THE GREETERAugust 2016

FROM THE RECTOR

Where do you meet Jesus in your life? I know he is risen and the Jesus who walked the earth over 2,000 years ago is not physically with us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t see Jesus in others. Scripture tells us that we are the body of Christ on the earth today and so we are called to be Jesus to others. But sometimes Jesus can show up in the actions and words in persons that may well surprise and delight us. Recently I shared in a sermon two distinct occasions where I felt the presence of Jesus in my life. They were powerful experiences borne along my pilgrimage walk on the Camino Way, an ancient Christian pilgrimage to the town of Santiago in northwestern Spain. Here are my accounts of meeting Jesus while I was on vacation.We all have ideas about who Jesus is and perhaps what he looks like. My encounters with Jesus took two different forms. But first, let us consider the words in the Gospel of Luke where Jesus gives us a version of what we know as the Lord’s prayer. It begins: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.” And as we know it, we add “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. When I met Jesus twice, God’s will on earth came just a bit closer.The first time I met Jesus was on my second day on the Camino. My feet hurt. I mean they really hurt. Bad. I had walked about three miles when we came to one of the many bars one can find along the way. Now, these aren’t bars in the typical sense of the word, but places where one could get something to eat and drink and use a restroom. It was at one of these places where my friend, The Rev. Ernesto Medina, introduced me to a woman named Jen who came from Texas. I sat down and Ernesto and family moved on. Jen and her friend she was traveling with remained behind. I told Jen about my feet and she said “Let me take care of that for you”. Now remember, we had just met, but Jen, she took my feet one at a time, placed them on her lap and gently, carefully tended to each one of them using some medical supplies of her own to take care of my blisters. This was a very humbling experience for me. I felt like I was one of the disciples with whom Jesus carefully washed their feet toward the end of his ministry. And then it occurred to me, Jesus was taking care of my feet in this woman who I didn’t even know less than five minutes beforehand. I will never forget that experience, and I will probably never see Jen in my life again, but on that day, Jesus appeared to me in bodily form.The second time I met Jesus was a totally different experience. My friend, Ernesto, who had been on the trail for a month, had made many friends along the way. This particular day, about four days in on my journey, we had lunch with Keith. Now you need to know that Keith is an avowed atheist and made no bones about it. In fact, he asked Ernesto if Ernesto really believed in his heart that he, Keith, was an atheist, to which Ernesto appropriately responded, I believe what you tell me. A little later on I commented to Keith that the question really was “how do you define God”. He agreed with my assessment, for I think that many people have false views of a false God that doesn’t exist, but they think that’s the God they are supposed to believe in. At any rate, toward the end we found out that Keith had bought all eight of us lunch. And so I looked at Keith and I said to him: “Keith, you have been Jesus to me today”. He looked at me a bit dumbfounded and said, “well, that’s a big burden to live into.” To which I said, “no Keith, it is no burden, you have simply acted as Jesus would have.” And so it was. Jesus had shown up in an avowed atheist.Perhaps we need to think again where it is we meet Jesus. Let us throw away our preconceived notions and our outdated ideas. Jesus invites us in the Gospel of Luke: "So, I say to you, ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”Looking for Jesus? I suspect you don’t have to walk 66 miles in Spain like I did to find him. Jesus may be right next to you. In fact, if you open your hearts and minds, you might even be Jesus for someone else. May it be so.

Fr. John

MINISTRY NEWS

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOLWe send out a big and hearty thank you to everyone that helped with vacation bible school. We had 50 children spend the three evenings with us and it would not have been possible without all of our volunteers. The attendees enjoyed spending time in their tribal camps, hearing stories of Jesus, attending the market place, and even participating in some Zumba exercise. Thank you.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS TO IMPROVE THE CHURCHThe Vestry of St. Andrew’s wishes to announce the availability of money for projects designed to: 1) improve the buildings and grounds of St. Andrew’s, 2) purchase equipment, and/or 3) fund programs and missions. The vestry’s goal is to improve the spiritual experience of the parishioners of our church. Any parishioner with a request is encouraged to fill out and submit an application form that you can find in the back of the church. The members of the Vestry will prioritize the proposals. Proposals will be funded, highest priority first until the available money is used up. Depending on the number of submissions, not all of the proposals may be funded. The deadline for submissions is September 1, 2016. The total available funds are $15,000 with a maximum of $5,000 per project. It is the Vestry’s hope that it will be possible to repeat this “Request for Proposals” in the future, so please fill out and submit a form to let us know your ideas.

