St. Timothy’s Episcopal ChurchPO Box 7416 • Salem, OR 97303

503-363-0601 • mail@sainttimothys.org • www.sainttimothys.org

Tidings

April 2013

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

There are few phrases more honest and pointed in the Gospels than the angel’s question to the Holy Women in Luke 24. Why do we so often do just this…seek life in the midst of death?

The answer is, in part, because that is what we are taught to do in this world. We look for zest, energy, strength, and purpose in things that cannot provide it. Like the women at the tomb, we are conditioned to seek for answers in ways that as-sume death to be the final word.

But Scripture points us in a different direction: “He is God not of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:32). Our God is not content to allow us to linger in the half-life of this world. We were created for Life in its fullness, and in the Risen Christ, access to this life has been made available to us.

The Great 50 Days of Easter form the longest true season of the Church Year. This fact has intense meaning. Easter is the supreme joy of the Christian Church. We savor it, taking time to ponder the ways Resurrection permeates our exis-tence now.

During Eastertide no fasting is allowed. This is more than a way of celebrating a party. It is a proclamation that for a season each year we taste of a world where concessions to death are not made, where Life is unclouded by even the memory of sin.

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The emptiness of the Tomb at Easter is a challenge to all the tombs to which we seek to return through the year: tombs of self-pity, self-justification, selfishness, or self-destruction. Why do you seek the living among the dead? It is the question that each Eastertide unflinchingly asks. What is our answer? Perhaps this will be the year when we don’t go back to our own tombs after Pentecost, but go to meet Christ where he has promised always to be…hearts consecrated to Him “in spirit and truth,” totally dependent on His power and love.

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!

New Vestments:

St. Timothy’s has been the beneficiary of many gifts to the parish Memorial Fund over the years. This fund is used foritems of a long-lasting character directly connected to our worship of God in the Liturgy. The fund is very carefully stewarded so as to make the best use of its resources. This year, monies from this fund have been allocated for the creation of new vestments for Lent and a new altarfrontal for Holy Week.

The Lenten set of vestments we have been using for some years has been com-ing to pieces. That set was made sometime in the 1950’s or 60’s and has seen much use. It also lacked an altar frontal, which is a traditional part of vestment sets. Indeed, the altar is by custom to be covered for all worship services with the sole exception of the stripping at Maundy Thursday and the liturgies on Good Friday and Holy Saturday (until the Easter Vigil).

The new Lenten set, made by Pamela Filbert, is made largely from silk dupioni (the same fabric type as the Advent set), with red velvet orphreys and a deep red

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satin lining. The set consists of a super-frontal for the altar (a shortened version of the frontal, or altar-covering), the celebrant’s chasuble, stole, and maniple, a second stole for an assisting deacon or priest, and the burse and veil used to vest the chalice and paten. In addition, a bishop’s mitre was made, because St. Timothy’s has long hosted our bishop for Ash Wednesday.

Because our Holy Week vestment set did not have one, a coordinating frontal was also made for use this year. It combines the deep red of Holy Week with a rich black pattern, expressing a quiet solemnity for this, the most holy week in our faith. It will be used each year for Palm Sunday through the Maundy Thursday Eucharist. Its removal makes very evident the purpose of the “Stripping of the Altar” on that day: to recall Christ’s vesture being stripped of his body, exposing him to the shame and insults of a world who rejected him…a world he embraced and loved, in the words of St. John, “to the end.”

The Lenten set is offered to God in loving memory of Jean Feathers. The Holy Week altar frontal is given to the Glory of God in thanksgiving for His Son’s complete identification with us. —BLF+

The Pascha Nostrum(I Corinthians 5:7-8, Romans 6:9-11, I Corinthians 15:20-22)

Alleluia.

Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us, therefore let us keep the feast,

Not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Alleluia.

Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Alleluia.

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Christ is risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. Alleluia.

In this canticle, taken from Paul’s letters to the churches at Rome and Corinth, we sing the mystery of our faith. Nowhere is the essence, the power, and the mag-nitude of our faith stated more forcefully than in these words. Here we acknowl-edge the victory of Christ—his ultimate triumph over sin, evil, and death. Here we proclaim the Good News for all people everywhere and at all times: in Christ, ALL shall be made alive. Jesus’s death and resurrection secures salvation not for the good, the lucky, the smart, the theologically astute, the politically correct, or the especially enlightened. No, Paul tells us that in order to be raised, God requires only that we be dead—a requirement even the least of us can fulfill. Just as all die, thanks to Adam, even so shall all be made alive, thanks to God in Christ.

This is a lot better news than the limited and limiting religion we see and hear in the media every day. “Subscribe to my plan, and you shall be saved!” “Hate these groups and God will favor our nation!” “Impress God and he will bless you!” In-deed, religion itself is a failure. We cannot cajole God into loving us. We cannot manipulate his grace. For this reason, Christianity is the opposite of religion. Reli-gion proclaims that we must find God, improving ourselves before He will love us, reciting the magic formula before the door of salvation will open; the Easter faith proclaims that God has come to us, reconciling us while we were yet sinners. God has put an end to religion once and for all in Christ. The strife is o’er, the battle is won, and we had nothing to do with it. Like the Prodigal Son, while we were yet far off, the Father runs to us and embraces us. Now that’s good news!

