COS September/October Newsletter 1

CHURCH OF OUR SAVIOUR

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2020 NEWSLETTER

News from The Reverend Kerry Neuhardt

September has crept in and will soon give way to October. When our

church was put on hold due to the virus, it seemed plausible to be back to

normal by sometime in the summer. That did not happen, and I admit to

underestimating the virus’ tenacity and the ease with which it spreads.

Church gatherings and night clubs became super- spreader events. It was

on tv every day, and the science kept warning us. I discovered I was easily

made to worry when we heard from people who lost loved ones or from

survivors how terrible it can be. My daughter working at St. Joseph’s /

Barrows had anecdotes about the way the virus creates life threatening

complications like pulmonary embolisms. The numbers of deaths and cases

began to seem surreal. Then I was informed that 4 members of our small church circle were recov-

ering, and one had been in ICU an extended period. I was already aware of a death in our church

family that was Covid caused. That week I visited my former clergy colleagues at the Diocesan

complex in Navajoland, and heard of the people I knew who had succumbed to the virus as it con-

tinues to haunt the Native American population. It was beginning to hit home. Now, I thought,

we are the numbers.

I for one do not like the prospect of having to wait to have proper burials or even see the sick

when hospitalized. I agree with my Navajo friend Rev. Canon Cornelia Eaton, the distance be-

tween people is becoming greater. The long haul of social distancing and being self- quarantined

have reached the limit of what people can seemingly take. Social gatherings are happening. Then,

after having our internet emails shut down by Sparklight for two weeks, we discovered that the

Bishop and the Task Force had granted us permission to meet outdoors for worship! Certainly we

do not want to become the next spreading event, and yes, we want to be together. We will follow

the guidelines strictly and hope everyone cooperates so that we do our best to protect each other,

and we will worship together in person and on Zoom.

The distance Cornelia was referring to was more than physical. Ideological distance between dif-

ferent types of people is beyond measure. It is this distance that now worries me as a religious per-

son. It will be crucial for our church to hold together, to build community out of diversity. The

number of people who have indicated they will not be back to the mountain, coupled with the

Message continues on next page

COS September/October Newsletter 2

Message from Kerry continued from page 1

recent deaths, means we will need to welcome new members to carry on the ministry entrusted to

us. Summer members heading South is a reminder of how distance makes connecting difficult. I,

for one, miss the connected community.

The solution ? Make it a priority to stay connected. The new Directory was sent last week to mem-

bers by email. It will also be available in print for those who request it from Marcia in the

Church office. Please be sure you have one and starting in October, call or e mail or write 4 people

each week ! Even if you don’t know them ! Thank You !

Finally, we were unable to get updated figures for the completion of the expansion project. Even

contractors deserve a little vacation! Suffice it to say the work continues, with the drywall job near

completion. Stop by to see it soon. Stay tuned as Leroy and Dick keep us posted.

Blessings. Kerry

Meeting Outdoors by Deb Carroll

Sunday, September 20, was our first outdoor gathering for Sunday

Services. It was a success with about 30 people in attendance (26 ad-

ditional on Zoom) . We have heard from the Bishop that we are no

longer limited to 50 people per gathering. If you would like to at-

tend the outdoor service, please come with face mask and lawn

chair. You will be asked to sign in and agree to the “Covenant for

Gathering” agreement form.

Service will continue to be held

over Zoom.

If you have questions or concerns,

contact Kerry at the church office.

Videos of the service, including Kerry singing, are posted on the church website.

http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/covenant-for-gathering-church-of-our-saviour-lakeside-az/http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/covenant-for-gathering-church-of-our-saviour-lakeside-az/http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/16th-sunday-after-pentecost/

COS September/October Newsletter 3

Introducing Mr and Mrs Thomas Linskey by Brenda & JR Roubal

Claire Roubal married Thomas Linskey September 5, 2020 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The ceremony took place at Kendrick Park Wildlife Trail out on highway 180 going towards the Grand Canyon. The bridesmaids and groomsmen walked down the aisle to the song “Everything” sung live by the groom’s friend David. Claire walked down the aisle to the song “I Cross My Heart” also sung by David. Accompanying and giving the bride in marriage were her mother, Brenda, and brother, J.R. Roubal. The officiant was Brenda's sister, Melissa Holland. The couple chose three readings to be read. One of which was 1 Corinthians Ch. 13, vs 4 - 13 read by the bride's mother, Brenda. J.R. Roubal and Chris Linskey also did readings. Many friends and family attended the wedding. Around 50 to 60 people were in attendance.

