February Issue of the SPIRIT is UP!

The February 2010 issue of the Spirit of St. Nicholas is up!

Many thanks to all our contributors! You can read it by clicking directly on the image of the issue to the left, or by going to our Newsletter Page and clicking on February 2010.

If you have any news for the March issue, please contact Drucye Price by February 15.

Who Knew Kneelers Were So Cool?

From Father Matthew Moretz from Christ Church in Rye, New York, and one of my long-time friends.

Kneelers-they’re not just for knees, you know!

Your Week at St. Nick, 31 January - 6 February 2010

29 - 31 January  Youth Retreat at Camp Mikell

Sunday, 31 January–Fr. Fred Northup preaches/celebrates

8:30am Holy Eucharist

9:30am Breakfast/Fellowship

9:45am Adult/Youth/Children’s Education

11:00am Holy Eucharist

Usher/Greeter

8:30am Bobo and Barbara Morgan

11:00am John and Charlotte Winsness

Reader

8:30am Sue Halmrast

11:00am Michelle Moody/M. Martin

LEM

8:30am L. Dixon

11:00am Diane Hinnant

Altar Guild  Bradley/Correnti

Flower Guild  Diane Hinnant

Sunday School Teacher   Bert Tomlin

Cider  Barbara Bradley

Acolytes

Table:   Abby B.

Crucifer:  Abbey A.

Gospel:  Abby B.

Offertory:   Dalton

Torch:   Abbey A./Dalton

Wednesday, 3 February

3:00 - 5:00pm St. Nicholas Quilters

6:30 - 7:45pm Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, 4 February

6:30pm  Week 5 of 6  St. Nicholas Academy:  Listening to Scripture

Father Jeff is away at Youth Retreat, 29 - 31 January and away at Clergy Retreat 1 - 3 February.

Update on Haiti

Below is a release about Episcopal Relief & Development’s efforts in Haiti. Also, a group from the Diocese of Atlanta is working out a relief effort, and if anyone is interested, there will be a meeting at Holy Trinity in Decatur this Saturday, January 30 from 10:00 a.m. to Noon.

Finally, Callaway Blue is also working on a continual project to send water down to Haiti. St. Nicholas will be helping with the effort. More information about this is forthcoming, so stay tuned!

For Immediate Release

DATE : 1/21/2010

Relief Efforts Continue in Haiti After Earthquake

Over a week since the 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, the nation is still being affected by large aftershocks, including a 6.1-magnitude event yesterday morning.  However, the continued geological events are only one challenge facing those trying to provide relief in Haiti. Read more

Hollywood & Faith

I ran across this great article on one of my favorite comic book websites, Newsarama.com. In it, Michael Avila interviews Greg Garrett, who is an English professor at Baylor University, the author of Holy Superheroes! and a faithful Episcopalian. His book is really good, and if anyone is interested in Media & Religion, pick it up (or borrow my copy).

I’d love to see what you all think! You can read the original article here.

Hollywood Shows A Little Faith
by Michael Avila

After years of avoiding the Good Book like the plague, Hollywood has done an about-face on faith.

As people are faced every day with threats of terrorism, environmental decay and economic uncertainty, a number of recent films, such as “The Blind Side,” “The Book of Eli” and “Legion,” have embraced religion. “The Road” tackled morality and its place in the world. Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” questioned the meaning of eternal life. Even the box office smash “Avatar” raised questions about belief in higher powers and man’s ultimate purpose.

Why the sudden interest in getting in touch with our Higher Power?

Depends on who you ask. Some may say it’s tied to Mel Gibson’s 2004 smash hit “The Passion of the Christ.” But that doesn’t add up, given the lengthy time since that film’s release – and the fact subsequent movies like “Kingdom of Heaven” and “The Nativity Story” flopped.

Regardless, there’s no question spirituality plays a prominent role in today’s pop culture, says Baylor University English Professor Greg Garrett.

“Whether they know it consciously or not, in times of trouble people look for two things from the culture they consume — entertainment and understanding,” according to Garrett, the author of the book “’Holy Superheroes!’ “Well-told stories also may help us to make some sort of meaning out of the chaos of our lives, and that exploration can happen whether or not we intend it.”

Perhaps no genre is as effective an outlet for stories with religious themes than science fiction. The battle of good vs. evil and the question of what’s right or wrong are two topics often at the heart of the best sci-fi, because the visual components of the genre allow for heightened translation and interpretation.

Filmmakers such as George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron have infused spirituality into classic movies such as “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Terminator.” On television, faith and its power to inspire and corrupt was the dominant story thread through the entire series run of the re-imagined “Battlestar Galactica.”

The rise of religious allegory is no coincidence, according to religious scholar George Aichele.

“We live in a time and culture where belief in traditional gods is increasingly difficult,” says Aichele, Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Adrian College. “Extraterrestrial aliens represent an ‘other’ that once was the gods. [Science fiction] taps into the old religious urges with ‘answers’ that fit better into our world.”

“We all want to know who we are, why we’re here, where we’re going; in a good science fiction story, we see these issues worked out,” Garrett says. “What makes “Avatar” or “The Matrix” or “Battlestar Galactica” resonate are those dramatic depictions of answers to hard questions.

Often, the answer lies with the hero of the tale, the Christ-like savior who will lead his people to the Promised Land. He could be a Jedi Knight, a virtual computer hacker, a future freedom fighter, or a super-powered alien from a doomed planet. What he is doesn’t matter. It’s what he does that counts.

Classic science fiction filmmaking has often relied on the Messianic figure, going all the way back to Klaatu in 1951’s “The Day the Earth Stood Still.” Subtlety usually doesn’t come into play with these archetypal roles.

