Gillian in Her New Stole!

Gillian just sent over some pictures of her wearing the new stole that we gifted her with.  We ordered it from the UK just for her as thanks for her service with us.


It arrived just in time for Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels!

Doesn't it look great?

Rev. Gillian Barr was with us as deacon and priest last year and is now Chaplain at the Canterbury Center at Old Dominion University. 

What Makes You Free at Good Sam?

by Bill Lacey

Over 25 years ago, my mother was a recently ordained Episcopal priest for the San Diego Diocese. As the son of a priest, so many people were under the impression that I was a largely faithful young man who could do no wrong. You know the story….on one side of the coin, the child of a priest is either really good and saintly, OR the other side of that coin is that everything seems to be downhill for that child. It can be a pressure-packed role, always having to put that joker type smile on your face and always having to say the right thing. I was fortunately a young man at this time and already out on my own, but the pressure was still there, especially in the church that I grew up in. 

Everyone knew my mother throughout the diocese, and I was referred to as Maryanne’s son, rather than my name. I was carrying a label rather than being referred to as an individual, or as a man. “Labels belong on jars, not people.” That saying kept creeping into my head, as I advocate that in my professional vocation. I kept asking myself, “why am I not practicing what I preached?” So after praying for a while, I felt strongly that this parish was not meeting my needs as a Christian. I did not feel particularly close to God or my faith. In fact I felt as though I was becoming more and more distant, and so as a result Clare and I decided to stop attending for awhile. 

During this “layoff” we felt the need to have our faith renewed, but there was a high degree of fear involved as we new we did not want to go back to the old parish, and were unsure of what lay ahead. My biggest fear was finding a place where I could shake the label of being someone’s son, and just be known as Bill, a Christian family man. 

We agreed we would visit a few parishes and see what felt like home for us. Our first visit was to Good Sam and we have not looked back. We immediately felt at home. For the first couple of months I simply introduced myself as “Bill” purposely not stating my last name for the fear of falling back into that label of being Maryanne's son. Of course word got out a little and a few people politely approached me and asked, but by that time, a foundation had been laid, and I was label free FINALLY! It should be stated that this is not designed to be a ‘slighted’ statement towards my mother but rather a quest for her son to find independence in the church of God.  


That is one of the reasons we keep coming to Good Sam, but the main reason is that for the first time in my life, despite being the son of a priest, I have found who I am as a Christian man. I am comfortable within my skin openly worshiping God and his son Jesus. I finally feel free, and this has everything to do with my brothers and sisters at Good Sam!!!!!!! 


What makes you feel free at Good Sam?

What do you do with "Jesus Christ?"

by Rev. Chris Chase


I found the conversation at the home forums wonderful. I particularly enjoyed the conversation around the wording of the proposed mission statement. To remind you, or introduce you, the mission statement goes like this:

......holding hands, reaching out to our neighbors, striving to love and be loved......

At every forum there was comment made that the statement ignored the very purpose for our being, Jesus Christ. There was a desire to see "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," "God," some reference to the Divine added so that we did not come across as a "club" but as a Church. After all we gather to worship the one who saves us, Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

The retort to this addition was that the word/name "Jesus" has such a negative connotation to those who are marginally churched or unchurched that it is an immediate barrier, preventing those lost sheep from hearing the gospel. Instead, the mission statement speaks of the actions of The Good Samaritan and Good Samaritan Church which are based in and upon the witness and worship of Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

The conversation is worthy and essential. The truth is we only gather because of the Love and Sacrifice of Jesus. He is our Lord and our foundation and we need to proclaim the Light of the World to the world and not hide under the basket. However, as this is our purpose and goal every Sunday and hopefully during our week, to be a light in the Light our goal is to make ourselves as accessible as possible to a cynical and suspicious culture. How can we be a beacon if our very name "CHRISTian" is a wall, a barrier? Especially, if we are not in the business of sheep stealing (mega-churches are experts at this routine) but about finding lost sheep. To go after the lost sheep is our commission. From our God, Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

Again, it is a worthy and essential conversation for us to have. I would invite your comments and continued conversation around this statement:

.....holding hands, reaching out to our neighbor, striving to love and be loved...


After all, it goes to the heart of what it means and how to be an evangelist for our times.

Sloggers, Slapwatch and a Smile

by Ann Carlton

When you have numb fingertips and toes you look for different accessories than most other folks do.

SLOGGERS:  a unique brand of shoes and when I first saw them at Tuesday Morning in my size, I had to try them.  Much like Crocs but they have completely closed toes area.  Oh yeah, worth a try.  Now, I couldn’t live without them.

SLAPWATCH:  I had never heard of it and quite honestly never seen one.  Wearing a watch is a necessity to me but trying to hook one is a truly frustrating and most times an impossible task.  So there I am at a store in Seaside Village.  Just sorta looking around and wow, what is this thing?  Asked the clerk if I could take it out of the container to try it on.  Sure, go ahead.  Slap, slap and it is on my arm and nice and comfy.   Bought it right then & there. Couldn’t live without it.