After the ceremony a reception was held in the backyard of the bride and groom. A dinner of Italian food was served from the restaurant Oregano's. Wine, beer, champagne, water and soda was also served. The wedding cake was a two tier cake that was decorated like aspen rings complete with a heart carving of T + C. It was adorned in fresh

sunflowers on top. The cake layers were red velvet and white cake with raspberry filling. The cake was also served with orange peel sugar cookies, the bride's grandmother Peggy Roe's recipe and also Mexican Wedding cookies prepared by the groom's mother Terry Ortega. Lots of dancing was also part of the evening.

The bride wore a sleeveless Maggie Sotera Annabella gown of lace on lace with beautiful sparkles. The back featured cov-ered buttons and had a lace cathedral train. The train was bustled for the reception. Claire wore gold vans tennis shoes which were hand painted with Mrs. Linskey written on them. Her vail was lace tuck in the back of her braid. She wore her hair in soft wavy curls adorned in sunflowers. She carried a bouquet of red roses and sunflowers with angel wings tied with a blue ribbon. The angel wings had some ashes of her dad inside. Her bridesmaids and matron of honor wore floor length Merlot colored dresses of varying designs. The bridesmaids carried bouquets of orange petite roses and sunflowers.

The groom, Thomas, wore a black suit with a cream colored shirt with Merlot colored tie and pocket square. His grooms-men and best man wore black shirts and slacks with Merlot colored ties.

COS September/October Newsletter 4

Woodworking by Carolyn Chapman & Wayne Scherkenback

Wayne started his woodworking hobby after retiring for the third time.

He began by researching exotic hardwoods. He only buys from compa-

nies that harvest reforestation trees as opposed to companies that harvest

first generation logging. Wayne uses the following exotic woods: Iroko

Wood from Africa; Katalox Wood from Mexico; Birdseye Maple from

central California; Cocobolo Wood from Mexico; Bocote Wood from

Mexico; Canary Wood from S. Brazil and Ecuador; Spanish Cedar from Tropical America;

Gaboon, Ebony from Nigeria; Granadillo from Mexico; and Purple Heart from Central and

South America, to name a few.

Wayne’s favorite items are frames and crosses from fine exotic hardwoods. He also enjoys

creating and making birdhouses. His interest in making frames arose from his niece’s African

photo safaris. He loves to make crosses because “everyone needs one.” Wayne gives most of

his work away, but he does sell some of his pieces.

My hobby lets me use my “man cave” and gives me an excuse to get out of doing housework.

COS September/October Newsletter 5

Since March, we have been hearing the progress of the Weber’s Tomato Garden. How the plants are gowning and their first harvest and now their success of making tomato sauce out of their San Marzano tomato crop. Have to admit. I’m a little jealous. We are still waiting for tomatoes….

Here is Gary & Chris’ San Marzano Tomato Recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 TB olive oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 6 garlic cloves, chopped

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp dried basil

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

• 3 pounds fresh San Marzano tomatoes, or other ripe summer tomato, chopped

• 1 cup of red wine.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, deep skillet or pot. 2. Cook the onion 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent. 3. Add the garlic, salt, basil, oregano, thyme and pepper. Cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until the garlic is very fragrant. 4. Add the tomatoes and wine, stirring to mix well. 5. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce to a low simmer, and let cook for 50 minutes to one hour. Stir the sauce occasionally to make

sure the sauce is not reducing too quickly.

6. Pass the tomato sauce through a food mill, or puree in a food processor. Adjust the seasoning as needed.

Beautiful sauce already for the freezer.

San Marzano Tomato Sauce Recipe—by Gary & Chis Weber

COS September/October Newsletter 6

What you reading these days? By Kate Reeves

“When the trees and the power lines crashed around you, when the very roof gave way above you, when the light turned to dark-ness and water turned to dust, did you call on Him? When you called on Him, was He somewhere up there, or was He as near as your very breath?”

Jan Karon (2006). The Mitford Bedside Companion

In these challenging times, I am so grateful for authors like Jan Karon who offer inspiration, humor and comfort. Thanks to a book donation from Melinda Thomas, our small COS Library now has ten of the four-teen Mitford novels by the #1 New York Times-bestselling author Jan Karon. Since 1995 she has been enchanting readers with her books which center on Father Tim, an Episcopal priest who lives in the fiction-al village of Mitford, North Carolina. https://blowingrock.com/

“Enter the world of Mitford, and you won’t want to leave. It’s easy to feel at home in Mitford. In these high, green hills, the air is pure, the village is charming, and the people are generally lovable.

