages from St. Dunstan’s. This month we will meet at Los Gemelos at 6713 Odana Road in Madison.

Neighborhood Exploration, July 12 – 17: Rev. Miranda plans to spend this week doing some intentional noticing of the neighborhoods around St. Dunstan’s. Would you like to join her? The goal of this Neighborhood Exploration is not to develop a program or recruit new members. We’re open to both of those possibilities, but that’s not our current focus. Think of this as the kind of exploration you might do when you’re staying in a new city for a few days. Posted in the Gathering Area there is a list of possible things you could do – particular streets to walk, parks to visit, etc. – and tips for noticing and reflecting. Jot down some notes, and send them to Rev. Miranda via email, and/or meet at 11:30 on Sunday, July 17, to discuss in person. Read more & sign up in the Gathering Area if you’d like to participate!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Give it a Try July: Would you like to try doing a reading at church? Or serving as an acolyte, or maybe help clean up after the Eucharist? For the month of July, instead of a set schedule of helpers for our liturgy, we’ll put out a set of cards every Sunday with the name of a role – Acolyte, Reader, Usher, Altar Guild Helper – and a short explanation of what you need to know. The intention is both to allow our regular helpers to serve when they’re available, in a month that’s often hard to schedule due to summer travel, AND to allow curious folk to try out a new role and see what’s involved. If you’d like to try something out, try to arrive ten minutes early to grab a card and read over what’s involved.

Summer Choir on First Sundays, next Sunday, July 3: Come at 9am to learn some simple music to share as part of our 10am worship. Young singers and adult singers with no previous choir experience are especially invited! You should be able to read text, and be ready to begin to learn to read music. Talk with our Organist & Choir Director, Martin Ganschow, to learn more. More summer choir on August 7 and September 4.

Healing Prayers: Next Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of others.

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored next Sunday, July 3, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, July 3: Next Sunday, Half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. There are the current top-ten, most needed items: rice or pasta, spaghetti sauce, canned ravioli/spaghettios, cake or brownie mixes, flour, sugar, cooking oil, canned peaches, trail mixes and dried fruit snacks, 64 oz. beverages, dried beans (black, garbanzo, etc.), and baby wipes. MOM is also in need of paper grocery bags. Thanks for all your support!

Eucharist with Holy Baptism, Sunday, July 10, 10am: We rejoice to celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Schuylar. We join parents Rachel and Dave and big sister Kenley in celebrating this day!

Between Church, Sunday, July 10, 9:15am: Come try out simple outdoor worship between our two regular services. We gather at the stone altar to sing one or two simple songs, listen to the day, and share some brief reflections on spiritual practice in daily life. We will also meet July 17, 24, and 31. Between Church can be an enrichment to one of our regular Sunday services at 8 and 10am, or you can just come for Between Church.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. For more information, contact Janet Bybee.  Thanks!

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Evening Bible & Arts Camp, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org.

 

 

 

Announcements

Announcements, June 16

SUNDAY, JUNE 19…

All Ages Worship, 10am: Our Last Sunday worship will be celebrated a week early this month due to Rev. Miranda’s vacation. We’ll explore the Prophet Elijah and his relationship with King Ahab. This service is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. NOTE: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund offering: Half the cash in our collection plate, and any designated checks, will go towards the Rector’s Discretionary Fund this day and on every third Sunday. This fund is a way to quietly help people with direct financial needs, in the parish and the wider community. Please give generously.

Evening Eucharist, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Younger Adult Meetup at the Vintage, 7pm: The younger adults of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join us for conversation and the beverage of your choice, at the Vintage Brewpub on South Whitney Way. Friends and partners welcome too.

Take Out Church: Summer means many of our households head out for various adventures and expeditions. When you can’t be here, take church with you! Our Take Out Church boxes contain several ways to practice your faith when you’re not at church, including a “Flat Dunstan” (take a picture of him at the places you visit, and we’ll post it at Church!), meditative coloring pages, and a Christian Practices punch card. Take Out Church is for all ages. One box per household; if you need extra coloring pages, ask Rev. Miranda. Take Out church is a gift to you, but if you wish you may make a $3 donation to help cover material costs.

Summer Thursday Evening Eucharist and Supper, 5:30-7pm: Got weekend plans? Come to church Thursday evening for an information Eucharist (outdoors, if weather permits!) and simple meal. Starting June 16, our Thursday evening Sandbox Worship will include an informal Eucharist every week. We also plan to worship outdoors as much as possible. All ages very welcome; dinner provided. If you like to cook you can sign up to contribute to a meal sometime.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Give it a Try July: Would you like to try doing a reading at church? Or serving as an acolyte, or maybe help clean up after the Eucharist? For the month of July, instead of a set schedule of helpers for our liturgy, we’ll put out a set of cards every Sunday with the name of a role – Acolyte, Reader, Usher, Altar Guild Helper – and a short explanation of what you need to know. The intention is both to allow our regular helpers to serve when they’re available, in a month that’s often hard to schedule due to summer travel, AND to allow curious folk to try out a new role and see what’s involved. If you’d like to try something out, try to arrive ten minutes early to grab a card and read over what’s involved.

Between Church, Sunday, July 10, 9:15am: Come try out simple outdoor worship between our two regular services. We gather at the stone altar to sing one or two simple songs, listen to the day, and share some brief reflections on spiritual practice in daily life. We will also meet July 17, 24, and 31. Between Church can be an enrichment to one of our regular Sunday services at 8 and 10am, or you can just come for Between Church.

Greeters for First and Third Sundays Needed! If you enjoy making people feel welcome and at home, please consider becoming a Sunday greeter. For more information, contact Bernice Mason.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. For more information, contact Janet Bybee. Thanks!

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Vacation Bible & Arts School, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org.

In the Community…

Free Movie Night at the Madison Public Library with discussion, Thursday, June 30, 6-8:30pm: “Voices of Witness: Out of the Box” is a groundbreaking documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith. Courageously inviting the viewer into their journey, the film is ultimately a celebration of hope and the power of God’s love to transcend even seemingly insurmountable obstacles. This film features many Episcopalians, including Bishop Gene Robinson. For more information, call (608) 438-9536.

 

 

Church Seasons & Holy Days, Sermons

Sermon, June 12

Jesus was a guest in the home of a Pharisee, a member of a movement among the Jews to re-commit to the practice of their ancient laws of piety and purity. And while he was there, somehow, a woman of the city – a sinner – managed to get into the house and approach him, as he reclined at the dinner table. And she began to wash his feet – an intimate and inappropriate act. And look, she’s not even using water – she’s using her tears! And rubbing his feet with this pungent ointment, and kissing them!? His host the Pharisee – and probably many others present too – was thinking, Isn’t this Jesus supposed to be a prophet, who sees the truth of people? Can’t he see what kind of woman this is? How shameful and unclean she is? How can he allow her to touch him?

