Ebb and Flow

Queen of seasons!  Spring of souls! Easter!  For a great fifty days from Easter Day to Pentecost we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  How beautiful it is!  Many hands and hearts went into preparations for our first Holy Week and Easter in the new church – from publicizing events to arranging flowers to cleaning the church to preparing the altar to making the music to beautifying the grounds.  Thank you, all, for all your labors to hail these festival days!

April was a busy month in other ways to.  Here were some of the highlights:

Ø      The Church Mouse Sale to which so many gave so much effort.

Ø       Cannon Beach Chorus led by Dorene Dunlap that displayed our church’s stunning acoustics.

Ø      A BAC retreat on April 3^rd (see Hugh Hendrickson’s report in this Tidings).

Ø      The memorial wall planned by the committee and built by Nikos Maragos

Ø      Palm Sunday by the shores of ‘Lake St. Catherine’ and Moving Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.   

Ø      The placement of the bronze by Dana Toomey in honor of Bud and Jean Smiset.

Ø      New Paschal candle and stand – gifts of Marc and Gen Youngs, Lola Sacks, and Mary Dorscheimer.

Now May is here with more to come.  Again, here are a few highlights:

Ø      Friday May 5^th:: Concert by harpist Bronn Journey (see details in this Tidings).

Ø      Sunday, May 21^st: Rogation Day (the Church’s Earth Day) – weather permitting, something special!

Ø      Sunday, May 28^th: Ascension Sunday – something special!

Ø      Sunday, June 4^th: Pentecost – Wear Red!  Congregation meeting after 9:30 service. 

I close with a favorite poem of mine by Gerard Manley Hopkins, “The May Magnificat”:

May is Mary’s month, and I

Muse at that and wonder why:

       Her feasts follow reason,

       Dated due to season—

Candlemas, Lady Day;

But the Lady Month, May,

       Why fasten that upon her,

       With a feasting in her honour?

Is it only its being brighter

Than the most are must delight her?

       Is it opportunist

       And flowers finds soonest?

Ask of her, the mighty mother:

Her reply puts this other

       Question: What is Spring? —

       Growth in every thing—

Flesh and fleece, fur and feather,

Grass and greenworld all together;

       Star-eyed strawberry-breasted

       Throstle above her nested

Cluster of bugle blue eggs thin

Forms and warms the life within;

       And bird and blossom swell

       In sod or sheath or shell.

All things rising, all things sizing

Mary sees, sympathizing

       With that world of good

       Nature’s motherhood.

Their magnifying of each its kind

With delight calls to mind

       How she did in her stored

       Magnify the Lord.

Well but there was more than this:

Spring’s universal bliss

       Much, had much to say

       To offering Mary May.

When drop-of-blood-and-foam-dapple

Bloom lights the orchard-apple

       And thicket and thorp are merry

       With silver-surfèd cherry

And azuring-over greybell makes

Wood banks and brakes wash wet like lakes

       And magic cuckoocall

       Caps, clears, and clinches all—

This ecstasy all through mothering earth

Tells Mary her mirth till Christ’s birth

       To remember and exultation

       In God who was her salvation.

Paul

BAC Retreat Highlights

·        Short business meeting.

·         Bible study led by Paul with focus question:  What does it mean to be in the Church?  Some thought provoking insights to that question were gained when breaking up into groups to study and comment on passages from Ephesians, 1 Corinthians and Romans.  As an example:  We are reminded in Ephesians, Chapter 4, that we are together one body and one spirit with different gifts that equip us for the ministry of building up the body of Christ.  This set the stage for:

^ Sharing each of our journeys in faith that led us to St. Catherine, providing insights of our individual experiences, and gifts for building up the body of Christ at St. Catherine.

^ Sharing what St. Catherine means to us and to list the many strengths that bless our congregation as well as to list the challenges that are seen for the future.

^Telling of a secular world successful business experience that involved a number of strengths and approaches that are possible parallels to St. Catherine’s future path.

^Initial listing of ideas for future action.