Join us as we praise and worship our Creator and Redeemer for all that He has done for us. —Jeffrey A. Swartwout

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Holy Week ScheduleMarch 24 - 31

Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday: Blessing of Palms & Holy Eucharist, 8 AM Choir Rehearsal and Church School, 9 AM Palm Procession & Holy Eucharist, 10 AM

Monday in Holy Week: Evening Prayer, 7 PM Tuesday in Holy Week: Holy Eucharist, 10 AM Evening Prayer, 7 PM Choir Rehearsal, 7 PM

Wednesday in Holy Week: Tenebrae, 7 PM

Maundy Thursday: Choir Rehearsal, 6 PM Maundy Thursday Liturgy, 7 PM

Good Friday: Stations of the Cross, noon Choir Rehearsal, 6 PM Good Friday Liturgy, 7 PM

Easter Eve: Tomb Liturgy, 10 AM Altar Guild Work Party, 10:30 AM Choir Rehearsal, 7:30 PM Great Vigil of Easter, 9 PM, Agape Feast following

Easter Day: Holy Eucharist, 10 AM

Monday in 1Easter Week

Tuesday in 2Easter Week

Wednesday 3in Easter Week

Thursday in 4Easter Week

Friday in 5Easter Week

Saturday in 6Easter Week

Easter II 7 The Annun- 8ciation

Dietrich 9Bonhoeffer

William 10Law

George 11Augustus Selwyn

12 13

Easter III 14 15 16 17 18 Alphege 19 20

Easter IV 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Easter V 28 Catherine 29of Siena

30

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HELent Out - reach

10 am HE

Catech 7 pm

10 am HE

Catech. 7 pm

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HE

10 am HE

Catech 7 pm

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HE

10 am HE

8 am HE 9 am CS 10 am HE Choir

10 am HE

4 Will Wood

7 William Twist

10 Angelina McGee

11 Elizabeth Purdy Elizabeth Mills

12 Kim Garner

13 David Tatman

April Birthdays14 Larry Hutchinson

15 Rebecca Alberigi

16 Olivia Padrick

18 Skip Padrick

21 Jeff Swartwout

23 Holden Gaupo

26 Dave Teigland Martina Sierra

27 Ryan Henderson

28 Marsha Witt 29 Melanie Hancock

30 Jean Louthan

Catech 7 pm

Diocesan Meeting 2 pm

Diocesan Meeting 1 pm

Diocesan Meeting 12 pm

Missions 7

Newcomers 7

Guild of Sts Anna & Simeon 4:30

Women’s Bible Study 10

Women’s Bible Study 10

Women’s Bible Study 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Crafts 10

Court Child Care 9:30

Court Child Care 9:30

Court Child Care 9:30

Endowment Comm Coffee Hour

Women’s Bible Study 10

Tidings Deadline

Calendar Notes for April

Saturday, April 6: Women’s Bible Study begins a new unit, 10 AM at Broadway Commons, Room 201

Sunday, April 7: Ingathering of Lent Outreach Project

Thursday, April 11: Missions Commission Meeting, 7 PM

Monday, April 15: Deadline for May Tidings

Tuesday, April 16: Diocesan Meeting, 2 PM

Wednesday, April 17: Diocesan Meeting, 1 PM

Sunday, April 21: Endowment Board Coffee Hour

Tuesday, April 23: Diocesan Meeting, 12 PM

Newcomers Commission, 7 PM

Thursday, April 25: Guild of Sts. Anna & Simeon, 4:30 PM

Sunday, April 28: Choir Rehearsal

Coming Up in May:

May 9: Ascension Day

May 12: Bishop’s Visitation and Confirmation

May 19: Pentecost

May 26: Trinity Sunday

A word from Building and GroundsAs one would expect, things pick up this time of year for the B and G Commission. Our dedicated and trained team of mowing volunteers is back on schedule. John Hanson and Milt Hansen continue to track the “big picture” and maintain the grounds on a weekly basis. My guess is that their com-bined experience and dedication to St. Tim’s is well over a hundred years. Wow! Mike Graeper is an avid garden and rose flower enthusiast. He has invested his interest, time, and talent in St. Tim’s and the rose garden that surrounds the memorial garden on three sides. Stay tuned for changes and additions from Mike. If you have a garden related interest or talent and want to invest some time, please talk to or email Chuck McFerron (jcmcferron@gmail.com) who is head of the B and G Com-mission.We continue to develop and improve different areas of our property and are always inter-ested in your ideas and input. There is a master plan for the grounds; however, it contin-ues to evolve and is a “work in progress” in several respects. Please contact Chuck or Shep Earl (shepearl@juno.com) with ideas or suggestions.

