Mondaymail July 7 July 14, 2008

Dear Everyone,

We’re back from our mission trips for the summer, both having been wonderful! The youth were terrific and the sponsors incredible. I can’t thank all of you enough for the parts you’ve given to the program! I spoke briefly with our missionary friends in Costa Rica today who again thanked us for coming and were very touched by the enthusiasm and hard work that we did. I’ll send a special edition missions report to recount the high points from both weeks.

Back home, though, the work continues!

1. We are running full steam ahead towards Summer Splash, training starting tomorrow for counselors and Thursday for junior counselors. Summer Splash itself will be next week and the week following. We do need more drivers! We can’t do the camp in its current configuration at all, let alone safely, without drivers. Even a few hours for one day or a day a week would be great. The trip is to and from Will and Kay Beecherl’s house on Shenandoah.
2. Wednesday at 5:30 pm, Chi Rho will be hosted by Willy Beecherl at 3818 Shenandoah. Following the fun in the sun and devotional, we will be seeing Wall-E at the Magnolia at 7:15 pm. It has a running time of 1 hr 43 minutes, so we should have finished by 9 pm.
3. EYC this week will be at Scottie Clarke’s house, 3105 St Johns, also at 5:30 pm. Our movie and location has yet to be selected as the theaters have not released next Sunday’s information. I really look forward to seeing our EYCers—the mission trip dates this year have made it hard to have EYC, and it would be great to have a good, strong end to the summer!
4. As hopefully you have all heard, we have a new DIRECTOR! Betsy will be joining us in late August, and I for one am very excited about her. I was quite impressed during her interview and cannot tell you how happy I expect to be working with her.

Alrighty, one and all, go forth and have a GREAT week knowing that God has great plans for the youth group and for all of us as individuals and families. I’m thankful for you and for the glory that He shows through you.

In His Grip,

Bev

Arrival in CR July 8, 2008

Our computers here are a little iffy, so please bear with me!

We all arrived in good order, being met at the customs exit by Will and our driver. Madi worked as our counter, and happily all people were accounted for! The ride to the seminary was uneventful–we were all certainly tired (I especially so!) and got to bed in relatively short order, if a little chattering was heard in the girls’ rooms.

 

The work day was great– the kids love the missionaries, and the worksite will amply accommodate tons of work. We are primarily working on walls as they are working through the permits for buildings proper. There is tons to do, including all manner of tasks that the youth have little experience with. There are even a few kids who speak a bit of Spanish, keeping things interesting and bonding with our coworkers and foreman.

 

The seminary is proving to be a great place to stay– the chef is sweet and keeps us well fed, the close quarters keep us all together for the bulk of the time, which the youth and sponsors alike like. The one thing the youth aren’t so keen on is the fact that we’ve taken up ipods and phones. However, they don’t seem to miss them too much….

 

We also prepped for the VBS tomorrow, and lemme tell ya, our kids have some massively impressive dance moves they’re ready to bust out for the kids tomorrow! The crafts and games are all looking good to go as well.

 

It’s going to be a busy week to be sure, but a great one!

Mondaymail June 30 June 30, 2008

Hello one and all!

Well, we’ve returned from Brownsville a little pinker and a lot more united! It was a great trip; the kids bonded with each other and with the adults, the kids at the vbs were receptive, our plan for programmatic cohesion cohered. I even had kids mid-trip asking me if they could come back next year. I was contented!

Of course, you know you’re Episcopalian when your kids teach you how to play poker on a mission trip. I’m sure the Baptists next door were shaking their heads.

Without further ado….

1. On the block for the week, though, we are prepping for Costa Rica like mad people! Our sponsor meeting is tonight, and Fr. Matthew and I will be in communication with our hosts throughout this week to assure ourselves that everything on the ground will be taken care of for our arrival. From here, everything looks great, and I am very excited.
2. Due to a lack of involvement, we are indefinitely postponing the continuation of the Ephesians Bible study held on Tuesday nights. We will explore our options for fall evening classes and let you know what sounds good with the guidance of our incoming director!
3. Wednesday, Chi Rho will be hosted by Aziza and Alexia Durham at 4412 Hockaday. Following the fun in the sun and devotional during which I’ve promised to harp on Kung Fu Panda, we will be seeing Get Smart at the Magnolia at 8 pm. It has a running time of 1 hr 50 minutes, so we should have finished by 9:50. Some parents have seen the film and think it is fine, but for those of you concerned I will be viewing this film tomorrow to make sure that it is appropriate, and if not we will see Wall-E, the 8:15 showing at the Magnolia, end time 9:52.
4. There is one change to mark on your summer activities sheet. The EYC meeting on July 20^th will be at the home of Scottie Clarke, 3105 St Johns.
5. This brings us to a close for now! It’s a crazy summer, but a good one, and I am really quite excited to see what God has in store for us with our new rector and director.
6. Also, as I have been out of the office for a week, the emails and phone calls are a little backed up, and I will be responding to you as expediently as possible!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all!