• A future retreat date was set for June 3^rd.  This will be a time to complete our work, organize our findings, take actions and make recommendations for sharing with our congregation.    Hugh Hendrickson, Senior Warden

Women of St. Catherine

May 5^th meeting in St. Catherine’s Bible Garden

If you have had a chance to wander the grounds of St. Catherine’s, you might have noticed a garden in progress beside the reflecting pond at the base of the sanctuary windows.  It is our new Bible Garden in progress.  The next meeting of the Women of St. Catherine’s will provide a forum for a description of the plants in this garden.  This is primarily the work of Marlene Schmid, and though she cannot be with us in person, she has left her descriptions to be read by Mary Barthelemy.  Come in your garden gear with trowels and gloves.  We will rearrange stones and plants as we see fit and plant a few remaining herbs and flowers.  Pray for good weather and we’ll see you at the church at 10:00, Friday, May 5^th.  Mary Barthelemy

                                       WOMEN'S GET-TOGETHERS

The Women of St. Catherine have two immediate opportunities for fellowship and spiritual growth with other Oregon Episcopal women. On Saturday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. the annual Women's Spirituality Day will be at St. Mark in Medford. The theme is "Making a World of Difference." Quoting from the April edition of the Oregon Church News:
"The keynote speaker will be educator Beth Elness-Hanson, formerly biology teacher at the MaaSae Girls Lutheran Secondary School in Monduli, Tanzania. In addition there will be six workshops to choose from, including instruction on quilting vestments, exploring liturgical dance, understanding voluntary simplicity, praying with icons, and making pilgrimages and taking mission vacations.
"The diocesan's Southern Convocation is hosting the conference, which costs $20 (and includes lunch). Directions and a registration form are available on the diocesan website, www.diocese-oregon.org. Pre-registration by May 5 is requested. For more information, contact Pamela Boston, 541-479-0452 or pboston@cdsnet.net."

Closer to home, on Saturday, May 6, Grace Episcopal Church in Astoria has invited us to a luncheon at noon. Included in the invitation are women from churches in Seaview, WA, and Seaside, and also from Grace Memorial in Portland. The promise is to get to know one another, celebrate spring and fellowship, and enjoy a small plant sale and raffle for interesting items. Dress will be casual. RSVPs to Christy Ashley at 503-325-4869 by May 4 are requested, although she will accept later ones from us since she knows our next meeting will be May 5.
Carpooling for both these events should be possible. It is a real blessing to know there are so many active churchwomen in our diocese.  Terri Maragos

Summer Lunch Program

The opportunity to assist with the kid’s summer lunch program is just around the corner.  Last summer, we prepared almost 2,000 lunches!  This summer we hope to surpass that by increasing the lunches from 3 days per week to 5 days per week.  To accomplish this, we will need a small crew to work on Tuesday mornings at NCRD, in addition to needing people on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings a the Methodist Church.  We have a wonderful opportunity to follow Christ’s example of feeding the multitudes with bread and fish, we will, however, substitute peanut butter and jelly for fish.  Please consider volunteering time this summer for the project.  JoAnne Johnson

The Phil’s Corner

A philosophical St. Catherine member, who wishes to be anonymous, sends this food for thought from an anonymous author…

You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive.

A FOND FAREWELL

On May 7 we will be saying a fond farewell to Mary Cramer as she and Jack prepare to move to their new home in Portland.  Over the years Mary has played an active and important role in the life of our congregation, and it will seem strange to think of St. Catherine’s without her.

Mary has served on the BAC and as the senior warden, and as our delegate to diocesan conventions.  She has been president of The Women, sung in the choir, worked on the Church Mouse Sales, been a member of the finance and church dedication committees, served on the Altar Guild, and baked numerous amounts of cookies and cakes.  But perhaps her greatest contribution was as the chair of the Building Committee as she helped to guide us through the planning and construction stages for our beautiful new church building.  Oh, and yes, she also serves on two diocesan committees, the Standing Committee and the Growth and Development Committee, as well.

We love you Mary, and we will miss you, but we know that in our hearts you will always be a part of St. Catherine’s.

Harp and Vocal Performance at St. Catherine

The Manzanita Creative Arts Council presents Harpist Bronn Journey with wife, vocalist Katherine Journey on May 5, 2006 at 7:00 pm in St. Catherine’s sanctuary.

Bronn Journey, from Seattle, started at the age of 10 years old on the harp due to a family influence.  He plays classical, folk, Celtic, you name it, and he has a great sense of humor too!  His playing is magical; to hear it resonate at St. Catherine's is a wonderfully anticipated treat. His wife Katherine joins him with vocals throughout the program.

