June 2009
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Summer Reading

One night last fall, Joseph Henry chose Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for bedtime reading. I’m a great Harry Potter fan, so I was delighted that Joseph Henry was ready to enter the magical world of Hogwarts. When we finished reading the first book out loud, he immediately wanted to continue with the next. Seven months and 4,100 pages later we finally finished the seventh and last volume. As I closed the book, Joseph Henry looked at me with concern. “Now what do we do?” he asked.

I recognized the feeling. It’s the same anxiety I get if there is not a stack of books waiting to be read on my bedside table. It’s the same concern that made me use more than half of my baggage weight allowance on books when I set off for the Peace Corps in Thailand years ago. For those of us who like to read there are few things more reassuring than the alluring promise of a stack of unread treasures.

Here are some of the treasures that I have read in the past year. If you’d like to add to the list go to the blog on our website or send your list to me and we’ll print them in the next Bellows. In the meantime, happy reading!

Fiction

Evil Intent by Kate Charles. This is the first of a mystery series set in London, whose protagonist is newly-ordained Anglican deacon Callie Anson. Women clergy are still a fairly new phenomenon in the Church of England, and Callie expects to meet resistance from both parishioners and colleagues. But even she is surprised by the vitriol spewed at her at a clergy meeting by hard-line conservative Nigerian priest Father Jonah Adimola. When Adimola is found dead in the sacristy the next morning, strangled by a priest’s stole, Callie finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Before I started this book I was skeptical – a strange title, two authors, and a book written as letters. None of that sounded particularly appealing. But I am glad I put that skepticism aside and read this charming and engaging novel about the German occupation of the British island of Guernsey in World War II, and its aftermath.

Bombingham by Anthony Grooms. Walter Burke is a black American soldier in Vietnam. The bombings and killings he witnesses there lead to flashbacks to his childhood in Birmingham and the violence he witnessed there growing up in the days of Jim Crow laws and the struggle for civil rights. A powerful novel about a bleak part of our history.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is a bit of a misfit. She graduates from college in 1962 and returns to her parents’ cotton farm in Mississippi. Unlike her friends, she is in no hurry to get married and wants a career as a writer. An editor advises her to write about what interests and disturbs her. She finds her topic literally right in front of her – the way the white women of Jackson, her friends and family, treat the black women who raise their children and clean their homes.

The Brothers K by David James Duncan. Hugh Chance is a baseball fanatic whose dreams of big league glory are ended when he smashes his thumb in an accident. His wife, Laura, is a religious fanatic. The Brothers K tells the story of their four sons, growing up in a household of competing obsessions and coming of age in the tumultuous 1960s. A very fun and poignant novel.

Nonfiction

The Faith Club: A Muslim, A Christian, A Jew – Three Women Search for Understanding by Ranya Idliby, Suzanne Oliver, and Priscilla Warner. Shortly after September 11, 2001, three women came together to write a children’s book about their faiths. But they soon realized they first had to come to understandings among themselves. The Faith Club is the story of that coming together, of learning to respect each other’s differences, and the realization that by learning about and respecting another’s faith they deepened their own. A book of hope in a time when religious intolerance rages across so much of the world.

The Temple Bombing by Melissa Fay Greene. In the 1950s, as tension over integration and equal rights grew throughout the South, one of Atlanta’s most vocal defenders of civil rights was Jacob Rothschild, rabbi of the Temple on Peachtree Street. How dangerous a position that was became apparent when the Temple was bombed in 1958 by extremists who had no use for Jews or African Americans. Greene’s telling of that event goes beyond the crime itself to paint a rich portrait of a pivotal time and place in Atlanta history.

Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and his Girl by Stacey O’Brien. Biologist O’Brien was a student researcher at Cal Tech when she had the opportunity to adopt an injured four-day-old barn owl. For 19 years Wesley the owl was O’Brien’s constant companion. “He was my teacher, my companion, my child, my playmate, my reminder of God,” she writes. This memoir of their life together will captivate anyone who has a fascination with these lovely creatures.

The Last Week by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. Borg and Crossan are familiar to those who attend Sunday School and the Lenten Lecture series. In this book the two scholars and friends present a day-by-day guide to the last week of Jesus’ life, based on the Gospel of Mark. The Jesus they depict is a political activist and moral hero who willingly gives up his life to protest power without justice. A very engaging and enlightening book.

