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Our Staff & Vestry The Rev, Anthony MacWhinnie, II, Priest in Charge Vestry: Chuck Barnett - Senior Warden, Dan Ferguson- Junior Warden, Ann Philen, Bill Ramsey, Melanie Velaski, Beth Woods, Linda Aligood, Tom Chaapel, Frank Murphy Carol Farrel - Treasurer Viv Welch—Clerk of the Vestry Brenda Ferguson—Church Secretary Twinette McDonald - Music Director Sally Putters - Parish Nurse Saint Monica's Episcopal Church Saint Monica's Episcopal Church Messenger Messenger December 2014 December 2014 Greetings all! It’s so good to be sitting at THIS desk, writing THIS newsletter piece! Really! My family and I are so happy to be here. What an incredible blessing to us you all have already been. I suppose I should tell a little about myself here, for those not in the know. As Juanita Farrington used to say at the start of every EFM class, “I was born in a little log cabin that I built with my own two hands.” Well, of course, that’s not true, but it is true that I love Juanita and stealing from her is a great joy. My history with the Episcopal Church goes back to my childhood. In 1977, when I was 7 or 8, my mother decided we were going to church. The church she came to love was the Episcopal Church, specifically St. John’s in War- rington. We quickly became involved in everything and I started my long, illustrious career as an acolyte. Many were the Christmas Eves that I spent, in a robe, hiding behind the wooden boat-rib column that obscured our faces from the congregation at the acolyte desks. We slept through most of Father Nat’s long winded sermons, or made faces at each other from across the wide transepts of St. John’s beautiful Nave. I made life-long friends in those pews and started to hear the call to the priesthood as early as those days. Later in my Episcopal life I was a camp counselor at Beckwith, where I met my first wife, Jane. I came to St. Monica’s, “The little church in the village,” with her and her family, the Philens, in 1989. With Jane, I have a won- derful son, Trey. Our blended family gets along amazing- ly well, which is a blessing to us all. Somewhere around 2003 I finally said “yes” to that call that I had been hearing so long in my life. I entered the process toward priesthood as an aspirant with Father Da- vid McDowell-Fleming from St. Monica’s. The vestry of St. Monica’s unanimously said yes to sending me forward From the priest’s desk by The Reverend Anthony MacWhinnie, II and from there I was sent through the myriad hoops that is the process. Eventu- ally, I was accepted as a postulant and went to semi- nary at the Episcopal Semi- nary of the Southwest (now called The Seminary of the Southwest, SSW) in Austin, Texas. I was ordained in 2008 to the Diaconate and in 2009 to the Priesthood. I have been honored to be the vicar of St. Thomas by the Sea, in Laguna Beach, FL, and rector of St. Augustine of Canterbury in Navarre, FL. After I had moved to Midway to serve as rector of St. Augustine’s, I rekindled an old friendship I had made with Elizabeth Anagnostis. She was living in New Orleans at the time. We fell in love and were married in October of 2012. This past January our family was blessed with the addition of little Ruby Corinne. She’s definitely the princess in the house now, as life seems to revolve around her. Luckily, she’s got her big brother, her “Bubba”, Trey to be there for her when life gets her 10 month old self “ten month old loud.” So, that’s me in a nutshell. My history as a priest would not be the same, or may not have even happened, if it weren’t for this church. When I say that I love being here, what I really mean is that I love being BACK here. I’ve loved this congregation a long time and I hope to serve you as best as can be done. The Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, it shall be done. Peace to you all. Anthony+ Parish Christmas Party Saturday, December 13 6 pm until Come celebrate the season with dinner and fellowship! Please sign up on the sheet in the narthex! Father Anthony, his wife, Elizabeth, Trey and Ruby.