And Jesus, who was a prophet, who could see the truth of people, said, I have a story to tell. There were two men who owed money to a third man. One owed fifty thousand dollars, and one owed five thousand dollars. Now, the third man decided to forgive those debts and set those men free from their obligations. After that act of mercy, which of the two men whose debts were wiped out would love him more?

One hundred and twenty-three years ago tomorrow, a baby girl was born was born to a respectable English family. More than respectable, really – Papa was the chaplain of Christ Church Cathedral at the great and ancient university of Oxford. A clergyman and a scholar. He and his wife named their only child Dorothy. Dorothy Leigh Sayers. She spent her childhood immersed in the life of the church and the university. At the age of 19, Dorothy won a scholarship to Somerville College, a women’s college at Oxford. There she studied modern languages and medieval literature, finishing with first-class honors. Women could not be awarded degrees in 1915, but that rule changed a few years later and Sayers was awarded a Master of Arts degree in 1920.

Sayers’ vocation was as a writer. Her first poetry collection was published in 1916, and she began work on her first mystery novel in 1920. Her great academic work was a poetic translation of Dante. She also spent a decade working as an advertising copywriter, and is responsible for some of those clever slogans you see on vintage Guinness posters.

If you know Sayers’ name, the odds are that it’s because of her mystery novels – or perhaps the BBC mystery shows based on the books. I first read Sayers because my grandmother pressed the books upon me in my teens, and I’m so glad she did. They are delightful reading, with nuanced and lovable characters, and written with both humor and deep insight into many areas of human life, including the lasting impact of war, the education of women, ethics in advertising, and traditional English bell-ringing!

Sometime in the late 1930s, Sayers, a successful and acclaimed mystery writer, was invited to write a series of plays about the life of Christ to be performed at Canterbury Cathedral. She took up this work and fell in love with it. The plays were very well received, and were published as The Man Born to be King in 1943. Sayers became an important lay theologian and interpreter and advocate for Christian faith, in a jaded and secularizing age. Like her contemporary C.S. Lewis, who was a friend, she was driven by her own faith to use her skill as a writer to try to make Christianity relevant and understandable for modern people. She wrote this about G. K. Chesterton’s work but it applies to her own writing as well: she was a voice that claimed “that Christianity was not a dull thing but a [joyful] thing; not a stick-in-the-mud thing but an adventurous thing; not an unintelligent thing but a wise thing, indeed a shrewd thing.” She went on to write many public essays and several theological books, including The Mind of the Maker, a wonderful work on Trinitarian theology and the holiness of creative work.

She was also an outspoken feminist and integrated those convictions with her Christian faith. In one essay she writes, “Perhaps it is no wonder that the women [in the Gospels] were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man [Jesus] – and there never has been such another. A prophet and teacher who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronised; who never made arch jokes about them, never treated them either as ‘The women, God help us!’ or ‘The ladies, God bless them!’; who rebuked without querulousness and praised without condescension; who took their questions and arguments seriously; …. who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend…. There is no act, no sermon, no parable in the whole Gospel that borrows its pungency from female perversity; nobody could possibly guess from the words and deeds of Jesus that there was anything ‘funny’ about women’s nature.” (From Unpopular Opinions)

Sayers’ name was on a list of holy women and holy men to be commended to the church for commemoration that was passed at General Convention last summer. I was glad to see her name there, and resolved to add her to the cycle of saints whom we particularly remember and honor here at St. Dunstan’s. Not just because she is a personal favorite of mine, though she is; but because the work she was about is the work we are about: speaking the drama and hope, the joy and struggle, and, yes, the intellectual respectability of our faith, into a world that believes Christians to be dull, reactionary, and stupid. Sayers’ proposed feast day is the day of her birth, June 13. And when I looked at the Gospel for this Sunday, I knew this was the right day.

What I’ve told you so far is the public face of Sayers’ life, and her successes. Here, briefly, is the private face of her life, and her failures. In the 1920s Sayers fell in with the counter-cultural Bohemian artistic crowd in London. Writers, artists, performers; late nights, alcohol, drugs and… flexibility in personal relationships. Sayers went through several unhappy and ill-fated love affairs. In 1929, as the world was crumbling with the dawn of the Great Depression, Sayers’ world was crumbling too. Still unmarried, she had become pregnant. Remember: she’s a clergyman’s daughter. A scholar’s daughter and a scholar herself. A well-known and successful female author. One of the first women to receive a degree from Oxford. A feminist who knew that if her situation became known, it would seem to bear out fears that educating and liberating women would lead to promiscuity and the collapse of family life. This was a great and weighty shame for her. She retreated and bore her child in private – a boy who was left in the care of her cousin, and claimed as her nephew. It wasn’t revealed that he was her son until her death in 1957. Though she married a few years later, she never had another child.

Sayers didn’t write or speak publicly about any of this during her life. But I believe this Gospel story might have had special meaning to her. It’s one of those stories in which Jesus is handed an opportunity to be disgusted by a woman – her emotions, her body, her past, her weaknesses – and instead, Jesus treats her as a human being, and honors both her pain and her devotion. Sayers gave birth under a cloud of shame and secrecy and gave up the chance to be a mother to her only son so that she could continue her public life as a successful writer. And Sayers – instead of blaming God for the judgmentalism of humans, instead of abandoning God for seeming to abandon her – Sayers found hope and healing in the heart of the Gospel. Transformation. Redemption. Metanoia, turning – a change of heart and mind that bears fruit in a changed life. In the wake of that great shame, that great loss, she devoted her life to serving and proclaiming the Jesus who did not spurn or shame her, but welcomed her and loved her.

And she tells this Gospel story in her play, The Man Born to be King. She makes this nameless woman into Mary, Jesus’ friend, who in her younger life was seduced by the pleasures of the world. I don’t think it’s a stretch to imagine that in putting these words in Mary’s mouth, she was telling her own story: “I loved the wrong things in the wrong way… yet it was love of a sort… until I found a better kind of love. [There was a time when] I wept and was ashamed, seeing myself such a thing of trash and tawdry. But when you spoke to me, I felt the flame of the sun in my heart. I came alive for the first time. And I love life all the more since I have learnt its meaning.” (p. 180)

Announcements

Announcements, June 9

THIS WEEKEND & THE WEEK AHEAD… 

END OF YEAR PARISH PICNIC! Sunday, June 12, 11:30 – 1pm: Come for good food and good conversation at our annual June parish picnic. Bring something to share, if convenient – a bag of chips, a salad, a favorite dessert. Drinks, pulled pork and egg salad sandwiches will be provided. Activities include a balloon artist and photo booth! The picnic will happen rain or shine.

