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THE CHRONICLE—JULY 2008 1 SAINT JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH

140th anniversary

Saint James Chapel JULY 6, 2008

T he weather was perfect and the pews filled, as Saint James celebrated the

140th anniversary of our chapel on Sunday, July 6, 2008 (also the 232nd anniversary of the founding of Grosse Ile!) A 22-page commemorative bulle-tin was used by the congregation, with some passages very familiar and some very foreign to the 21st century atten-dees. Father Phil welcomed everyone and explained that, back in 1868, church was somewhat of a refuge for attendees. While all worked hard dur-ing the week, keeping their modest homes, tending the fields and more, Sundays were meant for hooking up the horses to the wagon and making sure the wheels were all in good shape, prior to the long ride on the rutted clay roads to the Saint James chapel. Sun-days were meant for worship and to give thanks to God. The 2008 congregation took part in a service taken from the 1789 Book of Common Prayer, the first prayer book adopted in the United States. Likewise, Music Minister Lance Massey chose music that was written before or right around the time of the Chapel dedication on July 9, 1868. Joyce Turin gave a wonderful talk on the great gift that Lisette Denison Forth, a freed slave, (and the very rea-son for our celebration) gave to Grosse Ile and the Downriver area when she donated her life’s savings to build St. James. Her talk also cited all the hard work that Island historian Isabella Swan put in to gathering history of Saint James and the surrounding areas.

Father Phil’s sermon touched on how some 140 years after the chapel’s dedication, the reverberations were still being felt through dedicated stained glass windows, bibles, com-munion vessels, a special wooden cross and so much more. Many parishoners wore historic clothing to celebrate the occasion and Jill Glover Robinson sang a stirring rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s

“Hear Ye, Israel.” After the service, attendees were treated to a special brunch in Galloway Hall. What a historic occasion we cele-brated on Sunday, July 6, 2008. Here’s to the next 140 years of our little chapel and our strong Saint James Episcopal Church of Grosse Ile.

-Andrew Johnson

Editor

THE

CHRONICLE JULY 2008

INSIDE THIS MONTH:

MASSEY’S MUSINGS…….2

MAKING A

DIFFERENCE……….….......3

ALMOST TIME FOR VBS...4

MEET YOUR REJUVENA-

TION COMMITTEE..….......5

140TH CHAPEL PIX.….......6

TIGER OUTING PIX…........7

OUT THERE WITH

OUTREACH….……....…….9

SAINT JAMES’ CHAPEL CELEBRATES 140 YEARS

BELLES OF THE CHAPEL:

Parishoners stepped back in time to celebrate the 140th anniversary of our Saint James Chapel on Sunday, July 6, 2008. See a photo story on

page 6!


MASSEY’S MUSINGS

SUMMER THOUGHTS

On Sunday, June 15, we had the opportunity to say “thank you” to our parish ministers of music: the S.P.D. Bell Choir and the Senior Choir. These dedicated people give many hours of their lives in rehearsals to provide music for the services of the church. The devotion to their parish and to their ministry is a thing of beauty and we are grateful for their service.

As part of the celebration of music ministry, the Woodward Award was pre-sented to Patricia and Dennis Bracey for their many years of outstanding service to the Senior Choir.

During the remainder of July and the first week of August, I will be on vacation to Chicago, Springfield, MO, North Carolina and New Orleans. We are very fortu-nate, once again, to have the services of Joan Haggard as organist for our services. Before retirement, Joan was organist-choirmaster at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Rochester. Her son and daughter-in-law, John and Heather, are parishioners at Saint James.

Please welcome Joan and thank her for her willingness to play for us. May God grant all of us times of refreshment during the summer months in order

to serve him more joyfully. Have a blessed summer!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Lance A. Massey

Minister of Music

ST. JAMES

EPISCOPAL CHURCH 25150 E. River Road Grosse Ile 48138

(734)676-1727

Mission Statement: To worship, praise

and honor God, to know Jesus Christ and Make Him known, welcoming the

Holy Spirit to live through us.

