From Father Don’s Den

Looking ahead

Amy Boeck Administrative Assistant (937) 653-3497 nmvec@ctcn.net

Sally Johnson Chronicle Editor

(937) 653-3801 sljohn@ctcn.net

November will be a busy month for all of us. First is Veter-

ans Day, Nov. 11, a day we remember all who have served our

country in the military. We respect those who have given their

lives, who have suffered severe injuries and disabilities. We also

honor those who have served and are still with us. Please thank

a veteran and say a prayer for all veterans, living and deceased.

Thanksgiving comes the last Thursday of the month. For many

this is a time for family gatherings and thanks for God’s many

gifts, especially the gift of living in this country. Again, say a

prayer to God for that gift.

This year all my family will celebrate together at our house in Marysville and I can hardly

wait! For Kay and me, that is the gift of moving here. You are gifts to me and I will also say a

prayer for each of you who are putting the icing on my cake of life!

Christmas preparations seem to begin sooner and sooner each year. But, for Christians, Advent

intercedes to give meaning and purpose to those preparations. I want to share with you an arti-

cle that I think you will find helpful in understanding the several dimensions of the Advent ex-

perience.

It is entitled, Awaiting the Messiah, and was written by Christian author Jeanne Kun. It is

lengthy and will be divided between the November and December issues, starting on page two.

Peace, Blessings and Love in Christ,

Father Don Duford Home phone 937-738-2216 Cell phone 248-227-9725

frduford@yahoo.com

November 2016

2

For most of us December is chaotic and filled

with busy preparations for Christmas. We run

breathlessly through crowded shopping malls trying

to find the perfect present to please every member

of the family. We bake dozens of Christmas cook-

ies and goodies. We dust off the boxes of decora-

tions stored away in the attic or basement and fes-

tively deck the house and string the lights on the

tree. We struggle to write last-minute cards and

holiday greetings to cherished friends. Each year it

only seems to get worse.

As the shopping days decrease and our frantic

pace increases, it is all too easy to lose sight of what

these special preparations are meant for and to for-

get who it is we are getting ready to greet. Excite-

ment fills the air and brightens our spirits as we

hum snatches of Christmas carols, but our worries

and the still-lengthy “To Do” list weigh heavily on

us as Christmas approaches.

During these hectic days the church offers us the

season of Advent as a reminder of whose coming it

is that we are preparing for. Advent is designed to

give us a spiritual orientation to the coming celebra-

tion and a time for reflection and interior prepara-

tion for it. Advent is a sort of spiritual “waiting

Awaiting the Messiah room”. The word advent comes from the Latin adven-

tus which means coming or arrival. Throughout the

Advent season we anticipate the coming or the arrival

of Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, our savior.

Our daily Scripture readings and meditations this

month will focus on God’s promise of salvation and

the fulfillment of this promise in Jesus Christ. In them

we will see a summary of salvation history.

Both the Advent season and the selection of scrip-

ture readings are characterized by an attentive attitude,

a posture of waiting. But, a time of waiting is not just

a period of mounting expectation, to be impatiently

endured until the longed-for person or event arrives. It

is an opportunity to set our sights on the promise, to

hold fast to it, to consider its significance, to explore

and fathom who and what it is that we are waiting for.

The centuries that God’s people spent watching and

waiting in the Old Testament, longing and hoping for

the day of redemption, are mirrored and even relived

in our own interior waiting in the season of Advent.

This waiting is not a passive whiling away of the days

and hours, but a time when our appetites are whet,

when our eagerness is honed to fine-edged anticipa-

tion, when we stand on tiptoe to catch the first glimpse

of his coming. (To be concluded in December)

Our beloved Bessie had just celebrated her 92nd birthday Sept. 27.

She passed away Saturday, Oct. 15, at home surrounded by her loving

family. A long-time member and chorister of Our Saviour, she faith-

fully attended services and participated in various ministries until hospi-

talized by a stroke in August. She is survived by her daughters, Sharon

Bostick and Sandra Huffman, her brother, Ira Smart and many loving

grandchildren, nieces and nephews. As a young girl, Bessie worked as

a linotype operator for the Mechanicsburg Telegram and stayed on until

retirement as a foreman from the Urbana Citizen. She was a 50-year

member of the Mechanicsburg Mother’s Memorial Circle, a talented

seamstress and loved dancing with the Concord Cloverleaf Squares.

