The Congregational Church of Austin, UCC
United Church of Christ

     In the beginning, there was Jesus Christ and twelve men he picked up along the way. The fishermen, Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, left their boats to follow Jesus. The tax collector, Matthew, threw away his ledger and joined the group. James, Simon, Bartholomew, Philip and Thaddeus responded to Jesus' call to follow him. As did Thomas the doubter. And Judas Iscariot.
     In the beginning, that was it. Just Jesus Christ and twelve ordinary everyday people, all who possessed some of the strength and much of the weakness of being human. They were the mustard seed from which the Church sprouted and grew. Jesus taught them to love God and their neighbor with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. He sent them into the world to preach and heal, raise up and redeem. Sure, they argued and debated amongst themselves. They seemed to misunderstand much of what Jesus told them. One of them betrayed Jesus for money and the rest vanished when the cross got too close for comfort. But in time, when the dust settled a bit, they regrouped in Jerusalem. There, in some ordinary little upper room, the Spirit wooshed about them, penetrated their hearts and ordained them as the Church. There, with new friends who joined them, they lifted their voices and prayed: "O God, grant to thy servants to speak thy word with boldness." And they did, even before the same angry authorities who had recently plotted to kill their Lord.
     The Church. At first no more than a simple gathering of people marked by some of the strength and much of the weakness of being human. But a people united and made stronger by their love for Christ, their love for each other and the risen Christ's love for them. A people renewed and reinvigorated by the power of his resurrection. A people empowered. A people stirred by a sense of purpose, mission, vocation and calling: to be living examples of what God's love through Christ can do for this world and to be agents of this love to God's world.
     As the writer Frederick Buechner reminds us: "the church buildings and budgets came later. The forms of church government, the priests and pastors, Baptists and Protestants. The Sunday services with everybody in their best clothes, the Sunday Schools and choirs all came later. So did Bible study groups and rummage sales. So did the preachers....They all came later. Maybe the best thing that could happen to the church would be for some great tidal wave of history to wash all that away?the church buildings tumbling, the church money all lost, the church bulletins blowing through the air like dead leaves, the difference between preachers and congregations all lost too. Then all we would have left would be each other and Christ, which is all there was in the first place."
     Each other and Christ. The church.
     You have invited me to be a part of your particular gathering of the church. Together, we are each other and Christ. I'm extremely grateful for your invitation and even more excited about being the church with you in this time and place. My hope and prayer is that together with Christ, we'll be renewed and reinvigorated, we'll speak and live God's word with boldness, we'll bear God's transforming love to the world in which we live, and we'll keep the most fundamental relationship of the church, each other and Christ, at the center of our life together as Austin Congregational Church.

God be with you till we meet again!

SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS TO CELEBRATE

  4 Weldon B. Scheel
  7 Marilyn Pickens
  8 Ava Jean Deisler
22 Larbi Sennour
13 Seth Murphy
      Chris Pinkard
20 Earl Cornwell
21 Ellen Deisler
24 Mary Halladay
27 Rambie Briggs

Although Cecile Ervin Adam is a member of this church, and will be around often, we want to express our appreciation to her for her special service as our summer intern. Working along side Rev. John Towery, Pastor Emeritus, her mentor, she has served faithfully during the months of July and August. Cecile is a Student-in-Care of this Church, attending the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Worth Repeating, Worth Repeating

Faith is to believe on the Word of God, what we do not see, and its reward is
to see and enjoy what we believe. -St. Augustine

CHURCH DIRECTORY UPDATE

P. 1   Adams, *Michael & Kerry Manning
         Mobile: 799-8553

p. 10 Putz, *Karl & *Andrea 238-8618
         14300 Tandem Lane #227 787281

P. 14 Winter, *Jeri 294-4654
          11500 Jollyville 78759

p. 15 Galle, Kristin & Brent Hampton
         4211 Mountain View Dr., Kingsland, TX
         78629 (915-388-0929) P.O.Box 1884

