Dear siblings in Christ,

I hope this finds you and yours well this week!

We’re in it, and we’re in it for a while now, folks. Ordinary time has crept up on us and will remain with us until Advent in late November. “The green time” is ordinary in the sense that we don’t track the life of Jesus the same was as we do from Advent through Pentecost. This is the time of the church and the saints, now. Ordinary time is about our witness, our reaction to God’s love shown in Jesus’ life. Ordinary time is about something growing in us from the nurturing of Jesus and our own intentional work within ourselves, our community, and our world. It’s about growth, personally and in community, but not about numbers. It’s the kind of growth that cracks us open, makes us look more deeply at how we do our discipleship less than the “what,” I think. Jesus is the “what” and the “why” (God’s incarnation come to show us the way of love and to be that body in the world), now we contemplate the “who,” “when,” “where,” and “how.”

I don’t use Twitter very often, and when I do it’s usually to follow my favorite sport’s team, the Green Bay Packers, or my favorite sport, basketball. However, I have started to follow more faith related accounts of late too, though I’ve always followed the Presiding Bishop as you’ll see from my retweets. One tweet from a somewhat random pastor I follow stated this:

           “If the community’s mission is always ‘out there’

           ‘go tell your coworker’

           ‘go love your neighbors’

           ‘go serve your city’

           Then it’s never urgent to ask or address what’s wrong ‘in here’

...........Or imagine that in-house renovation, repentance, & repair would be first orders of ...........mission”

This tweet convicted me. I often focus on the outside, because it’s easy, I can see what’s around me. It’s harder to look internally, and discern what changes need be made. Now, multiply the complexities of that by a community, and you can imagine just how thorny it can get. But this is the small seed of repentance, hope, change, that mustard seed we’ll here about his Sunday. What is the “kingdom of God” in this context? What is Jesus actually talking about when he compares this “kingdom of God” to the mustard seed? Following the service, for our Zoom formation hour, we’ll investigate it more deeply through the arc of the lectionary readings for ordinary time at a sort of thirty thousand foot view, and then dive into a dialogue about kingship or kingdom as we know it compared and contrasted to the parables of Jesus. I so look forward to the conversation.

Blessings on our growth as individuals and as a community of disciples,

Bishop Susan will be making her annual visitation to Holy Cross on Sunday November 14^th. She will be presiding and preaching that Sunday, meeting with our BC, and other activities that we have yet to be plan with her. Stay tuned for more information and be sure to save the date!

Please continue to hold the family of Fr. Ted Atwood, his sister Anne Petrey, daughters Catherin Atwood Voels, Margaret Atwood Gerard, and grandchildren, in prayer. Fr Ted ended his earthly journey on Sunday, May 23rd, he was a much beloved vicar of Holy Cross, having served from November 19th, 2006 until June 30th, 2010. You may read more about Fr. Ted here.

Fr. Ted's funeral will be held on Monday, June 21, 2021 at 10 am at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in San Diego. More details will be shared as they become available.

May the soul of Fr. Ted and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

If you are joining us in person we use a screen to project the service bulletin (this is new and will take some getting used to for some). If you prefer your own worship booklet please download the booklet using the button below on your phone or tablet, or print a copy at home, and bring it with you. We are doing this for health precautions and to be better stewards of God's creation (reduce paper waste) - thanks for your understanding.

Miss last Sunday's service? Watch it below.

Video on Demand (VOD): All past service video's are available on our YouTube channel here.

Rev. Richard will speak briefly about the arc of the lectionary for much of the summer and fall, focusing on the Hebrew Scripture reading and the Gospels. Bob will then begin a dialogue for us on the differences and similarities between kingship and the kingdoms of Israel with the parables of Jesus. We so look forward to this conversation!

All Saints Cemetery Clean-up

This is a great way to be outdoors helping to do basic yard work and some beautification projects at historic All Saints Cemetery (Episcopal) in Oceanside. Katie Ho coordinates this ministry. The next gardening dates are: 9:30-11am, Tuesday 6/15 and 7/20. Contact Katie via call or text at 619.990.2298 or via email at [email protected] for more information or to let her know you're joining in.

NEW MAILING ADDRESS: 2647 Gateway Rd Suite 105 #290, Carlsbad, Ca. 92009

Pledges are welcome at any time and you may do so by clicking the button below and completing the online pledge form or click here for a PDF to email to Mike at [email protected] or mail to the church office at 2647 Gateway Rd Suite 105 #290, Carlsbad, Ca. 92009. If you haven't already pledged this year please prayerfully consider supporting this blessed community of faith with a pledge.

Bishop's Committee ("BC") meetings are the third Thursday of the month from 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm. The next regularly scheduled BC meeting is Thursday, June 17th via Zoom. If there is something for which you wish to bring to the BC's attention, you may reach out to our Wardens, Karen Sanchez and Katie Ho, or any BC member. Their contact information is in the church roster or you may reach them at the church office: [email protected].

Whenever you have a concern or problem you would like to discuss confidentially, when a loved one is ill or has died, or whenever a visit with someone from Holy Cross may be of help to you, please contact Rev. Richard at 715.492.0297. Our clergy and members of our lay Pastoral Care team are commissioned to bring God’s grace and offer a time of listening, companionship, and prayer with those who are unable to attend worship or otherwise are in need of receiving such care. Short-term counseling, crisis intervention, and referral to other social service providers are also available.

If you would like to be added, or suggest someone to be added (please get their permission first) to Notes of Care please contact the church office at: [email protected] or 760.930.1270

Note: If you have lost a member of your family and would like us to include you and your family in "Notes of Care" please provide the name and relationship of your loved one, the date they entered into glory, and the address of where you would like notes of care sent.

The Altar Flowers are given to the Glory of God by the Congregation to the Glory of God and in celebration of Grant Ford's Birthday.

Register here.

On December 3 - 4, 2021, the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego will welcome Presiding Bishop Michael Curry to Southern California for a celebration of good news. With interactive outreach projects, workshops, live discussion panels, youth offerings, and an evening of celebration at the beautiful Town and Country Resort, this is the perfect time to get away and enjoy some good news.

Who's your "One?" Inviting friends, family, and neighbors to the Good News Festival is an important part of making this event a true celebration of good news. Join us in committing to invite your "One," one person you know who needs to hear the good news of Jesus. You can find materials to help invite "your one" to the Good News Festival on the website. The flyers are available for download, but printed materials will also be provided to churches for broad distribution.

Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Susan Brown Snook ***

Vicar: The Rev. Richard Hogue - [email protected] **

Assisting Priest: The Rev. Walter Edelman

** office hours: Sunday - Thursday 9 am - 5pm. Fridays and Saturdays are his Sabbath days. Rev. Richard will always be available for pastoral emergencies regardless of the day, but asks that you understand he will not be responding to general emails, text messages or phone calls on his Sabbath days as he is trying to get the rest that God requires of all of us.

Bookkeeper: Muriel Wahl

AV Tech Guru: Jack Cater

AV Tech Asst: Miles Fesler

Sr. Warden: Karen Sanchez - [email protected]

Jr. Warden: Katie Ho

Members at large: Mike Collier, Marci Stafford

Treasurer: Larry Sebastian

Clerk: Robyn Hill

Church office: 760.930.1270

Church email: [email protected]

Mailing address: 2647 Gateway Rd Suite 105 #290, Carlsbad, CA. 92009

*** To contact the Bishop's office or another member of the diocesan staff ("EDSD"):

EDSD phone: 619-291-5947

EDSD staff directory: https://edsd.org/staff/

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