Advance Tickets Sales are available at Syzygy, Manzanita; Art Happens, Nehalem; and Simples Apothecary/Liquor Store, Wheeler.  Adults: $10.00,Seniors 65+: $8.00, Children 12-: $6.00

All proceeds go to the MCAC Student Scholarship Fund for Graduating
Neahkahnie H.S. Seniors, 2007.

Visit  www.bronnjourney.com for more information.

 

Church Mouse Sale

Thanks to all who worked so faithfully on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to make the Church Mouse Sale happen.

We seem to have it all down to a fine science.  Bet we could hire out at premium rates to set up and take down other people’s sales…just kidding.

We made $3779.33 this year with $448 of that from the Silent Auction items.  Our expenses included $80 to NCRD for the gym and $159 for the storage unit.    The Cart’m bill, which will include a disposal fee for some microwave ovens and other miscellaneous trash, has not yet come in.

The Sale could not happen but for the efforts of our hardy gardeners, who stocked the plant area, bearing up in all weathers…the moving experts who get us in and out again…the set up and display crew…the cashiers… the new this year Coffee and Cookies effort, bakers and seller… those who gave customer assistance on Friday and Saturday…and the clean up crew, who make it all appear somewhere else so efficiently.  Many people don’t limit their rummage time to one task or one day, but do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs doing…all with good cheer and enthusiasm, which is really what makes it all worth the effort. 

                         Thanks! 

A Special Presentation by Sister Leslie

 On Tuesday, May 2nd, Sister Leslie of the Community of the Holy Spirit,
 an Anglican religious order, will present a program at St. Catherine.
 
 Scheduled for 3:30 in the meeting room, Sister Leslie's presentation 
 will include reading from and talking about books, poems and stories
 she has chosen to share with us.
 
 Sister Leslie is a young poet herself and is also librarian for the
 Community's house in New York City, among her other ministries.
 
 The Community of the Holy Spirit holds a silent retreat at Mount Angel
 Abbey every spring, led by one of the Sisters.  We are very fortunate
 that Sister Leslie will be visiting us at St. Catherine for a day here on the beautiful Oregon Coast after this spring's retreat.
 
   Let's welcome her!
 
Creative Journeys at Contemplative Arts Center

Gail Balden will offer a writing workshop,  “Writing as a Way of Healing” on Saturday, May 20 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Contemplative Art Center located at Underhill Plaza, Manzanita Ave. & Division, Manzanita.  No previous writing experience is required. The workshop will focus on listening for our stories and the healing transformative power of writing. Participants should bring a journal or notebook, their favorite pens, and a brown bag lunch.   Participants also have the option of going out for lunch if they wish.

Cost of the workshop is $40 and requires a $25 deposit sent to Gail Balden, 41500 Anderson Road, Nehalem, OR 97131.  Class size is limited, and early registration is advised. For more information, call Gail at 503-368-7807.

Balden is a writer, educator and workshop presenter.  She has over 30 years of teaching experience and teaches writing workshops on the Oregon coast and throughout the U.S.  She writes a monthly column on life in a small town for the North Coast Citizen.

The mission of the Contemplative Arts Center is to “offer to all people activities of inner reflection for deepening spiritual awareness and nurturing the human spirit for the good of all creation.”

A Note from Bishop Ladehoff

From the Diocesan April e-mail bulletin…

My sisters and brothers:
I woke up this morning wondering what had happened to March.  
Certainly I had not planned to spend part of it in a hospital, and the rest of it in a rehabilitation facility.
I am happy to let you know that I came home yesterday.
I am embarrassed that someone sent out word that I planned to move 
into a retirement facility.  I had considered this idea, but decided 
it was not the right place for me.  And so I am back in my apartment: 
1130 SW Third Ave., P4, Portland 97201.
My son is here for few days, to help me settle in, and to help me deal with the chocolate.
It will be a while before I am fully back on my feet.  I hope I'll hear from you!
As I said in an earlier note, I am profoundly grateful for the prayers and the good wishes of our wonderful diocesan family.  I hope you will continue to hold me in your prayers, as I continue to pray for you all.
+Bob Ladehoff

	This issue of Tidings is made possible by: Contributors:  Paul, Terri Maragos, Mary Barthelemy, Jan Tarr, Hugh Hendrickson, JoAnne Johnson, Gail Balden, Sandra Christhilf, Ann Andriesse Layout:  Jane Spencer Proofreader:  Merle Spencer Production:  Nancy Puress, Deanne Falby, Phyllis Sanderson