Moments from the Advent Choral Celebration

If you missed attending this amazing event, where two communities (Good Sam Episcopal and Newman Center Catholic) came together as one, you really missed out.

Using "Lessons and Carols" as the starting point... this service of song and readings reached over 300 people, more than we ever hoped for a first time event!

Here are some video highlights, followed by photos from the evening:

most of "Rise Up Shepherd and Follow":

I attempted to put two photos together to give you the idea of how many people were a part of the evening: two choirs, the Bell A'Peal bell choir, a bunch of musicians. Somehow our music director, Tom O'Sullivan, didn't make it in, probably because he was playing the organ during this piece. Otherwise he was on the piano or up front directing.

 Soloists for "Once in Royal David's City":

Soloists from "O Sifuni Mungu" with choir. We dimmed the lights for this one, illustrating the story of creation.

Soloists for "Immanuel":

(By the way, the choir was asked to wear red, green, black and/or that crazy Christmas sweater!)

Soloist for "On That Holy Mountain":

Soloists for "Carol of the Stranger":

Soloist for "Glory to God" (Handel):

Can't wait for next year's!

Church for Sale

by Sally Anderson

Ken and I have just returned from a marvelous ”Epic Voyage of Discovery” as our cruise director called it. What a big, beautiful world we live in! 


We encountered something very disconcerting on our bus tour in Auckland, New Zealand, though. On a hill sat an old, traditional, Gothic styled Anglican Church which was for sale. Our driver explained that people were just too busy to attend church anymore and that it wasn’t needed. Needless to say, we were shocked!

As I thought about this, I thought about my relationship with the Lord. He was with me even in my college days when I couldn’t find time for him but he was there to save Ken and me as newlyweds from a serious serious car accident. He welcomed the birth of our three lovely daughters and kept us safe when our family had to be parted – from Navy deployments to family emergencies. 


Our Dear Lord was beside me when Leslie suffered a dog bite, when Kristin was diagnosed with Nephrotic Syndrome, when Tracy was hit by a car while riding her bike to school, my breast cancer, and the upheavals of finances and alcohol in our family. I put my faith in His love and guidance or I would not have been able to survive.

The Good Samaritan family has always been there for us, celebrating good times as well as praying for us in times of need. Deep friendships can “read” how you’re feeling, so often I’ve gotten a phone call, a hug, or just an “I love you”. They are truly God’s angels on earth.

So when I think of people not knowing or not having time for Christ, it makes me sad they’ll never experience the love, strength, and peace that He so generously offers.

Moving Away Is A Hard Thing

by Jason Holliday

Moving away is a hard thing. 

There’s nothing easy about packing up and leaving anywhere you spent the last 11 years in, especially when that place is San Diego.  I don’t have enough suitcases to pack up all of the memories and good times I’ve had.  

I think the hardest part about moving however, is starting a new life with new people, new places, and so on.  Making new friends shouldn’t be a problem, leaving behind old ones will be.  It’s gonna be hard to wake up and see my father every day instead of a hug from my beautiful mother and sister, but that’s life.  

Life takes us in many directions, while God opens doors of us to do better things with our life.  I’ve met so many amazing people and done such amazing things in this life in San Diego that it’s just time to go back where I came from and start over again, make new friends, start my own life, make a new impact.  

People come and go, but memories last forever and it’s these memories I have here that I will lean on and smile about when life gets rough.  

I don’t know if I’ll ever have a home in San Diego ever again, but San Diego will always have a home in me.

How Well Do You Know Scripture?

by Rev. Rebecca Edwards

In my sermon on November 13, I threw out a challenge for all of us to engage with scripture in deeper ways. I am following up with some of my favorite recommendations for ways to do that.

