Doing Sacred Business

Community Conversation Regarding Our Priorities

We've got a lot going on in The Gathering and much to share with each other, so this evening will be full of engaging with the Spirit and discussing and deciding things that shape who we are. You are encouraged to participate. The Gathering is a collaborative community where, just as our bell banner symbolizes, each voice is unique and important in making up the whole chorus. We say we welcome all into the "full life and ministry of The Gathering" and that doesn't just mean others - it means us, too!

Recognizing the time issue, we will not have a regular pot-luck; feel free, however, to bring a sack supper if you'd like. Our monetary offering will be designated for The Gathering; you are also invited to bring school supplies which will be donated to Austin Elementary, the school zone in which Promenade Square (618 Locust) resides.

Sunday, August 29
5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street

Eating for a Better Future
Kids Eat! Program a Body and Soul Success!

Woohoo! Tom Green County children are back in school with healthy brains - because of summer break. Or, at least because of what happened during lunch throughout the summer. According to Carol Rigby-Hiebert, coordinator of the Kids Eat! summer feeding program, Tom Green County kids (and some of their parents) did, in fact, eat healthy lunches this summer, which makes a huge difference in their physical and mental school-readiness now.

She states:

Nearly 14,000 meals were served to children;
Nearly 2,400 meals were served to parents/caregivers;
Nearly 18,000 total meals were served;
Over 550 take home bags were distributed at 3 sites;
Additionally, the Boys and Girls Club served approximately 7,100 meals to children.

The Gathering contributed $245 to the effort. For media coverage, check out the Standard-Times article.


Season of Peace

The Peace Ambassadors of West Texas, an interfaith group of citizens working together to promote peace through understanding by education and building relationships, announce the 2010 "Peace Begins with Me" Season of Peace! This is the third year of bringing our community together by offering interfaith dialogues, prayer services, and educational programs which break down the walls separating us one from another.
The Season of Peace will include:

Sept. 9, 7 p.m. Unity Church: Interfaith opening prayer service.

Sept. 11, 9 a.m. at the 911 Memorial: An inter faith 9/11 Memorial program.

Sept 16, 6:30 p.m. at San Angelo Convention Center, North Meeting Room C: The Gathering is hosting Turk Pipkin's film One Peace at a Time.

Sept. 19, at Unity Church: Musical program with Dwaine Briggs singing uplifting and inspiring songs of peace.

Sept. 21, at 6:30 at ASU Davidson Ballroom: A presentation hosted by ASU featuring Dr. Helen Rose Ebaugh, Professor of World Religions from the University of Houston. She will be speaking about the importance of inter faith dialogues and will also be focusing on the myths behind Islam and what we hear in the media.

Through prayer and meditation, we experience the inner peace promised by God. From this inner state of peace, we manifest peace in our community and in our world.


Reasons & Opportunities to Gather in September

Sunday, August 29 - Gathering for Sacred Business, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street.

Thursday, September 2 - ASU HERO meeting (Helping Educate Regarding Orientation).

Sunday, September 5 -Oneness Blessing , 1:30 pm, Unity Church.

Sunday, September 5 - Gathering for Worship, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street. I am seeking help in co-planning and leading worship.

Monday, September 6 - Meeting for silent Quaker worship, 6:30 pm, 1305 St. Andrews

Sunday, September 12 - Gathering for Reflection and Conversation. Teresa Rylander and Karen co-leading. 5:30 pm, 618 Locust.

Thursday, September 16 - The Gathering Film Series begins! 6:30 pm, San Angelo Convention Center.

Sunday, September 19 - Gathering for Worship. I am seeking help in co-planning and leading worship.

Sunday, September 24 - Gathering to Receive a Blessing via the Oneness Blessing, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street.

Sharing Our Resources

Sunday, 15 August:
Total - $612.27
West Texas Organizing Strategy - $215
The Gathering - $350
In-Kind Donation - $47.27

Sunday, 22 August:
Total - $360
Church World Service (for Pakistan aid) - $210
The Gathering - $110
In-Kind Donation - $40





Words of Appreciation

The Gathering,

You're the greatest! We appreciate your support of our Center's programs! Your efforts enable us to make a difference in the lives of the individuals we serve and other community stakeholders.


