Mustard Seed

FEBRUARY 2012

Vol. 27, No 2

Holy Eucharist:

Rite 1: 8:00 AM

Rite II: 10:00 AM

Printed copies of The Mustard Seed are available in the Narthex. If you have access to email, send us your address and you will receive your copy on the web. If you have no email and can’t get to the Church, you may have a friend or relative who can receive it or pick up a copy and pass it

on to you.

Schedule of Services:

Holy Eucharist, 8:00 AM and 10:00 AM

FEBRUARY 5:

The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

FEBRUARY 12:

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

FEBRUARY 19:

The Last Sunday after the Epiphany

FEBRUARY 23:

Ash Wednesday

Holy Eucharist & Imposition of Ashes

12:10 and 7:30

FEBRUARY 26:

The First Sunday in Lent

Sunday School & Child Care, 10:00 AM

Coffee Hour: Guild Hall, 11:15 AM

Morning Prayer will be conducted in the chancel on specific feast days, as indicated in the daily Calendar.

The following outside groups use Church facilities on a regular basis:

A.A., Thursdays at 7:00 PM – Swan Hall

Survey, Profile and Rector Search Update

In August, we began the process of searching for the next Rector of St. Luke's by forming a Parish Profile Committee. This committee was created to develop a written profile to document the past, present and future of the parish. The first step towards writing this profile was a parish-wide questionnaire to survey the parishioners' thoughts and feelings and enable the profile to speak for the parish. In September, the Profile Committee hosted two focus group sessions to gain feedback from the parish to help fine-tune our draft survey, adapted from a survey produced by Arcadia Transfiguration.

The survey was administered on Sunday, October 2, and responses were collected through December 7. Once all of the data from the survey have been compiled and analyzed, we will begin the task of writing the Parish Profile. By communicating the history, culture, and direction of St. Luke's, the profile will serve as a tool for the diocese and for clergy candidates in discerning whether particular candidates will be a good fit for the parish. We hope to have the Profile completed in early 2012 so we can proceed to the next step in the search process.

As far as where we are in the process, I have entered about half of the survey responses into a spreadsheet I created to run the analysis. Once I have a chance (I'm fitting all of this in amongst work, school, and time with my husband and kiddos) to enter in the rest of the responses and double check for accuracy, I'll be able to start running an analysis and compiling the results. I honestly don't expect to be able to run the analysis until I am done with school in mid-March. In the meantime, though, we can get going on pulling together the major sections of the profile. I'll try to hold a Profile Committee meeting in February to get us started down that road.

Cheers,
Kelly

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January ended with a bang; on the 29th, we had a single combined service followed by the Annual Meeting. Later that day the St. Luke’s Choir joined the choir of Grace Episcopal Church, Glendora, to sing Evensong to help them celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of that parish. (This parish had not sung Evensong in the Rev. Susan Scranton’s 14-year tenure.) This event was a great success on all levels. We have been thanked repeatedly by our own parishioners and even moreso by the rector, musicians, and congregation of Glendora. David Aldrete, the director of music, is eager to combine the two choirs again. The reception was a lot of fun, and we were joined by our friends from Church of the Transfiguration, Arcadia, who turned out en masse. But that should have been no surprise -- the Grace Church rector grew up in that parish.

Since we revived Evensong at St. Luke’s in 2004, we have been something of a trendsetter in this area. One by one, other parishes have started singing Evening Prayer, and I have been in a position to help them. Several music directors have heard the St. Luke’s Choir sing Evensong and have taken ideas back home with them. Our two yearly Invitationals – men in October and women in March – have also had a lot of participants from nearby parishes. I started publicity for the March service before the last chord sounded in January.

The big event for us in February is the end of Epiphany and the beginning of Lent. The Last Sunday after the Epiphany is February 19, when we will sing about the Transfiguration. Ash Wednesday is February 22. We at St. Luke’s now expect a full choral service on Ash Wednesday, with imposition of ashes and anthems that reflect the lessons. During Lent, we switch to the Healy Willan service, and we sing the psalms in plainsong. By now, the choir has a large repertory of beautiful Lenten music, and we keep adding to it every year.