The Bible Challenge (read the whole Bible in a year): 

• What Is the Bible Challenge?
• Amazon sells several Bible editions for reading over the course of a year, including the One Year Bible (NIV, NLT, or KJV), the One Year Bible for Women and the One Year Bible Companion.
• One Year Bible Online: Gives daily readings either chronologically (start at Genesis, end at Revelation) or broken up so you have a bit of Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms or Proverbs daily.
• Bible Gateway Reading Plans: Allows you to choose your reading plan and translation.
• A unique approach where you read from a different biblical genre (law, history, Psalms, poetry, prophecy, Gospels, and epistles) each day of the week.

There are many other ways to deepen your relationship with the Bible if you are not up for a year-long challenge. Some of my favorite include:

• Opening the Bible by my seminary professor Roger Ferlo: This is part of the Church's Teaching Series and is a great introduction for how we approach reading the Bible.
• the Daily Office: Read most of the Bible over the course of two years with short daily readings that take less than 10 minutes a day. Office readings are printed in the back of the prayer book (p.933-1001) – we have just begun Year Two. See my list of electronic resources below if you prefer to get the readings on a mobile device.
• The Five Books of Moses by Everett Fox: This is a translation of the Torah that captures many nuances of the original Hebrew. It offers a different twist on familiar stories and has interesting notes on the translation.

electronic resources:

• Mission St. Clare app for iphone: gives complete services of the Daily Office in English and Spanish, including feast days, readings, cycle of prayer, and weekly collects
• "Lectionary" app for your ipod, ipad, or iphone: gives Sunday and daily readings. There is a free Droid app called "Pocket Common Worship & Prayer" that gives weekly or daily services (morning prayer, evening prayer, night prayer) with the readings inserted. You can also create and save your own liturgies.
• Glo Bible app: lots of cool maps and a Bible atlas
• Bible 365 HD app: a roadmap for reading the Bible in a year, with a bit of Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms for each day
• One Year Audio Bible app: for you auditory learners out there

human resources:

I also mentioned in my sermon that we have many members of our congregation who have studied in the Education for Ministry program (EFM), which involves intensive study of scripture. You can learn more about it here: http://www.sewanee.edu/EFM/ Good Sammers who have participated in EFM are:

• alumni: Robin Fowler, Dan Shawler, Leanne Shawler, Germaine Bergeron-Lynn, Sally Nichols
• 4^th year: Margaret Bookwalter
• 2^nd year: Kathleen Ide, Equilla Luke
• 1^st year: Verdery Kassebaum, Sandy Hammond

There are more recommendations where these came from, so please don't hesitate to ask if there is something you are interested in!

For those of you who are already regular Bible readers, what are your favorite resources to add to the list?

Happy Thanksgiving!

by Leanne Shawler

Our stewardship season at Good Sam seems to be a natural time to give thanks, and not just because our ingathering feast (where we collect pledges for 2012's budget) is a traditional Thanksgiving meal two weeks early!

This year, we asked those who joined us for the meal to write down something they gave thanks for onto some cardstock autumn leaves. We put them up on the wall behind our altar the following Sunday. Folks who couldn’t make it to the dinner added their own thanks last Sunday.

We wish everyone a safe and grateful Thanksgiving.

The Saving of Bob and Bette Keith, part two

(Part Two of a two part series. Part one was posted last Thursday).

by Bob Keith

Starting church services

Soon after starting the healing services, we knew it was time to try the Sunday morning church service. We had never before been to an Episcopal service, but couldn’t imagine not trying it.

We have never looked back.

We became regular attendees, joined Bible study groups and met so many more of you. Bette continued with her Wednesday morning healing services. then we took communion in this Episcopal Church and have been regulars ever since.

The main point in this is we each became re-established with God, and, probably, in a much more meaningful way than at any other time in our lives. I do not know how either of us could have survived the last few years without it.

And it all started in a therapy pool when Bob Tuggey invited Bette to try a healing service, and she said “YES”.

After that initial start, the whole Good Sam team was involved and helped us through these many years. We are grateful to everyone, to say the least.