Sunday School, Sunday, June 12, 10am:  Our Godly Play classroom (ages 3 – 5) will hear about “The Part that Hasn’t Been Written Yet,” while our elementary group will learn about the prophet Elijah. This will be our last regular Sunday school session until September.

Funeral Liturgy for the Rev. Dr. Sybil Robison, Sunday, June 12, 4pm: Sybil’s life and ministry will be honored with a service at St. Dunstan’s Church. Bishop Steven Miller will preside, to honor Sybil’s vocation as a deacon.

Take Out Church: Summer means many of our households head out for various adventures and expeditions. When you can’t be here, take church with you! Our Take Out Church boxes contain several ways to practice your faith when you’re not at church, including a “Flat Dunstan” (take a picture of him at the places you visit, and we’ll post it at Church!), meditative coloring pages, and a Christian Practices punch card. Take Out Church is for all ages. One box per household; if you need extra coloring pages, ask Rev. Miranda. Take Out church is a gift to you, but if you wish you may make a $3 donation to help cover material costs.

Neighbors in Faith, Grace Episcopal Church, Wednesday, June 15, 12pm: As Rev. Franklin Graham holds a rally on Capitol Square, join with Madisonians of all faiths to pray for peace, civility, and the common good, and to share a vision for an America that welcomes people of all backgrounds and belief systems, and where all people can thrive and pursue happiness. Speakers will include Rev. Stephen Marsh, Rabbi Jonathan Biatch, Rabbi Bonnie Margulis, and Sheik Alhagie Jallow. This event has been organized by the Episcopal churches of the greater Madison area. All are welcome to attend.

Summer Thursday Evening Eucharist and Supper, 5:30-7pm: Got weekend plans? Come to church Thursday evening for an information Eucharist (outdoors, if weather permits!) and simple meal. Starting June 16, our Thursday evening Sandbox Worship will include an informal Eucharist every week. We also plan to worship outdoors as much as possible. All ages very welcome; dinner provided. If you have special dietary needs, let Rev. Miranda know, and if you like to cook you can sign up to contribute to a meal sometime.

Musical Test Kitchen & BatWatch, Thursday evening, June 16, 7pm – 9pm: A Musical Test Kitchen is an opportunity to try out some paperless songs, either as a leader or a singer. If you’ve enjoyed some of our “paperless” songs at St. Dunstan’s or are curious to learn more about what we mean by “paperless” music, come along and join the singing!  As twilight falls we’ll move outside for our early summer BatWatch, to count the bats emerging from our local bat residence, a useful measure of the health of the colony. We’ll have a fire & S’mores. All ages welcome; feel free to come when you can & leave when you need to.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

All Ages Worship, Sunday, June 19, 10am: Our Last Sunday worship will be celebrated a week early this month due to Rev. Miranda’s vacation. We’ll explore the Prophet Elijah and his relationship with King Ahab. This service is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. NOTE: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.

Greeters for First and Third Sundays Needed! If you enjoy making people feel welcome and at home, please consider becoming a Sunday greeter.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. Thanks!

Rector’s Discretionary Fund offering, Sunday, June 19: Half the cash in our collection plate, and any designated checks, will go towards the Rector’s Discretionary Fund this day and on every third Sunday. This fund is a way to quietly help people with direct financial needs, in the parish and the wider community. Please give generously.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, June 19, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Younger Adult Meetup at the Vintage, Sunday, June 19, 7pm: The younger adults of St. Dunstan’s are invited to join us for conversation and the beverage of your choice, at the Vintage Brewpub on South Whitney Way. Friends and partners welcome too.

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Vacation Bible & Arts School, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org .

Announcements

Announcements, June 2

THIS WEEKEND…

Guest Preacher Jonathan Melton, Sunday, June 5: Father Jonathan, friend of St. Dunstan’s and chaplain at the St. Francis House campus ministry at UW-Madison, will preach and celebrate on Sunday, June 5. His presence is a gift to Rev. Miranda, who can take her time away more fully without having to prepare a sermon. We welcome Father Jonathan and his words!

Summer Choir on First Sundays, Beginning June 5: Come at 9am to learn some simple music to share as part of our 10am worship. Young singers and adult singers with no previous choir experience are especially invited! You should be able to read text, and ready to begin to learn to read music. Talk with our Organist & Choir Director Martin Ganschow to learn more. Dates are June 5, July 3, August 7 and September 4.

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, Sunday, June 5, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly and reconnect as human beings across our differences. All are welcome!

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, June 5, 11:30am: Come for lunch and an introduction to charitable giving and taxes, including an introduction to our church policies on major gifts. Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored this Sunday, June 5, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

Healing Prayers: This Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of others.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, June 5: This Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry.  Here are the current top-ten, most needed items: rice or pasta, cake or brownie mixes, cooking oil, size 5 & 6 diapers, spices, honey or syrup, laundry detergent, canned ravioli/spaghettios, ketchup, oats or oatmeal. Thank you for all your support!

Readers Needed for Dramatic Reading, Sunday, June 12: We will share a portion of “The Man Born to be King,” by Dorothy Sayers. This is a dramatic reading, without costume or staging, and we plan to do it at both the 8am and 10am services. A signup sheet will be circulated on Sunday the 29th or you can also contact Rev. Miranda.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, June 5, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Greeters for First and Third Sundays Needed! If you enjoy making people feel welcome and at home, please consider becoming a Sunday greeter. For more information, contact Bernice Mason.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. For more information, contact Janet Bybee. Thanks!

Seeking Open Minds and Warm Hearts to Help with our Sunday School! We seek teachers and helpers for our Sunday school classes for the 2016-17 program year, starting in September. Teachers and helpers generally serve once a month. Because of our growing group of kids, we would like to expand to THREE Sunday school classes for next year – for kids ages 3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 10. We use great curricula that give teachers good tools and information. If you’ve never done this before, there’s plenty of support, and if you’ve taught somewhere else, we’d love to benefit from your ideas and experience! Sign up in the Gathering Area or talk with Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes to learn more and get involved.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Parish Picnic, Sunday, June 12, 11:30 – 1pm: Come for good food and good conversation at our annual June parish picnic. We’ll have food and fun activities for all ages, including a balloon artist and photo booth! The picnic will happen rain or shine. Mark your calendar and watch for more details!

