All Saints e-Newsletter April 2011

This Lenten time between Ash Wednesday and Easter Day is a time when each of us is strongly encouraged to take an honest look at our relationship with God. Are we close or distant? Are we out in the open or running for cover? Are we truly trusting? If we look at our lives, what do our choices tell us?

Many people avoid this kind of self-evaluation by thinking about it only superficially or ignoring it altogether. It can be very uncomfortable. But if we refuse to look at the brokenness in our lives, we inevitably persist in patterns of that hurt us and others. We quietly participate in society's common practices that degrade us all.

We list these sad, destructive behaviors on Ash Wednesday: "our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation of other people...our envy of those more fortunate...our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts." (BCP p. 268)

As we hear the list, and know its truth, we can feel the seriousness of the situation - at the same time we feel our own inability to overcome it on our own power. At the same time, the fact that we can still recognize our desire to do better offers a glimmer of hope. We're never beyond redemption!

But we have to act. We have to make different choices. How? First, we have to step back and see that changing our behavior without addressing the roots of the problem won't work. The essence of all human problems, Christian faith tells us, is that we want to put other things in the place of God. We look to behaviors, substances and things (like money) to do for us what only God can do: provide lasting comfort, safety and hope. This is the powerful and insidious human failing that we address in Lent.

Once we understand this eternal truth, we can take action. Since trying to change on our own is a setup for failure, we can get support from others: therapists, counselors, trusted friends, support groups, 12-step programs, and more.

The church, of course, offers many powerful tools for this work. Worship and private prayer, time spent on devotionals like Forward Day By Day and pastoral counseling. And if you haven't ever tried it, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, otherwise known as "confession," can really make a difference. If you've never tried it, take a chance, call me and set up an appointment. It won't hurt you, and might just turn your life around.

The point of Lent, then, is not to be left, alone and hopeless, with our failings. It is to affirm that God's power is greater than our habits of making bad choices. God's patience holds through failure after failure. And over time, as we make the slow progress of pilgrims, we come to see what forgiveness -- deep, abiding forgiveness -- really feels like.

Vestry Meeting Highlights:
Moving Forward with Faith

Maxine Sitts, Rector's Warden

Endorsed the parish financial reports through February 28

Our early-year financial picture is bright. Our 2011 budget forecasted a deficit of approximately $3,000 at the end of February; instead, we were almost $4,000 in the black. Much of this is due to the income from the Crab Feed, but the surplus also reflects unexpected increases in donations and careful cost control. We give thanks to God for this blessing.

Approved a proposal for new event tables

With full attendance by members, the vestry approved a proposal to raise funds for 10 new lightweight tables. Tables cost about $89 each, with many folks rounding up their contribution to an even $100. Donors can remain anonymous, or provide information (memorials, thanksgivings, etc.) to be affixed to the tables.

Approved a plan to repay the diocesan line of credit (repairs and renovations)

Approved a plan to repay the diocesan line of credit connected with the parish's Building Fund Drive

The proposal includes:

Verifying who has fulfilled their pledges to date, who is continuing to make monthly payments, and reminding those who have fallen behind of the importance of bringing their pledges current
Launching a "Forward to the Finish" campaign to celebrate what we've accomplished, encourage additional members and friends to contribute to the Building Fund, and pay off the $40,000 loan through the diocesan line of credit
Raising an additional $40,000 beyond the loan to complete the ADA improvements for our bathrooms and to upgrade our kitchen - enabling us to minister in even more ways to the community.

Facilitated staff changes

Expressed thanks to Janet Plankenhorn for her years of service as Parish Secretary and welcomed Dana Coffin as the new Office Manager. (Although neither staff member was in attendance, they were notified of the vestry's actions.)

Heard team reports
(Crab Feed, Facilities Care, Friendship Focus)

Accepted progress reports
of the Crab Feed and the FCC Team (provided elsewhere in this newsletter).

Encouraged sign-ups
for a proposed May 21 parish train trip to Sacramento and the Train Museum, as part of our focus on friendship during 2011.

All vestry meetings are open to the public. Please contact any vestry member for more information. Approved vestry minutes and monthly financials are posted on the bulletin board and also can be obtained from the parish office.

Report from the Facilities Care Committee
Join Us on April 2

Jack Kincaid for the FCC

Construction Update

Well, we passed the city building inspection on March 1, and our building permit is valid for another 180 days. That is so good, thank you Lord!

If we don't do some construction that requires an inspection every 180 days, our permit will lapse (but not our obligation to the City of San Leandro) and we will have to apply again. (It takes about a month and costs about $3,500 in fees.)

