Our Parish Blog

Nativity Pageant

2011-12-18T15:52:00.001-05:00

The Messenger of God.

Zechariah and Elizabeth.

The Angel visits Joseph.

The Innkeepers and the Holy Family.

Shepherds (and sheep) see the heavenly host and hear a message of Peace on Earth, Good Will to All.

The Three Kings follow the star, which guides them to the manger, where they present their gifts of gold, frankicense, and myrhh.

Episcopal Bike Project comes to Pittsfield on Gaudete Sunday

2011-12-11T21:46:00.004-05:00

It was the coldest night so far this year, and fosted holly shrubs greeted us at the front door of the church.

We had a visitor today. Benge Ambrogi of St. Matthew's, Goffstown, is on a quest to bicycle to all 56 congregations in our diocese. He arrived on his bike before the service and was joined by his wife and daughter, who traveled by car.

During Announcements, he shared his story and invited us to sign his official t-shirt.

Fr. Curtis presented a surprise gift to Connie, who organizes our fundraising efforts. It has been a very good year--thousands raised--so she deserves it!

Benge and Fr. Curtis after church.

Suiting up for departure.

On Main Street, heading home to Manchester.

You can follow his journey via the blog Episcopal Bike Project NH.

25th Anniversary

2011-11-20T13:05:00.004-05:00

Tuesday, November 22 marks the 25th anniversary of the ordination of The Rev. Curtis Evans Metzger. The event took place in Quebec City, following a snowstorm. The invitation was printed in both English and in French.

Today, the Feast of Christ the King, St. Stephen's honored this milestone with special music, an anthem in which Fr. Curtis had a solo--

--special altar flowers, and a surprise party with food, cake, and gifts in the Undercroft after the service.

We also offered a prayer of thanks for the gift of our rector's ministry to the Church and to our grateful parish.

Holiday Fair and Silent Auction Preview!

2011-11-14T12:29:00.002-05:00

Some of the wonderful items available for purchase at Saturday's Holiday Fair, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch will be available from our snack bar, and baked goods from our amazing parish bakers!

Bring your friends and family!

Old Home Day Silent Auction Preview

2011-07-15T22:18:00.006-04:00

Here's a pictorial preview of our Silent Auction Items.

Thanks to Mary Ellen for the photos, and to all who helped with the magnificent set-up.

Summer Fair Silent Auction Appeal

2011-05-10T20:57:00.001-04:00

SUMMER FAIR SILENT AUCTION APPEAL

Once again, we are planning our Summer Fair featuring the popular Silent Auction. The fair will be held on Saturday, July 23, during Pittsfield 's Old Home Day. We are looking for auction items that will attract a summer crowd.

Perhaps you have an appealing item, a fine craft, sports equipment, or a piece of art that you could donate. Tickets for a special event or entertainment venue are a big draw.

Gift certificates for services have great appeal. How about donating a guided fishing trip on your boat; a llama trek to the top of Mt. Major for a picnic; kayaking for two with an expert guide (you)? Perhaps you could donate your services to plan (or plant) a flower border or your expertise to lay a patio. You get the idea—be creative. Offer your special talent or skill. We can help to write up an attractive gift certificate.

Our auction committee is ready and waiting to add your contribution to the auction table. See Marylee Johnson, Mary Ellen Siudut, or Carole Brown for information or advice.

Blue Jeans Sunday: Outdoor Clean-up

2011-05-01T20:58:00.003-04:00

Lots of helpful hands participated in the spring clean-up of the church grounds. Thanks to Daniel Welch for the photos!

A message from Sabra:

Thanks to the weeders, pruners, tree trimmers, bush whackers, planters, and stump haulers for all your hard work on Sunday. We have replanted and refurbished the garden know to the town of Pittsfield as Mount St. Stephen’s. With some additional plantings and TLC, it will look spectacular. Special thanks to Ursula Allen for most of the items we planted including hosta, lupine, heart’s ease (also known as Johnny jump up), and lilac. We also put in bearberry to help with soil retention along the bank. Hope everyone enjoyed the lunch and the homemade lemonade.

Many thanks to Cackleberries of Meredith where we purchased the bearberry. They were great healthy plants. Laurie, the owner, gave us planting tips to ensure that our plants would do well. We appreciate her assistance.

Easter Day

2011-04-24T18:08:00.002-04:00

Our traditional decorations are the flowering spring bulbs given in memory, in honor, and for thanksgiving of parishioners' family members and friends.

Flowers were blooming outside the church as well as inside!

Palm Sunday with the Bishop

2011-04-17T19:59:00.003-04:00

We were delighted to have a visitation from the Bishop on this Palm Sunday.

Blessing of the Palms.

After the Bishop's homily we had a group reading of the Story of the Passion, in which many parishioners participated.

Nine individuals were confirmed or received into the Episcopal church today. Welcome and congratulations to Wes & Katie, Joe & Rita & Ben, Fayth, Carole, Steve & Tanisha.

The recessional.

A reception took place in the Undercroft after the service. Baby James was a popular attendee.

We all know Fr. Curtis likes giving fun and silly presents...he gave the Bishop something that amused us all.

A purple Episco-pillow!

Thanks to everyone who provided food and drink and fun and fellowship as we enter this Holy Week.

Mardi Gras Potluck

2011-03-08T17:17:00.004-05:00

Our annual Mardi Gras Potluck took place after church on Sunday, March 6. A large crowd and lots of delicious, spicy food and scrumptious desserts!

Thanks to all who contributed to the feast!

Christmas Pageant 2010

2010-12-20T14:03:00.004-05:00

The innkeeper and his wife lighted the Advent wreath while Fr. Curtis read the Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Advent.

After an angel of the Lord tells Elizabeth that she will bear a child, she visits Mary, who is also expecting a baby.

The new-born Jesus.

The shepherds--large and small--learn of the birth and visit the manger in Bethlehem.

Joseph, Mary, & baby Jesus.

The Three Kings also travel to Bethlehem--bearing gold and frankincense and myrrh. (And a Book of Common Prayer!)

Angels!

Thanks to all who played their roles so well.

Celebrating God's Abundance

2010-12-10T15:55:00.003-05:00

Thanks to all who pledged, helping to fund our ministries and to fill our "Horn of Plenty" illustrating our thankfulness for God's many gifts to us.

It is never too late to add your pledge card to the offering plate, or mail it to the church.

Silent Auction Preview!

2010-11-14T13:12:00.003-05:00

Just a sample of the items on view in the Undercroft for our Silent Auction. Let the bidding begin!

Lots of nice gifts and seasonal crafts to choose from.

One of many available dolls, a llama, a child's winter coat, and handmade pottery.

A lovely nativity scene.

Need some boots? Men's size 10.

A luxuirous Winter Warmth basket.

Have you ever wanted to play Santa Claus? Here's the suit you've been looking for!

The beautiful Town Green Quilt, locally made.

All this, and so much more. And don't forget the Boutique Table, the Baked Goods Table, and the delicious lunch food. See you on Saturday!

(Winning bids for auction items will be announced on Saturday, 21 November at 2:00 p.m.)

Celebrating Marion & Joe

2010-10-31T17:52:00.003-04:00

A busy and joy-filled Sunday at St. Stephen's, and a full church! It was the first Sunday of our annual Stewardship campaign, we held our UTO in-gathering, and we celebrated Joe & Marion's 50th wedding anniversary combined with Joe's 80th birthday.

They received a special blessing during church.

After the service there was a big party in the Undercroft, a feast organized by Sabra and Lucinda.

With cake!

Photos from the historic wedding day.

Keith & Katie provided live music.

It was quite a crowd.

Autumnal

2010-10-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

Autumn colors decorated the altar this morning.

Annual Outdoor Service & Parish Picnic

2010-09-29T12:50:00.005-04:00

Many thanks to Rev. Cheryl Moore for providing these photos!

The musicians are ready--Keith, George and Katie.

Fr. Curtis and Lucinda at the altar.

Marion reads Prayers of the People.

After the service.

Fayth and Chris at the grill.

Joe is having a good time.

Fr. Curtis and Jim.

Tour of our Church Building

2010-08-15T16:02:00.000-04:00

After today's service Richard Wilson, summer parishioner and architectural history professor at the Univ. of Virginia, gave a presenation on the historical features of our church.

The style is similar to a pattern in a mid-19th centurh style book for "rural church" architecture.

Our wood panelling and the pews are American Chestnut.

We learned a lot about the stained glass windows, which ones are the oldest. All were made by the Connick Studios, but at different periods.

The studio signature can be seen on some of them.

Thanks to Richard for a most informative session!

Update on Silent Auction & Quilt Raffle.

2010-07-09T15:06:00.004-04:00

Greetings St. Stephen's members and friends:

Again this summer, through your efforts, we have assembled the most wonderful selection of items for the silent auction. Thank you to all who have participated. The auction will culminate at 2PM on Sat., July 17th at our Pittsfield Old Home Day Fair. I have attached a list of the items we have as of today. Why not print out a copy for yourself and your friends and neighbors!

The auction is already set up in the undercroft your your viewing and bidding. If you plan to attend church on Sunday the 11th, I hope you will take a moment to check out the outstanding selection of things. Feel free to bid if you like and be sure to join in the fun on the 17th.

See the magnificent quilt St. Stephen's has to raffle. The tickets are printed and ready to go! This Quilt was originally made by the Barnstead Country Quilters for Barnstead Old Home Day. Since that event has been canceled for this year, The Barnstead Country Quilters has asked us to raffle this quilt. All the particulars are on the poster. We need your help in promoting this beautiful quilt and selling tickets.

Remember also on the 17th we will be featuring our Old Home Day raffles. This year we have food baskets and a high school back to school supply basket. And of course not to be missed: our world famous hotdogs, pulled pork sandwiches. apple slab pie, outstanding baked goods and so much more...

See you at the Fair!

Marylee Johnson, Silent Auction Committee
776-8700

Quilts of Valor Project

2010-06-27T11:55:00.000-04:00

Today Sunday, Fr. Curtis blessed the finished quilt.

It will be given to a wounded soldier.

For more information about the organization, visit Quilts of Valor Foundation.

Thanks to all who assisted in this wonderful effort!

