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The Good News
April, 2025
The Season of Lent Continues
Holy Week & Easter are on the Horizon!
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The Monthly Newsletter of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
| | + To know Christ better and make Him better known + | | |
IMPORTANT DATES AT-A-GLANCE
Every Wednesday, 12:10pm Liturgy of the Word & Holy Communion
First Saturday of Every Month, 10am Acolyte Training
2nd & 4th Saturdays, 10am Food Pantry Bag Prep
2nd & 4th Sundays, 12pm Food Pantry Service Day
2nd Sunday Each Month, 4pm A Service of Evensong
4th Sunday Each Month, 8pm A Service of Compline
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CHILDREN'S EASTER EGG FAIR
& FESTIVE EASTER BRUNCH
after the 10am service
Easter Sunday, April 20
Parish Hall
Dear Family in Christ:
Your children & grandchildren are invited to an Easter Egg Fair and you're all invited to the Annual Easter Brunch!
Join us in celebrating the joy of Easter with a special feast following our Easter Service on Sunday, April 20, at 11:45 AM! Vestry will provide the ham, & champagne. The Children & Youth Ministry are providing the Easter Basket goodies.
The Parish will provide the side dishes and deserts to complete our feast! Bring your dish to the Narthex and give to an Usher.
Click on the button below to let us know what you are bringing!
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Rector's Message
The Rev. Dr. Mauricio Wilson
This year April offers us an opportunity to live into the dichotomy of Lent and Easter.
During the season of Lent we are called by the Church to seek a closer relationship with God. The closeness begins to happen when we work at taking away the things that come between us and God. In the church we use one word as a summary of those things- Sin.
Sin encompasses all the things we do, and some we don’t do, in accordance with the mind and heart of God, in whose likeness we are made. Removing the divide between us and God therefore means the removal of sin, and sin can only be removed if the sinner repents in a truthful and earnest way. This is not an easy task by any stretch and maybe we ought to declare ourselves to be living in a permanent Lent.
The wonderful thing about Lent, it is followed by Easter. Just as in Lent we take seriously the reality of the passion and death of Jesus, in the same way, we are very serious about his resurrection. The same way in which we take the time to recognize that we have strayed from God’s ways through sin, we also marvel in the forgiveness and new life that comes through God’s grace in the resurrected life of Jesus.
This is the dichotomy of our living with God: the invitation to recognize our sin, along with the invitation to accept the gift of renewal brought to us in Jesus. I would like to suggest that we can hold these things together if we are willing to accept God’s renewing grace as we take responsibility for our falling short of our goal of Christlikeness.
May God’s love give you the grace needed to accept your sin and live in forgiveness.
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Message from the Senior Warden
This Lenten season has been a long and reflective journey for me, marked by extensive work travel that has provided extra time alone for deep discernment and an opportunity to witness the vast beauty of God’s creation. At times, I was blessed with a little company!
On our way home from a conference in Las Vegas, Scott and I, along with our faithful companion Luckee the dog, took a drive through Death Valley in February. We were struck by the sheer magnitude and ancientness of the landscape, but even more so by the life we saw thriving in the midst of such harsh conditions.
This experience brought to mind Isaiah 43:16-21, where God proclaims, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" These words resonated deeply within me as I witnessed the desert brimming with life—plants and animals flourishing even in the most unexpected places. It was a powerful reminder that God is always at work, bringing forth life where there is barrenness and making a way in the wilderness.
This assurance strengthens my faith, reminding me that my struggles and seasons of waiting are not in vain. It renews my capacity to endure, to press forward, and to hold onto hope.
Lent calls us to trust in this renewal—to release past burdens and fully embrace the new life God continually offers us.
As we approach Holy Week and Easter, I am encouraged to open my heart to God’s transformative work, to trust in the promise of restoration, and to respond with love to Christ’s unwavering love for me.
May this Lenten season be a time of letting go, embracing grace, and drawing nearer to the One who makes all things new.
Amen, amen!
God’s Lenten Peace,
Pam
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Weekly Prayer Call via Zoom
TUESDAYS 11am PST
We'll Walk Hand In Hand
We Are Not Afraid
God Is On Our Side
A group of us are getting together via Zoom once a week to share prayers, information, and hope.
We meet via Zoom every Tuesday at 11am Pacific Time, and everyone is welcome. If you have favorite prayers, please bring them to share.
To get the Zoom link, please email Paula Hawthorn paula.hawthorn@gmail.com
We are stronger together. Please join us when you can!
