REFLECTIONS

                        FROM THE RECTOR

The Rev. James W. Friedel
jfriedel@att.net

It is hard for me to believe that nearly half the year has already passed. It doesn’t seem that long ago that Christy and I were preparing for family gatherings and worship during the Christmas season. Yet, here we are nearly at the mid-point of summer. I notice as I’ve gotten older that this is a familiar reality. Every year I seem to experience the days as moving faster than I can imagine. So rather than just saying “I can’t believe this”, perhaps a little introspective examination might be in order. 

 If I say life goes by quickly, what am I really saying? Am I saying that I wish I had been more efficient in planning or preparing for each new day, so that I could draw the most from those twenty-four hours?  Am I saying that the days were chocked full of various activities, yet somehow I had not intentionally and prayerfully kept the balance of priorities that are essential to my being whole in my living? Am I saying that I have had wonderful intentions in my heart and mind, but they never actually became realities that might have stirred and inspired my vocation, my relationships, or my developing spirituality?  

 Quite honestly, for me all of the above are true. Such thoughts remind me of those words from the prayer of confession in our Sunday liturgy, “we confess that we have sinned against you in thought word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.”  Saying this does not mean that I am constantly pounding my chest with remorse and regret for such things. It does not mean that joy, excitement and fun have been missing from my days. Quite the opposite is true. Saying this simply reminds me that life is short, and that I desire more from my experience of life and my experience of God in the days that remain, whether they are few or many. So this recognition stirs me to consider what I might do to move a little closer to the place I would like to be in preparing for coming days.

I am writing this as Christy and I are preparing for some vacation time, which is definitely part of keeping the balance of priorities essential for well-being. One of the values I discover in times of rest and relaxation is the time to think creatively and differently, time to consider things from a different perspective and imagine, “What if?”

So that is my intention as we take time away, having fun, playing, and enjoying time together, rediscovering old places and finding some new ones. In the midst of all this, with God’s help, I desire to rethink how I make use of my days. Doing this on vacation does not mean I am missing the point nor does it detract from the focus on relaxing and resting. It is instead in the rediscovery, the laughter, the fun, and the quietness that somehow God mysteriously enters in to renew and recreate. Perhaps next year when I hit the midpoint of the summer I won’t say so helplessly, “I can’t believe it’s already July”.

I am grateful to The Rev. Ed Rose for graciously presiding on the two Sundays I will be away, July 5th and 12th. I am grateful to this parish for the blessing of vacation time. We will miss seeing all of you, but look forward to that first Sunday when we return. There are exciting things happening at St. Peter’s and certainly more coming our way as we look ahead. I want to be ready and responsive when those days arrive. I pray God may bless each of us with days that renew and recreate our spirits, equipping us for what comes next. 

 May God bless each of us with days that renew and recreate our spirits, equipping us for what comes next. 

    Faithfully,

   Fr. Jim Friedel 

Treasurer's Notes 

Results of operations through May 31, 2009 are as follows:

                                       Actual        Budget       Variance

 Operating Revenues          $154,937     $102,940      $51,997

 Operating Expenses          (110,772)     (118,105)        7,333

 Net Income                          44,165         15,165        59,330

from Operations     

From The Director

Of Music Ministries

     Summer is a time for all of us to find some “rest and down time”; our Chancel Choir is no exception. We do not meet on Wednesday nights, but we prepared music for the entire summer during the month of May. In addition to continuing to serve during the 10:30 service on Sundays, we also have soloists still willing to come for both the 8:00 and 10:30 services. Thanks to all those dedicated musicians. The Chancel Choir members will be in and out all summer on well-deserved vacations (including the choir director). We still raise our voices in song when we are here on Sundays. I have thanked Meredith Carter before, but I must again tell her and all of you how grateful I am to have a fellow musician who is willing to step in for me. Meredith is a great asset to our choir and church. Hope all of you enjoy these summer days just as the choir will do!  

     Angela Rivera 

From the

Senior Warden

John “JD” Debler

jdebler@gsminsurors.com

A “happening” occurred on June 6th.  I not only saw it, but was part of it. No, it wasn’t something that will involve future investigations about what occurred there. People will not make annual pilgrimages there to see the spot of the “happening”.  In the big picture of the world, it will hardly merit a mention in the newspaper.  But in the world of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, I think it was an occurrence of great importance. 

 What I’m talking about is the gathering of parishioners from almost all of the 90 parishes of the diocese at The Episcopal School of Texas –TMI, just north of San Antonio.  They gathered for the first meeting of this type that the diocese has sponsored.  Nearly 500 people came for worship, fellowship, and to learn. Learn what each of us can do to make our parishes better serve our people and our communities.  Learn about education opportunities in our parishes. Learn how to be better stewards and how to involve our congregations in that endeavor.   

