Without ID

This morning I technically broke the law. Actually there is not 'technically' to it - I broke the law. Leaving church yesterday, I completely forgot to grab my wallet, complete with money, credit cards, but most importantly - my drivers license! I didn't realize it until I was already at home. As the son of a State Trooper, I am conscious of traffic law whether I want to be or not - especially when it comes to driving without a license. Two weeks after I turned 16, which back then was when your license lost all restrictions and you were free to drive whenever, I was driving back from a church softball game. It was spring and the sun was just setting and the windows were down and the radio was up and I was not paying attention to my speedometer. Even though I wasn't paying attention, a Highway Patrol corporal was. 68 in a 55 I think it was. Two weeks after my license and my knees were trembling as the blue light flashed in my rear view mirror. "License and proof of insurance, please." "Yessir." And then the greatest moment of panic up to that point in my life. I didn't have my license. My wallet was sitting on my dresser, complete with a picture of my girlfriend and a my drivers license. Neither of which were doing me any good back home.

Needless to say - I did not go to jail and I escaped with just a warning. Partly because my father was a State Trooper and had trained this nice corporal, but the other (and probably greater part) was the sheer terror on my face that moved the officer to feel I had learned my lesson.

I guess an argument can be made that says we don't really need to carry our license with us wherever we go. With computers in patrol cars, the officers can surely look up our driving credentials, driving record, and anything else they need. But the law, however, is that whenever we are behind the wheel of an automobile - we need proof that we are able to drive.

In a long, winding thought process as I thought about driving without a license this morning, I pondered about our identification as Christians. What do we keep with us, what do we present, what do we demonstrate that shows we are filled with the hope of Christ? What do we have that shows we think about what it means to believe - to have faith. What do we have that shows that we pray, that we worship, that we strive despite all our failings to be in peace with the world? Surely we don't have a card. And do we need to have anything to show in the first place? Can't someone just call the church office and retrieve our baptismal information, Sunday School attendance, etc. just like an officer pulling up a driving record?

But that wouldn't be the same, would it?

Take a second. Find a bible or Google this - John 13:35

What do you think?

Fr. Steve+

Youth Mission Trip - Thursday, part 2

Hello again, I don't have much time but here are some thoughts from Emily Jeske:

Good afternoon Winston-Salem, and whoever else is reading this. Well, I guess good afternoon, I’m not really sure when this will be posted, but as I am writing this it is 11:15. So, not really afternoon. It’s definitely hot enough to be 3 or 4 o’ clock. I’m taking an extended water break from our worksite so that I can fill you guys in on all the fun that we’ve been having since the last post.
Erin has already given you the information about what is going on in the back of the worksite we’re at, but there’s not too much that has been said about the beautification of the house. For the first two days, The Collective Emily (myself and Emily Miller) and Erin scrubbed the siding of the house, and even went up on the roof to get the higher spots. On Tuesday, The Collective Emily decided that it would make the whole process more rewarding if we repainted the picket fence in front of the house. The paint was ridiculously chipped off, and it looked pretty bad in front of a house that had just been scrubbed for 3 hours. However, we didn’t know that in order to paint the fence, we would have to scrub that, peel off the paint (so much fun, spending 7 hours picking off nasty old paint with my fingernails), and THEN finally put the first coat on. First out of two. Not exactly what we had planned on doing for three days. But yesterday we got the first coat of paint on! Success! It looked absolutely phenomenal, and was definitely worth all the hard scrubbing and peeling we did. Seeing the fruits of our labor from two days of hot work in the blazing sun was such a great feeling. We just finished the final coat and touch ups about half an hour ago, and have since been helping on the wheelchair ramp, which looks fantastic and very professional. Good work all around.

Last night, the church that we’re staying in had a church service, so we had to go eat in the park by the beach for dinner. Pizzas from Hungry Howie’s were ordered, and we got to chill on the playground and eat. Ice cream sandwiches followed. We did some more major bonding with the group from South Carolina, which is never bad. After dinner we walked into the Gulf, which you can go out forever in, and it still hardly gets over knee-deep. There were a zillion hermit crabs and shells, and I got a few. I think Kristena got like, 5 thousand, but I wasn’t as lucky. Unfortunately, the awesome shell I found on Monday had a crab in it, and was creeping around the room last night. Just my luck, jeez.

This morning we were out the door at 6:30 (am—lots of sleepy teenagers today) and went on a group jog/run around downtown Port St. Joe. As a member of the jogging group (yes, I actually jogged), it was surprisingly fun and most of us kept up. We ended our jog at the gazebo/pier and sat out there for a while and watched the sun finish rising. This is pretty long, so I’m going to go back and do some work!

Just to fill you in on the rest of the day, we finished ALL the work on the second site. The wheelchair ramp was finished and then we went to the beach for an hour and a half (we drove to Mexico Beach, about 10 mintues away). We just got back to the church we are staying at and are geting ready to drive to the showers.

