MAY 2021

Simple Truths After , we hear of the resurrected ’ return visits to the disciples. We should pay close attention, because these accounts are rich in wisdom. One thing we learn is that sometimes the simplest truth, the deepest miracle, can be an offer of breakfast, as the one Jesus extends to his friends. It is also a mother or father looking up as they make pancakes. It is the volunteers packing meals for refugees or the Daughters stocking our little food pantry. It is a friend in pajamas, cooking bacon to share. It is an earthy, real kind of love divorced from complex theology and divisive politics. It bonds us to one another, calms us, and assures us that we are loved. Jesus tried to teach us this more than once. It matters what Jesus told us to do in remembrance of him: to share a meal- to break bread, to sit down and eat. We modern Christians do so much to drive people away: we focus on the supposed sins of others. We obsess over obscure and divisive theology, and we devote a lot of energy to impressing one another. A better path might be to pursue the things that did when he returned after the resurrection: share simple truths, reassure those who are hurt or worried, and feed those who are hungry. To simply say "Come and have breakfast."

Father Jeff Easter at St.

Father Jeff and Karen Young Thank you, Pat McCormick, for the beautiful flowers

Emily, Madeleine, Theo and Tim Bowyer

Finley & Piper Bowyer: , Josephine, Constance & Leslie Washburne; Rowan Bowyer; Heather, Lillian, Eden & Aviya York; and Owen Wood preparing to hunt Easter Eggs.

Waiting for the Hunt to begin

Wolf and Shal Benner with John, Lauren and Kimberly Family Camps at Mustang Island are happening this summer! And will be following American Camp Association, CDC, Texas Health Department and Texas Hotel Lodge Association guidelines for doing so. Join Father Jeff and his family for Mustang Island Family Camp Session 7, held July 15-18. He will serve as camp chaplain during that session. You’ll spend a terrific long weekend at the beach as you unplug, relax, and reconnect with what is most important – family, faith, community, and God’s glorious creation. Your family will stay in a beautifully furnished room with a private deck and view of the Gulf of Mexico. The program begins on a Thursday afternoon and continues through Sunday morning and lunch. There are other sessions beginning June 3 and ending September 6 if you cannot make it for Session 7. Enjoy swimming, singing, surfing instruction, arts & crafts, deliciousmeals, a buried treasure hunt, beach games, worship, building sand chapels and sand castles, fishing, resting, a campfire, and more. Go to https://www.dwtx.org/what-we-do/mustang-island-family-camp for more information and/or to register. Lee Ethel’s Fredericksburg

Many of you will remember Lee and Betty Ethel, long-time members at St. Barnabas. Lee Ethel was a well known painter of Fredericksburg buildings and events. The painting shown at the left is the St. Barnabas campus in the mid-1980s, and belongs to St. Barnabas. As part of Fredericksburg’s 175th Anniversary Celebration, Lee Ann Whatley has curated an exhibit of works by Lee Ethel, who was her grandfather. The exhibit opens on May 8 and will be housed in her studio, Appretiare, at 237 West Main Street. Our painting will be exhibited there along with others on loan from private collections.

The February Deep Freeze was hard on the St. Barnabas gardens, but the survivors blessed us with their beauty. Bishop Reed continues to urge the churches of our Diocese to help with the humanitarian crisis along the Texas/Mexico border. Bishop Reed stated: “To be angry and resentful is easy, a reaction that takes little imagination. To become cynical is to reject the hope of Christ. To love and to care is much harder, requiring that we extend grace and mercy to one another and to ourselves, but acting in love and choosing to care is the life into which we've been baptized.” To live into this call, the Brothers and Sisters committee at our church has decided to focus on those coming into Del Rio, Texas. The most dramatic impact we can have is by sending urgently needed items such as underwear, socks, snacks, backpacks, diapers and baby wipes. Donations can be dropped off at the Church Office. The Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition in partnership with the Diocese of West Texas has created an Amazon Wish List. The list works just like a wedding or baby registry. Amazon will show you all the items selected, you select the item(s) you wish to donate, and your selection will be sent directly to the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition. Go to the church’s web site at www.stbarnabasfbg.org/outreach/# to find the links for the Amazon Wish List and/or to make donations to the Brothers and Sisters Ministry. The committee will use these funds to purchase the needed items. Anything you can do will change the lives of the men, women, and children to whom we are ministering. St. Barnabas Food Pantry

The SB Food Pantry is located near our parking lot. Currently it is being maintained by the Daughters of the King [a group of women who pledge themselves to a life- long program of prayer, service, and evangelism). This little free pantry serves people of all ages. The contents are always changing but the pantry will have food, toiletries, bottled water, clothes, and occasionally kid stuff like coloring books. Jack Oates built and installed the The Pantry is stocked with Food Pantry. non-perishable items. Light of Christ Outreach Ministry

