Announcements

Announcements, May 12

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 of these locations will be more effective, the more people are on them. So if you’re a Facebook user, look us up!

THIS WEEKEND…

Fellowship Group Gathering, Friday, May 13, 1pm: Would you like to be part of a smaller group that meets regularly for friendship, mutual support, and shared Bible study? We will have an exploratory gathering on Friday, May 13, at 1pm at VIP Asian Cuisine on Odana Road. Join us if you can,

Pre-Clean-Up Day, Saturday, May 14, from 9am to noon (drop-in):  B&G members & friends will gather to do some prep work for the parish work day and some of the more skilled work needed on our grounds. Volunteers welcome!

Men’s Book Group, Saturday, May 14, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig. Jack McCaskill accompanies his father on a horseback journey to count sheep onto mountain rangeland allotted by the national forest—a routine yearly duty that leads to the revelation of a long-kept family secret. Events develop over the course of the summer and end in a forest fire that brings the book, as well as the Catskill family’s struggle within itself, to a stunning climax.

 Pentecost Sunday Worship with Holy Baptism, May 15: On this feast day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, and celebrate the Spirit’s continued action among us. Red is the church’s color for this holy day; consider wearing something red for church! At 10am we will celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Mathias LaBonte. We welcome the LaBonte family as they celebrate this holy occasion among us!

Spring Clean-up Day, Sunday, May 15, 12-2pm: Join us after the 10 am service to put some “sweat equity” into tending our beautiful buildings and grounds. Wear or bring your scruffy clothes and work gloves. Lunch will be provided!

Sunday School, Sunday, May 15, 10am: This week both our 3-5 year old class and our 6 – 10 year old class will explore the story of Pentecost. We will also meet June 12 before taking a hiatus for the summer.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund Offering, Sunday, May 15: 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, May 15, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All welcome.

Young Adult Meetup at the Vintage, Sunday, May 15, 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 & partners welcome too.

Updates on the Military Personnel whom we keep in prayer: We pray weekly for daughters and sons, granddaughters and grandsons, nieces, nephews, and friends of our members, who are serving our country in the armed services.  If you have updates about one of these people to share (including photos, which we love!), or new names for our list, please send them to . Thanks!

Altar Flowers: May dates available! Honor a loved one or a special event with altar flowers. Reserve your special date by writing your dedication on the sign-up sheet. Suggested donation is $35. Write “flowers” on the memo line of your check or on envelope containing cash, or donate online at donate.stdunstans.com.

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

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Monday Morning Art Group: Each Monday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 an adult group meets in the chapel area 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.

“Toxic Charity” Book Discussion, Wednesday, May 18, 6:30-8pm:  Veteran urban activist Robert Lupton reveals the shockingly toxic effects that modern charity has upon the very people meant to benefit from it. Toxic Charity provides proven new models for charitable groups who want to help—not sabotage—those whom they desire to serve.  Please join Diocese of Milwaukee Haiti Project Coordinator, Heidi Ropa, to reflect on how this book may inform the way our Diocese interacts with our partners in Haiti or in other settings where we serve to support those in need. Go to . The book can be found online if you wish to order it.

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, May 20 (due to Memorial Day holiday), 6pm: 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 Amber Indian Restaurant at 6913 University Avenue in Madison.

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!

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday, May 22: We will celebrate the feast day of our saint, Dunstan, on Sunday, May 22. 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, Sunday, May 22, 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.

Eucharist with Holy Baptism, Sunday, May 29, 8am: We will celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Nicholas Outrakis.  We welcome the Outrakis family as they celebrate this holy occasion among us!

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 gig 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.

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, and August 7.

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 good 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!

HELP WANTED…

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.

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES…

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

Sermon, May 8

Preached by guest preacher and friend of St. Dunstan’s, Fred-Allen Self.

Gospel of John, chapter 17, verses 20-26: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

In our Gospel text from the Gospel of John this morning there are some fantastic statements there and a continual repetition and variation of one phrase “that they may all be one.” It also ends with the prayer of Jesus with the words, “…so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Several weeks ago Miranda reached out to me and asked if I would like to preach here. I immediately agreed. She asked me to look at the upcoming scriptures in the lectionary and see if there was anything that jumped at me. I have to admit, this was one of the first that jumped out to me. You see: when I look at St. Dunstan’s, this is what I see. I see this love. An all-encompassing, welcoming, embracing love. That kind of love that has the potential to change the world.

Over the last several years, St. Dunstan’s Church has become a very important place for myself and my family. This community has come together and helped me through some of the darkest times of my life, and has helped me to heal in ways that I can’t even begin to describe. This happened through nothing other than that willingness to just love. To love, to embrace, to recognize the ugliness of life, and just keep loving and supporting through it all.

If I may, I would like to back up and share a bit of my personal history and how St. Dunstan’s came to be a part of my life:

I grew up in a radically different religious world. It was a Christian world, but it was one in which love, even God’s love, was incredibly conditional. You are loved if… you are loved when… you are loved because…

At no point was there just the simple statement of “you are loved, period.”

In this world there was a very narrow mold into which you had to fit in order to be worthy of real love. Until you fit that mold you were “loved into” the mold, which to be quite honest never felt very good. That form of love felt more like judgement and condemnation.

The biggest problem with all of this is that I had something in my life, something in the core of my being, that kept me from ever fitting into this mold that was worthy of love: I am gay.

For years I lived with this secret truth. I made decisions that wrecked my own life and the lives of others until finally, I came to a point where I was broken. I felt truly worthless. I honestly believed that God didn’t want me, God didn’t love me or even like me, so therefore, why should I love myself? Why should anyone else love me? At the age of 25 my marriage was over. I lived in Wisconsin and my entire family was a world away in Arkansas. I felt utterly alone, lost and helpless. It was at the point that I hit rock bottom that I reached out for help. I went online and I looked up “safe churches for LGBT people.” I saw several church names that I didn’t recognize, but one jumped out. Yes, it was St. Dunstans. I knew the Episcopal Church from high school. My high school choir director had been an Episcopalian and she was one of the great mentors of my life. So, I took a chance and sent an email. I didn’t know who I was reaching out to, the site I had found only had the email “rector@stdunstans.” In retrospect I guess I could have done a bit more digging to figure out to whom I was writing, but at the time it just didn’t seem that important. I sent the email explaining my life story and that I needed help. I honestly didn’t expect to get a response.

Nearly immediately I received a response from a Rev. Miranda Hassett inviting me to come to the church and talk. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. However, that fateful conversation would go on to change my life. In our brief conversation, the first of MANY, Miranda invited me to worship that coming Sunday, an invitation which I tentatively accepted.

It was a Sunday in September of 2011 that I first walked through the doors of St. Dunstan’s to attend worship here. Walking through the door that Sunday took a great deal of courage. You see, just about a month before then I had come out to my family and friends. Though my immediate family, my parents and my sister, were very supportive, the same couldn’t be said for much of the rest.  The ensuing weeks resulted in me being beaten nearly black and blue with the Bible and with the brand of “love” I had grown accustomed to from the church. That Sunday, though, so much changed.

I sat quietly in worship that day, no one really knew who I was, I didn’t know who anyone was, but there was a love in this place that was palpable, a welcome that was real. I’m not sure I’ve ever been as welcomed as I was that day. From that point I began to become more involved with the St. Dunstan’s community. As I became involved many people began to learn my story and my history. At first, this really scared me, you see, I had found a place I loved. The last thing I wanted was for my story and my history to become known and I have to leave yet another place that I loved… but a wondrous thing happened: the more people learned my story, the more love I felt given in return.

I’ll be entirely transparent: before I came to St. Dunstan’s and experienced this community my life was falling apart. I was lost, I was in a spiritual crisis, and I was in very real danger of harming myself. The love and nurturing that I found here truly saved my life in so many ways, and for that I am so incredibly grateful.

The Gospel lesson from this morning ends with the beautiful prayer from Jesus, “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” This is what I found here, and this is why this scripture jumped at me so much.

That love, that radical love that doesn’t ask questions and doesn’t have conditions, that’s what it’s all about.

