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May 2013

CALENDAR

Sunday Services 8:30 am — Holy Eucharist Rite I:

Traditional Service 10:45 am — Holy Eucharist Rite II:

Celebration Service

May 26 Trinity Sunday &

Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury

8:30 am Service 10:45 am Service with

Recognition of Ministries and Graduates 5:00 pm Solemn Evensong

Celebrating the Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury

led by Musica Sacra &

the Renewal of Wedding Vows for Darin & Kathy Herndon honoring their 20th

Anniversary. 6:00 pm Traditional English Tea

Sunday, June 2 Second Sunday after Pentecost

8:30 am Service 10:45 am Service followed

by Sermon Seminar

Saturday, June 8 9 am to 1 pm

Bone A Fide Dog Show & Pet Adoption

Sunday, June 9 Third Sunday after Pentecost


by Sermon Seminar

Saturday, June 15 11:00 am Ordination of IONA Deacons

at St. Augustine

Sunday, June 16 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost


by Sermon Seminar

PENTECOST: When Christians Dare to Dream Pentecost has often been referred to as the “birthday of the church.” The day is much more interesting and risky than that. Be-cause Pentecost is a time for Christians to be reminded that we’re a bunch of dreamers.

I’m not talking about individual dreamers who insist they’ve got a gift or claim some special access to God. I’m talking about com-munities of faith that discover that together they can be a vehicle for manifesting God’s vision for the world. In Christian tradition, Pentecost brings the 50-day Easter season to a close. But it also points forward toward new beginnings, for it’s when Christians celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit and the new horizons this opens up in the story of God’s commitment to the world.

When the Acts of the Apostles (in chapter 2) describes the impart-ing of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ followers and Peter insists that what took place on that day was evidence of God’s Spirit: dreams, prophecy, and visionary experiences are part of the discussion. These details make many nervous. But they should also make us expectant, eager to play a part in the emergence of God’s hopes and dreams. Words like “prophecy” and “visions” may evoke mem-ories of wild-eyed doomsayers distributing leaflets or late-night commercials promoting the Psychic Friends Network. But Pente-cost isn’t about that kind of prophecy. I think what Peter was say-ing is that the Spirit helps us make sense of the present. God is active and visible in the world around us, now that Jesus is gone and the Spirit has arrived.

Pentecost is an invitation to dream.

For when a community of faith quits dreaming dreams, it has lit-tle to offer either its members or the wider community. Like any good dream, these dreams involve adopting a new perspective on what’s possible, rousing our creativity to free us from convention-al expectations. There is no doubt that the Christian faith has its roster of exceptional dreamers, who like Jesus, insisted that God could make possible things that other people couldn’t see. But dreams need not always be dramatic, and the prophetic task of describing how a new, God-given possibility is coming to life is not restricted to public figures with magnetic personalities. It belongs to the whole community. And even when the communi-ty’s dreams are smaller, more localized or slower to develop, they can still be revolutionary.

Father Joseph+

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14700 North May Ave. | Oklahoma City, OK 73134 405.751.7874 staugustine.episcopaloklahoma.org

The Praise Chorus Scott Chard; [email protected]

“Live a lifestyle of worship. When we say YES to God, it is an act of worship. When we write and express our hearts to God through music, there should be a direct parallel to where our life is.”

If you are reading this, you already know that St Augustine's is “not your ordinary Episcopal church.” In all aspects of our church life, we want to widen the net to share the love and grace of Jesus with all who gather. In worship, we strive for authenticity, variety, and quality. The praise chorus is a group of disciples that desire to express with vigorous joy their love of God: Father, Son, and Spirit. Our mission is to lead the gathered community in song that in-vites communion with the Holy Spirit. We sing regularly at the 10:45 liturgy, and we access a wide variety of music, from traditional hymns to contemporary Christian “radio music”.

We welcome all who share a love of worship, a love of music, and a love of Christ. Our schedule varies with the season. If you would like to be a part of this exciting ministry, please contact Scott Chard at [email protected] or through the church office.

The Acolytes Darin Herndon; [email protected]

As Christians became able to worship more pub-licly and to have churches dedicated just to wor-ship, roles developed around the various duties required for the service. One of those early roles, starting around the 3rd century, was that of the Acolyte.

In the early church, Acolytes were an Order. The Order of Acolytes was the earliest order that baptized Christians might enter while learning to serve in the Christian church. The earliest Ac-olytes had two responsibilities: candles and be-ing an extra set of hands for the priest whenever extra hands were needed.

While in the early church Acolytes were always adult males, today most acolytes are youth. Adults can also be acolytes and, young or old, serving as an acolyte gives someone a chance to learn how to participate in and serve in worship. And it encourages them to seek out and grow into new responsibilities within the church.

To participate at Saint Augustine, we ask that youth have completed the 2nd grade. This is younger than some churches, and some younger acolytes have shorter attention spans than oth-ers. While young acolytes may fidget, they still get the torches where they need to be when they are needed. We don’t expect young acolytes to

have the drill precision and focus of a Marine; we expect them to be children, but children who try and commit themselves to do their best at serving God in the worship of his Church.

All members of the church should consider the role of Acolyte, regardless of age. If you feel that the communal worship of the church is im-portant and you want to help with the service, acolyte is still (even after 1700 years) a wonder-ful place to start in order to learn about the ways you can serve in a worship service.

If it interests you, or you have questions, seek out our Verger, Darin Herndon, or Father Joseph.

Michelle & Phil Lyne

Renee and Steve Bauer invited the Lyne’s to at-tend a service at St. Augustine last year. That initial exposure proved impactful enough for them to start attending regularly in August of last year.