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Our Staff & Vestry The Rev, Anthony MacWhinnie, II, Priest in Charge

Vestry: Chuck Barnett - Senior Warden, Dan Ferguson- Junior Warden,

Ann Philen, Bill Ramsey, Melanie Velaski, Beth Woods, Linda Aligood, Tom Chaapel, Frank Murphy

Carol Farrel - Treasurer Viv Welch—Clerk of the Vestry

Brenda Ferguson—Church Secretary Twinette McDonald - Music Director

Sally Putters - Parish Nurse

Saint Monica's Episcopal ChurchSaint Monica's Episcopal Church

MessengerMessenger December 2014December 2014

Greetings all! It’s so good to be sitting at THIS desk, writing THIS newsletter piece! Really! My family and I are so happy to be here. What an incredible blessing to us you all have already been. I suppose I should tell a little about myself here, for those not in the know. As Juanita Farrington used to say at the start of every EFM class, “I was born in a little log cabin that I built with my own two hands.” Well, of course, that’s not true, but it is true that I love Juanita and stealing from her is a great joy. My history with the Episcopal Church goes back to my childhood. In 1977, when I was 7 or 8, my mother decided we were going to church. The church she came to love was the Episcopal Church, specifically St. John’s in War-rington. We quickly became involved in everything and I started my long, illustrious career as an acolyte. Many were the Christmas Eves that I spent, in a robe, hiding behind the wooden boat-rib column that obscured our faces from the congregation at the acolyte desks. We slept through most of Father Nat’s long winded sermons, or made faces at each other from across the wide transepts of St. John’s beautiful Nave. I made life-long friends in those pews and started to hear the call to the priesthood as early as those days. Later in my Episcopal life I was a camp counselor at Beckwith, where I met my first wife, Jane. I came to St. Monica’s, “The little church in the village,” with her and her family, the Philens, in 1989. With Jane, I have a won-derful son, Trey. Our blended family gets along amazing-ly well, which is a blessing to us all. Somewhere around 2003 I finally said “yes” to that call that I had been hearing so long in my life. I entered the process toward priesthood as an aspirant with Father Da-vid McDowell-Fleming from St. Monica’s. The vestry of St. Monica’s unanimously said yes to sending me forward

From the priest’s desk by The Reverend Anthony MacWhinnie, II

and from there I was sent through the myriad hoops that is the process. Eventu-ally, I was accepted as a postulant and went to semi-nary at the Episcopal Semi-nary of the Southwest (now called The Seminary of the Southwest, SSW) in Austin, Texas. I was ordained in 2008 to the Diaconate and in 2009 to the Priesthood. I have been honored to be the vicar of St. Thomas by the Sea, in Laguna Beach, FL, and rector of St. Augustine of Canterbury in Navarre, FL. After I had moved to Midway to serve as rector of St. Augustine’s, I rekindled an old friendship I had made with Elizabeth Anagnostis. She was living in New Orleans at the time. We fell in love and were married in October of 2012. This past January our family was blessed with the addition of little Ruby Corinne. She’s definitely the princess in the house now, as life seems to revolve around her. Luckily, she’s got her big brother, her “Bubba”, Trey to be there for her when life gets her 10 month old self “ten month old loud.” So, that’s me in a nutshell. My history as a priest would not be the same, or may not have even happened, if it weren’t for this church. When I say that I love being here, what I really mean is that I love being BACK here. I’ve loved this congregation a long time and I hope to serve you as best as can be done. The Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, it shall be done. Peace to you all. Anthony+

Parish Christmas Party

Saturday, December 13 6 pm until

Come celebrate the season with dinner and fellowship!

Please sign up on the sheet in the narthex!

Father Anthony, his wife, Elizabeth, Trey and Ruby.

Page 2 Saint Monica ’s Messenger

By all accounts, our very first Autumn Soiree was a huge success! The narthex never looked better with or-ange lights strung from the balcony and festive fall decora-tions everywhere. The weather was a bit cool, but it didn’t stop folks from coming. More than 60 people, most of them from outside the church, came and enjoyed. We were overwhelmed by the number of beautiful donations we received for the Si-lent Auction. The best news is we were able to raise over $2,000 for the playground renovations! Everyone enjoyed delicious food prepared by the men and women of St. Monica’s. Fred Woods entertained strumming his guitar and singing familiar tunes. John Ve-laski was our emcee and DJ for the evening, keeping us on schedule and tapping our toes to some great music. The planning committee thanks everyone who was in-volved in making this event a huge success. From the folks who made beautiful crafts, to those who cooked and served food, to those who put up tents and hauled tables, to those who worked behind the scenes, we could not have done it without you!

