Dear Friends in Christ,

In the spirit of the Year of Wonder, to which Bishop Mary has called us, and with attention to the spiritual needs of this parish, I call each member of St. Thomas to set aside the eight days of Holy Week, as a time of retreat from the ordinary duties of life.

I strongly urge you to give highest priority to your own observance of Holy Week: partly through prayers offered at home, and partly through participation in services at church. In our pluralistic culture, I think we are aware when Jews have special obligations for high holy days, and when Muslims are observing the fasts of Ramadan; Holy Week is a Christian's principal time of special obligation.

In order to make it possible for you to do this, the Worship Committee will give each person who comes to worship on Palm Sunday March 16th (the first of the eight days), a Retreat Kit. Inside will be a booklet with prayers, readings, and suggestions for meditation for each day, for you to do privately. The kit will include a candle, some prayer beads with instructions, and a nail for Good Friday. I wanted to find a way to include music, but that was too complex, so instead, with the prayer-bead-instructions, are the words of the Taize chants we have been using throughout Lent at the 10:30 service, which you probably remember! I hope you will come to Palm Sunday worship eager to devote yourself to these eight days of reflection on the last week of Jesus' ministry, and willing to set aside some of your time each day. In particular, I do expect you to come to the Good Friday service on March 21st at 7:30 pm, when we will read the Passion Gospel, since we will not have heard it on Palm Sunday. To worship on Easter Sunday, without having stood at the cross, is often referred to as "cheap grace".

Then, one of the best-kept secrets in the Episcopal Church, is the profound beauty of the Easter Vigil service which we always have on the Saturday evening before Easter morning. The experience of beginning in darkness, which stands for the tomb of Jesus, then lighting all the candles we are holding, which symbolizes the return of the light, listening first to the deacon chant the Exsultet, and then to the stories of salvation, participating in the baptism of one or two children, and finally turning on all the lights while we ring bells, play kazoos, beat drums and shake tambourines, enables us to feel the joy of Easter, in a way that is different from a service that begins in daylight.

The children may bring their empty Easter baskets to church to use in the hunt. There will be additional baskets available for those without baskets of their own.

The hunt will begin with a group picture of the children on the patio (good weather) or in Cowan’s Hall (rainy weather).

We appreciate all the donations and other media as well as the baked goods.

Special thanks to those who helped sort the books, set up and clean up the day of the sale.

The remaining puzzles, videos etc. have been kept to be sold at the annual Fish Junque Sale in November.

The remaining books were given to Friends of the Library in Sunnyvale, Milpitas, Palo Alto, Cupertino and Santa Clara.

ODB will be commemorating its 25^th Anniversary with a celebration dinner to be held on April 5^th at Cowans Hall. The program, to feed the hungry, was originally started and staffed by parishioners from. St. Thomas. As the program expanded, ODB was transformed into an autonomous entity and incorporated under St. Thomas to provide some oversight as they shared the use of Cowans Hall and other facilities. Because of its ecumenical status, ODB has enjoyed the faithful support of many loyal volunteers and contributors from other churches and the local community in addition to those from St. Thomas. As a result, ODB has maintained a consistent schedule of serving lunches every Monday, Wednesday and Friday without interruption even on major holidays and during construction when the campus was being remodeled. In recognition of that marvelous achievement, St. Thomas will be joining with ODB to co-host the 25^th Anniversary Celebration Dinner and help to make it a special event to be remembered.

In our co-host arrangement, St. Thomas will be responsible for providing the appetizers, punch, and desserts in addition to helping with the serving of dinner and assisting in other parts of the program. For many of us, it will present a greater opportunity to become involved besides participating as a guest for the celebration. We will be providing signup sheets for volunteers to participate as follows:

• Providing a fancy appetizer dish to be served during the social hour
• Helping to serve appetizers, drinks, dinner, and/or dessert
• Miscellaneous support activities

The celebration is still in the planning stages so a lot more details will be made available when the signup sheets are posted. Otherwise, you can talk to Pat Dare if you are interested in helping out.

Upcoming Activities:

• Easter Vigil Reception, March 22^nd – After the service, we will host a champagne and cookie reception in the Narthex area of the sanctuary to celebrate Christ’s triumphant resurrection.
• Easter Egg Hunt and Reception, March 23^rd – After the 10:30 am service, we will enjoy a punch, fruits and cookies reception out on the patio as we watch the children scurry around looking for Easter Eggs.
• ODB 25^th Anniversary Celebration, April 5^th – (See information above)

Bridge parties are held, usually the 2nd Saturday evening of each month, from 7–10 PM, in the Disciple’s Room of the Education Building at St. Thomas Church. The dates for 2008 are: Mar. 8, April 12, May 17 (3rd Sat to avoid Mother’s Day), June 14 and July 12.

