N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 9

INS IDE In the Transition 2 Food Baskets 3 Music 4 Mission Trip 2010 5

Adult Education 7 8

Stewardship 6

WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Holy Eucharist Rite 1 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II 10:15 a.m. Wednesday Holy Eucharist and Healing Service 10:30 a.m.

THE R ED DOOR St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

The Mission of St. Alban’s Parish is to exemplify Christ’s love, using our gifts to connect people to God, each other and creation through worship, service, education and outreach.

Advent Wreath Workshop November 29 is the First Sunday of Advent, and on that morning we will gather

together at 9:15 a.m. to make Advent wreaths. If you attended last year’s workshop, you may bring the candle holders and wire rings from that event, or you will have an

opportunity to order a 10-inch gold ring with built-in candle holders. This is a wonderful way to mark the beginning of Advent.

Join us to discuss Advent traditions, share some greens or just enjoy the fellowship! You will take home a beautiful and meaningful

centerpiece to use that evening.

Sign-up for this event in the Living Room or by emailing Diane Goodney at diane@stalbansbexley.org

Consecration Sunday November 8, 2009

Please plan to attend one of the Sunday morning Eucharists on this special morning for our congregation. A Celebration Luncheon will take place immediately following the 10:15 a.m. service, at 11:45 a.m. This is a catered meal, so we need reservations for each person attending. If you need to make your reservation, please contact Anna Luehmann at 237-9858 or jluehmann@hotmail.com.

Hat/Glove/Scarf Collection The Social Concerns Committee is once again sponsoring a hats, gloves and scarves collection for children in need at Fairwood Elementary School. A basket for donated items will be in the Living Room in November. If you have questions, please contact Ernestine Ujah at 497-2463.

333 S. Drexel Ave. Bexley, Ohio 43209 Phone: 614.253.8549 Fax: 614.253.8191 church@stalbansbexley.org www. stalbansbexley.org

STAFF The Rev. Michael Jupin, Transitional Rector The Rev. Rob Matheus, Pastoral Associate

Sara Seidel, Organist & Director of Music Diane Goodney, Director of Children’s Ministries

Cyndi Colburn, Parish Administrator John Combs, Sexton

VESTRY Russ Rosler, Sr. Warden Tom Goodney, Jr. Warden John Prescott, Treasurer

Jerry Becknell Suzan Brown Meg Clark

Fletch Fletcher Dan Fulton Robin Harris Katie Matney

Charlene O’Donnell Sam Van Landingham

ST. ALBAN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Page 2 November 2009

In the Transition

My St. Alban’s Ministry Notebook for November I find so much to celebrate in the ministry of so many at St. Alban’s these days. Mary and Robin Harris continue to do a terrific job in preparing our parish and the ministry team for Consecration Sunday on November 8. Our aim is to get as many people as we can at the catered luncheon in the Education Building around noon that day. I hope you will do all you can to join us for what I know well be a celebration of this year’s stewardship effort. In addition to the Harrises thanks go to team members Tom Brigdon, Cyndi Colburn, the Rev. Tim Iseringhausen, Anna Luehmann, Jeff McClelland, and Kelly Tomkies for their contributions to these efforts. When pastoral associate Rob Matheus, Children’s Ministries head Diane Goodney, and I met a few weeks ago we did not know how excited we would be about the potential for acolytes at St. Alban’s. We identified some twenty young people each in two acolyte ministries, serving as either cross bearers/servers or torchbearers. We decided to ask Nick Kip and Katie Fulton to join us in overseeing the development of this acolyte ministry, joining with Brent Harbaugh who will continue as acolyte scheduler. We are very pleased that they have accepted this call. We have started with two training sessions on October 25 and November 1 and promise more such occasions as well as special events to build this part of our youth ministry at St. Alban’s. At the October vestry meeting I shared some of my thinking about membership development which included greeting and following up with visitors, gatherings to explain and discuss the ministry and stance (theology, liturgy, etc.) of St. Alban’s and the Episcopal Church leading to confirmation or incorporation as new members, and identifying gifts for and assigning ministries (in and out of the parish) for all our members. This introduction led to a spirited discussion and three vestry members – Fletch Fletcher, Suzan Brown and Meg Clark – volunteering to explore and suggest to the vestry a plan for the greeting of and follow up with Sunday visitors. (continued pg. 2)

A Morning for Contemplative Prayer Saturday, November 21

10 a.m. to Noon in the Living Room (Coffee, etc. at 9:30 a.m.)

