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Rally Day at Holy SpiritDiscover What God Has in Store for You

DoveTalesA publication of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church v Fall 2011

HighlightsInside the Vestry ................... 2

Prayer Shawl Ministry ............3

Word from the Rector ..........3

Devotional ............................ 4

Day of Service Recap ............. 4

New Labyrinth ......................5

School Focus..........................6

oin the church family for Rally Day, Sunday, September 11, when we come together to give thanks and explore

what God has in store for us as individuals and as a church family.

“Rally Day is about the rallying of the faithful. It’s a time when we are drawn back to the importance of our mission—our calling by God to change the world for good,” says Father David Puckett.

Following the 10:30 a.m. combined service in the nave, church members are invited to a ministry fair in the gym. “The ministry fair is an opportunity for fellow-ship and to explore the many ministries and educational opportunities that Holy Spirit offers its church family,” Fr. David says.

Pray as a CommunityIn preparation for Rally Day, every-

one is encouraged to commit to one hour of prayer during a 24-hour prayer vigil led by the Episcopal Youth Community (EYC). “We seek to bathe our community in prayer in the hopes that all of our min-

istries—those leading and benefitting from them—will be infused with the Holy Spirit and above all, do God’s will,” says Sarah Taylor, youth and young adult missioner.

Participants meet in the side chapel of the nave and are led in a group prayer by the youth. They are then invited to reflect their prayers in writing, art or medi-tation for the remainder of the hour. “We read through the book of Acts, hoping to be inspired by the accounts of how the early church was led by the Holy Spirit,” Sarah says. Last year, for the first time, the youth prayed for every single member of the church family and school by name.

“The prayer vigil gives each member of this parish the opportunity to pray in a truly focused and united way for new direction for our witness to the world,” Fr. David says. The youth will not only pray again for each person in the church and school but will also join Family Ministries in commemorating 9/11 in the recently dedicated Labyrinth Prayer Garden.

During last year’s Prayer Vigil, the church com-munity drew their prayers on “prayer squares” that were then tied together to decorate a temporary outdoor prayer chapel.

See Rally Day, page 4

9/11 Commemorative Service

This fall, take on an attitude of gratitude! As part of Holy Spirit’s Rally Day celebration, Family Ministries is hosting a special outdoor service in the new Labyrinth Prayer Garden on Saturday, September 10. “We are gathering together to celebrate the trials and triumphs God has seen us through as individuals and as a par-ish,” says KariAnn Lessner, director of Children’s and Family Ministries.

Through song and scripture, church members will offer up prayers of thanksgiving and reflect on what God has done for them in the 10 years since the events of 9/11. “The service is intended to be a time of restoration and healing,” she says.

KariAnn explains that in prepara-tion for Rally Day, Family Ministries is focusing on Psalm 126, particularly verse 3: The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!

“At Holy Spirit, we teach children to pay attention to the good things God is doing in their lives and we hope those who participate in our special outdoor service will come away with a profound sense of having spent time in a holy space—a place of solace and sanctuary. Church is a place where help is offered when life gets crazy or hard or when we’re hurt-ing. It is a place of acceptance, peace, love and hope,” KariAnn says.

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Inside Holy Spirit’s Vestry W hether you are new to the

Episcopal Church or have been around for years, at

some point in time, you may have won-dered just what a vestry is and what exactly its members do. Melinda Van Paasschen recently sat down with our own Father David Puckett to get at the heart of these questions.

Q: What does the word “vestry” mean?A: The term originated in Great Britain and originally referred to a room in the church next to the nave where the clergy put on their vestments and where the sacred vessels were kept. Those who con-ducted parish business often met in this room and eventually they became known as the vestry. Referring to this group of people as the vestry is one more connec-tion to our Anglican roots.

Q: What does the vestry do? A: The vestry’s responsibilities are to further the ministries of the church by handling the church’s business affairs and supporting the clergy. Over the past 200 years, vestries have participated more fully in the ministries of the church, thus inspir-ing the laity to do the same. In addition to these responsibilities, each Sunday a team of vestry members serves as Vestry of the Day for each service. The Vestry of the Day meets with the verger and the clergy about anything they might need, oversees the security of the campus and helps to manage any emergencies which may arise.