Autumn Soiree nets $2,000

General Convention Executive Council Resolutions Announced From The Coastline Newsletter, November 25

The Executive Council of General Convention of the Episcopal Church has requested that we (the diocese) pro-vide information on resolutions approved during their most recent meeting. The resolutions were passed by the Exec-utive Council at its October 2014 meeting in Linthicum Heights, Maryland, and have been tentatively certified by the Executive Officer of the General Convention. Howev-er, until Executive Council approves the minutes of the October meeting, the resolutions’ texts are subject to change. In order to make actions of Executive Council known as quickly as possible, they have requested the resolutions be shared with all in our Diocese, with special attention to (AN/LMM 003 Ongoing Work in the Repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery) and (AN/LMM 004 #BlackLivesMatter,Too). The draft EC resolutions can be found in the Executive Council section under "Documents" on the General Convention website (www.generalconvention.org/ec). The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church is an elected body representing the whole Church. In the course of the three years between General Conventions, known as the “triennium,” the Executive Council will customarily meet once in each of the nine provinces. The Executive Council has the duty to carry out programs and policies adopted by General Convention. As the time for General Convention grows near, we will continue to forward information such as this as official requests come in. You are welcome and encouraged to visit the General Convention website to stay up to date on all General Convention issues and news.

New Beginnings Retreat! A Hospitality Workshop

January 16-18 at Saint Monica’s

Ever wondered how to grow the church? Ever wondered what the Bible has to say about that?

Ever wondered how you can help? This is the place for you!

Starts Friday night with dinner, a full day on

Saturday, then concludes with Eucharist on Sunday. Everyone from St. Monica's is encouraged to attend.

This retreat is for you!

Craft Fair in the Narthex Yard Sale on the south lawn

Saturday, December 6 8 am until noon

Free Flu Shots

in the Nave

9 until 11:30 am

The Episcopal

Church Women

Page 3 Saint Monica ’s Messenger

Vaccine information By Nurse Sally

I have had several inquiries regarding shots and what shots are recommended for adults. #1. Seasonal Influenza (Flu). All people age 6 months or older should get the flu shot. If you are 65 years of age or older, talk to your doctor about a high dose flu shot. Flu shots are given anytime during the flu season, which is from September to March. (January and February are peak times.) You should NOT get a flu shot if: you had a severe re-action to the flu shot in the past or you have Guillain-Barre’ syndrome, which is when your immune systems attacks your nerves. If you have an egg allergy, talk to your Doctor about getting an inactivated flu shot. If you are sick with a fever, you should wait to get your flu shot until you are no longer sick. All health care workers with direct patient contact should get the flu shot each year. #2. Pneumococcal. The pneumococcal vaccine does not prevent pneumonia. It does prevent serious problems caused by pneumonia which can include death. For most people this vaccine is given only one time. You need the pneumococcal vaccine if you answer YES to any of the following questions: Do you have diabetes, kidney disease, heart problems, liver disease, breathing problems, alcohol-ism, a weak immune system, an HIV infection, ear im-plants, or a cerebrospinal fluid leak? Do you smoke? Are you missing your spleen? Are you over 65 years of age? You will need a second pneumococcal vaccine every five years if you: are between 19 through 64 years of age, have chronic renal failure, have a kidney disorder, do not have a spleen, or have a weak immune system. If you are between 50 and 65 years of age, talk to your doctor about the pneumococcal vaccine. #3. Zoster vaccine. Shingles is a painful skin rash. Anyone who has had chickenpox can get shingles. This virus stays in your body all of your life. The virus can be-come active again if you have a weak immune system. The Zoster vaccine is given to prevent serious problems that may last for several years after a shingles attack. Eve-ryone 60 years of age or older should get the vaccine, even if you have already had Shingles. If you are between 50 and 59 years of age, talk to your doctor about zoster vac-cine. Sacred Heart Health Systems will be here on Sat-urday, December 6 from 9:00 until 11:30 am adminis-tering free flu shots.

