From the Assistant Rector
A few weeks ago I was in Chandler, Arizona visiting my daughter and son-in-law for another special occasion. I was honored to be the presider at the baptism of my 4-month young grandson, Benjamin. The second Sunday in Easter can sometimes be kind of a let down after an Easter morning full of amazing stories, glorious music, and packed pews. Surprisingly, St. Matthew's was completely full on "low Sunday." Granted, two dozen of the worshippers were members of my extended family, but even the chancel had a full team of liturgical leaders. Only one chair was vacant, so I was invited to sit in the cathedra. Rest assured, this generous act of hospitality did not inflate my ego, for I have no aspirations to become a bishop. However, it did prompt me to reflect on the various ways in which I was warmly welcomed during my visit. The Assistant Rector and Verger were especially supportive as I presided in an unfamiliar space. And many of the parishioners were so friendly and welcoming that I truly felt I was entrusting my newly baptized grandson into the loving arms of the household of God.

As a parish priest, I don't often have the opportunity to worship with other congregations. So when I do, I take notice of how my family and I are welcomed, invited, and connected as guests or potential newcomers. I wonder how I might fit in if I were to stay longer. At Transfiguration, we regularly have opportunities to invite strangers and friends into this special place we call home. I wonder who first welcomed you to Transfiguration and what influenced you to return. Would you be here today if that person had not connected with you? I wonder what difference you will make as you greet a visitor or newcomer today. I pray that all who courageously pass through our big red doors will be welcomed into this household of God as graciously as you were!
Love,
Monica+


News & Announcements
Rector on sabbatical
Matthew is away in Israel and England through April 26.  In case of pastoral emergency please call Monica at (505) 235-7345 or Fran at (415) 999-6662. 

Distil Dinner Club Tonight Sun., April 17
Distil, our ministry for young adults is gathering for a potluck supper at Bethany's today, Sunday, 4/17, at 6:15pm. Questions? please speak to Dawn or Bethany.

Equipping the Beloved Community - The Sacrament of Time
Saturday, May 14, 2016 - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
St. Paul's, 415 El Camino Real, Burlingame
$10 - Cost to members of Transfiguration. 
Register online: www.diocal.org/etbc
See flyers for more information.

Woods to Waves, May 7th
This annual fundraising event for St. Dorothy's Rest hospital camps is coming up on May 7th, 9:30am. Perhaps a group from Transfiguration will participate? 
See poster in the Narthex for more information or visit their website:
www.stdorothysrest.org/events/woods-to-waves/

Youth Confirmation Sessions continue
The next session of "Confirming Our Faith in the World" will be April 24 (9am-noon ) led by Monica Whitaker & Dawn Bailey. 
Remaining Sessions:  Sunday, May 1, 9-12 and Sunday, May 22, 9-12.
The General Confirmation will be at Grace Cathedral on June 4th and we will be celebrating our new confirmands the next morning at Transfiguration. Join in and support them!

Mark Your Calendars:
May 15 - Day of Pentecost - Festival Eucharist at 10am -parish wide service & 'Grill on the Hill'

Nightwatch in Grace Cathedral
Join youth in 6th-12th grades from around the Diocese and Northern California for fellowship and fun, sleeping overnight in Grace Cathedral.  There will be facilitated community building, activity and contemplative activities, art, music and prayer. Nightwatch can also be a time for youth ministers from thorough the diocese of spend casual time together. We hope to see you and your youth there! Cost for Nightwatch is $15, and there is ample scholarship available.  All youth must be accompanied by a designated Adult Leader. 
When: 6:30pm April 29- 10am April 30
Where: Grace Cathedral
Cost: $15, scholarship available
Youth registration here:https://diocal.wufoo.com/forms/nightwatch-2016/
Adult Leader registration here:https://diocal.wufoo.com/forms/z1w5830u1p69zby/
Registration Deadline: April 25
Contact Andrea Foote: andreaf@diocal.org 

Hosts requested for visiting singers
On May 19th, Good Shepherd, Belmont, is hosting the St. Petersburg Men's Ensemble from Russia. They have requested a "home stay" for the night of the concert for four singers. If you would like to host one or more international, musical guests on 5/19, please contact Michael Arase-Barham: (650) 593-4844, or by email at vicar@goodshepherdbelmont.org

Happy Birthday:  
Mary Ann McKay, today; Eric Johnson on Monday, Liam Bakken on Tuesday, Wendy Garrish on Wednesday, Pat Schneider and Courtney Cogswell on Thursday, Zoe Casamassina on Friday, Charlie Fox and Sophia Redkey on Saturday.

