Volume 20 Issue 3 March 2016

INTRODUCING FATHER IAN House Theological College in Cam-

bridge (UK). He was then ordained in

the Diocese of Manchester as a Dea-

con in 2004 and as a priest in 2005,

where he served his Curacy. In 2008,

he came to his current role, which has

given him the challenge and pleasure of

building and shaping from no previous

ministries.

Preparing and sharing food have been

at the heart of both Fr. Ian’s family life

and his ministry. He has brought Amer-

ica’s Melting Pot of cuisines to England,

loves discovering the vast array of cui-

sines brought to the British Isles

through Empire, and any cuisine that

takes his fancy. Ian firmly believes the

preparing and sharing of food to be a

spiritual activity, sanctioned by God,

and demonstrated throughout the Bible.

He illustrated this in a reality cooking

show on BBC2 called ‘Instant Restaurant’

in which he turned his home into a spiritu-

ality-themed restaurant. (And made a

good profit!)

Fr. Ian has dabbled in other media, in-

cluding, print, BBC Radio and currently

the University of Chester’s Radio Station

for which he hosts a weekly radio show.

Fr. Ian is very interested in showing the

Church and active faith in a positive light

in the public arena, including in the me-

dia. He has also been Chaplain on cruise

ships for Christmas and Easter, which

proved an interesting form of ministry,

and presented exciting challenges such

as distributing communion with a pair of

ice tongs! One of Ian’s dream jobs would

be to host a Saturday cooking show, as

“Fr. Ian” to combine his passion for food

and his wish to show the Church positive,

enriching and a source of spiritual nour-

ishment.

Fr. Ian will arrive at St Stephen’s with his

cat Sussex and a somewhat strange ac-

cent, a mixture of everywhere he has

lived (and some places he hasn’t!). He

will be leaving behind good friends, rainy

weather and flavorless steaks, and is

looking forward to reuniting with longtime

friends, beaches to stroll without a jacket

and the occasional Spencer! And of

course…being with the people of St

Stephen’s San Luis Obispo.

The Rev. Ian Delinger currently serves as

the University of Chester’s Chaplain to

the Warrington Campus and to the Fac-

ulty of Health & Social Care. He was

born in California, and was raised in both

rural western Nebraska and on the cen-

tral coast of California. He studied Chem-

istry at Truman State University in Kirks-

ville, Missouri. Then, he moved to the

Silicon Valley where he was as a pro-

ject manager in a consulting firm which

specializes in environmental, health and

safety issues for the semiconductor

manufacturing industry and other high

technology industries, followed by a cou-

ple of stints in corporate events manage-

ment and marketing.

Fr. Ian left the Silicon Valley after nine

years to train for ordination at Westcott

The Witness Page 2

VESTRY MEMBERS

Gail Taylor Sr. Warden

Bruno Giberti Jr. Warden Liz Frost Fellowship

Lynn Hollister Outreach

Stewardship

Robert Misson Pastoral Care/

Membership

Carole Merrill

Doris Highland

Bud Zeuschner

Chris Arndt Sexton

Katie Arndt Treasurer Linda Zeuschner Clerk

February 2016 Men’s Retreat

On February 12th, five members of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew met

at Mt. Calvary in Santa Barbara for a weekend retreat. Those who at-

tended were Chris Arndt, Bob Levison, Jim Gates, Jim Wall and Fr.

Lyle Grosjean our meditation leader. Pies and flowers were brought by

Chris Arndt as presents to the Brothers.

The retreat facility is available for the “purpose of providing a place to

come away from the crowd and our busy lives to spend time with

God”. There is silence from 9:00 pm until after breakfast. (The

women’s retreat extends the silence for the entire weekend)

The Benedictine services of Lauds and Vespers are offered each day in

the chapel and include a cantor, responses, and prayers. There is an

ancient spirituality that is present and it enters one’s heart and soul.