p. 21 Gage, Rev. John R.
         112 Livingston St., #D1 (203)675-9161

e-mail: Thomas J. VandeStadt Family:
            tomrobalx@onr.com

     Welcome, Tom and Robin and Alex! We are so glad you're here and glad that we can begin to work together with you as a church!
     We know that no grass has been growing under your feet. Alex is already in school in the third grade at Summitt Elementary School. Robin has already taken the state bar exam. The family is now living at 4817 Transit Circle, Austin, Texas 78727-5143 (490-6660). E-mail address is tomrobalx@onr.com. Welcome, all of you!
     We were taken care of this summer while we waited. Bless John Towery, our Pastor Emeritus, who gave us his summer. Thank you, John! We are also very grateful to Cecile Ervin Adam, one of our own members and a student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, who served her summer internship with us. When Catherine asked her what she would like to say to us, she wanted to thank the congregation, whom she very much appreciates. She especially wanted to thank the committee who worked directly with her: John Towery, Vic Appel, Sharon Brown, Tommie Pinkard, Dave Ross, and Ben White. And she particularly wanted to thank Louise Whitworth. That goes for the rest of us too, Louise. You have kept us together day in and day out. And it includes Vic Appel, to whom we're indebted for an incredible amount of work.
     Many thanks to Paul Deisler for a wonderful job of news gathering and writing last month. It made great reading. But first thing this month we were dismayed to hear that Frances Alford was in a very bad accident in Seoul, Korea. She had gone to meet with others who were formerly there in the Peace Corps, and she and her sister Harriet were in a "luxury cab" on the way to a bus station in the rain when the cab hydroplaned on the wet road and ran into oncoming traffic. Frances was in shock, with bruised ribs and a bang on the head, but her sister Harriet's pelvis was broken in four places. Her lung was punctured, and she had a facial laceration.
     They were taken to a Seoul hospital, where her friends were notified. Frances says she was overwhelmed by the love and care she and her sister received from her friends of twenty-two years ago: grapes, prayers, watermelon, relatives, help. Harriet was evacuated in a special stretcher lined with something like Styrofoam pellets. Six seats were removed from the airplane to make room for her, and a doctor and nurse went with her until they reached the hospital in St. Helena, California. John Alford met the plane in San Francisco, and they stayed for three days in St. Helena, while they made sure Harriet was in good hands and Frances had a chance to rest. We're so glad that you're home safe, Frances, and that John was able to come for you. Please rest and recover emotionally and physically.
     Mary Halladay at Stonebridge Health Center will have a shoulder replacement next month. She understands that she cannot expect to use her arm thereafter, but the expectation of being free of pain in that joint outweighs other consideration. We sympathize, Mary! We'll be praying for you and with you.
     Carol Barrett deserves our most heartfelt congratulations for an honor which has come to her, but we're not sure we can offer them wholeheartedly because it involves her leaving us and moving to Berkeley, California! She has accepted the job of Director of the Planning and Development Department in Berkeley and will be leaving by the end of the month. Her last Sunday with us will be August 26. Gary will stay here in Austin for the coming year, and Carol will rent an apartment out there, so there will be a lot of back-and-forth, but if things work out, they will eventually buy a house out there. Carol, how are we supposed to say goodbye to you when you have been THE Congregational Church of Austin all this time? For years you were the soul and moving force behind Christian Education. You've helped lead the Women's Book Group into being. But, above all, in any serious discussion you have cut to the heart of the issue and have never been accepting of easy answers. You will take this quality with you to your new associates, and they will be the richer for it. We love you, Carol, and wish you well, but we feel lonely.
     Another longtime member and friend whose life is undergoing many changes is Kristin Galle. We have rejoiced with her and Rev. Brent Hampton in their marriage and her completion of seminary, and now we rejoice in her ordination's taking place in our church on Sunday, August 26, at 3:30 pm. God bless you and your family! We are grateful that you have been a part of our lives and share your joy in seeing new avenues of service opening to you. Kristin will be starting as Associate Pastor at Round Rock Christian Church on the first of September and will preach her first sermon there on September 2. They were kept busy this summer looking for, and moving into, a house in Kingsland at 4211 Mountain View Drive, Kingsland, TX 78629 (915-388-0929). Kristin's children will be going to school in Llano.
     Michael Adams writes that he is working slightly fewer hours nursing and more in necessary maintenance with Jamie as helper. He says Jamie just did his first disc brake job, and they are both very proud.
     Rizer Everett tells us of a visit which brought four generations together. On August 2 daughter Dot arrived, bringing granddaughter Kate and great-granddaughter Megan. They stayed at the Ramada Inn on Ben White Blvd. Everyone enjoyed a Tex-Mex meal at El Rancho together, and on Saturday all four generations ate at the Englewood Estates dining hall, where Megan endeared herself to many of the residents. They then took them to the airport for Southwest's direct flight back to Albuquerque. Rizer also reports enjoying a recent visit with Mel and Pat Oakes.