STAFF

The Rev. Philip M. Dinwiddie, Rector

Lance Massey, Minister of Music

Paula McSweeney, Parish Secretary

Jill Craig, Treasurer

Harold Schwochow, Sexton

Jane Colwell, Coordinator of Christian Education

VESTRY

Marie Johnson—Sr. Warden

Jim Galleher—Jr. Warden, Buildings

David Christie—Jr. Warden, Grounds

Jane Colwell—Sec’y of the Vestry

Gregg Barton

Larry Crabtree

Jay Craig

Sue Daniel

Andrew K. Johnson

Mandy Phllips

Linda Shannon

Malcolm Williamson

WEBSITE: www.saintjamesgi.net

THE CHRONICLE

2006 and 2007 winner of the Lois Leonard Award for Excellence in

Church Journalism, awarded by The Record Editorial Board of the Episcopal

Diocese of Michigan.

SAINT JAMES SENIORS: We recently celebrated four of our recent high school gradu-ates. (Left to right): Dane Crotto will attend the College of Creative Studies in Detroit; Nate Treadwell will attend Indiana University; Megan

Hazzard will attend Grand Val-ley State University, and; Courtnay Taylor will attend the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design. Pray for them all (especially right before their

first set of finals!)

The success of the 140th Anniversary Reception on July 6 was mainly in the hands of a very capable committee: Kate Sullivan Hartwell (brunch), Blanche Hutchison (invitation wording and tea pourer), Beth Holliday (invitation design, games) and Kristin Shamus (publicity). Without the aproned tea ladies; Michael Glover, Nancy Clark and Eleanor George, the beautiful tea table might not have been a success. Mildred Hartwell (in her authentic outfit) and Blanche were the main tea pourers with Jean Beaubien and Nancy Crysler as their relievers. Judy Christie, playing Jill-of-All-Trades, distributed the commemorative folder. Madeleine Jones gets our thanks for assembling the folder and the array of mementos of our history scattered around the Fireplace Room. And we can not overlook David Hartwell and Dimitry Turin who were recruited to “roll” tables, heft chairs and be runners of sorts and all of the main committee who helped on Saturday in the assembling and again Sunday and Monday in the dis-assembling. My thanks...and kudos from the parishioners and guests. What a Great Day! -Joyce A. Turin

140th THANK-YOU’s SAINT JAMES’ SENIORS


Many thanks to all of you who do the little things at Saint James, which really "make a difference." Sue Johnson for conducting the Adopt a Chair Campaign for Galloway Hall and Nina Galleher who spent hours researching chair designs, construction, price and colors. Jack Hartley did a beautiful job refinishing the table in the vesting room. He spent several days cleaning and oiling it. Don’t the new window cornices in Galloway Hall look terrific? They really brighten and open up the area. Sue Hartley lovingly washed the old drapes which were used to make the cornices. Nina Galleher coordinated the project with J&I Interiors in Riverview. Talk about mak-ing use of what we already have! Every penny counts. June Chronicle assemblers: Eleanor George, Millie

Miles, Lynn Blanks and Paula McSweeney. Curt Crysler for organizing the great outing to Comerica Park, where the Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies (see photo story on page 7.) Curt had refreshments on the bus (from champagne and orange juice to hotdogs and fresh strawberries) and was a great host throughout! The 140th Chapel Anniversary committee did a won-derful job in putting together a memorable event. Jill Glover Robinson did a wonderful job in singing Mendelssohn’s “Hear Ye, Israel” during the 140th Chapel Anniversary service. If you see someone "making a difference" around Saint James, leave a note with Paula McSweeney in the office via email to Andrew Johnson at [email protected].

One recent afternoon when Fr. Phil was picking fallen cottas (the white overlay our torch bearers wear) up from the floor for the 300th time he had an epiphany: "KNIT HANGER COVERS!" The cottas' wide necks were slip-ping from the wooden hangers, but knit covers would solve the problem... But who could knit so well? In a flash he knew. Barely two weeks later Lola Boyd, like a superhero to the rescue, had created from scratch a com-plex knitting pattern and already knit onto seven hangers a perfect, permanent, and attractively colorful solution. Thank you, thank you, Lola! Look in the vesting room

to see her fine work!

MAKING A DIFFERENCE—JULY

PASTOR ALLER PAYS A VISIT: Pastor Ted Aller, Saint Thomas Lutheran, Grosse Ile, dropped in to help celebrate the 140th anniversary of our Saint James Chapel on Sunday, July 6, 2008. Pastor Aller will retire from Saint Thomas in September. He has always been a good friend to Saint James. We thank him for his friendship, fellowship and leadership. All of us wish him well in his retirement (though from the sounds of

it, he will be doing anything but retiring!)


