Emmanuel
Church Staff
The Rev’d Canon Dr. Mark Gatza,
Rector
Ellen Patten, Administrator
Brent Pertusio, Organist & Choirmaster
Heather Costantino, Christian Education
Coordinator
James Kennard, Sexton
Church Phone
410 838-7699
Church Cell Phone for
Pastoral Emergencies
443 752-0573
www.emmanuelbelair.org
Services:
Sundays—8 AM, 10 AM & Noon
Tuesdays — 10 AM
Your Vestry Wants To Hear From You!
Here is a list of your vestry to contact with any concerns!
Rector --Mark Gatza: [email protected]
Senior Warden — Dottie Ward: [email protected]
Junior Warden — Linden White: [email protected]
Treasurer -- Steve Bareford: [email protected]
Registrar -- Liz Glass: [email protected]
Debbie Bissoondial: [email protected]
Chris Gauthier: [email protected]
Cami Rogers: [email protected]
Rita Scharmann: [email protected]
JoAnne Bogusko: [email protected]
Peg Goodson: [email protected]
Allan Herlinger: [email protected]
Judy Hathaway: [email protected]
Judy Isom: [email protected]
Joan Kime: [email protected]
Andrea Lake: [email protected]
John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople 407
John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople, is one of the great saints of the Eastern Church. He was born about 354 in Antioch, Syria. As a young man, he responded to the call of desert monasticism until his health was impaired. He returned to Antioch after six years, and was or-dained a presbyter. In 397, he became Patriarch of Constantinople. His episcopate was short and tumultuous. Many criticized his ascetical life in the episcopal residence, and he incurred the wrath of the Empress Eu-doxia, who believed that he had called her a “Jezebel.” He was twice ex-iled, and he died during the second period of banishment, on September 14, 407. Thirty-one years later, his remains were brought back to Con-stantinople, and buried on January 27. John, called “Chrysostom,” which means “the golden-mouthed,” was one of the greatest preachers in the history of the Church. People flocked to hear him. His eloquence was ac-companied by an acute sensitivity to the needs of people. He saw preach-ing as an integral part of pastoral care, and as a medium of teaching. He warned that if a priest had no talent for preaching the Word, the souls of those in his charge “will fare no better than ships tossed in the storm.” His sermons provide insights into the liturgy of the Church, and espe-cially into Eucharistic practices. He describes the liturgy as a glorious experience, in which all of heaven and earth join. His sermons emphasize the importance of lay participation in the Eucharist. “Why do you mar-vel,” he wrote, “that the people anywhere utter anything with the priest at the altar, when in fact they join with the Cherubim themselves, and the heavenly powers, in offering up sacred hymns?” His treatise, Six Books on the Priesthood, is a classic manual on the priestly office and its awesome demands. The priest, he wrote, must be “dignified, but not haughty; awe-inspiring, but kind; affable in his authority; impartial, but courteous; humble, but not servile, strong but gentle ... ”
The Trumpet
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
303 North Main Street
Bel Air, Maryland 21014
13 September 2016
Upcoming Scripture Lessons
4 September 2016 — Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalm 1, Philemon 1-21. Luke 14:25-33
11 September 2016 — Exodus 32:7-14, Psalm 51:1-11,Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10
John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407
O God, you gave your servant John Chrysostom grace eloquently to proclaim your righteousness in the great congregation, and fearlessly to bear reproach for the honor of your Name: Mercifully grant to all bishops and pastors such excellence in preaching, and faithfulness in ministering your Word, that your people may be partakers with them of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Calendar Notes
Please Note: Sunday worship through the Summer continues at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM and Noon. On Tues-days we offer a service in the Parish Hall at 10:00 AM with prayers for healing.
Sunday, 4 September: Regular Service Schedule; Breakfast served at 9:00 AM in the Parish Hall.
Tuesday, 6 September: Healing Service in the Parish Hall, 10:00 AM. Office staff meeting, 11:00 AM
Sunday, 11 September: Regular Service Schedule.
Monday, 12 September: Trumpet Newsletter article deadline, 12 Noon.
Tuesday, 13 September Healing Service in the Parish Hall, 10:00 AM; “Holy Folders” following.
Sunday, 18 September: Regular Service Schedule;
Tuesday, 20 September: Healing Service in the Parish Hall, 10:00 AM. Office staff meeting, 11:00 AM.
Sunday School
Sunday, 4 September: Sunday School pre-registration, beginning at 9:30 AM. Come early to avoid the rush! There will be a group activity for children after they are registered.
Sunday, 11 September: First Sunday School classes of the year, followed by the ever pop-ular
“Sundae Sunday” Party
Join us following the 10:00 AM service for Home-made Ice Cream and all of your favorite top-pings. (Yes! All of them!)
Welcome Back Joan Kelly Joan Kelly joined us sever-al months ago as she con-sidered a call to serve as a Deacon. Her preparation for that service continues and she will be with us as a Deacon-Intern this year, where you will see her in a variety of roles .