 The official name given this meeting was “Abide in Me: Congregations Growing Together”.  The format for the day was to gather for a morning prayer service, and then to break into 10 groups, each group meeting about a different subject and lasting an hour and 15 minutes.  There were three sessions during the day, which allowed for 30 different group meetings.  Subjects ranged from Stewardship, the nuts and bolts of a church office, school and church partnerships, to faith in the workplace and the World Mission Fair. 

 Our parish was represented by eight people.  We split up and tried to cover as many different sessions as we could.  I attended sessions on Stewardship, greeting new people at church, and using small group meetings to strengthen your church.  I enjoyed them all. My favorite was the session on greeting new people at your church.  It was conducted by a team from St. Stephens Church in Wimberley.  What a dedicated and enthusiastic group they were! They talked about and demonstrated a system that they use with great success at their church.  I think we might be able to use parts of it at St. Peter’s.  Of course, that will be a topic of discussion at a future Vestry meeting. 

The session on small group meetings was also very interesting, not only because of the subject matter, but because of the rector who presented it. Fr. Rip Hardaway, who has just left as Rector of St. Christopher’s in Portland for the same

                                    The Community of Hope
 

Beth Garner, Pinky Gonzalez and I attended the Annual Community of Hope International Conference at Camp Allen (Diocese of Texas’ Conference Center near Navasota Texas)…..Pinky was on a panel discussing Outreach and she spoke on our outreach here in Rockport, mainly in the training for those of us that work at Good Samaritan’s and Castaways.  I was on a panel discussing care to Seniors. 

  The first evening we were treated to a Eucharist service with Bishop Rayford High as Celebrant and Dean of the Seminary of the Southwest, the Most Rev. Douglas Travis, gave the Sermon.  We had 3 panel discussions to attend and three workshops as well as three major addresses by leaders of Community of Hope.  Helen Appelberg, who engineered the Conference gave a talk on COHI in the past.  Tom Papazoglakis gave one on COHI in the future, and Patsy Barnham (present president of COHI) gave one on COHI in the present.  Br. Michael and Fr. Peter also gave a wonderful talk.   So you can tell we were kept very busy in those two days.

  The highlight for me was the three worship services we attended.  On Thursday evening, we attended a Taize service where all the music was played by Br. Michael Gallagher and a flutist from Houston.  The music, singing and beauty of that service was wonderful.  The Eucharist on Wednesday night was great because Br. Michael had arranged all the music for that and the Most Rev. Douglas Travis gave an excellent sermon.  Friday morning we had a “Blessing of the Hands” service.  Helen Appelberg anointed the hands of Eric Fenton (He was the officiant at that service). Then he in turn anointed the hands of many other priests there and then the priests anointed the hands of all the lay chaplains, and in the meantime, Br. Michael was playing “Here I Am Lord”.  That was a moment!

 Next year the Conference will be at Camp Allen again.  I hope some more of our lay chaplains can attend, as it was a wonderful experience for Pinky, Beth and I.  The dates are June 9, 10 and 11.

      —Pam Heidt 

  Community of Hope Prayer List

We ask that you keep the following persons in your prayers:  Carol Allen,

Charlean Alexander, Landon Alexander, Dottie Bowen, Pete Burnett, Nadia Clark,  Nat Gonzalez, Jean Herring, Dorothy Hooker, Karol Langley, Joan Lee,  Reba Lomax, Carole Ann McKitrick, Ken Mayhew, Wanetta Moors, Anna Nix,  Marvin Northrup, Audrey Steffens, Rose and Onis Taylor, Jane C. and Ray R.

     To pray with the Prayer Circle or to request prayer for yourself or your family, call or email Barbara Patton at 790-7775 or bpatton@dbstech.com

Congratulations

Ashley Kelly Brandon, former acolyte at St. Peter’s, graduated from The Episcopal Theological Seminary of The Southwest, with a Masters in Religion. She is shown with her husband, The Reverend Miles Brandon, vicar of St. Julian’s of Norwich, a new Episcopal Church to be located in the northwest Austin area. Ashley is the granddaughter of S.E. Kelly and the late Betty Kelly. Ashley has accepted the position of Chaplain, St. Andrews Episcopal Lower-Middle School in Austin.

St. Peter's Episcopal Church
412 North Live Oak
Rockport, Texas 78382
361-729-2649

A Parish of the Diocese of West Texas