Our general contractor did the rough-in wiring for the ADA-compliant women's bathroom (formerly the small kitchen next to the Fireside Room). This was the minimum we could do and still get an inspection and permit extension. This gives us a little time to raise funds to do the minimum work for the next permit extension -- the rough-in for the toilets. We are hoping to do all the rest of the work ourselves (installation of the toilets, sink, ADA toilet partitions, baby changing station, wider ADA door. Materials and colors will match the bathroom across the hall.

Liturgy of the Steward

Making our facility look "cared for" is, perhaps, one of our most important functions.

For two hours on the first Saturday of each month, a small group of dedicated parishioners does minor cleaning and repairs as part of our "worship." This month Fr. Rob, Jason Beito, Donna Lack, and I (JK):

Put new feet and felt pads under the altar to make it easier to move.
Unbolted and moved the handicap lift to remove a chair trolley and replace it with the Kajukenbo carpets. The two trolleys (48 folding chairs) are now readily accessible in a bay under the stage.
Reinstalled the front roof drain pipe under the landscape bark.

Thank you, Donna, for damp-mopping the entire nave with vinegar and water; it really brings up those wonderful Douglas Fir colors. Thank you, Jason, for replacing the batteries in all seven smoke detectors.

The new sodium vapor light bulb seems to have solved the, intermittent darkness problem in the parking lot for now.

We are hoping for many "stewards" to come on April 2 to help clean the parking lot and remove the concrete parking stop -- a tripping hazard -- in the disabled parking space.

New Tables

Special thanks to those who sponsored the new 8-foot plastic tables. Cal and Nancy Churchill found them at Costco at end-of-line prices. Mary Kincaid, Table Project chair, wrote a proposal. The vestry authorized the the purchase of 10 (sponsored) tables to replace the 10 oldest, heaviest tables. Jim Muir, Clyde Fralick, and I (JK) brought them to All Saints.

The expected oversubscription of funds will help to buy some new card tables and four 4-foot-diameter round-top tables. Sponsors of new tables may have one old table free, and others may have one or more, for a nominal donation. They are strong, but oh, so heavy!

Entrance Door Locks

Nothing lasts forever and some of our entrance door locks are becoming worn and difficult to open. We are trying to replace them as quickly as we can afford to. Please report any difficulties you encounter with door locks to the Facilities Care Committee (FCC).

Social Ministries

Tom Breckenridge, Social Ministries Team Leader

Thanks to the gleaners! On Sunday March 20, an intrepid crew of Rochelle Ball, Aniesha Sapp, Donna Lack, Richard Burke, Sara Knights-Lack, and William Dennis III braved the cold and the rain to gather fruit from a neighbor's orange and tangerine trees. Thanks also to our new secretary Dana Coffin for quickly moving the request forward. How wonderful that the neighbor thought of All Saints and our food pantry. How wonderful that this gang was willing to go and gather. Thank you!

April Showers News

Would you believe the April Showers program is nine years old? It's time to celebrate! The April Showers Anniversary Picnic will be held on Saturday, April 30 at San Leandro Community Church, 1395 Bancroft Ave. 11:00 set up, 11:30 lunch, 12:00 a few brief remarks from Mayor Cassidy and others, 12:15 live dance music!

Needed: salads and cookies and a few folks to help serve lunch. Please contact me if you're able to help out. Most importantly, please come and enjoy, and meet some of the folks that All Saints parishioners have done so much for over the years.

Food Pantry News

In March, 112 guests came to our pantry and picked up food for 355 household members. The size of the average household served by our pantry continues to increase. We got front-page coverage of the pantry in the San Leandro Times thanks to Cynthia Eaton. Cynthia contacted San Leandro High School volunteers then got the Times editor to cover this good news story of youth happily helping out. The word continues to spread that if you want to do good works, come to All Saints.

Tom Breckenridge, tom.breckenridge@gmail.com

Social Ministries Calendar

Saturday, 4/2

Food Pantry 11:00-3:00, All Saints

Sunday, 4/3

April Showers 11:00-2:00, San Leandro Boys and Girls Club

Sunday, 4/17

Bag lunch preparation for April Showers after 8:00 service, All Saints kitchen

April Showers 11:00-2:00, San Leandro Boys and Girls Club

Saturday, 4/30

April Showers Anniversary Picnic 11:00-1:30, San Leandro Community Church, 1395 Bancroft Avenue

Walk with Me

John Trubina

Deacon saint: Elizabeth Ferard, first deaconess in the Church of England, founder of the Community of St. Andrew, died 18 April 1883.

Greetings and a Blessed Lent to each of you!

The word is out! I have received the letter of approval from Bishop Marc Andrus notifying me that I will be ordained to the Holy Order of the Diaconate. This special day will be Saturday, June 4, at 4:00 PM at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco.