Happy Anniversary: 
Jan and Peter Jensen on Friday.

From the Rector
Thank you!

I just wanted to write and say thank you to you all for your participation in and presence in our Easter Festival celebrations. So many people make festivals like this possible. I am grateful for the work of my colleagues in the parish office, Monica, Noreen and Cyril, for music, administration and leadership of worship. I also want to thank the volunteer extraordinaire, Fran Tornquist who gave so much of her time over Holy Week.

Thank you to Holly and the Altar Guild who do so much to clean, prepare and make our space beautiful. Thanks also to members of the choir and musicians who came and joined us for the festival eucharist on Sunday. Thank you to Dace for playing on Maundy Thursday, and on Sunday morning. Thank you to Ty for playing for our dawn Eucharist. 

Matt and Julia led an amazing group of volunteers on a work day on Easter Saturday who cleaned the church, prepared our grounds and planted flowers. Noreen also volunteered as our flower team leader for this event. Michele, Kristen and Tania supervised coffee hour and so many of you brought wonderful treats for our time together. Julia and George stuffed and hid eggs for our Easter egg hunt (please don't tell children, we are maintaining that the bunny did all that!)

For Maundy Thursday thanks to the team that brought food, helped us tidy up, and those who kept vigil. 
Finally, I want to thank Gari and Skip for sharing incredibly moving testimonies on Good Friday, Ruth and Barbara who led us in a meditation on the seven last words of Christ at 2:30pm on Good Friday, and Betty and Patt who told stories from the history of salvation at the Easter Dawn service.

Thank you to everyone who made the weekend great!

Love,
Matthew+

Executive Council News
Our diocesan Executive Council meets monthly to discuss matters that effect the whole diocese.  Our Rector, Matthew is a member of this body. At their recent meeting the following items were discussed and recommended for circulation. 
1. The diocesan capital campaign is already a success. During the Bishop's phase of the campaign we received a commitment for the largest single donation ever made to an Episcopal Diocesan Capital Campaign - $10 million. The next phase of our work will be to assist congregations to be successful in their individual efforts.
2. Bishop Marc will be leading a Youth Pilgrimage to Haiti April 2-10. Please keep Bishop Marc and our Youth in your prayers that week.
3. The next Equipping the Beloved Community event will be held on May 14th at St. Paul's in Burlingame. More information is available at diocal.org/equipping-beloved-community.

Ministry Team Feedback: Sunday Service Times
Following our Wondering Together process the Ministry Team and clergy had a great conversation about our service times. This conversation was prompted by two things:
1.  Comments by Joyful Noise participants that we were cutting this service too often.
2.  Concerns that the regular change in service times was making it difficult for new congregants to feel part of our community.

We reflected on the fact that our combined services were created in 2012 to help achieve two goals:
1.  To help families transition from the Joyful Noise Eucharist to the Musical Eucharist.
2.  To help us rethink some elements of the Musical Eucharist so that it is better suited to families graduating from the Joyful Noise Eucharist.