In His Grip,

Bev

Chi-Rho Brownsville Mission Trip Update – Monday, June 23 June 24, 2008

The weather here in South Padre couldn’t be better, and I hear that we’re almost 10 degrees cooler than those of you in Dallas. There are benefits to serving the Lord!

Our first day of community-building and ministry was a great start to our week. Our morning devotionals track with the story that is the focus in the Vacation Bible School (VBS) later in the day. The time to pray and look at Scripture in the morning is a great addition to the Brownsville tradition and helps to focus us in our day about why we’re here and that our ministry isn’t confined to the few hours of the VBS. Today’s story was about Moses and the burning bush, and we reflected on Moses’ incredible faith in responding to God’s rather bizarre form of communication and on the way in which God presents himself to Moses. Instead of telling Moses that He’s the God who does things or gives certain laws, He tells Moses that He is a God who is in relationship – He’s the God who Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew and worshiped.

The VBS threw us a bit of a curve ball today. In the past, the ages of the kids have been on the younger end, the more traditional age of kids attending a VBS. This year, however, we had a much great number of older kids, some even older than our Chi-Rho kids. This presented a challenge to which our kids responded quite admirably. We’re talked amongst ourselves and we’re going to adjust tomorrow and allow for some more active sports games for the older kids, which I think will work quite well.

Please continue to surround us with your prayers over the coming days. Pray that our sense of vocation and service will grow, along with our ability to hear the Lord’s voice in all the parts of our day.

Yours in Christ,

Padre+

Chi-Rho Brownsville Mission Trip Update – Sunday, June 22 June 23, 2008

All are settled into their rooms this evening on South Padre Island after a long, but blessedly uneventful trip. We left this morning a little after 8:30 am. We arrive around 9 pm after more bathroom breaks that all of us could count. Unlike last year, the hotel had all our rooms and we checked in without any problems whatsoever.

After dropping off our luggage, we gathered together for prayer as we joined with the Church in the evening service of Compline.

Many thanks to Pat Carrigan for trading off the driving with me today. We dropped him off at the Harlingen airport with a hearty thanks for his extra effort. Three cheers for Mr Carrigan!

Singing off,

A very tired Padre (aka Fr Olver)

Mondaymail 6/16 June 16, 2008

Good morning one and all!

As always, it’s a busy day here in the department, but Fr. Matthew, Nick, Tiffany and myself are all very excited to see the summer and encouraged by each other and by you all!

1. Chi Rho this past week talked a bit about Aslan as Jesus/God, having seen Prince Caspian the week before. We talked about how sometimes we try to do things our own way and they just don’t work out as well as the fact that we often pray for things we don’t get (like a pony for Christmas, apparently!) but that God, who has a much better view of the whole, ultimately has control of our situations and knows what’s best for us. EYC focused on the presence and evidence of God in the natural world and how we have a chance to slow down and experience that during the summer and ought to store up our moments in which we see God to remember when things get tough.

Thanks especially to Susan Beecherl and Nina Sanders who opened their homes and grills to let us have our fun.

2. This Wednesday Aziza and Alexia Durham will be hosting Chi Rho at 4412 Hockaday. Afterwards we will be seeing Kung Fu Panda at the Highland Park Regent, showtime 7:10. With a showtime of 1h31, our group should be out at 7:45ish.

3. There will be no EYC on Sunday as we will be in Brownsville on our mission trip! This also means that there will be no Mondaymail next week, either, which I know makes you equally sad.

4. Thanks to those of you who’ve already said you can drive for summer splash. That will be such a HUGE help! We do need a few more people and a pool for the second week, so if you can help out with either of those, I’d greatly appreciate it!

I hope everything is going well for all of you, and as always, if you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask!

In His Grip,

Bev

Chi-Rho Mission Trip Transportation Plan (from Fr Olver) June 14, 2008

Dear Incarnation Parents,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord!