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Praying the Daily Office - Morning Prayer with Rachel & Theo Dykzeul
Join our Deacon Rachel & her husband Theo as they invite us into their Morning Prayer Practice each day on the St. Paul's Facebook Group, which you can find HERE.
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7:00pm Program via Zoom on Wednesdays during Lent Co
HOW WE LEARN TO BE BRAVE
The Rev. Linda McConnell will convene our Lenten study and guide our conversation through zoom on Wednesdays.
Courage, like love, is more choice than feeling. We blaze the trail of God’s call by putting one foot in front of the other, falling down, getting up, changing direction, and starting again. How We Learn to Be Brave, by Bishop Marianne Budde of the Diocese of Washington will inspire, encourage and guide us in this process.
APRIL 9 • The Hidden Virtue of Perseverance
This will be a Zoom only event.
Sign up HERE
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SUNDAY Lenten CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE @ 2pm
A Different Kind of Fast: feeding our hungers in lent
By Christine Valters Paintner
Fasting is not just the physical practice of giving up food. Fasting can also be a way to combat our culture of endless distractions and busyness. Fasting is an act of letting go, of making more internal space to listen to the sacred whispers of our lives. Join us on this spiritual journey through seven different kinds of fasts, including fasting from control, from our attachments, from our grasping, and more. When we practice these fasts, we can discover unexpected spiritual gifts, as well as answers to deeper questions, leading us to ask: "What is my true hunger?"
Sundays at 2pm on ZOOM.
- April 6: An Invitation to Fast from Planning and Deadlines and Embrace Unfolding and Ripening
- April 13: An Invitation to Fast from Certainty and Embrace Waiting
The book is available online, on Kindle, in audio formats or in hard copy with Fr. Wilson.
Sign Up HERE
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EASTER FEAST SIGN UP FORM
Dear Family in Christ:
You’re Invited to the Annual Easter Feast!
Join us in celebrating the joy of Easter with a special feast following our Easter Service on Sunday, April 20, at 11:45 AM! Vestry will provide the ham and champagne. The Parish will provide the side dishes and deserts.
We would love for you to bring a dish to share and lend a helping hand in making this gathering a wonderful experience for all. Whether it's setting up, serving, or cleaning up, every helping hand makes a difference!
We have three short shifts of an hour each. Please sign up for one if you are able. Many hands make light work for all of us.
Please let us know what dish you’d like to bring and what shift you are available to volunteer. Together, we’ll make this a joyful and welcoming celebration for all!
Looking forward to celebrating with you!
Pamela Kruse-Buckingham
Senior Warden
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Safe Church, Safe Communities Training Saturday, April 5
St. Paul’s will host the above training on Saturday morning, April 5, from 9:30-12:30. This training offers the theological background and structural framework for diocesan policies regarding healthy boundaries, inclusion, abuse and neglect, power and relationships, pastoral relationships and bullying. This training must be renewed every three years and some or all elements are required for individuals serving in the following roles:
- All Clergy (Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Retired Clergy, Postulants)
- All lay and ordained individuals who work with children and youth
- Congregational staff
- Elected lay leaders (vestry, wardens, treasurer, convention delegates)
- Pastoral Care Providers
- Key Holders (altar guild, building hosts, renters, sextons, vergers)
You can learn more about this training and what the specific requirements for your role are here. Please let Fr. Wilson know if you plan to attend.
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Pastoral Care Team
Illness, surgery or life limiting challenges may present barriers to our physical
participation in worship. At these times, maintaining connection to the faith community
is more important than ever.
There are many ways that we can and have supported each other during challenging
times: a meal provided, a ride to a medical appointment, a visit or phone call, or
intercessory prayer can help those who are unable to attend worship stay connected
and cared for. St. Paul’s is moving closer to formalizing an expanded lay led pastoral
care team.
We have taken the first steps to schedule training for potential Eucharistic
Ministers and Visitors who will be able to bring the sacrament to parishioners at home or in the hospital.
This training helps us become more familiar with the prayer book, writing intercessory prayers, and training us to administer the sacraments as representatives of the church, as well as a broader understanding of pastoral issues presented by life limiting illness. The training will consist of both in person and zoom sessions, beginning March 11.
If you are interested in learning more please contact Sharon Pilmer at
pilms@hotmail.com.
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Pacific Edge Voices
MUSIC OF THE ELEMENTS:
The Bonds We Share
ONE NIGHT ONLY!
7:30 pm Friday, April 4, 2025 TICKETS HERE
PEV’s spring concert, Music of the Elements: The Bonds We Share, is led by guest conductor Jeff Howe.
