Straight Talk

A newsletter of life and ministries at St. James Episcopal Church

May 20, 2016

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A gift of good earth

Four of those familiar Big Yellow Bags have arrived to nourish the St.

James community garden, courtesy of a donation by the BioGrass

company. Check the link to learn more about this company, founded

when a famous educator wanted a way to pay for his sons' college education.

Also in this issue:

A covenant of leadership: trust, respect & love In the Spirit, for sure, at Pentecost Too much to bear, Jesus told his friends Life at St. James: our schedule Around the diocese

A covenant of leadership

Trust, respect & love

(even when we don't agree)

------ Members of the St. James

leadership team have signed a covenant promising to work in

harmony and respect for God, each other and all members of

the St. James family.

The covenant was drafted by author Gilbert Rendle as part

of his publication, A Handbook for Honoring Differences.

It was suggested to the vestry by Rev. Terri Heyduk. "Too often church people allow their differences to poison their relationships and weaken

their church," said the pastor. "This covenant says we will work together

prayerfully and in love, even when we hold different views."

Here is the agreement signed by each vestry member and Pastor Heyduk.

A COVENANT OF LEADERSHIP FOR THE VESTRY, WARDENS AND PASTOR

Our Promises to God

We promise to pray, alone and together, to thank God and to ask for

God's help in our lives and in our work for our church, and we promise to listen to God's answer to us.

Our Promises to Our Church Family

We promise to demonstrate our leadership and commitment to our

church by our example.

We promise to support our church's pastors and staff, so their efforts can be most productive.

We promise to try to discover what is best for our church as a whole, not what might be best for us or for some small group in the church.

Our Promises to Each Other on the Vestry

We promise to respect and care for each other.

We promise to treat our time on the Vestry as an opportunity to make an important gift to our church.

We promise to listen with an open, nonjudgmental mind to the words and ideas of the others in our church and on the Vestry.

We promise to discuss, debate, and disagree openly in Vestry meetings,

expressing ourselves as clearly and honestly as possible, so we are certain the Vestry understands our point of view.

We promise to support the final decision of the Vestry, whether it reflects our view or not.

We, the undersigned, have prayerfully considered this Covenant and

commit ourselves, with God's help, to these promises.

Beth Ferguson Angela Micklos

Tom Harrison Terry Palmer

Rev. Terri Heyduk, pastor Mindy Mitchell, clerk of vestry

David James, junior warden Rick Spratling, senior warden

Stacie Kulp Louis Steinbach

David Klemm Jinx Strout

Adapted by permission of the Alban Institute and Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., from Behavioral Covenants in Congregations: A Handbook for Honoring Differencesby Gilbert R. Rendle, (c) 1999 The Alban Institute, Inc.

In the Spirit, for sure

Rev. Terri's attire left no doubt that last Sunday was Pentecost, observed in remembrance of the

day the Holy Spirit descended on the people after Jesus ascended. Christians traditionally

wear red on this day to signify the work of the Spirit. (photo: Debby Carapezza)

The Sunday School set used red for their Pentecost lesson. (photo: Beth Ferguson)

Far to the south red was on display, in attire and in the rocks, for

Eucharist at Kodachrome Basin State Park. The Rev. John Dillon led about 30 St. James campers in worship, assisted by Nancy Tanner and

the Ven. Robert Shoop. (photo: Eileen Veitch)

St. James hikers enjoyed the majesty of Willis Creek Canyon. (photo: Ric Tanner)

Exhausted by hours of intense relaxation, campers took a break.

(photo: Don Veitch)

A low-hanging sun appeared to cast a shadow of a great bird in flight, as

a trailer nestled among the trees. (photo: Robert Shoop)

Too much to bear

The disciples had been through a lot, and Jesus

decided they needed some down time. "I still have

many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them

now," he said.

Check next Sunday's

scripture lessons to learn what happened next.

Here are the lessons for May 22, the First Sunday after Pentecost.

Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15

Psalm 8 or Canticle 13 (or Canticle 2)

Find the full text at this link.

The week ahead at St. James

Saturday May 21 Noon Restock food bank Sunday May 22 9 a.m.

1 p.m.

Last Sunday school Food bank distribution

Tuesday May 24 8 a.m. 7 p.m.

Men's coffee in the common room Choir rehearsal

Wednesday May 25 9 a.m. 7 p.m.

Women's coffee at Barnes & Noble Fort Union Mid week study adults

Looking at the week following activities

Sunday

May 29 8 & 10 a.m.

9 a.m.

Worship Adult forum

Tuesday May 31 8 a.m. 7 p.m.

Men's coffee in the common room Choir rehearsal

Wednesday June 1 9 a.m. 7 p.m.

Women's coffee at Barnes & Noble Fort Union Mid week study adults

Friday June 3 6 p.m. Games Night Shoops hosting

Around the diocese

Want to check on developments in other parishes? The link below will take you to a list of

Episcopal churches in the Utah Diocese, with web sites where available.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/diocese/utah

.

Straight Talk is published each Friday.

If you'd like to place an announcement, send it to

office@stjamesutah.com by TUESDAY NOON

How to reach us

Your comments and suggestions are welcome

Send to:

editorstjames@gmail.com

Rick Spratling, editor / Rose Poll, associate editor