The purpose of this communication is to respond to the concerns that have been voiced by some parents and to lay out the details regarding the Chi-Rho mission trip, which will take place from Sunday, June 22 through Saturday, June 28. This trip has, for many years, gone to Brownsville, Texas and worked at St Paul’s Episcopal Church where the kids offer a Vacation Bible School to local children.

I had heard there is concern among some parents about some of the details of the trip, particularly the travel arrangements and number of sponsors. Originally, there had been five adults who were scheduled to share the driving responsibility on the way down, and four on the return trip. Only one of these adult sponsors was actually the parent of a child in Chi-Rho or EYC. Two and a half weeks ago, we lost two of those sponsors, and began to search for replacements. During that search, we were informed that again another sponsor was unable to go for reasons outside that individual’s control.

As you may know, the Chi-Rho trip to Brownsville has had a perennial problem of acquiring enough adult sponsors, and this year was no different. The practice in the past was for there to be two or three adult driver for the two vans which we drive (though, I don’t think anyone would agree that such a situation is ideal). Beverly and I preferred to have a much better ratio of drivers to cars, hence the plan we had in place.

But, these last minute changes were quite alarming and of great concern for us, as it probably was for many of you. Thus, we have taken the following actions to deal with the situation and to make the situation as safe as we know how:

• I have canceled my flight down to Brownsville on Monday, June 23 and will instead be on of the drivers on Sunday. Because of our shortage of clergy, I was to preach on Sunday, June 22 and was also scheduled to assist at the U2 Eucharist that evening. Fr Philputt has kindly and generously offered to take my preaching duties, which adds to his already heavy load.
• Pat Carrigan has graciously agreed to serve as another driver for the way down. Thus, there will be four adults on the way down (Beverly, Peter Overland, Pat Carrigan and me). We will take a break at least every 150 miles.
• Emily Carrigan will fly down on Wednesday afternoon and be with the group through the drive home.
• Will and Kay Beecherl have altered their plans and will arrive in Brownsville on Thursday, June 26 to provide additional help and to serve as drivers for our return drive. Thus, there will be four adults for the return trip (Beverly, Will and Kay, plus Emily Carrigan).

I am pleased with the plan we have put in place and I hope that it allays any worries you may have had. If you have any more questions, feel free to call me (214-629-3240) or leave a comment below.

Warmly in Christ,

Fr Matthew Olver

Mondaymail June 9 June 9, 2008

Hello everyone!

I hope you are having a lovely week full of air conditioning, shade or water. If you need some extra AC, come visit the church!

The list of things on the boards for today is relatively short and sweet! We are opting for the less is more (and really, when the less includes two mission trips, it is more indeed).

1. For starters, the past two weeks of chi rho and EYC centered more on conversation than on lessons as we are kicking in and sorting out how to work out the schedule. Next time, we’ll be starting in on the real stuff, pulling from the Narnia movie of this past week.
2. Chi Rho this coming week will begin at 5:30 pm at the home of Michelle Sanders, 4832 Myerwood. From this past week, it looks like we’ll need about 4 drivers. Please let me know if you’d be willing to help out! We’ll be seeing the 7 pm showing of Indiana Jones at the Inwood Theater, ending at about 9:10. Those not driving should pick up their youth at the theater. We will also be implementing a check-out system, so please make sure your youth knows to say adios to me before hopping into your car!
3. The same drill will hold for EYC, who will be meeting at Bobby and Caroline Beecherl’s house, 3801 Beverly. Come prepared for all manner of food, fellowship and maybe a person or two thrown into the pool!
4. The Brownsville and Costa Rica trips are fast approaching. We’ll be sending out reminders for forms and funds this week for Costa Rica, which we need in ASAP.
5. Also just around the bend is Summer Splash! As you have probably experienced in some form or fashion, the youth throw their own VBS centering on all manner of water fun. For this, we will need some volunteer drivers for the daytime shifts to transport the kids back and forth from the pool and the church. If you have a free week, day or even hour between July 21 and August 1, please let me know! We also are in search of a pool in which to host our swimming portion.

I believe that will do it for now! Have an excellent week!

In His Grip,

Bev

Mondaymail June 2 June 2, 2008

Good morning and welcome to summer! We have a few things on our list for the day, but not too many.