This uplifting program celebrates the power of music to activate our senses and our world at the most fundamental level - air, water, fire and earth. We’ll explore new and beloved music by California composers and luminaries like Sanford Dole, Randall Thompson, Stephen Paulus and more.
An accomplished Bay Area conductor and tenor, Jeff was PEV’s assistant music director from 2021-23 and was a featured soloist with the group. He is currently director of music ministry at San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church.
For more information, visit pacificedgevoices.org
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Pacific Boychoir Academy
Zach Salsburg-Frank, Music Director
Spring Serenade –
A Concert for Sustainability and Renewal
4:00pm Sunday, April 27, 2025 TICKETS HERE
Featuring strings from Young People’s Symphony Orchestra (YPSO) and internationally acclaimed organist, Benjamin Bachmann.
Join the GRAMMY-winning Pacific Boychoir for an inspiring spring concert celebrating the beauty of our planet and the urgency of environmental stewardship. For the Beauty of the Earth brings together powerful choral works that honor nature, reflect on our relationship with the environment, and call for sustainability.
Featuring selections from Haydn’s The Creation, Bernstein’s Make Our Garden Grow, Shaw/Walker’s Deep River, and more, this program weaves together themes of wonder, reverence, and responsibility. In partnership with Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, Lake Merritt Institute, and Keep Oakland Beautiful, this concert is part of a larger commitment to environmental action during Earth Week.
Through music, we reflect on our place in the natural world and the responsibility we share in preserving it.
More information at pacificboychoir.org.
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SPANISH LANGUAGE & CULTURAL IMMERSION PILGRIMAGE TO ANTIGUA
The Very Rev. Julia McCray-Goldsmith and John McCray-Goldsmith are hosting a Spanish Language and Cultural Immersion Pilgrimage in Antigua, Guatemala, from February 2-14, 2026. Open to Episcopal clergy, lay leaders, and others, this all-inclusive trip offers one-on-one Spanish instruction, home-stays with local families, and a weekend excursion to Lake Atitlán to engage with indigenous communities. Language instruction is provided by CSA, a well-established Guatemalan academy, and additional lessons can be arranged. Participants will explore the region’s rich history, culture, and natural beauty while deepening their language skills.
For more information or to register, contact the Very Rev. Julia McCray-Goldsmith or visit portal.myfaithjourneys.com (Group Number 26007). The trip is organized by Faith Journeys (877-732-4845, info@myfaithjourneys.com).
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Ways to Give to St. Paul's Oakland
Cash in an envelope in the plate, with your name on it so we know who it came
from. Do not send cash in the mail.
Paper check, in the plate or mailed to the office.
By credit or debit card. Visit our website, www.stpaulsoakland.org, click the red
“GIVE” button, select “give to annual pledge”, select the frequency, the amount,
and “give by Credit/Debit Card”. Credit card companies typically charge a fee
which you may elect to pay so that the church sees the full value of your gift.
Direct transfer from your bank, otherwise known as an ACH (automated clearing
house) transfer. You may set this up directly with your bank, as a recurring
payment, OR you may set it up on our website following the same instructions as
for a credit card payment, but select “ACH bank transfer” instead. ACH fees tend
to be less than credit card fees.
Gifts of stock, mutual funds etc. Contact Sharon Pilmer, chair of the stewardship
committee for instructions.
Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution. If you are over the age of 70 ½ years
and have an IRA, you may make a tax-free gift directly to St. Paul’s. Contact
Sharon for instructions.
Questions? Reach out to our bookkeeper Joan at finance@stpaulsoakland.org or
Sharon Pilmer at pilms@hotmail.com.
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CLERGY
The Rt. Rev. Austin Rios, Bishop of California
The Rev. Dr. Mauricio J. Wilson, Rector
The Ven. Canon Carolyn Bolton, Archdeacon
The Rev. Christian Harding
Assisting Priest
The Rev. Linda McConnell
Assisting Priest
The Very Rev. Julia McCray Goldsmith
Assisting Priest
The Rev. Rachel Dykzeul, Deacon
STAFF
Benjamin Bachmann, MMusic, FAGO, Music Director
Philip Saunders, MMusic, Assistant Music Director
Jackie Kamakate, Parish Administrator
Joan Clerk, Bookkeeper
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VESTRY
Class of 2025
Pamela Kruse-Buckingham - Sr. Warden
Richard Larson - Jr. Warden
Daniel (Digger) Lauter - Treasurer
Class of 2026
David Anderson - Clerk
Paula Hawthorn
Doug Jensen
Class of 2027
Virginia McManus - Secretary
George Strait
Annette Blue
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Pamela Kruse-Buckingham & Victoria Larson
Co-Editors
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