St. Michael's University Church
The Episcopal/Anglican Campus Ministry and Community Church @ UCSB
Welcome to the all-new website for St. Michael's University Church!
We are an open community of people seeking after God and ministering to the campus and surrounding community. All people are invited to come and join us!
Absolute faith is not a requirement at St. Mike's.
An open heart is.
ALL are welcome.
St. Michael's in located in Isla Vista, California. We are an Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion. We are a community of students, faculty, staff AND residents from Isla Vista, Goleta, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria. We all find God as we gather in the name of Christ around the altar for Communion and we all find God in one another. We come together for worship and study, prayer and celebration. We come together in our questions and our beliefs, in our joys and our sorrows. God meets us all in different ways throughout our faith journeys and we are pleased that you have come here to find and be found.
Welcome home!
Coming Up @ St. Mike's U-Church...Week of 5.4.08.
Monday
5/5, 12-1pm - Progressive Christian Students present "Beyond the Bible: The Gnostic Gospels." Did you know that there are
over 50 different "gospels" or stories about Jesus? Join us for a
lively discussion about some of these stories, and what they might illuminate
about the Christianity that was, what it may have been, and what it
might become. Meet on 1st floor open space of the Student Resource Building (on campus). Facilitated by the Rev. Nicole Janelle & Prof. Jim Lee. All students, faculty & staff welcome.
Tuesday
5/6, 6:30-7:55pm - Bilingual Community Yoga &
Compline Program in
the chapel. This offering blends the spiritual practices of the East &
West. Bring your yoga mat or a towel (we often have extra yoga mats available
for those who don't own their own), dress in comfortable clothing and bring
your friends! Class closes in (optional) Compline Prayer -- the bedtime prayers
of the Anglican Office. Donation of $2 or more requested, but no one will be
turned away for lack of funds. Check out recent publicity on our program: http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=16524
Sunday
5/11, 10-11am - Church - It's the b-day of the church -- Pentecost! Come
to church for an hour of reflection, meditation, song and community. Who knows,
there might even be a b-day cake for the occasion! Pickup choir begins rehearsing
at 9:30am -- no experience necessary. All are welcome at St. Mike's!
~~~
Save
the date...
PCS
presents "What Does Religion Have to do with
Gender Equality?"
Our guest, the Rev. Joanne Leslie, Sc.D., will share
her experience as an Episcopal Church delegate to the UN Commission on the Status of
Women in 2007 and 2008. She will talk about how Millennium Development Goal 3
inspired the passing of a strongly worded gender equality resolution in the
Anglican Consultative Council (the Episcopal Church is part of the global Anglican Communion). And she
will talk about how her participation as part of a religious delegation to the
UNCSW grows directly from her previous 20 year career working on international
women's health issues. The Rev. Leslie is a retired UCLA professor of public
health and an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. 2nd floor conference room (note change of
usual location) of SRB on campus.
Meditative Taize
Service @ St. Mike's
- Wednesday 5/28, 7-8pm.
Annual
Meeting and Elections @ St. Mike's - Sunday, 5/18.
End of the year celebratory BBQ/potluck - After church on Sunday 6/1.
Faith
& the Intellectual Life Luncheon at the Faculty Club for UCSB Episcopal faculty, staff & students -
Monday, 6/2, 12-1:30pm-ish. (Come when you can!)
~~~
Don't
forget to check the St. Michael's Blog - www.saintmikesucsb.vox.com
"What's
Sacred?" Photo Exhibit @ URC
The community photography exhibit
"What's Sacred?" in honor of the University Religious Center's 50th anniversary. Nicole+ served as a judge of
the photo contest and encourages you to check out these great photographs! The
URC is located across from St. Mike's on Camino Pescadero.
Little
House Student Lounge - It's your space!
If you wish to receive a key to
the Little House Student Lounge or chapel, please email our office
administrator Norma at this address. The Little House is a great place to
study, hold a meeting, watch a movie or hang out with friends. We are outfitted
with wireless and a cozy fireplace.
Visit
with the Chaplain/Vicar
The chaplain is always available for conversation on or off
campus. Please email Nicole (revjanelle@gmail.com) or call (968.2712)
her to find a time to meet.
~~~
Monthly meditation from the Taize Community - www.taize.fr
Matthew 5:23-24: Reconciliation Now!
Jesus said: If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother or sister, then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)
In welcoming us, God gives us peace. But God's peace does not put us to sleep. The word of the Gospel cannot leave us quiet. "If at the altar", says Jesus, that is: in the presence of God, "you remember that your brother or sister has something against you", leave everything "and go; first be reconciled".
The words of Jesus stir us up. They even encourage us to allow difficult memories to arise within us: "If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you..." The peace of prayer does not mean forgetting tensions, conflicts, situations of injustice.