3—Jerry Cleaver, Jeannine Yan 5—Marilyn Brown 6—Matthew Jeffery, Cauy Webb 7—Kaylee Bohl, J.B. Faistenhammer, Courtney McNeill 8—Robert Burns, Cinda Foley, Nicholas Thomas 9 —Barry VanEngelen, Kadie Webb 10—Judy Alford, Shirley Jones 14—Marjorie Stahlman 15—Christian Craig, Sara Dermody

17—Sheila Rogers 18—Gerry Gorris, Joan Hemsworth, Carole Vandenberg 20—Noah Barnsdale 23—Sarah Iverson 25—Sharon Hopkins, Sue Anderson, Brooke Turner 27—Gregg Barton 29—Lisa Glover, Ed Will 30—Katrina Miles 31—Monica Dowhan, Roger Bailey

BIRTHDAYS—JULY

SCRIP UPDATE

SHAMUS FAMILY NEEDS A

NANNY

The Shamus family is in need of a nanny for their girls, Julia, 3, and Sarah, 4 months. The job would start in mid-August and comes with the promise of at least three full days a week but as many as five days a week. Competitive pay. If you're interested or know someone else who might be, please contact Greg or

Kristen Shamus at (734) 347-2358.

Thanks to all who reloaded their Kroger Gift Cards last month. You earned Saint James’ $340! If you are still wondering about this easy way to contribute to the church (all you have to do is shop for your food at Kroger’s), see us after church to buy the special Saint James’ gift card. Remember to reload at the Customer Service Desk before shopping. You may use cash, your credit card or write a check. The more you load, the more you are contributing to the church---5% return. Here is what’s new or different with Scrip: J.Jill gift cards $25 with 8% church profit Sunoco—$250 gift cards with 2.5% church profit ($25 and $50 cards also available) Exxon/Mobil—$250 gift cards with 2% church profit ($50 cards also available) Bedandbreakfast.com Additional 5% profit (for a total of 15%) extended through August 29 Thanks for shopping with Scrip and Krogers Gift Cards.

-Paul and Lynn Blanks

We cannot accept rummage until two weeks before our next sale, which is Oc-tober 3-4, 2008. Please do not leave anything before that time. Call Carole Vandenberg if you need more information (734) 671-6492.

RUMMAGE REMINDER

Vacation Bible School is just a couple of weeks away. It’s scheduled for July 21-25 from 9 am—11:30 am. This year’s theme is PowerLab: Discovering Jesus’

Miraculous Power.

Preschoolers through fifth grade and wel-comed and encouraged to sign-up! We hope that any Saint James kids will bring a friend (or 2 or 3!) and share in this fun, exciting and information Bible

School.

Sign-up is available on our Saint James website (www.saintjamesgi.net) or through written forms in the church office. Volunteers are needed! Call Father Phil at the church or

reach out to Courtney McNeil or Sharon Thomas!

Also, clean 12-18 ounce water bottles are needed for

VBS. Drop them in the basket near the church office!

See you on July 21 to experience Jesus’ Miraculous

Power!

VBS IS ALMOST HERE!


Over the past year, many of our pa-rishioners have commented on the general appearance of our church interiors – especially Galloway Hall. Specifically, the 24 year-old wallpa-per with touches of mildew, and draperies last cleaned in the early 1990’s. The floors have reached a critical state, requiring immediate attention. Not to mention the wood paneling, which was appearing rather dull. The chairs … well, everyone knows they were at the end of their lifecycle! So where do you begin, especially when no monies have been allocated for major redecorating projects? The first step was to find someone who was willing to take on such a task. In April, the Vestry sanctioned the formation of a new ‘decorating’ committee and named Sue Hartley

and Nina Galleher, as co-chairs re-porting to the Jr. Warden of Build-ings, Jim Galleher. The purpose of this committee would be to create an

on-going, integrated plan consisting of short and long-term projects for the rejuvenation of all the church buildings based on need and avail-ability of funds. That’s all it took to get the ball roll-ing. Days after the Vestry approved the formation of the committee there was an outpouring of interest from many church members offering their time and talents to the committee. Meet the other SAINT JAMES’ RE-

JUVENATION COMMITTEE members – Lynn Blanks, Judy

Christie, Amy Kohair, Jennifer

Miklos, Lynda VanEngelen, and

Tina Wirtel. Other church members will be lending their expertise and talents to specific projects.