Pictured are Ron Philen, Connie Chamberlin, Brenda Ferguson, Dodie Matlock, Ray Farrel, Chuck Barnett, Ann Philen and Viv Welch.

Eight members of Saint Monica’s attended the annual Diocesan Small Church Conference on Saturday, November 15. This year the confer-ence was held at Saint Cyprian's in Pensacola. Phyllis D. Findley, ad-ministrator of St. An-drew’s Episcopal Church in Mobile, shared infor-mation on stewardship in small churches. Phyllis has been a member of St. Andrew’s for 28 years and reminded us that Stewardship is not just about finances. She has served on Cur-sillo staff, as a delegate to Diocesan Convention, as a deputy to General Con-vention, as president of Episcopal Church Wom-en, and as a member of the third Search Commit-tee for Diocesan Bishop. Phyllis’s honesty, enthusiasm and spiritual presence were inspiring. Dwight Babcock, the new administrator of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast, gave an overview of his plans for the diocese including a new diocesan web site which will roll out in 2015 with resources for clergy and parishes. Rounding out the day’s speakers was James Lawrence, Diocesan Youth Coordinator and Summer Camp Director at Beckwith. He presented information on working effec-tively with the youth in the diocese. St. Cyprian’s showed us great hospitality and provided a fabulous lunch. St. Monica’s has requested to host this event in 2015.

One of the beautiful stained glass windows in the nave of St. Cyprian’s, Pensacola.

Small Church Conference recap

Services 7 & 11 pm

Saint Monica ’s Messenger Page 4

Are you looking for an opportunity to use your skills to reach out to others in need, visit another culture, and bring healing and love to the less fortunate? The Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast will sponsor its annual medical mission to its companion Diocese of the Dominican Republic the first week in March. The group will conduct a family practice clinic in the parish of San Marco Iglesia and Escuela in the town of Haina. They will reach out to the surrounding community and the parish mission sites of San Bartholomew and Pie-dros Blancos. Unlike missions in the past to Guatemala, the team size is restricted by the Diocese of the Dominican Republic due to transport and accommodation limitations. The deadline for submitting your application is Sunday, November 30. The team size is relatively small; therefore it is recommended that you submit your application as soon as possible. Download application here Questions may be referred to Keith Greene, team leader, by email or phone. Home: (850) 651-4158; cell: (850) 496-7724; email: [email protected]

Medical mission to Dominican Republic in March

Iconographer Teresa Harrison will lead a contemplative icon-writing (painting) retreat at St. Christopher's Church, Pensacola, March 2-6, 2015. Icons representing Christ, Mary the Mother of God, the saints, and feast days are re-ferred to as windows to heaven. This early Christian tradi-tion gives a visual image to aid in understanding God's divine word. The workshop will take the student step by step from a blank board to the gilding of a finished icon using 23 carat gold leaf and acrylic paint. No artistic experience is re-quired to participate in this powerful spiritual journey. The requirements are faith, love, and the willingness to say “Yes” like Mary. Each day begins with the corporate celebration of the Eucharist and includes spiritual reflection, group discus-sion, and periods of silence in a contemplative atmosphere. Teresa Harrison is a life-long Episcopalian who has been writing icons for 20 years. Teresa has benefited through study with master iconographers Phillip Zimmer-man and Ksenia Pokrovsky. Beginners as well as experi-enced iconographers comment on Teresa’s patient and calm spirit as well as her contagious joy in icon writing. The Rev. Bob Graves will join Teresa as chaplain for this retreat. Class fee is $410. Class size is limited. Hours: 8:30 to 4:30 daily. Lunch will be provided. For more information and registration, contact Teresa Harrison at 619-206-8116 or [email protected], www.teresaharrison.com.