     The Oakes must have sandwiched in their visit between family reunions because Pat reports that they saw daughter Sarah and husband John in Kensington, Maryland, and evidently Mel shared with them his home improvement skills. Around that visit they also went to the Manassas Battlefield and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Then it was on to Boston. Pat says that after a four-mile-an-hour drive getting around the Big Dig They finally made it to Mardie's apartment close to Harvard Business School, where they attended classes for two days. They also visited relatives and went to Pat's grandparents' old church, The Original Congregational Church of Wrentham, established in 1680. Incidentally, they saw Fred Burchsted, who sends back regards from him, Judith, and little Gus.
     But school has started, and Pat will be teaching sixth grade again at St. Andrews. Norma Hawes is once again the music teacher at Eanes Elementary, while her husband Steve Domingue teaches high-school math at Huntington-Surrey. We have not yet heard from Nannette Strickland but hope that she is still in Austin.
     Congratulations to Kerry Manning, Michael Adams' wife, who has a new position as reading teacher at Travis High. We know that teaching reading at the high-school level is bound to be challenging, but there are many foreign-born teenagers who can be literally saved for further education and job success if they can learn to read in English. More power to you!
     We know that Alex VandeStadt is in third grade at Summitt Elementary, that Julia Adams has started her second year at Austin Montessori School, and that Jamie Adams is a junior at Huntington-Surrey. Please let us know before mid-September where others of our church-school youngsters are attending.
     Jeffrey Lemley gave his school and parents a bad scare on his first day of school this year when he complained of abdominal pain, and knowing of last year's emergency appendectomy and the fact that Jeffrey seldom complains, the school contacted Lynne, who rushed him to the doctor. The diagnosis: too much karate. Lynne, George, and Jeffrey had been very careful to wait the prescribed number of months after his operation before restarting karate. However, the verdict was: nothing major, just muscle strain but-sidelined again! Our sympathies, Jeffrey!
     The Murphy family have had a very active summer. You heard last month about their trip to Iowa to their daughter Sarah's and Larbi Sennour's family. At the beginning of August Sarah, Larbi, Randi, and Dehbia moved down from Iowa to San Antonio. They stayed with Nodie and Dennis about a week, and then Nodie drove down to San Antonio with the children, got them settled, and made an eight-year-old birthday cake for Dehbia (Dehbia's age, not the cake's). Nodie was also in San Antonio for the summer choral director's workshop. The church, and especially the choir, look forward to the musical goodies she brings back. In addition to all that, Nodie also went to New Orleans for her mother's eightieth birthday.
     Parents played a big part in the Murphy Sennour summer. Larbi's mother had been in the U.S. for medical help, and Larbi went back with her to Algiers, where he bought an apartment for her. Dennis has been very much occupied this summer with his father, who has health-related problems. Nodie's father, meanwhile, is becoming a showman. A singles group asked him to write some songs for them. He complied, and a retirement group asked him if he'd do the same for their group. Now he's not only a one-man show, but he's taking it on the road: He just did his routine in Birmingham, Alabama. Meantime Ned came back safely from China. (See Paul's interview with Ned in last month's "Personals.")
     Suzanne's mother also just had a birthday- her ninety-second. There was a nice family celebration at Suzanne's brother's house. And at the other end of the age range, Fran and Rambie Briggs are celebrating grandson Giovanni Fracasso's first steps. They say his favorite new thing is walking from one piece of furniture to the next and pulling open all the cabinets and drawers on the way.
     The Briggs also report that Rambie's uncle E. A. died July 19. Many cousins came for the services, including one whom Rambie had not seen for forty years and Fran had never met. The children of these cousins range in age from ten to forty plus. So there was quite a reunion. She said E. A. was everyone's favorite uncle.
      Marguerite and Ben White celebrated the Fourth of July with all three grandchildren and both sons at a family reunion of sixty members in Santa Fe. Ben says that the states of Florida, Georgia, Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado were all represented.
     Sara and Dave Ross spent most of July and the first bit of August in the same section of the country that Ben's family is familiar with: the Southwest. The Rosses seem to have concentrated on Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona on past camping trips, but Dave said that this year they decided to see the national parks of Utah and one in Nevada. So they headed west and visited Bryce, Cedar Breaks, Zion, and the Great Basin (in Nevada), and on the way back they sampled Arches and Canyonlands. He decided that his favorite was Bryce Canyon with its fantastic rock formations, and Sara's was Zion, where they walked in the river between high canyon walls. It was quite hot, and they were trying to see a lot, but it did cool down at night so they could sleep. However. Because of the heat and dryness Sara was not able to get as many flower pictures as in past years. They are always drawn to high mountain peaks, so this time they went back to Colorado and drove to the top of Mount Evans. Sara has read statistics stating that the road to the top is the highest paved road in the U.S. Meanwhile they hear from son Andy and his wife Leslie that they now have a comfortable apartment on Magazine Street in New Orleans. Andy is now starting his second year after graduation from Baylor Medical School and is beginning an ophthalmology program.
