The Rt. Rev. Philip M. Duncan, II, Bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast The Rev. R. Barry Crow, Rector, St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church

The Rev. David S. Luckett, Priest Associate, St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church

The Sea NetThe Sea Net

February—March 2012 ~ Volume 12 Issue 1

Serving Christ in Everyone. Everywhere. Every day.

The Episcopal Church welcomes you.

From the Rector

First of all, allow me to express my sincere thanks to each of you for your prayers, notes, and cards during my mother’s illness. Thanks, also, for the contributions made to the Monday Lunch Ministry in memory of mother. My dad, Ann,

and I are grateful for all the kindness, thoughtfulness, and generosity which you showed toward us and for Mother at this time. Losing a parent is difficult, but God’s grace is sufficient to meet our needs. St. Paul, in Romans 8, reminds us that nothing will separate us from the love of Christ – not even death. These are comforting words and words in which we find strength.

Secondly, thanks to each and every one of you for making Saturday, February 11, 2012, a spectacular and memorable day. My ordination to the priesthood was a glorious event and I am so thankful to each of you for your hard work. I am also thankful to each of you for sharing the day with us. Ann and I enjoyed the day as well as the time before the ordina-tion because of your planning, hard work, and attention to every detail. Thanks to every one – the Motley Crew for their work in and around the church, the Flower Guild for the lovely flowers, Lois and the choir for their lovely offerings of beautiful music (Mozart in Latin!), Lois again for serving as a very fine litanist, the Altar Guild for their polishing the silver and setting the altar for an additional service, Kate for her tireless efforts in preparing the ordination service booklet, the ushers, the lectors, the altar party and servers, those who coordinated the food and the kitchen work (the food was superb!), the procurers of the wine and champagne, the bartenders, Stu and his parking crew, and those on the hospitality detail (welcoming our visitors and visiting clergy). Your efforts are much appreciated, but even more, I desire your continued prayers as we continue our ministry together.

On another note, it is wonderful to see so many people attending church each Sunday. For the past few weeks, Sunday attendance has been over 120 and as high as 146. It is wonderful to have our seasonal visitors with us, participating in all aspects of our parish’s life! We are delighted that you join with us in ministry while you are here with us. In the meantime, we still need to invite our friends, neighbors, and acquaintances to join us for worship at St. Andrew’s.

Lastly, it is mid-February and we see much green, gold, and purple. It must be Mardi Gras! We will mark our celebration of Mardi Gras on

St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church ~ 307 Harbor Blvd. (US 98 E.) Destin, FL 32541-2383

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1658 Destin, FL 32540-1658 ~ (850) 650-2737 ~ Fax: (850) 650-2790

Rector’s Email: rbarrycrow@gmail.com ~ Parish Office Email: admin@standrewsbtsepiscopal.org Website: www.standrewsbtsepiscopal.org

SPOTLIGHT

Our Lenten series for 2012 will begin on

Wednesday, February 29, at 12:00 Noon in the church.

+ + ++ + ++ + ++ + +

St. Andrew's will offer a half-hour

of meditative music interspersed with silence…

a quiet place to step out of daily activities

and concerns… a time apart to enter into Lenten contemplation.

+ + ++ + ++ + ++ + +

At 12:30 pm our traditional Lenten soup and bread meal

will be served in the parish hall.

+ + ++ + ++ + ++ + +

These Lenten Wednesdays continue on

March 7, 14, 21, and 28.

Volume 12 Issue 1 Page 2 February–March 2012

Usual Weekly Schedule

Sundays Adult Sunday School .......................... 9:00 am Holy Eucharist ................................. 10:30 am Fellowship Time ................................ 11:45 am

Monday through Thursday Morning Prayer .................................... 8:30 am

Thursdays

Motley Crew ......................................... 9:00 am (bring a bag lunch)

Regularly-Scheduled

Meetings & Events

Worship Committee Meeting

(usually the second Sunday, but the third Sunday in February)

February 19 .................................... 12:00 pm March 11 ........................................ 12:00 pm

Potluck Dinner (usually not during Lent, but we have a special “Snowbird Farewell” potluck in

March:) March 7............................................. 5:30 pm

Parish Breakfast (usually the second Saturday –

our next breakfast:) March 10 ...........................................8:00 am

Vestry Meeting (usually the third Saturday)

March 17 ...........................................9:00 am

The Sea Net is generally published monthly (except for January and a combined summer issue) and

welcomes and encourages submissions from St. Andrew’s one and all…

prayers, poems, artwork, photos, quota-tions, little stories, longer stories, medi-tations, book reviews, ideas for articles.