45 months to our Centennial (December 2011)

This Lent, Family Ministry is collecting items for kits that Church World Service uses to help people in need around the world. Church World Service Kits are delivered to refugee camps, natural disaster sites, and other places of extreme need. Let’s find out how many service kits we can assemble before Easter!

Final assembly and packaging of kits will be held in Cowans Hall on Palm Sunday, March 16th, after the 10:30 service.

Easter egg hunt

FINANCE REPORT: Mel Hoffman reported that pledge and donation income for November was good. There was one stock donation. The actual pledge income is over the budget amount. However, the overall financial picture for eleven months shows a net loss.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. BUDGET APPROVAL: One Hundred eleven (111) pledges have been received to date. This is the second highest pledging number in many years.

After some discussion the following was proposed:

1. Supplemental income for Youth Director: MOTION: A motion was made (Schmidt) and seconded (Boyer) to add to the supplemental amount for Youth Director. The motion passed.

2. Administrator hours: increase from 25 per week to 28 per week. MOTION: A motion was made (Schmidt) and seconded (Russell) to increase the weekly hours for the Parish Administrator from 25 to 28. The motion passed.

3. Our Daily Bread: reimburse for cleaning expense should be 50% to 60%. MOTION: A motion was made (Schmidt) and seconded (Williams) that Our Daily Bread pay 50% of the cleaning expense. The motion passed.

4. Our Daily Bread Coordinator: reimburse should be 50% - 75%. It was decided to have ODB Coordinator reimbursement be 75%.

5. Medical Insurance payments for 3 employees increase for this year $648x3. The amount of the increase in medical insurance premiums will be covered by each of the three employees.

Later in the meeting Mel distributed an updated 2008 Budget document reflecting the above, showing a budget net deficit. MOTION: A motion was made (Williams) and seconded (Boyer) to accept the budget for 2008, with adjustments, that were approved by the Vestry. The motion passed.

2. CHRISTMAS OFFERING: There was discussion of possible distributions. MOTION: A motion was made (Williams) and seconded (Kunz) to divide the Christmas offering as follows: 25 % to Santa Maria Urban Ministry, 25% to Our Daily Bread and 50% to St. Thomas General Fund. The motion passed.

3. VESTRY CROSS: There were many names mentioned for the honor to be a recipient of the Vestry Cross. A vote was taken. The award will be given at the Annual Meeting.

4. HOUSING RESOLUTION: MOTION: A motion was made (Russell) and seconded (Tracy) to accept the Housing Resolution for The Rev. Wendy M. Smith, Ph.D. for the year 2008 as it is written. The motion passed.

5. VISITORS ON CAMPUS: Chris Schmidt discussed some recent issues that have occurred at St. Thomas. Jane Marguerite Russell and Elaine Timm volunteered to help create some dialog on this issue.

OLD BUSINESS:

1. ENDOWMENT FUND: Jon Aderhold reviewed the plans for establishing the Endowment Fund. He said that the plan is almost ready to present to the Vestry for acceptance. His questions to the vestry were
(1) WHEN to study the plan details—as part of the agenda for the January meeting? or at the retreat in February?
(2) HOW can the vestry members support this effort? Discussions could be at the January 15 meeting. Materials will be needed before the meeting. It was suggested that the materials should be sent out now for study, and the vote can occur later. Send any questions to Jon.

2. NOMINATIONS: The committee has three people who have agreed to be on the vestry and another person is a possible candidate.

3. TRANSFER CENTER: The Center is established and one family is using the service.

COMMISSION REPORTS:

• FUNDRAISING: no activity to report.
• FRIENDSHIP: written report and it was announced: one new member.
• SERVICE TO THE WORLD: written report
• PROPERTY: written report.
• DIOCESAN REPORT: Pat Williams commented on a recent meeting.

RECTOR’S REPORT: Wendy reported that the “quiet day” with the Bishop was energizing. Wendy thanked Chris Schmidt for his leadership and the work that he has accomplished this year. He gave many hours and effort in many areas of service.

Our longtime member Mary Irene Brodd has died. Mary was born in China, of English and Japanese parents. She was confirmed by the Bishop of Shanghai in 1935. She married before the war, and was interned in a concentration camp in China with her infant daughter, Bonny for several years. After the war she was reunited with her husband, and they emigrated to the US around 1948. She became a member of St. Thomas in the 1950s, and was one of the first cooks for Our Daily Bread, back in the spring of 1983. Her memorial service has been held.

We are sorry to report the death of our friend Harry Amos. Although Harry was not formally a member of St. Thomas, through his wife June, who died earlier, we had long considered him a friend of the parish. It was his wish not to have a memorial service. He is survived by two sons, Donald and Douglas, niece Lisa, and several grandchildren.

One of the artists in the parish, Angelo Lopez, has had a drawing published in the Palo Alto Times, on Feb 11th.