It has been a good week so far. In many ways its hard to believe that today is already Thursday. Only one more full day down here in Florida and then we drive back home on Saturday. Look for one mroe post after this. There are a few more youth who want to share their experiences, and I'll post a few more pictures. Till then...

Blessings,
~ David

Youth Mission Trip - Thursday (Part 1)

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. We had it written and ready to go, and we lost our internet connection! I have breifly slipped away from our worksite to post yesterdays post. I don't want you to miss what was written! For now, I am simply posting what was suppose to be posted yesterday. Check back later today for an update on our day today.

Wednesday:
I have heard from people back home that it is hot in Winston-Salem this week. Well, its hot here too, but at least we have a breeze blowing in off of the gulf every so often. Thank you to Ellen and Tina who commented on our update yesterday. Its always great to hear back from people back at the church and know that we are in their prayers. Today, in keeping with having the youth share their experience, Erin Gerrity and Clay Sexton have asked to write today's post. Before I post what they wrote, I want to brag just a bit about them. The week before we left on this trip both Erin and Clay found found out that they were accepted as members on the Diocesan Youth Committee. This means that they will both take part in planning and leading at least one of the youth conferences that the diocese holds each year. I am very proud of them both as I know the rest of the parish is. Here is what they wrote for today:

Erin:

Hey everybody this is Erin Gerrity! The trip so far has been a blast and we
are having so much fun. Last night we all sat in a circle in the hall before
lights out and laughed for a good hour. Everybody is getting along well and we
have all bonded a lot. We have even begun to bond with the other church in
giving the guys crazy hair styles yesterday. Yesterday has been my favorite work
day so far. At my worksite, we are building a wheel chair ramp for a lady who
has had three strokes and cannot move around well. We started putting the frame
up yesterday and cemented in a couple of the poles. Honestly I felt like I did
more work yesterday than I do in a whole year. It is very hot here but all
of the St. Tim’s kids are continuing to wear jeans for fear of scrapes and bug
bites. We are all excited because we are having a half day of work tomorrow and
going to the beach for the second half. While on Friday we are taking the whole
day off.

Everynight we have a worship service where we congregate with the other
church and sing and then listen to a sermon. We don’t know all the songs but
they are all good songs. The couselors are really nice. Our work leader’s name
is Amy and she is very helpful. Well I have to go get ready for our tedious,
exhausting, sweltering work day ahead of us so bye!

Clay:

…..erm its CLAY!! Ok so here’s the down low on the mission trip. So farthe whole entire youth group has been working extra hard and some of them are
very beat. Being a veteran to going on the youth mission trip it is a wayyyyy
different experience. For instance last year there was about 150 people there.
This year there are only 60. So ya that’s a kinda big difference there…. ANYWAYS
the work we have done is quite amazing. You can’t see that big of a difference
after one days work because there is different kinds of work. Last year the work
was more focused on Hurricane Katrina clean up, and this year its more focused
onto the nearby neighborhood about a half a mile away from the camp (THAT WE HAD TO WALK FROM!!) and it’s a poorer neighborhood. But the people there are very friendly and they all know each other and are just walking up and down the
streets saying HELLO!! So after a while the youth that I was with began to say
hello to them instead. AND…. The roofing was fun.

Amanda Eaton and Ben Cowgill painting


Tyler Smith and Clay Sexton working on the wheel chair ramp


Peace and Grace,
~ David

Youth Mission Trip - Tuesday

Once again I find myself sitting at Palm tree Books, a little bookstore/coffee shop/art gallery about a block from the church we are staying at. Today, David Godfrey and Alex Stearns are going to share some thoughts about their experiences on the work site today.

David Godfrey:

Well today was a good day, a very hard day, but nonetheless a good
day. There has been a lot of humor on this trip some people have even
started a quote book for all of the funny and interesting quotes on this trip.
I have enjoyed this trip so much because hard work brings people
together. I have gotten to know so many people so much better through
this experience, and met a few new people as well. The work has been
good.

Alex Stearns:

There's alot I can say about this trip but a few things stick out above all
others. You see, everyone is gaining something even if they
don't realize it. I suppose no one can, at the time it happens, realize when
something big is happening to them or changing them. Whether it is
David's discernment process that brought the girls closer
together by sadness, or James becoming part of our group by chance
everyone has gotten something from somebody else. I can't help but feel that
everyone is going to be alot closer by the time this is all
over.

Those are some of the thoughts by two of the guys here with us this week. I don't have time at the moment to upload pictures , but there will be some soon. Tomorrow I also want to talk more about the actual work sites and the work that our group is doing here in FL. We have to run to get showers now before we miss our window. I hope that everyone back home is doing well, and know that we are all safe, working hard, and being stretched in many different ways during this week. Thank you for your prayers.
~ David

Youth Mission Trip - Monday

Hi from Port St. Joe FL! As you can tell, our youth mission team made it here safely last night at about 8:30pm. I want to give a few brief stories from our time on the road Saturday, Sunday and then a few details from our work today.

