Welcome to Emmanuel Episcopal Church

A Welcome to Emmanuel

Welcome to Emmanuel Episcopal Church. Located in the center of Mercer Island, just a few minutes from Seattle in the Puget Sound, we are and open and affirming community that welcomes all. Emmanuel is currently in a period of transition. We will be welcoming our new Rector, the Rev. Hunt Priest, to Emmanuel this June. Please join us for worship Sunday, stop by the office or call us at (206) 232-1572 to let us know how we can best serve you. Scroll down to the items below this post to see what we're doing this month. If you are interested in finding a church home, hearing about our parish programs or with wish to learn about us or contact us for any reason, please send us an email or leave a comment below and we will get back to you shortly. Visit us again soon, or better yet, come make yourself at home at Emmanuel.

A Letter From Hunt

Day of Pentecost, 2008

Dear People of god who are Emmanuel Church,

Greetings from Georgia on this day we recall that as the Church, we are the body of Christ, drawn together and given life by the Holy Spirit.

Lisa, Will and I have started to set our sighs firmly on an island in Lake Washington and we are incredibly excited about the possibilities that await us there as we begin to become part of the Emmanuel community. Know that we have spent the past couple of weeks saying goodbye to our friends at St. Paul’s, as well as friends we’ve made during the past 20 years that we’ve lived in metro Atlanta. Our last Sunday at St. Paul’s was May 4 – a wonderful and sad and fun-filled day. The congregation met for the 10:30 service at a retreat center about 12 miles from the church building. We celebrated the Eucharist in a huge pavilion on a bright sunny late spring day, singing old camp meeting songs, shape note music and selections from our hymnals. We then moved from the Eucharistic feast of bread and wine to the Eucharistic feast of fried chicken and every kind of salad, vegetable dish and dessert you can imagine. A true southern spread and a wonderful day.

As you might imagine, we’ve said goodbye a lot lately. And as much as we’re going to miss people here, all three of us are starting to realize that we’re anxious to start saying hello. That’s why I’m writing – to begin to say hello to all of you. There’ll be plenty of time and opportunities for all of us to go deeper, but friendships have to start somewhere, so I’m beginning ours now.

For the next several months, I want to make sure we have lots of time to get to know each other. The Spirit has been plenty busy in your lives and in the life of Emmanuel Church and I want to see and hear what she’s been up to in recent months and years. Each of you has a story to tell about who you are, where you’ve been, how God is at work in your life, and about what your hopes are for our common life. Those are the stories of our life in God and we need to tell them and we need to hear each other’s stories as well. In July, August and perhaps in September, I want to get together with smallish groups of Emmanuelites to do just that: to listen and to talk. More details to come, but if you’d like to host a Saturday morning coffee or a midweek dessert in your home, or at the Church, let us know when the time comes to get it organized.

In the next month or two, I’d like for all of us to read Conversations with Scripture: the Gospel of John, a new book written by the Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge. It’s a very accessible book written for parish groups with varying degrees of familiarity with biblical texts. There will be no quiz, I promise. My hope is that lots of us will read it and what we learn will inform our discussion on what it means to be a Christian community in 2008 in metropolitan Seattle. John’s Gospel has a lot to say on the topic of Christian community and I imagine we will as well. The nice folks at Island Books tell me they’ll have copies in stock after May 18. It’s also available online, but supporting Island Books sounds like a good idea to me.

I’m grateful that my beginning with you is during this season after the Pentecost, a season our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers refer to as “Ordinary time.” It’s the long season of the church year from Pentecost until Advent when our readings, prayers and music help us to discover again what it means to live life as followers of Christ in the ordinary ebb and flow of our lives. Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and the seasons that surround them provide us with our “mountaintop” moments. But once the trumpets stop playing and the incense stops smoldering, we’re called to come down from the mountain, to be the hearts and hands and feet of Christ in our beautiful and troubled world.

Lisa, Will and I plan to attend all of the services on June 15 and sit together (we don’t get to do that too often) because I hope from the beginning that you’ll see us as a part of the community. I, of course, have a particular role among you, but I can’t do without the ministries of all of you. We’re in this together.

One more thing: when you get a chance, take a look at the blog about our big adventure traveling from Georgia to Washington. The address for “The Priest’s Big Adventure” is www.ga2wa.blogspot.com. I don’t promise anything profound (at least from me), but it’ll be fun to have you with us as it’s easy to leave a comment if you feel so called. We’d love to hear from you!

God’s peace,

Hunt Priest.e

Youth Group Update-Trinity Sunday, May 18

This Sunday May 18, we will be having Youth Group from 6-8 pm in the Teen Center.