Thank you and God bless you, Shep Earl on behalf of the B and G Commission

Most glorious Lord of lyfe, that on this day,Didst make thy triumph over death and sin:And having harrow’d hell, didst bring awayCaptivity thence captive, us to win:This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin,And grant that we for whom thou diddest die,Being with thy dear blood clean wash’d from sin,May live for ever in felicity.And that thy love we weighing worthily,May likewise love thee for the same again:And for thy sake, that all lyke dear didst buy,With love may one another entertain.So let us love, dear love, lyke as we ought,Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught. Edmund Spenser

Coming Up in Adult Study: On a Rule of Life: What is it? How does it work? Is it for every Christian or just the clergy?

The purpose of the Rule of Life is to strengthen our abiding in Christ by bringing rhythm, discipline, and order to our discipleship. The Rule helps us offer the whole of ourselves to God each day, and keeps us open to God’s love and will for us. ―David Vryhof, Society of St. John the Evangelist

During the first part of Eastertide, Joan Williamson will continue her unit on Dante. After it is concluded, Fr Brandon will introduce the Rule of Life to us. Based in the context of this year’s theme of Life in the Spirit and topics such as discernment, spiritual direction, and “growth in the knowledge and love of God,” Fr. Brandon will instruct us in this practical tool, the Rule of Life. With St. Tim’s new computer projector, he will compare the Rule with such images/metaphors as tool, trellis, bridge, comb, and cosmic symphony. Make sure to mark your calendar to participate during the Easter season!

Following this, a panel of members from our parish will share their experience of making use of different Rules of Life to structure and guide their spiritual life. This will offer us opportunity to question and learn from our friends at St. Tim’s in exploring what it might mean to adopt and implement a Rule of Life for ourselves.

Plans for Pentecost Sunday are in process. Stay tuned to the e-Tidings and future announcements. —Carole Ann Crateau

Rule of Life

St. Timothy’s Women’s Bible Study

“You Foolish Galatians! Who Has Bewitched You?”Paul asks. “Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard?

Join us as we study and learn more about Paul and his bitter struggle with opponents in Galatia, preaching the old religious ways that squander freedom in Christ.

April 6 to May 18 Saturday at 10:00 a.m.Broadway Commons

Room 201 (with the window)After a study of I Corinthians, January to February, we took a break to focus on Lent and Holy Week. Now we move into Eastertide, April 6, and spend the next 8 weeks in Galatians, concluding our study through May 18, leading us into Pentecost on Sunday, May 19.During Lent we lost our friend, Marlene, quite suddenly. We will take a brief time on our first meeting to share thoughts and honor her memory. On our first meeting, April 6, bring your Bible (any good version) and read Galatians 1. Looking forward to seeing you all. Invite a friend! —Carole Ann Crateau

Seminarian March Parish UpdateEaster Blessings from Virginia,Thank you so much for the cards and support that you have sent to me. The most recent card from the parish to come here had me laughing many times and encouraged me greatly. I’m just now finishing up the third quarter here. I cannot believe that I’m almost a third of the way through Seminary already. The coming months look to be exciting. This summer will be busy for me as I will enter a two month CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) program at a retirement home that lasts until August. I also have now lined up my field education site for next year at a church next door to the National Cathedral. This is quite a large parish that will stretch me to grow quite a bit.Spiritually, God has been challenging me to integrate His presence and steady calling more fully into my life. Seminary’s steady pace has not felt overwhelming, and I have had time for regular prayerful reflection and time for fun. I’ve started an Irish hurling team here on campus that looks to be a force strong enough to continue for the next couple years anyways. This is exciting! St. Timothy’s continues to be in my prayers, and I hope you have a blessed and vibrant Easter Season.

Slan agus Beannacht (Safety and Blessings), Zachary Harmon

Vestry Notes

Your Vestry recently met together for the better part of a Saturday recently to pray and work together. Our time was spent looking at the Parish Mission State-ment in consideration of the future of our community and what God might have in store for us. Over this next year as a Parish, we will prayerfully develop and come up with a vision statement.

The Vestry also spent some time going through the large list of suggestions from the annual meeting as to what to do with the endowment money that has been dispersed to the Parish this year from the endowment fund. This will be an on-going sorting and decision making process. It was great to have an extended conversation together; we don’t often get that type of discussion at our monthly meetings, which generally only last two hours or so.

One of the fun things we were able to do is reflect as to where we are as a com-munity today in light of what was going on five and ten years ago. What we see in the Parish today is very positive. There has been a little bit of growth lately and our financial picture, thanks to many wonderful and generous souls, remains stable and balanced.

Fr. Brandon and Pamela have been with us five years now; we are blessed to have them. I believe that as a result of their ministry, we have seen more open and complete communication, wider Parish participation, and greater peace and stability within the community at large. I also know that many agree with me that we are spoiled by Fr. Brandon’s thoughtful, articulate, and humorous preaching.

We are grateful for God’s blessings and looking to discern His leading and vision for what is to come.

Prayerfully and thankfully yours, —Shep Earl on behalf of the Vestry

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St. Timothy’s Episcopal ChurchPO Box 7416Salem, OR 97303

503-363-0601www.sainttimothys.org