The deadline for submitting material for The Sea Net is the 15th of each month.

From the Rector ...continued from page 1

Tuesday, February 21 (Fat Tuesday) with fine food and with a good party, including a wonderful band. The next day, Ash Wednesday, the season of Lent begins. This season of forty days prior to Easter (excluding Sundays) is a time of self-examination and repentance as we journey to the cross with our Lord and Savior. It is also during this season that we are reminded of our mortality. The church bids us to observe a holy Lent. Please join us on Ash Wednesday at noon or at 6:00 pm for the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday.

God’s Peace!

Barry+

Events to Note in February & March

♦ Sunday, February 19 – Worship Committee meeting at Noon

♦ Tuesday, February 21 – Shrove Tuesday/ Mardi Gras Pancake

Supper with live music: begins in the old church at 5:30 pm

♦ Wednesday, February 22 – Ash Wednesday Liturgy: noon

(no music) and 6:00 pm (with music)

♦ Sunday, February 26 – The First Sunday in Lent: also

Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday and our first

“Noisy Change” Sunday (see page 6 for more on “Noisy

Change”)

♦ Wednesday, February 29 – first of five Lenten Soup lunches

with Lenten program: begins at Noon in the church with a

half-hour of meditative music, then lunch in the parish hall

at 12:30 pm (also March 7, 14, 21, & 28)

♦ Wednesday, March 7 – Snowbird farewell potluck supper

beginning as usual at 5:30 pm

♦ Saturday, March 10 – Parish breakfast (coffee at 8:00 am;

blessing at 8:30 am) followed at 9:15 am by Lectors’

Training

♦ Sunday, March 11 – Worship Committee meeting at Noon

February–March 2012 Page 3 Volume 12 Issue 1

God and Chocolate Easter Bunnies

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." (1 Cor. 13:11)

The church season of Lent is upon us. Ash Wednesday is the 22nd of February. As children, my brother and two sisters and I would always give up chocolate for Lent. One of the joys of Easter morn-ing was to come down stairs for breakfast and on the dining room table were four Easter baskets, one for each of us, complete with shredded green grass, jelly beans and the crowning glory, a chocolate East-er bunny. We were allowed to take one bite of the long-denied chocolate before we left for Easter Sunday services.

I continued this childhood habit of giving up choc-olate into my adulthood until a few years ago. That's when a priest in his Sunday sermon prior to the be-ginning of Lent, gave the congregation some food for thought.

Why not do something positive during Lent, rather than just an act of denial? I pass this question on to you.

Go ahead and give up your chocolate or your potato chips or your cocktails or whatever things you particularly enjoy, but think about doing some-thingpositive, something that will enhance your spiritual growth during this Lenten season.

If you don't attend church every Sunday, maybe that would be a good place to start. There is adult Sunday school every Sunday at nine o'clock. An Inquirer's class is starting: what don't you know about the Episcopal Church? There are the Lenten soup lunches each Wednesday, preceded by Lenten music "quiet time" at noon, a respite from the busi-ness of your work-a-day world. Morning prayer is every day at 8:30 am, Monday through Thursday.

We have the ERD Lenten devotional booklets avail-able for your use as well as the Forward Day By Day booklets. Do you pray before meals? Do you pray daily with your children/grandchildren? Do you pray together at bedtime? How about choosing one of the Gospels and reading and meditating

Senior Warden’s Corner Kathy McGee

daily? Or, check out our church library. There are many books available for you to study and explore.