Memorial services were held Oct. 29 at Our Saviour with Fr. Don offi-

ciating. Peaceful rest, Bessie; we are blessed by your Christian life and

continuing spirit among us.

Photo courtesy of the Urbana Daily Citizen

Remembering Bessie Fox

3

Community Christmas needs us

Cluster congregants have

been most generous with con-

tributions to the annual Cham-

paign County Community

Christmas program.

It has for 20 years been a

catalyst for assistance to

county residents who could use

some help with holiday expenses. Food and toys are

offered through gift cards in various amounts.

Checks should be made payable to Community

Christmas, P. O. Box 294, Urbana, 43078 and sent

by Nov. 14.

More details and applications are available at the

County Community Center, 1512 South Route 68.

Gift cards will be distributed December 2 and 3 from

that location.

A touch of Class A truck with a familiar name on the door parked across the street from your

editor’s Urbana home and two gentlemen got out and began laying sod for my

neighbor. Camera in hand, I investigated. The firm on the job was Class Land-

scaping, a professional lawn care and landscape design service owned by Logan

Class, grandson of Bill and Susie Westfall of Our Saviour. He wasn’t on the

premises, but I chatted with his congenial associates Cameron Doggett and Aaron

Ward. Logan was kind enough to stop by the next day. What a clear-eyed, sincere

and thoroughly charming young gentleman!

His business is fairly new, but has expanded

rapidly from its base at 15 Willow Street in

Mechanicsburg. A tour of the work he has

done for my neighbor explains why. He de-

signed a spacious, back-yard setting with

patio defined by a low, free form stone wall

incorporating a fire pit surrounded by a glori-

ous green lawn. Original and family friendly.

Family is important to Logan. He and his

wife, Paige, have two beautiful boys, Eli and

Lucas. Our brief conversation confirmed that every generation of the Westfall family is much blessed. And, if

you’ve been considering a classy property update, stop at the Willow Street headquarters or email

Logan.class@yahoo.com . He’s also available for leaf pick-up and snow removal! And, thanks, Logan, for a

heartwarming half hour---hope we meet again.

Logan inspects a new planting Logan and the backyard patio he designed

A recent issue of the Urbana

Daily Citizen published a photo of

Eastern Star members being recog-

nized for extraordinary service.

Among them was Marilyn Foulk

of Our Saviour, honored for her 40

years of dedicated service. Eastern Star is an interna-

tional fraternal arm of the Freemasons, established in

1850. It is based on Biblical truths, but is open to men

and women of all religious traditions who respect its

principles of charity, truth and loving kindness and

work together for good.

We add our good wishes to those of the local

chapter of Eastern Star and commend Marilyn who

exemplifies its highest aspirations.

Marilyn Foulk honored

For the next few months Epiphany will look like its prepar-

ing for a major storm. Gothic style stained glass sanctuary win-

dows are being removed for restoration and the openings tempo-

rarily boarded up

The memorial windows were installed in 1884. That makes

them 132 years old. They were created from a rare Belgian

glass, the formula for which was lost during World War I. So

it’s also important that the work be preserved as an example of

this old-world artistry.

Among the donor families memorialized on the windows are

Mosgrove, Happersett, Gwynne, Helps, McGuffey-Laughlin and

Jennings, some of Urbana’s earliest residents. One window was

a gift from the Sunday School and another from the Church of

Our Saviour in Cincinnati.

Franklin Art Glass Studios, Inc. will do the repair and clean-

ing and is currently removing the delicate, leaded panels to take

to the firm’s Columbus workrooms where conservators will

make repairs and remove years of soil.

The church will rely on artificial light in the sanctuary until

permanent, clear glass storm windows can be made and in-

stalled. No date is given for the return of the refurbished stained

glass, but Franklin confirms that it will take months.

Franklin associates Adrian Zambrano and Cole Moffatt are

removing the windows from the inside. The sections are placed

in protective coverings and secured on a truck. The window

openings are filled with plywood and sealed against weather.

If glass is missing or damaged beyond repair, new glass

of a very fine quality will replace it. An artist will paint it,

matching the color, shadings and detail of the original.

