News
Teens go on Retreat in the Snow!
New Acolytes Trained and Serving
Phoenix Rising
Members of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Alpine recovered quickly from last December’s departure of their rector from the Episcopal Church. On December 18, Canons Andrew Rank and Barnabas Hunt joined Canons Jenny Vervinck and Howard Smith from the diocese to celebrate the Eucharist. The diocesan team led a parish meeting of the faithful remnant, which elected a new vestry. In short order the lay leadership changed a sign near the road from Christ the King Anglican Church to Christ the King Episcopal Church. The Rev. Arnold Fenton, onetime rector of All Souls, San Diego and later, St. Matthew’s, Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles was named interim rector. In February Dean Richardson and members of the Cathedral Chapter held their annual retreat at the lovely site on a sunny Saturday that began with a continental breakfast and ended with the first Eucharist ever celebrated by a woman priest in the twenty year history of the congregation, Canon Allisyn Thomas. The Senior Warden of Christ the King and his wife, Nathan and Helen Astleford, brought forth the elements and shared in the worship.
Other congregations heard about the fine facilities for Saturday retreats and began inquiring. Recently Fr. Fenton announced the congregation has begun a ministry of hospitality offering Saturday retreats and quiet days to church groups for a modest fee to cover costs. Several members of Christ the King joined worshipers at the Cathedral for the Easter Vigil and the reception that followed.
There is new life at Christ the King, new energy and spirit, too. If you are in the neighborhood, worship with them at 10:00 am on a Sunday.
Canon Allisyn Tomas receives the elements from Nathan and Helen Astelford, members of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Alpine during Chapter Retreat
Teens go on Retreat in the Snow!
The Cathedral Teens along with advisors Eric Burtson and Bob Oslie spent a great weekend March 17 at Camp Stevens in Julian. As the candid pictures reveal, a surprise visitor was a rare snowfall. Rachel’s friend Mandy joined the group as well.
According to teen leader Eric Burtson the theme of the weekend, when it wasn’t fun in the snow, was aspects of the mission statement drafted by the group last year:
“The Mission of Cathedral Teens is to deepen our commitments to God, His Word, the group and the church, and to begin to discover our missions in the world.” Eric said, “We did several exercises from Richard Bolle’s What Color is Your Parachute? You probably know about the book, but if you don’t, it is about recognizing one’s interests and abilities and using these to find your vocation (vocation as a calling). The book also has an addendum for Christians about the foundational missions we all share: 1. Loving God, and 2. loving our neighbor. We went over that. We also had some group interaction and confirmation of the obvious gifts God has given individuals in the group. The ropes course helped us learn to rely on a partner.”
When asked what impact the snow had, Eric said, “Made snowball fights possible. Shortened our hike (we only got as far as the camp sign, pictured). It almost stopped the ropes course, but we got to do it on Sunday.” Bob Oslie and Eric led the sessions. The Camp staff led the ropes course, which all agreed was the best part.
New Acolytes Trained and Serving
Daniel McMillan
Elizabeth Master
George Colson
Guillermo Menendez
Marian Gaston
Richard Steadham
Steve Mater and Steve Haight (Head Acolytes) conducted the training along with Canon Allisyn Thomas and Verger Chris Harris.