If the fact that Superman was considered a Godlike figure hadn’t sunk in yet, Bryan Singer made sure to get his point across in the last act of “Superman Returns.” It’s why Neo is referred to as ‘The One’ in “The Matrix.” It’s why we’re reminded all the time in the ‘Terminator’ films that John Connor is prophesized as the leader of the resistance (and why Cameron also gave him the same initials as – well, you know.).

More often than not, when Hollywood wants to turn the spotlight on the Bible, it likes to jump right to the end — The End of Days.

“Legion,” which opens Friday, stars Paul Bettany as the archangel Michael, who’s come to Earth to save humanity from an Armageddon ordered by God (it’s complicated). He teams up with a group of humans holed up at a remote diner to fight off the hordes of armed Angels who have come to send mankind to join the dinosaurs in extinction.

It will compete for audience share with “The Book of Eli,” which debuted to an impressive $32 million last weekend. Denzel Washington is the archetypal savior who roams the post-apocalyptic American wasteland, 30 years after a devastating war, carrying perhaps the last Bible on Earth.

“Our fondness for apocalyptic stories is often going to come with a savior figure, since we want the End of the World to be mediated in some way,” according to Garrett. “Apocalyptic literature is about hope, strangely enough, and the Messianic figure in these stories gives us hope that humankind may survive, or at least that our heroes may.”

The post-apocalypse movie category has had more than a half-dozen entries the past year. They include the popcorn spectacle “2012,” the bleak drama “The Road,” the Vampire thriller “Daybreakers” and even a comedy, “Zombieland.”

According to Christopher Link, Professor of English at SUNY New Paltz, Doomsday films serve the purpose of driving home the fragile nature of life, and the importance of not taking it for granted.

“Apocalyptic texts and narratives often have less to do with the future than with the recent past,” says Link, who holds a Doctorate in Religious Studies. “We learn a little about recent history, and about the hopes and fears it has tended to generate.”

In other words, life is short.

Considering all the terrible news happening in the real world, why do audiences continue to want to pay to be exposed to even worse events unfolding on a giant movie screen?

“The world is a very scary, confusing place these days,” says Aichele. “Apocalyptic [cinema] always does well under those conditions.”

It would seem misery truly does love company.

Your Week at St. Nick, 24 - 30 January 2010

Sunday, 24 January

8:30am Holy Eucharist

9:30am Breakfast/Fellowship

9:45am Adult/Youth/Children’s Education

11:00am Holy Eucharist

Usher/Greeter

8:30am Joe and Kathie Torres

11:00am Kenny and Lynn Hall

Reader

8:30am L. Dixon

11:00am P. Martin/Avery

LEM

8:30am Blackmon

11:00am Horne

Altar Guild

Cheatham/Eidson

Flower Guild

Gina Durham

Sunday School Teacher

Michelle Moody

Cider

Diane Hinnant

Acolytes

Table:   Ivy

Crucifer:  Cody

Gospel:  Cody

Offertory:   Austin

Torch:   Austin/Ivy

Tuesday, 26 January

6:30pm

Week 4 of 6

St. Nicholas Academy:  Listening to Scripture

Wednesday, 27 January

6:30 - 7:45pm Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, 28 January

6:30pm Vestry Meeting

Youth Cheer on the Cottonmouths

This past Sunday night, the youth of St. Nicholas headed down to Columbus for the Cottonmouths game against the Fayetteville (NC) Fireantz. We had a great time, with 6 adults and 17 kids! While our hometown hockey team ended up losing the game 6-3, we all still had a great time and even got to witness a rare brawl between the 2 goalies! We don’t condone the violence, but it sure made the game interesting! Thanks to Chris and Jackie Lintner for bringing coupons which got us in for FREE, Michelle Moody, April Avery, Matt Hinnant, and Jessica McComb for chaperoning and Heather Roper for suggesting the idea to go!

Our next youth event is our Winter Retreat at Camp Mikell in Toccoa (northeast Georgia) January 29-31. If you haven’t already signed up, you need to do so soon!

Look What We Can Do!

This past Sunday, I preached on 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 and John 2:1-11. My focus was that all our gifts are varied, but the same Spirit urges us to use them. Even Jesus needed to be nudged by his mama to do that trick with the wine. And something miraculous ended up happening. (You can listen to the full sermon by clicking on the podcast box to the right.——->)

In the sermon, I asked for everyone to write down their gifts, both the silly and the serious, the spiritual and the vocational. We need to know what all we can do so that we can rely on one another. We gathered the gifts and brought them forward during the Offertory. Read more

Building Our Future

Where are we going? I get asked this question quite often. When are we going to build a new building? When are going to start this or that new program? All of these questions are on the minds of folks at St. Nicholas, and rightly so. We are in growth mode, which is an exciting place to be. We just moved to two services in August because our worship space was getting limited with only one. We just hired a fantastic music director who is building a solid music program. We are doing more education programs for all ages. There is a LOT going on at St. Nicholas. Read more

Habitat For Humanity Board Replacement

For the past year, I have been on the board of Harris County’s Habitat for Humanity board. HFH is a non-profit organization that builds new homes for low-income families. This past year, the board has been interviewing potential candidates for their next project and finally found one that qualified. The next few months should be very productive for the board as they prepare for this new project.

The board meets monthly on the third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. at Hamilton United Methodist Church. Since we have started our St. Nicholas Academy, I am no longer able to attend the meetings, and would like a replacement from St. Nicholas. If anyone is interested, please e-mail me at fatherjeff@stnicholashamilton.org.

Next Page »