SPIRE December 2017 -January 2018stpaulsonthehill.org/.../2017/12/SPIRE-December-2017-January-2018.… · Love after Love The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself

Why Jesus? “The Scandal Of Particularity”

As much as I love Paris, I was born in New York. As glorious as Fez, Morocco is, I went to college inSt Louis, Missouri. And as pretty as blue eyes are, mine happen to be brown. Each of us has her own

particular story.

In his blog, Richard Floyd says:

Rather than put forth a general philosophy of religious truth...the Christian faith tells a story, and thatstory invites questions:

Why was Israel chosen to carry the promise?

Why is Mary chosen to bear Jesus?

Why is Jesus the Incarnate One?

This month, we gather to tell an important part of our story.

We remember how a young woman said yes to an angel (even though angels are fearsome). Weremember how her betrothed husband said, “Yes I will claim this child.” (again to an angel).

And we remember how, together, they welcomed a baby boy into this world. In this story we come tounderstand that Jesusthat baby, an ordinary humanwas also specially related to the almighty God and

that somehow Jesus’ story reveals the universal nature of God.

For millennia, people have struggled with the idea of God made man, which has been called “thescandal of particularity.” How could God have allowed God to be so limited? And if God did choose

to be limited, how did God pick the time, place, and person to use for this part of the God story? Theseare questions we cannot answer. They belong to the mystery of the Trinity. But the truth is that the

human, Jesus of Nazareth, became the cornerstone of our Christian faith and he happened to be abrown-eyed itinerant preacher in Israel.

Blogger David Messer puts it this way: “If [the Son of] God were to be as human as we are, Jesus musthave a fingerprint as unique as each of ours. Only from this extraordinary particularity can Jesus be

universal.” God could have entered our story at any time in any place but, as the Gospels reveal, Godchose Israel two millennia ago and the world was changed.

Soon, it will be Christmas. For us it is a time of giving. This year, as we choose and then give ourpresents out, let’s remember God’s chosen child and give thanks for his particular story.

Christmas blessings to you all.

Faithfully, Cooper+

The SPIREVolume 64 Number 4 - 5 December 2017 - January 2018

St. Paul’ On The Hill Episcopal Church40 Ganung Drive, Ossining NY 10562

Love after Love

The time will comewhen, with elation,

you will greet yourself arrivingat your own door, in your own mirror,

and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.You will love again the stranger who was your self.

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heartto itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignoredfor another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit. Feast on your life.

~ Derek Walcott ~

(Sea Grapes)Submitted by Julie Gross

Through out this New Year, may you remember togift yourself with the love and kindness you pass

on to others...Rest for a moment and celebrate your life…

Be your own blessed gift!

Wreath Sale:Thank you to all who supported

our annual wreath sale by buying,selling, and decorating wreaths.Together we've raised $1678.85

(net, once all payments arereceived) and made my role very

easy. Thank you, Darryl

Youth Music Program

Participants prepare for their upcoming program on December 8th. These pictureswere taken by Lisa Rosenbloom. You can also find some on Facebook.

The following link will allowyou to view all of them(although, from time to timenot all of the videos load upto Flickr, which is where theyare stored).

https://www.flickr.com/gp/lisarosenbloom/b06312

Members and Friends of R.E.P.A.I.R.listen to a presentation on race byDennis Parker, member of Trinity,

and lawyer for the ACLU.

Vestry News:

Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words when necessary!

On Saturday, October 21 Vestry members Julie Gross, Elaine Blair, Mark Monroe, Margery Barnes, BevValliancourt and Jo McGrath, and Mo. Cooper Conway participated in a full day Mutual Ministry Review retreatfacilitated by Mo. Mary Gregorius. During this meeting vestry members reviewed the many and variedopportunities that St. Paul’s provides its parishioners to serve our community, our neighbors and our worldincluding our participation in the Ossining Food Pantry, the Winter Emergency Shelter Program, Loaves andFishes, Youth Music Program, our Annual Themed events, the Lantern Shop, and The Mustard Seed Garden.Members also considered areas in need of more attention. This discussion aligned neatly with the research andrecommendations of the Renewalworks team (all of whom are on the vestry).

