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.

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 (May 11, 2008)

This Sunday our regular schedule will be observed:

• 9:00am-10:15am Children’s Breakfast (all are welcome)
• 9:30am-10:30am Children’s Choir*
• 9:15am-10:15am Adult Education: Green Emmanuel
• 10:30am Holy Eucharist* Children’s Choir performing

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.

How to Live Green

Making a difference – household by household

King County Councilmember, Jane Hague invites you to a Town Hall meeting.

Local experts will speak to us on issues from green building, energy, recycling, transportation, and yard care to climate changes efforts by local government. Communities can make a difference!

Special guest speakers will include Bellevue Mayor, Grant Degginger and Washington State Lands Commissioner, Doug Sutherland.

Saturday, May 10, 10 am to 12 noon

Bellevue City Hall

450 110 Avenue NE

Bellevue, WA 98009

For more information on this town hall, please visit Kingcounty.gov/hague

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

May 18, 10:30 Service

Musicians from the 5:00 pm service will lead the closing hymn at the 10:30 am service on May 18. In an effort to show others what the 5:00 pm congregation is doing, we will enjoy the talents of a group of students from Seattle University, who come to play guitar, violin and drum to lead us in worship at the 10:30 am service on May 18.

Adult Christian Education, Sunday, May 4

Special guest presenter: Clarice Redmond, MSW, Hospice of Seattle, will speak on the topic, “Being with Our Children During Times of Loss and Grief.”  This topic is not just for parents, but for all of us.  Loss comes in many forms – the death of a family member, a marriage ending in divorce, a loss of a job resulting in a drastic change in financial status, a move to a new location and away from friends and the support network they provide us.  Children’s ways of coping and dealing with such losses can follow a different process than adults, depending on their age and level of development.  We also need to look at our own response to loss and grief, so that we can then be present to our young people in helpful ways.  Clarice brings years of direct experience in working with adults, families and children, and speaks clearly and lovingly with much wisdom in this topic which touches us all.  We meet from 9:15 to 10:15 in the Teen Center.  Meditation meets at 9:15 in the Parlor.  Next Sunday, May 11, we will have “Green Emmanuel” Part 2, continuing the dialog and looking at our relationship to “stuff.”

GREEN TIP # 10

EVEN GEEKS AND GEARHEADS CAN BE GREEN!

It’s true! There is a new blog sponsored by The Nature Conservancy that has all kinds of interesting and exciting information about technological advances that may help us preserve our precious planet.

Here’s the Conservancy’s intro to this site:

“Science, technology gadgets and...baby seals. We're in a bit of an eco-mess, but we've got the brains to lick any problem. And that's why EcoGeek.org publishes up to ten stories daily about innovations that are saving the planet.

Technology can be a force for evil, or for awesome. Those who shun technologies that could save the planet are just as guilty as those who ignore the environment. There's a safe balance, where the awesome can help nature as much as it helps us have a good time and live easier lives. EcoGeek devotes its pages to exploring the symbiosis between nature and technology.

And if that sounds interesting to you, then congratulations, you're an EcoGeek.”

You can browse the blog, subscribe for free and keep in touch with the latest goings-on.

Some recent postings:

Ø      Wind turbines for the windy city

Ø      Turn off everything to observe “Earth Hour” worldwide

Ø      Converting a city’s water treatment plant sludge into clean power

Ø      Can a car be green, really?

Ø      New window technology works against heat loss

Ø      Algae based biofuels

And the list goes on! To browse, and be amazed and astounded, go to: http://www.ecogeek.org/

Spring into Children’s Ministry

Spring is here and there are new opportunities for families to grow in faith.  This Lent we adopted a trial schedule that created an education hour for adults from 9:15-10:15 and made space for Children’s Breakfast, Choir, and Chapel.  The schedule has given kids opportunities to spend time with adults in church other than their parents (Breakfast, Children’s Chapel) and given parents the opportunity to attend Adult Education while their children are supervised.

These are the first steps in our redoubled effort as a Christian community to serve families.  In the past two years the Contemporary Services (5:00pm Sunday) and Children’s Chapel have created more spaces for us to experience intergenerational and age appropriate worship.  Children’s Breakfast is a time for kids to create relationships with pastors and adults in a less formal, “fellowship” atmosphere.  Children’s educational programming remains a matter for group discernment.  On the morning of Saturday May 17, 2008 the community is invited to participate in reviewing curriculum and discussing educational programs we might use here at Emmanuel.  Children’s Education impacts many aspects of our shared life, from budgets and volunteer hours, to fellowship and energizing membership.  People who represent a broad spectrum of interests in the Church should come and help us find the best fit for the whole community.

A second step in developing more family-oriented offerings will be the Summer Family Program offered as a series four Wednesdays in July.   This program will invite families to come together for fellowship and to learn how to pray as a family.  Early sessions are designed to help families talk about faith and values more openly.  The course culminates in families designing an individualized prayer plan including a prayer schedule and ritual.

For more information on participating in these programs or worship opportunities contact The Rev. Arienne Davison at Emmanuel.

Summer Family Program - July 2008

Praying as a Family will meet each Wednesday throughout the month. Emmanuel invites the community for Mercer Island to community of Mercer Island to participate in this ecumenical program designed to help families pray together. The program will be held on 4 Wednesdays. Early sessions are designed to help families talk about faith and values more openly. The course culminates in families designing an individualized prayer plan including a prayer schedule and ritual. Meetings will begin at 5:30 for a family meal (provided by Emmanuel, costs covered by program fee). After the meal, speakers will present topics for the evening. The session will last until 8:00pm. The fee for the program is $50 to cover the cost of food and materials. Scholarships are available.

The Rev. Arienne Davison at Emmanuel.

A Morning of Discernment

All members of the congregation are invited to participate in a discussion about Emmanuel’s Children’s Education Curriculum. Continental breakfast will be provided at 8:30. The group will work throughout the morning. The morning will close with a service of the Holy Eucharist beginning at 11:30 am.

• Where: Library, Narthex kitchen
• Date: Saturday, May 17, 2008
• Time: 8:00 am -12:30pm
• Contact: Arienne
• Ministry Area: Children’s Ministry