NEW WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY GROUPKaren Ekholm is leading a Bible Study one Thursday night a month titled, "Women of the Bible.” We meet at 7pm and treats are provided. Each lesson stands alone, so please come when you can. The August session is Thursday, August 11.  Please bring a Bible, notebook and pen. It will be fun!!  Call or e-mail Sarah at 402-660-7649 or sarah@standrewsomaha.org if you are interested or have any questions.

ECW KICK-OFF DINNERCalling All MEN!The ECW Kick-Off Dinner is Tuesday, September 13, in the undercroft. Cocktails and appetizers begin at 6:00 p.m. Our new associate rector, The Rev. Diane M. Pike, will have a short talk for us. All women are invited and encouraged to attend. It will be a fun evening. A gluten free/dairy free option is available. Please contact Dari Dornan (see info below) if you would like that option.In order for ALL of our women to enjoy the evening, we are asking for male volunteers to help with clean up for the night. We would really appreciate it. If you can help, please contact Dari Dornan at (402) 490-4886 or at daridornan@yahoo.com.

ANOTHER BIBLE STUDY GROUPOur Tuesday morning bible study group will reconvene in September with The Rev. Diane M. Pike leading a study on the book of Genesis. The Tuesday morning group will meet at 9:30am beginning September 20. If there is interest, Diane will hold a similar class on Monday evenings beginning September 19 at 7pm. We will place sign-up sheets outside the sanctuary once the Odds and Ends Sale has concluded. Please keep an eye out for these and sign up to show your interest or speak with Diane to let her know.

ANNUAL IRIS RHIZOME SALEThe Greater Omaha Iris Society welcomes everyone to their Iris Rhizome Sale here at St. Andrew’s Friday, August 19, 2:00pm-8:00pm. The bulletins the week of August 7 will include a buy one, get one coupon.

MEN’S SATURDAY MORNING FELLOWSHIP GROUPThe 8am Saturday morning Men’s Fellowship group will start back up on September 17. The next book we will be studying is “Good and Beautiful God” by James Smith. Please join us if you can.

ALTAR GUILD DATES Altar Guild Meetings--Wednesday at 9:30 in the chapel followed by the meeting in the conference roomSeptember 7 and October 5Altar Guild/Nearly New Shop Coffee DutyAugust 7 and October 9

MEET OUR NEW ASSOCIATE RECTOR, THE REV. DIANE M. PIKEDiane was ordained to the diaconate in the Diocese of West Missouri by Bishop Martin Field in July 2011, and to the Priesthood in the Diocese of Rhode Island (for West Missouri) by Bishop David Joslyn in January 2012.  She earned her MDiv (Masters of Divinity) from the Seminary of the Southwest (Austin, TX), her BA degree from Nazareth College (Kalamazoo, MI), a secondary teaching certificate from Madonna (College) University (Detroit, MI), and an MA degree in guidance and counseling from Oakland University (Rochester, MI). Prior to attending seminary Diane had a long career in not-for-profit management and fundraising, including serving as Director of Fund Development for the Girl Scouts of the USA (New York).  She most recently served as Executive Director of the Episcopal Preaching Foundation (New Jersey).  Diane has experience as an annual and major gifts officer for several hospitals and institutions of higher education in Philadelphia and the Greater Detroit Metro area.  She has had classroom experience teaching both adults and children, and has taught science and social sciences in grades 5-10.  Diane is a Michigander and an avid Michigan/Detroit sports fan. She enjoys reading and quilting, working with hot glass, traveling (and reading about traveling) cooking and hanging out with her Chihuahua mix rescue dog, Lexi.The eldest of three, Diane grew up in a small town in Southwestern Michigan where her parents, Bob and Loraine, still live. She has a sister, Sue, who lives in Kansas City. Her brother, Scott and his wife live in Northern Kentucky. She has two nieces, Sadie and Shelby. Diane enjoys conversations about most any topic and will welcome opportunities to have tea (iced right now!), coffee or an adult beverage with members of the congregation, so give her a call and set up a time to get acquainted. Please remember to wear your name tag to help her learn all of our names.