We left this past Saturday at 8:30 am and arrived in Atlanta at 2:15. The first place we went was Centenial Park and several of the youth (and me) decided to jump in the fountains to cool off! After spending some time at the park, we went to All Saints Episcopal Church where we werew staying the night in their youth rooms. We were very appreciative of their hospitality and glad to be welcomed to Atlanta by members of our extended Episcopal family! When we finally had our rooms set up for the night, we ate dinner at the Varsity (only a block from All Saints), and enjoyed their greasy goodness. Next, we went to the Braves game. The Braves were losing for the first few innnings, but made a great comeback in the 9th inning and won 5-4! finally, after a long day, we made it back to the church and got to bed after midnight.

We awoke Sunday morning, had breakfast with different members of All Saints, and then joined them for their 10am worship service. For me, that was one of the highlights of this trip so far. Their service was alive with passion, full voiced singing, and we were welcomed by so many different members of the church afterwards that our group felt right at home. We pulled out of Atlanta around noon yesterday, and planned to make it to Port St. Joe around 6pm. What we plan doesn't always happen. As we crossed the state line into Florida, we stopped at the welcome center for a short break, and we noticed that one of the tires on a van had a nail in it! We counld't believe it! we had to change a tire once again (it was decided by the adults that our pre-trip meeting next year would include a lesson on how to change tires). The tire was changed and we were able to drive on after about an hour. We finally drove into Port St. Joe last night around 8:30 pm.

Each day I want to have one of the youth write a little something about their experience that day. Ben Cowgill is going to post now about working today:

The work today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There were 2 work sites.
The first site was mostly landscaping, and scrubbing the walls of a house. At my
work site, we did similar stuff. We mowed the lawn, and scrubbed the house and a
shed. We had to pull a tree out of the ground, and do other weeding. We scrubbed
their porch with bleach in preperation for painting. We had Subs for lunch, and
eggs and buscits for breakfast. Don't worry, we aren't starving.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers and we will continue to keep you updated! The next post will have pictures. Talk to you tomorrow!
~ David (and Ben!)

B-I-B-L-E, Part II

If you are wondering why my posts have been sporadic, there is actually a good reason. I usually blog late at night or very early in the morning from home. Once I walk into the office, it's hard to find a few minutes to blog. The problem has been that I do not have internet at my new home. It should be on today! The problem now is, I'm leaving the country for a few days. As the world is becoming more and more online, I should have many chances to blog from Italy. In fact, I hope I can.

Our Youth Director, David Rose, is leading a mission trip this Saturday to Port St Joe, Florida. David also hopes to have internet access and will be blogging on this website the events and highlights from the trip. If you get confused as to who is blogging (sometimes we forget to sign our names), our name should be at the bottom of each post - Posted by _________.

I also want to put in a quick commercial for the first episode of the new St Timothy's YouTube series. If you would like to be in the video - I'd love for you to be in it. If you can't be in this one - have no fear - there will be more!

And finally back to the Bible Study. Last week we all enjoyed a great discussion. I will share some highlights later, but for now, I'm including some study guides on many of the topics we covered last Wednesday. These study guides were developed for a high school class on the Bible I taught in Georgia.

The Old Testament


The New Testament

Fr. Steve+

B-I-B-L-E that's the book for me!

I think that's how the old song goes. The Bible. The Good Book. The Word of God. For the three major monotheistic religions in the world there is a central book that contains their story and teachings. Jews - the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament). Christians - the Christian Bible (Old and New Testaments). Muslims - the Koran. Even though the Bible, for Christians, is the central document of our faith (and every Christian tradition holds this to be true), the Bible itself fills people with intimidation, fear, and can be overwhelming. First of all it's a big book, a really big book. Secondly, it's not the easiest thing to read. It wasn't written by John Grisham or Dan Brown. Thirdly, it's not meant to be read in order. The Hebrew scriptures are not arranged in chronological order. And finally, a lot of background information is needed to really understand what is going on. Knowledge about the history, culture, politics, and religion thousands of years ago is vital to fully understand what the Bible is saying.

All of this is to say - I understand the relunctance to read the Bible. In fact, today at the morning Bible study we are going to talk about this. We are going to discover how the Bible came to be, how to read the Bible, and how to pick a translation (don't worry - we'll do this in the evenings come this fall). Tomorrow I'll post some of our highlights. Until then, look at the Bible that is dusty on your shelf. Don't let it scare you. It's not meant to scare you. In fact - the opposite is true.

Fr. Steve+

Welcome Libby Craven

This week we welcome Libby Craven to our St Tim's staff. Libby is our new director of communications. As we say goodbye to Beverly Hayes (from whom I know you have received emails and the ENews), we welcome aboard Libby. Stop by the office and say hello. Or give her a call.

What a Beautiful Day

What a great day! Yesterday, the first Sunday of many, was a wonderful experience of love, faith, and corporate worship. Instead of talking about what happened - here are some pictures courtesy of John Farmer and Tony Hamby. Now that we have started - let's keep it going. Invite your friends and neighbors to join us this Sunday at 8am or 10:30am. PS: Yesterday's homily will be online soon.