From the Silent Auction Team

2010-06-22T11:17:00.002-04:00

Coming Up: the Summer Silent Auction

The annual St. Stephen's Summer Fair will be held during Pittsfield's Old Home Day on Saturday, July 17, from 9-2. We plan to highlight the Silent Auction with a variety of high quality items, events tickets, and gift certificates with a summery theme.

As with all our silent auctions, this one will only be as good as the items we have to offer. We look to our church family and friends to contribute donations. If you don't have a suitable item, perhaps you know of a business that would donate tickets to an activity or a gift certificate. If none of those ideas works for you, we would be happy to accept cash contributions with which we can purchase a missing item to round out one of our auction groupings.

We need to finalize our offerings list soon in order to have time for the prep work required to run a successful auction, so if you can help, please email Marylee Johnson by June 27 or see Marylee or Connie Mitchell after church next Sunday. Cash donations can be made out to St. Stephen's Church with "auction" written in the memo line.

A Silent Auction Preview is planned for church members on Sunday, July 11, so be sure to attend and put in an early bid for something that appeals to you. We will accept sealed bids at that time if you can't make it to the fair on July 17.

Thanks for your help!

Scenes from our Pentecost Service

2010-05-25T13:00:00.002-04:00

Lot of red!

Keith and George accompany our choir.

The last anthem.

New chairs in our Undercroft!

Easter--Alleluia!

2010-04-04T15:19:00.000-04:00

Lots of spring bulbs greeted the parishioners on Easter morning.

The altar was beautifully decorated.

Lighting of the Paschal candle at the start of the service.

We also had a service of baptism for Ean.

This is his Faith Chest, containing gifts from parishioners.

The choir sang several anthems.

Altar arrangement and chalices.

Maundy Thursday & Good Friday

2010-04-03T15:03:00.000-04:00

Our Maundy Thursday service included foot-washing.

Stripping the altar and extinguishing the vigil light in preparation for Good Friday.

On Good Friday, the only decoration at church was the crocus flowers at the front door.

Palm Sunday

2010-03-28T14:24:00.010-04:00

Palm Sunday at St. Stephen's.

Some members of the parish dressed as Israelites for our Procession of the Palms.

Fr. Curtis reads the Liturgy of the Palms.

The procession winds its way from the Undercroft...

...up the walkway...

...to the church.

The liturgical color for the Passion is red.

Our choir sang three beautiful anthems.

After the service we had Parish Family Sunday and coffee hour with the usual delicious food.

The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond on Monastic Life

2010-03-14T17:09:00.000-04:00

Our visitor today was one of the Bishop's canons, who presided at the Eucharist and preached.

After the service Canon LaFond participated in our Lenten book study. We are reading Monk Habits for Everyday People, about implementing monastic life rule into our daily lives. And our visitor was a monk who lived in a monastery for three years, and from him we gained all sorts of insights into the real life and habits and spirituality of monks.

Someday Spring Will Come

2010-02-28T13:27:00.001-05:00

On the last Sunday in February, the tree in front of the church has snow blossoms.

In May, it will be covered with flowers.

Just as Lent teaches us discipline, winter teaches us patience.

Most--though not all--parishioners seem to have electricity back after the windstorm last week.

2010 Annual Parish Meeting

2010-01-31T12:24:00.000-05:00

Candlemas (February 2nd) was coming, so we had a blessing of candles used at church.

The Sunday School planned to decorate candles.

This was the day of our parish Annual Meeting, at which we received reports and elected officers and other members of leadership. Oh, and the Vestry feeds us brunch/lunch!

We had two types of soup--a curry butternut squash soup, plus a chowder of corn and potatoes. And lots of other tasty things!

Fr. Curtis reviews the agenda.

If you want to read the 2010 reports, they can be found here.

The Second Cross!

2010-01-17T13:39:00.003-05:00

Thanks to George Booth and Chris and Fayth Noyes and Joe Knox (the project's biggest cheerleader), the second of two new crosses has been installed. (The originals were damaged when removed for the re-roofing.)

Isn't it beautiful?

The Christmas Pageant Remembered

2010-01-11T22:52:00.000-05:00

St. Stephen's Beloved,
Here's my little remebrance of our pageant I read yesterday in church. Hope you enjoy with some laughter!
Fr. Curtis

St Stephen’s Christmas Pageant 2009

The call went out for parishioners to swell,

The ranks of the pageant, the French call “Noel”,

We all had arrived at half past the eight,

Though some after nine, well, they were quite late,

Some came with bags of costumes quite splendid,

Others picked from boxes of pageants long ended.

The story begins with the shepherd called Curtis

(Who’s sisters insist on calling him Mertis!),

He spoke to the crowd of all that were gathered,

Some called him father, though none had he fathered!

He started the story the others would mime,

With words quite familiar, “once upon a time”.

First Gabriel came to the maiden called Mary,

Who comforted her and begged her not worry,

Then Gabe, the archangel, Alexandra to some,

Departed for heaven, whence she had come.

Next she met cousin Liz , who’s baby quite lept

In her womb at the greeting, and nearly quite wept.

Soon Madie, uh, Liz, departed for home,

Inspired by the meeting and soon wrote a poem,

And hailed the fair maiden so full of grace,

That blessed was she in all time and space.

When Elizabeth at last gave up and gave birth,

To a son they named John, who’d be special on earth,

Zechariah, the grand-dad, who mute had long been,

Quite suddenly broke forth in a loud sounding din,

(But of all of the mute who played in our play,

A singer named George, was a fine choice I’d say)

He told of the baby who’s life would prepare,

A way for the Lord, the one who would care.

Poor Mary, (recruited in haste, it was Jackie),

Grabbed Joseph, quite younger, though some thought this tacky,

And a beast that helped on the path that was graveled,

Was a camel that seemed, shall we say, quite well traveled,

But bravely they made it to the town of his people,

Bethlehem, it was called, but no church or a steeple,

With no room in the inn, kind Chris and fair Fayth,

Put them up in the barn, and there they would stay-eth,

Till finally, at last, the baby was born,

On the very first first-est of all Christmas morns.

Processions of strangers came to see the great site,

Of the babe that was born in the barn on that night,

There were shepherd and shepherdess and all were quite bonnie,

One carrying a lamb, and her name was Connie.

There were other good shepherds that came with the gang,

There was Noah, Ben, Mason, and angels who sang,

Glory to God in the highest and peace,

To all, while the baby slept gently on fleece.

One sweet little shepherdess, one they called Rose,

Was really the best of them all, I suppose.

Three wise men came sauntering right down the isle,

Whether wise men or kings, they made us all smile.

The wise man named Michael held myrrh high aloft,

True gift for a king, the fragrance quite soft.

Then came the wise Chris, called king of the Chris-es,

With turban on top, thanks to the misses.

(Who strangely tonight came in from the fog,

And sat in a pew dressed as a dog!)

Chris bore the fine gold that gleamed in the night,

With a shine that bespoke of the real one true light.

Brian the Bold with bright crimson cape,

Was bedecked in great splendor….thanks to some tape;

Frankincense bore he, worth more than a bank ,

The fragrance so grand, not one thought it stank!

They found the wee babe with mom in the manger,

They had bravely marched on, though Herod warned danger.

At last we came to end of our saga,

The audience amazed, they were all quiet a ga-ga!

We stood front and center and crowded around,

The gift that was gifted, with joy that abounds,

Our Lord who was born, the babe meek and mild,

The one we adore, beloved Christ child.

And now if you think we up-ended the drama,

Next year, I hear, no camel, but lama!

Christmas Eve Service

2009-12-26T13:19:00.010-05:00

Where charity stands watching, and faith holds wide the door,

The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,

and Christmas comes once more.

The front of the church was decorated with the traditional poinsettias.

The arrangement on the organ.

Katie and Keith, our musicians, confer before the Carol Sing.

Lighting the Christmas candle.

Another tradition, lowering the lights and singing a stanza of Silent Night, Holy Night

The choir performs an energetic finale.

The babe is lying in the manger.

Christmas Pageant

2009-12-20T12:22:00.022-05:00

On a snowy Sunday, the congregation assembled to appear in or witness our Christmas pageant.

The wardrobe requirements are significant.

Down in the Undercroft, the Rector/Producer/Narrator prepares the cast.

Joseph checks out dad's video.

This Wise Man is ready with his gift.

A shepherd waits.

Our littlest shepherd.

Another Wise Man in costume.

This Wise Man brought his brown dog along.

The innkeeper and his wife.

The cast assembles in the foyer.

Elizabeth learns that she'll be the mother of John the Baptist.

Zechariah praises God.

The Angel visits Mary to tell her the glad tidings.

The Angel tells Joseph to stand by Mary.

Mary and the infant Jesus.

Shepherds and an angel come to see the baby.

The innkeeper pats Mary & Joseph's camel.

Wise Man bearing a gift for the baby.

Wise Man singing "We Three Kings."

A group shot.

Thanks to all who prepared for and participated in this momentous production!

First Sunday in Advent

2009-11-29T14:51:00.007-05:00

Holly by the front door. Parishioners are asked to please not pick holiday berries from the bush, it might cause winter dieback. If you need berries for decorations, Sabra has some at her house.

In addition to Advent, we also celebrated St. Andrew, with some parishioners wearing plaid or tartan, and Rich Corning piping us into church.

The children gather around the wreath for the candle lighting and Collect for the First Sunday in Advent.

Then they went downstairs to make their own wreaths. They will soon be working to expand our creche, which is getting some new animals and other figures.

The Sox Box is in place for your donations of new mittens, hats, gloves, scarves, and of course, sox, to be distrubuted this winter for those in need.

Church Fair Aftermath

2009-11-22T14:33:00.007-05:00

God's bounty decorated the altar on the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

Our Christmas Fair fundraiser brought in about $3100, thanks to the talents and hard work of so many parishioners.

Raffle baskets from our Christmas Fair awaiting pick-up.

Bows for sale.

Holiday treats on the food table, wrapped in festive colours.

Even more...

After a shopping and clean-up session, the Book Study Group sat down for their discussion.

Annual Outdoor Service and End-of-Summer Potluck

2009-08-30T19:37:00.011-04:00

At 9:45 we gathered in Pittsfield's Argue Park. The morning started out overcast but soon we saw sunshine and blue sky!