At the first committee meeting held April 30, co-chairs Sue Hartley and Nina Galleher presented a proposed, short and long-term project plan. It was agreed that the committee’s immediate focus would be on four areas in need of a facelift:

1. Galloway Hall;

2. Handicap bathroom, powder

room, brides’ dressing room & choir

robing room;

3. Breezeway; and

4. Main Hallway. It was also agreed to create sub-committees to handle individual pro-jects. The sub-committees would be responsible for recommending changes, creating a budget, and formulating im-plementation plans. Once complete, they would present their plans to the main Rejuvenation Committee for ap-proval prior to sending to the Vestry. Leading the sub-committees for the first four projects are: Project #1 Nina Galleher and Sue Hartley are responsi-ble for Galloway Hall; Amy Kohair will lead Project #2 – aka the ‘Blue Carpet’ team; and Judy Christie will be responsible for Projects #3 & #4. Ad-ditional sub-committees will be formed to handle future projects.

At this same meeting, Committee members approved the Galloway Hall project plan as presented. In May, the Vestry approved funding and gave the go ahead to begin.

PROJECT #1 –

GALLOWAY HALL

New Chairs (Chairs to You! Cam-paign) Don’t forget to purchase your

chairs; they’ll be arriving early to mid-

July.

Repair/painting of the ceiling by A-1 Painters. Have you noticed the ‘softer’

color above your heads?

Repair/cleaning windows – A big Thanks to Harold Schwochow, the Church Sexton, who did a great job cleaning and now maintaining the win-dows…thanks to those darling little birds!

Cleaning the wallpaper & cleaning/treating the wood paneling – Sue and her valued team members, Jack Hart-

ley, Liz Hartley, Bob Beaubien,

Monica Treadwell, Judy Christie,

Michael Glover and Carole Vanden-berg had things handled in a flash. Wow what a difference! Refer to last month’s edition of The Chronicle for the Hartley’s famous recipes.

Refinishing of the floors will take place on July 28 following Vacation Bible School.

New cornices from the old drapes – J & I Interiors in Riverview worked their magic at an unbelievable price. Talk about reinvigoration!

Repair/painting under the Chair

Rail – Nina along with her team of hard working and skilled painters,

Lynn Blanks and Judy Christie,

completed their paint project on June 11. What a difference a little color

makes!

-Nina Galleher

Rejuvination Committee Co-Chair

(see related photos on page 9)

Rejuvenation (ri-jü-və-‘nā-shən) as defined in Webster’s Dictionary: to cause or undergo rejuvenescence. A

renewal of youthfulness (a) To make young or youthful again, reinvigorate (b) To restore to an original or new state.

MEET THE SAINT JAMES REJUVINATION COMMITTEE

The Rejuvenation Committee

invites everyone’s comments and/or suggestions. Additionally, if you are interested in participating on a sub-

committee, please contact:

Nina Galleher 676-0682

[email protected]

Sue Hartley 675-9503

[email protected]

WE VALUE YOUR

FEEDBACK!


140TH ANNIVERSARY OF SAINT JAMES CHAPEL—JULY 6, 2008


2008 SAINT JAMES OUTING TO COMERICA PARK!

Take me out to the ballgame...take

me out to the crowds!

Well, Saint James certainly did that on Sunday, June 29. More than 45 parishoners jumped on the bus and went to see the Tigers take on the

Colorado Rockies.

After departing the charter bus, the group made there way to party deck 3 for a traditional baseball lunch of hotdogs, hamburgers, baked beans,

potato salad and more!

The sun made its way in and out in the early part of the game and the rains poured down for a half-inning. But our group held out strong and saw the Tigers battle on to victory. The game marked the first time this season that the Tigers were over .500 (a re-cord of 41-40), which was a

feat in itself.

After the victory, the slightly soggy Saint James group boarded the tour bus back to

the island.

Truly a fun time was had by one and all. Spe-cial thanks to host Curt Crysler

(with assistance from Nancy) on a roaring good time!


COMERICA PARK: SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2008 SAINT JAMES OUTING

THE YOUTH MISSION TRIP TO JUAREZ, MEXICO

Have you ever wondered why it is that Jesus says, “WHEREVER TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED TO-GETHER IN MY NAME, I WILL BE IN THE MIDST OF THEM”? Why exclude the number one, the singular person?