Kent B. Jones, Director of Music

* Special Thanks to the St. Luke members who made the journey to Glendora for Evensong

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John's Jottings

I hope this will become a regular column in The Mustard Seed. It will be a place for me to editorialize, theologize and otherwise ruminate about pastoral/spiritual matters on my mind. I welcome and invite your feedback. I'm always open and eager to dialogue with you on any things I write about in Jottings. Thanks for listening!

"Suffer the little children"

In the tenth chapter of Mark, we read the following (KJV):

13) And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

14) But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

There is no question that from time to time, smaller children will make noise in church. That's what kids do. I'm sure they were just as noisy, even unruly even in Jesus' time. I bet kids also "got in the way" at adult gatherings way back then.

But the Bible says that Jesus "rebuked" his disciples when they tried to preserve adult decorum and get those squirmy kids out of the way. Jesus reacted strongly to the "shushing" of infant voices. He hinted that might be the sound of God's kingdom on the way.

You and I have a great opportunity: to be loving, accepting and welcoming of children in church. Let us not be disapproving, as the disciples were.

The choice to be utterly welcoming becomes especially important in this interim phase, when we will be experiencing newcomers and seekers. We want to make them comfortable to bring all their children with them, whether infants, toddlers or youth.

Please join me in making a special effort to overlook any distraction their presence may bring to our dignified worship. Let us bend over backwards to include "the sound of happy voices," and the making of "joyful noise."

If you've had children of your own, you remember what great effort it takes to get the family together for church. Especially visiting a new church!

Let's all be aware and join Jesus' in his radical welcome of parents bringing kids for Jesus to bless. "Jesus loves the little children," as the song goes, and so should we.

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* * * Liturgical Refresher * * *
Saturday, February 11th from 10AM to 12PM

Fr. John would like to conduct refresher training for those involved in the Sunday liturgy. That would include lectors, subdeacons, altar guild, Lay Eucharist Ministers, acolytes, etc. It would be a walk-through of the entire liturgy to iron out any kinks in the service and to make sure everyone is on the same page. It would also be an excellent time to discuss any questions or concerns at large.

We are hoping all will be able to attend. In the event you are not able to attend, please let Fr. John know via email: jcreanjr@att.net

Thanking you in advance

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LENT BEGINS!

by Fr. John

On Ash Wednesday, February 22nd, we will have two services. Both will be a Mass with Imposition of Ashes. The daytime service will be at 12:10 p.m., and the evening service will be at 7:30 p.m. Please remember also that Episcopal church law requires of us only two fast days out of the whole year: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. So let's get our menu planning ready. "Fast day" actually means both "fast" and "abstinence" for us. Fasting means eating less; abstaining means we avoid meat. See below for the guidelines:

(1) no meat or meat products (fish OK)

(2) only one "full meal" that day (the other two are light snacks)

(3) no snacking between meals

Exception: Persons who are ill, aged or infirm, as well as small children, are automatically dispensed from the requirement.

Let us have a very productive Lent this year, one while will richly prepare us for Easter!

LENT CONTINUES!

This being my first time through the Liturgical Calendar with y'all, I have no idea what your "appetite" for weekday church activities might be. I know my own appetite: Big! (Heck, I'm in the business, right?)

I like to celebrate weekday masses. I would like to offer to continue the Wednesday Noonday Eucharist at 12:10 throughout Lent. A simple, low mass in the chapel, always with the possibility of receiving the healing anointing, and with a brief homily. Some might even want to "brown bag it" and have lunch together afterward. (We can't live too high off the hog during Lent, right?)

And I would like to offer as well a Wednesday evening 7:30 p.m. Healing Mass. We would be concentrating on the theme of "the healing power of Jesus," and perhaps include as one of the liturgical readings various excerpts from the excellent text Healing and Christianity by our former illustrious pastor, Morton T. Kelsey (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1995). I have been studying this book for several months now. I would envision the Mass itself lasting about 45 minutes. Then those who would wish to might adjourn to the Parish House to discuss a chapter a week. (We would not be able to cover the whole book, but we could put a serious dent in it.)

So here's how Wednesday evenings might go:

7:30 Healing Mass

8:15 Adjourn to Parish House; grab some refreshments; and

8:30 Discuss a chapter of Healing and Christianity

9:15 Conclude with Compline

9:30 Out the door and on the way home

Give it some thought . . . and prayer, OK? Thanks.