Our meditation times were both presentations and responses, and

thoughts about our spiritual and secular life. Many questions were

asked and once in a while we found an answer.

We are fortunate to have the retreats in February as they are a spiritual

introduction to Lent one of the most important, if not the most impor-

tant 40 days of our church life—a chance to reflect on all those things

we are thankful for and our misgivings and a time to extend the experi-

ence of the retreat and make time to quietly be with God.

Bob Levison

IN THE MONTH OF MARCH

2, 9 Lenten Soup Supper

& 16 & Program

13 A Celebration of Harp

concert and reception

21 Book Discussion Group

24 Maundy Thursday

Service at 7:00 pm

25 Good Friday Service

at 12:00 noon

27 Easter Sunday Services

8:00 & 10:00

Coming Soon

June 11 Fr. Ian’s Installation

as Rector of Saint

Stephen’s & luncheon

(details to come)

The Witness Page 3

Ask the Treasurer

What are my options for making my pledge payments?

Last night at our Vestry meeting I was asked this question. So,

here are the options:

You can pay by cash or check. If you pay by cash, make sure you

put your name and the word "pledge" on the offering enve-

lope. If you pay by check, please write the word "pledge" in the

memo section. (This brings up another suggestion. Whenever

you pay by check for anything church related, write something in

the memo section that indicates where the money needs to

go. For instance, write "freezer" in the memo section and the

funds will be applied to the freezer purchase.)

You can set up automatic payments two ways. You can have

your bank send us a paper check from your account automati-

cally on the day you specify. You can have your bank send us a

transfer of funds (you specify the amount and the date). To sign

up for this, contact your bank and ask for an automatic deduction

form that you will fill out. Bring the form to us and we will com-

plete our part. Take the form back to your bank for processing.

If you have any questions regarding any of these options, please

feel free to give me a call.

Here are the Rabobank bank balances as of January 29,2016:

Operating: $100,916.47

Money Market: $35,126.13

Endowment Checking: $2,803.74

Respectfully Submitted,

Katie Arndt, Treasurer

Senior Warden's

report

Greetings from the office. I am on

a pretty steep learning curve, but I

am getting a lot of help from all of

the great staff and parishioners

here at St. Stephens. I have al-

ready identified, what I view, as an

issue with record keeping. Just

because we are 150 years old as a

church, our record keeping need

not reflect that, so I am going to

try to establish some spread

sheets to keep track of important

church events, attendance records,

etc. I am also going to focus on

our buildings as a priority in the

upcoming months. Our hard

working sexton has been earning

overtime in his uncompensated

position as the result of several

leaks in the education building

and also in the RSVP building. In

my opinion this must be an item

high on the list of Things To Do in

the coming months.

Our new rector, Fr. Ian Delinger,

will be joining us mid-April after a

rather arduous move from Eng-

land. We hope his first official Sun-

day will be May 1, 2016. Keep him

in your prayers as he winds up his

ministry at Warrington College

and prepares to take up the reins

at St. Stephens. I am so looking

forward to working with him.

Blessings, Gail

The Witness Page 4

Chocolate Factory

Opening in Ramsden Hall March 7th

Chocolate Factory sign up sheets have been moved from the Boydston Room to the bulle-tin board in Ramsden Hall. Both experienced and in-experienced workers are needed. Please sign up for whatever two hour shifts best fit your schedule. If you’ve worked in “the chocolate fac-tory” before, you know the task schedule may not be adhered to precisely, but whatever we hap-pen to be doing each day you’ll be in the company of friends and the place will have that wonderful smell of chocolate. Questions? See, call or email Kathleen (546-0880, kapennington@netscape.net)

Youth

Mission

Trips

in July

Church youth groups from all over the western states travel to one of the

summer Sierra Service Project (SSP)

sites for an unforgettable week of

serving, learning, worship and fel-lowship. The Episcopal Diocese of El

Camino Real (ECR) has reserved

spaces for a Middle School week June 25-July 1 and a High School

week July 9-17.

