Category Archives: Church

March 18, 2013 · 12:47 pm

Shakespeare Reading Group – Update

Since the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, California) Shakespeare Reading Group started meeting in 2012, we have read:

Last night was Antony and Cleopatra. I had great fun as the ambitious and deadly Octavius Ceasar (whom Rome later called the Emperor Augustus). John read Domitius Enobarbus (who gets most of the famous lines in this play) with delightful energy. Melita Thorpe was the subtle Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, and John Watson-Williams read Antony (Marcus Antonius, Consul and Triumvir) with verve. All of the other major characters had great fun dying dramatically – it being a tragedy after all.

As is true for many Silicon Valley social events, the professional backgrounds around our table were highly varied. In addition to the expected high-tech gurus and computer company executives, our cast included among others, a church Deacon, mortgage expert, haematologist, astronomy travel director, social worker, physiology professor, technical writer, video director, artist, and physical therapist – all of who enjoyed an evening with The Bard. We will read Othello in May.

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Tagged as Egypt, Episcopal church, John, Middle East, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

March 18, 2013 · 12:06 pm

Sacred Threads Embroidery – Chairs

Yesterday, the Sacred Threads group at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church (Saratoga, California) displayed the first two of the chair seats they are replacing – which look very good! I wrote about the Sacred Threads embroidery ministry last year when they finished a set of beautiful kneelers for the sanctuary.

The current project is more ambitious: re-covering the many dozen chairs in both St. Andrew’s chapels. The original 50-year-old chairs were caned – but those seats are falling apart. After research, Sacred Threads group leaders found it would cost about US$300/chair to re-cane (lasts about 50 years) but only about US$250/chair to replace the old cane seats with embroidery (lasts about 200 years). Caning has to be done professionally but church members can embroider once the materials are purchased. This was an easy decision! The new chair seat designs are inspired by the stained glass church windows by Mark Adams.

October 2012 – chair project presentation:

Original chairs:

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March 12, 2013 · 11:23 am

Mentor Certification: Knowledge, Skills, Attitudes

Last weekend, I completed my second mentor certification class (1st re-certification) by The University of the South – School of Theology, Education for Ministry (EfM) program. It was an honor and pleasure to work with an inspired, generous, and talented group. I value this structured and carefully managed program – not the least because I have the opportunity to improve through specific feedback and advice from other experienced mentors.

About EfM:

EfM is a unique certificate program of experiential theological education for laity under the direction of The School of Theology – University of the South. Since its founding in 1975, this international program has assisted more than 30,000 students in discovering how to respond to the call of Christian service. EfM helps students encounter the breadth and depth of the Christian tradition and bring it into conversation with their experiences of the world as they study, worship, and engage in theological reflection together.

EfM mentor certification requires 18 hours of training and observed interactions every 18 months. EfM groups can meet either in-person (as does our group at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Saratoga, California) or on-line. Here is an excerpt from the “Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Expected of Mentors” document which guides the training and evaluation of EfM mentors:

Mentoring is an art. The following list of competencies are like “paints and brushes” that allow the art to flourish. These basic competencies help mentors and trainers to discern and evaluate mentor effectiveness.

Each mentor is rated by the mentor trainer in each competency as “not observed” or “needs improvement” or “proficient”.

Knowledge:

familiarity with the variety of voices within the Christian tradition
know the purpose of EfM and the components of an EfM seminar
know the theories and model of theological reflection in EfM:
- four sources (action, tradition, culture, position)
- four “movements” (identify, explore, connect, apply)
- perspective questions (creation, sin, judgment, repentance, redemption)
know how to recruit, register, start, and maintain a group

Skills:

framing questions
facilitating reflection
sharing leadership
planning and managing the seminar
managing energy
listening
communicating clearly

Attitudes:

openness to growth
invitation
- empowerment
- valuing participation
encouragement
respect for human and theological differences
comfort with ambiguity
willingness to receive and give feedback
willingness to transmit EfM

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Tagged as Education for Ministry, Episcopal church, Mentoring

March 11, 2013 · 6:16 pm

TSA Afraid of Rocks

Ever since I read “Why It’s Time To Break The Code Of Silence At The Airport” by Christopher Elliott (15 February 2013, TheHuffingtonPost) and my daughter’s TSA posts (including “TSA Touching Crosses The Line: Update”), I have been considering how much more invasive and offensive the TSA has become over time and how we enable this behavior by not objecting to it.

