easter joy with new developments epistlekehillat israel reconstructionist congregation: rabbi amy...

1 The Epistle – May 2019

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The monthly newsletter of

St. Matthew’s Parish, Pacific Palisades, CA

EASTER JOY WITH NEW DEVELOPMENTS

May 2019Volume 47 No. 9

One of the great gifts of the Episcopal/Anglican tradition is its rootedness in liturgical seasons. We mark time by and organize worship around these seasons. They in many ways pro-vide a firm lens through which we experience God in our earthly lives. In this time of year we are firmly planted in the season of Easter. This often surprises visitors to our community. They often think that we only celebrate this season on just one day—Easter Sunday. However, if you attend Church during the 50 days of the Easter season you will hear all of the familiar theological emphases—resurrection, new life, hope and joy, with a side of Alleluia. You will see Easter colors and flowers. It is a time when we focus on the new movements of the Spirit in our world and in our St. Matthew’s community.

With this focus in mind I want to call your attention to a couple of new developments. As you can see in this Epistle, we have hired Andrea Bostick as our new Director of Development. Andrea’s focus will be on carrying out our several-year-long Capital Campaign, supporting the renovation project process and working with Kathy Bitting and the Pledge Campaign Committee on our annual Stewardship drive. God has truly gifted us with a lovely person to join our Staff. Andrea has had three sons attend our Parish School, has many friends in our community and is a resident of the Palisades. Most importantly, she is called to the ministry of development as we seek to lay the foundation of our financial and facilities future. Please welcome Andrea!

As we approach the summer, our capital renovations are starting to come into focus. In the next few weeks we will send a much fuller update of where we are in carrying out the mandates from our successful Capital Campaign. Broadly speak-ing, our Capital Project Team, led by Will McGregor of McGregor-Brown, has been working on four areas: 1) Sanctuary Maintenance; 2) the Caretaker’s Residence, which will be a Staff/Clergy home; 3) the “Upper Cam-pus” of Founder’s Hall, the Mill Building and the Parish Center; and 4) the Columbarium. Moving forward, this summer we will be working principally on details in the Sanctuary that need to be brought up to the high standards we expect in our facilities. We are also working through planning items for the re-development of the Caretaker’s Residence with the hope to start renovations in early 2020. In addition, our project team is taking some time to obtain more thorough data on the uses of our Upper Campus. We want ensure that our design visions reflect the hopes and dreams of all of our many groups who use these spaces.

Lastly, our Legacy Society team, in concert with the Capital Campaign, is planning Legacy Sunday on June 23. At the services on that day, we want to highlight the pledges given in the form of planned estate gifts, several of which were given in support of the Capital Campaign.

(Continued on Page 2.)

Stained Glass in the Sanctuary. Photo by Chuck Gardner


Easter Joy, continued

Parish news

Our hope has been to raise at least $5 million on top of the actual Capital Campaign goal, to fund endowments for ongoing facilities upkeep. The long-term strategy is to bring our facilities into tip-top shape through Capital Campaign renovations and to use endowment income to support the maintenance and operation of our facilities. If we can do this—and I believe we can—it will allow us to move our facilities costs out of our regular, annual budget. We will then be able to use the bulk of this operating budget, most of which comes from our Stewardship pledges, for ministry purposes: salaries, pro-grams and outreach partners. The flexibility and dynamism this will bring to our St. Matthew’s community will create all sorts of new life and possibility. It’s an Easter vision and one that has the power to strengthen our community for the foreseeable future.

In Christ, Bruce+

Parish Names Andrea Bostick Director of Development

On May 1, St. Matthew’s welcomed Andrea Bostick as our new Director of Development to oversee the Campaign for St. Matthew’s. In her role, Andrea will be the main contact for all elements of our ongoing Capital Campaign and the point person to share information with our community about the many aspects of its projects as they roll out. She comes to us from St. Anne School, where she held the same title.

Andrea’s three sons attended St. Matthew’s Parish School while they were middle school students nine years ago. Active in our community, Andrea and her husband, Michael, have been Pacific Palisades residents since 1998, and Andrea has been active in Boy Scouts (Troop 23) as well as participating on the Board of our local YMCA. In addition, Andrea has devoted a great deal of her volunteer efforts toward the West-side Guild of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Expect to see updates about the Campaign for St. Mat-thew’s coming from Andrea soon. And please look for her on campus and introduce yourself when you have the chance!

