I am feeling that we have turned a corner at St. Francis. I started feeling that way recently upon arrival at church for a workshop that we were sponsoring. It was the third day of an intensive workshop, and it was going really well. Tim Bradford had done his usual excellent preparation so that there were no undue surprises. Anne Cowie is a consummate workshop leader. Members of the class arrived early and were fanned out over our campus simply enjoying the beauty of an early Fall morning. There was nothing for me to do. Except, of course, to be grateful along with everyone else for a parish church beautifully conceived and maintained. As rector I know how much effort has gone into this simple elegance. But now I know the delicious feeling that all that effort has worked, and we have something really spectacular to offer the community. And it is easier to offer it. Much easier than when we were brand new and trying to figure everything out. While those days were exciting in their own way, there was so much to be done. Every little thing had to be figured out. But it was done, step by step, decision by decision. And it was done well.

I think we are relaxing a little bit more with being here now. We have our confidence up, our legs under us. We have traditions and procedures, and a track- record. I saw a similar thing when we hosted the Lopez- Tabor Duo, a concert featuring European Classics along with South American and Caribbean Rhythms. Our church was the perfect venue for the large crowd that assembled for the evening. The acoustics were amazing, the seating comfortable, the environment beautiful. It was easy to relax and enjoy the music. So many decisions went into making such a grand evening. A lot of those decisions were made years ago when the parish church was brand new. Now we can host events of all kinds, and the facility holds them all, hand in glove.

Once again I thank you for all that has been done to build St. Francis and to bring us to this moment when we can offer ourselves and our ministries

to the community. It is much easier for us because of all you have done. Everett+

Sometimes It’s Easier: Thanks!

The Song of Saint Francis

It’s a Date!

10/6 Gallery Opening

10/14 Lobster Fest

11/03 Laughton-Meadows

Concert

12/26 Messiah Sing-Along

1/13 Hope Mission

Cooking

Saint Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church ● Salter Path, North Carolina October 2017

Vestry View by Romaine Riddle

It has been another

exciting Summer at St.

Francis with all the

entertaining concerts,

successful art showings,

pot luck suppers, art

workshops, a new Daughters of the King

chapter, the Beach Towel Ministry and

Heeling Our World. Fall is gearing up to be

just as exciting.

During our Vestry meetings, maintenance of

St. Francis is quite often under discussion.

Lately, some of the topics have been: the

replacement of an air conditioning unit;

much needed repairs to our roof; efforts

under way to fix the erosion on one side of

the labyrinth and researching the cost of

replacing the shutters on the front exterior of

the building.

Just as a building is always in constant need

of maintenance, our Christian faith needs

maintenance as well. We can ask ourselves

what personal maintenance is needed in

order to fully maximize our spiritual life. Do

I need to carve out more time to improve my

prayer and meditation? Perhaps I can tithe

just a little more. Would I have the time to

serve on the Vestry? Would I like to become

a greeter before services? Maybe I can help

out with the myriad outreach efforts or chair

one of the committees. Can I be relied upon

to assist a church member who may be in

need of help?

Prayerfully consider what your own personal

maintenance schedule may need. Spiritual

growth begins when we actively engage our

faith. A faith that works. . . will get to work.

2

A Big Thank-you to the People of St. Francis By the Sea

I want to thank everyone who made my last Sunday, September 10th, as your deacon very special. I am so grateful for your caring, compassion, and grace. It is here at St. Francis where I have grown in my faith and in my ministry. I have laughed and cried with you as we have become one in the Spirit of the Lord. As I shared in my sermon, I am

thankful for having served with Father Everett, my mentor and my friend whose patience and guidance have meant so much to me.

Thank-you for honoring me with your kind and loving words, beautiful cards, money for my discretionary fund, flowers, and a most delicious luncheon. I also want to thank our superb choir who picked my favorite hymns especially the Irish Blessing at the end of the service. I will treasure the elegant, engraved, memento box that will always remind me of our time together.