Fr. Curtis reads the Collect.

George on guitar, and singers.

After the service, the picnic.

Chris and Fayth Noyes were our ministers of meat--cooking hot dogs and hamburgers for all on the enormous grill.

Some of the many dishes provided by our parishioners.

The Sr. Warden at the food table.

The children enjoyed the playground.

Rosie's getting so big!

Thanks to Lucinda for organizing the event, and the Welches, and Keith and Katie and George, and all who moved prayer books and hymnals and beverages to and from the Park, and all the wonderful cooks!

Thanks from Sabra

2009-08-05T11:11:00.000-04:00

Dear St. Stephen's family,

To all the cooks, delivery persons, wait staff....and I do mean wait..... Set up crew, clean up crew, the on the field spotters, underwriting angels and the people in their lives who put up with yet another fundraiser or call for help this summer and all the people who offered a prayer for us.... Thank You.

We earned another $1000.00 dollars for our efforts to feed the balloonists and their sponsors this year. Unlike last years washout, the balloon's flew this yesterday....and we waited to serve our meal after the crews returned to Pittsfield. We served our first meal at 7:35 PM and our last at 10:30 PM. We certainly had a tired but dedicated clean up crew who just wanted to go home but did the job right...before heading out.

A special "Thanks" to Joe Knox who long ago taught me that the way to do a "Turkey Dinner" for a crowd was to have the meat cooked and sliced, placed in roasters to warm with the juices.... We got rave reviews again. Also a special Thanks to Marion who made 10 pans of stuffing....and doesn't want to see bread until after Thanksgiving.

We distributed the left over turkey and small amounts of the remaining salads ( they were the big hit this year) after church today..... and hoped that everyone who took some of remaining baskets of bread, quail (turkey), etc. enjoys the fruits of our labor....how the Rotary Club manages to schedule the balloon week-end to coincide with the scriptures of feeding the many through faith in God is a mystery( they could be a week off once in a while) ..... and a pretty great way for Curtis to highlight his sermon again during the announcements.

Again thank you to all, including our summer family, and new family members as well as "the old hands " who make the little Church with the big heart , an active force in the communities we live in and serve.

Blessings for you and those you love,

Sabra

Rainy Day

2009-06-21T12:43:00.000-04:00

Rain-drenched peony on the walkway.

And dry ones on our altar.

Some of the flowers growing around the church

.

Silent Auction and Old Home Day Info

2009-06-07T23:15:00.001-04:00

Info from Marylee:

Plans are already underway for St. Stephen's participation in Pittsfield's Old Home Day on July 18th. At this event we will be holding a silent auction as an important part of our festivities. This year's theme will be "In the Good Old Summertime". So while you are hunting for yard sale treasures, if you should uncover a really wonderful treasure.....a gift that wasn't quite right for you, new sporting goods, summertime things....we would love to have them for the silent auction. Perhaps you know of a business that might donate a gift certificate....We already have a gourmet picnic basket and those beautiful handmade pottery birdbaths by Ursula Allen, AND I have even heard that Denise is trying to secure the donation of some Red Sox tickets!

If you have questions about silent auction items please email or call me. As these challenging economic times continue to impact more and more of our friends and neighbors, our fundraising efforts at St. Stephen's become more and more important.

New Cross Installation

2009-05-16T12:19:00.006-04:00

Our new cross, constructed by George Booth and Chris Noyes and painted by Fayth Noyes, was blessed last October by Bishop Robinson.

After spending many months in the Undercroft awaiting installation, it's now on top of the church!

The bucket truck, early this morning.

In the bucket.

Securing the cross.

Finished!

Many thanks to Daniel Welch for the action photos!

Blue Jeans Sunday

2009-05-03T12:48:00.006-04:00

Spring clean-up day, indoors

and out!

Sabra also gave a flower-arranging lesson for those who were interested.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu information

2009-05-01T13:19:00.004-04:00

Information provided by the NH Council of Churches.

Church Activity:

For a copy of the 28 page booklet "Pandemic Influenza Planning for Parishes" (created for Episcopal parishes and the Avian Flu but applies for all houses of worship and the swine flu) go to: Pandemic Influenza Planning for Parishes.

New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services:

Human cases of an influenza A (H1N1) virus infection that has a swine component have been identified in the United States. Human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) virus infection also have been identified internationally. An investigation and response effort surrounding the outbreak of swine flu is ongoing on the national level and here in New Hampshire. The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu in humans and may include:

Fever (greater than 100°F)
Sore throat
Cough
Stuffy nose
Chills
Headache and body aches
Fatigue

Some of the people who have become ill with swine flu reported diarrhea and vomiting as well. Severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported as well.

The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is working very closely with all our State partners as well as with health officials in at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and officials in other states to monitor and respond to this outbreak of illness. The DHHS Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) is performing active surveillance for any potential cases. DHHS will keep the public updated with information as it becomes available because this is a constantly changing situation.

This illness is spread from person to person and there is no risk of contracting this flu virus by eating pork. There are, however, some basic precautions that everyone should be taking to prevent becoming ill or spreading illnesses, not just swine flu are:

WASH HANDS/ALCOHOL GEL
SNEEZE IN ARM
STAY HOME WHEN SICK

DHHS Swine Flu line open during business hours for questions:
Public Inquiry Line
1-888-330-6764
8:00 AM-8:00 PM

Common questions from callers:

Pets: It does not appear that Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu puts our household pets at risk.

Vaccine: There is not a vaccine for Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu, however, its in development.

For further information go to
NH Dept. of Health & Human Services
Offers variousu resources, up-to-date information, and links to other sources of information, Fact Sheet, FAQ's, etc.

Centers for Disease Control

World Health Organization.

Easter

2009-04-12T13:59:00.007-04:00

A sunny, breezy Easter Day in Pittsfield. St. Stephen's was packed with parishioners, their family members, friends and visitors.

Rich Corning piped us in to worship.

Spring flowers decorate the altar.

Lighting the Paschal candle.

Bishop Robinson

The Bishop's sermon on the Resurrection. He reminded us not merely to be admirers of Jesus, but to be followers of the Risen Christ.

The choir sings the last of several magnificent anthems.

We enjoyed a delicious feast in the Undercroft after the service.

Our Bishop and our Rector.

A blessed Eastertide to all!

Palm Sunday

2009-04-05T13:27:00.007-04:00

Blessing of the Palms

Procession of the Palms from the Undercroft to the church door. (Last year we had snow everywhere...this year we have a nice new walkway!)

Choir members bring up the rear.

The altar.

Supplies for next Sunday, and for Outreach distribution to local towns.

Rainy Sunday

2009-03-29T13:19:00.000-04:00

March is going out like a wet lamb...

The crocus buds at the church door are drenched.

Because it's the last Sunday of the month, we had food gathered for others...

...and food eaten, by us.

Get ready for a busy fundraising season! The Parish Life Guild outlined the upcoming events--Town-wide Yard Sale, Old Home Day, Balloon Rally dinner, St. Nicholas Fair. Volunteers will be needed.

2nd Sunday in Lent

2009-03-08T12:33:00.004-04:00

Due to recent warming, the snow is retreating from our walkway garden!

View from the Pews

2009-02-08T14:53:00.000-05:00

At St. Stephen's, during cold and flu season, we take germ-fighting very seriously!

Father Curtis greets parishioners on their way out.

Inaugural Dust on my Shoes

2009-01-27T21:43:00.006-05:00

by
Mal Cameron
Deerfield, New Hampshire

It all started the day after the November election – an invitation from my wife Bernie’s niece, Betty, inviting us to go to Washington, D.C. to witness in person the inauguration of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States.

We booked our flights the next morning.

We did not have tickets to the event, and really had no idea if we would even get close to it all. But on Martin Luther King Day, the day before the inauguration, Bernie and I were on our way to Washington, along with our daughter Molly, who traveled there by bus from New York City. On Tuesday the 20th we all left Betty’s house at 5:30 in the morning and took the METRO to Union Station, which at 6:00 am was totally packed with people who were all hoping to do the same thing as we were – get onto the National Mall. Feelings of anticipation and awe swept over us as we saw the Capitol building framed through a passageway while leaving Union Station.

There were literally thousands of people walking to the Mall. At one point we all walked through a tunnel that runs under the Mall to the other side of the Capitol building. It was almost surreal to look ahead and behind us as we walked, and seeing a river of people in both directions. The sun was rising as we exited the tunnel.

“A new day dawning”, I thought.

Eventually, after at least two miles of walking, we worked our way onto the National Mall. We were about two-thirds of the way back from the Capitol to the Washington Monument, and surrounded by thousands of people who had decided to brave the cold to be part of this moment in history.

They came from all over the United States – and the world. A rainbow of ethnic backgrounds and musical accents surrounded us. It truly was a universal mass of humanity, all coming together to honor this thing we call “change”. To honor a new President. To honor a new direction of Hope for this country. And, perhaps, to honor ALL of us.

The inaugural ceremonies were broadcast via large television screens throughout the National Mall. With the Capitol clearly in sight at the end of the Mall, everyone felt the emotions of the day. During the invocation and benedictions, there were many voices shouting, “Amen”, “Help him, Lord”, “Praise Jesus”, “Keep him safe, Lord” – and even a few voices singing soft hymns.

There were cheers and there were tears. Even though the weather was cold, we all felt the warmth of the moment, the feelings that we have all – finally – turned the corner and are now heading in a better, more honorable direction, with a President who will inspire us to work together, to lift us from despair and hopelessness to the higher morality of hope and honesty.

Time will tell, of course. But history was made on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, and we were grateful to have witnessed it first-hand.

As I left the National Mall area, moving with thousands of people to find our way to the METRO once again, I noticed that my shoes were covered with dust from standing in the Mall for several hours.

“Inaugural dust”, I thought.

I decided not to brush it off, but to let it fall off on its own. “It symbolizes the hopes and emotions of the day”, I thought. As I walked to the METRO station, and eventually to Betty’s house, I thought of those bits of dust falling off along the way, spreading those hopes and emotions where I walked.

Now that I am home again, some of that “Inaugural Dust” is still clinging to my shoes.

Parish Annual Meeting

2009-01-25T13:14:00.005-05:00

It was nice having a Sunday without any snow! Good attendance, and as usual, plenty of good food! We had lunch before the meeting started.