It is a tradition for newly ordained deacons to return to their home parishes and celebrate the liturgy with their home parish families, and I am most happy to say I have been invited by Father Rob to assist as his deacon at the liturgies on Sunday, June 5.

Words cannot relay my feelings as to what this all means to me. After years of study, prayer and support, I will be answering God's call to go out into the world, to see Christ in all others, being ready to help and serve those in need. God has blessed me with each of you as my example and I will be passing on our tradition to all that I meet.

I wish to thank my Congregational Vocations Committee for all their support, love and perseverance with me during my discernment process. Liz, Nancy, Claire and Karen, I will always hold your support close to my heart.

By the way, the CROP Hunger Walk is scheduled for Saturday, April 2. We have many people who will be walking together this day to support those who are hungry and in need medical supplies. For more information and/or to donate online, please go to our webpage: www.crophungerwalks.org/oakland/

Here are important dates to remember. Mark your calendars. All are invited!

May 7: School for Deacons Community Dinner (last one) (please advise me if you will be able to attend) -- 6:00 PM Worship, 7:00 PM Dinner
May 15: Graduation, 4:00 PM (details to come)
June 4: Ordination at Grace Cathedral, 4:00 PM
June 5: Celebration Eucharist at All Saints (8 and 10 AM)
June 5: Celebration party for everyone

John can be reached by email at jtrubina@comcast.net or by phone at (415) 517-5646.

From Your New Office Manager

I am delighted to be working at All Saints with such a great group of people. Thank you all for being so helpful to me during my first few weeks in the office. I would like to build up a group of volunteers who would help me fold the bulletins and inserts on Thursdays. The job only takes about an hour -- or half an hour if two people work on it together. If you are interested, please leave me a note or a message on the voicemail.

Thank you.

Dana Coffin, Office Manager

Holy Week Schedule

Palm Sunday, April 17 -- 8:00 & 10:00 AM

Begin your weeklong journey with the blessing of the palms, triumphant procession and Matthew's account of the passion story.

Maundy Thursday, April 21 -- 6:00 PM

Named for Christ's "new commandment" that we love one another as he loved us we recall the Last Supper. We'll share a potluck dinner, communion and witness the solemn stripping of the altar.

Good Friday, April 22 -- Noon

At noon, we remember Christ's passion and death on the cross on the darkest day of the year. Includes the great Anglican "solemn collects."

Salvador Dali, Christ of St. John of the Cross

Good Friday, 8:00 PM: The Way of the Cross

We are proud to host the Mystery Players from Salesian High School in Richmond: 25 teenagers and four adults. Experience a dramatic multimedia presentation of the Passion and death of Jesus. With special lighting, inspirational music, drama and soul-searching meditations invite us all to get in touch with our goodness, struggles and failings. The Way of the Cross is a powerful, prayerful vehicle for Christ's spirit to forgive, heal and transform.

The Great Vigil of Easter, Saturday, April 23 -- 7:30 PM

The early church celebrated Easter on Saturday night, and we now reclaim this ancient tradition. Celebrate this most holy night of the year as we light the Easter fire in the courtyard, hear the great stories of salvation, baptize new Christians and rejoice in the miracle of Easter.

Easter Day, Sunday, April 24 -- 9:00 AM

Great music, brass instruments and the flowering of the cross, our Easter Day services are our most joyful. Come hear the story that made the church!

Seminar on Great Relationships

To Be Webcast at All Saints

On April 29, The Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley will present an all-day seminar called "The Science of a Great Relationship." Dr. Christine Carter and Dr. Frederic Luskin will present tips from recent research for making relationships more fulfilling and longer-lasting.

We will watch a webcast of this seminar in the Fireside Room from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM with a break for lunch. Cost is $20 per couple, including lunch. Advance signup is required, so if you want to come, send an email to Fr. Rob at robdroste@sbcglobal.net. (Parents, let us know if you'll need childcare and, if so, for how many children and their ages. Once we know demand, we can explore setting up childcare and be in touch with you about it.)

For more information on the Greater Good Science Center, go to www.greatergood.berkeley.edu.

AmTrak Train Trip

Ken Wright

When was the last time you were on a train?

We are planning a mini train trip Oakland to Sacramento on Saturday, May 21. We will depart in the a.m. and return home that same evening. You will have a number of options when you arrive in Sacramento: Visit California State Railroad Museum, Old Sacramento, State Capitol etc. If there is enough interest in the Railroad Museum, we could probably get a group rate.

At this time we would like to see if there is any interest in this tour. Will have a sign-up sheet in the Narthex. Please sign up and let us know how many will be traveling.

Directory Update

Members: David and Kay Landers, 1136 Scenic View Street, Upland, CA 91784, kaylanders@gmail.com

Moving Announcement

Kay Landers

Moving again

This time, into a home of our own

For the very first time

In Upland, California.