They enjoy all the young families with children that attend St. Augustine and are pleased to par-ticipate in the extra events planned and held at the church. It is especially like the way St. Au-gustine events are designed to include and en-courage the entire community, not just mem-bers.

A busy family of five, the Lyne’s enjoy discon-necting from today’s electric onslaught by camp-ing with their children Savannah, Carson and Corey. Everyone enjoys the fishing, hiking, and biking from their handy pop-up camper.

You can see most of them at the 10:45 service, their favorite thanks to the Praise music and the sermons. Their daughter Savannah attends St. Paul’s where there is more youth activities avail-able for 17 year-olds.

The Lyne’s have recently purchased the Aloha Shave Ice & Coffee Shop at 39th & Council in Bethany and invite parishioners to stop by and say hello. Michelle also has been selling Lon-gaberger baskets for 19 years while Phil drives for Dolese concrete. These are busy people.

In the coming years they would like to see the older youth program at St. Augustine grow in numbers and events with more youth activities.

Luis & Monica Rosa-Berrios

Feeling welcomed from day one, Luis & Monica came to St. Augustine in June of 2012. They re-ally appreciate the friendly parishioners.

Luis retired from the Air Force after 24 years of service and returned to Tinker Air Force Base as

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a government civilian a couple of years ago. Since they were making Oklahoma their permanent home, they began looking for an Episcopal Church to attend. They researched St. Au-gustine’s on the web and decided to visit and give it a chance. It only took that first visit to con-vince them they had found the right place.

According to Luis, Monica has the toughest job, staying home to take care of their three boys. Be-tween school, sports, and Cub Scouts; their many activities have become the family hobbies.

Their favorite part of the service is the Children’s Moment, the Peace, and of course — the mes-sage. They like that Father Joe can always be counted on to deliver it in a lively way.

They would like to see the church continue to grow but not so much that it loses that “family” feeling that you get when you attend St. Au-gustine’s.

Shirley Hunter & Jan Tipton

Shirley and Jan have been domestic partners for almost 35 years. They were both confirmed at St. Augustine in October of 2003. They relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico for approximately 4 years but came back and re-established their member-ship. Per Shirley & Jan, “During the time we were in New Mexico, we attended several Episcopal churches, however none could compare to “our” church at St. Augustine. St. Augustine is by far one of the friendliest churches. The church is tru-ly a family—we are all there for each other”.

They like to attend the 8:30 service where things are more traditional and because they have be-come friends with many of the early morning people.

Shirley continues an active private practice in phy-chotherapy that she launched 35 years ago. Jan is retired from a career at Aetna as a Safety Consult-ant.

Neither Jan, nor Shirley had an Episcopal back-ground. Shirley was brought up as a Methodist and Jan was brought up as a Presbyterian. The single, most important event that brought them to the Episcopal church was the ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson who is an openly gay man with a partner. The gay issue is such a problem for most denominations, but they felt welcomed to the Episcopal church!

With what spare time they have, they both enjoy bridge, watching movies and being together with friends and family. Jan also enjoys working in the yard and playing golf.

In five years time, they hope that Father Joe will still be here! The feel the church is in a position to see phenomenal growth and become one of


the leading Episcopal churches in Oklahoma City. How proud they are to say they are mem-bers at St. Augustine!

T R From the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma

“In the last two days, Oklahoma has experi-ence a tremendous amount of severe weath-er. It appears that the damage is wide spread.

We are asking that you report any damage you have experienced in your communities to us.

Please send your information to The Rev. Canon Jose A. McLoughlin, Canon to the or-dinary at [email protected]. We are gath-ering information so that we can coordinate any assistance necessary.

We ask you to join us in praying for our fel-low Oklahomans.

Thank you”

From Bishop Ed

“...At this moment the best assistance would be financial contributions. I am asking every congregation to make a special appeal this Sunday for Tornado Relief. Please forward those gifts to the diocese and we will get them into the hands of those in need.

We all know the people of Oklahoma are peo-ple of incredible faith, and it will be the strength of that faith that will sustain us in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

I have received emails of thoughts and pray-ers from across the world: from Japan, South America, Dubai, and from the churches across the country. We are surrounded by the prayers and spirit of a great cloud of wit-nesses.

As more information becomes available we will post it on the Diocesan Webpage and Facebook Page.

Please continue to pray for those who lost their lives, their families, friends and all who are suffering from this tragic event.

In his mercy,

Bishop Ed Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma 924 North Robinson Oklahoma City, OK 73102

During the summer months people long to go to the lake or enjoy brunch with their family on the weekends. It is a time for relaxation and recreation. It is also a time which often conflicts with church attendance. For so many, there is a desire to go to church and “receive something spiritual” but there is also a definite time constraint to be aware of. So, when forced to make a choice be-tween attending church or going to brunch. Nine times out ten the “brunch option” will win out.

To address this scenario we are going try something new during the months of June, July and Au-gust. The 10:45 service will be shortened by moving the sermon to a spot after the main service is completed. The sermon will take place in the Parish Hall and we will have a “seminar format”. This means that at this point, those who wish or need to depart can do so, and those who want to hear and respond to the sermon can move to the Parish Hall. The congregation will have an opportunity to discuss the Sunday’s texts with the preacher, promote open dialogue with others in the group, and foster a deeper Christian formation. This seminar time, including questions, is slated to take about 25 minutes from start to end. We look forward to trying this approach to the Word being pro-claimed in our midst and the ways the Spirit will move and stretch us this summer.

Father Joseph+

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