Through the help of the community at St. Dunstan’s I found a new form of faith. This form of faith wasn’t built on fitting the right mold. It wasn’t built on “loving” someone into a correct way of being. I was a form of faith built on loving everyone, not matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter how we may agree or disagree. It also taught me that sometimes love is a challenge. It’s a choice, something that we have to choose regularly. Yet, while it can be a challenge, it is a challenge that is always worth it. The most important lesson I think that I learned during that time was this: we are all beautifully and wonderfully created. At some point someone here told me, “God created and said, ‘it is good.’ Who are we to declare otherwise?” Who indeed?

In time I became a fairly fierce advocate for inclusion in the church for all people, regardless of orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other factor. It was this that lead me to answer a call to ministry. At the time I had no idea what that looked like. At first I thought I was going to be an Episcopal Priest, then a United Methodist Elder… yet neither of those were meant to be it seems. In the end I found an organization called the Progressive Christian Alliance. About three years ago I began a process of discernment and a year ago became a PCA Pastor. What drew me to them was that, much like the community of St. Dunstan’s, their focus was on love, radical love that looked nothing like the world had to offer. Their mission was to get the church outside of the walls and into the world. That definitely sounded like something I needed to do.

At this point I’ve talked a good deal about my story and how St. Dunstan’s community and love changed my world and my life. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to talk about this today is this: rarely in this life do we get to see what kind of impact our words or actions have on another person. Rarely do we get that chance to see how we have impacted, whether negatively or positively, the lives of others.

In my own story there were people that drove me to the point of wanting to end my life. Many of them never laid a hand on me, but their words left scars that are still there today. Their action, and in many more cases inaction, left indelible marks on my life. In that same way, there were many people who helped me to come to the place of self-acceptance and self-love and who have supported me in my ministries and who have continually built me up, through both words and actions, that have left just as indelible marks.

My point in all of this is that, whether we intend to or not, we leave marks everywhere we go. Each one of us, in our daily lives, have the chance to impact many people. In each human interaction we have a chance to leave a mark. Many times we leave a mark whether we have intended to or not. This is something I’ve started to become increasingly aware of in my own life. During my time of pain and hurt I lashed out. I lashed out a lot… I was angry, I was hurt, and in my anger and hurt I caused more anger and hurt. I left marks, some of which I’m still learning about. I’ve been fortunate enough to learn of some of the positive marks I’ve left as well. Sometimes through small things that were so insignificant to me that I didn’t even think of them, until someone pointed out to me how huge these things were to them.

In each human interaction we have a chance to show love, to show that type of love Jesus talks about. Each time we step out our door, no matter what we are going to do, we have a chance to share the Gospel, not through preaching, but through our lives. In the words of St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary use words.”

This community preached the Gospel to me. St. Dunstan’s made the Gospel come alive in a way that I had never witnessed before. Suddenly, for the very first time in my life the Gospel was Good News. It meant that I was loved, it meant that I was valued, it meant that I WAS good enough, it mean that God did value me, and it mean that I should value myself. St. Dunstan’s didn’t preach to me or lecture me or anything like that. The people, the community of St. Dunstan’s preached the Gospel through their actions, through their deeds, through their love.

This is a challenge, and this community has risen to this challenge time and time again. On my life, at least, you have left a lasting mark, one that has helped me to become a person I could never have been without this community.

When you leave these doors today I want to challenge you: what mark are you leaving on the people around you? Do you know? Remember that in each human interaction we have a chance to share the wonderful and radical Good News of the Gospel, without ever saying a word. We have a chance to show love. Sometimes that may be the only love a person sees in a day.

God is good. God is love. Praise be to God that this love can indeed move mountains and change the face of the earth.

Amen.

Announcements

Announcements, May 5

TONIGHT…

Ascension Eucharist, Thursday, May 5, 5:30pm: Celebrate a festive service on the Feast of the Ascension, with our Thursday evening “Sandbox Worship” community. A simple meal will follow.

THIS WEEKEND…

Guest Preacher Fred-Allen Self, Sunday, May 8: Fred-Allen is a friend of St. Dunstan’s and a Progressive Christian Alliance Pastor. We welcome Fred-Allen and his words for us! Fred-Allen will preach at both services.

Sunday School, Sunday, May 8, 10am: This week, our 3-5 year old class will be learning about the Mystery of Pentecost, while our 6 -10 year old class will hear about the early church community in Acts.

Words in Season: Mothers – All Kinds, Sunday, May 8, 11am: Dear performance and poetry loving members of St. Dunstan’s, join us for a seasonal celebration of words and the spirit. Daniel Hanson and Evy Gildrie-Voyles invite you to bring a poem to share, loosely connected to our theme of Mothers – all kinds: good and bad, yours or somebody else’s, real or metaphorical. If your chosen poem is long, please consider reading a selected portion, to allow time for all to share. We will share our poems in the Nave after folks have had a chance to get a bite to eat at Coffee Hour. All ages are welcome to participate. No memorizing is necessary.

Spirituality and Parenting Lunch, Sunday, May 8, 11:45 – 1pm: Parents of every age and stage are welcome. We’ll read the Parable of the Sower together, then talk about voice and parenting. What are the voices ((both metaphorical and literal) that we use with our kids, as parents? What voices do we want to use? Food and child care are provided.

Kids in Song Gathering, Sunday, May 8, 11:45 – 12:15: Kids old enough to read are invited to come up to the choir loft to do some simple singing with our Choir Director Martin Ganschow. This is an opportunity to try out our voices together, and help Martin plan future musical work with the children of our parish. Grab some snacks at coffee hour, then come sing!

Lost & Found:  Please take a moment to look in the lost and found box and reclaim your items. There are many items including several hats and gloves, a knit scarf, a stuffed animal, a couple of umbrellas and a carry-all. Unclaimed items will be given away after May 8th.

Altar Flowers: April and May dates available! Honor a loved one or a special event with altar flowers. Reserve your special date by writing your dedication on the sign-up sheet. Suggested donation is $35. Write “flowers” on the memo line of your check or on envelope containing cash, or donate online at donate.stdunstans.com.

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

St. Dunstan’s Diaper Drive Ingathering: Today we will pray over the diapers and financial gifts presented as part of our Diaper Drive. While we don’t have totals ready yet, our response has been incredibly generous! The diapers are being donated to pantries around the area, including Allied Drive Food Pantry, Kennedy Heights, and MOM. Thanks for your support for this project and for families all over Dane County!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Julian Gathering, Wednesday, May 11, 7:15-9pm: What is a Julian Gathering?  A Julian Gathering is open to everyone and you are welcome at all times. We support each other in the practice of contemplative prayer and contemplative spirituality.  These gatherings are for all who want to deepen their life of faith through the practice of contemplative prayer, for beginners as well as those already practicing. Each meeting includes time for contemplative prayer and reading/discussion of Bl. Julian’s revelations.  Don’t worry if you’ve never practiced silent prayer before, we can set your mind at ease.

Fellowship Group Gathering, Friday, May 13, 1pm: Would you like to be part of a smaller group that meets regularly for friendship, mutual support, and shared Bible study? We will have an exploratory gathering on Friday, May 13, at 1pm at VIP Asian Cuisine on Odana Road. Join us if you can, or if you’re interested but can’t attend, talk to Rev. Miranda.

Men’s Book Group, Saturday, May 14, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig. Jack McCaskill accompanies his father on a horseback journey to count sheep onto mountain rangeland allotted by the national forest—a routine yearly duty that leads to the revelation of a long-kept family secret. Events develop over the course of the summer and end in a forest fire that brings the book, as well as the Catskill family’s struggle within itself, to a stunning climax.

Pentecost Sunday, May 15:  We have the story of the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, and celebrate the Spirit’s continued action among us. Red is the church’s color for this holy day; consider wearing something red for church!

Eucharist with Holy Baptism, Sunday, May 15, 10am:  We will celebrate the baptism of a new member of Christ’s Kingdom, Mathias LaBonte. Rev. Miranda had the joy of officiating at the wedding of Mathias’ parents several years ago. We welcome the LaBonte family as they celebrate this holy occasion among us!