The annual diocesan youth camp 6-Day will take place at Camp Huston June 20-26, 2008. The registration deadline is June 2. 6-Day is for those graduating this school year from grades 9-12. For more information or to register, pick up a brochure from Arienne's office box or check out the diocesan youth ministries website

Senior Sunday Celebration June 8, 10:30 am

Seniors will be honored on Sunday June 8 at the 10:30 AM service. The presentation of Crosses, Graduation gifts and special sending prayers will happen at this service. Afterwards a reception including yummy cake will take place during coffee hour. Other liturgies held June 8 will also honor our graduating seniors. The adult education presenter for the day and guest preacher will be the Rev. Mary Shehane, deacon serving at St. Marks and Campus Chaplain for the UW Campus Crossroads Ministry. Mary is a wonderful preacher and her ministry is devoted to young adults.  If parents or seniors could confirm names (for inscribing Bibles and other gifts) and whether or not they will be able to attend the 10:30 liturgy. If you are unable to attend at 10:30 but plan to attend another liturgy that day please let Arienne know.

Welcoming The Rev. Hunt Priest

You have likely received a letter from the Hunt asking you to fill out a questionnaire about your family.  Please fill out and return your questionnaire.  If you did not receive one, there are extra copies in the narthex, or you can email Lee in the office mail@emmanuelmi.org for an electronic version.

Bishop's Visitation June 1

Please join us on June 1 as we welcome Bp. Nedi at the 10:30 am service.  Before June 1 was Bishop's visit Sunday, it was Kids Lead Sunday.  We are on the lookout for children and youth who may want to participate in the 10:30 liturgy as Ushers, Greeters, and Lectors.  If you know someone who might be interested let me know this week.  Anyone who wishes to participate will need to be at the church at least half an hour early on June 1 to practice their jobs!

Trinity Sunday (May 18, 2008)

Come celebrate Trinity Sunday at Emmanuel!

This Sunday the regular schedule will be in place:

• 9:00 am Children's Breakfast/Adult Ed/stop by and talk to Arienne about Children's Ministry Programs
• 9:30 am Children's Choir in CE1
• 10:30am Holy Eucharist and Children's Chapel

Children's Chapel will be led by the Rev. Beverly Hosea who will lead children in interactive learning about the Trinity with fruit and coloring activities.

This will be Fr. Chuck's last Sunday as preacher and a potluck celebrating his ministry will follow the service. 

Adult Christian Education May 18

The adult education hour for Sunday, May 18, will feature our Minister of Music, Terry Ketcham, talking about and demonstrating our new chapel pipe organ donated by May Ho. Come find out why a Presbyterian from San Francisco would give a pipe organ to an Episcopal Church on Mercer Island, and listen to what this organ can do.

NOTE: Obviously we will be meeting in the Chapel instead of the TeenCenter!

Feed Tent City 4 update:

Our regular meeting on the third Sunday from 6-8pm will take place next week, May 18, 2008 in the Teen Center. 

On April 27 Emmanuelites gathered with our youth to feed Tent City 4, which is moving today from Kirkland UCC to Temple B’nai Torah – Bellevue.  I would like to thank the following people for their outstanding efforts to make the Tent City Feed a success: Mary Maxon, Ann Fenwick, Elizabeth Bachman, Alex Ihle, Clark Wittenberg, the Daugherty family (Jennifer, Will, John, Katherine, and Elizabeth), the Moore family (Leslie, Rick, Bryce, and Colin), and the Greaves family (Jean, Mark, Emily, and Audrey), as well as those who stopped by to make sure we had everything we needed.  I would also like to thank the Social Action Committee for generously providing funds to purchase food.  The cost of feeding approximately 100 people and providing storage containers for leftovers was approximately $215. 

I left directly from Kirkland to a clergy retreat at a wonderful lodge on the Olympic Peninsula.  I arrived after dinner, which I heard from clergy colleagues was sumptuous and filling.  I am sure that the baked potato I enjoyed at Tent City with my fellow ministers and those who live in camp was far more satisfying.

This Week in Children's Ministry (Upcoming Events)

Opportunities to contribute to a discussion of Emmanuel’s ministry to Children and Families:

(1)Contact the Rev. Arienne via email or by phone

arienne@emmanuelmi.org

206-232-1572

(2) Morning of Discernment (May 17, 2008 – 8am to noon)

The morning will begin with a continental breakfast and move into presentation and discussion time.  We will close at 11:30 with an order of Holy Eucharist.  The agenda for the morning will roughly be (a) reflections on our vision for children and family ministry, (b) a discussion of current needs in the congregation and wider community, (c) a discussion of what resources Emmanuel has to offer at this time to address the current needs.

(3) Planned AWE meeting

I hope to visit with the AWE group that is comprised of many of Emmanuel’s families with younger children to discuss the issues above.  This group has important contributions to make to the discussion of the current needs and priorities of local families.