~ Fun! The SSP Experience includes a tradition of games, songs, and last-

ing friendships.

~ Safe & Dependable. SSP has 40

years of youth service, leadership, and home repair knowledge, is dedi-

cated to physical and emotional

safety, and provides nutritious meals and spiritual support to all volunteers.

~ Challenging service. Youth take on

complex projects, learn to safely use power tools, and cultivate teamwork

and problem-solving skills.

~ Intercultural engagement. Working with others to strengthen communi-

ties different from their own allows

youth to experience new cultures in

an authentic way.

The fee for Youth to participate in

either of these Sierra Service Projects

is $450 which includes food and lodging, building materials and trans-

portation from ECR but not food in

transit. There are camperships avail-able to help with the cost.

Adult/Parent Counselors are wel-

come, too!

For a registration form, or more

information, contact Kathleen, 546-

0880 or kapennington@netscape.net

Easter Flowers Each year at Easter, members of our Altar

Guild decorate the church with beautiful

flowers.

If you would like to donate Easter flowers,

please fill out this form, enclose or attach a

check made payable to St. Stephen’s Altar

Guild: place it in the offering plate, drop it

by the church office or mail it to St.

Stephen’s, 1344 Nipomo St., San Luis

Obispo, CA 93401.

PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY

Name of donor__________________________________________

In memory of___________________________________________

In thanksgiving for_______________________________________

The Witness Page 5

General Information

The Witness is a monthly newsletter published by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, San Luis Obispo,

CA to provide information about the parish to the congregation. Subscriptions are free to anyone. Send

request along with your name and mailing address to the church office. Donations to help offset

distribution costs are appreciated. Make checks payable to St. Stephen’s.

The Church’s e-mail address is: office@ststephensslo.org

The Witness Editor is Chris Kellett. Contribution of articles is encouraged. Please e-mail

submissions to the editor at witness@ststephensslo.org

The deadline for emailed submission of articles is Friday following the Vestry meeting. Call or email

editor with any questions. © Copyright 2016 by St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church. All rights reserved.

POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections to: St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 1344

Nipomo St., San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3935

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Our February Book Club meeting took place

in the Library on the 15th—“Presidents’

Day”—when we discussed not only Hector

Tobar’s book, The Barbarian Nurseries, but also (appropriately enough for the date) the

current presidential aspirants. Our next

meeting would ordinarily take place on the third Monday of next month, but because that day is the beginning of Holy

Week, we decided to change the next meeting date to the

third Monday in April, the 18th, when we will again have access to the Parish Hall.

The new book we have chosen to discuss in April is Mar-

cus Borg’s Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time, The His-torical Jesus & the Heart of Contemporary Faith. Alan

Jones, dean, Grace Cathedral, wrote about this book:

“Borg liberates Jesus from the rigidity of fundamentalism and the aridity of intellectualism. He also graciously liber-

ates readers from the shackles of what many have thought

they were supposed to believe about Jesus if they were to remain Christians….What a relief to see Jesus in a totally

new light.”

Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

We hope some of you will choose to join us for an interest-ing evening/discussion/delicious dinner. Please call Diane

Levison at 805-544-6486 if you have any questions.

SAINT STEPHEN’S WOMEN’S RETREAT

This year’s Women’s Retreat took place the weekend of February 5-7,

and it was attended by 20 women,

one of whom was our retreat leader,

Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves.

The theme of this year’s retreat was

“Loss, and ways to deal with it in our own and other’s lives.” Bishop Mary

led five meditations during the week-

end, and each one of them was a blessing to everyone present, not only

because of Bishop Mary’s spiritual

modeling, but also because the theme

dealt with something each one of us has faced—and will again. The

women’s retreat has always been a

silent one, beginning after the first meal and ending at the noon meal on

the last day. The silence—broken

only during the meditations to allow

for questions and discussion, and also during services in the Chapel—is

actually a spiritual gift.