When glazed and fired, it will be an exact replica.

One of the two art glass windows in the parish hall will

be renewed as will the large, three-paneled pictorial window

behind the altar.

In addition to the window restoration, the brick side-

walks have been rebuilt. Artisan Jay Wilson, owner of J & J

Remodeling, hand laid pavers, a brick-like product but less

vulnerable, in the same pattern as the old walk. New black

iron handrails were added.

At the front entrance the original stone steps were re-

paired. New cement steps were poured for the west en-

trance, a dying tree was removed and the parking lot resealed.

Church windows being restored

4

Adrian traces a glass panel to make a

pattern for the plywood.

Adrian secures damaged spots with tape

before transporting.

5

Years of intermittent basement flooding were ended with the installation of a pit and sump pump. In the

parish hall, the hardwood floor was refinished by Joe McConnell of Flooring and Restoring LLC of West Lib-

erty and all windows were replaced.

The work is being guided by Junior Warden Ed Hardin, assisted by Senior Warden Diane Kremer and the

Vestry. It is being funded by the church with a grant for partial payment of the window restoration from the

Church Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio.

Top: Cole steadies the panel while Adrian cuts.

Center: Wood sections, cut to size, are wedged

snugly into each window opening. Right: Organ-

ist Sharon McCall and son, Chris, pose with the

new interior décor.

From behind bars Prisoner to Prisoner, a devotional booklet published by Kairos Prison Ministry of Ohio, is written by the in-

carcerated. One from B.J. for the day after Thanksgiving is spectacular in its grasp of “the peace of God

which passes all understanding.”

Some of the most powerful works of God we have seen every day, every minute,

every second that we’re alive. Have you ever taken a few moments to think

about what makes your heart beat without a battery or being plugged into an

outlet? Have you ever wondered how rest charges the body, or how your brain

is programmed like a computer? What do we do to make our eyes see, ears hear,

mouth taste, nose smell or hands feel? How do we make our blood circulate

through our bodies? We don’t! They are all powerful works of God that we

should sing praises and give God thanks for every day!

Let us give thanks for Chuck Miller, Mary Neal’s husband, who labors quietly and courageously for Kairos.

Congregational caucuses

6

Fr. Don met with each parish in October for an exchange of thoughts on the

first weeks of his tenure. Several voiced gratitude for Father Don’s presence after

a lengthy period without professional spiritual leadership. Fr. Don noted he had

attended a community meeting about substance abuse in Champaign County and

had gifted bibles to the Urbana Police Department.

At Epiphany he responded to a query about the return of an 8 o’clock service

with, “not at present”. He speculated that if an Episcopal church were established

in Marysville and served by a “chaplain,” the enlarged clerical staff might make

possible the reinstatement an of early service at Epiphany. But, his contract as part

-time clergy does not include three services.

Service music was discussed at Our Saviour and several policy matters at

Epiphany were tabled for later resolution. Fr. Don said that individual name

badges will be ready soon. He also requested that congregants register for leader-

ship positions in current and potential new ministries, e.g., Sunday school, aco-

lytes, lay readers, ushers, adult education, college student liaison, feasts and festi-

vals, funerals, lay services, medical procedures, evangelization, communication,

church décor, church grounds keeping and welcome protocol for visitors. At Epiphany Junior Warden Ed Har-

din commented on repair projects completed and ongoing and said that reports of costs, available funds and

details of the pending Capital Campaign are available. Questions may be directed to the Vestry.

Sophie Boeck and Grace Rozmus

Caleb All Ohio First Team; Sophie and Grace finish strong Mechanicsburg high school junior Caleb Westfall, grandson of Our Saviour’s Bill and Susie Westfall,

claimed third place in the Division III state golf tournament at NorthStar golf course in Delaware County in

mid October which earned him a coveted spot on the sports’ All-Ohio First Team. He won the Division III

district title the previous week. Caleb is continuing a family tradition. His Uncle Joe Moore was first team All

Ohio in golf for the Indians in the

early 1990’s. Congratulations, Caleb,

on this hard-earned distinction.

Our Saviour’s Sophie Boeck and

Grace Rozmus represented the Me-

chanicsburg girls’ cross country team

well in the Division III district finals.