(4) Drop by Children’s Breakfast to chat from 9:00-10:15

(5) Participate in Curriculum Selection Group.  This group will meet twice over the summer to review and select curricula for the upcoming year.

May 2008 Bell

Please click the following link for this month's Bell Newsletter:Download may_08_bell.pdf

This Week's announcements

To see the announcements for the week of May 11 please click on the following link:Download announcements_20080511.doc

In Memoriam-Florence Avelene Ewing

    Long time Emmanuel Episcopal Church member Florence Ewing passed away peacefully on April 9 at Swedish Hospital Cherry Hill Campus (the old Providence Hospital) in Seattle. Florence was born in Wessington, South Dakota on November 30, 1916. She grew up as a farm girl on the family homestead in Wessington Springs, SD and after high school went to nursing school in Mitchell, SD. The family lost the farm to the dust bowl and moved to Illinois and Florence finished nursing school in 1937 and moved to Seattle in 1938 to join her sister. Her first nursing job was at Providence, then Maynard Hospital where she met Robert (Bob) Ewing who was also working there as a pre-medical student. Florence then went to work for Dr. Tucker near Green Lake in Seattle and in long walks around Green Lake fell in love with Bob. Bob saw World War Two coming and decided that to further his medical career he would enlist to be a corpsman in the Navy attached to the Marines in San Diego. Florence signed up with the Red Cross to go to support the troops on Corregidor in the Philippines. Bob wrote a letter to Florence listing all the reasons not to get married, but at the bottom of the letter said that if she’s like to get married to please come to San Diego. Florence got in a car and drove to San Diego and was married to Bob on May 3, 1941, a marriage that was to last over 50 years. Bob then went with the Marines to Iceland and later to Guadalcanal, and Florence got a job working for a doctor in San Diego. During the war Florence came back to Seattle to live with her sister in Ballard and work for Dr. Tucker. After the war in 1950 Bob and Florence bought the original Pearson Dairy farmhouse in the East Seattle area of Mercer Island and after their son Robert III was born in 1951 they moved permanently to the house where Florence lived for almost 58 years. Florence spent most of her nursing carrier working at Doctors Hospital in Seattle as a surgery nurse, floor nurse and head of ICU. In the early 1970’s she was asked to start and be the head of the Patient Care Services at Doctors Hospital that then became part of Swedish Hospital Patient Care Services when Doctors Hospital was merged into Swedish Hospital. She retired as the head of that department in 1985. She was involved with many organizations on Mercer Island over the years including the Orthopedic Guild, V.F.W., the Episcopal Church and helping with November voting at the old East Seattle School now Boy’s and Girl’s club. Florence gave kindness, compassion and love as a friend and mother to many people and animals. She was the ideal nurse who enjoyed helping people and was a wonderful resource for those who needed assistance as well as a source of medical information for her friends and relatives. Her knowledge was matched by her warmth and support in their times of need. She volunteered at Emmanuel Episcopal Church as chairman of pastoral care, as a member of the intercessory prayer group and for many years in the Emmanuel office. She was also a member of the choir. She will be greatly missed.

     Florence is survived by her son, Robert L. Ewing III of Mercer Island, her sisters Arta Sandstrom of Greenbank, WA and Barbara Van Arendonk of Kalamazoo, MI, her brothers Steven Johnson (Maxine) of Bellevue, Burton Johnson (Jackie) of Mercer Island, Herbert Johnson (Nita) of Cincinnati, OH, and sister-in-law Muriel Johnson of Spring Harbor, MI.  She is also survived by large numbers of other loving relatives and friends, many who looked upon her as their second mother. Florence was preceded in death by her beloved husband Bob who died in 1992 and brother Roger who passed in 2006.

     Remembrances can be made to the Salvation Army, Humane Society, Footloose Disabled Sailing, Emmanuel Episcopal Church of Mercer Island, or the V.F.W. Mercer Island.

Sunday, May 11

Part 2 of a “Green Emmanuel” presentation. On April 20 the topic was measuring Emmanuel’s carbon footprint, and people attending were interested in continuing further with green projects. This coming Sunday the focus will be “Caring for Mother Earth, and Our Relationship with Stuff,” including a short video presentation, a connection with Holy Scripture, lively discussion, and setting a date for the next Green Emmanuel meeting. Next Sunday, May 18, our Minister for Music Terry Ketcham will speak about and give a demonstration of the May Ho Pipe Organ in the Chapel.

Emmanuel Children's Choir

The children's choir meets on most Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:30 in the CE building in room 2.

This Week's announcements

To see the announcements for the week of May 4, please click on the following link: Download announcements_20080504.doc