Q: Who’s eligible to serve on the vestry?A: A vestry member must be at least 16 years old, confirmed and regular in giving and regular in attending—and by that I mean more than just C and E!

Q: What does Holy Spirit’s vestry look like?A: At Holy Spirit, we have 15 vestry members. One third of the members change every year. Toward the end of the year, the out-going class presents a slate of candidates who are presented as nominees and elected at the annual parish meeting in January. Each vestry member serves for

three years. The rector chooses the senior warden who serves for a minimum of one year. The junior warden is elected and the other members choose a ministry to work on throughout the year. (For a list of the 2011 vestry, visit www.hsechurch.org.)

Q: When does the vestry meet and what is a typical meeting like?A: The vestry meets once a month. We begin precisely at 7 p.m., and the meeting cannot last past 9 p.m. If it does, someone

Vestry Viewpoints“One of the things I liked about serving on the vestry is that I got to know more people. Attending services that I didn’t normally attend while serving as Vestry of the Day gave me the opportunity to meet people who I wouldn’t have other-wise.”

- Jennie Perry, vestry member, 1993 to 1996 and 2003 to 2006

“In the canons of the church the vestry is responsible for the financial needs of the church. I felt that it was a keen responsibility of the vestry to be focused on what it

takes financially to make the church run. One of the things I’m most proud of while I served on the vestry was that we looked into our long-dormant Endowment Fund of only a couple hun-dred thousand dollars and were able to bring that amount up to $1.2 million, which helped to fund several key programs.”

- Wright Moody, vestry member from 2000-2002 and 2006

“I came on the vestry with a certain idea that I wanted to help with the website, which I did. But along the way, I real-ized that I’ve gotten involved in the church at a much deeper level. I’ve shared talents I thought I had, but I’ve also done things that are beyond my talent pool. Hopefully, the church has survived! I do feel that any time you’re asked to serve, you always get more than you give.”

- Melonye Suarez, current vestry member

“All vestries are different, and the success of each one is based on the abilities and efforts of its members, the needs of the parish, the demands of the clergy and the support of the permanent staff. If each new vestry starts off with a clear plan of what it wants to achieve and the way to get there, then service is both a pleasure and a privilege, as well as a duty.”

- Ron Merrett, vestry member from 2008 to 2011

is talking too much! On our vestry, the rec-tor chairs the meeting, and at each meeting, the members report on the work of their various ministries.

Q: How do you feel about the work of Holy Spirit’s vestry and its members?A: In all honesty, I can say that the finest and most dedicated vestries of my career, and certainly the most amiable to do minis-try with, have been here at Holy Spirit.

Providing Spiritual ComfortPrayer Shawl Ministry Reaches Those in Need

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hen Debbie Ballard under-went treatment for breast cancer at MD Anderson three

years ago, the prayers of her fellow parish-ioners at Holy Spirit were with her, literally, in the form of a prayer shawl. “People were praying for me all over the country,” Debbie says. “I felt like my prayer shawl was a physical representation of God’s presence. It provided both physical and spiritual comfort.” Members of Holy Spirit’s Prayer Shawl Ministry often hear stories just like this.

Over the last seven years, more than 700 Holy Spirit prayer shawls have provided comfort to children and adults of all ages in times of joy, sadness and difficulty. The ministry began with Nancy Fisher, who came across an article written by friend Leigh Bonner about a prayer shawl ministry at St. John the Divine. With limited knitting skills, Nancy saw the need but wasn’t sure how to get the ministry started at Holy Spirit. “I prayed about it,” says Nancy, and, soon after, her prayers were answered. “I was walking out of the 10:30 a.m. service one Sunday and I saw Nancy Rogers sitting on a bench showing a child how to knit,” Nancy remembers. The two Nancys began talking, and the prayer shawl ministry took root.

A group of 20 volunteers create as many as 150 shawls each year. Prayer shawls are given to those who are ill, grieving or otherwise in need of pastoral care, but Nancy Fisher likes to emphasize, “They are given for happy occasions as well as less than happy occasions.” For instance, Nancy’s son Jeff received a prayer shawl when he was ordained an Episcopal priest. Shawls are presented to all adults and older children who are baptized at Holy Spirit, and white crocheted baby blankets are offered at infant baptisms.