Grace finished 162nd and Sophie 41st,

only one minute, 44 seconds behind

Triad’s 11th place finisher, Holly

Cole. Sophie and Grace demon-

strated dedication to their team and

maturity in the conditioning and self

discipline required for the sport. We

also recognize those loyal folks who

instructed and encouraged. A first

team effort all around. Caleb Westfall

Joanie Stadler was among the Epiphany congregants who participated in an exchange of ideas led by Father Don at both par-

McAuley returns for Community Meal

7

Rev. Nancy Hardin, McAuley

chaplain, chats with guests.

Our faithful friends at Mercy McAuley Center pre-

pared and served hot dogs and their own succulent maca-

roni and cheese for guests of Epiphany’s October Commu-

nity Meal.

Dining room tables filled early with friends old and

new. The entrée was enhanced by chips, cookies and lem-

onade and the warmth of McAuley employees.

Felicia Bunnell, Beth Miller and Gina Schilliger, pic-

tured at the right, presided at the buffet table and Director

of Plant Operations Bob Jenkins and Admissions Coordi-

nator Amy Knotts and others kept all moving smoothly in

the kitchen.

McAuley learned of the meal ministry through Epiph-

any’s Rev. Nancy Hardin who is Chaplain there and

serves on the Mission Team for both Mercy Hospital and

McAuley.

They were quick to volunteer food, preparation and

serving which they have done several times. We can never

be grateful enough for their service and their example.

Coated for comfort Our Saviour’s annual collection of free winter outwear (coats, snowsuits, hats,

scarves, gloves and boots) has been offered throughout October at the church

and via the Mobile Food Pantry at St. Mary Catholic Church in Mechanics-

burg. Jodi Compton manages this compassionate project which outfits men,

women and children each season. The clothing will be there all winter and

may be viewed at Community Meals the last Wednesday of each month and

other times by appointment. Call Jodi at 937-689-3986 or email at compton-

jodi@;yahoo.com . Blow ye winds and crack your cheeks, we’re prepared!

The Stadlers celebrate Extra prayers for Aaron Chuck and Joanie Stadler knelt at the Epiphany altar Sept.

11 to receive Fr. Don’s special blessing marking the 65th

year of their marriage on that date in 1951. They are long-

time, devoted members of Epiphany and congregants

added their good wishes to those of family and friends.

Chuck and Joanie created a loving Christian home for

each other and their three children. Now there are grand-

children to cherish. We stand in the shadow of your com-

mitment and wish you many more years together.

Robyn Callicoat of Our Saviour has put out a

plea for prayerful support for her young son,

Aaron, recently discharged from Dayton Chil-

dren’s Hospital where he was treated for grand

mal seizures. He is home with a change of

medication. Keep young Aaron in heart and

mind and pray that this agonizing condition

may be controlled so that he and his family can

live with peace of mind and body.

Nov. 1 All Saints Day Nov. 6 Regular service schedule, Rev. Donald Duford, presiding

Morning Prayer, Epiphany, 8 a.m.

Daylight Saving Time ends Nov. 7 Bible Study, Cindy Heffner’s, 7 p.m.

Nov. 8 Election Day

Nov. 11 Vestry Meeting, Epiphany, following 11 a.m. service

Veterans Day

Nov. 13 Regular service schedule, Rev. Donald Duford, presiding

Nov. 15 Worship Committee meeting , Epiphany, 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 14 Vestry Meeting, Our Saviour, 5:30 p.m.

Nov. 16 Community Meal, Epiphany, 5-6:30 p.m.

Nov. 20 Regular service schedule, Rev. Donald Duford, presiding

Vestry Meeting, Epiphany, following 11 a.m. service

Nov. 21 Bible Study, Cindy Heffner’s, 7 p.m.

Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Day

Nov. 27 Regular service schedule, Rev. Donald Duford, presiding

First Sunday of Advent

Nov. 28 Cluster Council, Epiphany, 5:30 p.m. Nov. 30 Community Meal, Our Saviour, 6 p.m.

Mark your calendars for November

THE CHRONICLE

A publication of the Northern Miami Valley Episcopal Cluster

230 Scioto St.

Urbana, OH 43078

1333 N. Main St.

Urbana, Ohio 43078

Advent begins Nov. 27