OUTREACH NEWS

ODDS N ENDS UPDATEWe have undertaken a NEW financial obligation to Habitat for Humanity for $6,000.00 every two years ($3,000.00 per year) towards building a house. Consequently, we REALLY need your help in one of several ways. We need people to donate merchandise, help sort and price during the week 10am-3pm, volunteer time at the sale, and to attend and buy during the sale August 4-6. Sign-up sheets are be posted in the hallway and on the bulletin board in Engle Hall. Please check your calendars and try to find at least three hours that you can help with the sale. Your help is needed and will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance from co-chairs Jim Schreiber and Bebe Miller.

BY REQUEST ONLY FUNDRAISER: SEPTEMBER 16, 2016On Friday evening, September 16, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church will join with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Nebraska (LLS) for our Fourth Annual By Request Only concert fundraiser. Billy McGuigan and Jimmy Weber, along with Tara Vaughan and the By Request Only Band, will entertain us once more at the lovely indoor venue at Lauritzen Gardens. The energy and chemistry of these musicians can’t be beat, and Billy and Jimmy are both invested in our fundraising effort. LLS holds special significance for Billy McGuigan, whose father battled leukemia. Our other headliner, Jimmy Weber, also has a heart for charity work and, as a former member of the band at our 9 AM service for

many years, he has a special attachment to our church. This year, Billy and Jimmy have promised a night to remember! The concert will begin at 7:30 PM in Lauritzen’s Great North Hall. General Admission tickets are $25 now, $35 at the door. You can order online from brownpapertickets.com or buy tickets on Sundays at St. Andrew’s from

Susie Thorne, Ron Dunic or another member of the By Request Only committee. Tickets are also available in the office Monday through Friday – but we recommend calling first to make sure someone is available. 402-391-1950. VIP tickets for a pre-concert meet-and-greet reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at 6:00 PM with the musicians and reserved concert seating are available for $100 and are available to both individuals and groups. These tickets can be purchased online (www.brownpapertickets.com) or at church from Susie or Ron Dunic. Tables for ten, at a cost of $1,000, are available for sponsoring organizations. Individual tickets to the $100/seat VIP event are also available. Folks can also join with friends and put together their own tables of ten as well!For those who haven’t had an opportunity to attend this event, we highly encourage you to join in the fun and support these two great organizations. Talk to anyone who has enjoyed the concert in years past, and you are bound to hear rave reviews. So mark your calendars, buy your tickets, look forward to a wonderful evening of music, and feel good knowing you are supporting both St. Andrew’s Outreach Ministry and the LLS’s efforts to find cures and ensure access to treatments for all blood cancer patients. See you on the 16th!

DEAN FRICKE FOOD PANTRYThanks to everyone who has donated to the Dean Fricke Food Pantry through Omahagives.org or personally. Your generosity is so very appreciated.  Donations of food items such as crackers, cookies, cereal, or meat are always welcome, as well as any non-perishable food items. Monetary donations can also be made to the address below to help feed those in Omaha who are unable to feed themselves.

The Dean Fricke Memorial Episcopal Food PantryTrinity Cathedral113 North 18th StreetOmaha, NE 68102

POP TABS FOR RONALD MCDONALD HOUSEWe are collecting the aluminum tabs from aluminum cans again. Please save these, bring them with you to church, and place them in the jar that will soon be in Engle Hall. These will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House in memory of Lou Gates.

FROM THE DESK

I am sharing a sermon from our local minister, The Very Rev. Craig Loya, the Dean of Trinity Cathedral, that I found very relevant. He shares how even among all the bad news that is out there right now, he saw a lot of good news out at Camp Canterbury. I think it can give us all hope.

“There’s been a lot of bad news this summer. Both here and around the world, we’ve had wave after wave of violence and tragedy; and if that weren’t bad enough, the back and forth we engage around it fans the flames of the deep political divides among us. The Book of Common Prayer tells us that “the mission of the church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ” (855), so it seems a preacher has a responsibility to speak word of hope and life in the midst of it all the division. I’ve tried to do

that in my preaching this summer, but I have to admit that when it came time to prepare this week’s sermon, I was mostly just feeling weary and cynical about it all, as I’m sure many of you are, too.