While knitters in the early days of the ministry drew inspiration from Knitting in the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry, prayer shawls soon began re-flecting individual creativity with unique

patterns and the addition of textured yarn, such as eyelash, for accent. And while the majority knit, a few prefer to crochet their shawls and baby blankets.

“This Prayer Shawl Ministry is also a blessing to the members of the minis-try,” explains Nancy Fisher. Prayer and a love of knitting and crocheting unite this

group. The repetitive nature of knitting and crocheting lends itself beautifully to meditative prayer. Some incorporate pat-terns of stiches into their work that have spiritual significance for them. While some members create a few prayer shawls a year, others make several each month. Frances Soderstrom and Jeanne Dabney, Elizabeth

Puckett’s mother, have each knitted or cro-cheted over 300 shawls since the ministry began.

The ministry meets on the third Tues-day of each month at 10 a.m. in the church parlor. The group, still led by Nancy Fisher, knits (and crochets), takes prayer requests, enjoys refreshments and shares news. Not only are people of different age groups represented, but also parishioners from all three of Holy Spirit’s worship services are brought together.

On Sunday after the meeting, a mem-ber of the clergy blesses completed shawls at worship services. Nancy then rolls and ties blessed shawls, attaching a pamphlet of prayers taken from Knitting in the Mystery, and places them in a cupboard in the choir room. Parishioners who would like a prayer shawl, either for themselves or others, can stop by the church office.

Holy Spirit is lucky to have so many experienced knitters; however, inexperi-enced knitters are always welcome to join the ministry. “Nancy Rogers taught me

Partnership in the Gospel

Father David Puckett

Saint Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, a city in Macedonia, is perhaps his most joyful. It is also a thank you letter for the money that the Philippians have sent him. He is in prison in Rome at this time and yet is working in ministry nonetheless. He begins:

“Paul and Timothy, ser-vants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, thankful for your partnership in the

gospel from the first day until now.” - PhiliPPians 1: 1-5

Partnership in the Gos-pel is what we participate in when we offer our pledges and other gifts of self to God’s work on earth—the church. God in Jesus calls us all to do this; no one is left out. Each of you is beckoned by Jesus to get in step with Him as He traverses the creation, dripping love over

His world. It is not easy work. It is needful work, work we must do to make a true difference. Partner with God, with His Son Jesus and with your Holy Spirit family and help to bring the changing, redeeming hope-filled truth of the Gospel to all.

See Prayer Shawl Ministry, page 5

Living an Open Life

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Keep open house—be generous with your lives. By open-ing up to others, you prompt them to open up to God, this generous Father in the heavens.- Matthew 5:14 in the Message

Be open. Be open to what God has in store for you. Be open to the people who God has placed in your path. Be open to feel—be open to joy, love, sadness, pain, laughter—be open to life in all its fullness. Live this way because most people don’t. Live this way because it is a better life.

Life is so much more predictable when we live closed. Shut off from our emotions on the inside, shut off from other people on the outside, we are free to direct our own way through the world, having walled ourselves off from any hope

By Father Patrick Hall

of being interrupted by the Spirit, whether from within or without. Above all, in our world, we want life to be predictable. We want to be in control. We are willing to live a flattened life, if it is a life we can control. We are willing to forsake the joy of spon-taneity, the depth of emotion both positive and negative, the depth of relationship in all its tragedy and beauty. Our choice is to experience these things, or to be in complete control. It is impossible to do both. Either we run the risk of being open to what our hearts and our lives bring us, or we don’t.

Jesus wants us to live open lives, even though it will hurt more. Jesus thinks that the wide-open life connects us with God’s own wide-open life. He thinks that we meet our Father in the Heavens when we allow the abundance of our inner lives and the abundance of our outer lives to touch, when we let ourselves be transformed by the creation in all its poignancy. You aren’t

following Jesus if you aren’t living from the inside out—from the deep center of your being all the way out to the world around you. You aren’t following Jesus if you aren’t allowing yourself to be present to ALL of that, to everything our bodies and our minds and our loved ones bring us.