Funeral Liturgy for the Rev. Dr. Sybil Robison, Sunday, June 12, 4pm: Sybil’s life and ministry will be honored with a service at St. Dunstan’s Church. Bishop Steven Miller will preside, to honor Sybil’s vocation as a deacon. If you would like to help with the reception and/or bring food, please contact Connie Ott.

Musical Test Kitchen & BatWatch, Thursday evening, June 16, 7pm – 9pm: A Musical Test Kitchen is an opportunity to try out some paperless songs, either as a leader or a singer. If you’ve enjoyed some of our “paperless” songs at St. Dunstan’s or are curious to learn more about what we mean by “paperless” music, come along and join the singing!  As twilight falls we’ll move outside for our early summer BatWatch, to count the bats emerging from our local bat residence, a useful measure of the health of the colony. We’ll have a fire & S’mores. All ages welcome; feel free to come when you can & leave when you need to.

The Madison-Area Julian Gathering will not meet in June due to conflicting dates with JulianFest. Our next Gathering will be Wednesday, July 13, 7:15 – 9:00.

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES…

Find us on Facebook! St. Dunstan’s has two primary Facebook locations. Our “St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church” page is our official Facebook presence. Upcoming events, sermons, and such are posted there by church staff. “Like” that page to get those updates in your Facebook feed. Our “St. Dunstan’s MadCity” group is a more informal place where members can post all sorts of things, like “Can someone lector for me this Sunday?” or “Can somebody use this old stroller?” or “I have a spare concert ticket, would someone like to come with me?” or “Hey, read this article; think we could do something like this?” and so on. Both can be great ways to keep up with the life of the parish while you’re traveling over the summer. So if you’re a Facebook user, look us up!

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Vacation Bible & Arts School, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org.

 

Sermons, Worship

Sermon, May 29

Today’s lesson from 1 Kings is part of cycle of stories about the prophet Elijah and his relationship with King Ahab. Ahab was king of Israel about a hundred years after King David. Israel’s kings had gotten worse and worse since David’s time, and Ahab was the worst yet. He took as his queen Jezebel, a princess from another tribe, who worshipped a god named Baal. And Jezebel convinced Ahab to start worshipping Baal too, and abandon Yahweh, the God of Israel, even having all Israel’s prophets and priests killed.

So the word of God came to Elijah. God sent Elijah to King Ahab to tell him, THUS SAYS THE LORD: You may have killed off all my prophets, but I’M still alive, and I’m watching you, Ahab…. In a couple of weeks I’ll share more of the stories of Elijah and Ahab’s long and contentious relationship. Today we get this one episode, this epic throwdown between the priests of Baal – 450 of them – and Elijah, the sole representative of Yahweh, Israel’s god.

It’s a terrific story – read it again later and take in the details. My favorite part is when Elijah starts mocking the priests of Baal because despite all their dancing and chanting, nothing is happening. Elijah says, Chant louder! Maybe your god is meditating, or has gone on a trip, or is taking a nap, or he’s wandered away – a Biblical idiom that is equivalent to, “He had to see a man about a dog.”

And then of course Yahweh, Elijah’s God, comes through in a dramatic way, What happens after the end of this passage is that Elijah incites the crowd to murder all the priests of Baal on the spot. Elijah is not a cuddly prophet.

Today we are going to baptize little Nicholas as the newest member of Christ’s body, the Church. When I first looked at this lesson several weeks ago, I thought, Wow, I love this story; but I can’t make that into a baptismal sermon…! And then I started to think about who God is in this story, and in the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, in general.

There is a distinct arc in Israelite history, in the story of the people Israel coming to know and understand Yahweh, the God who named and claimed and called them. At first they see and describe Yahweh as a tribal god among other tribal gods. Every tiny kingdom or cultural group had its own gods, usually including a head god who was supposed to protect them, provide for them, help them out in battle, and fight with other gods on their behalf.

There are many verses in the Old Testament that describe God very much that way. From the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy – “Yahweh your god you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. Do not follow other gods, or any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, because Yahweh your god, who is present with you, is a jealous god.” The gods might as well be presidential candidates or football teams. We like ours best, and hope ours will win, but they’re all basically on the same footing. By this logic, when things are going well for Israel, it’s because Yahweh is really kicking butt for them, beating the other gods, and when things don’t go so well for Israel, they tend to start worshipping other gods and losing faith in Yahweh. “What have you done for me lately?”…

So there’s that way of thinking of Yahweh, the God of Israel who becomes the God of Jesus and our God: as essentially a tribal god. Not the only god and not consistently the best or most powerful god, but OUR god. The God who belongs to and looks out for our little tribal group. But fairly early on in the history of Israel, there also begins to be an understanding that the God the Israelites have named and worship isn’t just another tribal god, but is, well, THE God.

It’s in the first chapter of Genesis, in which Israel’s God is described as creating heavens and earth. Today’s Psalm – from the time of King David – holds up God as a creator: For great is Yahweh, more to be honored than the gods of other peoples; for they are idols, but Yahweh created the heavens. It’s in the covenant with Abraham, who is called and chosen to be the father of God’s people – but with the stated intention that through Abraham’s covenant relationship with God, all the peoples of the Earth will be blessed. Likewise in the books of the words of the prophets, often, we see that God, Yahweh, has a particular relationship with Israel, but has that relationship for the sake of the whole world. The final chapters of Isaiah are perhaps the best-known example: Nations will stream to your light, kings to the brightness of your dawning! Through Israel, the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations!

The fact that Yahweh had an agenda for Israel and its rulers, that Yahweh wasn’t just an idol to be bossed around and to rubber-stamp the king’s decisions, was the source of a lot of tension between Israel’s kings and Israel’s prophets. In most ancient world cultures, the king either was a god, or was the child of a god, and whatever the king did was seen as divinely endorsed. Not so in Israel, where God argues with Israel’s kings over and over again, through the voice of the prophets – Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, and many more.

So there’s a back and forth movement, and sometimes a tension, in the Old Testament, between God as team mascot, always on our side, and God as… GOD, who calls us to be on God’s side.

This tension shows up in the New Testament too. Jesus is pretty clear that God is the God of everybody and everything, and that becomes the understanding of the early church. But there are hiccups along the way. Like when, after Jesus’ resurrection, some of the disciples ask him, NOW are you going to throw out the Romans and restore the kingship of Israel? They want their tribal god back. To fight for them and rule over them and let them be their own people in their own land. They are frustrated and confused that God’s purposes, manifest in Jesus Christ, encompass other peoples, other lands, even the hated Romans.

