From Father Tom

The second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles describes the experience on the Day of Pentecost when the apostles were ‘filled with Holy Spirit’. Ever since that day Christians have experienced the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit in many forms and many ways. Entire denominations have been created with the desire to engage in a similar experience as a sign of the presence of God in their midst. The Episcopal Church is not well known for its ‘Pentecostal’ experiences or pursuits. Having said that, I would say that we of the Episcopal Church are challenged by God to become familiar with the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. How are we to be aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in us and among us? And perhaps as and even more potent questions, what should we do when we answer the first question?

William Johnston, in his book, The Inner Eye of Love, talks about discerning the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He says, ‘discernment is nothing less than a way of life…It is something that goes on all the time. One is constantly open to the breath of the Spirit, to the action of God in one’s life and in the world; one is always poised in readiness to hear the voice of the beloved and to follow where it leads.’

To use Johnston’s description is to ask three questions: Are we ready to pursue the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives all the time? Are we constantly open to the breadth of the Spirit? Are we poised in readiness to follow the Holy Spirit where it leads us? As we are able to reply ‘Yes’ to each of these questions we come open to the presence and power of God, through the Holy Spirit working His will out in our lives.

Let us become those who are ready, willing, and able to welcome the presence and the power of God in our lives and who are ready, willing, and able to follow God wherever we are led.

Love,
Father Tom

New Parking Instructions

Once the parking lot is paved, no one should park anywhere except in the parking lot. Please do not drive across the edges of the new parking lot. This will cause the asphalt to crack and will cause it to deteriorate. We will be putting in a sidewalk from the handicap parking area to the back/side doors of the parish hall.

St. Michael’s new parking lot is in construction. If you need to come to St. Michael’s while the parking lot is being constructed, please use St. John’s parking lot and walk to St. Michael’s.

A Testimonial from Ron Roberts

(Many of us have had significant events in our lives that have brought us closer to God. So, I am asking different members of St. Michael’s to share them with us. If you have had something you want to share, please write it down and give it to me for the future newsletters - Lael Walding).

As a child, I can remember being in church very often with my parents or a relative or a neighbor. Being members of a rather conservative denomination, my concept early in life was that God was rather like a cosmic policeman who could be quite vengeful if His creations disobeyed Him.

This belief remained with me until my college years which began at a denominational college but culminated at University of Alabama at Birmingham. At UAB I was encouraged by my religion professor and minister to think for myself and to explore what I, myself, believed. My denomination had been taken over by mean-spirited, racist, misogynistic, homophobes, or at least that was what I believed. I felt a bit lost and alienated, not from God, but from His followers most of whom I did not wish to be around.

Some friends invited me to attend St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Birmingham, and that was when everything began to change for me. In the church, I felt surrounded by reverence, respect for others, and God. All were very positive feelings. I encountered clergy and lay people who followed a Gospel of “Do’s” not “Don’ts”. They encouraged the intellectual development as well as spiritual maturity of all believers, with Christ at the center, gently leading us to love ourselves as we love others.

For me, the Episcopal communion, though certainly not perfect, is very close to what I believe the true catholic (universal) church should be. And though I have often stumbled in my somewhat erratic journey through this wonderful life, the Episcopal Church has been there to pick me up and point me once again to God.

Meet Alex, Trent, and Dylan Wiley

Alex, Trent, and Dylan Wiley are Scott and Amie Wiley’s sons and Lael Walding’s grandsons. They live in Dothan. Alex is 9 and in second grade at Northside Methodist Academy. Trent is 5 and he goes to Kindergarten at Houston Academy. Dylan is 4 and he goes to preschool at Houston Academy.

Alex is a Cub Scout, and he has just started learning to be an acolyte at St. Michael’s. Alex and Trent play tennis a little. All three boys swim, play soccer and some baseball. Their grandmother is teaching them golf. They all like bugs, animals, dinosaurs, and airplanes.

Dollar-A-Day Parking Lot Pledge

If you have not made your Dollar-A-Day pledge for the parking lot, but have been intending to do it, please make it now. The money has been borrowed and will have to start being paid back next month. Forms for the pledge are in the front of the church and in the parish hall too. At present we have three who have pledged the Dollar-A-Day pledge. If we get a total of 15 to pledge the Dollar-A-Day pledge over five years the parking lot will be completely paid by these pledges.

Are you called to be a Deacon

I went to Gulf Breeze Saturday, April 19 to learn more about the program on becoming a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. It was very interesting.

The deacon is directly under the bishop and serves in the order for the rest of their life. The deacon is given a permanent place in the church.

To become a deacon is a 10 Step program beginning with a talk with the vicar, Fr. Tom. The training program begins in January 2009 and lasts for 2 years. Meetings will be held on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month. The applications are in the parish office for anyone interested. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have concerning the meeting I attended.

