We are a community of faith that welcomes and values all people.

We commit to follow Christ, serve others, grow in faith and

transform the world by sharing God’s love.

Dear People of St. Barnabas,

This past Saturday, a small but hearty group of Sacred Ground folks gathered to share what they learned while participating in the Summer Challenge Program: Growing a Beloved Community. We hope that those who participated in the challenge but who could not make it on Saturday encountered some new information or experience that will help continue the process of growing in awareness and compassion about very important issues of our time and history. Many thanks to Linda Maier, Jeanne Powell, and Phil Fergusson for putting this year’s challenge together. There may be another challenge next summer! If there is a critical mass of interest in offering a new Sacred Ground multi-month learning experience, please let us know. The curriculum has recently been revised and updated. For more information, see Phil Fergusson's message below.

This is a time sensitive announcement: The Bainbridge Island – North Kitsap Interfaith Council is sponsoring a CROP HUNGER WALK this coming Sunday, September 20 at 2 p.m. at Eagle Harbor UCC in Winslow. For more information, and to donate, click here. More info below.

If you were unable to attend last Sunday’s fabulous stewardship presentation, you can find the slides here. This year’s theme is Our Faith, Our Future: Grow the Mission. Pledge Appeal kick-off Sunday will be October 11.

Finally, I hope to see you at our all-parish brunch and Ministry Fair this coming Sunday at 9 a.m. in Tierney Parish Hall. Behind the scenes, much activity is afoot! 

Blessings on your week,

Dianne+

Rev. Dianne Andrews

Interim

Hello From Your Call Committee!

We are pleased to report our progress in St. Barnabas's search for a new rector. The Diocese forwarded an excellent selection of candidates for our review and we are in the process of scheduling interviews. This group of individuals is promising, and momentum is building towards securing a permanent rector for our parish. Very exciting!

Please direct related inquiries to Shannon Dorsey, our Call Committee Communications Coordinator, callcommittee@stbbi.org. Remember, many aspects of this process are confidential but we will strive to share as much information as possible.

We appreciate your ongoing prayers for our work and discernment. Thank you all for your service and dedication to the St. Barnabas community.

—St. Barnabas Call Committee
Call Committee Chair: Cathy Davies

Communications Coordinator: Shannon Dorsey

Candidate Communications Coordinator: Brian Andvik

Secretary: Borgan Anderson

Chaplain: Michael Fitzpatrick

Hospitality Coordinators: Mo Godman and Jody Cressman

Homecoming Sunday!

Join us this Sunday, September 20 for Homecoming Sunday! We'll have our annual ministry fair and all-parish breakfast from 9-10:15 a.m. in Tierney Parish Hall. Come, have some breakfast, and learn all about what is happening and how YOU can get involved here at St. B!

Next Sunday, September 27, 9:30 a.m.

Do You Remember the Diaper Drive?

Your Outreach Committee would like to invite you to a very special presentation during The Bridge on September 27. You generously filled a truck with diapers for the Refugee Resettlement Center a little over a year ago. A lot has changed in that time frame.

Jennifer Brown from the Diocesan Refugee Resettlement Office is coming to The Bridge to tell us what they are doing now to help refugees in our area and how we can help. Although no new refugees are coming into our area at the present time, there are still many refugees in our area who need assistance. The office is providing many services such as help getting birth certificates, driver's licenses, jobs, English classes, and housing to clients who are in need. In addition, the program itself needs money for operating expenses.

Please join us in Tierney Parish Hall at 9:30 a.m. Come to listen and bring your questions both about the program and how we at St. Barnabas can help. Are you being called to this ministry? Is St. Barnabas being called to this ministry?

The Stewardship and Finance Committees along with Rev. Dianne have compiled these slides to walk you through the pledge process during our annual appeal beginning October 11. Our goal is to continue to enlighten and educate about the importance of pledging to support God's mission at St. Barnabas.

St. Hildegard of Bingen

Join Schola Nova at St. Barnabas for Vespers this Sunday, September 20 at 6 p.m. in the Sanctuary. This month, we commemorate St. Hildegard of Bingen. All are welcome at this contemplative, sung service.