The members discussed new ways to work for justice in our world in addition to improving the differentservices we provide currently. Although the vestry began working on our 2018 goals at our November 28th

meeting and will finish at our December meeting (to be announced at the start of the year), we all agreed that it isour mission to guide the entire congregation as it continues to do what it does because we are all followers ofChrist; that we build up the body of Christ in all our actions here on the hill, in our community, and in our world.

Please check out the Vestry section of the parish hall bulletin board. Current vestry meeting minutes including amonthly financial report are posted along with other pertinent news from our meetings.

Our most recent vestry meeting took place on November 28th at 5pm in the family room. Our December meetingwill be Tuesday the 19th at 3pm also in the family room.

Advent and Christmas will see all kinds of busy- ness around the hill…. starting with the Wreath Production in theParish Hall on November 30, followed by the Youth Music Program Fall session recital on Friday December 8.Sunday Schoolers will begin their rehearsal of their Christmas pageant; the choir prepares for their Christmaspresentation; the shop continues to provide a quick, convenient and local place to buy just the right gift; coffee hourcontinues to nourish both the tummy and the psyche; the altar guild and assorted helpers will green the church onDecember 16 and place the red bows and poinsettias on December23. All of this in preparation of our ChristmasServices!!!

As a few vestry members’ terms are ending in January, we are looking for at least three new vestry members. Thisis an important service in the life of any vital parish but especially important at this point in the life of St. Paul’s.Please consider serving as the vestry needs keen, forward thinking minds able to communicate, formulate andarticulate the ideas and suggestions of congregants. Serving on the vestry requires only that you care deeply foryour church and fellow congregants and give up about two hours a month to attend the monthly meetings! I knowthat we all care deeply for our spiritual home and family. Therefore, I implore each of you to seriously considerserving.

Additionally, we are in need of a treasurer – someone willing to oversee the finances of the parish. This positiondoes not include the day to day bookkeeping or the week to week counting of donations. These tasks are managedin the office or by other parishioners. Jim Bowen has served the church brilliantly for the past several years and Iam sure he will guide a new treasurer through the transition. If you are willing to take on any of these positionsplease speak with any of the Nominating Committee members – Beth Pollack – chair, Bev Vaillancourt, JulieGross, Donna Kerr and Mo. Cooper.

On behalf of all the vestry members, thank you all for the trust you have placed in us and the continued support youhave given us. We continue to serve with God’s grace and guidance the best interest of St. Paul’s on the Hill.

Blessings,

Jo Ann McGrath

Warden

A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly, "I know what the Bible means!" Hisfather smiled and replied, "What do you mean, you know' what the Bible means?

The son replied, "I do know!" "Okay," said his father. "What does the Bible mean?""That's easy, Daddy..." the young boy replied excitedly," it stands for

'Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.' ========

There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family Bible to her brother in another part ofthe country. "Is there anything breakable in here?" asked the postal clerk.

"Only the Ten Commandments." answered the lady. ========

"Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the world. There are those who wake upin the morning and say, "Good morning, Lord," and there are those who wake up in the morning

and say, "Good Lord, it's morning." ========

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because he was short of time andcouldn't find a space with a meter. Then he put a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I havecircled the block 10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses."

When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with this note "I've circled thisblock for 10 years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into temptation."

========There is the story of a pastor who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation: "I havegood news and bad news. The good news is, we have enough money to pay for our new building

program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets." ========

While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish carriage. The owner of the carriageobviously had a sense of humor, because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed

sign... "Energy efficient vehicle: Runs on oats and grass. Caution: Do not step in exhaust." ========

A Sunday School teacher began her lesson with a question, "Boys and girls, what do we know aboutGod?"