Linda Clifford

Adult Sunday School

Fr. Tom is beginning the series “The Seven Paths to God”. This is from 9 to 10 a.m. every Sunday morning. This series is just starting, so if you start right away you will not miss anything.

There is cereal, sausage, biscuits, juice and coffee made by 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning thanks to Joe Marek, Scott Frier, and John Wolfe.

Godly Play

We still need children from about the age of 3 or 4 to about 12 to join Godly Play. We will continue with Godly Play through the summer too. Right now I do not have many children consistently coming for Godly Play, so I am not doing stories that follower each other. I am just picking out favorite and important stories. We have done the story of Noah and the Ark and the Parable about the Sewer this month. Kricket, our nursery worker, has been coming in to help me.

I have been exploring ideas about doing Godly Play at different times to get more children to come. I thought about doing it during the church service, but we have three boys that are interested in being acolytes that would have to choose between church and Godly Play if we did it then. So, I have eliminated this for now.

I am considering doing Godly Play on Saturdays during part the summer. I am thinking of doing Godly Play from about 1 to 3 on Saturday afternoon. We could do a story, then the children play outside a little, then come in for a “feast”, then do a craft, and end with another story. This way I could do some of the stories that build on each other. We could even work some singing into this program. If this interests you in bringing your children and friends to it, please let me know. I do not want to make plans for it and then no one comes. Also, I would need at least one helper during this time.

Lael Walding

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Come join the Gardening Guild on Saturday morning, May 3 at 9 a.m. We will be planting flowers, weeding and anything else necessary to enhance our gardens. Pick your garden and make it beautiful. Your help is needed and appreciated by everyone who takes the time to view and enjoy the gardens. See you there.

Linda Clifford

Acolytes

Drew White, Jaxon Page, and Alex Wiley are St. Michael’s new acolytes in training.

Youth EYC

The Teen Sunday School (EYC) planning meeting was a great success. It was held at Lou Harry’s swimming pool. Those attending were Josh Maddox, Michael Davis, Rebecca Walden, and Kathryn Bailey. The EYC will continue to hold Sunday School meetings by the pool now through the summer months while everyone learns about the Church. All teens from 13 through high school may come and bring friends. The time each Sunday is about 12:30 (following church and fellowship coffee).

Vacation Bible School

Vacation Bible School is June 16 through 20 from 8:30 to noon. The theme this year is “Faces of Jesus”. There is a sign up sheet in the parish hall for helpers during this week. Please volunteer for a specific activity or a specific day, or even for the whole week. We need at least four adults at St. Michael’s each day during the morning. We will also need a lot of drinks and food too.

Youth Confirmation Class

June 16 through 20 in the afternoon will be a Youth Confirmation Class lead by Fr. Tom. Bishop Duncan will not be at St. Michael’s until December to confirm, but it seems during the school year there are just too many school activities and too much homework for many of the youth to participate in a Confirmation Class.

There will be an Area Wide Confirmation for all who missed being confirmed at their church when the Bishop came this past year. This Area Wide Confirmation is being held at The Episcopal Church of the Nativity, Dothan on Saturday, June 21. This is the day after the Youth Confirmation Class ends, so possibly some of the youth will want to take advantage of this and get confirmed this summer. It is close enough we can all go for their confirmation too. They can also wait until Bishop Duncan comes to confirm at St. Michaels’ in December 2008.

Mexican Night, Wednesday, May 21

Bring your favorite Mexican food and join everyone for fun on Wednesday, May 21 at 6:30 in the parish hall. Some of us have talked about just doing Bingo that night. We would sell Bingo cards for a nickel a card. The winner of the game wins all the card money off that game. Everyone that plays Bingo has to put in $1 to play. The last game would be Blackout and the winner of that game would get all the dollars collected plus all the nickels for the cards. So, if we had fifty people playing Bingo that night, the winner would get $50 plus all the nickels on the cards. What do you think? Do you want to play Bingo or just play other games?

In April we had a Game night. There were about 12 of us there. We ate spaghetti that Scott Frier made and other goodies, then there was a group that played Dominos, another group played Scrabble, and some others played Gin Rummy.

Planned Giving

Planned giving is mostly about making out wills and leaving some to the church. But, here is another phase of “Planned Giving”. St. Michael’s now has an account at A. G. Edwards in Dothan. If you have stock that you would like to give to the church, you may transfer it into this account to give to the church. Usually, there is no charge to transfer the stock. You still get the tax deduction for giving the value of the stock to the church without having to pay taxes on a gain for selling the stock. For more information on this contact Fr. Tom or Lael Walding.