One of the favorite Psalms for everyone is Psalm 23; it is used a great deal in personal devotions for many people; it is used almost always at funerals; every now and then it appears in our Sunday worship service. Two verses stand-out for me now in the middle of summer:

And guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.

Imagine lying down in a green pasture, the clear blue sky, the warm sun, a cool breeze, birds singing and flying around, the wonderful aroma. Imagine sitting beside a calm, still lake or pond, the bees drinking from the flowers near by, birds using the water like a bird-bath, the quietness all around. Wow! Isn’t it refreshing?…My soul is restored!

Life is so hectic…places to go, people to see, things to do, meetings to attend, little league or rec league baseball, soccer practice and games , swimming lessons, gardens to tend, family and friends coming and going, beds to change, on and on it goes. Whew! "Sure wish I had time to stop for a while," we hear ourselves saying. Stop for a while; do it!

Go to a green pasture of your imagination. Lie in it. Let your mind wander back to the miracle of Jesus' birth; thank Mary for saying, "Yes;" bask in the Resurrection; be energized by the gift of the Holy Spirit; remember God’s steadfast love for you. Then as you lie in your green pasture, think about the fact that you have said "Yes" to God in Christ. Allow God to be in your heart and feel His presence with you.

God says to each of us "You are loved. You are valued. You are important." God sent Jesus to make that good news very clear to all who would hear. Stop the hectic race for a short while. Listen! Don’t miss the good news that is fundamental to a balanced life. Allow God to revive your soul and guide you along right pathways for the rest of the summer, indeed for the rest of your life.

Faithfully,

      Manning+

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Those who learn to

slow down

while everything else

is speeding up,

will survive."

                                                                                    --Author unknown

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

JOIN US FOR OUR CELEBRATION OF ST. JAMES DAY

Once again we gather to observe the festival day of St. James, the patron saint of our congregation. We come together to celebrate the Eucharist

FRIDAY – JULY 25^th – 7 pm

Special music by our choir under the able direction of Tom Hudson will enliven our worship. Following the Eucharist we will have our annual Ice Cream Social.

Plan to be with your parish family on this special day of celebration!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

RAISING THE NECESSARY FUNDS

The parish priest was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to fund the repairs to the church that went way beyond the budgeted resources. He also was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick, and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play. "Here’s a copy of the service, but you will have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the financial situation."

During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up." At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star-Spangled Banner."

That is how the needed funds were raised, and it is also how the substitute became the regular organist!

                                                                                        --submitted by Kay Wiley

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

MUSIC FOR WORSHIP – PART THREE

Speaking of organists and music, our organist Tom Hudson has provided information about how music including hymns is selected that is "right" for our worship. This time the focus is on Pastoral Considerations. Tom writes:

As we have discussed in the past two Newsletters, the Canons of the Episcopal Church state that the selection of music for worship is ultimately the decision of the celebrant, who is advised to take advantage of the knowledge and experience of trained musicians. We also looked at the three concepts that must be taken into consideration in selecting music: theological, liturgical, and pastoral.

In this last article, let’s look at what many consider the most challenging area: pastoral matters. By this we mean caring for Christ’s flock. Pastoral considerations include answering such questions as

Is the music pleasant to listen to and sing?

Is the music in a range that is accessible to most voices?

Is the music at an appropriate level of difficulty?

Are the words pronounceable and easily understood by the singers?

Is the length of the music appropriate to the point in the service where it will be used?

Often, pastoral concerns get bogged down in questions of musical taste. It’s easy to say "I know what I like, and I don’t like that!" However, taste is an individual matter, and it’s unlikely that a person selecting music could ever choose compositions that everyone will like, every time. Having said that, though, there’s no excuse for deliberately making a selection that no one will ever like. So, a balance is attempted – try to select music that most people will like, most of the time.

There’s another side to the equation, though. The entire responsibility does not fall on the person selecting the music. The people listening or singing have a duty, too – to be willing to try new and unfamiliar music, to be willing to learn challenging compositions, and to temper their criticism with the realization that selecting music is a difficult and often thankless task.

Recently, we invited everyone in the congregation to participate in the process of selecting music for each season. A number of members have attended every session, and many more have attended at least once. The benefits have been two-fold: we seem to be coming closer to selecting music that most people like, most of the time; and the people who participate in the selection process are seeing that it’s not a simple thing to accomplish.

The process that we follow is straightforward. First, we distribute pages from The Episcopal Musician’s Handbook, which lists suggested hymns for every celebration. This takes care of the theological and liturgical questions – whether the hymn is consistent with our Episcopal faith and appropriate for the celebration or season.

 Then, we go down the list commenting on which ones we are familiar with, which ones the congregation has liked in the past, and which new ones would be good to learn. Of course, we come from a variety of backgrounds and histories, so "what is familiar" to one of us is totally new to another. That’s the good thing about working together – we can tell each other about wonderful hymns that would be good to learn. Often, our organist plays all or a part of hymn so we can answer the pastoral questions.