A hand shot up in the air. "He is an artist!" said the kindergarten boy."Really? How do you know?" the teacher asked.

"You know - Our Father, who does art in Heaven.."

A minister waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a longholiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there were many carsahead of him. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump."Reverend," said the young man, "I'm so sorry about the delay. It seems as

if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip."The minister chuckled, "I know what you mean. It's the same in my business."

========

People want the front of the bus, the back of the church, and the center ofattention. ========Last, but not least, a great one:

The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask thecongregation to come up with more money than they were expecting forrepairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that theregular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the lastminute.

The substitute wanted to know what to play.

"Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But, you'll have to think ofsomething to play after I make the announcement about the finances."During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are

in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and weneed $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."

At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star-Spangled Banner."And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!

Our January poetry session at St. Paul’son-the-hill will focus on the wondrous

poems of Emily Dickinson, with specialattention to the influence of hymnal form on

the meter and structure of many of herpoems. We shall explore, as well, the wit,

whimsy, and spiritual wisdom of thisextraordinary poet. Photocopies of the

poems will be provided.

Alfred Clemente, Ph.D.

The Lantern Gift Shop Our annual all Parish fundraiser " Christmas Is Coming" is over and Novem-ber 11th was a great day on the hill! The weather cooperated and cooler temper-atures made it a great day for soup! Results for the day are posted in theNarthex, but are worth sharing once again. Shop sales for Saturday and Sundaybrought in $3568.56. The "Soup and Sandwich Luncheon" raised $1035. AtticTreasures - $720, Bake Sale, $815 and Gift Baskets, $967.

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this such a successful day. Weheard such lovely comments from our guests when they came in the shop. Mari-lyn sold "soup to go" throughout the day too and people loved that. ThanksGeorge for providing the great jars that enabled this to happen so nicely.

The Lantern Gift Shop will continue to be open on Saturdaysthrough Saturday, December 23rd when we take a little winter break. Wewill open on Sundays following the service upon request. Come find one of us atcoffee hour. There are still many lovely gifts available for all. Why not stop byand do some of your holiday shopping with us!

Beth is keeping the Attic Treasure room open until early January. We re-ceived some wonderful lastminute donations from a St. Paul's neighbor that real-ly boosted our sales. You are invited to wander through the "treasure" room anySunday - see Beth if you want to make a purchase. We will be packing it all upin early January after the shop's January Clearance sale. Some items will returnnext year and others will find new homes with other organizations.

Next up for us is the January Clearance sale on Saturday, January 6th (snowdate: January 13). Once that is over, we move quickly to get ready for the Val-entine Sale and Bake Sale on Saturday, February 3, 2018 (snow date: February10). At that time, regular Saturday hours of 10-1 resume.

We wish for your continued support in all we do and are so grateful for it too. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

The Lantern Gift Shop Committee

HOLIDAY LUNCHEON -- NOVEMBER 11, 2017

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU all who helped to make our luncheon a success. This year we didcharge $10.00 and it did bring us the most money we have made since the inception. We made a little over

$1,000.00. That is what I would call a good day’s work.Work is really what it takes -- Anthony Seny puts up the tables on Wednesday -- that has been a big help because

the women used to do this. On Thursday the women came in and helped set up the tables.

The Menu is always done by Karen who always puts her cute little finishing touches on it and it is beautiful.Thanks Karen.

Barbara Mahlau takes care of lining up the waitresses. This is not an easy job because it is always hard to getsomeone to give up their Saturday to wait on tables. BUT she always comes through. The waiters amd

waitresses this year were Samara Davis, Ryan Echevarria, Fran Houghtaling, Cha Moy, Maddie Rowe andBarbara Mahlau. I had many comments on how great the service was -- so thanks to all of you.

We have had this luncheon for a long time and many of the original waitresses and waiters have now graduatedfrom College. I hope they have fond memories of serving luncheon at St. Paul’s.