Led by The Rev. Michael Jupin Transitional rector

Sign-up in the Living Room at church, call the church office at 253-8549, or

respond via email to jjupin@columbus.rr.com

Meals for the Homeless

We need volunteers to help with our monthly ministry of preparing and serving meals at the Friends of the Homeless men’s and women’s shel-ters. Meals are the second Wednesday of the month. Please sign up in the living room to help!

Page 3 November 2009 (continued from page 2) One more development: I will soon gather the sixth and seventh grade young people and their parents to introduce and discuss with them the 2010 Confirmation preparation program for St Albans: Confirm Not Conform. This is an exciting and well-tested program in the Episcopal Church (check it out at www.confirmnotconform.org) which embodies a number of elements from program last year’s confirmation program and a number of exciting new ones: * the use of mentors as “fellow travelers” with our confirmands; * sixteen sessions that assist each confirmand in articulating his or her faith within the context of an understanding

and appreciation of the “faith of the church;” * field trips to experience other faiths;

∗ an overnight retreat; * a service project * a confirmation day planned and practiced by the confirmands in which each makes his or her own “statement of

faith.” These are a few of the ministries that continue to develop at St. Alban’s during the transition. It is an exciting time that seems to me to promise nothing less than a very good future for our parish as well as a wonderful present. Michael Jupin, Transitional Rector

Deadline for December issue of The Red Door:

November 20

Neighborhood House Christmas Food Baskets Once again this holiday season, St. Alban’s will collect both food and cash donations for Christmas baskets for The Neighborhood House Food Pantry. A basket for a family of 4-5 people will include the following items:

Instant coffee 2 cans green beans evaporated milk 2 lbs. stuffing 2 cans cranberry sauce powdered milk 4-5 boxes macaroni & cheese 2 cans corn 2 lbs. rice 2 lbs. beans (great northern or lima) 2 cans soup jelly or jam 2 boxes instant mashed potatoes peanut butter a treat (candy, cake mix/icing, cookies)

Please drop off the food in the Living Room between November 1 and Sunday, December 13. If you would like to contribute toward the purchase of turkeys or chickens, make your check payable to St. Alban’s and write “Christmas Baskets” in the memo space. Please be generous in continuing this wonderful St. Alban’s tradition. More than ever, Neighborhood House is depending on our contribution to feed people in December. The Neighborhood House Food Pantry will also be the recipient of St. Alban’s Caring & Sharing Offering in December.

November 2009 Page 4

MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE! Music Notes

“LUX AETERNA” FROM JOHN RUTTER’S REQUIEM The Mass for the Dead (Missa pro defunctis) is a particularly appropriate offering for All Saints’ Day, and on November 1, the choir will sing the final movement from John Rutter’s Requiem. The Mass is commonly called a Requiem, after the first word of its introit, “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (Grant to them eternal rest, O Lord). Over the course of the 20th century, the term Requiem came to enjoy a broader usage, referring not only to strictly liturgical works, but also to those written in honor of the dead. The Latin Requiem Mass was part of the liturgy from the earliest times, but was not standardized until after the Council of Trent (1545-63). The Mass contains both Proper texts (those that vary by feast or occasion) and Ordinary texts (those that remain constant throughout the liturgical year). Prior to the Council of Trent, Requiems very much reflected local tradition in their choice of Proper texts. The first extant polyphonic (multi-voice) setting of the Requiem Mass dates from the early 1600’s. Once the Requiem Mass was liturgically fixed, the number of settings composed increased dramatically. Many important Requiems were composed in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including those by Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Fauré, Britten, and Duruflé. Rutter composed his Requiem in 1985, one year after the death of his father; the score is inscribed In memoriam LFR. Rutter conducted its first performance on October 13th of that same year at the United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. The sixth movement, a setting of the 23rd Psalm, was written as a separate anthem in 1976 and later incorporated into the Requiem. Composed just two years after publishing a new critical edition of Fauré’s Requiem, it is not surprising that Rutter’s own Requiem draws substantial influence from the celebrated French work. Like Brahms, Fauré, and Britten before him, Rutter does not limit his choice of texts to the standard Latin fare. He intersperses English texts from the Book of Common Prayer with portions of the standard Latin Requiem Mass. The second and sixth movements of the work are settings of Psalm 130 (“Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord”) and Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd”), respectively. The Agnus Dei and Lux Aeterna (which the choir will sing on All Saints’ Day) alternate the traditional Latin texts with portions of the Burial Service from the BCP.