I know why. It’s not because God doesn’t listen to one or that Jesus cannot be present to one. The reason is that love is not a singular thing. Love is only love that beholds the other and cherishes them. And God is Love.

That God manifests to communities bound by love is the very reason why Church as Community, Church as Family, is so important. To experience Christ present among us we must love one another and gather in that love. Not by perfect prayer or right liturgy, but by active, self-giving love do we begin to know the Holy Spirit at work among us.

This “being together”, this “loving one another” and how it opens God’s presence is the very power of the church, the true power of pastoral care, the power of friendship, of holiness, and

yes, the awesome power that is poured out on people engaging in Mission Work.

From June 22 to June 28, eight members of Saint James’, 17 from Grosse Ile Presbyterian and another 10 from Saline all trav-eled to Juarez, Mexico, a third-world community only 15 min-utes from the American border and El Paso, Texas.

We went to care, to give, to understand and to show active love because of our faith. We sweated hard, worked so hard that some people’s hands stopped working (they got better), wor-shipped in style and in joy, and met together multiple times a day for prayer and reflection.

Was it any wonder, then, with that purpose in mind, as that fellowship of Christians that the presence of Christ and the love of God came often, with a power we all felt and couldn’t help but rejoice in? It was glorious. My, but we serve an awesome God!

Yours in Christ, Fr. Phil


If you intend to go, or make cookies, PLEASE sign up on the sheets. I need to have an accurate count so I know how many more people need to be recruited. In August: Our partner churches; Roseville Corner-stone Baptist and the Korean Presbyterians will do the whole 3rd Saturday Soup Kitchen meal alone, so we will have August off. See us at the Soup Kitchen table at Church Fest in Sep-tember…Get a cup of Frank’s Famous Taco Soup and see the schedule for the year! Thank you one and all!

With love, Amy & Frank Kohair

On Saturday, June 21, we took our turn to set up and cook at Spirit of Hope Soup Kitchen. We made Taco Soup, a tossed salad, bread on the side, along with Entenmann’s desserts. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were made “to go”. The salad was made of miracles… 2 ½ bags of salad had frozen in the refrigerator overnight. I was just calling one of our friends from the next crew to ask if they would pick up more salad when Kate, (a member of Spirit of Hope, who volunteers at the kitchen and also runs the com-munity garden next door), came in. She told us that many of the salad greens were ready to be harvested if we could use them for the meal. I couldn’t believe the timing! But then, of course, we were reminded that God always provides. So into our standard salad of head lettuce, shredded carrots and purple cabbage went organic greens comprised of Belgian endive, curly leaf lettuce, chervil, flat leaf parsley, and iron rich red lettuces. It was truly a thing of beauty! Surprise, surprise, we had just enough for the meal! Do you love it? We had enough bread and desserts left to send to the Rescue mission with Gary (the “singing guy”). The soup had also worked out “to the penny”. Our wonderful crew for the morning were: Bob Beaubien, Nancy Clark, Jane Colwell, Larry & Donna Crabtree, Joan

Hemsworth, Diane Larkin, Millie Miles, and Norma

Smereka. A little over 175 people were served and the cost of the meal, including security was $253.06. July 19 is the Saturday that Saint James does the entire Spirit of Hope Soup Kitchen alone. There are 3 sign-up sheets on the Outreach bulletin board: 1. Set-up and meal prep: Be at Spirit of Hope by 9:00, leave probably before 11:30. Usual number (10 people) needed. 2. Serving and clean-up: Be at Spirit of Hope by 11:30, leave at around 1:45. As many people needed as we can get, to man the kitchen and the dining room for a “sit-down: meal (15 or 20 people) If you can stay for the whole day, please indicate this when you sign up. 3. Make cookies or brownies for dessert. Leave these in our church kitchen by Friday night. Put them in a labeled, throw away, container. We already have some, given to us early, which are being frozen until then. Thank you Marge Treadwell! If you sign up but cannot go as planned, PLEASE call Amy at (734) 693-0694. I would be especially nice if you found someone to go in your place.

OUT THERE WITH OUTREACH—JULY

REJUVINATE! Read up on rejuvenation around Saint James on page 5 of this month’s

Chronicle!


SAINT JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH 25150 East River Road Grosse Ile, MI 48138

Non-Profit Org U.S. Postage PAID

Grosse Ile, MI Permit No. 4

140TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

OF SAINT JAMES CHAPEL: SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008

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