1. Last week our consultants were in, including the Big Kahuna himself, Mark Devries, to help us out, encourage us, and give us some directional cues. It was a great time for all who got to meet them, and if you haven’t yet, Mac McCoy and Jeff Dunn-Rankin, our chief contacts in their firm, will be back in September. Just in case there’s some confusion, Jeff is NOT the Jeff who’s grown up in this church. It’s just God’s sense of humor that he would give us like-named people. This time around they worked with our search committee, planning our fall kickoff and Sunday school curriculum as well as myriad other renovation issues. It was a busy time, but much good was done!
2. Tomorrow, Tuesday June 3, we start the Ephesians study here in the EYC room at 6:30 p.m. Everyone a rising sophomore or older is welcome to come and take a deeper look at scripture. We will not be providing dinner, but you are more than welcome to munch in class! This will be a weekly event through the summer.
3. This week’s Chi Rho will be held on Wednesday at Bradley Bilbo’s home, located at 4611 Royal Lane. We’ll start munching and swimming at 5:30 and follow that up by watching Caspian at NorthPark at the 7:10 showing. Youth need to be picked up at 9:30 at the entrance next to Kona Grill. Youth should bring $10 for the movie plus anything they want to bring for snacks.
4. The Big Church service at 9 am will be the missioning service next week, June 8. All people attending the mission trips are encouraged to be there to be blessed by the clergy and encouraged by the congregation as we get ready to take exciting steps into the world.
5. EYC will be much the same only at Amelia Lewis’ house, located at 7322 Craigshire, on Sunday, June 8^th. We will also be seeing Caspian, but the times for next week haven’t yet been released by northpark.
6. The Brownsville trip is coming up at the end of the month! We have a few open spots, so please let me know if you’d like to go! We’d especially love some more EYCers.

All my love to all of you! As I’m coming up on my one year anniversary at Incarnation, I’m taking a bit of time to reflect on these past 12 months. It’s truly amazing to me that we have done so much, and I thank you all deeply for the help and encouragement you have given me on many occasions. Those little moments have been a sustaining force in my life. You have been a sustaining force in my life. And that’s part of what Christian community is, the continual uplifting of each other in the face of the unknown and in the face of adversity. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all!

Mondaymail… on Tuesday! 5/27/08 May 27, 2008

Good morning!

Tuesday is the new Monday, at least after 3-day weekends. I hope you all had marvelous Memorial Day weekends and that barbecue scorching was kept to a minimum.

1. Life in the youth department has come to its semesterly close, using the last evening activities to talk about having the inner self and the outer actions line up. I could have quoted Chesterton but instead just used pop culture, adding in some of Fr. Johnston’s comments on holiness from that day’s sermon since there isn’t currently any Sunday school to link the “big church” and youth curriculum. Talking about hypocrisy in ourselves and the necessity of working to correct places in our lives (even if we fall and fall again) might be a nice complement to our talk.
2. I hate to say it, but we have even more staff changes afoot in the youth department. I’ll start with the happy: Tiffany Luxon has joined us as our new administrative assistant! She is going to be our wonder in the office, helping me smooth out and sail along the adventures of forms, finances and the postal system. Secondly, my compadre in ministry, our senior high youth leader Nick Strobel, will be leaving us between the end of June and mid-July as he has accepted a wonderful position in South Carolina. We’ve been lucky lucky lucky to have him but wish him well as he goes forward!
3. Back to happy news: Our consultants are back in town and ready to have fun with us! Please come join us for an excellent talk with Mark DeVries, youth guru extraordinaire, on Wednesday, May 28^th, which is TOMORROW, at 7 pm in the Memorial Chapel. Light desserts will be served by our fabulous caterer Patrice. I am personally very excited about this opportunity and hope to see you there!
4. This weekend there will be no EYC or Chi Rho, but the summer series starts again with Chi Rho on Wednesday, June 4^th, at the Bilbo residence located at 4611 Royal. The fun will begin at 5:30 followed by a movie at Northpark. I need volunteers for drivers, so please let me know if you can fill in there!
5. Nick and I are starting up a more in-depth Bible study which will also begin next week on Tuesday, June 3^rd, in the EYC room. We’ll be covering Ephesians. This is a chance for youth who are rising sophomores upwards as well as any adults who might be interested to really dig into the scriptures and work on a more Bible-based learning than topical.
6. If you haven’t gotten your forms or money in for the mission trips, that’s A-okay, but the sooner the better to help out our financial office!

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all!

In His Grip,

Bev