To paraphrase one of the February Forward Day By Day meditations, it is only as we seek the Lord and grow in that knowledge that we come to recognize how little we know of the mystery of God. Let us move on from chocolate Easter bunnies of our childhood and grow into adulthood in the knowledge and love of our Lord.

I bid you peace –

Kathy McGee

Junior Warden’s Notebook submitted by Tom Hanlin

Junior Warden’s Report for February 2012

1. Sanctuary: Tim Miller and Jerry McGee mount-ed brackets to reinstall tapestries in the altar wings. Jerry mounted a brass plaque beside the right hymn board commemorating the gift of stations of the cross. Horace Marlow and Bob Hurrle replaced the altar downlights with brighter, daylight bulbs which create more light and better illuminate the cross.

2. Parish Hall Gutter/Downspout: Last month I reported that Lance Jorgensen and Dick Cunneen had installed a gutter and downspout at the kitchen door and parish hall area and that the motleys had dug a french drain to handle runoff to minimize moisture at the building foundation. This month Lance, Dick, Horace, Jerry, Walt Chidsey and Mike Coombes dug two additional french drains and installed downspout connectors and drain pipe for the center and rear gutter downspouts, so that no parish hall drainage will be discharged at surface lev-el. Mike and Lance completed the drainfield project by leveling off the parish hall western grounds, which now have their best appearance ever. This project required four Motley workdays, had needed to be done for years, and is now behind us.

3. Groundskeeping: Mike and Lance removed a sad oleander at the bike shop corner and sprayed weed killer in the gardens; Bill James, Jerry and Tom

continued on page 4...

Volume 12 Issue 1 Page 4 February–March 2012

Junior Warden’s Notebook ...continued form page 3

Hanlin began spring pruning at the old church front door. Bill, Walt and Mike turned on the east and west sprinkler stations and leak-tested the water supply pipes as a precursor to adjusting the sprinkler heads for the coming season. The dumpster was loaded two and a half times with trimming debris from the palms and pyracantha between the church and dentist's office.

4. Motley Crew: We have four snowbirds, Horace Marlow, Bob Hurrle, Dick Cunneen and Mike Coombes, who make a wonderful contribution to both the Motley Crew and congregation by their active involvement and skills. Kathy and Jerry McGee will sponsor their annual Motley Crew recognition luncheon on March 1, a date chosen so that our seasonal members may attend. Dick Westberry has informed us that he is no longer able to participate on a scheduled basis, which we greatly regret. Dick will continue to perform shower crew duty on an intermittent basis, and will continue to maintain our air handler filters and records. We now have seven permanent members – Bill, Walt, Lance, John, Tom, Jerry, Tim, and four seasonal members (Bob, Mike, Dick, and Horace.) Dick, Tom, Lance and Mike set up the church and parking lot for Fr. Crow's ordination service. Weekly duties: Trash to dumpster, service shower, clean gutters as required.

5. Disaster preparedness tasking: Several months ago we received a diocesan request to appoint a parish disaster preparedness contact, and the vestry voted me to the position. I had a poor understanding of the duties because the diocese didn't elaborate. In the meanwhile, there have been two important developments: ♦ First, Nancy Skinner stepped forward with an

offer of an impressive cache of Marshall's tools. I knew some of them would be useful in our internal and outreach programs, but surmised many would be excess that we could sell for bike shop funding.

♦ Second, the just-concluded diocesan convention offered workshops, one of which was about disaster preparedness. Had I not been a conven-tion delegate, I would not have had the oppor-tunity to attend, which was a bit of good fortune.

On the one hand, I found the workshop experi-ence disheartening that the national church already has established thorough plans to help parishes of all sizes, which no attending parish had been made aware of; but heartening to learn of the existence of such plans, so that we can adapt one to our needs rather than building our own from scratch. On balance, it was a tremen-dously valuable workshop; for the first time I realized we have more potentially community-focused parish activities in a disaster than I had imagined, and that the gift of Marshall's tools may be considerably more valuable and less redundant than I had foreseen. I was brought up short by the realization that these disparate things had come together so abruptly, but in a flash it came to me that it was probably no coin-cidence at all. It's an impressive, succinct exam-ple of directed steps. I know it has my attention. I do not yet have a plan to propose, but would like you to know that the project is cooking.