Then, as you know, I spent the past week at our diocesan youth camp. About a hundred of us spent the week playing, praying, singing, listening for God, and forming and incredibly loving and generous community. Part of the reason I’m committed to serving as a counselor each year is that camp paints a picture of what a community of Jesus’ followers ought to look like, and is a little glimpse of what I imagine God’s kingdom will be. There is a lot of joy and laughter, and every person is celebrated and loved for the unique person God has made them to be.

This year, the camp staff included four recent graduates of our camp program who were back serving as counselors for the first time. As I got to know each of them a little better over the week, I was blown away by their stories, and their dedication to helping our campers know God’s love in very real ways. One counselor is

working three jobs to help pay for college, and spent their only week of vacation to help with camp. Others continue to overcome challenges in their own lives, and are driven to give the love they’ve received in our program. I went feeling a little bit like a martyr for enduring the exhaustion and the heat, but I was quickly set straight by seeing the kinds of sacrifices they were making, and the kinds of odds they’ve overcome to be able to do so. It was hard to stay cynical for long in the face of loving, and hope-filled young adults who are passionate about sharing the gift of God’s love that they have received.

In today’s gospel lesson, when Jesus answers the disciples’ question about how to pray, I think he was hoping his answer would shape them into people just like that. He gives them what we now know as the Lord’s Prayer, and then a few stories about how God will be available and generous to us when we cry out to him. At the very end of the passage, Jesus gives us the punch line about prayer: “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” It turns out that the benefit of prayer is the gift of God’s Holy Spirit. When we ask, and seek, and knock, we aren’t granted our every wish by a divine genie (we all know prayer doesn’t work like that anyway). When we ask, and seek, and knock, we are filled with the gift of God’s spirit, so that we can love as God loves, so that we can be as unrelentingly generous as God is, so that we can be agents of peace and healing and mercy even when the world is as divided and violent and tiring as it has been this summer. In the words of one commentator this week: “The point of prayer is not to change God’s mind but to shape ours, to make us fit for the kingdom, ready to live the only life possible in God’s household: one of love.” We pray for God’s kingdom, we pray to forgive and be forgiven, we pray for the small gift of daily bread, so that our whole lives might start to reflect God’s perfect generosity and peace in the midst of a hostile and hard world. The more we pray, in the big moments, and in the smallest details, the more we are shaped into Jesus’ hands and feet in the world.

Those four young counselors so easily and naturally gave of themselves because for years and years and years, they had been steeped in the kind of prayerful, loving community that Jesus had in mind.On the last day of camp, with a lot of help from Trinity’s Suitcase Project volunteers, youth from all over the diocese prayed for victims of violence, and then packed eighty bags for women and their families who have survived sexual assault or domestic violence. Then we went and blessed the bags, and prayed the Lord’s Prayer again. You can’t be part of something like that, and not be filled with hope. The world is a violent, divided, hard, often tragic place to live. This summer has given us almost weekly reminders of that fact. But about 100 youth and adults from around our diocese spent last week soaking ourselves in God’s love and generosity through prayer, and play, and companionship. That’s a hundred more people who are ready to stand as lights in the darkness, as agents of hope in the midst of despair, as agents of peace in the midst of violence, as agents of life in the midst of death. And for all of us here, every single time we gather for anything here at the cathedral, we are invited to do the same—to soak ourselves in God’s love and generosity so we can be agents of the same in our lives—until God’s kingdom comes in its fullness, on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.”