     And at the other end of his professional career, Clark Hubbs was pleased to receive another unsolicited grant from the Texas Water Development Board to do more field research on what is happening to Texas springs.
     Craig Headley and Mark McCoy had an interesting trip over an extended weekend. They traveled first to Annapolis, Maryland to see Craig's cousin Bobby, whom he hadn't seen for eight or nine years. From there they stopped in Washington, D.C. where they went through the Holocaust Museum, which Craig recommends highly. The next day they attended Craig's twentieth high school reunion in Richmond, Virginia, where they enjoyed remembering old times. Sunday they spent visiting with Craig's niece and her mother in Williamsburg, touring the historic district and getting some advance Christmas gifts from the Toymaker of Williamsburg. On Monday they toured Washington Cathedral before taking a storm-delayed flight home. Sounds like a wonderful trip., Craig, but what did you mean when you wrote that at Washington Cathedral you "actually got the chance to walk across the roof, but that is another story"? O.K., you've got our attention. Now explain, please.
     Mary Charles Williams was gone from July 9 to July 27 on a trip to England to visit her daughter Meredith and her husband. Since she had made the trip a number of times before, Meredith asked her to pick out sights and experiences she would most like to see or revisit. Accordingly, in London they went to a new Tate Museum. The new building is spectacular, and though they are not modern art aficionados, they toured the exhibits and had a nice lunch in the building. They visited the recreated Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare originally trod the boards. And they went to a lecture at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Then Meredith and her husband took Mary Charles with them to their place at Salcombe southeast of Plymouth on the coast of Devon, where they keep a sailboat. They knew how much Mary Charles loves to sail, so they took her out on two wonderful sailing expeditions, and she lunched on her favorite Fish and Chips. The last item on her want list was to see a Jack Russell Terrier, mentioned in James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small. It's a small breed of dog, not seen in the United States, named for Jack Russell, a British clergyman and hunter who bewailed the fact that the terriers of the day were all too big-muzzled to stick their heads into foxholes to rout out their prey. The Jack Russell Terrier was bred on purpose to have a smaller build. Mary Charles, out walking, happened on a man with a dog looking so much like the picture she had seen that she went up to him and asked, "Is that a Jack Russell Terrier?" Lo and behold, he said, "Yes." So a lengthy conversation ensued, and her last wish was granted. Mary Charles says that it couldn't have been a better trip.
     Barbara Burnham was also in England in July. She went on a tour of some European cities with friends from the Valley. But I think she was there before you were, Mary Charles, because she left with the tour on July 2, and their first stop was London, where they explored Hyde Park, Piccadilly Circus, and had a bus tour of all the major landmarks as seen from the outside. But she did go inside St. Paul's Cathedral twice, the second time for an evening choral concert which included the Fauré Requiem, pieces sung by their wonderful boys' choir, and the adult choir rendition of "God So Loved the World." Before leaving, they saw the Changing of the Guard. They crossed the Channel in a Sea-Cat from Dover to Calais. Then came Paris, even lovelier, she says than she remembered it from twenty-nine years ago. Their route included Lucerne, Florence, Pisa, Rome and Venice, where they witnessed the amusing sight of three people moving a sofa hoisted down to a little motorboat from three floors above. A man in a suit stood in the boat, holding it so it wouldn't wobble. She bought hand-blown Venetian glass beads for her bead business. And they saw St. Mark's Cathedral. Then up through northern Italian vineyards and the Brenner Pass to Innsbruck, still lovely but bigger than she remembered. Then through Munich, Heidelberg, and Cologne to Amsterdam, where they cruised the canals, visited the Rijksmuseum and Vollendam, a fishing village with a working windmill, cheese factory, and wooden shoe factory. Their guide was an Austrian who spoke at least five languages, and the bus driver was an Italian who spoke German. It was an international group of travelers, and Barbara was most impressed by an "incredibly articulate" twelve-year old Canadian girl, "who surprised us all by volunteering to try to play an Alpenhorn at a dinner in Lucerne, and got much more sound out of it than did some strapping young men, as she plays the French horn!" She says she'll have photos for us when she can sort them out.
     Thanks to all of you! Such fun to hear it all.