Future list: 1. Bell tower trim replacement 2. Fill parish hall floor divots 3. Wheeled bookcase for Monday lunch guests 4. Re-grout narthex tiles 5. Annual inspection of ed building roof 6. Touch up parish hall paint above wall cabinets 7. Caulk copper gutter seams 8. Prune & fertilize roses (last week of April)

Respectfully submitted, Tom Hanlin

St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea

Vision Statement

In Christ’s name,

St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea,

Destin’s oldest church,

is a dynamic Episcopal congregation,

sustained by sacramental worship.

We intentionally welcome and respect

the dignity of all

and serve those in need

both within and beyond our walls.

February–March 2012 Page 5 Volume 12 Issue 1

A few photos from the February 11, 2012, Ordination to the Priesthood of The Rev. Robert Barry Crow – our new Rector!

If you have photos, please email them to admin@standrewsbtsepiscopal.org – we’ll display them in the parish hall.

Thanks to Art Driggers for these pictures.

Volume 12 Issue 1 Page 6 February–March 2012

Social Justice / Outreach

Noisy Change Sundays

On February 26 we will start a new tradition at St. Andrew’s – NOISY CHANGE SUNDAY! On the last Sunday of every month, in addition to the tradi-tional offering plate, the children will pass tin buck-ets up and down the pews to collect loose change for Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD).

ERD is the arm of the Episcopal Church that provides disaster relief in the US and around the world. One of their programs is very similar to Heifer International wherein they provide goats, chickens and livestock to families who then pass the gift on to their neighbors by providing the newborn animals and chicks to other families.

Although St. Andrew’s was a recipient of two ERD grants in 2010 as a result of the BP oil spill, we have not had a giving plan for our congregation. That all changes on February 26. Bring all of your loose change that’s lying on your dresser or rattling around at the bottom of your purse and make a joyful noise as we fill the buckets. The noisier the better!

Jennifer Lee

UTO: Did You Know?

This past year, the people of St. Andrew's donated a total of $490.04 for the United Thank Offering. The total amount collected from our Diocese was $18,942.03. As UTO coordinator for our church, I am proud to note that we were one of the 21 churches in this Diocese to contribute to UTO.

Each year, churches in the Diocese can submit grant requests. Requests are reviewed by a Diocesan committee. Only one request can be selected to be forwarded to the national level for consideration for the 2012 grant process.

This year, Jennifer Lee submitted a grant request to the Diocese for $14,500. The request is directly related to upgrading our kitchen facilities in support of our Monday hot lunch program. There were six grant requests for consideration. St. Andrew's grant request was selected as the one to be sent forward for national consideration.

At Diocesan Convention in February, I had an opportunity to chat with Jane Briscione, Diocesan UTO Coordinator. She had nothing but good things to say about our grant request. She said it was extremely well written, every detail clarified. The clincher in the decision process was that our Motley Crew members were going to do some of the remodeling work as a money saving endeavor.

The next time you see Jennifer Lee, please thank her for her work in placing St. Andrew's in the running to hopefully receive a UTO grant.

Grant recipients should be notified in May.

Kathy McGee Parish UTO Coordinator

continued on page 6...

Social Justice Ministry Summary

for January 2012

Outreach Program

Total for Jan.