You can put a finger on the tension in today’s Gospel story. The Roman centurion is drawn to the God of Israel. He’s a friend of the local synagogue, even sent his soldiers to help with building it. He recognizes the power and authority of Jesus and of God in Jesus. And yet. He is and remains an outsider. God can, and may choose, to exercise God’s healing power across the lines of class, status, nationality, and religion; but God is still Israel’s God, the God of the Jews, and this act of mercy for a Roman slave is understood as a special favor. It’s not until much later in the life of the church – and after quite a bit of conflict and struggle – that non-Jews will be seen as belonging to God on an equal footing with Jewish Christians.

I think we still live in that tension, sometimes. The tension between seeing God as a tribal god, who watches out for us and our community; and seeing God as THE God, a God who is present in and has intentions for the whole world.

There is a real and lasting appeal in thinking of God as our tribal god, our pet god. A pet God feels safer. More controlled, more defined. The relationship, though demanding, is clear-cut: we do the stuff God wants us to do, and God stands by us and takes care of us. Also a pet God, a tribal God, is far more comfortable for us as people of faith in a pluralistic and largely secular society. If God is the god of our tribe, then God can stay our business, safely ensconced in our private lives. We get together at church with the other members of God’s tribe, we tell stories and sing songs about how great God is, we complete our ritual obligations to God as God’s people have done since the book of Exodus, and we go out into the world where God is largely absent. Where other tribes and other gods are dominant – wealth, power, beauty, success.

But if God is the God of everything. If God is THE God, who has intentions for the whole world, for all peoples, and who is in fact a little cranky about our persistent idolatry, our millennia-long love affair with these dead idols – wealth, power, beauty, success – If the God we meet here when we gather as God’s tribe is also the God of everybody and everything, then we are still God’s people when we walk out those doors. Then our relationship with God isn’t confined to what we do together when we gather as a family, a tribe, here at church. THE God, who has intentions for the whole world, sends us out into that world to meet and serve God there.

And that – finally – brings me around to baptism. Our baptismal rite uses both languages, both images. We baptize new believers into the household of God, into the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ. Baptism is a rite of admission into God’s tribe, God’s family. And, probably because we most often baptize babies, that’s where our imagery and language tend to linger. We give Nicholas homely gifts, a blanket, a candle. We vie for the chance to cuddle him. We rejoice to welcome him into our oikos, our household of faith. Into the warmth and welcome and nurture of our tribe, which will, I fervently pray, be a safe and joyful and enriching place for him to grow as a child of God.

And. We baptize new believers not only into the household of God, but also into the mission of God. We are baptized as ambassadors of Jesus Christ and agents of God’s redeeming purposes on earth. We are baptized into God’s profound compassion for all peoples, and every person.  We are baptized into the church, and also into the world. As people who seek and serve Christ in all people. Who love our neighbors as ourselves. Who strive for justice, peace, and dignity for everybody.

It’s a tall order, especially for someone who is still getting to know his toes. The good news is that we don’t expect Nicholas to work it out yet. If I have the blessing to still be his pastor when he is ten, fifteen, twenty, I look forward to talking with him about who he is called to be in the world, as a member of this tribe that exists for the good of those who don’t belong. In the meantime, we welcome Nicholas into our tribe, and strive to be a people who will teach and form him, and all our children and new believers, to live as God’s people, in the world and for the world.

Announcements

Announcements, May 26

THIS WEEKEND…

Eucharist with Holy Baptism, Sunday, May 29, 10am: We rejoice to celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Nicholas. Nicholas and his parents, John and Christina, are new members of St. Dunstan’s and worship regularly at our 8am service.

Middle School Lunch & Learn, Sunday, May 29, 12-1pm: Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church once a month. We’ll dig into faith, Scripture, life, and our questions about all three. We’ll wrap up by 1pm, and we can arrange rides home for kids if that helps the parents’ schedules.

Memorial Service for Jerry Bever, Sunday, May 29, 3pm:  We will gather to remember and celebrate the life of longtime member Jerry Bever, who died in February. Contributions to a light reception after the service are welcome.

Greeters for First Sundays Needed! If you enjoy making people feel welcome and at home, please consider becoming a Sunday greeter.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. Thanks!

Seeking Open Minds and Warm Hearts to Help with our Sunday School! We seek teachers and helpers for our Sunday school classes for the 2016-17 program year, starting in September. Teachers and helpers generally serve once a month. Because of our growing group of kids, we would like to expand to THREE Sunday school classes for next year – for kids ages 3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 10. We use great curricula that give teachers good tools and information. If you’ve never done this before, there’s plenty of support, and if you’ve taught somewhere else, we’d love to benefit from your ideas and experience! Sign up in the Gathering Area or talk with Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes to learn more and get involved.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Monday Morning Art Group: Each Monday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 an adult group meets in the chapel meeting room to share their creative arts and crafts projects, which might include drawing and painting to needlework. It’s become a wonderful time to share some of our personal history, or more recent experiences and/or challenges. Feel free to come along and join us! Because of improper ventilation for toxic materials, we ask that no paint solvents or smelly glues be required during this period.

Rev. Miranda’s Upcoming Absences: Rev. Miranda is traveling for some continuing education opportunities in late May and into early June. While she’ll be here on Sundays as usual, she’d like the parish to know that she will largely be away from her email and ongoing projects from May 23 through June 7. Thanks for your understanding and support!

Guest Preacher Jonathan Melton, Sunday, June 5: Father Jonathan, friend of St. Dunstan’s and chaplain at the St. Francis House campus ministry at UW-Madison, will preach and celebrate on Sunday, June 5. His presence is a gift to Rev. Miranda, who can take her time away more fully without having to prepare a sermon. We welcome Father Jonathan and his words!

Summer Choir on First Sundays, Beginning June 5: Come at 9am to learn some simple music to share as part of our 10am worship. Young singers and adult singers with no previous choir experience are especially invited! You should be able to read text, and ready to begin to learn to read music. Talk with our Organist & Choir Director Martin Ganschow to learn more. Dates are June 5, July 3, August 7 and September 4.

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, Sunday, June 5, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly and reconnect as human beings across our differences. All are welcome!

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, June 5, 11:30am (Rescheduled): Come for lunch and an introduction to charitable giving and taxes, including an introduction to our church policies on major gifts. Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored next Sunday, June 5, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.

Healing Prayers: Next Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of others.

MOM Special Offering, Sunday, June 5: Next Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry.  Here are the current top-ten, most needed items: rice or pasta, cake or brownie mixes, cooking oil, size 5 & 6 diapers, spices, honey or syrup, laundry detergent, canned ravioli/spaghettios, ketchup, oats or oatmeal. Thank you for all your support!

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, June 5, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.