Blessings,

Carol

Page 3

Dear Friends,

The November 3 Art and Music Event, the LAUGHTON MEADOWS CONCERT, is quite near to my heart as it is a unique opportunity to showcase my original composition, TRINITY SUITE, in its entirety, performed by pianist, Barbara McKenzie. TRINITY SUITE consists of nine dance-style movements written for solo piano, piano and flute duet, and piano with string ensemble . Holding loosely to the traditional form of music suite, TRINITY SUITE contains waltz-like movements (allemand), rapid movements with a mix of triple and duple rhythms (courante), slow triple movements (sarabande), and the fast jig (gigue). I call it TRINITY because it attempts to tell the gospel of Jesus Christ through simple melody. I use the swirl pattern (three swirls into one = the trinity) found in the illustrated Book of Kells in Trinity College Library in Dublin as a visual motif for this work. As the swirl motif was used to embellish the gospels with drawing, my little dances embellish the gospels with music. This rendering is by Lenore Meadows, which some of you may recognize as the silver Celtic pendant that I wear:

Which leads me to the second part of the concert, the premiere live performance of Lenore Meadows' STILL LIFE DEEP CREEK. Lenore is a painter. She uses a unique process to create her paintings, and her inspiration is the patterns that she sees in nature, like reflections of light on the water. Her paintings resemble musical scores. For fun once, she set one of her paintings on her piano and began to play. Later that night, fully formed orchestral music awoke her from a dead sleep. So she got up and wrote the music down so she wouldn't forget it, and a composition was born. I have the privilege of directing this live performance with a group of top-notch musicians and friends: Heather Barlow, Barbara McKenzie, Chris Ellis, Christine Brier, Deborah Goodwin, Dee Braxton Pellegrino, Seth Poppe, Barbara Salter Gates, Kim Zimmerman, Erica Hughes, Rebeccah Haines, Donald Wells, Willard Jackson and Dr. Joe Ustach. Each musician has some thread of connection to Beaufort, to St. Francis by the Sea, or to the beach, which is an important organic connection to the birthplace of our compositions. But, above all that, Lenore and I have always viewed this event as a concert of friends, by friends and for friends. So you are all invited!

Lenore will show her paintings in the art gallery beginning at 5:30. Her art is available for purchase. Concert seating begins at 6:45 and the music starts at 7:00. Both events are free ~ Donations are welcome to sustain the St. Francis by the Sea concert series ~ Refreshments are served. I hope all our friends will find some joy in this unique event for which Lenore and I are deeply grateful.

Sincerely,

Linda Laughton

Grace Notes by Linda Laughton

4 Getting to Know our Sexton

by Barbara McCreary

David Shapiro has served as our sexton for fifteen years. We see evidences of his handiwork around the church all the time: tables and chairs set-up for meetings, clean air filters, and newly mown grass, just to name a few. So we’d like to take this opportunity to shine a spotlight on our “behind the scenes” go-to guy!

David and his wife Mary Ann have been married for 47 years and have two children Jennifer and Jonathan. His hobbies include photography, computers, and home repair. David enjoys fishing and college football. When David is not here at our church, you may find him at his home in Pine Knoll Shores or at his other job, managing the Beacon’s Reach Marina.

David was born in New Jersey and received his education at RCA Institute in New York and at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. He served in the United States Air Force during the Vietnam era as a Minuteman Missile Electrician. In his civilian life, David worked for both AT&T Microelectronics in Allentown, Pennsylvania and Lucent Technologies Consumer Products in Murray Hill, New

Jersey. Among his many professional accomplishments was the publication of a Bell Laboratories Technical Memorandum “The Evaluation and Fabrication of Aluminum Dot MOS Test Structures.”

David has been an active part of every community in which he has lived. He served on the Planning and Recreation Commission in Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania and as a Boy Scout Leader. He also volunteered at our PKS Aquarium from 2001-2007.