A recent bequest has made possible a new ministry serving St. Barnabas members who are homebound. The Light of Christ Ministry will begin by sending flowers and notes to these people in celebration of the ways in which they continue to share the Light of Christ with the world. When it is safe to do so, volunteers will take the flowers and visit with the recipients. Enrollment is now open for the 2021-2022 academic year for Education for Ministry (EfM) at St. Barnabas. EfM is recognized as a premier lay seminary program designed for anyone wanting to engage deeply in scripture, Church history, theology and ethics, theological reflection, and practice. The deadline for enrollment for the coming year is June 1. The program anticipates being able to enroll up to three entering first- year participants. EfM is a four-year certificate program (with a one year at a time commitment) that integrates critical biblical scholarship, church history, theology, and philosophy, while also providing practical skills such as theological reflection and insights into one’s Christian vocation. The program presents a process of intellectual and spiritual growth that has proven to be transformative. EfM currently meets weekly during the August through May academic year on Friday afternoons, with breaks at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. For over forty-five years, the Episcopal Church and the School of Theology of The University of the South (Sewanee) have co-sponsored EfM. The course is conducted through local groups led by one or more mentors in groups of six to twelve participants. There are many EfM groups across the U.S. and internationally; approximately one dozen in our diocese. The St. Barnabas group is currently co-mentored by Tom Carnes and Leslie Washburne. The four-year study uses published texts and essays as well as the in its curriculum. Year One focuses on the Old Testament; Year Two on the ; Year Three on Church history; and Year Four on theology, ethics, and interfaith encounters. Participants meet together in a format that encourages group building and sharing. Each prospective participant will meet with one or both mentors, to ensure that there is an appropriate fit between a prospective participant’s expectations and program content. EfM mentors and/or participants will generally be available outside between the Sunday morning services until enrollment closes to answer questions and offer insights about the program. If you would like more information, please contact Tom Carnes by telephone: 830-997-7790 or email: [email protected]. Presiding Bishop Curry: Easter 2021 When I get to heaven — and I know it may sound presumptuous for me to say it, but I live by grace and believe in amazing grace — when I get to heaven, I certainly want to see . But I want to see dear members of family and friends, those who have gone on before, the many people I want to sit down and have some conversation with. Of all the biblical people, aside from the Lord himself, when I get to heaven, I want to meet Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene, who was one of the people, one of the women, who followed the way and teachings of Jesus and who probably provided much of the funding for his movement. Mary Magdalene, who with some of the other women and only one of the male disciples, stood with his mother, Mary, at the cross as he died. Mary Magdalene, who, even after he died, on that Easter morning, got up with some of the other women early in the morning, before the day had begun, in the dark, got up to perform the rituals of love to anoint the body of Jesus in his grave.

I want to ask her, “Mary, tell me what got you up that day. Tell me what got you to go to the tomb early in the morning when it was dark, and you could barely see. Why did you get up and go to anoint his body? Mark’s says that you and the other women said to each other, you knew that Jesus had been buried in that tomb that had been provided by of Arimathea, with ’ help, but a large stone had been rolled in front of the doorway, into the tomb. And one of the women said to the other, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us?’ You knew the stone was there. You knew you couldn’t move it. And yet you got up and you went anyway. Tell me your secret.”

I suspect she probably will say, “Well, we didn’t know how we were going to roll away the stone, but we loved him, and we got up and went anyway. It was hard because it was dark, but we loved him, and we got up and we went anyway. Those roads could be dangerous at night, but we love Jesus, and we got up and we went anyway. Who will roll away the stone for us? We did not know, but we loved him, and we got up and we went anyway. And let me tell you what love can do for you. When we got to the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. And we shouted our hallelujahs, and shouted our hallelujahs. He is risen.”

Last year in March, on March 13th to be precise, another Mary Magdalene, her name, Barbara, Barbara Clementine Harris, bishop of the church, a voice of love, and justice, and compassion, a voice of deep and profound faith, first woman to be consecrated a bishop in Anglican , died and entered eternal life. This was early in the pandemic. Fortunately for us, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas had worked with Bishop Barbara to make sure that her memoir was completed, and they completed it. She gave it the title from the words of a gospel song that say

Hallelujah anyhow † Never let your troubles get you down Whenever troubles come your way † Hold your hands up high and say Hallelujah anyhow!

Those words characterize the life of Bishop Barbara: hallelujah anyhow. In spite of hardship and difficulty, hallelujah anyhow. In spite of injustice and bigotry, hallelujah anyhow. In spite of war and violence, hallelujah anyhow. And that, my friends, is the spirit of Mary Magdalene. That, my friends, is the tenacity of those who would follow in the footsteps of Jesus and his way of love. In spite of hardship and toil, hallelujah anyhow. In spite of the fact that this Easter is the anniversary of the assassination and the martyrdom of King, Jr., hallelujah anyhow. In spite of the fact that these are hard times, hallelujah anyhow.

Our work goes on. Our labor for love continues. We will not cease, and we will not give up until this world reflects less our nightmare and more God’s dream where there’s plenty good room for all God’s children. Hallelujah anyhow.

