A Message From Your Rector

Fall 2003

Dear Parish Family:

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord, Christ the Good Shepherd. Its Fall and the Summer is fading behind us. By the time you get this newsletter, we will have already celebrated All Saints Day and remembered in worship all those wonderful saints who have touched our lives and have gone before us. Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching and before you know it we will be in the season of Advent. At times I feel I cant keep up with the changing liturgical seasons but somehow it always works out.

We have had quite a year here at St. Anselms and thankfully we have attracted new faces both to our English speaking ministry and our growing Latino ministry. Average attendance at the Latino service is now close to 40 on Sundays, and that ministry continues to grow. We started the Latino ministry with a handful of people, Pat Casey, Basil Churnside, Elizabeth Hutchinson-Cervantes, John Kloman, Leo Barrientos our Choir Director, and myself. It is great to see it grow and witness the joy our new members are experiencing here at St. Anselms. Last month we had our first St. Francis Blessing of the Animals Eucharist in Spanish, and that was a great success with over 50 people in attendance. It pleases me to know that in a church where little evangelism is practiced, we are living this out, primarily through our Latino ministry.

The Good News of our Lord is being shared in our Latino community in new ways. Most of our new people come from the Roman Catholic tradition. One would think that this community would be big on the Eucharist, but that is not generally the case. There are so many restrictions put on Roman Catholics regarding Holy Communion that in the end, most Latinos opt out. During Communion they sit and watch. Here at St. Anselms we have been welcoming. I have emphasized that the Eucharist is a gift from Christ our Lord for our spiritual sustenance, and forgiveness of sins. We need this sacrament precisely because we need its grace for our journey, as we become the Body of Christ. Through this gift we become whole, we dont become whole first and then accept the gift, it is the other way around.

A gentleman named Don Ruben particularly moved me. His entire family comes to church faithfully every Sunday, three generations worth. He is the grandfather. Don Ruben had never made his "First Holy Communion" in the Roman Catholic Church. He felt he was too old now to do this; throughout his entire life, he never received the Eucharist. No one in his family did either when they first came to St. Anselms, although some had done their "First Holy Communion." One Sunday morning, to the amazement of the family, Don Ruben came up to the altar for Communion. The family was amazed as they watched him, and the following Sunday they all came up for the Eucharist. Don Ruben later said to me that he had listened to my sermons, and decided it was O.K. to come up to the altar for Communion. He is now a faithful communicant, and so is the youngest member of the Vergara family who is about three years old, his granddaughter. This is evangelism; this is the Good News of our Lord at work. Can you imagine how healing this moment must have been for this man who had gone to church all his life, and sat back while others feasted at the banquet? It is truly gift to watch this Latino community, which is my community of birth, embrace a new gospel of love and hope, life and joy, justice and peace, and let go of the old "guilt" surrounding things religious. The Good News is liberating!

While we are experiencing relatively fast growth in our Latino ministry, our English-speaking ministry continues to be challenged by the loss of members. As we celebrate All Saints, we become acutely aware of all those who have left us in the last ten years. Our attendance has declined. Most of our losses are due to death, and a few have also moved away or moved on or simply dropped out of worship. Thankfully this year new faces have come to join us, and they are full of enthusiasm for the parish. We have a "New Members" class beginning in November. Feel free to come and join Sue, Michael, Patrick, Nola and myself for the classes J It is a good way to rediscover the faith and keep it alive. Our first class will be on Tuesday November 11^th at 7:00 PM in St. Marys Lounge, and we will meet every other Tuesday.

Fall is also the time to think about Stewardship. You have all heard of Monopoly but have you heard of Episcopopoly? I suspect that you havent. It is a new board game based on the classic American board game Monopoly. It is educational, funny, and relevant to church life and stewardship. I am ordering a game and as soon as it comes, I will invite folks to come and play it. The "game includes a board, offertory plates, steeples, cornerstones and bricks, Budget Cards, property deeds, offerings, dice, and property brochures." This sounds like real church, doesnt it? If you would like to order your own sample you can get it online at: www.shop.cathedral.org it may make an ingenious Christmas present for a die-hard Episcopalian. This is a game about stewardship of time, talent, and treasure and November is stewardship month. We ask that you reflect upon this.

In this issue of the Log you will find a letter from Joe Marssdorf who has become our Buildings and Grounds man. What he is doing is an excellent example of stewardship of time. Sometimes it is like a full time job for Joe. There is so much that needs to be done and maintained here. Increasingly we feel the burden of maintaining such a huge facility. We have been hit hard this year with repairs, and maintenance. The tenting of the church for termites cost us $14,000.00, repair of the parking lot lights last month $600.00, handicap signs during the Summer $400.00, the plumber who was here last week, and the week before all this adds up. Frankly, we were not prepared for the termite problem, and so your gift remains important. Turning your promised pledge in on time and catching up if you are behind is also imperative otherwise we fall behind on our expenses. The cost of running a parish is no joke, it requires a lot, and so your generous giving is appreciated. With this issue of the Log you will find a pledge card for the year 2004. Please return it to us ASAP. Guy Talbott, our selfless Treasurer needs it to work on next year's budget.

In closing I would just like to add that I feel especially good about the welcome all our newcomers are experiencing here at St. Anselms, both Latino and Anglo. Our warmth has won people over and it is helping us to build community. The holidays will soon be upon us, time is moving. St. Anselms remains here in the midst of all this as your spiritual home, and we remain the members of your spiritual family. When we think of holiday gifts this year, think of your parish family. Think of what this parish has meant to you in your life throughout the years, and the place it has in your life and heart. Soon Advent will be upon us, as Cathy Standiford wrote in her beautiful song she composed with Leo Barrientos last year, Advent is a time of waiting. Soon we will say goodbye to the current liturgical year and enter the mystery of Advent, our time of waiting for the coming of our Lord. May our lives be guided by blessings as we prepare to enter a new season of hope, joy, love and peace. May we be blessed as a parish family and ever grow closer to our Lord and maker. May we know the joy of servanthood as members of the Church of God.

In Grace,

The Rev. Wilfredo Benítez
Rector

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