A difficult memory may be a word or a deed which have hurt me. It may be also that I become aware that I am the real or imaginary cause of the suffering of someone else, aware that someone "has something against me", as Jesus says. The Gospel invites us to face up to such situations.
In order to take a first step towards reconciliation, there is no need for long preparations. Jesus even says that it is not necessary to offer first one's gift at the altar, not necessary to bring one's prayer to a conclusion. He tells us: "Leave your gift there and go now. Such as you are, you can be reconciled to your brother or sister."
Why is reconciliation so urgent? Why is Jesus so categorical? Because God is peace. Searching for God and searching for peace is one and the same thing. That's why the Gospel calls us to give priority to reconciliation. Christ calls us to commit ourselves and to struggle with a reconciled heart.
In order to go forward on the way of reconciliation, it is useful to give up asking oneself if it would not be my brother's or sister's turn to take the first step. Jesus does not say: "Try first to find out who was wrong and who was right". He says: "Go now and be reconciled." For that is how God acts with us. Without laying down conditions, God comes to meet us first.
In what situations of tension or conflict does the Gospel call me to give priority to reconciliation?
What gives me the courage not to run away from difficult memories but to face them so that relationships can be healed?
What gives me the confidence that an act of reconciliation should not be put off till later but that it is possible now, at once.
New Spring Quarter!!!
BILINGUAL COMMUNITY YOGA
followed by
CANDLELIGHT COMPLINE
in the chapel of St. Michael’s
6:30 – 7:55 pm
EVERY TUESDAY
Spring Quarter Schedule: 1 April – 10 June*
Donation of $2 or more requested.
Yoga instructor Tali Sanchez has a 200 hour Yoga Alliance approved yoga certification from Ananda Yoga, is a Pilates mat teacher trainer, and has a dance major from Washington University in St. Louis. Tali has studied yoga through various programs including some in India. She has been an Ambassador for Lululemon yoga clothing store. Currently she is the Fitness Coordinator at the Montecito Family YMCA, leads yoga and hiking outdoors, and is a professional dancer of various styles of dance including Latin and Bollywood. Tali brings her diverse movement background into her classes to keep the class fresh and work the body in every possible way. She strives to make her classes useful, impacting, and accessible for her students. Her most important theme is “yoga for all yoga bodies” (and everybody has a yoga body!) *Please note that class will NOT be held on June 3 during which time the chapel will be used as a voting precinct.
UCSB & CSU-CI Campus Ministries Sponsor first-ever
CAMPUS CONNECTION WEEKEND!
Interested getting involved?! Read on...
Campus Connection is a new initiative of the Episcopal Campus Ministries at UCSB and Cal State University Channel Islands. Campus Connection creates a partnership between these two campus ministries and urban Los Angeles & Oxnard-area Episcopal parish youth grades 8-12. The goal of Campus Connection is to better prepare select youth for a university education by:
1. creating a community of support within the congregation for youth who are preparing for college;
2. allowing youth to experience university life through a 2-day immersion experience at UCSB and CSU-CI; and
3. linking urban Episcopal youth to others in their faith community who have successfully applied to, or completed college as well as creating community connections among youth of these urban parishes.
Campus Connection includes the following components, which are required of the participants:
* Conversation with between the youth, priest and family about why the youth wishes to participate in Campus Connection.
* Completion of the covenant/contract and permission slip forms to participate in Campus Connection.
* Participation in Campus Connection Preparation Day in LA (March 2008) with the youth's priest and a family member/mentor. The goal of Preparation Day is to build community among participants, to talk about the college preparation process and to review what to expect during the Discovery Weekend. A family member or mentor is not required to attend this meeting, but is strongly encouraged to do so.
* Participation in the Campus Connection Discovery Weekend at UCSB and CSU-CI, Friday April 4th, 7am – Saturday April 5th, 8pm. The Discovery Weekend will include q & a sessions with students and faculty, attendance at a lecture, campus scavenger hunt, UCSB ropes course, evening movie, worship and time spent at the beach
* Participation in the Campus Connection Follow-up Day: "Where do we go from here?" – Date and location TBA.
We believe that Campus Connection is an important program because it helps put college "on the map" for these young people, most of whom do not have family members who are college graduates. It also creates a comprehensive, long-term structure of support that allows parish clergy, campus chaplains, parishioners, family members to help youth prepare for college. We hope that Campus Connection will generate sufficient excitement in these faith communities and our campus ministries so that it becomes an annual program! Let Nicole+ know if you'd like to participate in Campus Connection @ UCSB!
Hope to see you soon!
To learn more about the ongoings @ St. Mike's consult our online calendar!
Don't forget to check out the St. Michael's Blog for the latest inspiring thought!
We're @ 6586 Picasso Road in Isla Vista -- the corner of Picasso & Camino Pescadero.
Ample parking is available off of El Greco!