Postmodern light fixture in the Sanctuary. Photo by Chuck Gardner


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Photos of Confirmation Sunday courtesy of Ted Russell.

Confirmation Sunday with Bishop Suffragan Diane Jardine Bruce

On May 5, The Right Reverend Diane Jardine Bruce visited St. Matthew’s for the confirmation of twelve young people in our community. After the joyful service, parishioners joined the confirmands and their families for a celebration on the patio hosted by the Fellowship Commission. Thanks to all those who participated in the event and congratulations to the newly confirmed!


Parish News

Legacy Sunday with Coffee on the Patio

On Sunday, June 23, please join us on the patio after services to learn more about the Legacy Society. On this day we thank those who remember St. Matthew’s in their estate planning and highlight the duty of Christian parents to make provision for their families.

Summer at St. Matthew’s

Summer is around the corner and with it comes a break in our program calendar. Please note groups that will be on hiatus and be be sure to look for start dates for the coming year in the near future!

• Godly Play - Our Sunday School is already on summer hiatus, so please bring your children with you to church.

• Bible Study - June 20 will be the last date on which Bible Study convenes for this calendar year.

• Emmaus - A new 10-week covenant will begin in early October.

• Saints Alive - Look for a line up of fascinating speakers coming to our monthly luncheon on the first Thursday of the month.

• Music Guild - The 2018-2019 Music Guild season concludes on June 7 with Beethoven and the “Unanswered Question” at 8pm. Buy your tickets now at www.musicguildonline.org and get ready for another fantastic season in 2019-2020.

• The Thrift Shop continues its work through the summer and is in need of your donations! Please leave your items in the Thrift Shop drop located in the St. Matthew’s parking lot.

Columbarium Cleaning

In order to perform necessary cleaning and maintenance on the Columbarium, vases and mementos will be cleared regularly. (Flowers will remain while they flourish.) If you hope to reclaim any items left on a niche, please contact the Parish Office to coordinate pick up. Thank you!

Sunday School project by Mary Lou's and Betty-Jo's

K-4 students, sold at Christmas Faire.

Day 13


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Letter from Pacific Palisades Religious Leaders

Leaders from Pacific Palisades’ faith communities responded collectively to the recent racial attack that oc-curred in the Ralph’s parking lot. Please take a moment to read their response, which was also published in the Palisadian Post.

May 2019

The Pacific Palisades is a community with people of many faiths. One visible sign of this religious diversity is the many beautiful churches, temples and synagogues that serve our neighborhood as both houses of worship and as gathering places for civic and social events. Our entire community ben-efits from the wonderful kaleidoscope of peoples and cultures represented by these faith traditions.

But not everyone is aware that the leaders of these places of worship regularly meet together to break bread, discuss important issues of com-mon concern, and pray for the welfare of the members of our congregations as well as friends and neighbors who are our equal partners in building a better community.

This interfaith clergy network has a deep and profound respect for one another, and each of us has had our reli-gious ministry and private life enriched through the unique contributions of service and love that each member brings to the council of faith leaders.

Like many of you, we were shocked and deeply saddened by the recent incident of racism that occurred in our midst. We feel compelled to speak out in unity as a voice of collective conscience, not because this act was directed towards a member of our clergy and his family, but because of our common belief that acts of racism, anger and hate such as this have no place in our community or any of our religious traditions. The interfaith clergy fellowship denounces this kind of hurtful behavior and we stand together to speak against it in all its forms.

It is our hope and united prayer that we will all join together in making the Palisades a place where neighbors will express love for one another instead of hate, a place where people will respect one another as unique individuals rather than show contempt for our differences, and a place where we will choose to live together in peace rather than embrace the bigotry and intolerance that is far too common in the world. We invite you to add your voices to ours and join us in this effort.