Approaching the end of life

As Bette approached the end of life this past spring, she assured me time and time again she was not fearing it. She told me, and I knew it would be so, she would be comfortable knowing she would be in good hands.

As always, she was concerned for me, however. But I assured her I was in good hands too, and knowing that, I would be just fine. I reminded her of Father Chris’ end-of-the-service message that God is all around us, and with us, and will be supporting me.

A final note along these lines that really speaks to her inner character. In the final few days, she said to me, several times, “the nurses all know I am ready to accept the end, but please, please, keep reminding them not to hurry it -- a little bit longer would be just fine!”

I think of those conversations often and have confidence that all will be well.

Thank you, Good Sam

My endless thanks to all of you, especially Bob Tuggey, who started us.

The Saving of Bette and Bob Keith

(This is Part One of a Two-Part Series. The second part will be posted on Tuesday.)

by Bob Keith

My story is about Good Sam and its saving of Bette and Bob Keith, and it begins with the healing service.

We moved to San Diego 12 years ago as very healthy people. A year later Bette began an 11-year struggle with several medical problems that came out of nowhere and never left, especially her ever-increasing pain from shingles.

Another problem developed, too, and it became more important than we realized. We had tried several Presbyterian churches in the first years -- that had been our church back east -- but we never sensed any sort of welcoming.

Soon, we didn’t go to church much. That led to not talking with God much, even though we were beginning to get worn down and discouraged by the unsolvable medical issues.

Our big break

About 6-7 years ago, Bette was using a warm water therapy pool and so was a fellow named Bob Tuggey. They soon knew of each other’s problems. One day he suggested she join him at his “Good Sam Healing Service”. Bette thought what in the world is “Good Sam”? What is a healing service?

But at the same time, she never hesitated and quickly said “Yes”. And that did it. After the first session, she asked me if I could bring her to the next Wednesday session. I did, and some of you know the rest.

This is the point where our lives -- both of us -- began to get better. She had new friends at healing, she was soon smiling again and gaining a new outlook on her life and problems.

The yellow room

It wasn’t long before Bette started to refer to the healing service room, that is, the Chapel, as the Yellow Room. At her memorial service this spring, Father Chris described how this was an important reference term for her, as he knew from conducting the many healing services.

There is a good reason for her using those words: when the sun broke through the clouds mid-morning, it shined through the yellow colors in the glass window in the room, and gave a yellow glow to the room. That is the most obvious explanation for the Yellow Room term.

But in my talks with her, I learned there may be more to it than that. When in that room, she was sensing a comforting, mysterious tranquility that was coming from the healing process itself. The appearance of the yellow sunlight did help the good feeling but she probably used the “Yellow Room” reference because it was an easier thing to explain.

(This is Part One of a Two-Part Series. The second part will be posted on Tuesday.)

Why You Can’t Reach Staff on Thursdays

by Leanne Shawler

You might have tried calling on Thursdays and only been able to reach our office angel, Miss Penny, instead of the rest of the staff. There are two reasons for this.

1) Our staff meeting is Thursday morning and it runs from 10 until 11:30ish-12ish.

2) The gals on staff go to Chuao’s right afterward.

Chuao’s Chocolatiers is located in the UTC mall and is the perfect way to end a long staff meeting. Verdery and I started going when she was still the Thursday office angel and it quickly became a tradition because, hey, it’s chocolate and their drinks are amazingly decadently good.

Verdery, Hanna, Revbecca, Leanne

We recruited Hanna soon after she joined the staff, and then Revbecca. (We sometimes bring a drink back for Dave and Nathan.) And even though Hanna has finished working for us as Parish Life Director, we’re still getting together for Chuao’s until she leaves us to go home to Norway.

Because we go so often, we each have loyalty cards and the 10th drink is free! Here’s Revbecca with her first free drink (taken a couple of months ago).