Administrative Upgrades There is some good news to share about life at Emmanuel Church which may not be
readily visible to many parishioners. Over the past year the way we organize and admin-
ister our life and work together has seen several significant improvements.
It started about 18 months ago when we received a grant from the Ihloff Fund of the Dio-
cese of Maryland to assist us with the creation of a position for an Administrative Assistant. In May of 2015
we hired Ellen Patton to be that person, and she has occupied the “Center Desk” in our office ever since. You
may not realize what a complicated job this is — and in fact I didn’t really understand it until I had to explain
what things change each week, what changes each season, and why we use different parts of the Prayerbook
for different services. And that’s just to create regular Sunday bulletins! Ellen has done a wonderful job, first
surviving and finally mastering the complications of those processes. And, as we hoped, this has freed me up
to be more present out and about in the community and visiting parishioners at home and in hospital. For
example, I have already done twice as many home communions in 2016 as I did in all of 2015.
Dot Ward is our Senior Warden and we meet
regularly to check in on the state of the congregation.
In the past this was often done a few minutes here or
there whenever we could grab time. Our time togeth-
er these days is more structured, more formal, and
scheduled in advance. Often it takes place at lunch,
and the time away from the office frees us from dis-
tractions and makes the time more productive. A re-
sult of this new pattern is a process of creating agen-
das for Vestry meetings.
For several years Emmanuel has been without a
Property Warden, and we were pleased to announce
earlier this year that Linden White has stepped up to plate to oversee our property issues. His role is not to
run around trying to fix everything, but to keep an active list of what needs to be done and to manage both
volunteer efforts and any contracts with outside vendors. Key to his work is communication with members
of Emmanuel who notice things that need to be done. We have changed up the “To Do” list on our website
which now provides a form that people can download and complete to let us know what needs to be done.
Every other Tuesday morning at 11:00 AM you will find members of Emmanuel’s staff gathered in the
office for a formal staff meeting. Senior Warden, Property Warden, Administrator, Assistant Treasurer, Chris-
tian Education Coordinator, the Rector and often our Organist/Choirmaster — all of us gathered around the
table with our master calendar discussing what is happening and what we are expecting in the days and
weeks ahead. Though this is standard operating procedure for many companies and organizations — includ-
ing churches — it represents a significant step forward for us. We are a busy place, not only because of our
own church-related activities, but because part of our mission is to welcome others to make use of our space.
We have discovered that we need to develop policies and procedures to help us coordinate among the users
of our facilities and to assist us in deciding what activities we are able to host.
Underlying all of this is the understanding that not only is ministry most effective when it is widely
shared, but that the administration of that process is also best when it is shared as well. We are blessed to
have and to be able to develop talented leaders who are reshaping the way we work together, all for the sake
of the coming Kingdom of God.
Totidem Verbis Mark Gatza+
The “Center Desk” in the Office
Volunteer Opportunities On page 856 of The Book of Common Prayer — in our Catechism — we find the following question and an-swer.
Q. What is the duty of all Christians?
A. The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate wor-ship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.
Church is not something we attend, but something we participate in, and the fullness of the experience comes from taking an active part in any of the many things we do together.
By the same token, the many things we do together require time and attention from volunteers. Many of the tasks we do each week re-quire very little training, and we have organized our schedules as much as possible to let you choose not only what you would like to do, but when you are available to do it.
In the last issue of the Trumpet, we noted many of the outreach pro-grams and projects that we sponsor. Here is a a sample of the several other things that we can use your help with.
Leading Worship: In the Episcopal Church worship always involves shared responsibilities. Our services are organized to include parish-ioners as acolytes, readers, prayer leaders and chalicists who assist with the distribution of Holy Communion. At our 8:00 AM and Noon services on Sundays, we combine these roles for one or two people; at our 10:00 AM service we divide them so as to include more partici-pants. Sometimes we ask participants in various roles to put on a white alb, but this is not always required.
There are sign-up and schedule sheets posted on the Slype hallway bulletin board to make it easy to let us know when you can help.
Singing: The congregation that worships at the 10:00 AM service sings well, and we are blessed to have a varied music program. Our choir is al-ways looking for voices to join them.
Behind the Scenes: Our Altar Guild cares for and sets up the “hardware” of worship — the silver chalice and paten, the brass candelabra and other paraphernalia. Teams of two or three work together, ideally serving once a month. Most of the work is done on a Saturday morning, and then in be-tween services on Sunday mornings.
Our Gardens: Though you should probably not judge a book by its cover, people do make assumptions about who we are as they drive by our cor-ner at Broadway and Main. Eden, after all, was a garden! There are several volunteers already who look after a corner here or there, but there are still several small portions that could use some attention.
No one can or should try to do everything, but a little bit of help here or there will make your experience of Emmanuel church all the richer.
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