In peace,

Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades: Pastor Ramin RazaviChabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisades: Rabbi Zushe Cunin, Rabbi Yossi Eilfort,

Rabbi Doniel BerryCorpus Christi: Monsignor Liam KidneyKehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation: Rabbi Amy Bernstein, Rabbi Micah Hyman,

Rabbi Steven Carr ReubenPalisades Lutheran: The Rev. Kenneth DavisPalisades Community United Methodist Church: The Rev. Dr. Wayne WaltersPacific Palisades Presbyterian Church: The Rev. Dr. Steven Smith, The Rev. Grace Park, Hayden RoushSaint Matthew’s Episcopal Church: The Rev. Bruce Freeman, The Rev. Christine Purcell,

The Rev. Stefanie WilsonSelf Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine: Brother Satyananda, Brother RitanandaPacific Palisades Congregation, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Bishop Chris Eastland


Community NewsTo Alaska and Beyond!Pacific Palisades Troop 223-G

While many girls their age are focused on writing the perfect hashtag for their next Instagram post, 8th and 9th grade girls in the Pacific Palisades, California Troop 223 have been putting away their phones and taking up backpacks as they prepare for two weeks in the Alaskan backcountry. This summer, the founding members of Troop 223’s Girls in Scouting program will spend one week kayaking and camp-ing along the waters of the jaw-dropping Prince William Sound and a second week backpacking their way through the rugged forests and rivers in the mountains of Alaska.

As they prepare for their challenging High Adventure, the scouts have practiced Wilderness First Aid and leader-ship skills, trail etiquette, and how to pack and prepare for a backpacking trip within their patrols and crews. Before arriving in Alaska this summer, scouts will have completed three practice backpacking trips to Bear Creek in Azusa, El Montañón on Santa Cruz Island, and Golden Trout Wilderness in the Sequoia National Forest. They do not take their motto--Be prepared-- lightly!

On their most recent adventure to Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Island National Park, two crews of girls had incredible experiences on their way to summiting their first peak! On the boat to and from the island, the scouts were surrounded by pods of jumping dolphins and groups of seals and sea lions. After setting up their tents and securing food away from the notoriously stealthy foxes and ravens, the girls hiked down to the beach for a lesson

Troop 223-g, Crew 1 and crew 2, after summiting el Montañón on Santa Cruz island, CA

“I have made new friends and discovered that there are so many other girls who love

nature and the outdoors, just like me!”-Jennie, Grade 8


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on sea kayaking technique and safety. They paddled through several types of caves, while adjusting to waves, other boats, and their partner’s paddle rhythm. They learned about the local flora and fauna, and the indigenous history of the island.

Because Scouts BSA is youth led, scouts do all of their own packing, navigating, cook-ing and cleaning up. Youth leadership is a primary objective of the program, and the girls have risen to the challenge. The morning after their kayak adventure, the girls boiled water, made breakfast, and broke down camp, before striking out on the El Montañón trail--a long trail with a total distance of 11 miles, round trip. Anyone looking on from the side of the trail would have thought these girls had been backpacking together for years. They checked in with one another frequently, gave encouragement, studied the map, adjusted their packs, and kept a steady and manage-able pace. All of the skills they have been practicing were on full display. Both crews summited the mountain in their goal time and were rewarded with a 360o view while they munched their lunch and tightened their boots for the climb back down to the ferry and the homework that awaited them after their weekend away.

“I’ve really been loving Scouts. I honestly feel extremely prepared for Alaska…and it will be even better with more days and more time. I’m so excited for the rest of Scouts and especially for this upcoming summer!”

-Ruby Rose, Grade 8

The Pacific Palisades girls Troop 223 is a sister troop to the nationally celebrated boys Troop 223. Both troops share the vision of young people leading skillfully, making good choices, and serving others—and they sure do deliver! For proof, look no further than these adventurous and charismatic young women. They’re the real deal and they’re ready to take on Alaska!


Outreach NewsNeighborhood Youth Association Awards Dinnerby Sarah Newman

Neighborhood Youth Association’s 36th Scholarship and Community Awards Dinner was held in St. Matthew’s Sprague Center on April 27th. It was a joyful and inspiring evening celebrating NYA, recognizing community advocates and honoring the eight senior scholars who will be heading to college in the fall. NYA gives grateful thanks to the many St. Matthew’s parishioners who supported the event by donating their time to help, purchase tickets, make a donation, attend the dinner, or buy NYA wish-list items at the Pop-Up store. Thanks to the generosity of the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund for matching NYA Scholarships raised up to $30,000 in honor of Ann Stuart Lucas, enabling NYA to distribute more than $64,000 worth of scholarship funds to its deserving students!