An Education in Religious Freedom
War on Prayer

When the student is ready, the master appears.
Buddhist Proverb

Contact Us:

Our Webpage

Our Blog

Our Email

325-374-1566

Cultivating Life

We're growing a faith community where life is cultivated

Dinner and a Movie
Sunday August 22, 5:30 pm

We'll watch Academy Award Nominee The Garden, and discussion will be lead by Maurice Toliver.

Synopsis: The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.... The powers-that-be have the same response: "The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do." If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?

We'll share garden fresh vegetables and other treats while we watch the movie, so easy-to-eat-on-your-lap garden-fresh kinds of things are suggested for our potluck. In observance of Ramadan, and in response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, our offering will be designated to help Pakistani flood victims.


Seeking to Faithfully & Responsibly Live Our Practices
West Texas Organizing Strategy
Thursday, August 26, St. Paul Presbyterian Church, 6:30 pm.

You are invited to the upcoming "General Find-Out-What-WTOS-Is-About and Find-Out-How-WTOS-Is-Changing-San-Angelo" Dinner and Meeting

We begin our Open and Affirming statement with the sentence:

The Gathering affirms the inherent dignity and sacredness of all human beings and the value of all life in the universe.

Our Purpose states:

Our dynamic community offers you an inclusive spiritual home. We gather as works-in-progress in a chorus of Divine Mystery, committed to the possibilities in all God's creation through authentic relationship.

Because we believe in the inherent dignity and sacredness of all, and because we are committed to the possibilities in all God's creation, and because one of our Practices is, we are members and participants of West Texas Organizing Strategy, a coalition of 60 regional churches and schools who have joined together seeking a living wage, equity in education, affordable housing, access to quality health care, and other issues of justice for all people in the Concho Valley. WTOS has and is making a HUGE positive difference in the lives of many Concho Valley residents.

Thursday, August 26, 6:30 pm, St. Paul Presbyterian will host the monthly WTOS meeting, but at this meeting, 4 representatives from the city will be present to discuss WTOS' concrete impact in San Angelo, we will learn about WTOS' general efforts for the next few months, and we'll also be treated to a barbeque dinner. Craig Meyers says if we want to bring a dessert, that's ok, and if we don't want to bring a dessert - that's ok, too, because other desserts will be there. This is a great and important opportunity to learn more about WTOS and more about how we can make a real difference in the lives of so many of our neighbors. Truly, politics IS local and also a faith issue, and YOU are invited to be a part of this short evening.


Introducing The 2010/2011 Gathering Film Series:
Neighbors Known and Unknown

Thanks to The Gathering's Community Connecting Workgroup and the United Church of Christ's Media with a Mission Grant, The Gathering is offering a film series to provide a place of authentic and respectful relationship and conversation re: contemporary justice issues. Our goal is two-fold: 1) the social justice aspect - educate and expand people's knowledge about and compassion for others; and 2) help The Gathering get more known in the community.

Our first movie, One Peace at a Time, is scheduled to coincide with the Peace Ambassadors' Season of Peace emphasis (formerly known as The 11 Days of Peace). Reserve the date now, and invite others to join you!

One Peace at a Time was written and directed by Turk Pipkin and is the follow-up to his movie Nobelity.

One Peace at a Time
When: Thursday evening, September 16, 2010
Where: The San Angelo Convention Center, North Meeting Room C (Please note, this is a change from last week's e-newsletter.)
Time: 6:30 pm.
Light snacks will be provided.


Reasons to Gather In the Days Ahead...

Thursday, August 26 - West Texas Organizing Strategy meeting, 6:30 pm, St. Paul Presbyterian Church. Barbeque dinner will be provided.
Saturday, August 28 - West Texas Organizing Strategy trip to Austin to learn about upcoming legislative issues.
Sunday, August 29 - Gathering for Conversation Re: Our Priorities, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street.
Sunday, September 5 - Oneness Blessing, 1:30 pm, Unity Church.
Sunday, September 5 - Gathering for Worship, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street. I am looking for help in co-planning and leading worship.
Monday, September 6 - Meeting for silent Quaker worship, 6:30 pm, Karen and Neil's house, 1305 St. Andrews.
Sunday, September 12 - Gathering for Reflection and Conversation using Sharon Salzberg's book Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience as starting point. Teresa Rylander and Karen co-leading. 5:30 pm, 618 Locust.
Thursday, September 16 - The Gathering Film Series kicks off!! One Peace at a Time. 6:30 pm, San Angelo Convention Center.
Sunday, September 19 - Gathering for Worship, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust. I am looking for help in co-planning and leading worship.
Sunday, September 24 - Gathering to receive a blessing via the Oneness Blessing, 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street.