We congratulate Francesca Tan on being accepted to the Summer Dance Intensive of the American Ballet Theatre.

1. Travel to church by bicycle or walking each Sunday of Lent

2. Walk bike or carpool to work each week

3. Eat only locally grown food on Sunday of Lent

4. Light your home by candle light on Sundays instead of electricity

5. Burn scrap wood for heat instead of fossil fuels

6. Insulate the first six feet of your hot water pipes

7. Be vegetarian for a week or more of Lent

8. Turn down your hot water heater to 115 degrees F

9. Install an efficient shower head and reduce CO2 by 1.5 tons annually

The LONG TERM GOALS (five years) have not changed and they are:

Goal 1. Continue to build a community of people, of all ages, in relationship with each other through our baptismal covenant, emphasizing openness, belonging and spiritual growth

Goal 2. Explore development of outreach to children

Goal 3. Explore companion-parish relationship

Goal 4. Plan for future space needs and a new Family Room

Goal 5. Articulating “who we are”, and communicating that within and outside the parish

The Goals for 2008 are:

Goal 1. Work to increase St. Thomas focus in Sunnyvale, and evangelism, especially to children

Goal 2. Initiate plan for St. Thomas 100^th anniversary; also, plan for a new Family Room and Planned Giving. Include the Archive and Communication Commissions

Goal 3. Recreate Pastoral Care Commission with a spiritual component (including the prayer chain, healing ministers, visiting and helping the sick and lonely)

Goal 4. Ministry to children, youth and parents. In-reach to children and Jr. and Sr. High schoolers

Goal 5. Maintain and improve our property, overseen by Jr. Warden

Goal 6. Develop a plan to integrate environmental improvement into all programs. Include Architectural Committee

2008 COMMISSIONS – MEMBERS:

1. Fundraising: Mabel Cheng, Peg Prior

2. Friends and the World: Nancy Allgeier, Joe Gutierrez

3. Standing Commissions – Stewardship and Planned Giving: Lionel Daniel, Bill Hufford

4. Pastoral Care: Ernie Boyer, Jane-Marguerite Russell

5. Ministry to Children, Youth and Parents: Sandhya Phailbus, Lou Poulain

Have you ever wondered about the long gap between the last books of the Hebrew Scriptures, written during and after the Exile, and the events of Jesus' life in the first century? What happened historically during those 400 years? What developments were there in theology, in the writing of scripture, and in the religious life of the Jewish people? How and when did the various groups of Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes develop? Which of these influenced Jesus, and the early church? Are any of these writings helpful for us in our spiritual lives?

We will explore these issues on the five Wednesday evenings of Lent: Feb 13, 20 and 27, and March 5 and 12. We will begin each evening with a Soup and Salad Supper at 6:30 pm, and say Evening Prayers together at 7:20 pm. Our discussion will begin at 7:30, and you are welcome to join us at that time if you can't get here for soup at 6:30.

The principal text for this series will be the Apocrypha, and it is essential that you have a recently published Bible with an Apocrypha to read. If you wish our Librarian to order one for you, it will be the Harper Collins Study Bible (Revised Edition 2006) which costs $30.00. Sign up to order it on a clipboard at the Information table in the narthex of the church. Our sequence of topics will be:

• Mar 5: The Development of Apocalyptic
  (readings from Daniel, I Enoch, Apocalypse of Weeks)
  
• Mar 12: The Jewish Sects: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes
  (readings from the Dead Sea Scrolls)

Our Diocese is planning a mission trip to Mississippi Camp Coast Care May 3–10 or May 4–11, 2008. There is an urgent need for volunteers to help Gulf coast residents get back into homes. Many are still in FEMA camps, tents and trailers over 2 years after Katrina. Persons with some experience in any type of construction are desperately needed but all volunteers are important and utilized. If you can cook, paint, pound nails, install tile, clean up, put on roofing, use a saw, read a level, clean the bathrooms or dorm room, you are needed at Camp Coast Care. There are some construction supervisors on staff but both experienced and non-experienced helpers are needed. Our group is already registered as the El Camino Real group using my name [Sheila Vossler] as contact person. We need to make our plans soon in order to reserve space in camp. If you are at all interested in going on this trip, please e-mail me and I will answer all your questions. You should also go to www.campcoastcare.com and watch the videos and read the information. Please join us on this 2nd diocesan trip to Mississippi. Together we can be the hands and feet of Jesus on the Gulf coast.

Walkers may choose between a 1K or 5K route.

Calendar

Sundays

March 2 Fourth Sunday in Lent

March 9 Fifth Sunday in Lent

Mondays

Office is closed on Mondays

2–4 pm Monday’s Crew

8 pm AA

10 am Library, Resource Center

7:30 pm PEP Talk—3/4 and 4/1 only

7:30 pm Vestry—3/18 and 4/15 only

8 pm Alanon

Wednesdays