This weekend, I flew from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles for training (to renew my mentor certification with Education for Ministry, a program of the University of the South – School of Theology), and to visit my brother and family in La Crescenta. I used two small-ish airports, San Jose (SJC) and Burbank (BUR) for convenience.

This morning, I walked quickly to the head of the extremely short security check point line at Burbank, hoping to have time for a quiet coffee before boarding my flight home. However, I was pulled out of line in the nearly-empty security area not once but twice.

The first time I was pulled from line was so that the security lady could feel my face – after her full-body scanner drew a little yellow box around my apparently-dangerous earring. As you can see from the picture below (and as she herself could clearly see), there wasn’t anything for her to find while she patted down my ear, cheek, and short hair.
The second time I was pulled out a few minutes later was so that the security man could unpack my small roller bag, re-scan my toiletries, and try to take away my rock. I was bringing home a small piece of granite as a souvenir of La Crescenta. He said, after feeling my rock, that I had to get rid of it or check my bag because a rock could be a weapon. It seems that there is a TSA rule saying that rocks over five pounds are dangerous. I chose to keep my rock, so I was escorted out of the security area, then had to walk back to the airline counter (where the counter lady told me that she hears an unusual number of complaints about the Burbank TSA), check my carry-on bag, and go through security all over again.

I made my flight home, but no quiet coffee for me. I object.

Merry Christmas

Best wishes to you and your family for a happy holiday season, from all of us here in the Silicon Valley!

Between trying to get the construction workers finished enough to be out of our house by Christmas, and all of the usual holiday preparations and activities, December 2012 has been particularly busy. There has finally been sufficient progress on the new porch to allow us to have family and guests in the house. The roof and final plastering were finished just before dinner yesterday – barely in time for us to go Christmas caroling on the cable car in San Francisco. Jessica and Matthew were able to get off from work to join us for Christmas – for which we are very joyful!

I went shopping in Chinatown with Sally and Lorene (our tradition for over twenty years). We were sad to see the closed up Sam Wo restaurant where we used to eat raw fish salad for lunch during our annual walking tour of Grant Street stores.
John and I were delighted to hear our young friends Max and Beth perform as part of the Cantabile Youth Singers at the ornate St. Joseph Basilica in San Jose.
My son Paul and I picked out and walked home a Christmas tree – which sat in a bucket of water on the driveway for two weeks until the contractors left and we could move all of the furniture back. Jessica and Matthew and Paul brought the tree inside and decorated it tonight. The decorations are eclectic but cheerful. I still need to put out the nativity figures John bought in Bethlehem.
My EfM class went to see the Bethlehem Christmas story re-enactment, and then went out to dinner together and exchanged gifts.
Last Sunday was the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church children’s pageant.
We have very much enjoyed Willow Glen’s enthusiastic Christmas light displays – which give every street its own twinkly charm as we go about our holiday business.
Today we went to the Dickens Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco to enjoy a Victorian Christmas, high tea, and last-minute shopping.
Tomorrow, John starts cooking for our Christmas feast on Tuesday!

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Tagged as Charles Dickens, Education for Ministry, Episcopal church, Jessica, John, Matthew, Paul, San Francisco, San Jose, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Willow Glen

November 3, 2012 · 11:02 pm

El Camino Real Convention

This weekend was the annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real on the Central Coast of California. I was a delegate to convention from my home parish of St. Andrew’s in Saratoga. My husband John and our neighbor, the Reverend Stephenie Cooper, ran the computers and visual system for their fifth year. In front of the big screen were about 300 lay and clergy delegates and in back of it were Stephenie and John sitting amidst a dozen computers in a nest of cables keeping the business running.

My contribution was being a roadie (helping them move equipment in and out) and providing photographs to spice up the presentations. Our much-loved Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves has a good sense of humor and enjoys the funny pictures. She even brought her two Bishop Barbies to the convention. In 2010, the women of St. Andrew’s gave her the first doll (in red robes), who has now been joined by a second in white vestments.

One of the impressive presentations was by a youth group who brought a chain of 508 plastic bags, representing the number thrown away every second in California. The chain wrapped around the convention hall twice – making a powerful visual point about taking better care of our world.

Silicon Valley Halloween

Halloween is serious fun here in the Silicon Valley. Spooky house decorations go up weeks in advance, people come to church in funny hats and silly outfits (for “Boo Sunday”), companies have costume parties, waitresses work dressed as clowns, stores give out candy to kid parades, and tonight the sidewalks are full of children dressed as cats, bugs, princesses, super heros, and monsters walking from house to house trailed by their parents, greeting neighbors with “Trick or Treat!”.