Spring Clean-up Day, Sunday, May 15, 12-2pm: Join us after the 10 am service to put some “sweat equity” into tending our beautiful buildings and grounds. Wear or bring your scruffy clothes and work gloves. Lunch will be provided! A list of tasks will be posted in the Gathering Area by Sunday the 1st. We will also have a Pre-Clean-Up Day on Saturday, May 14, from 9am to noon, to do some prep work for the parish work day and some of the more skilled work needed on our grounds.

Sunday School, Sunday, May 15, 10am: Our Sunday school classes will meet next Sunday. We will also meet June 12 before taking a hiatus for the summer.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, May 15, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All welcome.

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday, May 22: We will celebrate the feast day of our saint, Dunstan, on Sunday, May 22. 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.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund Offering, Sunday, May 15: 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.

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!

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

HELP WANTED…

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.

SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES…

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.

 

Big Questions, Outreach, Sermons, Spiritual Practices

Sermon, May 1

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being? I will, with God’s help! It’s the fifth question of our baptismal covenant, the set of questions we ask one another every time we baptize a new member into the church. These questions ask us, and remind us, how we intend to live as God’s people. And our answer to each one is, I will, with God’s help. Affirming both our commitment … and our need for divine assistance.

Today’s Gospel comes from John’s account of the life of Jesus. Unlike the other Gospels, in John’s version, Jesus visits Jerusalem several times. He’s walking near one of the great gates of the city, past a place where people go seeking healing. Scholars of the ancient world think this was probably a temple to the Greek god Asclepius, the god of medicine and healing. Asclepius was adopted by the Romans and honored all around the ancient world. His temples were, essentially, some of the world’s first hospitals. They often included a pool, for rituals of cleansing and healing. If this pool in the Gospel were part of a temple of healing, it explains why there were many sick and disabled people around, waiting, hoping, praying that Asclepius and his priests would favor them with restoration and health.

There were stories that this was an especially powerful pool – that from time to time, the waters of the pool would be mysteriously stirred up, perhaps by an unseen angel, and the first person to get into the pool after that magical stirring was practically guaranteed to be healed. Jesus is walking past this place, this pagan temple full of human agony and desperate hope. And his eye falls on one of the people lying there, a man who has been ill for thirty-eight years. Why this man? Who knows? Maybe Jesus just saw in him the potential for health, for faith.

So Jesus speaks to him. He asks, Do you want to be made well? The sick man’s response is interesting. He doesn’t say, Yes, of course I do! Please help me! Instead he explains why the approach he’s already trying hasn’t worked for him yet. “Sir, I don’t have anyone to help me into the pool when it is stirred up, and by the time I can get to it, somebody else has already jumped in and stolen the miracle.” Jesus brushes aside the explanations and excuses. He says, Stand up, take your mat and walk. And the man stands up, and walks.

This man’s illness is an individual situation. Something particular to his body and his life story. But this is also more than just an individual situation. Just like the homeless veteran whose PTSD leaves him muttering in a doorway downtown. Just like the single mom dependent on public assistance who calls to see if I can resolve her delinquent utility bill. Just like the former drug dealer who can’t find honest work because of his record. There are layers and layers of larger systems that have contributed to this individual’s need and misery.

Maybe this man’s illness or disability is just a fact of life. Even today, with all the tools of modern medicine, bodies break. Bodies fail. But there’s more to his situation than illness. He is alone. No one is tending or helping him. He is poor. If he weren’t poor, he wouldn’t be alone. And he is looking for help in the wrong place. This temple to an empty god, which has no power to help him or change his life. But it’s the only place he knows to go, so he goes there. Quite possibly he’s been going there for thirty-eight years.

Jesus, because he is Jesus, just stops by and heals him. Most of the time it’s not that simple for us. I can’t just command health back into somebody like this man. But I, or you, could address the fact that he’s alone. That he’s poor. That he doesn’t have a place to go that would welcome and care for him. It is within our reach, within our power, as citizens of goodwill in a democratic society, to address things like that.

And this brings us to the point where Baptismal Question #5 opens out from Baptismal Question #4. The fourth question, remember, is: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? Our faithful response to that question calls us to reach out in kindness to the individual who is suffering, since we know that God can look a whole lot like a human in pain. But the fifth question, today’s question – it asks us, Will you strive for justice and peace among all peoples, and respect the dignity of every human being? That is a big ask, folks. Justice and peace among ALL PEOPLES. Dignity for EVERY human being. Phew.

If the fourth question demands our response to suffering, the fifth question demands our curiosity about suffering. It asks us to look at the big picture. The world-system that Jesus came to transform and redeem. Where does it come from? How is it created and perpetuated? Why are things like this? Why can’t they be different? Could we shift our society and systems, in ways that would lower the quota of human suffering, and add to the world’s measure of hope, wholeness, and delight? Where would we start?

Some of you are thinking, right now, There she goes again, telling us to fix the world. Doesn’t she know I already try to help all I can? Doesn’t she know how overwhelming it is? Doesn’t she know that sometimes I just need to watch Seinfeld reruns and forget it all for a while? I do, actually. I really do. Because: me too.

Sometimes – when we’re overwhelmed, weary, ashamed, angry – we struggle with whether our neighbor’s wellbeing is really our responsibility. It would be so great if that person’s misfortune were really their own fault, full stop. No layers of shared social and economic and political systems to muddy the picture. Just one person’s successes or failures. Because then we could still help if we wanted to, but when we don’t, there’s no guilt. He brought it on himself. It’s not my problem.

But as Christians, and as thoughtful people, even though those thoughts and feelings touch us sometimes, we can’t really stay there. We know better. We are all in this together. There is no such thing as other people’s children. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” may be a quotation from the Bible, but the person who says it has just, in fact, murdered his brother, and is not a model for our moral behavior.

We would all very much like it if all the ills of the world were someone else’s fault and responsibility. The sick man’s response to Jesus, that little speech about why he can never get to the pool in time, sounds familiar to me because I hear something a lot like it from nearly everyone who calls the church looking for help. Everyone has their reasons why their life has fallen short of their hopes. I lost my job and my jerk landlord won’t cut me any slack. My daughter is in prison and I’m trying to care for my grandbaby. My food stamps cover one adult and one child, and my son eats like an adult now, so we’re hungry all the time. My mother died out of state and we used our grocery money to go see her, and next month’s rent money for funeral expenses. Our apartment complex has bedbugs and we had to throw away everything we own. The employers in this town are racist and won’t give me work. Everyone has a whole list of reasons and circumstances that explain why they just can’t catch a break. Why they haven’t yet managed to stand up and walk.

Here’s the thing: regardless of whether the details of those particular stories are entirely true, the big story they add up to IS true. It IS true. Like Jesus and his contemporaries, we live in a society of deep, entrenched inequality, that does the bare minimum to care for the poor and vulnerable. If you’re not convinced of that, I invite you to do some research comparing our public systems, our safety net for the poor and sick, and our incarceration rates with those of other developed countries. That’s why even when I’m tired and jaded and skeptical, my capacity to respond clouded by compassion fatigue, I try to help, at least a little. I try at least to offer prayers.

Our texts from the book of Revelation describe John’s vision of the redeemed City, at the end of history, when God has fully restored and renewed our world. That City is clean and bright, shining with the light of God, undimmed by human tears, unmarred by pain or grief. The river of Life flows through it, and the Tree of Life grows in its heart, the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

It is, truly, a beautiful vision – and sometimes the gulf between that holy someday City and the cities of this world feels… paralyzing. It’s enough to make us start to recite our own list of reasons why our lives have fallen short of our hopes. I have to work long hours to pay the mortgage and child care; I just don’t have time to volunteer. My family is going through a rough time and I’m the one holding things together; maybe later I’ll be able to do more for others. There’s so much money in politics, it’s impossible for ordinary people like me to make a difference. I help people all day at work; by the weekend I’m drained, with nothing more to give.