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St. Matthew’s Parishioners Support Uplift Family Servicesby Heather Jones

Earlier this month, parishioners Becky Winding and Kathy Bitting made a generous donation of toys to our outreach partner Uplift Family Services at Hollygrove. Uplift was thrilled with the donation, planning to use the many

beach toys for their “beach days” at Camp Hol-lygrove when it will be many of the kids’ first time at the beach! Other items will be saved as gifts until the holiday season.

Aaron (pictured above right) is the first person most families meet when they come to Hol-lygrove. He embodies love, kindness and dedication to helping the families of Los Angeles.

A Message of Success from Chrysalis

Flomanda vividly remembers living under a bridge in Downtown Los Angeles with her mother and two brothers at 8 years old. The years that followed would be marked by instability, substance abuse, and life in and out of the criminal justice system. At 17, and still a child herself, Flomanda became a mother and began a journey of finding herself so she could build a better future for her family.

When she was ready to put her exceptional work ethic to use, Chrysalis was there to offer Flomanda a transitional job with our social enterprise - the stepping stone she needed to move on to permanent employment. And when she doubted her ability to find permanent work, her Employment Specialist was there to remind her to “keep moving forward!”

At Chrysalis, 33 percent of the individuals who access our services are navigating numerous barriers to employment while also taking care of their children. In honor of all of the mothers and grandmothers we serve at Chrysalis who inspire us with their resiliency and strength, read Flomanda’s story today.

What Does it Take to Turn Things Around?

Clarence lived in Culver City for nearly two decades, working as a locomotive engineer. When the economy slumped, Clarence was laid off and he struggled to find work. Eventually, Clarence became homeless. While trying to fall asleep one cold night, Clarence vowed to make himself employable again. After meeting a St. Joseph Center outreach worker

in a park encampment, Clarence went to our Homeless Service Center for housing assistance. He also began eating meals at our Bread and Roses Café.

Clarence enjoyed the Café’s warm meals so much that he started volun-teering. He discovered a love of cooking while serving his fellow homeless neighbors, and decided to sign up for our Culinary Training Program. Two months after graduating from the Culinary Training Program, Clarence moved into his own one-bedroom apartment, which we helped him find and furnish. “After years of sleeping on the streets, I still can’t believe this is true,” Clarence says, “St. Joseph Center saved my life.”


For more than a decade, St. Matthew’s has provided goods and assistance for Angel Interfaith Network, serving low income and homeless clients who face serious illness or challenges like the birth of pre-term infants.

We are collecting gently used baby clothing (please no large items like cribs, strollers or car seats, we can no longer accommodate them) or gift cards for Ralph’s/Food 4 Less or Target. Checks for gift cards can be made out to the Parish of St. Matthew with Project Angel on the memo line.

Donations can be left in the Toddler Class Room or the Thrift Shop Drop Off Center in the main church parking lot, or at the outreach table after church on Sundays.

St. Matthew’s annual event in support of

families and individuals treated at LA

County/Keck Hospital in Los Angeles

Helping those in our city stay housed and receive care while

recovering from serious medical challenges, we provide food, baby clothes and necessities

Questions? Contact Co-Chairs Jackie Ehlers

[email protected] Or Kim Ling

[email protected]

ST. MATTHEW’S PARISH OUTREACH

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PROJECT ANGEL

2019 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

MAY-JUNE 2019

Ingathering after church on Sundays and through Parent Tot Classes


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Upcoming EventsMark Your Calendars for These Upcoming EventsMayMay 28: SPY Dinner for Homeless Youth

St. Matthew’s provides dinners for 65-75 homeless young people on the 4th Tuesday of each month. To donate your time, talent or treasure, please contact Kathy Bitting ([email protected]).

May 31 at 8am: Calling All Prayers

On the last Friday of the month, the Intercessory Prayer Group says their prayers wherever they are at 8am. Please join them on May 31, wherever you are!

June

June 1 and First Saturdays at 8:30am: Pray the Rosary

Praying the rosary is a contemplative spiritual practice that takes about 20 minutes. All are welcome, even if you’ve never prayed the Rosary before. We’ll hold a brief “clinic” and have rosaries if needed. For more info, contact Anne Jaskoski ([email protected]).

June 7 at 8pm: Beethoven and the “Unanswered Question”

The Choir of St. Matthew’s and the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthew’s join forces to present Beethoven’s Mass in C

Major. This special evening will also include the world premiere of a newly commissioned work by Diana Woolner. Buy your tickets at www.musicguildonline.org.