Verdery’s favorites: Melao frappe (60% dark chocolate, milk, salt butter caramel) with a shot of expresso, Caramello (coffee with salt butter caramel) with a shot of chocolateHanna’s favorites: lattes, or Zero frappe (white chocolate, milk, vanilla)Revbecca’s favorite: Winter hot chocolate (58% dark chocolate, spices, tastes liquid gingerbread)Leanne’s favorites: Cambur frappe (60% dark chocolate, milk, banana caramel), or Zero frappe with a shot of salt butter caramel, or Zen frappe (60% dark chocolate, green tea, 2% milk)

So if you call and we’re particularly chirpy Thursday afternoon, it’s because we’ve had our chocolate fix!

Why We Give to Good Sam

(Can you tell it's stewardship season, the time of the year the church raises funds for the next fiscal year? Cleo shared her story a couple of Sundays ago.)

by Cleo Ochs

My daughters and I started coming here, it’ll be two years either next month or December. We started off and our job was to find a church that was close to home, because that was less driving that I had to do, and a church that my kids would love.

Good Sam was our first stop and our final stop. 

The first day we started, not only were we welcomed, but my children fell in love of course with Kathleen as all the kids do.

In that timeframe, Good Sam has not only welcomed us but taken care of us. 

Last summer was a really hard summer for me, I had a really horrible experience and without the prayers of the prayer group, I don’t think I would’ve been able to get my voice back again.  With the help of Teddy and Germaine, I was able to find my voice again.

Not only did I get my voice, but last Halloween my husband started coming to church with us, which was another prayer that I’ve had since the day we were married and it finally happened.  You guys not only welcomed us, but then you welcomed my husband who seems to enjoy coming here and hanging out with Chris, I guess because they have so much in common.

Good Sam has not only become our friends, but our family, and though we may not be in a lot of activities -- and I know why some of those prayers when they asked me to be on the vestry last year and I had to pray about it and my answer didn’t come back quite as I expected, now I know why, because I’m standing here kind of ready to fall over. [Cleo is 9 months pregnant.]

We give to Good Sam because of what Good Sam has given to us. Even though this may not be our permanent home, this is our home as we are here now and welcomed by everyone and taken care of by everyone, not just my kids but the rest of my family because Good Sam is also our family as well.

If you give to Good Sam, why do you?

How do you move forward in life with love?

by Ann Carlton

“Family is forever. You are safe.”

These words are borrowed from the movie “Dolphin Tale”.

First Thessolonians 5:11 “…encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing”

This movie is about:

• Young folks showing us that they can make a HUGE difference in a really short time and they can fall in love with animals and work themselves beyond what us adults can believe

• Older folks showing us they can really make a difference with everyone, even saving the lives of animals

• Dolphins showing us they love to play and love to share love

We are family at Good Sam. We are all ages. We help each other and inspire ourselves and others to step out and move forward in life with love.

If you haven’t seen the movie, go now (take some extra tissues) and make a prosthesis for someone which will change that person’s life forever.

PS the prosthesis is the artificial tail that literally gave Winter her life back and she flaunts it everyday. 

How do you move forward in life with love?

Giving Thanks #2

by Tracy Jewell

I have many reasons to give thanks but today it’s for our worship team at Good Sam. I’m thankful for Chris Chase and his gift for giving a great sermon and being so approachable and easy to talk to.

While on the calling committee, I enjoyed meeting him in Tennessee, and I think every Sunday that God blessed Good Sam with a fabulous priest.

I’m thankful for Revbecca. I didn’t think that we could be lucky a second time, but once again we were blessed. Rebecca shares the same gifts as Chris as far as preaching and being easy to talk to. 

Finally, I’m thankful for Tom, our music director. Tom has been blessed by the Lord with his musical talents and shares them with the rest of us. Tom, when you bring music to our service I am overcome with the Holy Spirit!

I’m thankful to the Lord for sharing Chris, Rebecca and Tom with Good Samaritan.

What do you give thanks for?