Iconography workshop at St. Christopher's in March

The four new ves-try members were announced at our an-nual meeting yester-day, and I said a little prayer for them. Give them strength, O Lord. And pa-tience. And, I pray, they'll still want to be a part of this commu-nity when their term is over. Working for the church – and being a part of the leader-ship – can be akin to seeing how the sausage is made. At the end, you may end up vegetarian. To be sure, in the 10-plus years of church work, I have had incredible experiences that have deepened and broad-ened my faith. I am blessed to be in a work environment where we talk about Jesus every day. At Forward Move-ment, we read the daily devotionals and pray together each morning. We try to consider in every decision how our work and ministry will build disciples and create evange-lists. But over the past 10 years – for the diocese and in my personal involvement with church, there have certainly been times when my work has weakened my faith, when my utter disappointment at the behavior of individuals or groups has made me question the institution. Christians aren’t supposed to behave this way, right? Right?! During my first week on diocesan staff, the archdeacon took me to the side. Remember, he said, working for the church doesn’t mean that everybody is an angel. We are still human, and we’re going to make human mistakes. People will be jealous and petty. They’ll undermine pro-jects and mislead to cover their tracks. They will seek power and make selfish decisions. They will hurt you, purposefully or not. But that’s not God’s fault. It’s human nature. I’ve tried to keep that perspective when my heart has been broken by church leaders and parishioners. Human foible shouldn’t cause a crisis of faith. And that’s at the heart of my prayer for new vestry members stepping into leadership, some for the first time. I encourage rectors and senior wardens to begin the next vestry meeting with the acknowledgement that they're stepping into an inside view of how the sausage is made. And it won't always be pretty. Sometimes the work will become personal, and sometimes fellow Christians won’t behave in a very Christ-like manner. But ultimately, our goal is to build the body of Christ, and we’ll do it together, with missteps and huge leaps for-ward, ups and downs and the inner workings, all mixed together.

Making Sausage by Richelle Thompson

Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices on Jan. 28, 2013

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Saint Monica’s Episcopal Church

699 South Highway 95-A

Cantonment, Florida 32533

Phone: 850-937-0001

E-mail: [email protected]

The peace of the Lord be always with you.

Birthdays in December… 8. Bill Holland; 9, Waymon Fulgham; 12, Susan Early, Kelly Woods; 15, Joseph Johnson; 22, Ernest John-son; 23, Dodie Matlock; 27, Paul Palmer

We’re on the web at Www.st-monicas.org

Roy Aligood Avery Beadle Helen Beadle Herman Boudreaux Rosalynda Blackburn Max & Marie Cartwright Destiny Coy Michelle Daniel Tracy & Ashton Ferguson Amy Franklin Debi & Cliff Frogatt Mike Godwin Lindsay Harrison Nancy Holland

Jane Hunter Lascenica Knapp Savanah & Maverick Knapp Erik Koonce The Lewis Family Don Lemerick Charlie Martinson Shawna Martinson Steven Martinson Bob Matlock Aurelia Medina Billy Morreau Bill Nix Katherine Pate

Kay Putters Leroy Robbins Tiny Robinson Barbara Roper Garland Scott Melton Scott Bob Tebbs Brandon Warwick Frank & Polly Welch Brennis Whaley Todd Wilson Marcella Young

Brian Condon Daryl Coy Mark Feely Aaron Gaff Benjamin Gaff Tim Hartford Johnny Hurd James Klinginsmith William Knapp Andrew Kuntz Nicholas Matroni Jeremy Wright

December Prayer Requests Military Prayer List

Anniversaries in December… 16, Bob & Dodie Matlock If your birthday or anniversary is not listed or not listed correctly, please let Viv Welch know.

Annual Meeting Sunday, December 14 Following the service.