Ordination of Rev. Rebecca Edwards

 

On Saturday, January 7, Rev. Rebecca Edwards was ordained to the priesthood. With family and friends coming out from back East, it was truly a festive affair, with moon pies being handed out at the reception afterward.

Rebecca designated the offering plate at her ordination to go to Rebuilding the Church in Haiti. Haiti’s cathedral was destroyed in the massive earthquake two years ago.

The beautiful music by Fran McKendree lifted us into the Holy Spirit, and Lynn Schmissrauter’s sermon reminded us to be the light, see the light, and to lighten up.

All in all, it was an amazing day.

Revbecca writes: "I can't thank the Good Sam family enough for everything you did to make my ordination so amazing. So many of you participated in the ceremony and behind the scenes: singing in the choir, arranging flowers, bringing your kids to the rehearsal, providing food and decorations for the reception, serving Moon Pies, and on and on. Thank you for surrounding my family with your characteristic love and for celebrating with Josh and me on such a wonderful day!"

(Thanks to Ruth Lim and Donna Nelson for the photos and Ann Fuerst for the video.)

What are your favorite memories of Rebecca's ordination?

Meet Our New Vestry Members: Eddie Gibb

by Eddie Gibb

I am a 4th year Bioengineering/Biotechnology student at UCSD. I have grown up in the Episcopal Church, attending St. Patrick's in Kenwood, CA since birth. I served as an acolyte for ten years, and I was an active part of the youth group. I went on two mission trips with the youth group to Tijuana to build houses through Amor Ministries.

I also helped organize a youth diocesan convention for the Diocese of Northern California. I was also a youth representative at the 2006 General Convention through E3: Educate, Experience, and Empower.

I worked in elder care for three years, which stemmed from a senior service project through my Catholic high school, Cardinal Newman of Santa Rosa.

In 2009, I became a member of the United Campus Ministry at UCSD. The campus ministry has been everything I ever hoped for and more. I have been supported both spiritually and emotionally by the community, and it has facilitated further service work, such as a mission trip to El Salvador in 2010. United Campus Ministry has also presented me with an opportunity to become one of the founding members of the Interfaith Student Council at UCSD.

I would like to become a member of the vestry at Good Samaritan Episcopal Church to help grow the campus ministry at UCSD and integrate it better with with the physical community of Good Samaritan.

It was encouraging to see how the joint efforts of Good Samaritan and the Newman Center Catholic Community at UCSD could come together and produce such an amazing Advent Choral Celebration. I hope to expand the United Campus Ministry's relationship with the Newman Community by working with Kieu Tran through the Interfaith Council.

I would also like to help support other ministries, such as  the Vi Care worship service and organizing mission trips for the youth group. Although my immediate future after graduation is uncertain, I am excited by the possibility of being on the vestry.

Praying for Birthdays and Anniversaries in a New Way

by Chris Chase

So, this past Sunday, the first in 2012, actually the first day in the new year, I changed the little prayer we say on “Birthday Sunday.” 

As you know on the first Sunday of the month we call forward to the altar all those who celebrate birthdays during the month. We also call forward those who celebrate anniversaries of their marriages or those who want to celebrate relationships in their lives. 

What has confused me over the years is that we end this blessing with a prayer that only recognizes those who have come forward to celebrate the anniversary of their birth, and not those who come forward to celebrate their love. Kinda leaves them out of the communal well wishes.

Well, it bugged me enough that I finally felt compelled to change the prayer to be more inclusive. I used a prayer that comes from the Book of Common Prayer that is entitled “For Those We Love” (which seems appropriate for a christian community that purports to “love and beloved”), and reads; 

“Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that you are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”

Granted it does not have the rhyme and rhythm of the old prayer but it does include all who come forward. 

BUT, I am not wedded (no pun intended) to this prayer. And, as it is a prayer that we all say as a community to offer thanks and gratitude for those in our community who worship along side of us in a spirit of being loved and beloved, I want to invite your suggestions. 

So, if you have a favorite prayer that celebrates and blesses those celebrating birthdays and marriages and loving relationships, please feel free to submit. Feel free to write one. Submit and if appropriate we will use it this year. 

By appropriate I mean be respectful expressing gratitude for all blessing and love and not for the specific. For example, this would be an inappropriate prayer: “Gracious God, we give you praise and thanksgiving for all the blessings of this life, especially for the New York Yankees and their World Series victories of yore...” It would not surprise you to receive a reply from me asking if I could help reword some of the prayer.

You get the idea :)

Have fun.

Peace,

Chris

Has Calling Yourself A 'Christian' Ever Felt Like a Lie?

by Leanne Shawler

When I joined Good Sam, I was a lifelong Christian, an active Christian for good chunks of it, but I hadn’t forgiven myself or allowed God to forgive me for my past actions. So the identity tag of “Christian” felt like a lie to me.

Before I joined Good Sam, I was active in another church and could “do” church to a tee: be the sole Sunday School teacher, create and print the Sunday bulletins, the newsletter, serve on vestry, lead the way in inviting the local community to come to church. I was so busy “doing” church that the sum total I experienced in a typical Sunday service was the couple of minutes of communion.

In short, I was working my arse off trying to belong, all the while believing that I didn’t.

Because I had done some things I was ashamed of. That time in my life wasn’t pretty. Or healthy.

It wasn’t until I burnt out at “doing church” that we church-shopped for a new church home and found Good Sam. Dan and I vowed not to get involved for a while, maybe six months. We lasted three, and joined the choir. The end of the year rolled around and I ran for vestry.

I was well on the path of “doing church” again. 

But that was the moment God, through Good Sam, transformed my life. While on vestry retreat at Mt. Calvary in Santa Barbara, I walked the labyrinth in the early morning before breakfast. I was on vestry with Thelma, who taught me how to pray and who knew how to pray a labyrinth.

This isn't the labyrinth I walked, but is the one at St. Mary's
Retreat House where the brothers from Mt. Calvary are
now located since the fire a few years ago.

I used the method she told me about where I reflected on my life, from birth to present time. I was approaching the center of the labyrinth, and realized that what I colloquially call the “dark time” in my life would be what I was reflecting on as I reached the center. Where God was.

Waiting.

I could quit the labyrinth or take the leap and step into the center and take whatever God was going to deliver. Think lightning strike.

I took the leap, and laid it all out there: the betrayal, the smashed relationships, the guilt.

And God loved me. There’s really no other way to express the warmth, the overpowering sense of love, the embrace and the gentle voice that said: “I was there. I loved you then. If only you’d seen Me.”

Since then, I’ve done my best to honor God’s gift of mercy, love and forgiveness to me. It took me a little while to figure out how and there have been some backward steps, but by continuing to lean in toward God and His love, by getting help in learning how to let my baggage go, by learning more about my faith through Education for Ministry, discovering the depths of my role at Good Sam, I think I am finally at the place for what God has called me to do next: to share God’s gift of mercy, love and forgiveness with someone else.

I see it happening through communicating the transformative place that Good Sam is to the outside world via this blog, and somehow, personally making an impact on someone who needs to hear what I refused to hear for so long.

Has calling yourself a ‘Christian’ ever felt like a lie? Why?

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.