When I get to heaven, I can’t wait to hear Mary Magdalene and Bishop Barbara tell me he’s risen. Hallelujah anyhow. Amen.

PRESIDING BISHOP AND PRIMATE B. CURRY, EASTER 2021 MESSAGE In-Person Worship is Back! Sunday, 9 a.m. in the Parish Hall Sunday, 11 a.m. on the front lawn Thursday, Noon in the Chapel Reservations are NOT required, but masks and social distancing ARE required. Please bring lawn chairs and/or blankets for outdoor worhip. Parish Prayer List WE PRAY FOR: Kevin Colvin; Terry Henderson; George Edmonston; Frank Moniz; Kim Olson; Pat Reese; Norma Shepard; Mary Priestley; Dyana Orrin; Patty Moore; Susan Wilson; The Rev. Anne Finn; Chris Jungman; Jo Hallmark; Kathy; Bob Gates; Terry, Kristyn & Candy Hutzel; Finn Alban; Jon & Michele Armstrong; Marti Davis; Susan Henley; Skip Cheslak; John Lehotsky; Atlas Hopkins & family; Cheryl Knode; Geri Johnson; John Boudreau; Ranel Brady; Lynn Harris; Zoe Crenwelge; Jana; Fran & Mike Guentert; Conor McGoff; Aaron Jablonsky, Abby, Cade and Ava; Brandy & family; Julie; Annie Burt; Mary Ellen & Terissa; Thomas Page; Tom Warmbrodt; James Drury III; Mary Ann Morey; Karen; Lynn Robertson; Kathy Ray; Brock McAffey and family; Eleanor & Graham Claiborne; Cathy; Clair Pasahow; Debbie Rektorik, Loyce Johnson; Nathan Green.

WE PRAY FOR THOSE WHO HAVE DIED: Jacqueline Kostbade, Lianne Mercer May Anniversaries 13th Mary Lee & Thomas Marschall 28th Nan & Robert Mosely 17th Lola & Ron Roseberry 29th Beverly & Ross Taylor 20th Pam & Wayne Seipp 30th Patsy & Alan Minter 24th Charlsie & Henry Haynes May Birthdays 1st Rachael Bigelow 8th Ed Cowsar 18th Mike Scoggins Beth Davis 9th Cynthia Edmonston 19th Robert Walch 2nd Carol Gordon Gus Mullen 20th Tess Brundrett 3rd Chuck Alvarez 10th Elizabeth Seibert 22nd Harlan Hill Wendy Bush 11th Dick Elwood Pat Tuttle 4th Graham Hammond Grady Puryear 25th Pinky Pace Ray Rodgers 12th Hope Drury 26th Clayton Drescher Ron Roseberry Catherine Vinson Loyce Johnson Geneva Smith 13th Brad Campbell 27th Gabe Cross 5th Mary Lou Morey Eden York Katie Taylor 6th Lori Featherstone 14th Genevieve Washburne 28th Charli Mullen 7th Barbara Dickson 16th Allison Drury 29th John Washburne CHURCH CLERGY AND STAFF:

Rector: The Rev. Jeff Hammond RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Assistant Rector: The Rev. Bur Dobbins Lay Pastoral Minister: Morey Weldon Liturgical Ministry Coordinator: Molly Martin Clergy Associate: The Rev. Dr. Dyana Orrin Clergy Associate: The Rev. Anne Finn Clergy Associate: The Rev. Tom Luck Parish Administrator: Rachael Cole Office Assistant: Carol Schreider Youth Ministry Coordinator: Karen Young Director of Music: Hazel Hanson Lay Ministry Coordinator: Steve Neale MMO Director: Nancy Lopez-Taylor Nursery Director: Kathleen Meurer Housekeeper: Patty Ramirez

1980 Was a Very Good Year

In 1980, the Episcopal Church Women of St. Barnabas helped to pay off the mortgage on the Parish Hall (built in 1978) by raising $12,000 from the sale of “German Cookie Recipes,” a small booklet designed by Doug Hubbard, organized by Elsie Specht, with pen and ink drawings by Michael Penick. On each page appeared German proverbs like, Das Ei will klüger sein wie die Henne, (The egg thinks it knows more than the hen) and Gluck und Glas, wie leichtbricht das! (Fortune and glass, how easily they break!) 1980 was a good year for St. Barnabas. On February 7, the St. Barnabas Episcopal Mission was recognized as a parish by the Diocese of West Texas at the annual council in Corpus Christi. The Rev. Dean Pratt was our priest; The Rt. Rev. Scott Field Bailey was the Bishop of the Diocese. A fun-loving band of ad hoc “musicians” from St. Barnabas paraded through the Council attendees singing “In heaven, there is no beer! That’s why we drink it here!” Parish status meant that we would be self-supporting. As a mission church (since 1954) we had received financial support from the Diocese. In June of 1980, Rev. Pratt agreed to sponsor a family of Laotian refugees and arranged to have surplus produce delivered to St. Barnabas from the Rio Grande Valley to be distributed to the needy.