Articles for the next edition of the Greeter are due Tuesday, August 23. Thanks, Erin Sloan

AUGUST Birthdays and AnniversariesAnn Smythe 8/1 Sahara Freed 8/1

Elizabeth Johnson 8/3 Pat Addison 8/3

Taliesyn Lewis 8/3 Libby Huss 8/3

Ardie Vickery 8/6 Kim Hawekotte 8/7

Herbert Hartmen Jr. 8/8 Rod Teutsch 8/9 Cyndi Hartman 8/9

Janeen Kollar 8/11 Betty White 8/12 Carolyn Fleming 8/12

Billie Lee 8/12 Jim Ortman 8/12 Shelly Smith 8/12

Cheryl Huss 8/14 Shaun Rife 8/14 Mike Spence 8/14

Don Baxter 8/15 Susie Trupp 8/17 Zachary Ahrendsen 8/17

Margaret Schaefer 8/18 Steven Duvoisin 8/18 Izzy Dodge 8/18

John Burns 8/20 Jenny Summers 8/20 Emily Sanderford 8/20

Bryan Anderson 8/21 Robert Miller 8/22 Bert Van Blerk 8/22

Emma Huss 8/25 Leslie VanderVeen 8/26 Charley Pugsley IV 8/26

Paige Rife 8/27 Kathryn Thorne 8/28 Daryl Wagner 8/28

Josh Gottschalk 8/28 Grace Sagert 8/29 Grace Bathel 8/29

Sophia Bathel 8/29 Asher Zogleman 8/29 Kayleigh Baker 8/31

Aaron and Amy Sanderfod 8/2 Jarrod and Amanda Olson 8/2

Dan and Dara Coffey 8/3 Roger and Loree MacNeil 8/4

Bill and Sarah Black 8/5 Dan and Cindy Dornbush 8/6

Scott and Janice Nelson 8/7 Tim and Jen Pierce 8/7

Francesca Swynford and Gene Anderson 8/8

Pat and NatalieJean Ahrens 8/10 Tom and Holly Lewis 8/12

Russ and Connie Krieger 8/14 Wayne and Camille Culp 8/14

James and Mary Schreiber 8/16 Ken and Val West 8/16

Jordan and Kathy Hankins 8/17 Christopher and Jennifer Brown 8/18

Rob and Kim Johansen 8/23 Todd and Cathy Engle 8/26

Rich and Betty Richardson 8/27 Will and Marina Gray 8/28

Eric and Niki Rodawig 8/29 Larry and Phyllis Lee 8/30

Ministry Schedule

August 7 August 14 August 21 August 28Acolytes9:00 TBD TBD TBD TBD

10:30 TBD TBD TBD TBD

Altar GuildS Polly Goecke Jane Hoover Adah Earle Jane HooverE Karen Ekholm Liz Bourne Karen Ekholm Susie TruppL Mina Witherspoon/

Mary SchreiberAileen Henry / Mary Schreiber

Betty White/ Mary Schreiber

Aileen Henry/ Mary Schreiber

Healing Prayer7:45 Lois Westfall Lois Westfall Lois Westfall Lois Westfall9:00 Andy Hawekotte/

Jamie BakerKaren Ekholm/ Lance Baker

Andy Hawekotte/ Karen Ekholm

Karen Ekholm/ Nancy Ponec

10:30 TBD TBD Anne Gambal TBDLay Readers7:45 Ron Dunic Lois Westfall Jordan Hankins Keith Ross9:00 Cathy Rife

Don PeelerAnna Kay SitzmanBeth Summers

Kim HawekotteDan Sitzman

Sharon KrygerCamille Culp

10:30 Anne GambalKen West

Benji PettifordKaitlan Pettiford

Lee HammondElizabeth Hallgren

Bert Van BlerkAnne Gambal

Ushers7:45 John Mabry John Mabry John Mabry John Mabry9:00 Shaun Rife

Susan MenterSteve and Lauren White

Linda Kay-Einerson, Burke Smith, Isabelle Adcock

Jonathan Gray Roger RoweMatt Dornan

10:30 Ken CrattyJames SchreiberScott Nelson

Charley and Nancy PugsleyJames Schreiber

Ken CrattyScott Nelson

Lee HammondD.J. O’SheaRon Dunic

Greeters7:45 John Mabry Laraine Crane John Mabry Laraine Crane9:00 Camille Culp Dana Coonce Lisa Aguilar Tom and Jean

Sitzman10:30 Lisa Hammond Kelly and Liz

BourneTBD Janice Nelson

Altar GuildNearly New Shop

Sr. ChoirHandbells

UshersOutreach

Sr. ChoirHandbells