In the intervening years we added a factor that impacted the frequency of combined services. This was the fact that we did not have sufficient ordained clergy on staff to sustain three services year round. 
Recently I did an audit on how many Sundays had only 1 or 2 services on them and discovered that we had done this for 50% of the year last year. In its discussion the Ministry Team realized that rather than helping us to make people feel welcome at Transfig, this number of changes in service time was becoming a barrier to attending. We also recognized that our initial two goals for the combined services had been achieved over the last four years. They have recommended the following therefore:

1.  That we return to a 3 service schedule on most Sundays of the year at 8am 9:30am and 10:30am.
2.  That we retain combined services on major festivals, but add two combined services to our schedule.
We are still discussing exactly which services should be combined, but on these Sundays there will only be a single service at 10am. The suggested days for this are:
*  Epiphany or Annual Meeting Sunday (January)
*  Palm Sunday (March/April)
*  Pentecost Sunday (May/June)
*  Transfiguration Sunday (August)
*  All Saints', All Souls' Sunday (October/November)
3. On the first Sunday of the month at the 10:30am service we keep the idea of experimental liturgy alive and are willing to try different things each month.

I would appreciate your input on these recommendations, as the Vestry will be discussing them on May 5th with a view to implementing them from the start of June. If you have any thoughts or comments please email me directly at matthew@transfig-sm.org.           

Love, 
Matthew+

​News & Announcements
 
Equipping the Beloved Community (ETBC): The Sacrament of Time
Mark your calendars for May 14th from 10am to 5pm.
The deanery is sponsoring another of our annual training days with some of the best content ever provided at a diocesan training event. Come along and find out about:
*  Recruiting, managing and supporting volunteers.
*  Leading small groups.
*  Environmentally friendly wheat.
*  How to create prayeful experiences with your children at home.
There will be many more training opportunities also. Please see the flyer that will be available in church over the next few Sundays.

Youth Confirmation Sessions continue
The next session of "Confirming Our Faith in the World" will be April 24 (9am-noon ) led by Monica Whitaker & Dawn Bailey. 
May 21-22 (TBD) Monica Whitaker, Matthew Woodward, Dawn Bailey, Bethany Lukach, Aidan Jobe Sea
The General Confirmation will be at Grace Cathedral on June 4th and we will be celebrating our new confirmands the next morning at Transfiguration. Join in and support them!

Rector and Assistant Rector schedules this week
Matthew will be here until April 6th when he flies to Israel in the late evening. Monica is away to preside at her grandson Benjamin's Baptism and returns to the office on the morning of April 6th. 
Through April 6th - For pastoral emergencies, call Matthew.
April 6th and onwards -For pastoral emergencies, call Monica.

Happy Birthday:  
Matthew Woodward on Saturday.

This Week
Sunday, April 3 
The Second Sunday of Easter  
8:00am     The Traditional Eucharist 
10:00am   The Community Eucharist
6-9pm       Sine Nomine Rehearsal (church)
Monday, April 4
10:30-1      God Group (Parish Hall)
3:15pm     Snake Dragon Club storytime(classrooms)
7pm          FA Meeting (Parish Hall)
Tuesday, April 5
9am          Morning Prayer(Good Shepherd, Belmont)
6:30pm    New Millennium Chamber Orchestra rehearsal (Church)
7pm          AA Meeting  (Parish Hall)
Wednesday, April 6
9am          Morning Prayer (Chapel)
10:30am  Gospel Preview (Parish Hall)
3:15 -5:45pm  Looking Glass Korean Learning Center (classrooms)
4-5:30pm Looking Glass -Dance  class (Parish Hall)
7pm          FA Meeting (Parish Hall)

7pm          Zen Meditation Group (in Chapel)
Thursday, April 7
9am         Morning Prayer (Chapel)
10am       Transfig Fireflies (Parish Hall)
2pm         Staff Meeting (Parish Hall)
7:15pm    Penin. Young People's AA (classrooms)
Friday, April 8

Saturday, April 9
8:45-11:15am  Looking Glass Learning Ctr  (classrooms)
Sunday, April 10
The Third Sunday of Easter
8:00am   Traditional Eucharist
9:30am   Joyful Noise Eucharist
10:30am  Musical Eucharist

Mark Your Calendars:
May 14 - Equipping the Beloved Community

May 15 - Day of Pentecost - Festival Eucharist at 10am

June 4 - General Confirmation at Grace Cathedral

August 13 - Friends & Family Community Connection (FFCC) Food packaging Outreach project

August 19-21 - Parish Retreat