Service at Trinity Center

What a busy day! We had church at St John’s in the morning (some where there at the 8am service even!); we hung out in the Y’ALL building playing a serious game of pingpong; traveled across Austin for lunch; learned about and walked the labyrinth at St David’s; and finally set up, served at Trinity Center, and cleaned up! Two fantastic parents helped shuttle everyone around and shared in our fellowship and service together: a big thanks goes to Karoline and Mary Jan for helping! A total of ten awesome kids came from St John’s to serve, and Cathy’s two kids joined us as well! I’m so proud of our youth today – some stepped out of their comfort zones and really rose to the occasion by serving others. Other kids were always checking to see what else they could do to help out. We have some awesome youth at St John’s!

From the youth:

“I loved being able to put a smile on a complete stranger’s face today. It was so fulfilling. Also, it was a blast making food and lemonade and just goofing around with each other. When I saw some people who had less than me, it made me forget all my problems.”

“One of my favorite parts about today was spending the extra time and effort making the desserts and serving them to our less fortunate neighbors.”

Trinity Center Voluteer Gig

Don’t forget, this Sunday we’re heading to Trinity Center to help service our downtown neighbors! After church at 12:30 we’ll have lunch and check out downtown's St David’s before our 2pm volunteer time starts.

For more info on Trinity Center, check out: http://www.trinitycenteraustin.org

Simpson's Bible Quiz

I don't know how I keep running across Simpson and Bible articles, but here's another round:
Simpson Bible Quiz

Making Sense of Sin: Father Matthew Presents

How have you come to understand sin? We confess every Sunday:
Most merciful God,we confess that we have sinned against thee in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved thee with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in thy will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
What does this _mean_?

Prayer for the Techie in You

(The Title: Prayer for the Techie in You is a link to the MP3)

I was at a loss of what to post today. There is a saint for today (and I’m sure everyone would find Dominic and interesting fellow), but I’m a little bored with the saints. Ever since the eye popping story other saints seem to lack that extra “something.” And I did enjoy the chance to share the EpiscoPals superhero team idea.

Here’s a podcast by Pray as You Go, an online resource you can download to your MP3 player. They’re about 12 minutes long. (Ok, the one I listened to was about that long; I’m assuming most are the same.)

This one has monks singing, a British man narrating and a Welsh (?) woman reading scripture – it’s got it all!
Today’s pod scripture is actually one of my favorite readings: a woman who answers back to Jesus – Matthew 15:21–28 – an example of determination and faith. It’s all about persistence and clever wordplay people (it’s always nice to have scripture support my investment in two college English degrees).

The Brit poses the notion that it’s a scene of robust banter. How often do you hear people described as bantering with Jesus? Is Jesus good with a punch line, do you think? Can you imagine him saying to a disciple, “just joshin’ with ya (ye)!”

Here’s what the My Faith My Life website says about Pray As You Go:
“Pray-as-you-go offers daily prayer podcasts to download to your iPod or audio player. It guides listeners on their daily journey to work, school, or college through prayer and readings from the Jesuit's daily lectionary. Produced by Jesuit Media Initiatives.”
http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/

It's Not Easy Being Green

Just yesterday Sarah and I were talking about recycling at St John’s; I’m always drinking soda so I’m in constant search of recycling bins. Whenever we have our pizza days or other events, there are several items we could save from the trash and recycle. Of course at St John’s we have the obligatory Sunday bulletin recycling. Also, our church offers a community-wide paper recycling bin as a service to our neighborhood. The company we use for the paper recycling does not take tin/aluminum cans or plastic. My apartment complex takes both; I recommend we set up a recycling area in either/both the parish hall or the Y’ALL building. Every once and awhile I can take a few bags to the center at my complex, and perhaps someone else can step up and help take the cans another time.


I had no idea there was such a thing as the Episcopal Ecological Network (EpEN). EpEN is a nationwide network within the Episcopal Church USA that coordinates with the Peace and Justice Ministries Office of the Episcopal Church USA. As such they are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and find their roots in the Celtic Spirituality of this tradition. The EpEN includes all concerned Episcopalians who are helping our Church assume a leadership role in the worldwide environmental movement, just as our Church leads in other peace and justice issues.
Ecology comes from the Greek word, oicos, which has ties to the English concept of household or dwelling. EpEN sees it as the relationship between living beings, the environment in which they live, and God, the Creator.

For more info: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/1829_ENG_HTM.htm
And: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/globalgood_84988_ENG_HTM.htm


I found this Statesman article on the Episcopal news page:
Episcopal flock going green for God
Read the full article here: http://www.statesman.com/search/content/news/stories/local/07/22/0722greenchurch.html

Here are a couple of bits I particularly enjoyed:
“We're supposed to take care of the Earth, not just take what we can get from it.”

The Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, which includes parts of central Texas, has set up a website explaining how churches can build in environmentally sensitive ways. The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Dripping Springs recently completed a church that has double-paned, tinted glass -- "seventy percent of the time, we don't even have to turn on a light," said the Rev. Nancy Coon -- and a zoned heating and air-conditioning system so the church can heat or cool only the areas that are occupied.

Bob Adams, a consultant with North Carolina church building company J.H. Batten, told the newspaper that much of the energy behind greener churches is coming from congregations, rather than pulpits. More church members are seeing their employers pursue green construction, he said, and "they come back to their churches and say, 'What are we going to do?'”

Faith Descriptions -

Do you know what Zoroastrianism is? Or what about Jainism? Or what about the true definition of what Rastafarians believe?

Always seek to know and understand other people's faiths and ideas; one of the deepest signs of true respect you can show another person is to demonstrate an honest desire to understand them (without judgment).

Check out a great BBC resource to find out more about other faiths:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/

God & Pain

Dare to Speak Out and Cutting :: by Crystal Kirgiss

If you, or someone you know, is suffering from deep pain and hurt that has led to problems with eating, with self-injury, with feelings of depression, or any other potentially dangerous result, do your friend and yourself a favor—talk to someone. Even Jesus, when He was faced with deep pain and fear of death, didn’t try to go it alone—He counted on His friends to be there for Him and to care for Him.

Read Crystal's full article here: http://www.walkthru.org/site/PageServer?pagename=YWguysgirls

D'Oh! Top Ten (Plus One) Religious Episodes on 'The Simpsons'

If you're a fan of the Simpson's, you've got to check out: http://www.beliefnet.com/gallery/simpsons.html