How would your life be different without Good Sam?

by Beth Hannaman

Bill and I were driving down the road the other day and I was talking about something I had to do for church.  And Bill asked me how would our lives be different if we had not joined Good Sam.   The first thing I said was “I’d have a lot more free time on my hands!”   But it started us thinking.

We began attending Good Sam a little over 30 years ago.  We would sit in the back row, put some money in the offering, and leave shortly after the service. No big commitments for us.  

And frankly, there was not a lot of spiritual payback either.  It was only after we started to become involved in church activities, as ushers, on auction committees, and as sunday school teachers, that we began to realize the depth of what Good Samaritan had to offer.  

And since then this church has helped  shape our lives in ways that we could never have imagined. 

We have always lived far from our biological families and clearly Good Sam has become our chosen family.  It’s where our children were baptized, attended Sunday school, where we went to Advent chili dinners, in-gatherings, Shrove Tuesday pancake suppers, and where our daughter got married.

This community continues to support us, nourish us, and challenge us spiritually, and intellectually.

It is here that we are reminded of God’s love for us,  and the love we feel here is palpable.  Not just when we say the peace, but when we pray for one another, when we join hands for the Lord’s Prayer and in so many other ways.

It is here where we are given opportunities reach out to love and serve our neighbors. And the relationships we have formed here while doing Good Sam’s work are deep and rich and like no other.   

And so this is where I come every week to center myself, stand at the communion altar, and be reminded by Chris that when I go out into the world, I am not alone.   How can I measure all of that?  I can’t, but I do know that this church has become a part of my very being, I cannot imagine my life without it.  I thank God every day for that gift.

And because Good Sam is our family, when it is time for Bill and I to look at our budget, we put Good Sam right there with our family responsibilities.  It took us a long time, and some hiccups along the way, but right now we are able to tithe to Good Sam.  We are grateful that we are able to do that.  

We give not because the Senior Warden is supposed to be concerned about the budget, but because Bill and I love what Good Sam is doing with our treasure. It comes from our heart and it is a joy to watch how it unfolds in front of us every week. This is such an exciting time for Good Samaritan, and Bill and I feel so  blessed to be a part of this journey and I hope you all feel that way as well.   

Now I ask you, “How would your life be different if you had not joined Good Sam?”

Finding Peace

by Tracy Jewell

I grew up at Good Sam, left to go to college, and came back to marry Brian at Good Samaritan in 1994.  We moved to Northern California for our jobs and came back to San Diego—and Good Samaritan—after we had Emily.  We've stayed because we love the people in the church, Chris Chase, and being in a church with a traditional liturgy. 

Good Samaritan reflects its namesake in that it is so welcoming to each individual.  It is an accepting, diverse church. Each of us brings a different perspective, a different take on things; our own life experience.  Yet we have a common bond, common ground. This helps us be even more accepting and compassionate. We can all worship together and be willing to help anyone where they are.  

I feel closest to Christ during our music, especially the praise music, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow", and the Lord's Prayer.  When I'm singing, I get a chill; I feel it's the Holy Spirit, and I think "Gosh, You're there!"  I look at the stained glass windows, especially the shell, and can feel Christ within me. 


Being in church gives me peace.  Things in life can be frustrating and hectic, and then I go to the service and can let everything go. I get the most calming feeling of peace. Peace so I can go out and be—or at least try to be—more Christ-like.

(This is reprinted from "40 Days of Devotions in Lent", 2011.) 

Giving Thanks #1

by Ruth Lim

I give thanks to my parents! For raising me and my younger sister, Angela. And especially for sending me to California to high school and college! 


I had this burning desire to go to high school in California. I blame it on dad's Reader's Digest and Time magazines. My parents did not have to send both daughters so far away, and spend most of their life savings. Most of their friends' daughters would stay home, get married and have children. But, they knew an education was the ticket to a better future back on Borneo or where ever we ended up. 

Ruth, at 2 months, with her Dad

So, I ended up here in America's Finest City with my family and my Good Sam family!

