Join us for the thrilling Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein at the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services on St. Philip's Day, May 3. This monumental work will be sung with St. Philip's choirs as well as choir members from Temple Emanu-El, to celebrate our community and friendship through music. This will be a rare occasion to hear this work sung with an orchestra. Well known for his striking musical language, as seen in West Side Story, Bernstein partners his musical expressiveness with one of the oldest and most often used sacred texts -- the Psalms!

As is usual on First Sundays, we will gratefully accept donations of nonperishable food for our food pantry, and paperback books for Read Between the Bars.

Make plans to attend our annual St. Philip's Day Celebration in the plaza on Sunday, May 3. Lunch will begin at 11:30 a.m. and will continue until 1:30 p.m. J2A will be serving hamburgers and chili dogs with all the fixins. Other ministry groups will bring sides, desserts, and drinks. Come watch your favorite ministry leaders in the dunking booth, let the kids cool off with water activities, and even show your talent in the karaoke corner! Lunch is $7 per person or $20 per family and all proceeds go to benefit the J2A European Pilgrimage. Questions? Contact Alison Lee or Sara Talley. See you all there!

This most beautiful garden, originated about 1992, has been rejuvenated by the Garden Guild, under Pam Henderson's leadership. Everyone is invited to visit this renewed Quiet Garden and share its splendor and tranquility. A brief rededication service will take place on St. Philip's Day (May 3) between the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services.

The Children and Families Ministry invites all young families (children aged 0-5th grade) to join us for Parents Night In on Friday, May 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Children's Chapel. We'll have dinner for everyone ($5 per person), free babysitting for the kids, and two whole hours for parents to socialize! Please bring some toys for the kids to share and a board game or cards for the parents if you wish. Questions? Contact Tamzin Sugiyama or call 730-0363. Please RSVP by Wednesday, May 6. If you can't join us this time, be on the lookout for us to resume in the fall.

The next Parish Potluck Coffee Hour Hospitality Table will be on May 10, hosted by parishioners whose last names begin with A­-F. For families who choose to participate, it is suggested that you bring food in three categories: 1. Sweet Treats; 2. Healthy Snacks (fruit, cheese, whole grain breads, low calorie muffins, gluten or peanut free snacks, etc.); 3. "Kid Friendly Snacks." If possible, food contributions should be at the table shortly after the 7:45 service so people attending that service can enjoy the food and hospitality.

The Feast of the Ascension will be observed on Thursday, May 14, at 7 p.m. in the Church. The service will include incense. Our preacher will be the Rev. Katie McCallister. Katie serves as the Assistant Rector for Children, Youth, and Family Ministries at St. Alban's Episcopal Church. While a student at the U of A and connected to St. Philip's through the Episcopal Campus Ministry, Katie was a ministry-intern at St. Philip's, 2010-2011. Katie left Tucson in 2011 for Virginia Theological Seminary. She received her M.Div and was ordained a priest in May 2014. Immediately following was a call to St. Alban's. She says her time at St. Philip's had a lasting impact on her formation and she's thrilled to be invited to preach on Ascension Day. A festive reception will follow, hosted by the Parish Life Ministry.

A committee has been formed to plan appropriate festivities to celebrate the ministry of the Rev. Canon John Kitagawa among us, who has announced that he will be retiring this summer. June 21 will be his last Sunday with us. More details will be forthcoming. A book of letters is being collected to be presented to John. If you would like to contribute a letter, please send or bring it to the church office attn. Stella Lopez. Please do so by Sunday, June 7. Note that it is important that your letter be on 8.5 x 11 paper and flat (not folded) - odd sizes of paper or cards do not work well in this type of presentation. Thank you!

Save the date! Children and Family Ministries will present The Holy Moly! Parish People Puppet Camp for pre-school children ages 3 and over to those entering 5th grade. Dates are June 1-5 from 8:30 a.m. to noon.  The cost will be $60 (scholarships or partial scholarships available). Children will make their own puppet to take home, work with their own hand puppet that will be provided to them, learn how to use their voice to create a character, write their own show, and perform puppet shows! They will also enjoy puppet shows put on by the big people! For more information contact Sandralyn Pierce or call 299-6421, ext. 43.