Our retreat location was once again at

Mt. Calvary Monastery in Santa Bar-

bara, a site which had long been pre-viously known as St. Mary’s Retreat

House. The grounds are beautiful

and walkable, including a labyrinth

which is always accessible for private meditations; and the room accommo-

dations are both charming and com-

fortable. The brothers at the Monas-tery have enjoyed the talents of Luis,

the chef, for 25 years; and we were

all appreciative, too, of the delicious meals he provided.

Because the Mt. Calvary retreat site

is always heavily booked, St. Stephen’s women have managed to

reserve a retreat weekend for 2017 on

March 10-12. You may want to note this on your calendars with the idea

of keeping those dates available to be

able to participate in this wonderful

experience.

The Witness Page 6

Scriptures for

March

March 6, 2016

Fourth Sunday in Lent Joshua 5:9-12

Psalm 32

II Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 116-32

March 13, 2016

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Isaiah 43:16-21

Psalm 126

Philippians 3:4b-14

John 12:1-8

March 20, 2016

Palm Sunday

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 31:9-16

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 23:1-49

March 27, 2016

Easter Day

Acts 10:34-43

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

I Corinthians 15:19-26

John 20:1-18

Sexton’S RepoRt Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head (Roof Repairs) As you may know, the last few years of drought and warming temperatures have taken a toll on the ageing

flat roofs of the classroom wing and RSVP, resulting in leaks this winter. It took a couple of storms and making repairs to figure out the issue with the classrooms, Shire and Dottie's office. While the leaks appeared to be coming up from below, they were instead coming from the roof. The details are too long to include. Ask me if you want clarification. One thing I will say is that the entire walkway behind the classrooms is one big French drain. I sealed some scuppers cut into the roof edge dam over the classrooms, which seems to have stopped the leaks there. Today, I reattached the tarp over RSVP after the winds tore it off. After some study of the roof over the Shire, a few days ago I also sealed around the roof drain in the back cor-ner, as well as a few feet of the roof edge. During the last storm a couple of Sunday's ago, I purchased a new wet/dry shop vacuum for the church to facilitate sucking the water out of the Shire. We had ServPro come out to dehumidify the rooms and spray affected surfaces with an antimicrobial. They also had the walls tested for asbestos and lead, in case we need to do some remediation. The tests came back OK. The Vestry has approved a bid from Westbeach Construction to re-roof RSVP with 3 coats of a liquid rubber roofing material, as well as perform repairs and maintenance to the classroom and office roofs, the Shepherd window well behind the altar, and a loose shingle over the sanctuary. Work should commence in March. Ramsden Hall Wireless Internet As in years past, even though we make improvements, there are issues with the wireless in the hall during the Overflow Shelter. Since it works OK at other times, our current thinking is that it is a victim of its own success. Between church computers, parishioners' phones, tablets and computers, volunteers' laptops, tablets and phones, and whatever overflow guests connect with, the residential grade routers and access points are probably getting congested or overloaded. We will be looking at that for possible up-grades. Warming Up to the New Freezer The new freezer in the kitchen is in, cold and filling up with goodies. So far, we have collected a little over half of the $2,668 cost. Thank you to every-one that has donated so far. If you would like to give on behalf of the new freezer, please memo your donation check “Freezer” and put it in the col-lection plate on Sunday, or you can give it directly to Katie or me. Chris Arndt, Sexton

The Witness Page 7

Hands-On Stewardship

at St. Stephen’s!

MARCH

BIRTHDAYS

3rd Robert Bearce

10th John Kellett

24th Bev Williams

THANK YOU TO Doris Highland, Lynn Hollister, Kathleen

Pennington, Alison Preston and Gail Taylor for teaching Sunday

School classes in February.

THANK YOU TO Lynn Wiech, Clark, Kay & Amy Lewis, and the

History Committee for hosting coffee hours in February.