David knows “the ins and outs” of our church and its property and has a wealth of information regarding the systems that make it work. If you have any questions about our physical plant, just ask David. He will surely have the answer!

“Reaching out with the Love of Christ to others in need” - St. Francis Outreach

Bridges School: Bridges Alternative School serves K-12

Carteret County School students who need

significant intervention and support for

academic, social, and personal success. Staff

members work intensively with students

and their families with the goal of helping

students improve their behavior and their

academic skills so they can return to and be

successful in traditional school settings.

During the months of August and

September we donated $1,560 for the

Bridges Alternative School that helped fulfill

many needs by the teachers at the school.

Hurricane Relief Fund: Both a group collection and individual donations were made to Episcopal Relief and Development’s U.S. Disaster Fund to help with hurricane relief efforts both in Texas and Florida. The St Francis group

donation totaled $645. Thank you to all helped support this effort.

Page 5

"Empowering Sharp Kemp to Reach Out on St. John Sharp and Margie Kemp are busy trying to recover from the devastation of the hurricane. Both of their boats, their livelihood, were sunk. They are severely limited in their ability to recover because stores and banks are closed. They can't buy supplies, such as a chain saw, that would be helpful. They are spending most of their time helping their neighbors. Nearly everything has been leveled on that Island. Sharp & Margie Kemp, pics of their home before the storm, and before and after pics of their boats. "They anchored and moored their boats in "hurricane hole" at the National Park Service chain but it didn't save the boats. They are kayaking back from the mooring and have such a good attitude about it all. All the leaves were stripped from the trees at their home and throughout the island. It was green now brown. But according to Sharp some leaves have started reappearing." Now we would like to do the thing we love at St. Francis and empower Sharp Kemp to be our liaison to help in personal ways on St. John. If you would like to be part of this effort, write a check to St. Francis with the notation that it is for St. John. When the banks are open again we will get the money to Sharp. When he is home again he will make a presentation at church telling us how the money was used. We will be collecting through the second week of October."

Page 6

Martha's Mission Food-A-Thon 2017 Food-A-Thon for Martha's Mission is now until December. Busy times are coming up for Martha's Mission, please consider dropping off any of the following non-perishable items in the tub in the Parish Hall labeled Martha's Mission Food Drive. Items needed are: canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, jam & jellies, cooking oil, cereal (adult and children), flour, sugar, rice, stuffing mix, gravy mix, spaghetti and pasta sauces, canned meat, popcorn, Kool-Aid, Jello, muffin and cake mixes, frosting, crackers. Martha's Mission serves residents of Carteret County. Items will be delivered to Martha's Mission at the end of each month. Thank you.

First Responders Appreciation Lunch: In appreciation for all that our brave first responders in Salter Path do, on September 18, we fed the firefighters and law enforcement officers of Salter Path a delicious lunch. Moore’s chicken and bbq along with all the fixins were served to hungry firefighters and police officers, and the Salter Path Town Manager. Many thanks to all who helped by donating beverages or dessert, and those who helped serve. Everything was well

received and appreciated. Good food, good conversation, good people! Hope Mission Normally, we cook and serve a delicious meatloaf lunch at Hope Mission in December. This year, we will be cooking and serving on Saturday, January 13, 2018 instead. So, SAVE THE DATE, JANUARY 13, 2018. Details will be published in a future newsletter. Note: I’ll be looking for someone to head this up in January as I will be out of town. Please consider this. Angel Tree Potluck and Family Sing-a-Long Details will be forthcoming regarding an Angel Tree potluck and family Christmas sing-a-long. We are collaborating with the Choir to combine Angel Tree gift return, a potluck dinner, and a family Christmas sing-a-long. Date is presently scheduled for the evening of Wednesday, December 13. Look for details about this fun family holiday event! Heeling Our World Our KLEM shoes were delivered to Carol Doty, an Arts to End Genocide board member last month. The shoes will have the heavy black rubber sole attached to them and a short letter of greeting and goodwill will be inserted into each shoe and they will make their way to orphanages in Africa. Mitch Lewis asked that I relay his deepest gratitude to St Francis for crafting these shoes and contributing to the health and welfare of these children. Good job St Francis! With gratitude for all you do! Serving others in need, with resources of money, time and talent, Your Outreach Committee