Interested in joining the Schola Nova treble choir? Contact Music Director and Organist, Sheila Bristow, sheila@stbbi.org.

Godly Play Is Back!

Last Sunday marked our first session of Godly Play for this school year, and we had a great time. Mrs. Etienna and our Godly Play volunteers are looking forward to the rest of the year!

Parents: a full schedule of the program year can be found here. Printed copies (great refrigerator display!) are available for pick up outside of the Godly Play room. Another helpful tool provided at orientation to help us all get the Godly Play year off to a good start is the Ten Best Ways for Parents. These are also available outside of the Godly Play room.

See you Sunday!

Godly Play is for children in grades PreK-4 through six.

Help Wanted!

Cheerful, reliable person needed to join the Welcome Table team! Be the parish ambassador at coffee hour after the 10:30 a.m. service. Serve once every 9 weeks or so, helping visitors, newcomers, and even members find out more about all we do at St. Barnabas . Contact Katheen Jennings,

jennings@bainbridge.net to find out more.

Crop Walk & Everybody Eats Week

Food insecurity is present in many places worldwide and also in Kitsap County. The Bainbridge Island/North Kitsap Interfaith Council is responding this autumn with Everybody Eats Week. A series of fundraising and food collection events will help hungry people locally and globally during the week of September 20-27. More information and updates are available here.

Donations may be made at crophungerwalk.org and can be accepted through the end of the month. Please register under the BI/NK Interfaith Council name. A generous donor has agreed to match all funds donated under the BI/NK IFC.

On Sunday, 20 September at 2 p.m. a one mile fundraiser/solidarity walk begins and ends at Eagle Harbor United Church of Christ at 105 Winslow Way W. 

Non-perishable food items can also be donated on behalf of this appeal for Helpline House Food Bank at two locations on the island:

Wednesday, 23 September from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Town and Country

Saturday, 26 September from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Safeway.

The Gallery at St. Barnabas

Created in the image of The Creator, what else can human beings do but create? To make sense of the world around us—the delight and the dread, the gifts and the grief, the faith and the fear—we talk, write, photograph, commune, sing, cook, dance, paint, pray…

We do what we were made to do. We create.



In partnership with Bainbridge Island Art, St. Barnabas aims to provide the space to explore the human experience and our connection with the divine, one another, and creation through the work of local artists. The first featured artist will be Melody Maleitzke, whose work will be shown in the parlor throughout October. Learn more about Melody and her art here!

Are you an artist interested in being featured at the St. Barnabas Gallery? We’d love to hear from you! Contact the church office, 206.842.5601, info@stbbi.org.

BIJAEM Visitor Center Dedication & Open House

The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Visitor center is opening soon! All are invited on Sunday, October 11 for the dedication of the new visitor center followed by a public open house. St. Barnabas and its members have supported this endeavor in many ways over the years, and we are overjoyed to see this tireless effort come to fruition.

This new Visitor Center represents more than 20 years of work to preserve this history, honor the families who experienced it, and ensure its lessons continue to reach future generations.

Dedication Ceremony: 12:30 p.m.

Public Open House: 2–4 p.m.

Parking will be available at American Legion Hall with free shuttle service. The Pritchard Park lots are reserved for Survivors and attendees requiring special accommodations.

Centering Prayer

Tuesdays at 9 a.m.

Centering Prayer: body prayer, chanting, twenty minutes of silence, followed by contemplation of reflections from Meister Eckhart.

Contemplative Wisdom Gatherings Resume

Our world is full of busy-ness as we are inundated each day with more stimuli than we can process with any kind of understanding and meaning, leaving us all depleted and unable to be present to the abiding love of God.

The prayer of the contemplative is, essentially, an attention to the omnipresence of the God who is Love. God/Love is omnipresent not as a theological doctrine, but as the great silence that is present in every moment—but from which we are usually distracted by an overactive mind that refuses to wait in a humble unknowing for a pure wisdom from above.

You are invited to discover this Contemplation which yields to Wisdom as we gather to read, mark and inwardly digest, Silence by Robert Sardello.

This fall, our gatherings continue monthly on Saturday mornings, beginning on October 10, 9:30 a.m. to noon in Tierney Parish Hall. All gatherings include intentional body practice, chant, silence for meditation, small group and whole group discussion.