Previous Month (12/11)

YTD (through 01/12)

Total Last Year (2011)

Monday lunches: # served

123 89 123 1373

Lunch Bags: # recipients

177 170 177 1887

Food Pantry: # bags / # people

126-166 109-121 126-166 1408-1415

Gas Cards: # families helped / $$ [petty cash]

1 / $10

1 / $30

1 / $10

202 / $22100 [5 / $100]

Bicycles: # bikes given out

7 12 7 187

Showers: # towels used

167 73 167 1808

*Other Assistance: # people helped

31 3 31 253

* Other Assistance may include: toiletries, clothing, shoes, backpacks, blankets, sleeping bags, prescription medications; assistance with Florida Food Stamp & Medicaid applications; assistance with obtaining birth certificates; rarely, small amounts of cash (from Petty Cash) if we have no gas cards and someone has an urgent medical transportation need; even more rarely, financial assistance for bus tickets “home”...utilities...rent... car repairs.

continued on page 7...

February–March 2012 Page 7 Volume 12 Issue 1

Social Justice / Outreach ...continued from page 6

Outreach Program Highlight

St. Andrew’s Outreach Programs are under the overall direction of Jennifer Lee, Social Justice Committee Chair, who authorizes all expenditures from the Outreach Budget. In each newsletter, we are continuing to highlight one of our outreach programs, presenting them in the order in which each began at St. Andrew’s.

Shower Program Guidelines

The shower program is a volunteer ministry begun by Duane St. John in August 2006. Duane recruited and trained volunteers and created workable schedules for this ministry. Originally the shower was an enclosed outside shower, but in 2010 – with grant money from Opportunity, Inc. (obtained through Jennifer Lee’s grant proposal) and with hours and skills of the Motley Crew – our current indoor shower was completed.

The shower is open from 8:30 am to 3:30 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. This is a ministry that is appreciated as much as our food ministries, especially by folks who are working but have no access to a shower.

Shower crew chief (Greg McKeown) and crew members (Walt Chidsey, Anne Harmuth, and Dick Westberry) and the Motley Crew are responsible for keeping the shower stocked and for policing the shower and grounds. If there is evidence in the shower area of alcohol consumption, loitering, vagrancy, or any other activity that might create a public nuisance or danger, the shower is closed. Shower volunteers and Motlies who find such evidence notify Jennifer Lee, who determines the number of days the shower will be closed. The Parish Administrator then places “Shower Closed until [date]” signs on the shower door and on the office and parish hall doors.

How can you support this ministry? ♦ donate new or used bath towels and wash cloths (we don’t need hand towels) ♦ donate multi-packs of disposable razors ♦ contribute money to SABTS Outreach Fund, putting “shower” in the memo line of your check ♦ volunteer for the shower crew!

I f your birthday or anniversary is not included – or if it’s incorrect – please be sure to let us know. .

Birthdays

February 1 ........................................Becky Chidsey February 2 .......................................... Jack Thomas

March 1 .................................. Rosemary McCown March 15 .............................................. Chet Tanski March 27 ............................................. Riock Boyer March 30 ............................................... Jim Cooper

Anniversaries

March 3 ........................ Don & Donna Drouillard

February and March

Birthdays & Anniversaries

St. Andrew’s on the Road

T here’s been lots of traveling since we last published a list of those who’ve brought church bulletins or newsletters back from where they’ve worshipped while away. Please continue to share these items: be sure to put your name on them, then bring them by the parish office, put them in the offering plate, or mail them in.

Thanks to the following persons: • Fred & Carol Fenn – Christmas Eve bulletin from the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comfort-er, Charlotte, North Carolina

• Chiara Guyton – Christmas Eve bulletin from St. Paul’s Episcopal, Selma, Alabama

• Catherine Kneeland – bulletins for the Fourth Sunday of Advent from Grace Presbyterian, Pla-no, Texas, and for Christmas Eve from the Epis-copal Church of the Annunciation, Lewisville, Texas

• Tom Thiemann – Christmas Day bulletin from St. Luke’s Episcopal, Live Oak, Florida

Happy traveling!

St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church P.O. Box 1658 Destin FL 32540-1658 (850) 650-2737 www.standrewsbtsepiscopal.org

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Vision Statement

In Christ’s name, St. Andrew’s By-the-Sea, Destin’s oldest church,

is a dynamic Episcopal congregation, sustained by sacramental worship.

We intentionally welcome and respect the dignity of all,

and serve those in need both within and beyond our walls.