Reaching out with the Love of Christ to others in need” - St. Francis Outreach

October Birthdays

14—Bobbie Hill 15—Jeanie Best 24—Clayton Sessoms 25—Anne Lawrence

25—Henry Lawrence 29—Len Thomas 31—Moni Bottlinger

4—Geraline Castle 4—Betsy Elkins-Williams 10—Terry Griffin 13—Pat Jones

October Lay Ministry Schedule

7

October 1 October 8

October 15

Youth Sunday

October 22

October 29

Vestry Tim Bradford Barbara

McCreay

George Hirasawa

Terry Smith Romaine Riddle

Greeters

Stover Morris Lisa Park

George Hirasawa

Barbara Bagby

Lisa Park

Barbara Bagby

TBD

Lector Dick Watson Jami Turner Kids Bob Gallo Terry Smith

Prayers Pat Jones Pat Jones Pat Jones

Meg Bradford Libba

Sheltom

Crucifer Pat Jones Pat Jones Kids

Beth Beswick Beth

Beswick

Chalice

Martha Edwards

Tim Bradford

Tim Bradford

Pat Jones

Richard Seale

Pat Jones

Bob Gallo

Tim Bradford

Martha Edwards

Tim Bradford

Altar Guild

Meg Bradford

Bobbie Hill

Betsy Randall

Meg Bradford

Meg Bradford

Linda Seale

Betsy Randall

Terry Griffin

Linda Davies

Linda Seale

Torchbearers

Linda Davies

Sharon Watling

Jami Turner

Ainsley Horton

Kids

Terry Griffin

Sharon Watling

Martha Edwards

Linda Davies

Nursery Beth Beswick Terry Griffin Geraline

Castle

Sam Baxter Jeannie Baxter

Coffee Hour

Korin Gagnon & Beth Parker

Bobbie Hill & Harold

O’Briant

Terry & Craig Griffin

Steve & Judy Gould

Moni & Bill Bottlinger

The Song of St. Francis is a monthly publication of

St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church.

Sound side of NC 58 between Mile Marker 10 and 10½

920 Salter Path Road ● Salter Path, North Carolina ● 28512

(252) 240-2388 ● © 2017 All rights reserved

stfrancisbts@gmail.com ● www.stfrancisbythesea.org

St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church

920 Salter Path Road

Salter Path, NC 28512

First Class Mail

Save the dates!

Rector The Rev. Everett Thomas, Ph.D.

Deacon The Rev. Carol Eaton

Vergers Tim Bradford Marion Morris

Parish Administrator Kathy Nesline

Treasurer Dan Riddle

Sexton David Shapiro

Vestry Class of 2017 Tim Bradford

Larry Castle, Junior Warden Romaine Riddle

Vestry Class of 2018 Beth Beswick

Pat Jones Terry Smith

Vestry Class of 2019 Layne Helwig

George Hirasawa Barbara McCreary, Senior Warden

Clerk of the Vestry

Open

Music Director Linda Laughton

Art Gallery Director Tim Bradford

ECW Chair

Bobbie Hill

Outreach Chair Denise Throckmorton

Director of Youth Ministry Open

Sunday Schedule:

9:00 am — Adult Forum; 10:00 am —Eucharist Service

Nursery available; casual dress welcome

Wednesdays — 12:00 noon — Celtic Eucharist

St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal Church is a parish in the Diocese of East Carolina

The Right Reverend Robert Skirving, Bishop