The salad bar was a big hit.

There were 3 kinds of soup. This is curry-butternut squash.

The Senior Warden checks his agenda...

...which looked like this!

Father Curtis gives the Rector's report. (This year we actually have a Rector!)

As the reports stated, 2008 was a year of challenges and loss (the altar flowers were from Elvia's family to honor her recent birthday). But we have grown in fellowship and mission and ended the year on budget. And our fundraising for Outreach and special projects was an outstanding $8400! We all know that 2009 will bring its own challenges--and many blessings yet to come.

We finished up by noontime.

First Sunday After Christmas

2008-12-28T16:41:00.004-05:00

Our Sox Box is full!

It was a Parish Family Sunday, and parishioners were encouraged to share their holiday leftovers. We had plenty of food!

A happy sheep in the children's crêche in the Undercroft.

The holiday arrangement that decorates our organ.

Christmas Eve Service

2008-12-24T21:35:00.000-05:00

We had our annual Carol Sing half an hour before the service began, for the whole congregation.

During the service, the choir sang beautifully!

As part of his sermon, Fr. Curtis shared a family tradition.

After the service, people claimed their memorial poinsettias and took the home.

Fourth Sunday in Advent

2008-12-21T13:54:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday, despite widespread power outages, 19 hardy souls made it to church in Pittsfield. Miraculous!

Today, despite frigid temperatures, significant recent snowfall, and almost whiteout conditions this morning, 32 were present!

Fr. Curtis focused his sermon on The Annunciation and Mary, explaining how all of us are God-bearers.

As a sign of how near we are to Christmas now, the Altar Guild members were arranging the poinsettias in preparation for Wednesday evening's service.

Brunch

2008-12-07T15:02:00.002-05:00

After the service today, we held an Advent/Christmas Brunch in the Undercroft.

Outside the church, snow was falling.

Thanks to all the wonderful cooks and those who prepared the festive tables!

Holiday Wreath and Greens Making

2008-11-17T13:15:00.004-05:00

After church on Sunday, the Undercroft was filled with greenery and parishioners!

Pat and Yvonne.

A crew of busy elves!

Finished product!

Come and buy on Saturday at the Holiday Fair!

Thanks to the Senior Warden for the photographs!

All Saints & All Souls

2008-11-02T15:36:00.006-05:00

A busy Sunday morning at St. Stephen's!

This being the Sunday closest to All Saints' Day, we heard Fr. Curtis's reminder about "Big S Saints" and "small s saints." Be careful to articulate and enunciate your words when saying those phrases, otherwise you might shock people....

During the service, we learned that Chris and George had used the leftover Spanish cedar from our new rooftop cross to create small crosses for all parishioners. Fr. Curtis blessed them.

Everybody was invited to take one for themselves and their family members.

Towards the end of the service, the wonderful aroma a baking rose up to the sanctuary. Under the supervision of Sabra and Daniel and Katie, the Sunday School class baked Shropshire Soul Cakes to commemorate All Souls' Day, November 2nd.

In addition to baking, the class learned about the concept of having a soul.

Enjoying the fruits of their labor:

The book study group stayed afterwards to continue their discussion of Bishop Robinson's book.

UTO In-Gathering

2008-10-26T16:04:00.001-04:00

Thanks to all who contributed!

And thanks to Yvonne for the lovely photo!

Autumn Frost

2008-10-19T12:03:00.000-04:00

Spotted along the front walkway...

Michael shows the 2nd place medal he won at the Special Olympics!

Our Sunday School has started. One of today's activities:

Celebration of New Ministry

2008-10-01T22:00:00.002-04:00

This evening the relationship between the people of St. Stephen's and Fr. Curtis Metzger was made official. We have our new Rector!

Bishop Robinson greets the congregation at the start of the service.

Junior Warden Dave Cummings and Senior Warden Chris Porter present Fr. Curtis to the Bishop as worthy of becoming our Rector.

The choir sings a special anthem, "All Are Welcome" in honor of Fr. Curtis.

Fr. Curtis during the anthem.

One of many gifts given to Fr. Curtis as representations of his ministry among us--his very own prayer shawl knitted by Marylee Johnson.

Fr. Curtis shows his shawl to Doug.

Another gift, from the children of the parish--a stole, their own "handiwork"! Fr. Curtis couldn't wait to wear it for the first time!

Keith at the organ.

All smiles after the service.

The Senior Warden with the Minister of Ceremonies, The Rev. Canon Charles LaFond.

A delicious supper was served in the Undercroft.

During his time with us the Bishop blessed our new roof cross. It was created from Spanish cedar by George Booth and Chris Noyes, and painted by Fayth Noyes.

On his way out, the Bishop pauses to tease Joe Knox.

A sweet--and bittersweet--element of celebration on the dessert table. Elvia Hetu was famous for the lemon squares and other treats she provided for breakfasts, bake sales, and picnics. Using the recipe, Marion Knox baked Elvia's lemon squares (they were delicious!) Even more amazing, we still had in the freezer a batch of chocolate chip cookies Elvia baked for the Old Home Day celebration that occurred days after her untimely passing. The perfect occasion to serve those cookies--she was able to contribute to Fr. Curtis's celebration! Thank you, Elvia.

Our New Cross

2008-09-04T20:29:00.004-04:00

Parish woodworkers George Booth and Chris Noyes have completed the new cross for the church rooftop.

The cross is made of Spanish Cedar and weighs about 40 lbs. Cut and carved from a single 11' x 2" plank, it is composed of eight separate pieces held together by 35 stainless steel screws.

It is almost exactly like the cross it replaced.

According to George, "Our hope is to have it mounted in October. Once it is installed, I'll start on the smaller cross. The smaller cross is simpler to cut, but the original is pretty much destroyed, making it impossible to use the disassembled pieces as templates, which we did on the large cross."

Cheerfully Blooming

2008-08-26T10:07:00.005-04:00

On arrival at the church Sunday morning, Fr. Curtis admires the town-maintained planter on the sidewalk.

Morning glory on the railing beside the front walkway.

The hydrangea at the corner of the church building.

On the Way to the Wedding

2008-08-20T21:37:00.002-04:00

Our Director of Music Ministry, Katie Ortega, and our Organist Keith Belanger were married at St. Stephen's on Saturday, August 16. The bride, her bridesmaids, and her family used the Welch home (across the street from the church) to dress for the wedding.

Katie in her wedding dress.

Thank you from Sabra

2008-08-07T10:42:00.003-04:00

Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!

We have met our gourmet fundraising goal with a check for $1000.00 dollars being dropped off in the next day or so from Scott Brown of the Rotary Club. In less than two months, we have worked together to raise all the funds($2400) we need to have the walkway to the undercroft rebuilt...including the drain. I will call Mr. Clairmont tomorrow morning to get us on the schedule and to give you all enough notice about the disruption to the undercroft access.

So to the angels who donated money to offset expenses, the kitchen drudges who prepped the "Passing the Gavel" dinner, the cooks who roasted and sliced turkeys without sampling too much....and the salad makers, potato pasta and bean, the bakers of cakes, brownies and cookies, the crews who were available to serve and clean up the meals, to the coffee guys, to each of you who donated an item for the raffle baskets, to the raffle ticket salesmen, to the ticket taker who was the corporate memory of how to do the turkey in a kitchen so small, to the man with the garden cart who hauled stuff for weeks, to all who said a prayer for us, to anyone who looked out of their window on Saturday night as the thunder crashed, the lightening flashed and it rained buckets and thought about the group trying to serve dinner at St. Stephen's, my heartfelt gratitude to each and everyone of you.

Some special notice to Fayth Noyes who roasted 4 turkeys, sliced and ready, and resisted the temptation to eat them....to people who had planned to be with us to help but special circumstances prevented them from being with us and to Fr. Curtis who gave up part of his last day of vacation to be with us.

It has been an emotional and exhausting time for us at the little church with a big heart. I hope that in some small way that the surprise of receiving all the donated bread to be share by our community and the distribution of all the left overs from the Balloonist dinner among the congregation present yesterday helped to make the work of a meal lighter and maybe helped a neighbor, friend or family member. I've never see turkey fly so fast as it did into containers yesterday.

Looking forward to sharing a meal with you all when we gather to join Fr. Curtis in a Celebration of New Ministry... anyone know a group that can cook?

Blessings,

Sabra

In This Time of Remembrance

2008-07-20T14:01:00.006-04:00

Thanks to all who helped and worked so hard on the set-up, sales, raffle, cooking, and money-counting for Old Home Day. It was a highly successful fundraiser.

Thanks for all the busy hands this morning clearing up and preparing for the events in the days ahead as we reach out to the Hetu family and Elvia's many friends.

And thanks to Rev. Karen Maleri for her sensitive care of us and her perfectly-pitched preaching in this time of grief for our parish family.

For those wishing to pay their respects to Elvia Hetu and her family, calling hours will take place at the Perkins and Pollard Funeral Home on Main Street in Pittsfield, from 2-4 and 7-9 on Monday, 21 July. The St. Stephen's community will provide a dinner for the family--with ice cream, because Elvia loved it so much.

The funeral will be 10 AM, Tuesday, 22 July at St. Stephen's, with Fr. John Allen and Fr. Kevin Nichols officiating.

The family asks that memorial donations to St. Stephen's go to our Outreach Fund, so Elvia's legacy of helping and serving will continue.

In a message to parishioners, Sabra said, "We dedicated our efforts yesterday at the OHD fair to Elvia's spirit.....and placed a memorial to her on our bake table where her pies, cookies and lemon squares were for sale. She had them ready and her son, Bob, and her daughter, Jan brought them Friday evening."

The front-page Concord Monitor story about Elvia can be found here.

Church Bulletin Humor

2008-07-01T21:14:00.001-04:00

As shared by Fr. Curtis on Sunday. Taken from actual church bulletins:

Actual Announcements from Church Bulletins

1. This afternoon there will be a meeting in the south and north ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

2. Tuesday, at 4 p.m, there will be an ice cream social. All ladies giving milk, come early.

3. Wednesday, the Ladies Liturgy Society will meet. Mrs. Johnson will singe, “Put Me in My Little Bed”, accompanied by the Pastor.