An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor. From simple practices such as walking, working, and getting lost to meditations on topics like prayer and pronouncing blessings, Taylor reveals concrete ways to discover the sacred in the small things we do and see each day. Taylor is an Episcopal priest in this diocese and a professor of religion at Piedmont College.

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Announcements

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A Prayer for Summer

 

God of creation, God of the seasons, bless your creatures with seasons of delight. Lord of the Sabbath, grant us the good sense to enjoy Sabbath rest in this season.

Grant us wisdom to know that there is a time to play, a time to cease from our labors, a time to sense majesty in a blue sky, richness in green grass, love in faithful friends, and joy in our being.

Grant us, then, blue skies this summer, and green grass; grant us faithful friends and the time, strength, and spirit for play. Grant us the wit to know the goodness of this creation.

Send our roots rain, send our hearts ease, so that we may show in our lives that we can live rightly in this season and see it in wonder, in awe, and in a spirit of thanksgiving.

 

Amen

 

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Meet the Vestry

Craig Withers, Senior Warden, Stewardship

A cradle Episcopalian, I am better known as Vicki Ledet’s husband or Laura’s and Meg’s father. We first came to St. Dunstan’s after reading a New York Times article about churches of different denominations making the argument that religion and evolution were not mutually exclusive. The article highlighted The Rev. Patricia Templeton of St. Dunstan’s. We visited and were embraced by a small, intimate, friendly parish of intelligent, inquiring people who did not have all the answers, but were willing to ask questions. Our family has been nurtured in this parish, and we are pleased to be counted among its members.

Wayne Hood, Junior Warden, Building & Grounds

Wayne was born and raised in the Midwest and calls Kansas his home state. After graduating from the University of Tulsa, he worked as an Art Director and Creative Director at advertising agencies in Memphis; Greenville, SC; and Jackson, MS before moving to Atlanta about 25 years ago. He and wife Lynn gave birth to both a daughter, Rebecca, and an advertising agency, Hood Marketing Solutions, 21 years ago. Rebecca is now a biochemistry major at Georgia Tech. Wayne and his family chose to attend St. Dunstan’s  because of the friendliness and inclusiveness of the parish, the beauty of the church and the leadership of Tricia, a college friend of Lynn’s.

Sibley Fleming, Communications

A couple of years ago I was cruising around the internet looking for a small Episcopal church. I saw the name “Rev. Patricia Templeton” and immediately sent an email. I was really excited. For one, St. Dunstan’s appeared to be the type of small, inclusive church I was seeking. But better, Patricia is someone we hold dear in our family because of her relationship with my grandmother, Celestine Sibley, who died several years ago. My grandmother was at Patricia's ordination and Patricia conducted her funeral. My grandmother always counted Patricia as someone special and good.

Since coming to St. Dunstan’s, Patricia has baptized my son Wolfie and conducted his father’s funeral. I’ve served on the communication committee and begun attending Sunday school, which I love. St. Dunstan’s and its wonderful community of people have become an important part of my life.

Christie Brown, Outreach

I am excited to start the second year of my vestry term and my first year as the Outreach coordinator.  I work as a Manager and CPA at Ernst & Young.  I have a BS in Business from Florida State University (2000) and an MBA in Accounting from Georgia State University (2004). I have called Atlanta home for the last 8 years. I live in Mableton with my husband, Colin, and our three dogs (Sam, Henry, and Nikki). We joined St. Dunstan’s three years ago after moving to the area from Rockmart, where we attended, were confirmed, and married at Church of the Ascension in Cartersville.

Claudia Gimson, Fellowship

Though it seems as though my life is constantly changing, I've always lived in Atlanta, and I've only belonged to two churches - St. Phillip’s and St. Dunstan’s. My connections to St. Dunstan’s reach way back to its "Tuxedo days" when I'd visit with the Branch, Elrod and Robinson kids, and I finally "came home" in the early 1980s at the urging of other dear friends - the Morrises. Some things are just meant to be. I've been a member of the Altar Guild since joining and have Chaired it for the last four years - new members always welcome ...