THANK YOU TO the retiring Vestry members Kathryn Bumpass,

Bill Walters, Bob Levison and Dianne Long for their 3 years of hard

work on the Vestry.

THANK YOU TO Bob Levison and the many volunteers from St.

Stephen’s and Cal Poly who helped get Ramsden Hall ready for the

Overflow Shelter and those who spent many hours volunteering as

greeters and over-night hosts.

THANK YOU TO the Altar Guild, Choir, Brotherhood of St.

Andrew’s and the Vestry for providing delicious soups for our Lenten

Potlucks.

THANK YOU TO Kathleen Pennington for joining the finance team

as both a money counter and a data entry volunteer.

THANK YOU TO Everyone who contributed nonperishable foods

for the “Souper Bowl of Caring” through which our Youth donated

107 pounds of food and $10 to Grass Roots II.

Order Chocolate Easter Eggs

by March 6th!

Only $9 for half a pound of beautifully decorated, handmade

chocolate or $5.50 for a quarter pound. Order for yourself, your

friends and family or sponsor an egg for a needy child. Proceeds

from the sale of these eggs go toward outreach programs through our

Parish Council. Eggs will be ready to pick up after services on Palm

Sunday. We’ll be making the “no nut” eggs first, so if you’ll need

yours early, choose “no nut” and you can pick them up the Sunday

before Palm Sunday.

If you didn’t get an order form, pick one up at the back of the

church, on the bulletin board in Ramsden Hall or at our website (www.ststephensslo.org).

The Witness Page 8

ARE YOU READY FOR EL NIÑO?

For the rain: Clean out your gutters

Check your roof, skylights, doors and windows for leaks

Have heavy plastic sheeting to cover a broken window or skylight

For the wind: Remove tree limbs that could damage or break your roof or windows

Move outdoor furniture indoors or secure so it won’t blow over

For loss of power: Put fresh batteries in your flashlight

Have a battery powered lantern

Know how to open your garage door manually

Have cash on hand – in case ATM is not working

Have ready: One week supply of medications

First Aid kit

Emergency contact information available

Know where your shut offs are for: water, gas and electricity Support from neighbors if needed

DO NOT: Use your stove or grill to heat your home

Walk through water that is above your ankles

Drive over a flooded road

RECIPE OF THE MONTH

This month I am including a recipe from the Joy Jones Soup Cook-

book to entice you to try the recipes. You can still purchase the

cookbook for $15. All proceeds go to the Parish Council.

This recipe is perfect for those suffering from a winter cold or flu.

COUNTRY CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Joy Jones Serves 4

1 (49 oz.) can Swanson’s chicken broth

1 small carrot, chopped

¼ c. celery, chopped

1 Tbs. onion, finely chopped

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

⅛ tsp. poultry seasoning

⅛ tsp. dried thyme

1 c. dry medium egg noodles

2 c. diced cooked chicken

In a soup pot, combine broth, carrot, celery, onion, parsley, poultry

seasoning and thyme. Heat to boiling.

Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add noodles. Cook 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add chicken. Heat through, stirring occasionally.

LENT For this season of Lent, many of us think about something to “give up.” Un-

fortunately, these things often have little

impact up on our life and walk with

Christ. Here is a list of “40 things to give

up for Lent.” But this list is different. It is

not the typical things like soda or choco-

late. These are things truly worth giving

up. There is one for each day of the sea-

son. And these are things to give up not

just for Lent, but for the rest of your life.