The beautiful thing is that we can draw others into this kind of wide open life, if we learn to practice it ourselves. Because living wide open, from the inside out, “keeping open house,” is so obviously a freer, fuller way of life, that it becomes contagious. People will marvel over your willingness to be open with them, and they will find themselves being open with you, in spite of their fears. God keeps open house with you. So keep open house with others. God is generous with you. So be generous with others. Be fully present to the good and the bad that life can bring, even if everything is messier that way.

hanks to everyone who pulled weeds, sorted clothes, painted rooms, cooked meals and pitched in

to help the community during this year’s Day of Service. “We walked the walk on Maundy Thursday,” says Julieanne Mani,

Helping Hands, Helping Hearts

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With up to 20 bags of trash collected at each home, (from left) Bernadette Ellis, Barbara Moore and Ian Watson pitch in and clean up at a Vita Living group home. Photos by Julie Yancy

who coordinated this year’s event. “We served our neighbors in need, we forged new friendships and our Holy Spirit Epis-copal School children witnessed God’s love in action. It was truly a day of blood, sweat and tears, and we are thankful to everyone for their time, generosity and most of all, their servant hearts!”

Holy Spirit volunteers (from left) Juli Browning, Claire Martin, Pauline Goodwin and Jacqeline Tomlinson prepare meals for 30 families at the Westside Homeless Partnership.

The prayer vigil is a chance to empow-er Holy Spirit’s youth. “At EYC, we don’t just teach. We act and reflect. The youth act as they lead others in prayer and reflect on what they read,” Sarah says.

“Last year, I learned about the impor-tance of prayer and the positive effect of slow, quiet meditation,” says 11th-grader Paul Snow. “We had the opportunity to lead a prayer service, which we are not always able to do, and it’s calming to just sit in the church and have time to contem-plate.”

“All of us understand the impor-tance of prayer, but we don’t always make enough time for it. The prayer vigil reminds us that prayer is a community ef-fort, not just an individual effort. We hope that those who participate leave feeling strengthened and encouraged to continue their individual walks with God, knowing they are not alone,” Sarah says.

Cont’d. from Rally Day, cover page

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Finding Your Way New Labyrinth Designed for Prayer, Meditation

E nter Holy Spirit’s new Labyrinth Prayer Garden. Take a wrong turn. Pause to question your way. Start

again. Labyrinths are circuitous, often un-settling, but they always lead to a center.

“Labyrinths are a symbol of God’s presence in the center of creation and in the center of our lives. We walk through life, never knowing which choices will lead where. When we encounter dead ends, we turn around and move in a different direc-tion. But while the future is unknowable and transitional, we are safe in the center of God’s love,” says Father Patrick Hall.

Found in cultures as far back as 3,500 years ago, labyrinths are distinctive in their circuitous shape. “In the Christian church, they have long been used for prayer and meditation. They teach us to trust and fol-low in the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” Fr. Patrick says. Measuring hundreds of square feet, some labyrinths are so huge that becoming lost in them is a legitimate risk, according to Fr. Patrick. “Ours at Holy Spirit is slightly more humble!”

A Labor of LoveLocated in the east courtyard between

the nave and the church, Holy Spirit’s laby-rinth was created by 12th-grader John So-rensen as part of his Eagle Scout project.

“I wanted to do something for Holy Spirit. I had seen labyrinths at other churches, and Fr. David told me it’s something the church has wanted for years,” says John, who is part of Troop 825, Holy Spirit’s Boy Scout troop.

Fr. David offered up the courtyard behind his office and suggested John make the labyrinth as large as possible. “I talked to someone who had built a labyrinth for his church, and I did some surfing on the internet.” John was impressed by the labyrinth’s use as a place of contemplation. “I thought it would be especially useful during the time of Lent,” he offers.

With John’s measurements of the field, an architecture firm drew up blue-prints and detailed the amount of materi-als needed. He solicited donations from friends, family and through the school’s annual auction. On the day of construc-tion, John was surprised by the amount of people who came out to help. “We had about 20 volunteers—scouts, parents, friends from school and even four kids from Houston Christian who heard about the project and wanted to help.”

John is proud of what he’s created. “The Labyrinth Prayer Garden is a con-templative, quiet place people can spend

time in. It’s nice to have created something the church will have around for a long time.”