Free Trip to



Got your attention, didn't I? It'd be great fun if the trip included a stopover at Austin City Limits music venue, but alas, it's not to be - it's actually for something much more important to the majority of Texans: a day exploring the limits and possibilities in upcoming state legislative issues and how we can be a voice and advocate for voiceless Texans. With the upcoming serious budget deficits, things like mental health care, food stamps, early childhood education programs, etc, are all threatened. West Texas Organizing Strategy is sponsoring a one-day trip to our state capitol to learn about all the issues facing our state and how we can be involved in advocating for justice for "the least of these." It should be a very informative and interesting day, and it'd be great if we had a couple of Gatherers go! For more info, contact me.


Holding in Our Hearts

In all our joys and in all our concerns, may we be ever mindful of the presentness of God among us, and to see new possibilities of the now:

Larry and Irene Luvaul's new email address is: luvaul.l@comcast.net.

United States combat troops have left Iraq. 50,000 troops remain.
Crockett Light has begun cancer treatment in Houston. Contact info: annlight@zipnet.us.

Dusty's plea bargain fell through, and she is incarcerated at Tom Green County Jail awaiting a mental competency hearing.

Russia is on fire and Pakistan is under water.

Children across the world are playing with wild abandon, and youth are dreaming of the future.

Trudy Darling Ballentine donated a keyboard to The Gathering.

UCC leaders denounce fear-mongering of Muslims and Manhattan Cordoba House.

United States combat troops remain in Afghanistan.

No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here...


Inching along, planting seeds, holding you close,

Karen Schmeltekopf
thegatheringsanangelo@yahoo.com
325-374-1566
1305 St. Andrews
San Angelo, Texas 76904

A Cool & Refreshing Slice of Community

Service of Song & Prayer in Manner of Taize

Sunday, August 15th at 5:30 pm
618 Locust

The Taizé community, based in Taize, France, is an ecumenical monastic order with a strong devotion to peace and justice through prayer and meditation. Prayer and silence are at the heart of the Taizé experience.

The 100-strong community of Catholic and Protestant monks is drawn from 30 countries across the world. The community has become one of the world's most important sites of Christian pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world pilgrim to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and reconciliation.

The community seeks to include people and traditions worldwide. They demonstrate this in music and prayers where songs are sung in many languages, and include chants and icons from the Eastern Orthodox or other pieces of scripture, repeated and sometimes also sung in canon.

Sunday's Gathering worship experience will be a Taize service of prayer and meditation. Our offering will honor our own ecumenical effort devoted to peace and justice - West Texas Organizing Strategy. Our potluck theme is, of course, simple French fare.


2010/2011 Gathering Film Series: Neighbors Known and Unknown

Thanks to The Gathering's Community Connecting Workgroup and the United Church of Christ's Media with a Mission grant, The Gathering is offering a film series to provide a place of authentic and respectful relationship and conversation re: contemporary justice issues. Our goal is two-fold: 1) the social justice aspect - educate and expand people's knowledge about and compassion for others; and 2) help The Gathering get more known in the community.

Our first movie, One Peace at a Time, is scheduled to coincide with the Peace Ambassadors' Season of Peace emphasis (formerly known as The 11 Days of Peace). Reserve the date now, and invite others to join you!

Thursday evening, September 16, 2010
San Angelo Health Foundation/San Angelo Visitor Center's River View room

Plan now to attend, and watch for more information!


The Collection Basket

Sunday, July 25, 2010
Total Received: $265
Mental Health Mental Retardation Workshop: $150
The Gathering: $115

Sunday, August 1, 2010
Total Received: $347
The Gathering: $347
Paper Goods for Concho Valley Food Bank

Sunday, August 8, 2010
Total Received: $288.54
Bread For The Journey: $178.54
The Gathering: $110


Calendar Highlights

Dinner and a Movie: Sunday, August 22- 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street

Academy Award Nominee The Garden; discussion lead by Maurice Toliver. The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country's most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.... The powers-that-be have the same response: "The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do." If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?