Readers Needed for Dramatic Reading, Sunday, June 12: We will share a portion of “The Man Born to be King,” by Dorothy Sayers. This is a dramatic reading, without costume or staging, and we plan to do it at both the 8am and 10am services. A signup sheet will be circulated on Sunday the 29th. You can also contact Rev. Miranda.

Parish Picnic, Sunday, June 12, 12:00pm: Come for good food and good conversation at our annual June parish picnic. We’ll have food and fun activities for all ages, including a balloon artist and photo booth! The picnic will happen rain or shine. Mark your calendar and watch for more details!

Musical Test Kitchen & BatWatch, Thursday evening, June 16, 7pm – 9pm: A Musical Test Kitchen is an opportunity to try out some paperless songs, either as a leader or a singer. If you’ve enjoyed some of our “paperless” songs at St. Dunstan’s or are curious to learn more about what we mean by “paperless” music, come along and join the singing!  As twilight falls we’ll move outside for our early summer BatWatch, to count the bats emerging from our local bat residence, a useful measure of the health of the colony. We’ll have a fire & S’mores. All ages welcome; feel free to come when you can & leave when you need to.

The Madison-Area Julian Gathering will not meet in June due to conflicting dates with JulianFest. Our next Gathering will be Wednesday, July 13, 7:15 – 9:00.

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES…

Find us on Facebook! St. Dunstan’s has two primary Facebook locations. Our “St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church” page is our official Facebook presence. Upcoming events, sermons, and such are posted there by church staff. “Like” that page to get those updates in your Facebook feed. Our “St. Dunstan’s MadCity” group is a more informal place where members can post all sorts of things, like “Can someone lector for me this Sunday?” or “Can somebody use this old stroller?” or “I have a spare concert ticket, would someone like to come with me?” or “Hey, read this article; think we could do something like this?” and so on. Both can be great ways to keep up with the life of the parish while you’re traveling over the summer. So if you’re a Facebook user, look us up!

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Vacation Bible & Arts School, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org.

 

Church Seasons & Holy Days, Current Events, Sermons

Homily, May 22

A pretty common question around here, from new members and sometimes not-so-new members, is: Who was Saint Dunstan? Dunstan was a 10th-century English monk and bishop, who was deeply involved in the religious, civic, and cultural rebirth of England after some dark and violent decades. He was born around 910 to an upper-class family in the western town of Glastonbury. Dunstan became a monk as a young man, and was named Abbot of the monastery at Glastonbury in 943 (that’s when we like to say he really started irking the Devil). During a year-long political exile, after one of many disagreements with one king or another, he encountered the revival of Benedictine monasticism that was underway on the Continent at that time. King Edgar called Dunstan back to England in 957, and eventually appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the English church. In that capacity he spent the rest of his long life striving to renew and develop monasticism in England, based on the Benedictine rule and including both monks and nuns. This work had an impact far beyond the church, which was Dunstan’s intention. He was an immensely important figure in the process of cultural and political stabilization and centralization in tenth-century England. He is said to have been an artist and craftsman, and known to have been a writer of manuscripts. The image of St. Dunstan that dwells with our crowd of saints around the baptismal font is from the Glastonbury Classbook, an Anglo-Saxon religious text that may well have been written (and drawn) in part by Dunstan himself. It is possible that the monk kneeling at the feet of Christ in that image is a self-portrait by Dunstan’s own hand.

For the past couple of years we’ve done a really delightful little poem-pantomime about Dunstan’s legendary encounter with the devil. It’s good fun, but it’s basically fiction. What I love about Jane Maher’s play, that we are doing this year, is that it actually gives you some history and a little sense of Dunstan’s significance.

I think Dunstan’s life and witness are especially instructive to us in the seasons when politics are on our minds. He lived his life and vocation at the intersection of faith and politics. That’s why I chose this Gospel for our celebration of his feast day. The recommended Gospel for Dunstan’s feast is a text from Matthew, about the faithful steward who keeps watch while the master is away, and that’s nice too. But in the “Render unto Caesar” story, Jesus calls our attention to the distinction between what is Caesar’s and what is God’s; between human political agendas and God’s agenda. And that is the core of Dunstan’s life. Let me offer two brief points for reflection, on this feast of St. Dunstan.

First and most fundamentally, the witness of Dunstan’s life points us towards faithful engagement with the public issues of our time and place. Dunstan’s commitment to monasticism wasn’t a retreat from the world; far from it. In Dunstan’s time the common people were uneducated, poor, harassed by bandits, cheated by merchants, oppressed by the landed aristocracy. Rule of law and civil society were almost nonexistent. Dunstan and the other great bishops of his time believed deeply that the flourishing of the English people would be best served by the cultivation of monastic centers, whose prayers, teaching, and care for the common folk would be a stabilizing and improving force.

Dunstan lived in a very different time than ours, but maybe it’s not as different as we think it is. And despite all the talk about the decline of religion in America, churches – and nonprofits and volunteer agencies full of church folks – play a huge role in support and advocacy for the most vulnerable folks of our era. Dunstan’s insight – that effective, well-ordered, engaged religious communities can be the foundation and watchdog of a just society – is just as true today as it was in the tenth century. Organized religion still has a huge role to play in American civic life, if we step up to it.

Second, the witness of Dunstan’s life calls us to reflect on just how much God’s agenda can be pursued through human politics – and how much God’s agenda has to be pursued by faithful people regardless of the ups and downs, the rights and lefts of our political processes and institutions. Dunstan was a consummate pragmatist. He pursued his vision and calling with the help of friendly kings, and against the opposition of unfriendly ones. He had to find ways to advance his agenda under all circumstances. He had to work with the system as it was as in order to inch it closer to the system he hoped it could be.

Civic engagement doesn’t mean we forget the difference between God and Caesar. We’re most likely to forget that difference when someone we really like is on the ballot. But no human election will ever usher in God’s kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace. Human political agendas and God’s agenda can overlap, for sure; but those overlaps are always temporary and partial. If we can keep that in mind, and keep our eyes on God’s purposes for the world, then maybe our civic and political engagement can be as clear-sighted and stubborn as Dunstan’s was.

May the spirit of Dunstan, that wise and pugnacious bishop, guide and inspire us in this season and in all highly-charged political seasons. May his life remind us to be mindful of the difference between God and Caesar, and yet, to work and pray faithfully for the good of the city, the nation, and the world where we dwell. Amen.

Announcements

Announcements, May 19

SUNDAY, MAY 22…

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly and reconnect as human beings across our differences. All are welcome!