We would all very much like it if the brokenness of the world were someone else’s responsibility. Here’s my good word to you, my sisters and brothers in weariness and perplexity: It is. It is somebody else’s responsibility. The redeemed City is God’s city. We are not going to get there by human efforts. It’s not up to us. The image of that City is not supposed to be like a Pinterest Fail that shames our best endeavors. It’s a vision of God’s intentions for humanity, meant to give us hope and reassurance as we struggle and strive in this world.

It’s not up to us. It’s up to God, and God is already on it. Now, that doesn’t let us off the hook entirely. The Jewish tradition gives us the phrase Tikkun Olam, which means, mending the world – very much what we mean when we talk about reconciling as a core Christian practice. And a great rabbi, Rabbi Tarfon, said this about Tikkun Olam, about the work of mending the world: It is not your obligation to finish the task. But neither are you free to stop the work entirely.

It is not your obligation to finish the task. But neither are you free to stop the work entirely.

Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being – That question can feel as overwhelming as the morning headlines. Like it’s asking us to finish the task. To fix the world. To bring about the redeemed City.

Here’s what I want for you, for us, when we hear that question – I want us to feel our feet on the ground, our community standing shoulder to shoulder, the landscape of our lives stretching out around us. I want this big question to stir up another question inside us: Yes, there’s a lot of brokenness, disorder, injustice and pain. Where can I reach out and touch it? Without even trying? Without leaving the path of my everyday life, without even stretching my arm out all the way? I guarantee you that every single one of us has someplace where we can easily lay hands to the world’s brokenness.

I want this baptismal question to invite us in to the practice of reconciling, to noticing where God is at work in our city, neighborhood, school, workplace, church, family, and joining in what God is doing, wherever the lost are being found, the oppressed are finding justice, the broken are being healed, those in need are finding mercy, those in bondage are finding freedom, and enemies are making peace.

I got about this far in writing my sermon, Thursday morning, and then I went to a forum over at Fountain of Life Church on steps towards greater racial equity in Dane County. The event was a collaboration between three big local anti-racism organizations, Justified Anger, the YWCA, and Race to Equity. And what was striking for me was that those leaders said something a lot like what I just said: Racial disparities and their impact on people of color, and on our community as a whole, are a huge, hard, messy problem. And there’s no master plan to fix it all. There’s no one organization or leader that’s going to give us the perfect 5-step plan to transform Madison into the Redeemed City. Instead, they said, look around your life, your landscape. Get together with your people – your friends, your coworkers, your church folks. Have your own conversations about where you can see and touch the patterns of poverty and inequality in our community. And figure out your role, your call, your work, in common purpose and hope with the work of others across our communities. With the work of God in our communities.

Systemic racism is just one of the shadows that mars Madison, that makes us look less like the redeemed City of John’s vision. It’s just one of the evil powers of this world that corrupts and destroys the creatures of God, to borrow words from another part of our baptismal rite. The powers that sicken, impoverish, and isolate people, like that man on the ground in our Gospel story; and that demand our courageous and compassionate response.

I want this great big bold baptismal question to stir up in you the intention and hope that you, YOU, just as you are, can find a way to program or plant or knit or paint or counsel or heal or make music or care for children or report news or call politicians or visit friends or dance or learn or run a business or manage employees or teach or act or administrate or clean or sew or serve on a board or feed people or visit the sick or sell houses or keep cows healthy or solve crimes or go to rallies or write poetry or care for elders or comfort the grieving or catch babies or run a household or take care of animals or write grant proposals or do research or sell insurance or design products in the direction of justice, peace, and human dignity. AMEN.

Announcements

Announcements, April 28

SUNDAY, MAY 1…

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!

Healing Prayers: Today, 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 today, 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: 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: pouch/canned meat, sugar, size 6 diapers, meals in a can, ketchup/mayonnaise, canned potatoes (any variety), laundry detergent, non-perishable lactose free milk, plastic grocery bags, paper grocery bags. Thank you for all your support!

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, 11:30am: Come for lunch with several of the folk of St. Dunstan’s who have expertise in the areas of financial management, charitable giving, and taxes. They’ll outline the logistics of different ways of giving to your favorite organizations or causes, different kinds of gifts, and tax implications of giving. Questions welcome too! Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care is provided.

Backpack Snack Pack, Sunday, 12pm: Every month St. Dunstanites of all ages help pack Backpack Snack Packs for local school children from low-income households, so that they have nutritious snacks available over the weekend. We’ll work in the Meeting Room following the 10am service.

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

Ascension Eucharist, Thursday, May 5, 5:30pm: Celebrate a festive service on the Feast of the Ascension, with our Thursday evening “Sandbox Worship” community. A simple meal will follow.

Lost & Found:  Please take a moment to look in the lost and found box and reclaim your items. There are many items including several hats and gloves, a knit scarf, a stuffed animal, a couple of umbrellas and a carry-all. Unclaimed items will be given away after May 8th.

Altar Flowers: April and May dates available! Honor a loved one or a special event with altar flowers. Reserve your special date by writing your dedication on the sign-up sheet. Suggested donation is $35. Write “flowers” on the memo line of your check or on envelope containing cash, or donate online at donate.stdunstans.com.

St. Dunstan’s Diaper Drive, April 17 – May 8: Imagine having to choose whether to pay rent, pay utilities, buy food, or buy diapers for your baby or toddler. Nearly 1 in 3 American families struggle to afford enough diapers, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Learn more by reading today’s bulletin insert. We are having a diaper drive for sizes 4, 5, and 6 from April 17 until Mother’s Day, May 8. We will donate the diapers to pantries around the area, including Allied Drive Food Pantry, Kennedy Heights, and MOM (if needed). You can shop around for a great deal ($.20 or less per diaper) or make a check or online donation to St. Dunstan’s designated for the Diaper Drive and let our skilled diaper shoppers do the shopping! We’ll dedicate all our gifts on Mother’s Day. Thanks for your support!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Proclaiming Love in a Polarized World: An Open Meeting with the Bishop, Wednesday, May 4, St. Dunstan’s Church, 6:30 – 8:00pm: Our bishop Steven Miller will be making his annual visit to St. Dunstan’s next month. All members of St. Dunstan’s are invited to an open conversation, over tea and cookies, about how to be witnesses for a loving God in a time of so much polarization and division in our public life.

Guest Preacher Fred-Allen Self, Sunday, May 8: Fred-Allen is a friend of St. Dunstan’s and is a Progressive Christian Alliance Pastor. We welcome Fred-Allen and his words for us! Fred-Allen will preach at both services.

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, Sunday, May 8, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly and reconnect as human beings across our differences. All welcome!

Sunday School, Sunday, May 8, 10am: Next week, our 3-5 year old class will be learning about the Mystery of Pentecost, while our 6 – 10 year old class will hear about the early church community in Acts.

Words in Season: Mothers – All Kinds, Sunday, May 8, 11am: Dear performance and poetry loving members of St. Dunstan’s, join us for a seasonal celebration of words and the spirit. Daniel Hanson and Evy Gildrie-Voyles invite you to bring a poem to share, loosely connected to our theme of Mothers – all kinds: good and bad, yours or somebody else’s, real or metaphorical. If your chosen poem is long, please consider reading a selected portion, to allow time for all to share. We will share our poems in the Nave after folks have had a chance to get a bite to eat at Coffee Hour. All ages are welcome to participate. No memorizing is necessary.

Spirituality of Parenting Lunch, Sunday, May 8, 12 noon: All who seek meaning in the journey of parenthood (at any age or stage) are welcome to come for food and conversation. Child care and a simple meal provided.

Julian Gathering, Wednesday, May 11, 7:15-9pm: What is a Julian Gathering?  They are for all who want to deepen their life of faith through the practice of contemplative prayer, for beginners as well as those already practicing. Don’t worry if you’ve never practiced silent prayer before, we can set your mind at ease.

Men’s Book Group, ANOTHER DATE CHANGE Saturday, May 14, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig. A long-kept family secret leads to events that end in a forest fire and a stunning climax.