4. Thursday, at 5 p.m., there will be a meeting of the Little Mothers Club. All those wishing to become little mothers, please meet the pastor in his study.

5. This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Johnson to come forward and lay an egg on the altar.

6. The service will close with “Little Drops of Water”. One of the ladies will start quietly and the rest of the congregation will join in.

7. On Sunday, a special collection will be taken to defray the expense of the new carpet. All those wishing to do something on the new carpet, come forward and get a piece of paper.

8. The ladies of the church have cast off clothing of every kind and they may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

9. A bean supper will be held Saturday evening in the church basement. Music will follow.

10. The rosebud on the altar this morning is to announce the birth of David Alan Belser, the sin of Rev. and Mrs. Julius Belser.

Sunny Side Up!

2008-06-25T11:26:00.005-04:00

In his sermon, Fr. Curtis exhibited an abnormal egg found in one of the hen's nests at his farm.

The shell was soft, not firm. And squishy. And creepy.

There is clearly an indentation.

Which chicken laid the egg?

No matter what kind of egg we are, we can remember to keep our "sunny side up!"

Blue Jeans Sunday

2008-05-22T15:07:00.005-04:00

Good weather and a good turnout for Blue Jeans Sunday.

The Cummings family came in blue jeans, and worked outdoors.

Chris did groundskeeping.

Blue jeans wearers in the Undercroft. Fr. John enjoys the ice cream. The rest of the group decorates hats and floral wreaths.

Day of Pentecost

2008-05-12T14:29:00.004-04:00

Evidence of spring surrounds the church building.

Our Pentecost service was even more happy and festive with the return of several seasonal parishioners and the appearance of Fr. Curtis's parents.

The choir performed four times. A prelude, A Festive Psalm of Praise, two anthems--Come Build a Church and Yes, God is Real. And a very energetic Postlude spiritual, Marching in the Light of God, with instruments. And marching!

George brings up the rear.

Until Memorial Day, the choir will rehearse at 7:45 on Sunday mornings, followed by breakfast at Zoya's. If you've ever wanted to sing, there's an opportunity before the choir goes on summer break!

The 12 Opossums

2008-04-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

The more you know, the funnier it is.

The Bible - as explained by some kids in Oregon - truth has been redefined!

One of our favorite jobs has been leading junior church. We try to do more than Baby-sit our church's beloved little ankle-biters during their time in our special junior church facility. We aim to give them a solid background in biblical history. At the end of each year, we give them pencils and paper and ask them to chronicle what they have learned. This assignment never fails to elicit some intriguing responses. In case you're a little foggy on your biblical history, let our junior church students help you with his complete overview of the Bible, compiled from their essays:

In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, Darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one,' but I Think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a Light!' and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the Adam and Made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.

Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel. Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.

After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.

Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable. God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then He gave them His top ten commandments. These include don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's bottom (the Bible uses a bad word for bottom that I'm not supposed to say. But my Dad uses it sometimes when he talks about the President). Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.

One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua, who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 Porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.

After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of the New Testament. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn, too, because my mom is always saying to me, Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')

During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Republicans. Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him.

Jesus was a great man He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Republicans and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven, but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

There! Now you understand it.

Flowers Indoors and Out

2008-04-27T16:43:00.004-04:00

vase on our altar

violets in our garden

future lilac blossoms outside our Undercroft

Coming soon: Bible Stories, including Jesus and his Twelve Opossums.

More!

2008-04-20T22:06:00.005-04:00

Another plant ready to flower in the parish garden.

Another prayer shawl completed and blessed.

Sheep Scavenger Hunt

2008-04-13T18:02:00.004-04:00

This morning Fr. Curtis blessed several prayer shawls knitted by Marsha, one of which was presented to Grace.

The theme of our prayers and readings and sermon today was sheep and their shepherd.

In addition to Collect, we had the 23rd Psalm, the New Testament Lesson (1 Peter 2:19-25) and our Gospel (John 1:1-10) loaded with sheep/shepherd analogies.

Our hymns, too, contained shepherd imagery. Hymn 645 The King of love my shepherd is, Hymn 343 Shepherd of souls refresh and bless, and Hymn 708 Savior, like a shepherd lead us.

Here's the Sheep Scavenger Hunt. Do you know the location in the sanctuary of each of these sheep? Go ahead, try to find them next time you're at St. Stephen's!

Happy hunting!

Hymns & Lilies

2008-04-06T15:05:00.002-04:00

These are the hymns we sang this morning.

The beautifully scented Easter lilies no longer decorate the sanctuary. But these lilies in the stained glass are always with us!

Stewardship Institute

2008-04-05T18:44:00.001-04:00

Four parishioners from St. Stephen's (including your Sr. Warden Chris Porter, Martha Booth of the Vestry, Fr. John Allen, and your parish blogger) attended the diocesan Stewardship Institute at the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center located in Greenfield, NH.

The crowd was large and attentive.

The program, developed by the Rev. Canon Charles LaFond, was informative and helpful.

Bishop Robinson was there, and gave the homily, making reference to his AIDS work in Uganda in 1992 and inspiring us all to give in support of the mission and ministry of our church.

We enjoyed a delicious hot lunch in the dining hall.

The final activity of the day was the premiere of the new 10-minute Stewardship DVD. (Which the parish will have an opportunity to view!)

The entire event was extremely worthwhile--one of the very best diocesan-sponsored gatherings ever!

Easter Sunday

2008-03-23T13:24:00.003-04:00

Still a lot of snow on the ground, but inside the church, we found springtime!

The baptismal font, decorated with the children's plants.

Flowers, given in memory and in honor of parishioners' family members and friends.

The altar.

The Processional, "Welcome, Happy Morning!" led with the Paschal Candle.

Katie on oboe and the choir, which sang several beautiful and well-rehearsed anthems.

During announcements, Fr. Curtis presented Dan and Sabra, our devoted church caretakers, with gifts. Including this memorial "snow shovel"!

After church in the Undercroft, there was a children's Easter Egg Hunt. Here's one of the decorated Easter Egg bags.

We all enjoyed the food and fellowship.

Happy Easter!

Good Friday

2008-03-21T10:26:00.001-04:00

Maundy Thursday

2008-03-20T22:15:00.000-04:00

Our Maundy Thursday service began with the Penitential Order.

After the Sermon, there was Foot Washing.

At the conclusion of the service, the altar was stripped in preparation for Good Friday.

Snowy Palm Sunday

2008-03-16T14:24:00.006-04:00

Lots of snow on the ground this Palm Sunday. St. Stephen's Parishioners are prepared for anything!

The altar was decorated with this beautiful spreading palm frond.

The start of our Palm Sunday Snowshoe Procession.

Our intrepid showshoe brigade scales the hillside.

What goes up can definitely get down!

Children's Pre-Easter Workshop

2008-03-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

The St. Stephen's Undercroft was a busy place when the children gathered there for Easter preparations!

They created a Garden Tomb. Caitlin and Ricky are proud of their efforts.

The Tomb is populated with people and animals (some not native to the Holy Land but that's okay!)

The Easter Bunny hides in the tall grass!

Another task was making Hot Cross Buns. Caitlin rolls out the dough.

Katie and Kaela shape the buns.

Marking the buns with a cross.

Ice cream making was an important part of the day. Noah, Ricky, Mason, Caitlin and Katie roll the ice cream maker around the floor.

Dave and Noah decorate a bag to hold Easter Eggs.

The Easter Egg Hunt takes place after the service on Easter Day.

Photo credits: Daniel Welch, who was there the entire time, and Parish Blogger, who stopped in for a little while

Food of All Kinds

2008-02-24T15:27:00.008-05:00

On the last Sunday of every month, we collect non-perishable food items and monetary gifts, which are donated to the Pittsfield Food Pantry.

The last Sunday of the month is also our Parish Family Sunday, when we gather in the Undercroft after the service to enjoy fellowship and the delicious food prepared by the volunteer host/cook. Thanks to Lucinda for a wonderful array!

Today we had a welcome opportunity to purchase "food"--Girl Scout cookies, from a member of the troop that holds its meeting in our Undercroft.

Many. many boxes were sold!

Two New Eucharistic Ministers

2008-02-11T17:32:00.000-05:00

Father Curtis, assisted by Yvonne Loomis, presents crosses to George Booth and Grace Holden in recognition of their completion of Eucharistic Minister training.

Congratulations to both as you begin your new ministries!

2008 Annual Parish Meeting

2008-01-27T18:17:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who braved the snow and participated in this important gathering of our parish family!

Baptisms

2007-12-30T18:08:00.000-05:00

Today we had three baptisms during the service.

This is Jazlynn, the youngest to be baptised.

Her older sisters Melissa and Rebecca were baptised also.

At the reception after the service, Jazlynn received her Faith Chest, and her sisters were given crosses as remembrances of this day.

The celebration had a Tinkerbell theme--cake, plates, napkins, everything!

Christmas Eve

2007-12-24T18:01:00.000-05:00

A full moon was hanging over St. Stephen's on Christmas Eve.

Before the service, we held our annual Carol Sing.

The creche figures awaited the arrival of the infant Jesus.

Father Curtis gives a joyful sermon.

The Choir and Organist performed many beautiful anthems.

Back in our Sanctuary!

2007-12-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

The new carpet is down and the pews are back in place!

The carpet's official color is "Rum Punch".

Snowy Sunday

2007-12-16T11:46:00.000-05:00

Stay safe and warm and contemplate this wonderful Song of Mary that was part of the planned worship this morning:

The Song of Mary Magnificat

Luke 1:46-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Fr. Curtis

Parish Christmas Party

2007-12-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

On Friday, December 7th, a festive group of parishioners gathered in the Undercroft for our annual Christmas Party and Potluck. Thanks to all who planned and set up for the event, brought delicious food, shared stories of Christmas Past, and added items to our Sox Box!

The First Sunday in Advent

2007-12-02T15:04:00.000-05:00

At St. Stephen's, it's our tradition that the children help to light the Advent Wreath.

Nora

2007-12-01T12:33:00.000-05:00

Nora, daughter of parishioners Wes and Katie Jones, has been on our prayer list for several months.

Her mother provided an update and a summary of her surgical challenges and progress, and gave permission to share it on our website, along with a post-Thanksgiving update.