We want to thank the members of the church for all your contributions to our rummage sale, whether it be donating items or shopping at the sale. With all of your support, we made $4,500, which will help us fund our pilgrimage to Europe in 2017. We are so grateful to have this opportunity to learn more about our faith.
Sincerely,
The St. Philip's J2A Youth Group



We would like to thank all of you who attended the wonderful fundraising gourmet dinner last Sunday to support St. Philip's After School Music and Homework Program. We appreciate all of your presence and support. We would especially like to thank board member Jean Cooper for her amazing cooking and organizational skills. Big thanks to all those who volunteered to help with the dinner, and to those who continuously support us to make positive changes for the children in our community.



Dear Friends at St. Philip's:
After almost 14 years of teaching the Yoga program at St. Philip's, I am retiring. Many thanks to all of the wonderful people who participated in the classes and benefited from the numerous physical and mental tools for well-being through the practice of Yoga, Meditation, and Relaxation. Heartfelt thanks to St. Philip's who provided the space and supported the ongoing program throughout all these years. May the journey continue!
Namaste!
Hanna Soule

NOTE: Thanks also to Hanna, for your 14 years of dedicated and inspirational teaching.

Laundry Love, a new Outreach Ministry of St. Philip's, kicked off in April and will continue on the second Wednesday of each month. Members of our Come and See community have partnered with the national Laundry Love initiative to lead this new ministry, which helps to wash the clothes and bedding of individuals and/or families living in poverty while offering compassion, conversation, and connections with community resources. The Laundry Love ministry seeks to nurture the well-being of each person through intentional networking and friendship one night a month at a local Laundromat, and we welcome you to join us. We are actively seeking volunteers and donations. Contact Patty Hamburger to volunteer for an evening of Laundry Love. To make a financial donation, make your check payable to St. Philip's, with "Laundry Love" on the memo line.

Applications are now being accepted for the next interfaith course in the training of those called to a vocation of spiritual direction or for those who are yearning for answers to their spiritual questions. This course encompasses the beliefs of the world's major religions and is open to ordained and non-ordained men and women. Spiritual leaders from many disciplines make up the faculty and share their insights, knowledge, wisdom and experience during the two years of the class. The School will begin in September 2015 and classes will occur monthly on the second Saturday of each month from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. for two 10-month sessions (September- June). The School is open to all persons regardless of race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, or sexual identity. Before acceptance into the School, interviews are conducted by Linda Williams, co-director and/or Joanne Roit, associate director. A completed application and a $50 application fee are necessary for the interview to be held. Learning in the school is both didactic and experiential. Enrollment is limited and a genuine commitment to attending all of the sessions is important. The School meets at St. Philip's. Fees for the course are $600 per year not including the retreat cost of $165. A payment plan can be worked out with Linda at the time of the interview. Very limited scholarship assistance may be available. Further information is available on the Tacheria web site, or from the school directors Linda or Frank Williams, 297-6098 or associate director Joanne Roit, or by email.

During Lent 2015, the Rev. Vicki Hesse led a daytime forum on Wednesdays over 5 weeks. The title was "Embracing Spiritual Awakening: Diana Butler Bass on the Dynamics of Experiential Faith." Bass is a well-known observer and commentator on overarching trends in the Christian church. The videos, study guide, and discussions opened our eyes to seeing some of these shifts at work all around us, and to identifying how we ourselves may have been participating in these changes - whether we were aware of it or not! If you'd like to experience this study guide for yourself but missed the forum series, you're in luck! Our Renouf-Nelson Library has several copies of the 87-page Embracing Spiritual Awakening workbook, and one copy of the DVD. Read more.

A scholarly revolution began in the late 1970s that broke open and expanded the interpretation of Jesus of Nazareth's ministry and mission, and the life of early Christianity. Women scholars took leadership in these new explorations, and others like Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, Donald Kraybill, and most recently Reza Aslan (Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth) made major contributions. This reviewer's favorite is Richard Horsley who, like Aslan, looks at the First Century Palestine through the eyes of an historian, and not a theologian. His best book in many ways is Galilee: History, Politics, People. Best because Horsley gets to the roots of the Galilean peasant society from which Jesus emerged using historical, anthropological, sociological, and archeological tools to give the reader a fine portrait of what it was like living in First Century Galilee. Read more.