What’s in a Labyrinth?Often confused with mazes, labyrinths

are fundamentally different. Consider a maze more like a puzzle. It has one real path with a beginning and an end, and many other paths that lead to nowhere. A labyrinth, however, has only one path that winds its way to the center. One way in. One way out. It is symbolic of our journey into a deeper relationship with Christ.

While labyrinths have been around for over 3,500 years, the oldest existing Christian labyrinth is believed to date back to the fourth century and was located in the basilica of Reparatus at Orléansville in Algeria. During the time of Christian pilgrimages to the Holy Land, church labyrinths were referred to as “Chemin de Jerusalem,” or Road of Jerusalem, and were used to represent the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

how to knit,” relates Melissa Peter, a mem-ber of the ministry since 2008. Knitting a basic prayer shawl is the perfect project for a novice, and the monthly meetings pro-vide an excellent opportunity to learn from real pros. If you enjoy knitting already or you’ve always wanted to learn, consider joining Holy Spirit’s Prayer Shawl Ministry. Even if you’re unable to attend the meet-ings, additional shawls and blankets are ap-preciated. For more information, contact Melissa Peter at peterfam@swbell.net or 713/647-5537.

By Evelyn Snow

Join Scouts!Boys 10 and a half years and older are invited to join Holy Spirit’s Boy Scout troop. Scouts meet Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during the school year and participate in camp outings once a month. During the summer, the troop spends one week at summer camp. Contact Derek Burney, scoutmaster, at derekburney@comcast.net, 281/728-6461, or Paul Sorensen, assistant scout-master, at P.sorensen@tubesup-ply.com, 713/851-4130.

Cont’d from Prayer Shawl Ministry, page 3

From left, Paul and John Sorenson, Fr. David Puckett and Fr. Patrick Hall. Photo by Kevin Smith

A labyrinth has one path

that winds toward

a center.

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The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit12535 Perthshire RoadHouston, Texas 77024

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Submit article ideas to:dovetales@hsechurch.org

A Focus on What Unites Us

Openness. It’s what drew me into the Episcopal faith and what continues to impress me about

Holy Spirit Episcopal School (HSES). Even after eight months, I am still amazed by the natural diversity of faiths and the culture of acceptance at HSES.

We have children from more than 29 different countries at Holy Spirit. I had a beautiful conversation recently with a family of Muslim faith, who told me they heard about Holy Spirit the minute they landed in Houston. They heard it was a place of acceptance and a school where teachers truly get to know their children. The parents, knowing that their daughters gather two times a week in chapel, find it as meaningful as those deeply rooted in the Episcopal faith. At HSES, we encourage respect for each person’s individual beliefs. It is something that sets us apart and makes us unique. This is a school setting

By Lori Preston, Head of School, Holy Spirit Episcopal School

that truly looks for the values that unite people, rather than divide.

This spirit of openness is not just reflected in our student population, but in our staff and faculty as well. We see it in the classroom, the office, in the hallways and even incorporated into the learning curriculum. We see it in the emails and phone calls teachers make regularly to parents.

During the 2011 spring semester, HSES welcomed twelve students who were evacuated from the tumultuous situation in Cairo, Egypt. Our school community embraced them immediately, and once again, HSES became that 12-acre haven in the heart of Memorial.

When we come together in chapel on Tuesdays and Thursdays, there is no better picture of the school’s deeply rooted cul-ture of openness and acceptance. Students learn the rhythm of the liturgical seasons and are also taught to value those with

different faiths. We offer Eucharist service several times a year, and our priests, Father Patrick and Father David, lead our children beautifully in how to accept or not accept the bread and wine—all feel comfortable, and the graceful spirit in which they model this is something all should share in. It is this shared setting that sets the tone, where our students are invited to take their spiri-tuality further in their studies and then out into the bigger world, through community service projects.

This upcoming school year—our 50th anniversary—we will begin delving into our history. We will honor former rec-tors, founding school leaders and alums who have passed through these doors and into adulthood. This celebration brings an opportunity to renew our vows to one an-other as a church and school, examine our mission and talk about the next steps we can take to make the “marriage” richer and more in tune with our ever-changing world.