November 9, 2007

Dear Friends at St Stephen's,

Thank you so much for all your prayers, cards and notes for my daughter, Nora, during her brain surgeries. It made all the difference. As you can see from the photographs, Nora has greatly improved from her brain surgeries starting August 20th,
Nora after surgery in August

compared with the photos of her competing at UNH for U Maine on November 3rd.

Nora competing in a UNH-U Maine Woodsman Competition on Nov. 3rd

Nora returned to college a couple of weeks late but has caught up with her school work. The University did suggest a reduced schedule due to missing two weeks and recovering from brain surgery. Nora is majoring in Communication Sciences and Disorders with the hopes of becoming a Speech Pathologist. Nora has always been an athlete. She received 12 varsity letters while at Merrimack Valley high school, running cross country, Winter track and Spring track. Shortly after the first surgery, the neurosurgeon found that Nora was paralyzed on her entire left side. He took her back into emergency surgery and with God's help made a change that allowed for the movement to return in her arm and hand then her left leg. Nora started talking then about competing in a "sprint" triathlon. Yesterday she emailed me that she had signed up for the Timberman Triathlon Sprint to be held August 16, 2008 right here in NH. It will be just shy of the 1 year anniversary of her brain surgery. (I think a "sprint" triathlon is a 5K run, 16 mile bike, and a 1/2 mile swim)

Nora does need one more surgery to repair a hole in her head. That work is scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I can't thank you enough for all your prayers for Nora. I thank God every day for Nora, for Nora's health and for all those that prayed for Nora.
May you all have a Happy Thanksgiving with your families.
Katie Jones

Update

There is another chapter to this one. The Friday night before Thanksgiving, Nora called from college, her head was leaking. I had her immediately call Dartmouth. The on-call neurosurgeon had her come right down from Maine to Hanover. They admitted her and put her on IV antibiotics. On Tuesday, she had surgery. Nora now has a titanium prosthetic, replacing part of her skull bone. We spent Thanksgiving by her bedside. Dartmouth had said she would have to come home on IV antibiotics for 6 weeks. This was going to be a trick because there are 3 weeks of classes and a week of Final exams left in the semester. Thankfully, the department of infections diseases decided the type of bacteria she had could be treated by pills. Nora came home Friday night. We had probably the nicest Thanksgiving dinner on Friday night, just the five of us. In typical Nora fashion, she returned to U Maine on Sunday - 36 stitches and all....

A picture of Nora has been included in a new Dartmouth presentation/brochure.

Thanks to Katie for sharing Nora's remarkable progress. Let's give thanks for the good news, and keep the Jones family in our prayers!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

2007-11-12T15:37:00.001-05:00

We continue to worship in our Undercroft, because the sanctuary looks like this:

We had a Veterans' Day display of armed forces headgear, with most branches of the service represented and several historical items.

After the service, altar flowers were shared with the veterans in our congregation.

A new prayer shawl!

All Saints' Sermon

2007-11-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

If you couldn't be at church on Sunday, ask Fr. Curtis to share his story about "Big S" Saints and "small s" saints.

It resulted in a lot of laughter!

Sabra served Soul Cakes.

Due to the state of our sanctuary, we'll be worshiping in our Undercroft until futher notice.

Scenes from Our Undercroft

2007-10-21T17:41:00.000-04:00

This was our third--and probably final--Sunday of holding our worship service in the Undercroft.

the altar

Our UTO in-gathering was part of the offertory

Holy Eucharist

After the service we had a party--someone was celebrating a special birthday!

Recent Activities

2007-10-05T11:24:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, September 30th, the Rev. Canon Tim Rich was our visiting priest.

We celebrated the sacrament of Holy Baptism.

Because of the disruption and dirt created by our ongoing roofing project, it was decided that worship will take place in the Undercroft. After the service, the cushions were taken off the pews and the electric piano was moved downstairs.

Our new Prayer Shawl Ministry, led by Marylee Johnson, met for the second week. The wool is blessed before knitting begins, and the finished shawls will also be blessed. These shawls will provide warmth, comfort, and love to the wearers, and the knowledge that they are held close in prayer.

Sights and Scenes from Summer

2007-09-25T17:53:00.000-04:00

In August, our priest's family paid a Sunday morning visit: his parents, sister, and nephew.

The colorful planter on the sidewalk in front of the church, provided by the Town of Pittsfield.

And on the final Sunday of summer, a week before the "offical" start of autumn, our annual outdoor service and parish picnic!

Old Home Day

2007-07-22T21:26:00.000-04:00

Scenes from Pittsfield's Old Home Day. The town was celebrating its 225th birthday!

The food tent was constantly busy!

For a small donation, anybody could sign one of the shingles that will go on our roof.

As usual, we had plenty of items available in the Undercroft, displayed on our "New to You" tables. Lots of good bargains!

After the sale, Bernie and Connie box up unsold items.

Poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay

2007-06-26T23:06:00.001-04:00

The poem Father Curtis read as part of his Sunday sermon.

Conscientious Objector, 1931

I shall die, but
that is all that I shall do for Death.
I hear him leading his horse out of the stall;
I hear the clatter on the barn-floor.
He is in haste; he has business in Cuba,
business in the Balkans, many calls to make this morning.
But I will not hold the bridle
while he clinches the girth.
And he may mount by himself:
I will not give him a leg up.

Though he flick my shoulders with his whip,
I will not tell him which way the fox ran.
With his hoof on my breast, I will not tell him where
the black boy hides in the swamp.
I shall die, but that is all that I shall do for Death;
I am not on his pay-roll.

I will not tell him the whereabouts of my friends
nor of my enemies either.
Though he promise me much,
I will not map him the route to any man's door.
Am I a spy in the land of the living,
that I should deliver men to Death?
Brother, the password and the plans of our city
are safe with me; never through me Shall you be overcome.

Sermon by the Rev. Curtis Metzger,Sunday, May 6, 2005

2007-05-14T13:03:00.000-04:00

Easter 5: Year C--May 6, 2007

Acts 13: 44-52
Psalm 145
Revelation 19: 1, 4-9
John 13: 31-35

This morning’s reading from Acts and the Gospel of John have much to teach us about a certain spirit and purpose we are to have as Christians. In Acts we hear about how the disciples were persecuted by religious leaders of the day for their heretical ways, and how the disciples went on their way rejoicing. In the Gospel we hear the great “New Commandment” that Jesus gives us--to love one another as he loves us. Now hang on to your hat, this may be one of those bumpy ride sermons, but I promise I’m a-comin’ back around to these two lessons--eventually the plane will land!

Have you ever heard of a forensic theologian? No, me either. Well I’ve decided to create such a title--mostly arising out of my research and study for this sermon today. Most of us are aware of forensics--the endeavor to trace evidence and find facts mostly for the purposes of legal proceedings. Forensics has been made popular in recent years by many TV shows like CSI (Crime Scene Investigation), Criminal Minds, and of course that stalwart of cop shows, Law and Order. Forensics has crept into a number of professions. They even have forensic accounting now to trace white collar crime. And, as most of you know, I work in Emergency Management as the Hospital Bioterrorism Preparedness Coordinator for the State. In this work I have been exposed to and trained in the basics of Forensic Epidemiology. This is the study of how a disease/condition might have been unleashed on a population as a purposeful event--like an act of terrorism.

The whole idea of forensic theologian started when I was reading The Great Influenza, by John Barry, this last week. This book traces the background, development, historical situation, and personalities involved before and during the 1918 pandemic of influenza, otherwise known as the Spanish Flu.

Digression (fun Public Health facts to know and tell!)

In order to set the scene for what I pulled out of this book, let me share with you a little I learned in reading the social-historical-medical context outlined in the book as a build up to the pandemic. Did you know that there was a vast expanse of medical knowledge in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries that had helped to: create vaccines that prevented a dozen animal diseases including anthrax and hog cholera; public health measures and vaccines that contained or eradicated smallpox, diphtheria, typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, bubonic plague; antitoxins for snake bites; antiserum for dysentery; tetanus antitoxin (in 1903, 102 people out of every 1000 treated died, 10 years later with the antiserum 0 died!); meningitis had been checked; and an antitoxin for gangrene had been developed.¹

At the same time that the huge advances in medicine were taking place, there was an ongoing battle to bring public health measures up to date in the general population and in the quickly expanding military of the day. In the build up of the US Army before entering World War I, the army went from tens of thousands to millions in a matter of months. The evolving medical corps of the army argued forcefully for adequate public health measures in the development of troop camps, but often to no avail. This is not to say that the army medical establishment was not behind the war effort. The Military Surgeon Journal of the time even said “the consideration of human life often becomes quite secondary....[in fulfilling the overall objectives of winning the war]; and in this Journal one Major was quoted as saying, “If any enemy wounded are found (in the trench) they should be bayoneted, if sufficient prisoners [for interrogation] have been taken.”² Even at a time of great medical advances, some physicians were still practicing bleeding--based on a medieval notion that bleeding out the bad blood in a person would help them rid their body of disease. Clearly, some modern medical science, and ethics, had yet to evolve.

A particular problem in the new army camps was the efficient spread of disease. The winter of 1917-1918 was one of the coldest on record, and because the army had not yet built enough barracks, many men were sleeping in tents in the outdoors. Measles began to spread among the troops and from camp to camp as men were transferred. When measles strikes adults it can be particularly brutal. In an effort to control the spread of measles men were ordered not to crowd around stoves, but with the cold outside this order proved unenforceable. From September 1917 to March 1918 over 30,000 soldiers were struck with pneumonia mostly as a complication of measles, and over 5700 died. Pneumonia turned out to be the killer complication of influenza which was just around the corner.

On to this scene came the intense little scientist Oswald Avery, whose research on pneumonia would have such a huge impact that it revolutionized genetic research and created modern molecular biology. Avery was born in Montreal, raised in the New York City, and was the son of Baptist Minister with a church in the city. (Isn’t it interesting how many great men and women were children of clergy? Well, except Roman Catholic clergy one would presume!) He was something of a Renaissance man who played cornet at the concert level and held a variety of interests, but in spite of those interests, he tended to be somewhat of a research recluse and an introvert by nature. At university he was a gifted orator and tied for an oratory prize at Colgate University with Harry Emerson Fosdick, who later became one of the most gifted and well-known Protestant preachers of the century. Harry’s brother, Raymond, later went on to lead the Rockefeller Foundation, which built the famous Riverside Church in New York City for Harry.

