February 2009
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Praying the Prayers of Jesus

At the end of this month, we will move into the penitential season of Lent, the 40 day period of preparation for the joy of Easter. Many people observe this season by taking on a discipline of some sort.

As we have spent time in adult Sunday School the past weeks studying the psalms, it has occurred to me that spending time with these ancient prayers and songs would be a good way to observe Lent.

The psalms have been called the “prayer book of the Bible.” As such, they were among the scripture and prayers that shaped and formed Jesus. These songs are prayers that Jesus knew by heart. He used them in his teachings, and they are the words that he uttered while hanging from the cross. (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? from Psalm 22).

Thomas Merton describes the psalms as “the very prayers and songs of Jesus, which he sang from dawn to dark, marking the hours of his days, giving spirit to the feasts, and which echoed in the words of his world-changing gospel.”

The reason the psalms have stayed alive for so many centuries is because they speak honestly of every human condition. One commentator notes that much of the Bible is God speaking to humans; the psalms are humanity’s speech to God.

And it is honest speech, full of both love and hatred, of suffering and rejoicing, of despair and hope.

Catholic priest Joseph Gelineau, who translated the psalms and set them to music, writes that “No one who takes the words of the psalms on his lips and their meaning in his heart, who allows the rhythm of their images to take hold of him and their accents to echo through his being, can possibly remain indifferent to them.

“They may overwhelm or shock, bring peace or exaltation, but inevitably they draw us beyond ourselves, they force us to that meeting with God without whom we cannot live and who transforms our whole life. The psalms compel us to belief and hope.”

There are several ways to order a reading of the psalms during Lent. You can follow the schedule of psalm readings in morning and evening prayer by going to page 950 in the Book of Common Prayer, and beginning with Ash Wednesday, reading the psalms suggested for each day.

Or you can read straight through the 150 psalms in a 30-day period by going to the psalm section in the prayer book. Notice above Psalm 1 on page 585 is the inscription “First Day: Morning Prayer.” The readings for that morning go through Psalm 5. Then above Psalm 6 is the inscription: “First Day: Evening Prayer.” Following this schedule of readings will take you through all the psalms during Lent.

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Announcements

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A Prayer for the Economy

Almighty God, we come to you with deep concerns for our economy.
We do not have to remind you that many are being affected through loss of investments,
income and employment. We acknowledge that we, as a nation,
have lived beyond our means for years,
and have failed to be responsible about our expenditures.
Many have been guilty of greed and selfishness at the expense of others.

Give wisdom to our leaders, and the leaders of other nations.
Give them the resolve to work at solving these problems.
May they seek your guidance as they make decisions affecting us all.
Calm the fears of those who are anxious.
Help them to put their trust in you.
May we use this time to reorder our priorities:
to put people above possessions, to seek first your direction in our lives,
to find comfort and strength in your Word,
to love our neighbors, and to give ourselves to your service.

Amen.

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Lenten Lecture Series

Acclaimed Jesus and New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan will lecture at St. Dunstan’s in March. Once again, we are partnering with St. Bede’s Episcopal Church to bring an internationally known speaker during Lent. The series will begin Friday night, March 13, at St. Bede’s with sessions on The World and Life of Jesus and continue Saturday morning at St. Dunstan’s with sessions on the Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

Crossan’s belief is that we will only get the theology of the 21 st century right if we get the history of the first century right. His work examines the past not merely as ancient history, but as a contemporary model, warning, and challenge for today.

Jesus was a Jew living and acting in the Roman Empire, an imperial system of domination that ultimately executed him for sedition. Christ opposed the violent injustice of the Roman Empire with a radical alternative vision and path forward.

The choice posed to us by Jesus, then as now, is between a world of force and violence or a world of justice and peace. But now the stakes are even higher because our capacity for violence is exponentially greater.

Two of Crossan’s books are especially recommended for those who would like to read some of his works before hearing him speak – Jesus, a Revolutionary Biography and The Last Week.

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The Bishop is Coming!

Bishop Neil Alexander will be at St. Dunstan’s on June 21 st. He will preach and officiate that day and will also do confirmations. If you are an adult interested in being confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church, please contact Tricia. We will arrange adult confirmation classes at a time that is convenient to those who are interested.

Our youth are already preparing for confirmation during their Sunday School classes. Because several of them will be away at the time of the bishop’s visit, our youth have decided to participate in a diocesan-wide confirmation at the Cathedral on May 31 st. We will have a reception at St. Dunstan’s to honor them that day, and we hope many parishioners will attend the service at the Cathedral.

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From the Treasurer

2008 Year End

The December 2008 Bellows reported that November was another cash-flow positive month. There is now good news about the 2008 end-of-year numbers:

This excellent year-end position is due primarily to three things:

1. Overpayment of pledges in the aggregate amount of almost $25,000 by 20 members
   [THANK YOU!]
2. Higher-than-budgeted plate income for the year
3. Underspending the expenses budget by about $9,000

What this “surplus” means is that as of December 31, the church’s available operating cash (i.e. funds not earmarked or designated for specific purposes) was almost $75,000. This is almost three months of operating reserve funds for 2009.

It is important to remember, however, that this surplus was achieved only because in 2008 the church had another budget which was not “fully-funded.” A fully-funded budget would have allocated $30,000 for Outreach as well as $34,000 for Diocesan Support. Applying the same income to such a budget would have resulted in a deficit of almost $8,000.

2009

The Stewardship Committee wishes to thank you for your pledged support of St. Dunstan’s for 2009.

PLEDGE GIFTS: If it is possible, it is most helpful to the financial process if parishioners divide their pledges into pieces (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) and give throughout the year, rather than waiting until year-end to make the entire pledge gift.

2009 BUDGET: Projected total income for 2009 is less than actual 2008 income, but more than 2008 budgeted income. Anticipating a continued need for budget restraint, the vestry once again appealed our Diocesan Pledge Assessment last summer. The appeal was approved, so our commitment to the Diocese will be $20,000 for 2009. This is approximately 60% of the assessment by the Diocese, and $5,000 more than we paid in 2008. The goal is to continue to increase our pledge each year until we get back to paying our full assessment as soon as possible.

The hardest hit area of the 2008 operating budget was Outreach, for which no funds were allotted. The good news here is that for 2009, the vestry approved $17,000 for Outreach. [This amount is in addition to and separate from the funds which currently are available in the Outreach Designated Fund.]

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Our sympathy goes to Greg and Jane Blount and Whit and Greer on the death of Greg’s mother, Chloris Blount.

We thank parishioner Dick Harris for agreeing to serve in the important job of treasurer. And we thank Nancy Elliott for the outstanding job she has done in this role for the past two years. Nancy has also spent many hours working with Dick to ensure that the transition between the two of them goes smoothly. We are grateful to both of them.

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