For dates and planned readings for each gathering, please register with The Rev. Patricia Robertson, revprome@hotmail.com. Inquiries and questions are welcome.

Please join us, even if you have never done so before. You can jump in where we are in the book and savor the earlier study at your own pace. Discover the gift of wisdom and love that emerges in silence, and expand loving Presence in the world.

How Did It Go & What Could Be Next?

The Summer Challenge: Growing a Beloved Community wrap-up meeting on September 12 had a lively and insightful discussion on what was learned or experienced by participating in the program to gain insight on social justice issues affecting marginalized people. The participation in the program included: reading key books, attending ethnic centered museum exhibits or cultural events and volunteering with advocacy groups.

Two key takeaways from the experience were:

• When seeking to better understand social injustice we need to be aware that our own cultural upbringing and life experiences may unknowingly create bias and prejudice that may be based on myths and not fact. Acknowledging the potential for these blinders when seeking to better understand social injustice will allow us to better appreciate the reasons it continues to persist.
• We need a joyful curiosity coupled with intentionality – even when faced with difficult facts to comprehend – to grow in our understanding of social injustice and seek ways to overcome its impact on society.

There was unanimous agreement that some form of this program should be continued. Several ideas were advanced that could take the form of short programs during each church season – Advent, Easter, etc. – or an annual Summer Challenge program. Additionally, the group expressed interest in including other Bainbridge Island faith groups and making some future events intergenerational, such as a cross-island walk with youth & elders to help commemorate the new Japanese Exclusion Memorial building in October.

If you have suggestions for future programs like this or an interest to be part of a planning team, please contact: Phil Fergusson, philfergusson@hotmail.com, 360-286-9126.

The St. Barnabas Book Club continues to offer opportunities to explore other places and times while diving deep into what it all means in the context of our journeys of faith. Join us in OCTOBER (we are skipping September) on Tuesday, October 20 at 1:30 p.m. in Tierney Parish Hall when we discuss Safe Passage - The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians by Sea During World War II by Evelyn Iritani.

Described as 'an amazing story....pulsing with life, unknown historical details and characters who leap from the page'. Reading this book together will be a fitting tribute to our Bainbridge Island history and the Fall opening of the new visitor center at the Japanese Exclusion Memorial. Join us!!

Vestry Meeting Highlights

August 16, 2026

Vestry met August 16 under the leadership of Senior Warden Elaine Percival. Items of note which we discussed included:

The Barnabas Library committee reported they have completed automation of the church library, consisting of nearly 2,000 books and audiovisual materials. The library catalogue is now completely online at www.librarycat.or/lib/gowenlibrary. Members can check out, place holds and return books online. There is also a paper ledger for those who cannot use an online system.

Barnabas Kitchen Manager Tim Shelly reported on changes coming to his operation. He currently prepares about 2,500 meals per month to be distributed through community organizations to people in need. He is creating a non-profit which will be able to obtain grants, and increase the number of meals prepared.

The fall stewardship campaign is in the works. Kathy Anderson, the campaign head, reported it will begin in October. Watch for news in upcoming church news bulletins.

Respectfully submitted,

David Powell, Vestry member

The St. Barnabas Prayer Chain consists of a group of pray-ers who believe in the power of prayer and who devotedly pray for others. If you would like to add someone to the prayer list, or if you would like to join those who receive information about those for whom we pray, email Prayer Chain Coordinator, Drucy Burnet Hodge, drucy15@msn.com. Parishioners remain on the prayer list for one month, non-parishioners for two weeks. The long-term prayer list is periodically reviewed and revised. 

*St. Barnabas Members

Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus is a tuneful and much-beloved operetta. St. Barnabas' own Rae Hyra & Peter Schindler are involved in this new production, which emulates the comedic tradition of Monty Python!

Get tickets here!

Office Hours: Monday–Thursday | 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Outside of office hours, contact the office at info@stbbi.org or 206/842-5601.

For pastoral care emergencies please contact Reverend Dianne Andrews, Interim, 206/817-6530, revdianne@stbbi.org.