Donations of Sandwiches and soups came from Joann McGrath, Barbara Mahlau, Joan Holsten, Melanie Rowe(three different items -- soup, sandwiches and brownies). Liz Bender, Bev Vaillancourt, Carolyn Black, JulieGross, Sara Brewster, Jim Bowen, Darryl Moy, Karen Kamp, Beth Pollack, Ann Gulian, Nell Abbott and

myself. Melanie and Liz always make dozens of chicken salads on croissants. With all of these donations we areable to put on a very great luncheon with sandwich, soup, dessert and coffee, tea or juice. Thanks everyone for

your wonderful donations.

The kitchen staff consisted of Joan McGrath, Margie Barnes, Jim Bowen, Kyoko Kageyama, and myself. Thekitchen staff never stops working -- it is an endless job. George Holsten just keeps washing dishes and

silverware. George this year also brought us wonderful jars to fill with soup to sell. These went over great andwe should get them next year. Thanks for all the help in the kitchen. Of course, let us not forget that Darryl Moy

was greatly missed this year -- he was busy making dinner for a fund raiser on the evening of November 11th.Then we have our wonderful Asa Barnes who collects the money as people come in. He sees many of the people

he grew up in Ossining with and all of his old friends. He is a great help at the front desk.

Let us not forget the people who bring brownies and other goodies for the dessert table. Melanie, Rowe, AnnFarrell, Carolyn Black, Marty Bowen, JoAnn McGrath, Bev Vaillancourt, Nell Abbott and Lori Liberti. Usually

all of the desserts are gone. Thanks for the delicious desserts.

You can see what a great response I get when I ask for donations from the parishioners and the wonderfulresponse we get from the people that attend the luncheon. Many are old time Ossiningites and return every year. I hear from most of the people that they enjoy the food and it is very, very good. Karen said that many of themthat came in to the Lantern Shop said that the food was delicious. Of course, where can you get good homemade

soup -- not many places. This year many people took home a quart of soup. Don’t forget we usually have achoice from about eight (8) different kinds of soup. We ended up selling all of the soup. We have also been

lucky for the past couple of years that the weather has been so good to us.

AGAIN THANKS to everyone who made our Luncheon such a huge success.

HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH! HURRAH!Marilyn Barnes

If I forgot anyone please call me so that I do not make this mistake again 941-2512.

PARISH REMEMBRANCES

DECEMBER BIRTHDAYS12/05 Doris Shedden12/10 Alexander Sergey (Mahlau's Grandson)12/11 Kathryn Brocchi12/13 Joan Holsten Jonathan Moser12/14 Karen Pasieka12/17 Jan Greene12/18 John Engel12/19 Adeline Engel12/20 Janet Robertson12/25 Lisa Marie Liberti12/28 JoAnn McGrath

DECEMBER ANNIVERSARIES12/02 Christine & John Schuler12/28 Carolyn Black & Art Hightower

DECEMBER BAPTISMS12/28 William R. Losee

DECEMBER DEATHS12/18 Jeffrey Barnes12/19 Virginia Pomoell12/21 Leonora Senghas12/23 Mary Moser12/23 Peter Gross

JANUARY BIRTHDAYS1/01 Aiden Torpie1/02 Ryan Echevarria (Mahlau's Grandson)1/07 Margery Barnes1/08 Kyle Muth1/14 Jeanne Tenety Rothrock1/17 Beverly Losee Vaillancourt1/18 Katie Pauline Barbara Rose1/19 Benjamin Holton1/20 Samara Davis1/25 Julie Ann DiLoreto Davis1/26 Salvatore John Triano1/27 Elizabeth Bender1/28 Katrinka Kip1/31 Tom Greene Mildred Puchir

JANUARY BAPTISMS1/08 Robert Frank1/11 Kevin Michael Noye

JANUARY ANNIVERSARIES1/06 Asa & Marilyn Barnes1/07 Lori & Nunzio Liberti

JANUARY DEATHS1/01 Warren Foin1/03 Donald Potts1/14 Marie Veinotte1/27 Marcelle Clark