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday: Today, we are celebrating the feast day of our saint, Dunstan. You’re invited to mark the occasion by dressing up with a fancy hat and/or tie – wear your own or borrow one from the collection at church. We will formally welcome new members on this festive day. We will also take up a special collection for scholarships for the Diocese of Milwaukee’s camp program, Camp Webb. It’s our custom to take photos of the whole congregation after the 10am service that Sunday; we hope you’ll stay a few moments to participate.

Grace Shelter Dinner, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the gathering area to help out.

Greeters for First Sundays Needed! If you enjoy making people feel welcome and at home, please consider becoming a Sunday greeter. For more information, contact Bernice Mason.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. For more information, contact Janet Bybee.

Seeking Open Minds and Warm Hearts to Help with our Sunday School! We seek teachers and helpers for our Sunday school classes for the 2016-17 program year, starting in September. Teachers and helpers generally serve once a month. Because of our growing group of kids, we would like to expand to THREE Sunday school classes for next year – for kids ages 3 – 5, 6 – 8, and 9 – 10. We use great curricula that give teachers good tools and information. If you’ve never done this before, there’s plenty of support, and if you’ve taught somewhere else, we’d love to benefit from your ideas and experience! Sign up in the Gathering Area or talk with Rev. Miranda or Sharon Henes to learn more and get involved.

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Monday Morning Art Group: Each Monday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 an adult group meets in the chapel meeting room to share their creative arts and crafts projects, which might include drawing and painting to needlework. It’s become a wonderful time to share some of our personal history, or more recent experiences and/or challenges. Feel free to come along and join us! Because of improper ventilation for toxic materials, we ask that no paint solvents or smelly glues be required during this period.

Rev. Miranda’s Upcoming Absences: Rev. Miranda is traveling for some continuing education opportunities in late May and into early June. While she’ll be here on Sundays as usual, she’d like the parish to know that she will largely be away from her email and ongoing projects from May 23 through June 7. Thanks for your understanding and support!

Eucharist with Holy Baptism, Sunday, May 29, 10am: We rejoice to celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Nicholas. Nicholas and his parents, John and Christina, are new members of St. Dunstan’s and worship regularly at our 8am service.

Middle School Lunch & Learn, Sunday, May 29, 12-1pm: Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church once a month. We’ll dig into faith, Scripture, life, and our questions about all three. We’ll wrap up by 1pm, and we can arrange rides home for kids if that helps the parents’ schedules.

Memorial Service for Jerry Bever, Sunday, May 29, 3pm:  We will gather to remember and celebrate the life of longtime member Jerry Bever, who died in February. Contributions to a light reception after the service are welcome.

Guest Preacher Jonathan Melton, Sunday, June 5: Father Jonathan, friend of St. Dunstan’s and chaplain at the St. Francis House campus ministry at UW-Madison, will preach and celebrate on Sunday, June 5. His presence is a gift to Rev. Miranda, who can take her time away more fully without having to prepare a sermon. We welcome Father Jonathan and his words!

Summer Choir on First Sundays, Beginning June 5: Come at 9am to learn some simple music to share as part of our 10am worship. Young singers and adult singers with no previous choir experience are especially invited! You should be able to read text, and ready to begin to learn to read music. Talk with our Organist & Choir Director Martin Ganschow to learn more. Dates are June 5, July 3, August 7 and September 4.

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, June 5, 11:30am (Rescheduled): Come for lunch and an introduction to charitable giving and taxes, including an introduction to our church policies on major gifts. Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

Parish Picnic, Sunday, June 12, 12:00pm: Come for good food and good conversation at our annual June parish picnic. We’ll have food and fun activities for all ages, including a balloon artist and photo booth! The picnic will happen rain or shine. Mark your calendar and watch for more details!

The Madison-Area Julian Gathering will not meet in June due to conflicting dates with JulianFest. Our next Gathering will be Wednesday, July 13, 7:15 – 9:00 at St. Dunstan’s.

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES…

Find us on Facebook! St. Dunstan’s has two primary Facebook locations. Our “St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church” page is our official Facebook presence. Upcoming events, sermons, and such are posted there by church staff. “Like” that page to get those updates in your Facebook feed. Our “St. Dunstan’s MadCity” group is a more informal place where members can post all sorts of things, like “Can someone lector for me this Sunday?” or “Can somebody use this old stroller?” or “I have a spare concert ticket, would someone like to come with me?” or “Hey, read this article; think we could do something like this?” and so on. Both can be great ways to keep up with the life of the parish while you’re traveling over the summer. So if you’re a Facebook user, look us up!

The Thrilling Adventures of Tobias and Sarah! Vacation Bible & Arts School, 5:30 – 7:30pm, July 30 – August 4. We are designing our own VBS this year, focusing on the book of Tobit, a rousing story of faith, adventure, risk, romance, and mystery, from a part of the Bible known as the Apocrypha. Drama, art, and outreach will be integrated into our curriculum. Kids ages 3 to 10 are welcome to participate; need not be members of St. Dunstan’s. Registration forms will be available soon. We will also be inviting the adults of the parish into study and artistic engagement with the book of Tobit this summer; watch for more information!

40th Annual Women’s Mini Week – Surprised by Joy! – August 11 – 14, 2016, Camp Lakotah, Wautoma, Wisconsin: This is your time to retreat from your everyday routines, to allow discoveries and friendships to refresh you, to find comfortable activity or blissful quiet. Registration forms are in the Gathering Area. For more information, see the website at www.womensminisweek.org.

 

Church Seasons & Holy Days, Sermons

Sermon, May 15

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Pentecost. The lesson from the Acts of the Apostles, which we read together earlier, is the story of this holy feast: it’s the day when Jesus’ first disciples, his friends and followers, received the Holy Spirit of God in a new way, inspiring and empowering them to preach the good news of God in Christ. On Pentecost we share that Scripture and we reflect on the ways the Holy Spirit is at work in us, in our church, in the world around us.

Our church teaches the doctrine of the Trinity, the understanding that our God is one, yet also somehow three: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Creator, Redeemer, Sustainer; the One who Creates, the One who Befriends, the One who Inspires. That understanding took shape in the first decades of the Church’s life – but there are Scriptures in the Old Testament that talk about the Spirit of God as a sort of going-forth of God’s power, with its own nature and being. Starting in Genesis 1, when the Spirit of God moves over the face of the waters before Creation, right up to the Spirit’s appearance at Jesus’ baptism, immediately after which the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness to fast for forty days. So it’s not that the Holy Spirit suddenly appears in the story of God’s people, in the second chapter of Acts. It’s more that the newborn Church is called to recognize, receive, and call on her, as a gift and tool for the work before them.