UPCOMING EVENTS AT OUR SISTER CHURCH
United Christian Church in Austin

New Address after Sept. 3:
3500 W. Parmer Lane 78727
Telephone: 512-218-8110, after Sept. 3
Fax: 512-453-0113
e-mail: CCCHURCH@10.COM
website: www.10.COM/UCCHURCH

Hooray! We are saying good-bye to Messiah Lutheran Church and anticipate moving into our new church home on September 3, with the first worship service there on September 9.

Sept. 23, 3:00 pm, Installation of Rev. Timothy Tutt
Oct. 7, 3:00 pm, New Building Dedication on 10th Anniversary-Submitted by Carol Kolsti

HATS OFF AUGUST
            Scripture Readers    Time With Children:
      5    Cecile Adam             Michael Adams
    12    Michael Adams        John Towery
    19    Matt Blackstock      Michael Adams
    26    John Burlinson         Michael Adams

          Fellowship Hour Hosts:
     5     Ellen & Paul Deisler
    12    Chester Rosson, Barbara Burnham
    19    BBQ & Covered Dish, F & F Committee
    26

          Communion Steward
     5     Norma Hawes

         Ushers
     5    Dave & Sara Ross
    12   Steve Domingue and Norma Hawes
    19    Karl & Andrea Putz
    26    Craig Headley & Mark McCoy

OTHER RECOGNITIONS TO NOTE

Our special thanks to guest musicians during August:
Robin Rosson, Cellist, Laura Rogers, Flutist, Kathleen Hawes-Domingue, Oboist,

Appreciation to John Towery, Pastor Emeritus, and Cecile Ervin Adam, Interim Pastor and Interim Intern, respectively, who have served us well.

As we said farewell to Jonathan Kanetzky, our interim custodian, we welcomed Jay Harris as new custodian.

The Building & Grounds Committee have been busy during the hot summer days, continuing to upgrade our facilities, Vic Appel and Mark McCoy, Co-Chairs. Have you noticed all the new signs and outdoor lighting in place? Also, new gutters were recently installed. Improvements in and around the church are continuing, thanks to the B & G Committee.

The Fun & Fellowship Committee, Suzanne VanderPoel, Chair, coordinated our BBQ Potluck on Sunday, August 19, as we welcomed our new Pastor and Family: Thomas J. VandeStadt, Robin Chapman and Alex. Thanks to all who brought food and helped with clean up duties.

The Staff thanks John Towery for sharing the fruit of his labors (literally), bringing vegetables fresh from his garden during July and August.

NOTICES FOR CALENDARS

PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW FOR OUR ANNUAL DIEZ Y SEIS TEX-MEX POTLUCK ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16. SIGN-UP SHEET IS ON THE EASEL IN THE FELLOWSHIP ROOM.

We are looking for new members for the Fun & Fellowship Committee and welcome your ideas. We especially need folks who can help with the clean-up. If you are interested, please see Suzanne VanderPoel.

A BIG "THANK YOU"

The Fun & Fellowship Committee hopes you all had fun at our barbecue potluck. We want to thank Paul Deisler (again!) and our new custodian, Jay Harris, for doing the heavy lifting to set up for it. We also thank Rambie Briggs for grilling the delicious chicken, Dick Jackson for smoking the wonderful sausages, and Lisa Kirch for getting the briskets in the oven at 9:30 that morning. And we especially appreciate the generous donations by two members that made it possible for us to enjoy those Texas-size briskets. Many, thanks!