SMILE:   God’s Peace begins with a smile. 

Do you remember the old song sung by Nate King Cole?

Smile though your heart is aching…

Smile through your fear and sorrow

Smile and maybe tomorrow you’ll see the sun come shining through for you

Three S’s for me and you.

Wonder in Godly Play

by Rev. Rebecca Edwards

Those of you who heard my first sermon at Good Sam already know that I love Godly Play, and I am so happy to have ended up at a parish that uses this curriculum for its youngest members. There are many great things about Godly Play, but what I love best is that it encourages children to "wonder" about the stories of God. 

This fall, parents will find short blurbs in Good Sam Notes and the e-news telling you about each week's Godly Play stories and how you can continue the discussion with your children at home. 

So I want to tell you more about the role of wondering in Godly Play and how you can wonder at home.

The focal point of every Godly Play session is the story. In Godly Play, we tell the stories of God using tactile materials – Godly Play is loosely based on Montessori education. Some stories involve relatively simple materials, like a series of colorful pictures, while others are more complex, incorporating the ever-popular "desert box" or building structures like the temple.

During or after the telling of the story, children are invited to wonder about what they have just seen and heard. This time of wondering in the circle is not about imparting information, but about exploration of the deeper meaning of the story in the child's life. Jerome Berryman, who originally developed Godly Play, explains it this way: "[T]here is a great difference between transferring units of knowledge – such as "biblical facts" – and what happens during the wondering. Wondering opens the creative process and draws both the lesson and the child's life experience into the personal creation of meaning."

Wondering "questions" differ according to the type of story. In the fall, the children will hear sacred Old Testament stories in Godly Play 2. The wondering questions take place at the conclusion of the story, and they are the same each week: "I wonder…what part of this story you like best? …what part is the most important? …where you are in this story? ….if there is any part of this story we can leave out and still have the story we need?" (You will find these questions printed in the Notes for you to clip out and save.) 

These are easy questions to repeat at home with your children. They may not have had a chance to share their answers during Godly Play, or it may take them several hours – even days – to be able to vocalize what they have been wondering about the story.

As we move into the winter and the parable stories, wondering takes on a different form. With parables, wondering questions will be incorporated into the telling of the story – as objects are drawn from the parable boxes, the storyteller will say: "I wonder what this could really be?" After the parable is told, there will be several more wondering questions that are specifically related to each parable, like "I wonder if this character in the parable has a name?" or "I wonder if the person was happy to see the birds?" etc.

While the stories are told from year to year following the same general script, the belief in Godly Play is that we can always return to these sacred stories and wonder about them in new ways. Again, Mr. Berryman says: "It is easy to recognize a story you have heard before and that is good. What is not easy is to find what you have never noticed before. The children need to be challenged with the idea that these stories can't be worn out. They are never empty or all used up. There is always something new waiting to be discovered." 

Wondering seamlessly incorporates thoughts and feelings, and there are no right or wrong answers. Because children grasp this instinctively, they are far more adventurous wonderers than grownups, and it can be deeply spiritual just to observe the connections they make. 

After reading this explanation of the role of wonder in Godly Play, I hope you can see why a question like "What did you learn in Godly Play today?" limits the full range of emotional and thoughtful responses children may have had to the story. While they will learn more about the people and places in the Bible, those "facts" are far less important than their internal processing of their relationship with God. If you replicate wondering questions at home, based on suggestions in Good Sam Notes, you will surely be amazed at your child's wisdom!

So, I wonder…what marvelous insights emerge when you dare to "wonder" with your child at home? Let us know!

Earthquakes In Our Lives

by Verdery Kassebaum,

Very-Part-Time Administrative Assistant

The Very Rev. Samuel Lloyd, Dean of Washington National Cathedral, after the August earthquake that shook Washington, D.C. and damaged the cathedral: ”Well, it's very distressing. This place [that] seems so massive and so secure and was built to be a sign of God's security has been shaken at its foundations.“ (Interview on NPR, August 24, 2011)

“A sign of God’s security.” We look to majestic churches to remind us of God’s “unchangeable power and might”—we expect them to last forever, riding through the centuries like a grand ship. But a building is made by human beings and wears out even as we do.  And when these grand structures suddenly are damaged or knocked down, we are stunned. It is almost as if God himself has failed us. As if perhaps God himself has somehow changed or given up on us, and we see the face of a stranger instead of our Father and Friend. 

We see God’s power and majesty and eternal solidity in mighty trees or lofty mountainsides, and we call them eternal—“the old eternal rocks,” as an old hymn puts it.  But trees grow old and die and fall to the forest floor, and even mountains wear away over the eons and send rocks crashing into the sea. And being human we ourselves change and wear out and fall to the forest floor.

And we are shaken to our foundations when something unexpected, something tragic happens to us, or when a natural or human-made disaster takes many lives at once. We feel God has failed us, has changed into a being who doesn’t really care about us—or any other humans, for that matter.  