I have three, now young-adult, kids - John, Kimberly and Deborah, whom many of you know - or I'll be glad to tell you all about them if you have a spare hour. My professional career has been varied, but usually centered around working with creative people. Currently I'm the Marketing/Office Manager "MOM" for an architectural firm. 

Steve Mark, Christian Education 

I'm a cradle Episcopalian having been baptized on St. Stephen's Day when I was just a month old.  I was born and raised in the  San Francisco Bay Area, and moved to Atlanta after marrying Elizabeth in 1989.  Connor just finished the first grade, and it looks like he and I will be hanging out together a lot this summer.  The three of us really enjoy the parish life here at St. Dunstan's.  While serving on the vestry this past year, I've made some very good friends and I really look forward to this next year working with the new vestry.

Bill Hancock, Worship  

I am a native Georgian, born in a rural community in South Georgia (Tift County). I spent my early years living and working on my Grandfather’s farm. After graduation from High School, I continued my education at the University of Georgia, where my major of study was Agriculture. I was a cradle Roman Catholic and was received into the Episcopal Church in 1990. I have been married to Sarah Hancock for 18 years (this week). We have 2 beautiful daughters Grace (15) and Emma (13) both students at The Galloway School. I work in the graphic arts industry for RR Donnelley in the commercial print division. I have been a parishioner at St. Dunstan’s for the past 14 years. I served one tour of duty on the vestry earlier this century and I look forward to the challenges and rewards of serving for the 2nd tour.

Reneé Kastanakis, Environment

I am a life-long Episcopalian, and have worshipped at St. Dunstan's with my family (husband Rick; 22-year-old son John; and 19-year-old daughter Emily) since 1992. I taught Sunday School here for many years, and previously served on the Vestry. Outside of church, I am a lawyer, currently working as general counsel for a company that is in the fuel management business. For the past 6 years much of my spiritual focus has been in my role as a founding Steering Committee Member for Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, a nonprofit that seeks to engage all faith communities in the stewardship of God's Creation. This year I have also, at Tricia's request, represented St. Dunstan's in Bishop Alexander's Creation Keeper's Task Force, and I serve on the Advocacy Committee of the Task Force. Tricia has asked me to chair an Environmental Committee as my new Vestry assignment - which I am very excited to create and energize. I believe St. Dunstan's, both because of its people and its location, could and should be a leader in the Diocesan environmental movement.

Nancy Knight Latimore, Music

I have been a member of St. Dunstan’s for nine years. Previously, my husband and I had attended St. Luke’s and St. Anne’s, but came to realize we would prefer a smaller church. I had been shopping when my husband and I attended his nephew’s wedding at St. D’s. Right then I knew we would love this church. We are very happy to have found this wonderful community.

I am fortunate to be married to Keith Latimore. We have two grown sons, Spears and Harrison, who live in Atlanta. I am retired now after working in administration at the Atlanta Speech School for 29 years. I enjoy volunteering in one of the four year old classes there. I belong to a garden club and enjoy gardening, birding, and reading. I also enjoy singing in St. D’s choir. Presently I am serving on the search committee for a new director/organist.

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Summer Music

The music department heartily extends an invitation to the members and friends of St. Dunstan's to share their musical talents on Sunday mornings throughout the summer. Solos, duets, small ensembles, instrumental pieces, and alternative offerings are welcomed and encouraged.

If you have an interest in music and would like to participate (or if you know someone who should be asked) please contact Tom Elston, Interim Director of Music.

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We continue to be very close (2%) to our budgeted expenses as we approach the Summer doldrums. Income is a stranger beast, distorted as it is by early contributions which we dribble into the income budget monthly, and by later large contributions which go in as a single lump. So the YTD actual income running ahead of the budget should not be seen yet as cause for celebration, but it can't be a bad thing. Also note that the YTD Actual difference is positive - income has slightly exceeded expenses. Please try to stay current with your pledges so that we do not slip behind.

~Dick Harris

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Congratulations to those who were confirmed by Bishop Alexander in May: Sophie Goldwasser, Emma Hancock, Grace Hancock, Elizabeth Wong Mark, and Laura Withers.

Congratulations to Laura Withers on her graduation from high school. Laura will be attending Emory University this fall.

Congratulations to Christine and Rick Beard on the May 24 th birth of their grandson, Alexander James Beard.

Transfer out: Jane Lamkin to Northside Baptist Church.

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