Spring Clean-up Day, Sunday, May 15, 12-2pm: Join us after the 10 am service to put some “sweat equity” into tending our beautiful buildings and grounds. Wear or bring your scruffy clothes and work gloves. Lunch will be provided! A list of tasks will be posted in the Gathering Area by Sunday the 1st. We will also have a Pre-Clean-Up Day on Saturday, May 14, from 9am to noon, to do some prep work for the parish work day and some of the more skilled work needed on our grounds.

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday, May 22:  We will celebrate the feast day of our saint, Dunstan, on Sunday, May 22. 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.

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

Big Questions, Kid-friendly, Sermons, Worship

Sermon, April 24

A homily for our All-Ages service on April 24, 2016.

Who remembers a baptism? What do we do?…

Another part of what we do is that we say some things together. We say some things that remind us of who we are, and what we believe, and how we try to live, as God’s people. It’s called the Baptismal Covenant.  A covenant is kind of like a promise. It has five questions in it that all start “Will you?” They ask if we will keep being faithful to our church family, if we’ll turn back to God when we go wrong, if we’ll share God’s good news in our lives, if we’ll love other people and try to help them, and if we’ll work to build a better world. And what we say when we answer all those questions is, I WILL, WITH GOD’S HELP! Because those are all important and also hard; so we say, Yes, we will do it, but we need your help, God.

Today I want to talk a little bit about the fourth question. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

Who’s your neighbor? … Jesus means, anybody whose life crosses paths with your life. Friends, family, strangers, enemies, all are our neighbors. Even people who live around the world from us are our neighbors in God’s eyes. So we’re talking about, how we treat other people.

At your school, do they talk about the Golden Rule? What’s the Golden Rule? … Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat other people the way you want to be treated. Do your parents or teachers sometimes ask you, “How would you feel if somebody did that to you?” Like if you don’t feel like sharing, or you get upset and hit somebody. You have to think about how it feels when somebody doesn’t share with you, or when somebody gets mad and hits you.

The Golden Rule is a good way to think about how to treat people, because it helps us think about how things feel for somebody else.  But Jesus says something different here, in today’s Gospel story. He says something more. He says, Love each other the way I love you. Love each other the way Jesus loves you. The way God loves you.

Let’s try out an example to explain this… What do you like to eat for breakfast?… Okay. So, if you’re in charge of breakfast, if you get to choose, you’ll have waffles. Now, what if you had a guest and you were making breakfast for them too? And you made them waffles, because it’s your favorite? You are trying to be kind and loving. You are making them the thing that you really like. You are loving your neighbor as yourself.

But what if your guest doesn’t like waffles? It’s just not their favorite. Maybe it even tastes bad to them. Or maybe they’re even allergic to it, (or they’re vegetarian). Then even you were trying to be kind, the breakfast you made for them isn’t meeting their needs. So what could you do differently? …

Yeah! If you really wanted to make your guest happy, make them feel welcome and loved, you would ask them what they like best for breakfast, and then, if you can, that’s what you would make for them.

Jesus says, Love each other the way I love you. Jesus didn’t treat everybody the same. He looked into people and saw who they were and what they needed, and that’s how he responded to them. That’s the kind of love Jesus and God show us, the kind of love that sees that our neighbors are sometimes different from us. What they need and want and hope for might be different too.

We had a little story about that earlier today, in the story about Peter the apostle. Peter and Midamos had a way of following Jesus, that included keeping the practices of Judaism. And they thought that was the right way for everybody who follows Jesus. But God showed Peter that he was wrong. God showed Peter that Gentiles, people who didn’t follow Jewish practices, were called to follow Jesus and become Christians, too.

For Peter, to love those new Christians the way he loved himself, would be to say, Here are the rules for being a Christian. Instead, God helped Peter to love these new Christians the way God loved them, so he was able to just say, Welcome to God’s family! I am glad you’re here!

Our Baptismal Covenant asks us to love our neighbors as ourselves. But let’s remember that that’s just the beginning, and that, with God’s help, we can try to love our neighbors with God’s love, which is bigger and broader and brighter than our love.

I’m going to ask the question now, and I want to hear a nice loud answer: I will, with God’s help!

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself? …

Announcements

Announcements, April 21

TONIGHT…

Music and Liturgy meeting, Thursday, April 21, 7pm: We’ll meet to check in on our core liturgical ministries and share ideas for the seasons ahead. All interested folks are welcome!

THIS WEEKEND…

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, April 22, 6:30pm – Please note new location: 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 the Freska Mediterranean Grill at 8310 Greenway Boulevard in Middleton. 

St. Francis House 100th Anniversary Dinner, Saturday, April 23, 4-8pm at St. Dunstan’s: The celebration begins at SFH with Evening Prayer at 5:15 pm, led by Bishop Miller, and the blessing of a large icon. Drazen Dupor, the iconographer, will be on hand to speak about the icon. The celebration continues at St. Dunstan’s, with dinner at 6:30pm. Ample parking will be available at St. Dunstan’s with a shuttle to and from campus for evening prayer. Tickets are $35. Seating will be limited to 100 people. You can reserve your tickets for the evening at www.stfancisuw.org.

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, Sunday, April 24, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly, strive to transcend partisanship and reconnect as human beings across the political gulfs that divide us. We’ll experiment with five habits that author Parker Palmer believes will help heal our hearts and the collective heart of our nation. All are welcome!

Last Sunday Worship, Sunday, April 24, 10am: Our Last Sunday worship is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. This Sunday we’ll receive Jesus’ teaching about the Great Commandment – love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. NOTE: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.

Middle School Lunch & Learn, Sunday, April 24, 12-1pm: Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church. 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 the kids if that help parents’ schedules.

Sing Out Loud! Sunday, April 24, 3pm at St. Dunstan’s: Choirs from congregations that support Middleton Outreach Ministries are joining together to present favorite anthems in an afternoon concert on Sunday, April 24th at 3 pm. The concert will benefit Middleton Outreach Ministries. Admission is free, but everyone is encouraged to bring personal care items (soap, deodorant, feminine products, toothpaste, etc.) for MOM to distribute. Cash/checks are accepted, too. Come join us for an enjoyable and participatory afternoon of Song!

Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, April 24, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for resident at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the Gathering Area to help out.

Work Evening, Wednesday, April 27, 5:30 – 7:30pm: Come eat some pizza and help out on the grounds for an hour or so. We’ll be working down in the woods, to clear out some boxelder and buckthorn that threaten to crowd out some of the plants we like better, like currants and raspberries! Warm clothes appropriate for outdoor work and gloves are recommended. We will have childcare and a movie for non-working kids.

Altar Flowers: April and May dates available! Honor a loved one or a special event with altar flowers. Reserve your special date by writing your dedication on the sign-up sheet. Suggested donation is $35. Write “flowers” on the memo line of your check or on envelope containing cash, or donate online at donate.stdunstans.com.

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

St. Dunstan’s Diaper Drive, April 17 – May 8: Imagine having to choose whether to pay rent, pay utilities, buy food, or buy diapers for your baby or toddler. Nearly 1 in 3 American families struggle to afford enough diapers, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Learn more by reading today’s bulletin insert. We are having a diaper drive for sizes 4, 5, and 6 from April 17 until Mother’s Day, May 8. We will donate the diapers to pantries around the area, including Allied Drive Food Pantry, Kennedy Heights, and MOM (if needed). You can shop around for a great deal ($.20 or less per diaper) or make a check or online donation to St. Dunstan’s designated for the Diaper Drive and let our skilled diaper shoppers do the shopping! We’ll dedicate all our gifts on Mother’s Day. Thanks for your support!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Confirmation Service, Saturday, April 30, 10:00am, at Grace Episcopal Church on the Square: A service of confirmation or reception into the Episcopal Church for those who participated in the Madison-area Episcopal parishes’ shared Confirmation class during Lent. One new member of St. Dunstan’s will be confirmed at this service. All are invited to attend and celebrate those committing themselves to our way of faith, and our unity as the Episcopal Church in Dane County!