Fear of Failure

Your Comfort Zone

Feelings of Unworthiness

Impatience

Retirement

People Pleasing

Comparison Blame

Guilt

Over Commitment

Lack of Counsel

Impurity

Entitlement

Apathy

Hatred

Negativity

The Spirit of Poverty

Going Through the Motions

Complaint The Pursuit of Happiness

Bitterness

Distraction

Giving up

Mediocrity

Destructive Speech

Busyness

Loneliness

Disunity

The Quick Fix

Worry . Idolizing

Resistance to Change

Pride

Small View of God

Envy Ungratefulness

Selfish Ambition

Self-Sufficiency

Sorrow

My Life

This website goes into greater detail of each item on the list.

https://www.greaterthings.today/40-

things-to-give-up-for-lent-the-list/

The Witness Page 9 MARCH 2016

Saint Stephen’s Episcopal Church 1344 Nipomo Street San Luis Obispo CA 93401-3935

Office: 805 543.7212 Ramsden Hall: 805 543.7215 Fax: 805 543.0744

office@ststephensslo.org http://ststephensslo.org

Office hours: Monday — Thursday 9:00 a.m.— 1:00 p.m.

Key: Ramsden Hall – RH; Boydston Room – BR; Library – L

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 10:00 Yoga RH 5:30 Centering Prayer

2 10:30 Women’s Prayer Group -L 11:30 Holy Eucharist 6:30 Lenten Soup Sup-

per and Study

3

4

5

6 Lent IV 8:00 HE II 9:00 Bible Study 10:00 HE II and Sun-

day School 12:00 Youth Comm.

7 Chocolate Factory

opens!

8

10:00 Yoga RH 5:00 Centering Prayer - Transept

9

8:00 Bro. of St. Andrew B-fast

10:30 Women’s Prayer Group – L 11:30 Holy Eucharist 5:15 Choir Rehearsal 6:30 Lenten Soup Sup-

per and Study

10 12:00 Altar Guild RH

11

12

13 Lent V

8:00 HE II 9:00 Bible Study 10:00 HE II and Sunday School Pick up No-nut Choco-

late Eggs 3pm A Celebration Of Harp Concert & Reception

14

15

10:00 Yoga RH 5:00 Centering Prayer - Transept 7:00 Vestry BR

16

10:30 Women’s Prayer Group – L 11:30 Holy Eucharist And Healing

5:15 Choir Rehearsal 6:30 Lenten Soup Sup-

per and Study

17

18

19

20 Palm Sunday

8:00 HE II 9:00 Bible Study 10:00 HE II and Sun-

day School Pick up Chocolate Eggs

21 6:00 Book Club RH Witness Deadline

22

5:00 Centering Prayer - Transept

23

10:30 Women’s Prayer Group – L 11:30 Holy Eucharist 5:15 Choir Rehearsal

24 Maundy Thurs.

7:00 Maundy Thurs. Service

25 Good Friday 12:00 Good Friday Service

26

27 Easter Day 8:00 HE II 9:00 Bible Study 10:00 HE II and Sun-

day School Easter Egg Hunt

28

29

5:00 Centering Prayer - Transept

30 10:30 Women’s Prayer Group – L 11:30 Holy Eucharist 5:15 Choir Rehearsal

31

The Witness Page 10

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

Permit No. 57

ST. STEPHEN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 1344 NIPOMO ST

SAN LUIS OBISPO CA 93401-3935

Address Service Requested

The Witness

St. Stephen’s Services

Sunday 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist without music 9:00 a.m. Bible Forum in Boydston Room 10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II with music Sunday School for K-12 (during school year) Child care available during 10:00 am service

Wednesday 11:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer

Office Hours Monday—Thursday 9:00 – 1:00 1344 Nipomo Street San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3935 Office: 805-543-7212 Fax: 805-543-0744 Email: office@ststephensslo.org Website: http://ststephensslo.org

Lunch on the Brothers Lunch Bags Update

Since we started this program a few months ago, the office staff has handed out almost 40 lunches to hungry people who come in off the street. Each non-perishable bag has some sort of meat or protein (tuna or chicken, Vienna

Sausages, or single serving bowl), crackers, water, fruit and fruit juice, a snack of some sort (granola bar, cheese and crackers, small bag of crackers, etc) a des-sert (cookies or maybe a pudding cup), some other treat, a Wet Nap, and a packet of plastic utensils, salt, pepper, and a napkin.