This little connection and fact tucked into this book got me curious about Harry Fosdick, so I "googled" him on the internet and came up with a fascinating sermon he preached in June of 1922. (Here’s the "forensic theologian" coming out!) The title of his sermon is “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?”³. I am going to quote liberally from this sermon partly because it is a good corollary to today’s scripture, and partly because it suits our time so well. It could have been written yesterday.

He begins:

This morning we are to think of the fundamentalist controversy which threatens to divide the American churches as though already they were not sufficiently split and riven. A scene, suggestive for our thought, is depicted in the fifth chapter of the Book of the Acts, where the Jewish leaders hale before them Peter and other of the apostles because they had been preaching Jesus as the Messiah. Moreover, the Jewish leaders propose to slay them, when in opposition Gamaliel speaks “Refrain from these men, and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God.”

His beginning scriptural reference is somewhat akin to the later passage in Acts 13 we read this morning--religious and community leaders were none to happy with the disciples of Jesus, but they went on with their message of hope and salvation anyway. And remember, Fosdick was preaching 85 years ago!

He goes on:

Already all of us must have heard about the people who call themselves the Fundamentalists. Their apparent intention is to drive out of the evangelical churches men and women of liberal opinions. I speak of them the more freely because there are no two denominations more affected by them than the Baptist and the Presbyterian [Fosdick was ordained a Baptist minister, but moved to the Presbyterian church at which he lost his pulpit after this sermon]. We should not identify the Fundamentalists with the conservatives. All Fundamentalists are conservatives, but not all conservatives are Fundamentalists. The best conservatives can often give lessons to the liberals in true liberality of spirit, but the Fundamentalist program is essentially illiberal and intolerant.

The Fundamentalists see, and they see truly, that in this last generation there have been strange new movements in Christian thought. A great mass of new knowledge has come into man’s possession--new knowledge about the physical universe, its origin, its forces, its laws; new knowledge about human history...

Now, there are multitudes of reverent Christians who have been unable to keep this new knowledge in one compartment of their minds and the Christian faith in another. They have been sure that all truth comes from the one God and is His revelation. Not, therefore, from irreverence or caprice or destructive zeal but for the sake of intellectual and spiritual integrity, that they might really love the Lord their God, not only with all their heart and soul and strength but with all their mind, they have been trying to see this new knowledge in terms of the Christian faith and to see the Christian faith in terms of this new knowledge.

Doubtless they have made many mistakes. Doubtless there have been among them reckless radicals gifted with intellectual ingenuity but lacking spiritual depth. Yet the enterprise itself seems to them indispensable to the Christian Church. The new knowledge and the old faith cannot be left antagonistic or even disparate, as though a man on Saturday could use one set of regulative ideas for his life and on Sunday could change gear to another altogether. We must be able to think our modern life clear through in Christian terms, and to do that we also must be able to think our Christian faith clear through in modern terms.

Fosdick is preaching about a perennial problem in the church and a perennial tug of war: how do we incorporate new knowledge and understanding. Just as the disciples encountered this inertia to change in the reading from Acts, so we too, in each generation, must wrestle with new insights and understandings that might change the way we believe.

In three different paragraphs interspersed throughout his sermon he takes up, in turn, aspects of the salient points he is trying to make:

Here in the Christian churches are these two groups of people and the question which the Fundamentalists raise is this--Shall one of them throw the other out? Has intolerance any contribution to make to this situation? Will it persuade anybody of anything? Is not the Christian Church large enough to hold within her hospitable fellowship people who differ on points like this and agree to differ until the fuller truth be manifested? The Fundamentalists say not. They say the liberals must go. Well, if the Fundamentalists should succeed, then out of the Christian Church would go some of the best Christian life and consecration of this generation--multitudes of men and women, devout and reverent Christians, who need the church and whom the church needs.

*********

Here in the Christian Church today are these two groups, and the question which the Fundamentalists have raised is this--Shall one of them drive the other out? Do we think the cause of Jesus Christ will be furthered by that? If He should walk through the ranks of his congregation this morning, can we imagine Him claiming as His own those who hold one idea of inspiration and sending from Him into outer darkness those who hold another? You cannot fit the Lord Christ into that Fundamentalist mold. The church would better judge His judgment. For in the Middle West the Fundamentalists have had their way in some communities and a Christian minister tells us the consequences. He says that the educated people are looking for their religion outside the churches.

Again, isn’t it startling this was written 85 years ago? We can see the legacy today of the educated people leaving the church, when at an earlier time it was the churches who founded all the great institutions of higher education. Finally, his last refrain....

These two groups exist in the Christian churches and the question raised by the Fundamentalists is--Shall one of them drive the other out? Will that get us anywhere? Multitudes of young men and women at this season of the year are graduating from our schools of learning, thousands of them Christians who may make us older ones ashamed by the sincerity of their devotion to God’s will on earth. They are not thinking in ancient terms that leave ideas of progress out. They cannot think in those terms. There could be no greater tragedy than that the Fundamentalists should shut the door of the Christian fellowship against such.

Fosdick is careful to implore his listeners that tolerance goes both ways. In his sermon he also pleads for a generosity of spirit toward those of old opinions, who...

have given the world some of the noblest character and the most rememberable service that it ever has been blessed with, and that we of the younger generation will prove our case best, not by controversial intolerance, but by producing, with our new opinions, something of the depth and strength, nobility and beauty of character that in other times were associated with other thoughts. It was a wise liberal, the most adventurous man of his day--Paul the Apostle--who said, “Knowledge puffeth up, but love buildeth up.”

In concluding he also envisions a church that has vibrant intellectual curiosity and a reticence to get bogged down in ecclesiastical minutia.

As I plead thus for an intellectually hospitable, tolerant, liberty-loving church, I am, of course, thinking primarily about this new generation. We have boys and girls growing up in our homes and schools, and because we love them we may well wonder about the church which will be waiting to receive them. Now, the worst kind of church that can possibly be offered to the allegiance of the new generation is an intolerant church. Ministers often bewail the fact that young people turn from religion to science for the regulative ideas of their lives. But this is easily explicable.

Science treats a young man’s mind as though it were really important. A scientist says to a young man, “Here is the universe challenging our investigation. Here are the truths which we have seen, so far. Come, study with us! See what we already have seen and then look further to see more, for science is an intellectual adventure for the truth.” Can you imagine any man who is worthwhile turning from that call to the church if the church seems to him to say, “Come, and we will feed you opinions from a spoon. No thinking is allowed here except such as brings you to certain specified, predetermined conclusions. These prescribed opinions we will give you in advance of your thinking; now think, but only so as to reach these results.”
[In order to find a solution to this Christian divide we will need]...a clear insight into the main issues of modern Christianity and a sense of penitent shame that the Christian Church should be quarreling over little matters when the world is dying of great needs. If, during the war, when the nations were wrestling upon the very brink of hell and at times all seemed lost, you chanced to hear two men in an altercation about some minor matter of sectarian denominationalism, could you restrain your indignation? You said, “What can you do with folks like this who, in the face of colossal issues, play with the tiddledywinks and peccadillos of religion?” So, now, when from the terrific questions of this generation one is called away by the noise of this Fundamentalist controversy, he thinks it almost unforgivable that men should tithe mint and anise and cummin, and quarrel over them, when the world is perishing for the lack of the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith. . . .

The present world situation smells to heaven! And now, in the presence of colossal problems, which must be solved in Christ’s name and for Christ’s sake, the Fundamentalists propose to drive out from the Christian churches all the consecrated souls who do not agree with their theory of inspiration. What immeasurable folly!

Please forgive the voluminous quoting from this sermon, but it is so startling that it was written so long ago and not yesterday! I encourage you to find it on line or in your library and read the whole text. In some ways I find it comforting that our current troubles in the Anglican Communion over fundamentalist and progressive wings of the church are really nothing new--they just seem to have bubbled to the surface in a particularly acute way.

And friends, don’t you want to belong to the church that Fosdick envisions? A church that is intellectually curious, embodies the radical hospitality reflected in the watchwords of our diocese, and gets on with the weightier matters like famine, poverty, and war? Perhaps if we do church right, there is a young Oswald Avery in the pews this morning who will go on to discover some great new advance in Medicine--supported by the church who lived by what we prayed at their baptism when we said:

Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. (Book of Common Prayer, p. 308.)

Jesus gives us a new commandment in the Gospel this morning -– “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” And in the lesson from Acts we hear how, though they were shouted down and run out of town, the disciples “were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” This is the kind of enthusiastic response to God’s love we are called to embody.

As a case in point of this struggle we only have to look at yesterday’s news. Yesterday, on the front page of the Concord Monitor, I saw the headline “Church audit cites ‘tone at the top’.” This is in reference to the State Attorney General’s annual audit of the Roman Catholic Church’s effort to comply with the recommendations that came out of our State’s investigation of sex abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. Now I know that there are intense church-state issues involved here and I don’t mean to minimize that or gloss over that, but I was so disheartened to hear that the ‘tone at the top’ was one of general stonewalling and noncompliance.

What is wrong with this picture? (Now I mean no ill will toward our Roman Catholic brethren; well, unless of course those times when they get on their high horse about being the sole repository of the truth!) But wouldn’t it have been so much better that the underlying tone was one of the church whole-heartedly trying to do more than comply, and their real problem was stumbling all over themselves in a headlong rush to protect every child brought under their care. Isn’t that the kind of church that Fosdick was advocating for. Rather, we get this kind of fundamentalist approach of something like "Keep out, you don’t belong, only we have the truth, and you can’t belong unless you yield your mind and ask no questions when you walk in the door." How sad, how terribly sad. What if our approach to Gospel was one of only complying with the tenets. What if our whole attitude was one of only trying to "comply" with the terms of the Resurrection!

Heavens no! Ours is a holy joy in the knowledge of the love of God embodied in Jesus--and the spirit of freedom that imbues us with the desire to share that love with everyone.