Men’s Book Group, DATE CHANGE – Saturday, May 7, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig. Jack McCaskill accompanies his father on a horseback journey to count sheep onto mountain rangeland allotted by the national forest—a routine yearly duty that leads to the revelation of a long-kept family secret. Events develop over the course of the summer and end in a forest fire that brings the book, as well as the Catskill family’s struggle within itself, to a stunning climax.

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, May 1, 11:30am: Come for lunch with several of the folk of St. Dunstan’s who have expertise in the areas of financial management, charitable giving, and taxes. They’ll outline the logistics of different ways of giving to your favorite organizations or causes, different kinds of gifts, and tax implications of giving. Questions welcome too! Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

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, May 1, 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, May 1: 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: pouch/canned meat, sugar, size 6 diapers, meals in a can, ketchup/mayonnaise, canned potatoes (any variety), laundry detergent, non-perishable lactose free milk, plastic grocery bags, paper grocery bags. MOM is always in need of quality bedding and household items as well. Thank you for all your support!

Backpack Snack Pack, Sunday, May 1, 12pm: Every month St. Dunstanites of all ages help pack Backpack Snack Packs for local school children from low-income households, so that they have nutritious snacks available over the weekend. We’ll work in the Meeting Room following the 10am service.

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, May 1, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins.

Proclaiming Love in a Polarized World: An Open Meeting with the Bishop, Wednesday, May 4, St. Dunstan’s Church, 6:30 – 8:00pm: Our bishop Steven Miller will be making his annual visit to St. Dunstan’s next month. All members of St. Dunstan’s are invited to an open conversation, over tea and cookies, about how to be witnesses for a loving God in a time of so much polarization and division in our public life.

Words in Season: Mothers – All Kinds, Sunday, May 8: Dear performance and poetry loving members of St. Dunstan’s, join us for a seasonal celebration of words and the spirit. Daniel Hanson and Evy Gildrie-Voyles invite you to bring a poem to share, loosely connected to our theme of Mothers – all kinds: good and bad, yours or somebody else’s, real or metaphorical. If your chosen poem is long, please consider reading a selected portion, to allow time for all to share. We will share our poems in the Nave after folks have had a chance to get a bite to eat at Coffee Hour. All ages are welcome to participate. No memorizing is necessary.

Spring Clean-up Day, Sunday, May 15, 12-2pm: Join us after the 10 am service to put some “sweat equity” into tending our beautiful buildings and grounds. Wear or bring your scruffy clothes and work gloves. Lunch will be provided! A list of tasks will be posted in the Gathering Area by Sunday the 1st. We will also have a Pre-Clean-Up Day on Saturday, May 14, from 9am to noon, to do some prep work for the parish work day and some of the more skilled work needed on our grounds.

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday, May 22:  We will celebrate the feast day of our saint, Dunstan, on Sunday, May 22. 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 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.

Vacation Bible School Dates Set! Our summer Vacation Bible School will take place from Sunday, July 31, through Thursday, August 4, 5:30-7:30pm. Kids ages 3-10 are welcome to participate; kids 11 and up may participate as actors and helpers. We hope these dates are helpful to St. Dunstan’s families making summer plans.

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.

Creation Care Task Force Update

Christ wears ‘two shoes’ in the world: scripture and nature. Both are necessary to understand the Lord, and at no stage can creation be seen as a separation of things from God. – John Scotus Eriugena (810-877)

St. Dunstan’s Creation Care Task Force has met twice so far. We’ve explored the deep streams in Scripture and Christian theology that call us to seek and honor God through God’s creation, and that link our wellbeing to the wellbeing of the world. We’ve shared stories and memories of the importance of the natural world in our own lives and spirituality. We’ve tried on John Muir Laws’ definition of “love” as “sustained compassionate attention” and begun to ask ourselves, what could it look like to be a faith community that practices sustained compassionate attention towards the natural world – both the bit of it that “belongs” to us, here at 6205 University Drive, and the larger landscape and systems of which we are a part? We’ll continue that conversation, at both big-picture and nitty-gritty levels, in the months ahead. Please continue to hold our conversations and work in prayer, and look for signs of God’s presence and love in Nature’s overwhelming life and beauty in this spring season!

Sermons, Spiritual Practices

Sermon, April 17

Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? Two Sundays ago I began a sermon series of sorts, based on the Baptismal Covenant, the five questions about how we intend to live out our faith that are part of our baptismal liturgy. This question, the third one, is really the shortest and simplest – at least grammatically speaking. Conceptually, perhaps, it’s not quite so simple…

Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? In today’s Gospel, Jesus is surrounded by a crowd that has heard about him, and wants to know, Are you the real deal? The Messiah, the Savior sent by God? And Jesus says, I’ve already told you that, and what’s more, everything I do in the name of God bears witness to my closeness to God. “The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” John’s Jesus talks about works a lot. It’s interesting that he doesn’t use a word like “miracles” or “wonders”. Some of the things Jesus does are wondrous – healings, exorcisms, feeding vast multitudes.

But many of the things Jesus did, that we remember and reflect on and learn from, were more human and mundane. Not wonders but works. Acts. Deeds. He told stories. He gave people his full attention and responded to them with compassion and truth. He sought out the company of those most people avoided. He raised his voice about injustice and hypocrisy. He spoke out even in the face of oppressive violence. None of those are easy, but they’re not superhumanly impossible, either. All those works and deeds were Jesus proclaiming by example the urgent love, the thwarted tenderness of God.

And then we have Tabitha. I love this little story, from the book of Acts. Tabitha – her Hebrew name – or Dorcas in Greek – was an early convert to the way of Christ, and perhaps a leader in this tiny Christian community in Joppa. Tabitha gets sick and dies. But Tabitha’s community knows that the apostle Peter, friend of Jesus, is just one town over, and they think, Maybe, just maybe, there’s enough of our Lord Jesus’ power left in Peter that he can help. Peter comes, and Peter is able, by the power of God, to restore Tabitha to life.

But the detail I really love comes earlier in the story: “All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.” Now, the widows weren’t necessarily really widows; in the early church that was what they called women who devoted themselves to serving God, their community, and the poor. And the widows of the little church in Joppa, grieving Tabitha, do what we do when we’re grieving our dead – they show and share what that person meant to them. The gifts and graces of that life. And for Tabitha, it was all these garments, pieces of clothing, lovingly and skillfully sewn. It sounds like she kept the whole community dressed, and probably gave away clothes to the poor as well. Doesn’t that make Tabitha real for you? Maybe in your mind now she’s wearing the face of somebody you know or knew, who had Tabitha’s skill and Tabitha’s heart, overflowing with capability and generosity. I know people like that; some of them are in this room. I bet you know some too. Tabitha, Dorcas, a disciple of Jesus, proclaiming by her acts, her works, her example, the boundless generosity of God’s love.

Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? Word and example. Example and word. Episcopalians tend to be more comfortable with “example.” In our focus groups last month I asked you, Tell me a time when you acted as you did because of your faith. Maybe you even consciously thought, “I HAVE to do this, because Jesus.” And you paused for a few minutes to think about it, but then you had answers. Ranging from the impulse of a moment, to reach out to a stranger, to speak a needed word to a friend – to decisions with life-altering consequences. Leaving or taking a job. Following a dream. Beginning recovery.

We might have to think about it for a minute, but we can name the times and ways in which our actions, our works, reflect our faith, testify to our love for God and our striving to follow Jesus’ example. We are, in fact, tolerably good at living by our faith.

And by and large we would much rather do it than talk about it. Proclaiming our faith in word, not just example, requires us to be able to put it into words. We live in *Madison.* Home of the Freedom From Religion foundation. Being “out” as a Christian feels like a big deal for some of us, depending on our circle of friends and acquaintances. Anne Lamott has a wonderful moment, in her book Traveling Mercies. She invokes an old joke about Judaism – about some guy who isn’t really a serious Jew, he’s just Jew-ish. And she says that her non-church friends prefer to see her as “Christian-ish” – just a “vaguely Jesusy bon vivant.” But it’s not true, she says. I just love Jesus. I really love the guy. I love that passage… because I do too.