I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord,

for they rest from their labours: even so saith the Spirit.

Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine: cum sanctis tuis in aeternam, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis.

May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord: with all thy saints for evermore, for thy mercy’s sake. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and may light perpetual shine upon them.

All blessings, Sara

It’s Coming! November 8

Page 5 November 2009

Mission Trip 2010 Update Former and potential 2010 “mission trippers” met together on Sunday, October 25 and began making plans for this year’s trip. Joining leaders Ted Nemeth, Barbara and Michael Jupin were Patricia Beamish, Jerry Becknell, Meg Clark, Kay and Kent Holley, Cat and Dallas Kramer, and Tom Tappan. We reached the following “tentative” decisions (dependent on the response of other possible participants and contacts in New Orleans):

* leave Saturday June 12 and return Sunday, June 20; * go down in one day and return in two, stopping Saturday, June 19 in Nashville; * work again with All Soul’s Episcopal Church in the 9th Ward – with Ted Nemeth traveling to New Orleans a couple of weeks before to set up the work sites with the All Soul’s staff; * see if we can obtain space at Chalstrom House at St. Andrew’s Church as a place for some of our housing and as a “home base.” This is where our 2008 group stayed; ∗focus on a quilt raffle and parish celebrations, e.g. Shrove Tuesday and Ascension Day, as our primary fund raisers.

A very good article from The Atlantic on the experimental "green" houses Brad Pitt and others are building in New Orleans can be found at http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200911/curtis-architecture-new-orleans

The next planning meeting, with any an all interested, is Sunday, November 15,

in the Education Building following the 10:15 a.m. Eucharist.

For assisting with Parish Cleanup Day, a special thanks to…

Elaine Altmaier, Bill and Judy Davis, Chuck Divelbiss, Tom Goodney, Tom and Ann Hooker, Nick and Cindy Kip, Jim and Betsy Miner, Carol Pfau, Constance Rivera, Russ Rosler, Tom and Lynne Tappan, Ernestine and Tyler Ujah, Sam Van Landingham, Jerry and Eileen Becknell. These parishioners gathered on a cool Saturday morning October 17th to provide time and talent for helping clean and improve parish facilities. Inside the church building, doors and woodwork were cleaned. Pews were repaired and cleaned. Several other minor repairs were completed. The Sacristy was cleaned. Children's library books were organized and shelves dusted. Shelves were cleaned in Sara and Fr. Rob's office. The metal partitions and woodwork were cleaned in the women’s restroom. Several hundred sets of plastic tableware were bound with napkins for the monthly homeless meals. Outside, weeds were pulled and ivy trimmed at the church front. The red doors and church sign received a thorough cleaning. Several tree limbs growing against both buildings were removed. In the Memorial Gardens, debris and leaves were removed from the gravel paths, and limbs encroaching on the paths were trimmed. An overgrown bush damaging the storage shed was removed. Extensive (very!) weeds were removed from the playground and the adjacent exterior windows were cleaned. Several participants stated that they enjoyed the fellowship while working together…tasks, even onerous ones, ARE more fun when shared! Think of St Alban's as several thousand square feet of aging, heavily-used space, three kitchens, five restrooms, and 250-plus visitors per week. While John Coombs, our Sexton, does an excellent job in the time allotted, the occasional extra time and efforts of parishioners contribute significantly to the overall appearance and cleanliness of our parish. Tasks involving a variety of skills and abilities are always planned. And…as ever… many hands make the work light and the time fly! Jerry Becknell, Vestry member

November 2009 Page 6

Caring & Sharing The November recipient for St. Alban’s Caring & Sharing Offering Plate Ministry will be the Homeless Families Foundation in Columbus. Some facts about HFF:

. HFF provides support for more than 200 families each year.