We've lived together

In a multitude of abodes,

Beginning in 1956

With a honeymoon apartment in Berkeley

And then a Spanish shelter in Costa Rica,

Followed by 33 years of a dozen rented houses

Built by others on the Line of the Equator,

10,000 feet high,

In the beautiful Country of Ecuador.

First a house on a cobblestone street

Whose kitchen ceiling frequently fell in our soup,

Then a Children's Home where we sheltered twenty students,

Children of missionaries from our jungle hospital

Who came to us for their education in the English language

Eventually, after moves here there and everywhere,

We went to live in a country home, built by David's cousin Steve

Whose father's death in the jungles of Ecuador, Nate Saint (along with four of his missionary friends),

Drew us south of the Border where his son built us a home in a grove of Eucalyptus trees just a few miles from the Equator.

We lived for three decades plus three there in the Land of the Incas,

Until David retired from teaching school, and we returned to California in 1991, when we left behind our lives as missionaries to live in the State of our births. 1991-2011, we lived in a rental of David's parents.

And now, 20 years later we are moving to our Home with a View

To be near our children and grandchildren in a place

Where the San Gabriel Mountains shelter us just as the Andes once did,

And where green grass and swaying trees capture our spirits from our kitchen window. Unexpected, unanticipated, we are moving into a house facing a golf course.

Come see us. We like to think we've settled in a home waiting for you to come by for a cup of coffee, a night to rest, and a time to visit.

The Blessing of Friendship

New Alcoholics Anonymous Group

The Broadmoor Group of AA meets on Sunday nights from 7:30 to 8:30 PM. This is a literature-based speaker/ discussion meeting. If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, you will be welcomed by all.

What If Jesus Had to Print Money?

Karen Taylor, Stewardship Chair

I saw this recently from the Luther Seminary. It was preached by pastor Alan Storey on February 24.

Do you see why we have an offering when we come to worship? We do not have an offering to keep the lights on. We do not have an offering to pay the pastor. We have an offering because God knows that is the one thing that can relocate our hearts. When we have an offering we give people an opportunity to relocate their hearts. Where our treasure is, there is our heart.

If Jesus had to print money, this is what he would print on it: Jesus Expels the Money Lenders

Handle with extreme care
Has the power to relocate your heart
Keep out of reach of the rich
Taking too much can result in an overdose
Regardless of the room temperature it should not be stored up for too long
Works best when given away in the care of others
Consult your doctor, Matthew 6, if your desire for more persists beyond your need

Stop being obsessed with fashion, food and finances in the way that you are obsessed with fashion, food and finances. Granted, Jesus also was obsessed with fashion, food and finances-but fashion for the naked, food for the hungry and finances for the poor.

Flowers at the Altar

Nicola Peck, Altar Guild Director

After Easter, when we resume decorating the church with flowers, we will have flowers from the florist only when someone has signed up on the flower chart in the narthex.

Dana, our office manager, will call that week and ask who the flowers are to honor, so she can include the information in the bulletin.

Corazon 2011 Set for June 25

Last year, four members of All Saints went to Tijuana with parishioners from other Episcopal churches in Southern Alameda county to build a home under the auspices of the Corazon project. In one day, they built a sweet little house -- and had a great time in the process!

This year's build -- done in one day -- will take place June 25. The team will drive down to San Diego on Friday, June 24, staying overnight in a participating church. Early on June 25 the group will cross the border, build a house, eat with the family who will be living there, then return back to the US in the late afternoon. After church on Sunday morning, folks will come back to the Bay Area. (There will be an option for those who want to go to Disneyland on Monday as well.)

This is a great opportunity for life-changing service. If you're interested in going and would like to know more about what the experience is like, feel free to talk with Fr. Rob, Jean Saastamoinen or Jeff Korst. The main organizer/contact person for the trip is Jim Shiffer, member of St. Clare's Pleasanton. He can be reached at Jim.Shiffer@arm.com.

CONTACTS

Church office: allsaintsepiscopal@att.net, 510-569-7020

Neighborhood Center: Maxine Sitts,

neighborhood.center.at.all.saints@gmail.com

Please check the calendar for scheduled meetings and to see what spaces and times are available for a meeting you are planning. To add your meeting time and space to the calendar, contact Maxine Sitts, sittsbreck@att.net.

Rector: Fr. Rob Droste, robdroste@sbcglobal.net

Rector's warden: Maxine Sitts, sittsbreck@att.net

People's warden: Anne Phillips, aphillips@chcnetwork.org

Musician: Dylan Snodgrass, dvsnodgrass@yahoo.com

Newsletter editor: Mary Nelson, marypat56@gmail.com