But God is not a building, nor a tree, nor a mountain. God is God, and He Himself does not change. Our ideas about God change; we see God from a different perspective. And if we can hold fast to God even through our own earthquakes, if we don’t give up on Him, our ideas and perspectives deepen. And God continually re-creates, even as we humans continually repair and rebuild. 

Washington National Cathedral will be repaired, rebuilt. And God gives us the grace and strength to repair and rebuild our own lives.

How has God helped you rebuild when you were shaken to your foundations?

"love. be loved"

by Tom O'Sullivan, Music Director

“love. be loved.”  

Ever since I arrived as your interim music director earlier this year, I have discovered that this is much more than a clever tagline at Good Sam.  I feel blessed to have become part of this community, and from the first day I have felt accepted and supported by everyone here. I cannot fully express how grateful my wife, Jennie, and I are for your prayers, hugs, messages, meals, or---in other words--love.  This is a special community, and I enjoy ministering to and with you every week.  

Today marks the first post-summer choir rehearsal, so I thought this would be a great time to:

1.  tell you a little about myself, 
2. explain my take on the role of music and liturgy, and 
3. encourage you to join the choir :) 

Tom (back) with twin sister
(in front)

I started learning organ when I was seven years old.  I rode my bicycle to the organ/piano teacher a few blocks away from home once a week.  We didn't have a piano at home, but we did have an electric organ on which I practiced. 


When I went to junior high school I was asked to accompany the school choir, so I focused on the piano.  I first started playing at Catholic Mass in 8th grade after I decided to approach the music director and ask if I could contribute (much to my mother's surprise).  This is where I really grew as a musician, having to sight-read music week after week, and discovering a true passion for music.  The church had several very talented musicians, and I found myself trying to learn and practice their styles.  By the time I started high school I was accompanying Masses every week on piano and organ.  

When I left for college (10 years ago this month), I was involved in the campus ministry, and later took a position as an assistant music director at a nearby parish.  I continued learning and growing liturgically and musically and directed choirs both during college and later in graduate school.  


I moved to the San Diego area this past November 2010 and immediately plugged into the UCSD Catholic Community as that is where Jennie sang in the choir.  During the "day" I am a postdoctoral researcher at UC Irvine where I develop medical imaging devices, primarily for people with cancer.   

That’s enough about me.  Let's talk about liturgical music.  


My role as music director isn't to be a great musician, put on a concert, or perform.  It's to help you pray.  Music is an important part of our liturgy because music can touch and reveal parts of the soul.  Music is a combination of prayer, poetry, and dance, evoking emotions that bring us closer to God.  


I believe God likes us to worship with a variety of musical styles that include traditional hymns and chant, contemporary pieces, gospel, jazz, and praise music.  My goal is to worship with a mixture, so that each liturgy contains elements that appeal to every member of our diverse community.  For this reason we no longer have a separate Sunday for "praise band," as I hope there are elements of that style each week.  Also I don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable on any particular week if all the music isn’t their "cup of tea".   

Would you like to join me in this endeavor?  


If you love music, there is a place for you in the music ministry – whether the chancel choir, the handbell choir, or as an instrumentalist.  


The chancel choir rehearses Thursday at 7:30pm and meets at 8:45am every Sunday.  "Bell A’Peal" (the handbell choir) rehearses Wednesday at 7:30pm and plays the first Sunday of the month.  


You can find more information about rehearsals and scheduling on Good Sam’s website.  


If you ever had an inkling of desire to participate, that may be God trying to send you a message.  Better listen!  We would love to have you join us.  All musical levels and styles welcome.  If you have any questions about making music, please contact me.  

If the choir's not for you, there's nothing more satisfying to a music director than seeing you participate and making a "joyful noise" every Sunday.  I hope to see you then!

Meeting on a Sunday

by Rev. Chris Chase

It seems to me that the reason we gather on Sunday is for worship of our God, to be nourished by the scriptures and the eucharist, and to greet one another with the peace of Christ. For this reason I would like to discourage ministries from engaging in business meetings on Sunday. Instead, the invitation is not to institutional work but to allowing one's soul to rest and reside in God, or as the BCP (Book of Common Prayer) says, abide in God and let God abide in you. 

However, I know there are occasions when it is necessary to meet. For those who have many obligations during the week it is simply more convenient to meet on Sunday when you are already here on campus. I understand the difficulty of meeting during the work week and the convenience of Sunday. I would ask that you gift yourself with sabbath peace as much as possible and keep the business to a minimum and as infrequent as possible. 

Does this make sense to you?

Did You Miss the Home Forums?

by Leanne Shawler


One of these things actually happened at the home forums. Can you guess which one it is?

1. the rector and parish nurse got into a fist-fight
2. the curate is on page 9 of her job description
3. the parish life director played Angry Birds the entire time on her iPad
4. the mission statement, strategic plans and the three goals to be achieved by 2014 were introduced.

If you guessed number 4, you are right! (Although number 2 might well be close to true...) Hanna, our parish life director, was actually taking notes on her iPad.

With your feedback, the mission statement, strategic plan and goals go back to the vestry -- so stay tuned for the finalized version some time in the near future.