Proclaim the good news of God in Christ… What if I misconstrued my role and overstepped my authority and administered a pop quiz, right now? Handed out slips of paper and number 2 pencils and asked you: Define the good news of God in Christ, in your own words?

I think a lot of our reluctance, our hesitation, is that we don’t feel like we have those words. The language of our liturgy, our prayers and hymns, has its pros and cons. It is beautiful, artful, powerful. We love its poetry, its grandeur, its unapologetic premodernism. But it is a step or several steps removed from the language we speak in everyday life. We have to build our own bridges between the language and symbols of our liturgy, and our own experiences of and thoughts about God and faith. We may – and I hope we do – deeply internalize the words of liturgy and Scripture, so they become part of the language of our spirits. But you can’t tell your co-worker, “Well, my church believes that Jesus, rising from the grave, destroyed death, and made the whole creation new; and that we might live no longer for ourselves, sent the Holy Spirit, his own first gift for those who believe, to bring to fulfillment the sanctification of all.” Beg pardon?

We don’t feel like we have the words to testify to the faith that is in us. To proclaim the good news of God in Christ. But I think maybe we do, really. Working on this sermon, I gave myself that pop quiz: How would you summarize the Gospel, which just means, Good News? What’s the Good News of God in Christ as you understand it, Mrs. Priest Lady? And actually, lots of things came to mind. The idea, the hope, that we are never abandoned. Love, you are not alone, in the words of a current pop song. The idea, the hope, that God loves us just the way we are, but isn’t going to leave us that way. Snippets from Francis Spufford’s Unapologetic: The human propensity to mess things up does not define us. Don’t be careful. Risk love’s consquences. Much more can be mended than you know.

Favorite snippets of Scripture, the ones that lodge in my heart – An alternate translation of John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the system, that God sent God’s son into the system – not to condemn the system, but that the system through him might be transformed.” That passage from Ephesians – So then you are no longer strangers and outsiders, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God.

Bits of songs – There is more love somewhere; I’m gonna keep on till I find it. For the love of God is greater than the measure of the mind. ‘Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home. God will delight when we are creators of justice and joy.

We’ve been working together, here at St. Dunstan’s, to find our own words for how we live as disciples of Jesus, a list of core practices by which we live out our faith. One of them happens to be Proclaiming; Rob Chappell will talk about that in a few minutes! I hope that list, itself, will become a tool for speaking about faith, both within and beyond our community – a way to begin to answer the question, spoken or unspoken: So you’re a Christian. So what? What difference does it make, for you, in you, beyond you?  And of course our proclamation is most powerful and profound when we’re able to find words not just for what we believe, but for how it’s active in our lives, how God in Christ shapes, comforts, leads, challenges, saves us. You. Me.

Will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? I think you do, friends; and I think you can. We’re finding the words together. Practicing sharing our stories with each other. Talking about what it looks and feels like to proclaim God’s love by our actions, large and small. With God’s help, we are keeping this promise, and learning to live into it ever more fully. I’m going to say it once more, and this time you can answer, I will, with God’s help!

Sisters and brothers, will you proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ? …

Announcements

Announcements, April 14

SUNDAY, APRIL 17…

Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time, begins this Sunday, 9am: We will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly, strive to transcend partisanship and reconnect as human beings across the political gulfs that divide us. We’ll experiment with five habits that author Parker Palmer believes will help heal our hearts and the collective heart of our nation. In a year of contentious politics, let’s claim this opportunity to engage in deep conversation and strengthen the ties connecting our faith, our hearts, our convictions and our communities. Watch this space for more details, but please consider participating in the weeks ahead!

Sunday School, 10am: Our 3-5 year old class will explore the story of the Good Shepherd, while our 6 – 10 year old class will learn about Peter’s healing of Tabitha. Our Sunday school classes usually meet on the second and third Sundays of every month. All kids are welcome!

Christian Formation Meeting, 12noon: Gather with us to help us plan our Formation programs for all ages for the months ahead, especially the summer. All interested folks are welcome!

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

Younger Adults 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.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund: 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.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. We have an opening on April 24 and several in the months ahead. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. Thanks for lending a hand!

St. Dunstan’s Diaper Drive, April 17 – May 8: Imagine having to choose whether to pay rent, pay utilities, buy food, or buy diapers for your baby or toddler. Nearly 1 in 3 American families struggle to afford enough diapers, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. Learn more by reading today’s bulletin insert. We are having a diaper drive for sizes 4, 5, and 6 from April 17 until Mother’s Day, May 8. We will donate the diapers to pantries around the area, including Allied Drive Food Pantry, Kennedy Heights, and MOM (if needed). You can shop around for a great deal ($.20 or less per diaper) or make a check or online donation to St. Dunstan’s designated for the Diaper Drive and let our skilled diaper shoppers do the shopping! We’ll dedicate all our gifts on Mother’s Day. Thanks for your support!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Vestry Meeting, Wednesday, April 20, 6:45pm: The Vestry is the elected leadership body of our parish. Any members are welcome to attend our meetings, to observe or to raise questions or ideas.

Music and Liturgy meeting, Thursday, April 21, 7pm: We’ll meet to check in on our core liturgical ministries and share ideas for the seasons ahead. All interested folks are welcome!

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, April 22, 6:30pm – Please note new location: 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 the Freska Mediterranean Grill at 8310 Greenway Boulevard in Middleton.

St. Francis House 100th Anniversary Dinner, Saturday, April 23, 4-8pm at St. Dunstan’s: On April 23, St. Francis House celebrates the ministry’s 100th anniversary, a celebration that belongs to all of the Episcopal churches in our diocese and to everyone who has been a part of SFH. The celebration begins at SFH with Evening Prayer at 5:15 pm, led by Bishop Miller, and the blessing of a large icon, gifted to SFH by the alumni family. Drazen Dupor, the iconographer, will be on hand to speak about the icon. There will be displays from different eras at SFH, a short program, and lots of new and old friends. The celebration continues at St. Dunstan’s, with dinner at 6:30pm. Ample parking will be available at St. Dunstan’s with a shuttle to and from campus for evening prayer. Tickets are $35. Seating will be limited to 100 people. You can reserve your tickets for the evening at www.stfancisuw.org.

Last Sunday Worship, Sunday, April 24, 10am: Our Last Sunday worship is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. This Sunday we’ll receive Jesus’ teaching about the Great Commandment – love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. NOTE: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.

Middle School Lunch & Learn, Sunday, April 24, 12-1pm: Rev. Miranda invites the 10-and-up youth of the parish to meet with her for lunch after church. 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 the kids if that help parents’ schedules.

Sing Out Loud! Sunday, April 24, 3pm at St. Dunstan’s: Choirs from congregations that support Middleton Outreach Ministries are joining together to present favorite anthems in an afternoon concert on Sunday, April 24th at 3 pm. The concert will benefit Middleton Outreach Ministries. Admission is free, but everyone is encouraged to bring personal care items (soap, deodorant, feminine products, toothpaste, etc.) for MOM to distribute. Cash/checks are accepted, too. Come join us for an enjoyable and participatory afternoon of Song!

MOM Canstruction,”sCANing the Galaxy!” April 18-24 at West Towne Mall: Teams will be building giant structures made of canned goods and packaged food that will be donated to MOM’s Food Pantry. You may vote for your favorite structure through Facebook and Instagram or at the mall. Canstruction Madison competitions have raised over 160 tons of food over the past five years, and the event helps bring additional awareness of the needs of our community. Check it out—it’s a fun event!

Volunteers Needed for DeCanstruction, Sunday, April 24, 7:00pm: Help take apart the giant sculptures built from cans and boxes of food, as part of this year’s CanStruction competition, a food- and fund-raiser for Middleton Outreach Ministry. This year’s CanStruction will take place at West Towne Mall, and structures can be viewed there all week, starting Monday, April 18. To help with the “de-Canstruction” work, you must be reasonably able-bodied (but not everybody has to do heavy lifting). Sign up if you’d like to join this year’s team; we are looking for a team of 5 people. Volunteers are invited and encouraged to attend the Awards Ceremony in the mall food court at 6:30pm before beginning our work.