. HFF is the largest family shelter in central Ohio with 46 units.

. More than 400 children are housed and attend school.

. The average age of a child at HFF is 6 years.

. $384 is the mean monthly income of families when they arrive at HFF.

. 90 days is the average stay for a family while they work to acquire permanent housing.

. In 2008, 74% of HFF residents were able to find and maintain their own housing.

. 90% of contributions to HFF are used for programs.

A representative of the Homeless Families Foundation will visit St. Alban’s to discuss their services and needs.

Speaking of Stewardship . . . At both services on October 25th, Jeff McClelland guided the congregation to fill out the accompanying Step Chart with the information relating to Saint Alban’s. The completed chart is presented here for those who were unable to attend either service. Determine where you or your family fall on the steps of the chart. As you think about where you are, can you grow one step up to support the mission and ministry of Saint Albans? How is God calling you to support His ministry at Saint Albans? Robin & Mary Harris

November 2009 Page 7

November Sunday Morning Adult Education 9:15 -10:00 a.m. in the Living Room

"Becoming a More Inviting and Welcoming Church for the 21st Century”

The Rev. Dr. William Doubleday Interim Dean and Professor of Pastoral Theology, Bexley Hall Seminary

November 1: Radical Hospitality for the Church in the 21st Century "We all have seen 'The Episcopal Church Welcomes You' signs around this country, but does it really? Almost every congregation says it is a ‘friendly church’, but are we really? What does radical hospitality look like? Are inclusion and diversity really values which we share? Is there room for seekers and searchers here?" November 15: Implementing a Stronger Program of Outreach and Welcome at St. Albans "Telling our own stories of discovery and welcome at St. Alban’s. What might we do to make St. Alban’s a place where more people visit and more people return? What kinds of activities, programs, and structures do we need to reach out to people, invite them to visit, and cause them to return again and again?"

November 22

Preparing for Advent: THE Advent Tradition and My/Our Story The Rev. Michael Jupin, Transitional Rector

In his book The Wisdom of the Seasons Charles M. Olsen writes: “The eternal rhythms of spiritual formation can be seen in the seasons of the church year. Holy days and seasons create sacred space in the cycle of the year that can be used as a teaching tool for children and newcomers to faith--and indeed, for deepening personal faith as well. The seasons of the church year tell the story of the life of Christ and God's redemptive work in the world. They also tell the story of the church, the people of God. Timeless stories from tradition offer a way for us to connect our own personal and group stories to a larger picture and mine them for wisdom from a deep and rich history of faith. When we make those connections, we will be drawn into the divine rhythm of letting go, naming God's presence, and taking hold. We will also see how our own stories both reflect and can be interpreted in light of the seasons of the church year.” On this Sunday we will together identify some of the major themes of Advent, but then see where these themes “show up” and relate to stories and events in our own lives and in the life of the church. Thus we will seek to prepare for Christmas by ourselves “incarnating” and “making alive in the flesh” some of the themes of this season.

Coming in December: Professor Sam Meier on Advent & Scripture

Children’s Ministries Corner If you haven’t been over to the Education Building recently, you are missing out on quite a bit of buzz and excitement. Not only has the latest ARK unit on John the Baptist begun, but very preliminary preparations have started for the 2009 Christmas Pageant, which will take place during the 10:15 a.m. service on December 13. New acolytes are being trained, First Sundays is taking off, and will have its second meeting on November 1, and several of our youth are now volunteering to help during ARK and in the nursery. Need more information about upcoming youth events? Keep an eye out for the next SAY What? newsletter, which will provide more details of upcoming events, look over our new St. Alban’s website at www.stalbansbexley.org or glance at the new Children and Youth bulletin board in the Living Room.