June 9: Alleluia Offering and Pentecost Celebration

For those setting aside a daily offering in response to the Alleluia Project, please bring your offering on Pentecost Sunday. And stay for our annual celebration after the 10:15am service hosted by Fellowship!

June 10 at 7:30pm: Centering PrayerWhy not take some time out of your busy week for a bit of

spiritual support? Come to the Chapel for Centering Prayer on Monday evenings at 7:30pm.

June 13 at 10Am: Rector’s Bible Study

Please note that June 13 will be the last regular meeting of the Rector’s Bible Study before its summer hiatus.

June 23: Legacy SundayOn this day we thank those who remember St. Matthew’s

in their estate planning and highlight the duty of Christian parents to make provision for their families. Celebrate with us on the patio after services.

Need SPace for your Meeting or Event?Be sure to request your room reservation in advance for

your ministry meetings, events, drop-offs or other activities: [email protected].

Share Your Ministry News and Events with our Community!

Please send photos of your group events and activities to be published in The Epistle so others at St. Matthew’s can learn more about all you do. Send your photos with a brief description or recap to Jennifer ([email protected]). We want to hear from you!


Toddler Bridge registration is now

open! We invite children born

June, 2016 through

August, 2017 to come join the fun!

Signups for 2019-2020

Parent- Infant/Toddler

classes are open!

Questions? Contact Grey McIntosh: 454.1359 | [email protected] www.stmatthewsschool.com/parent-infant-toddler/


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RDial 310/573-7787, then the extension

The Rev. Bruce A. Freeman, Rector (Ext. 130) [email protected]

The Rev. Christine F. Purcell, Associate Rector (Ext. 129) [email protected]

The Rev. Stefanie G. Wilson, Assistant Priest (Ext. 183) [email protected]

Ms. Missy Morain, Director of Program Ministry; (Ext. 139) [email protected]

•

Ms. Lyris Amador, Director of Administration (Ext. 180) [email protected]

Mr. Josh Castellanos, Facilities Coordinator (Ext. 175) [email protected]

Mr. Craig Ehlers, Chief Financial Officer (Ext. 126) [email protected]

Mr. Greg Heidt, Director of Facilities and Opera-tions (ext. 108) [email protected]

Ms. Karen Johnson, Receptionist (Ext. 100) [email protected]

Ms. Jennifer McCarthy, Director of Communica-tions (Ext. 128) [email protected]

Mr. Dwayne Milburn, Director of Music (Ext. 179) [email protected]

Mr. Jeremias Mendez, Special Projects Manager (Ext. 133) [email protected]

Dr. Haesung Park, Parish Organist, [email protected]

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The Rev. Kristin Barberia, School Chaplain (Ext. 125) [email protected]

Mr. Edward Kim, SMPS Head of School (Ext. 146) [email protected]

MISSION STATEMENT

We are a Christian community, and

Welcome all, wherever they are in their journey,

Nourish all who seek unity with God and each other in Christ, and

Serve all, striving to do Christ’s work in the world.

Sundays

8:00 am The Holy Eucharist

(with infant and toddler care available)

10:15 am Choral Eucharist

(with infant and toddler care available)

10:15 am Godly Play (our Chris-tian Formation for youth)

Mondays7:30 pm Centering Prayer

Wednesdays

10:00 am The Holy Eucharist

Staff Directory

Weekly Services

Requests for Prayers

Please pray for Alison Burner, Michael Curtis, Allison Holmes, Betsy, Daniel, Julie Greissinger, Mar Jennings, Steve Kerr, Carol Lan-ning, Jose, Laura, Lee and Ray, Marie, Martina, Natalie, Sally, Tracy and Nancy Walent.

We also remember those who have died in the hope of Christ’s resurrection: Betts Rockwell and Audrey McQuay.

Please know that in addition to your praying for these persons, they are prayed for regularly throughout the week by clergy and by members of our Intercessory Prayer Group.

If you would like to add, keep, or remove someone from this list, please call The Rev. Christine Purcell at 310/573-7787, ext. 129. Prayer requests will automatically be kept on the list for one month only.


Buy your $27 tickets forEpiscopal Night at the Dodgers at

www.stmatthews.com!

Episcopal Night at the DodgersFriday, September 7 at 7pm

Los Angeles Dodgers vsSan Fransicso Giants

easter joy with new developments epistlekehillat israel reconstructionist congregation: rabbi amy...

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