Our portion of John’s Gospel today names some of the ways the Spirit acts within and among the believers: teaching them; reminding them of what they’ve already been taught – I know I often need such reminders! – and bringing peace and calm, Christ’s peace blessing us through the power and presence of the Spirit.

The Greek word that John uses here is interesting: Parakletos, translated Advocate or sometimes Comforter, or sometimes left as the odd word Paraclete. It literally means one who is called to the side of another person. And in New Testament Greek it had legal overtones, as “advocate” can in English: one who stands with and speaks for a person accused or in trouble. There’s rich ground for theological reflection in that word, Paraclete. There’s also, of course, a fair share of parakeet jokes.

The parakeet, however, is not the bird we usually see used to represent the Holy Spirit. What bird do you usually see?…. The dove, right? It’s an image used by the first Gospel writer, Mark, who says that the Spirit “descended upon Jesus like a dove” as he rose from the water, having been baptized by John. Matthew and John follow Mark’s wording; Luke does too though he gets a little more concrete, saying that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus “in bodily form like a dove.” Not just a metaphor but a manifestation.

So the Church adopted the dove as one symbol of the Spirit, and has read that in various ways – as a sign of peace, gentleness, purity, innocence. But… wait a minute. Let’s turn for just one moment to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verse 24. Jesus’ parents are bringing an offering to Temple to celebrate the birth of their firstborn son. And they bring “a pair of turtledoves and two young pigeons.” Just about every translation says it that way, back to the King James Version. Only the word translated here as “pigeons” – peristeron – is the same word used at Jesus’ baptism. In fact, it’s the same word used EVERYWHERE it says “dove” in the New Testament. Why translate it as “pigeon” in one place and “dove” elsewhere? It’s almost like it’s totally arbitrary. It’s almost like there’s no difference between pigeons and doves. But of course there is! Doves are pretty and pure and sweet. Pigeons are gross and ugly and obnoxious. Right? ….

I heard something a couple of weeks ago that really tickled my imagination about that familiar image of the Holy Spirit as dove. And in honor of baby M’s mother, who is a wildlife biologist, I thought I’d go ahead and follow that thread today.  The thing I heard was an episode of a wonderful podcast called 99% Invisible. It’s a podcast about the interesting stories of things we rarely notice or think about. And this episode was an interview with Nathanael Johnson, author of a new book called Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness.

Johnson shares the history of the pigeon. Keeping and breeding pigeons used to be, not something your quirky uncle does in his free time, but a hobby of the aristocracy. The pigeon – or dove; they’re basically the same bird – was first domesticated in the Middle East, then spread around the ancient world by the Romans. Johnson points out that “a common element of a traditional Tuscan Villa was a… lookout tower and pigeon house.” Kings and nobles, governors and dignitaries would keep and breed pigeons in their fine homes, and exchange them as gifts and tokens of honor. In the 1600s pigeons were brought to North America, and their fall from grace came as they became feral and propagated themselves in this new environment, becoming, well, common, in every sense of the word.

Johnson says that for many centuries, in English, the words “pigeon” and “dove” were essentially synonyms and were used interchangeably. “But over time,” he says, “the two diverged – dove was increasingly associated with positive things and pigeon became associated with the negative.” Consider, Johnson suggests, Pigeon soap beauty bars. Silky smooth Pigeon Chocolate. Or… the Holy Spirit descending in the form of a pigeon.

Then Johnson goes on to share some fun pigeon facts. So, just as the Church has taken liberties with the dove image, and read in ideas about peace and purity, I’m going to offer some thoughts about what imagining the Holy Spirit as a pigeon might do for us.

First, pigeons are everywhere. Madison isn’t hugely overrun, but we’ve experienced or seen images of the hordes of pigeons that reside in our great cities. And that tends to gross us out. We see them as dirty, diseased vermin. We ignore or resent them. We call them flying rats. (I also have a lot respect for rats, but that’s another sermon…!) Buildings are equipped with spikes and nets to try and keep pigeons from calling them home. But pigeons, undeterred, just fly on to the next building. We disdain pigeons because they are so common, but maybe we should respect them for the same reason. Pigeons are a very successful species, and co-exist well with human beings, in the in-between spaces we leave, in our cities and our lives.

Reflecting on the Holy Spirit as pigeon, I ask: Where is the Holy Spirit lurking around the edge of your life, hanging out on a windowsill while you brush your teeth, perching on a statue you walk past every day, even dropping a little gift on you on your way to work? Ignored or even kicked away, when there’s something here that really deserves our attention?

Second, pigeons are nurturing. We know that most birds care for their young and bring them food, but everybody knows that only mammals give milk and actually feed their young from their own bodies. But everybody knows wrong. Pigeon parents – female and male alike – actually produce a milky substance to feed their young. It’s secreted in a pouch inside their throats, and baby pigeons get the milk by sticking their beaks down their parents’ throats. So pigeons, like ourselves, give of their own bodies to nurture their young.

Reflecting on the Holy Spirit as pigeon, I ask: Where might there be something unexpected that wants to feed and nurture you? That’s offering you what you need to grow and flourish, in a place you’ve never thought to look?

Third, pigeons are beautiful. Seriously. Try, try to wipe your mind clean of all the associations and assumptions you carry, and do a Google image search, or go to your favorite pigeon-y location and just look. They have the same graceful shape as the dove, their more popular cousin, with that lovely fanned tail in flight. Their colors range from soft grays to warm taupes to pinks, with that sheen of iridescent green on the breast, and striking bars of black and gray on their wings. They have finely-traced eyes and delicate beaks. They are beautiful birds, rendered ugly only by overfamiliarity and inattention.

Johnson, the author of Unseen City, shared the story of how he stumbled into this project. He would walk his infant daughter to daycare every day – and there were all those elements of the urban landscape that he had long ago learned to ignore, but that she was very interested in. What’s that? Tree. What’s that? Tree. In fact, the same tree. Faced with a choice between saying “tree” a hundred times, or refusing to answer and earning her frustrated screams, he decided to make a shared game of noticing. Tree; bark; twig; leaf; flower; petal; stamen; seed pod… And the noticing went on to lead Johnson to discover, and share with us, a whole amazing world of plants and animals that live alongside us, even in, especially in, our densest human environments.

Reflecting on the Holy Spirit as pigeon, I ask: Where are we missing the beauty that the Holy Spirit has for us, because we’re not even looking? Because our preconceptions and preoccupations have closed our eyes to the wonder, the complexity, and, yes, the beauty of the world around us, and the ways that beauty might bless us?

Let us turn now to the baptismal liturgy, as we invite the Holy Spirit, the divine Pigeon, to descend among us and bless baby M as the newest member of God’s worldwide family of faith.

6205 University Ave., Madison WI

St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church