Sometimes we assign hymns to specific points in the worship service, such as the Gradual or the Communion hymn. Other times, we just come up with a list consisting of hymns that we think would work, and then leave it to the organist to place them within the service or season.

No approach is fool-proof, and there’s no guarantee that the group working on the selection will do any better at pleasing everyone than a single individual working alone. However, the process is fun, it’s pleasant for everyone concerned, and it benefits from the enthusiastic singing and humming of the group involved!

The next time the group will meet is on September 7th. Please consider joining us and enjoying the process of suggesting and selecting music for worship.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

THE BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family Bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it.

What he saw was and old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages. "Mama, look what I found," the boy called out.

"What have you got there, dear?" With astonishment in the young boy’s voice, he answered, "I think it’s Adam’s underwear!"

                                                                                    ---submitted by Joe Wiley

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

---IN AND AROUND THE PARISH---

On Pentecost Sunday, a group from St. James joined many from around the Diocese of Maryland at Bishop Claggett Center for a day of Family, Fellowship and Fun…God’s Work to be Done. PHYLLIS GENTRY, JEANNE THRASHER, MARY–ELIZABETH & TRISTAN KELLER, STEVEN THRASHER, and A.J. BEAVERS enjoyed a day of music, food, basketball, food, square & line dancing, food, and all of the ingredients for a good country picnic……Recent issues of The Piedmont Herald have included many members of our congregation in the various articles: RAE MICHELLE FAZENBAKER was a member of the cast of Godspell at Westmar High School; she also was mentioned as an honor roll student….EMILLI BRAITHWAITE was chosen as Student of the Month for February for exhibiting respect and was treated to "goodies" at McDonalds; she also was honored as having the most Accelerated Reader points for the entire fifth grade and received a $50 savings bond; ALEXA FAZENBAKER, third grade teacher presented the awards; Emilli also has been an honor student at Westernport Elementary School….FORREST BOGGS was recently installed as the bulletin editor for the Tri-Towns Lions Club for 2003-2004…..Hats off to PAT McCARTY for being inducted into the Bruce High School Hall of Fame at the recent reunion; the news article had lots of St. James folks in the pictures: PAT & SHIRLEY McCARTY and OSCAR & JOANN COSNER…..Many thanks to PETE and NORMA BROADWATER and OSCAR COSNER who have done so much work around the grounds of the church recently…..More of our young people have been mentioned as being honor students in their various schools, so congratulations to CALEB FAZENBAKER, KARA GENTRY, STEVEN THRASHER, and TRISTAN & MARY-ELIZABETH KELLER…..We welcome to St. James JOE, KAY, TIFFANY and KELCY WILEY by letter of transfer. We are very glad to have them as members and look forward to their active involvement. Kay is a cafeteria supervisor for the Allegany Board of Education; Joe, Tiffany and Kelcy work for CSX in Cumberland. Kay has joined our choir and will be our United Thank Offering coordinator. Welcome!!…..Many thanks to AUTUMN WOLFE who has scheduled our lectors at the 11 am Eucharist for several years; she passes the duties to LISA KELLER who will begin scheduling lectors beginning January 2004 (it will be here before you know it!)…..Two of our members have new job responsibilities: TOM HUDSON is now working at West Virginia University dealing with alternative fuels education; LISA KELLER is working for the Chessie Credit Union in Cumberland. Our best wishes to both of you in these new positions…..Our own DOT GROVE has moved to her summer home on Deep Creek Lake for the season; we miss her presence but will welcome her back when fall is here: Enjoy the Lake Dot!…..GEORGE SLIGER has returned home from an extended stay at Sacred Heart Hospital and is doing quite well. Give him a call or stop by; he enjoys hearing from folks….BERNADETTE McGOYE is a resident at Moran Manor and attends worship at St. James from time to time thanks to several members of our congregation who bring her…We extend best wishes to HEATHER VIPOND who has started the journey at Allegany College towards earning her nursing degree…..Many thanks to everyone who surprised our rector on the 35^th Anniversary of his ordination; it was a wonderful day and celebration!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A MORNING PRAYER

I thank you God, for this brand new day.

May it bring me the right balance of challenge and reward.

May I give to it my best efforts and may you bless me as I do.

I thank you for this time and this place,

For someone to love,

Something to do, something to hope for.

In Christ’s name. Amen.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 St. James Episcopal Church

P.O. Box 279

Westernport, MD 21562

Phone/Fax: 301.359.9970

E-mail: stjames@gcnetmail.net

Web Site: www.st-james.ang-md.org

Bishops: The Rt. Rev. Robert Ihloff; The Rt. Rev. John Rabb

Rector: The Rev. Manning L. Smith

Home Phone: 301.334.3249

Senior Warden: Garrett Carskadon

Junior Warden: Norma Broadwater

WORSHIP SERVICES

8:30 am – Holy Eucharist – Rite I

11:00 am – Holy Eucharist – Rite II

See above for full details of St. James Day Celebration

Church School: 9:45 – 10:45 am (September through May)

OFFICE HOURS

Tuesdays & Thursdays 9:00 am ‘til 12 noon

And at other times by appointment