Confirmation Service, Saturday, April 30, 10:00am, at Grace Episcopal Church on the Square: A service of confirmation or reception into the Episcopal Church for those who participated in the Madison-area Episcopal parishes’ shared Confirmation class during Lent. One new member of St. Dunstan’s will be confirmed at this service. All are invited to attend and celebrate those committing themselves to our way of faith, and our unity as the Episcopal Church in Dane County!

Men’s Book Group, Saturday, April 30, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig.  A long-kept family secret leads to conflicts over the course of a summer that ends in a forest fire and a stunning climax.

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, May 1, 11:30am: Come for lunch with several of the folk of St. Dunstan’s who have expertise in the areas of financial management, charitable giving, and taxes. They’ll outline the logistics of different ways of giving to your favorite organizations or causes, different kinds of gifts, and tax implications of giving. Questions welcome! Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

Proclaiming Love in a Polarized World: An Open Meeting with the Bishop, Wednesday, May 4, St. Dunstan’s Church, 6:30 – 8:00pm: Our bishop Steven Miller will be making his annual visit to St. Dunstan’s next month. All members of St. Dunstan’s are invited to an open conversation, over tea and cookies, about how to be witnesses for a loving God in a time of so much polarization and division in our public life.

Spring Clean-up Day, Sunday, May 15: Join us after the 10 am service to put some “sweat equity” into tending our beautiful buildings and grounds. Wear or bring your scruffy clothes and work gloves. Lunch will be provided!

St. Dunstan’s Day All-Ages Worship & Hat and Tie Sunday, May 22:  We will celebrate the feast day of our saint, Dunstan, on Sunday, May 22. You’re invited to mark the occasion by dress up with a fancy hat and/or tie – wear your own or borrow one from the collection at church. 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.

Vacation Bible School Dates Set! Our summer Vacation Bible School will take place from Sunday, July 31, through Thursday, August 4, 5:30-7:30pm. Kids ages 3-10 are welcome to participate; kids 11 and up may participate as actors and helpers. We hope these dates are helpful to St. Dunstan’s families making summer plans.

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, April 7

SUNDAY, APRIL 10…

Guest Preacher: Vivienne Anderson will preach at both services this day. Vivienne is a storyteller, realtor, community leader and former pastor, who can fly, forgive sins, and sell a large house in a single day. We welcome Vivienne to our pulpit and look forward to hearing her reflect on our Scriptures!

Trans Issues 101, 9am: The idea of transgender people is still new (and perplexing) to many of us. Vivienne Anderson, our guest preacher, is a community educator and would like to share her story and answer your questions. We’ll gather in the Meeting Room at 9am.

Sunday School, 10am: Our 3-5 year old class will explore the many styles and meanings of crosses, while our 6 – 10 year old class will reflect on the conversion of the apostle Paul. Our Sunday school classes usually meet on the second and third Sundays of every month. All kids are welcome!

Spirituality of Parenting Lunch, 11:45am: All who seek meaning in the journey of parenthood (at any age or stage) are welcome to come for food and conversation. Child care and a simple meal provided.

Greeters Needed for the 10am service: If you enjoy making people feel at home, please consider signing up to be a greeter on Sunday mornings. Greeters serve once a month. Here’s a basic job description: arrive 15 minutes before worship starts, greet people as they arrive, help any newcomers or guests find what they need to participate and be comfortable. If you are interested or would like to learn more, sign up in the Gathering Area or talk with Bernice Mason or Rev. Miranda.

Coffee Hosts Needed! Please consider being a coffee host. We have several openings in April and May. Sign-up sheets for upcoming Sundays can be found in the Gathering Area. For more information, contact Janet Bybee. Thanks for lending a hand.

Online Giving Options: If you’d like to make a financial gift to St. Dunstan’s but don’t carry cash or checks, you can give online by visiting donate.stdunstans.com on your smartphone or computer.  You can make a donation in any amount, either as a general gift or an outreach gift (to be passed on to the wider community).  We use Square, a widely-used secure service, to process online donations.  If you’d like to put something in the offering plate to represent your gift, you can pick up an “I Gave Online” card on the way into church.  Regular givers may wish to set up a recurring payment through your bank, which avoids the modest transaction fees that Square charges us. Thanks to all those who contribute financially and in so many other ways to sustain and grow our ministry together here at St. Dunstan’s!

THE WEEKS AHEAD…

Madison-Area Julian Gathering, April 13, 7:15 – 9:00pm: The Madison-Area Julian Gathering has been meeting for six years, reading and discussing the hopeful theology of St. Julian of Norwich, and practicing contemplative prayer together. Upon having worked our way carefully through Julian’s 14th Century masterpiece of trust and joy in the goodness of God, we’ve decided to start at the beginning and do it all over again! If you’re interested in getting in on the ground floor, please join us!

Easter Season 2016: Healing Democracy, One Heart at a Time – Sundays at 9am, starting on April 17, we will explore techniques for creating safe spaces in which to talk honestly, strive to transcend partisanship and reconnect as human beings across the political gulfs that divide us. We’ll experiment with five habits that author Parker Palmer believes will help heal our hearts and the collective heart of our nation. In a year of contentious politics, let’s claim this opportunity to engage in deep conversation and strengthen the ties connecting our faith, our hearts, our convictions and our communities. Watch this space for more details, but please consider participating in the weeks ahead!

Sunday School, Sunday, April 17, 10am: Our 3-5 year old class will explore the story of the Good Shepherd, while our 6 – 10 year old class will learn about Peter’s healing of Tabitha. All kids are welcome!

Evening Eucharist, Sunday, April 17, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins.

Rector’s Discretionary Fund, Sunday, April 17: 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.

Music and Liturgy meeting, Thursday, April 21, 7pm: We’ll meet to check in on our core liturgical ministries and share ideas for the seasons ahead. All interested folks are welcome!

Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, April 22, 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 the Marrakesh Restaurant at 5510 University Avenue in Madison.

St. Francis House 100th Anniversary Dinner, Saturday, April 23, 4-8pm at St. Dunstan’s: The celebration begins at SFH with Evening Prayer at 5:15 pm, led by Bishop Miller, and the blessing of a large icon, gifted to SFH by the alumni family. The celebration continues at St. Dunstan’s, with dinner at 6:30pm. Ample parking will be available at St. Dunstan’s with a shuttle to and from campus for evening prayer. Tickets are $35. Seating will be limited to 100 people. You can reserve your tickets for the evening at www.stfancisuw.org.

Sing Out Loud! Sunday, April 24, 3pm at St. Dunstan’s: Choirs from congregations that support Middleton Outreach Ministries are joining together to present favorite anthems in an afternoon concert on Sunday, April 24th at 3 pm. The concert will benefit Middleton Outreach Ministries. Admission is free, but everyone is encouraged to bring personal care items (soap, deodorant, feminine products, toothpaste, etc.) for MOM to distribute. Cash/checks are accepted, too. Come for an enjoyable and participatory afternoon of Song!

Confirmation Service, Saturday, April 30, 10:00am, at Grace Episcopal Church on the Square: A service of confirmation or reception into the Episcopal Church for those who participated in the Madison-area Episcopal parishes’ shared Confirmation class during Lent. One new member of St. Dunstan’s will be confirmed at this service. All are invited to attend and celebrate those committing themselves to our way of faith, and our unity as the Episcopal Church in Dane County!

Men’s Book Group, Saturday, April 30, 10am: The book is English Creek by Ivan Doig. A long-kept family secret brings tension and family struggles over a summer that ends in a forest fire and a stunning finale.

An Introduction to Charitable Giving, Sunday, May 1, 11:30am: Come for lunch with several of the folk of St. Dunstan’s who have expertise in the areas of financial management, charitable giving, and taxes. They’ll outline the logistics of different ways of giving to your favorite organizations or causes, different kinds of gifts, and tax implications of giving. Questions welcome too! Folks of all ages and incomes are encouraged to come; child care will be provided.

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.

6205 University Ave., Madison WI

St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church