Gathering for Sacred Business- Sunday, August 29- 5:30 pm, 618 Locust Street

Community Conversation Regarding Our Priorities We've got a lot going on in The Gathering and much to share with each other, so this evening will be full of engaging with the Spirit and discussing and deciding things that shape who we are. You are encouraged to participate. The Gathering is a collaborative community where, just as our bell banner symbolizes, each voice is unique and important in making up the whole chorus. We say we welcome all into the "full life and ministry of The Gathering" and that doesn't just mean others - it means us, too!

Recognizing the time issue, we will not have a regular pot-luck; feel free, however, to bring a sack supper if you'd like.


Support Our Sidewalk Musician

Trudy Darling Ballentine will be the star of Mar-Tiques' sidewalk Thursday evening, August 19, during the downtown Artwalk celebration. Sing along and dance to the tunes as she plays the old piano outside of Mar-Tiques Downtown, 129 S. Chadbourne St (formerly Nathan's Jewelers). For more info, contact Trudy.


Revealing Ramadan

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, which is based on the moon. The Qur'an was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad during the month of Ramadan. The month is a special time of worship, Qur'an reading, charitable acts, and individual reflection and purification. For Ramadan stories, poems, music, traditions, and more, explore Speaking of Faith's website and podcast.


Holding in the Light....

Crockett Light and family as he begins radiation in Houston;
Bonnie's grandfather and family;
My father and family as he recuperates from surgery in Dallas;
Pakistani lives devastated by flood;
Gulf residents and ecosystem mired in oil disaster and also observing the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina;
Chinese lives and ecosystem struggling due to an oil disaster;
Those whose lives are impacted and determined by war and violence;
Those whose lives are limited and painful due to prejudice, injustice, hatred, misunderstanding;
Those living with the complexities of chronic illness and pain;
Those imprisoned physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally.

Never place a period where God has placed a comma,

Salaam, Shalom, Peace,

Karen Schmeltekopf
thegatheringsanangelo@yahoo.com

The Light of Love

Gathering for Exploration and Discussion

This Sunday we will gather for exploration, reflection and conversation concerning the notion of unconditional love. Teresa Rylander and Howard Green will facilitate the conversation, and they use as their foundation an interesting collection of writings from the Tao te Ching, John Shelby Spong, and Dale Allen Hoffman.

The offering will be designated for Bread for the Journey and the potluck theme is Light and Easy. Join us 8 August 2010 at 5:30 pm, 618 Locust.


Celebrations All Around!

I celebrate our recent anniversary celebration and am very appreciative of many who helped make sure the evening was meaningful. I will write more about this when my 11 y.o. niece is no longer visiting from Houston and I have recovered my life. :)

I also celebrate the recent ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker declaring the California law defining marriage as a union only between a man and a woman unconstitutional. Below is the statement written by Rev. Jo Hudson, Ph.D., Senior Pastor at Cathedral of Hope United Church of Christ in Dallas. I am delighted and proud that one of The Gathering's sister congregations in both the UCC and the North Texas Association of the South Central Conference is Cathedral of Hope.


A Pastoral Response to Proposition 8 Ruling

August 4, 2010 – Today, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker declared the California state law that defines marriage as a union of one man and one woman unconstitutional. I applaud this ruling and believe that Judge Walker has issued a just and fair ruling that pleases God. The journey to full marriage equality for all Americans is still before us. But I have faith that the God who created each of us and called it good is with us in this journey and will see it through.

As the world’s largest predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender congregation, we stand with the 18,000 same-sex couples who have already been married in California and with the hundreds that have been married here at the Cathedral of Hope in our 40 years of ministry. We also stand with every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender person who has courageously made covenant with someone they love despite the laws in our nation. This is a day of celebration and joy and we have seen the realm of God come closer to the earth and for that I give God thanks. Rev. Jo Hudson, Ph.D., Senior Pastor, Cathedral of Hope, Dallas, Texas

We seek to be a community of compassion and welcome. We bring all that we are and all that we yet can be, to the safe and holy place.

Namaste,
Karen Schmeltekopf