Yet, Father Tim, the bachelor rector, wants something more. Enter a dog the size of a sofa who moves in and won’t go away. Add an attractive neighbor who begins wearing a path through the hedge. Now, stir in a lovable but un-loved boy, a mystifying jewel theft, and a secret that’s sixty years old.”

Mitfordbooks.com

If you’re interested in checking out one of Karon’s books, let me know and I’ll arrange to meet you or leave it in the church office.

Once the construction is complete and the electricity is back on, I will return to the library to complete the inventory and we’ll soon be open for business. Father Kerry and I have been busy the last year reorganizing the COS Library to make it easier to browse and create room for books that we hope will appeal to the diverse interests of our congregation. Our focus is on books which will inform, inspire and enrich our members on their faith journey.

Father Kerry has donated many of his own books on church history, comparative religions, and progressive Christianity. We are also building our collection of biographies, fiction and poetry and welcome donations (indicate funds are for library). If you have books or Bookman’s credit to donate, please contact me. My information is in the Church’s directory.

Did you receive your 2020 Directory ?

If you did not receive your 2020 Directory, contact the church office or Rosanna Langley. ALSO—

thank you to Rosanna for your great work in updating the directory and pictures this year.

PLEASE NOTE: We are not sharing individual folks email or contact information in the newsletter

or website to protect their privacy. So it is important you reach out and get a copy of the directory

to stay in touch.

https://blowingrock.com/http://www.mitfordbooks.comhttp://churchofoursaviourwm.org/give/http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/give/

COS September/October Newsletter 7

Exploring with Donna and Mike Mumford

On July 20th, Mike and I were getting ready to make the trip to Blythe, CA for his work when about 10 a.m. he received a phone call stating he would not be needed that week. Having nothing planned for the day except driv-ing, I packed up a picnic lunch, got into Mike's Off-road Scout and we head-ed over to the Church to see how things were progressing. We chatted with Kerry for a bit and told him we were out exploring for the day. He suggested we take a gander to Los Caballos Trailhead. It was a very beau-

tiful spot, we picnic'd then turned onto the trail that led to the Rim Road. We road around for about 2 hours enjoying the scenery. It was a beautiful day.

If you're bored and want something to do during these social distancing days, an outing of this kind can be done in groups...everyone pack a lunch and "follow the leader"!

Our information is in the Church’s directory.

Treasurer’s Report by Tim Wooley

Though this summer, June to August, general fund contributions have been great-

er than expenses, enough so to offset the shortfalls earlier this year so we are doing

well. Please remember us in the upcoming months so we can continue to cover

our expenses. Giving is easy by going to our church website.

http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/give/

COS September/October Newsletter 8

Thoughts from Deb Carroll

First, thanks to everyone who contributed to this newsletter. It was fun to

collect articles and share ideas. This edition is for two months. September

flew by and we missed the arbitrary deadline of the 15th. Like many of you,

Ray and I will be migrating south in the next few weeks so it made sense to

combined the two month, take a rest, and then focus on November and the

start of Advent.

The idea of the newsletter is to focus on connecting as a community. To learn more about mem-

bers’ interests, talents, and what we have in common. I welcome all of you to become contribu-

tors. To share your interest whether it be photos of fall colors, love of exploring the White Moun-

tains, cooking, or writing essays or poetry or big events in your life — like a wedding. For No-

vember, it would be fun to have articles about traditions you might have during Advent or Christ-

mas. I remember us going to church and getting our advent wreath and lighting the candles be-

fore Sunday Dinners. Send your thoughts, pictures or suggestions to me. It will be amazing what

we learn about each other.

Also, I am working on improving our communication streams. First step began last year by add-

ing more content including updates on church activities to our church website. This Spring the

newsletter came into play when we no longer could meet in person but needed a way to stay con-

nected. Then church services on Zoom! As Kerry says “It is not your grandma’s church any

more.”

The new challenge is creating an efficient email system. We are currently testing a virtual based

email system (MailChimp) for smoother member-wide communications. MailChimp allows you

to send emails to thousands of folks at one time without it looking like spam. This type of service

is used by many organizations and companies to send updates on their new products or notices

for changes in systems. Many churches and various public organizations use this type of system

with great success.

The plan is to start using this system to send Sunday bulletins, newsletters, and notices. Most of

the content will be embedded into the email. Instead of having attachments, you will have links

that will send you to the church website where you can download documents. I am new to this

format and it comes with a learning curve. If anyone has experience with MailChimp, I could use

some help setting up protocols and templates for the system.

Safe travels to all who leave the White Mountains for warmer climates. Count our blessings that

we do have computers and internet that we can stay connected whether it be miles or viruses that

separate us.

http://churchofoursaviourwm.org/