New Things Afoot for our Youth!

by Rev. Rebecca Edwards

If you swing on over to the Youth Group page of the Good Sam web site, you will see that there a lot of new ways we are continuing to build a youth group (for middle school and high school) this fall. We now have a pretty full calendar of youth activities, brimming with old favorites and some new opportunities.

Youth Christian Ed: One of the most significant elements in building our youth program at Good Sam is a Christian ed program just for youth. Called CnC: Confirm not Conform, this program takes an innovative approach to helping young people build their own spiritual lives. CnC focuses on helping young people ask tough questions and search out the answers. Through innovative classroom work, field trips, mentor relationships and the challenge to do a whole lot more than just learn a few facts, CnC lets kids take real responsibility for understanding their faith and its power. When they do—when they see the church and faith as something that truly belongs to them, rather than something they’re forced to accept—it builds a bond that lasts. 

Homework Help: Our youth came up with a completely original request, one that I have never heard in all my years of youth ministry! Since they are all drowning in homework as it is, there was a lot of energy around the idea of getting together on a regular basis with their assignments, to support and encourage each other. We are working on putting together a schedule of tutors/mentors from the congregation to offer extra help on the first and third Sunday of each month during the Christian ed hour. Please contact me if you can help – we need helpers in all subjects, including foreign languages!

Impossible Games with Paul Phillips continues every month. This is a great program and we are grateful to Paul for his energy and commitment to this offering! As the year progresses, we hope to add a second level of Paul's amazing program for high school youth – stay tuned!

Diocesan Events: Good Sam youth have been very involved in diocesan events in the past (thanks especially to supermom Ruth Lim!) and there are fun events planned for every month of the year.

If you need more information about any of these events or if you would like to volunteer to be a tutor, you can:

• visit the "Youth Group" web page on the Good Sam web site, which will always have the monthly calendar(s) available
• contact Re(v)becca at 858-458-1501 or rebeccae@goodsamchurch.org
• find the "Good Sam Youth Group" page on Facebook and "Like" it to receive updates that way

See you at church!

How Do You Deal with the Tornadoes in Your Life?

by Leanne Shawler,

Communications Director

You might think that working in a church office is a pretty quiet job.

You’d be wrong.

Sometimes it feels like I work in Tornado Alley. 

One of the shows I got hooked on this year is “Storm Chasers”. There’s something about the way the tornado forms, how these “extreme meteorologists” can predict it and then still end up in its path.  Tornadoes have both tremendous beauty and gut-wrenching destruction.

There are folks who blow through our office who are like that.

If it’s an anxiety tornado, then its contagious and the tornadoes multiply as we react instead of responding.

Why are people tornadoes? When losses are felt, change occurs, the anxiety builds into a super-cell and before you know it.... Sometimes it’s a person’s anxiety about non-church stuff, sometimes it’s a person’s brokenness as they seek help, sometimes it comes through extending the gift of hospitality, and sometimes it comes from biting off more than we can chew.

For the last couple of weeks, the tornado has been me. 

My grandfather died a couple of weeks ago and as I’d gone home in August to say goodbye, I couldn’t go back to Australia for the service.  The homesickness was an added whammy. My Number One Support Guy (aka my husband Dan) was overseas in a totally different time zone, so you can add a good dollop of loneliness. 

Some days I was just fine and some days... I stormed through minor setbacks and actually went home early for a few days so my reactiveness and grieving didn’t negatively affect the rest of the office. (Besides, it was good to go home and have a really good cry.) 

The winds have died down now and having been the tornado instead of the tornadoed, I have a bit of new perspective. I still don’t like it when a tornado comes through--they’re pretty awful--but now I have more empathy.

So when the tornadoes whirl, I try not to take cover under my desk and pray that they soon blow over.  Because it’s as little fun to be a tornado as to be hit by one.

How do you deal with the tornadoes in your life? Have you ever been a tornado yourself? How did you get through that?