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SLUG PARTY!

Join the MARDI GRAS family fun on Saturday, Feb 18th at 6pm in Guild Hall. Come dressed in your most festive, colorful outfit. There will be prizes awarded for the best Mardi Gras outfit and the most colorful outfit. Plan to enjoy New Orleans inspired food created again by Joe and Kelly Lauer.

We will also have a contest for the Best Dessert. There will be 2 categories: desserts with alcohol and non-alcoholic. We will also have some fun and games to entertain everyone.

Please RSVP in person to Kathy Eisel, Sarah Thomas or Kelley Lauer. You may also RSVP to kathyeisel@earthlink.net or call 626-963-6099. Deadline is Monday, Feb. 13th. Cost is $5 per person or $20 per family.

The Lunch Bunch:

THE LUNCH BUNCH will not be meeting during February due to scheduling conflicts.

We will now plan to meet on Saturday, 24th March, when we will be making the small Palm Crosses that will be handed out to the congregation on Palm Sunday.

Participation is always welcome and encouraged

All of our groups in the church rely on participation from our parishioners. In addition to our existing groups, we will be setting up more groups as we move through this transition. Please consider volunteering for one or more of these groups. You'll enrich your experience with St. Luke's, have fun and be providing much needed support to our parish family.

Below is a list of our existing groups and who to contact for more details.

v Ushers - Steve Waltmire

v Pastoral Outreach - Jeannett Armstrong and Trish Gresham

v Altar Guild - Jeannett Armstrong

v Welcome Table/Coffee hour - Sarah Thomas

v SLUGS (St. Luke's Unorthodox Gatherings) - Parish activities and events

o Kelly Lauer, Sarah Thomas and Kathy Eisel

v Lunch Bunch - Lyn Walsh

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Birthdays and Anniversaries:

Birthdays:

Evan Zapata February 8

Tawni Zapata February 10

Catherine Fugitt February 17

Lyn Walsh February 23

Destiny King February 24

Jack Savage February 25

Anniversaries:

Corky & Nancy Wilds February 12

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Last month, postage rates increased again. Starting in February, we are going to discontinue sending notification postcards to readers and ushers (this is a small economy, but every two cents helps). Those who have email addresses will receive notification via the web. However, we will still send postcards to those who do not have connection to the internet.

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Please check your bulletin insert for current prayers.

Deadline for next Mustard Seed: Tuesday, FEBRUARY 22. Please notify David Bowen at (626) 359-4219 or e-mail the information to him at dbowen1@verizon.net.

Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church

122 California Street (at Foothill Blvd)

Monrovia California 91016

(626) 357-7071

Email: www.saintlukesmonrovia.org

Saint Luke’s is an inclusive church that welcomes everyone to be part of its community— a safe place for skeptics and doubters as well as convicted believers. The communion meal of God’s presence among us is offered to anyone who comes with a sincere heart to receive it.

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

The PRESENTATION

Of our LORD JESUS CHRIST in the TEMPLE

Altar Guild Meeting

9 AM

The FIFTH SUNDAY

after EPIPHANY

Holy Eucharist:

8 and 10 am

Sunday school: 10 am

Coffee: Guild Hall 11:15 am

Happy Birthday

Evan Zapata

Happy Birthday

Tawni Zapata

Liturgical Refresher :

10 AM to 12 PM

The SIXTH SUNDAY after EPIPHANY

Holy Eucharist:

8 and 10 am

Sunday school: 10 am

Coffee: Guild Hall 11:15 am

Happy Anniversary:

Corky & Nancy Wilds

Happy Birthday

Catherine Fugitt

Mardi Gras Party

6-9 PM

Lyn Walsh

St Matthias

The Apostle

Happy Birthday

Destiny King

Happy Birthday

Jack Savage

The FIRST SUNDAY in LENT

Holy Eucharist:

8 and 10 am

Sunday school: 10 am

Coffee: Guild Hall 11:15 am

St. Luke's of Monrovia

Mustard Seed

FEBRUARY 12:

The Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

FEBRUARY 19:

FEBRUARY 23:

Tawni Zapata

Catherine Fugitt

Lyn Walsh

Jack Savage