So, the forensic theologian thing--well, it was really a tool to try to encourage you to follow this rather circuitous route I took to weave together a little public health and ecclesiastical history as a way to get at the spirit of these two readings. Maybe you learned something about public health, maybe a little bit about modern church history, but mostly I hope you learned about a vision of the church that embraces rather than divides.

¹ Great Influenza,,p. 146
² Great Influenza,,p. 144-5
³ “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?”: Defending Liberal Protestantism in the 1920s“

Outdoor Clean-up Day

2007-05-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, a group of parishioners beautified our grounds.

The hard-working crew.

The results of their hard work.

Don't our azaleas look lovely?

Thanks to all who helped!

Recipe: St. Lucy’s Coffee Cake

2007-04-17T16:06:00.000-04:00

Baked by Fr. Curtis and served at our parish coffe hour on Easter Day.

St. Lucy's Coffee Cake

Cake:

Beat til creamy 1/4 cup butter. Beat in 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar, followed by 1 egg and 2/3 cup milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.

Mix Together 1 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon cardamom and some raisins. Then combine with above.

Topping:

Combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup flour. Mix together and cut in 2 Tablespoons butter. Then, with a fork, stir in an egg yolk til well blended. Spread over the top of the cake mix before baking.

Bake at 370 degrees for approximately 25 minutes.

Sermon by the Rev. Curtis Metzger,Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007

2007-04-17T15:59:00.000-04:00

Easter Day: Year C

Acts 10: 34-43
Psalm 118
Colossians 3: 1-4
Luke 24: 1-10

The Lord is Risen! [He is risen indeed!] Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Whew! Ain’t it fun to say that again? You know, I think we should turn that into some kind of saying--like when someone who plays a sport has a bad spell and then recovered they say “he got his game back.” I think we should have a Christian saying, something like, “Yeah, Joe was going through a bad spell, but he got his Alleluia back!” Alleluia is the word of praise that evokes joy and confidence and centeredness in God. And after Lent, that is what we have achieved--a deeper sense of our alleluia--our belonging to God--and full of unending praise.

This morning is the exclamation point to the whole journey. Today we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. After 3 days in the tomb, he breaks forth and destroys death once and for all. I can see Death gloating over his conquest--looking at the pretty little chrysalis of that “caterpillar-y” human all wrapped up in his shroud--and Death just snickering in the corner. Ah, but little did he know this human butterfly would soon break forth and ruin his party.

Now, are you ready for a little feminist theology? This story in Luke that was read this morning is a wonderful testimony to the devoted love of a handful of women who were determined to do the ritual embalming. Can you imagine what they were saying or thinking on the way to the tomb? “Do you think the soldiers will roll away the stone so we can do our job?” “Why did all the disciples abandon the Teacher in his time of need?” “What will we all do now--go back to Galilee?” Then they encountered the angels who told them Jesus had risen. There is another story in the Gospel of John where Mary Magdelene encounters Jesus outside the tomb and initially thinks he’s the gardener until he calls her by name (there’s a whole other sermon in and of itself!)

These women, eyes all swollen from days of crying, numb from grief, are startled out of their stupor to behold what they dare not dreamed. These women were the first witnesses of the resurrection. Mary Magdelene was chief among them--the woman who had been forgiven so much. She got the honor. There is a great little part of this Gospel that was not read this morning. It goes on to say:

(11)But these words seemed to them [the male disciples] an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Well, ladies, seems the battle of the sexes was alive and well back then too. I can just hear the disciples guffawing at these women, “O for heavens sake, the women have gone hysterical again and that is all we need.” . . . And do you know what one of the principle conditions for being one of the apostles was? It was to have been a witness to the resurrected Lord. Funny how the very first witnesses never got to be apostles, eh? OK, that’s as far as I’ll push that for now; but good food for thought, huh?

Now, about this resurrection stuff--a theology professor of mine put it simply and beautifully when he told me that we Christians don’t believe in the resuscitation of the dead, we believe in the resurrection of the dead. Do you get the difference? Jesus, after the resurrection was recognizable, but different. In the coming weeks we’ll hear about how the disciples experienced those differences in the post-resurrection stories, but needless to say, walking through doors, disappearing suddenly, etc., well that is just plain different than a resuscitated Jesus.

How do we explain that? Well, I don’t know. All we know is that the experience of the resurrected Jesus was so strong for his followers that it started a movement that has continued for 2000 years. As I said on Good Friday, one of the most profound influences of my life was my work in the hospice movement, and interestingly enough, it was there that my belief in the afterlife was profoundly strengthened. There were just so many stories of people close to death seeing loved ones that had already died, or conversely, stories of friends and relatives far from the dying person who had the loved one come to them in a dream or in some other strange vision at the moment of their death. Well, there is just too much that we don’t understand. But from all those experiences, I simply do not question the afterlife. Don’t ask me what it will look like or feel like. I think we’ll all be surprised.

But it wasn’t just simple physical death that was overcome in the resurrection. More importantly, it was the power that Death holds over us and all the death-dealing ways we have a tendency to retreat to. And I’m not a follower of Jesus because of the promise of a heaven. Neither do I think he would want us to follow him for just that reason. No, I follow Jesus because he outlined for us such a glorious way to live. Though we focus on the Passion this past week--the arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection--as the seminal events of Jesus’ life and our Christian faith, they must go hand-in-glove with his teaching and the way he wanted us to live. Because, as he said, the Kingdom of Heaven is AT HAND!

If all we do is with our faith is to parrot back some words about Jesus’ death and resurrection without really appropriating his whole life and teaching as a way to a fuller, deeper way of being alive, then we have truly missed the point. In the words of that great Easter hymn, Hymn 182:

Christ is alive! Let Christians sing.
His cross stands empty to the sky.
Let streets and homes with praises ring.
His love in death shall never die.

Christ is alive! No longer bound
To distant years in Palestine,
He comes to claim the here and now
And conquer every place and time.

Not throned above, remotely high,
Untouched, unmoved by human pains,
But daily, in the midst of life,
Our Savior with the Father reigns.

In every insult, rift, and war,
Where color, scorn, or wealth divide,
He suffers still, yet loves the more,
And lives, though ever crucified.

Christ is alive!
His Spirit burns through this and every future age,
Til all Creation lives and learns his joy,
His justice, love, and praise.

Sermon by the Rev. Curtis Metzger,Good Friday, April 6, 2007

2007-04-17T15:48:00.000-04:00

Today is the day in the church year where we really deal with the reality of death. And, typically, we who call ourselves Christians have learned to snap victory from the jaws of defeat. We call this day Good Friday. Why good? Well, because of course Jesus made his ultimate sacrifice for us and showed us the power of his redeeming love with the ultimate gift of his life. It is his gift of his life--his whole life--that sets us free. This is why this Friday is Good.

Thomas Merton, the great Trappist monk, wrote once, “If we have risen with Christ, we must dare to stand by him in the loneliness of his passion.” Today we enter into that spirit, and even literally when we stand for that portion of the Gospel where it gets close to his death. This is our simple act of standing with him and bearing witness. Some get a little too carried away with identifying with Christ’s sacrifice and do some rather bizarre things. In the Philippines every year some men volunteer to be crucified as a testament to their devotion. It is with antiseptic needles and not to death, but still a bit over the top. I imagine Jesus turning to those who want to suffer like him and saying, “Uh, sorry there’s only room up here for one.” But seriously, the point of his crucifixion is that it was done once and for all. Lord knows we all suffer in life without having to want more suffering. The challenge of our suffering as Christians is to remind ourselves that our Lord suffered too, and in the end redeemed his suffering for us. This, I think, is our appropriate response to suffering--not that we love it, but we redeem it where we can.

As many of you know, I spent a good deal of time working in the hospice movement. I was palliative care chaplain in a major teaching hospital in Vancouver where I cared for the dying and their families on the palliative care unit, and also consulted in the emergency room, the leukemia and cancer units, and the 300 beds dedicated to long term care patients. I saw a lot of death and grieving. I guess if I was going to identify the two most important things that have shaped my theology it would have to be Jesus and dealing with dying. There is nothing like dealing with the end of life to sharpen ones appreciation for life every minute that you live it.

I like to think that Mary, her companions, and John, standing at the foot of the cross were the first hospice volunteers. They dared to stand by him, in the loneliness of his passion. This is the gift of hospice volunteers.

Thirty years ago I attended my first Easter Vigil. It is the service in the church traditionally held the night before Easter and is really the first celebration of Easter. The church I was attending started the service around 11PM. There are many readings (up to 10!) in the first part of the service that outline the history of salvation. Eventually it ends with the Easter Gospel.

I was singing in the choir so I arrived early for rehearsal. I came into the back of the church to wind my way along the side isle to the parish hall, Sunday school and choir rooms. Of course the church had been stripped on Maundy Thursday and was looking terribly bare--for what I could see. It was late at night and there were no lights on--only some street light or something making its way in through stained glass to give me enough light to make my way around. But there was something exciting in the air--literally! I couldn’t see anything, but I knew the altar guild had been busy preparing for the service because when I walked in the back of the church my nostrils were filled with the scent of lilies! And as I caught that wonderful smell, all at once the moment became sacramental. I could not see the resurrection, but I could smell it! My eyes were closed to the reality of what was coming….I was lost in the mournful flatness of Holy Saturday. Ah, but my nose wakened me to Easter. It still hadn’t happened, but I could smell it was coming!

The spirit of this day is somber. We should truly contemplate the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, his betrayal by friends, his own sense of being abandoned by his Father, when he cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me!” But this day, for us, is always in the context of a greater reality--because we know the rest of the story. There is a line in the burial office in the prayer book that sums it up for me very well: “All of us go down to the dust, yet at the grave we make our song, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia! We have put our Alleluia’s away for Lent, right about now, in the midst of his passion, they are beginning to bubble up at the back of our throats. This is a sad day, but it is a good day. My friends, this day is the beginning of the story of our freedom!

Alleluia, it's Easter!

2007-04-08T15:11:00.000-04:00

Outside the church, there was a lot of snow on the ground.

Inside, it definitely looked like springtime!

Palm Sunday

2007-04-03T16:12:00.000-04:00

Our Palm Sunday procession began in the Undercroft . . .

and wound its way up to the front doors of the church.

The choir sang an anthem, Eat this bread, drink this wine.

Red was the liturgical color.