Vol. 3, # 3, August 27, 2004

Letters to PH

An upbeat letter from Sooner Shepson Kathy Wade

Dear Doc,

Congratulations on starting Volume 3 of Poor Henry's Almanac. Those of us who consider ourselves absentee Shepsons continued to be enriched by the news, prayer opportunities and tongue-in-cheek humor we receive every week.

Also, I'd like to add my Amen to the description of Miller Alvis being an extension of what the Lord Jesus would be doing to help others. I would lump all of the Shepsons in that category!

I also wanted to let you know that I have joined a small Baptist church in the rural part of Shawnee, Okla. (near the famed Oklahoma Baptist University) and am happy to report what an incredibly missions-minded pastor we have to involve youth all the way up to senior citizens in everything from adopting college students for the year, supporting local school teachers with encouragement to helping to build churches on U.S. soil as well as overseas. I have become a part of a women's Sunday School class who graciously accompanied me to the altar one Sunday morning as I joined the church.

Thank you for keeping all of us informed with the PHA. I look forward to it every week.
God's blessings on you Doc!

Kathy Wade (8/13/04)

A letter to Diane Shoemake and the Board of Missions

Hi, Diane--

I'm a deacon at River Road church and was contacted recently by the friend of my mother's who is in turn trying to find help for the daughter of a friend of hers (if you follow!). I contacted Bob Dibble, who recommended I get in touch with you.

Allow me to lay out the story (it's long and involved, which is why I thought it best to e-mail it to you--your husband was kind enough to supply an e-mail address). This is what I had written to Bob Dibble when he suggested that you might look sympathetically on the situation:

My mother called me a couple of months ago because a friend of hers from high school in Boston (some 50+ years ago) had tracked her down.

It turns out that this friend of my mother's has a friend of her own, and that friend-of-a-friend has a daughter who has been admitted to a local college in the fall. This was a big deal because the daughter and her mother are from, I believe, Taiwan or Singapore. But they have lived in the United States since the college-age daughter was a little girl. Soon after they came to the U.S., the woman left her husband because he had been beating her, and since then she's been living on her own (with her daughter) working at whatever jobs she could to put a roof over their head and food on the table. She/they have applied for green cards, but evidently it is a long and complicated process--all the more so since 9/11--and they were advised not to push the immigration folks because that often gets the officials kind of upset and makes it even harder.

My mother's friend came to know and care deeply for this family when she taught the mother in an ESL course in Massachusetts (where they all live).

The young lady is apparently a GREAT student, valedictorian in high school, but kept being turned down by all these colleges because of her uncertain immigration status. The only school that accepted her was the local college. And my mother's friend, thinking that that school might be a part of the Virginia college system, got in touch with my mother because she had a vague recollection that one of my mother's kids was associated with the Virginia college system--and the lucky but unknown thing was, I work directly for the institution in question!

The whole reason they got in touch was that the young lady has been offered a half-scholarship, which is wonderful--but they don't have any additional money of their own to make up the difference (and as you know, college isn't cheap). At the very least, they wanted me to get in touch with the incoming student so she would have a friendly face here in Richmond, since it's so far from the Boston area. I have certainly done so, and plan to see her in the fall. But they also hoped I might be able to work on finding her a job or some other form of financial assistance (we're trying to figure out if offering her a room at our house would be possible and/or help).

All of which leads me to write to you--would you know of any group/individual/organization who would be able to help this situation from a direct financial or employment perspective? They can't get student loans because of the citizenship question, and I think they honestly don't want to press the university too much because they don't want them to say "Well, in fact, we have to rescind our offer." But maybe some person or some institution would be willing to simply offer a gift or a grant or a no-interest loan to her. She has transcripts and other materials she is willing to use to establish her intent to put any money she can get to good use.

The young woman desperately wants a college education--through all this, she has maintained great grades, and grew up completely as a regular American kid--in other words, this is virtually the only country she knows. My understanding is that she would simply be crushed if she couldn't go to college--our nearby school in particular. We as adults realize that she might have the option of working her way through, say, community college--but I think that would be a tremendous blow, as all her friends are going to four-year institutions and she sees that as the real route to the future success she wants.

I'm inclined to help out however we can--her story has really touched me, and lead me to write to you today. It just seems like she's been dealt a tough hand, and that through no fault of her own. And while I recognize that lots of folks have very similar stories, this is the one that's in front of me and in some ways the one that came and hunted me down.

Do you have any suggestions as to places to turn or people--inside or outside the congregation--to speak with? I figured it was definitely worth a lengthy e-mail to you to see if you might have any thoughts on the matter. I expect somebody might be touched by this story and might be able to help out.

Thank you so very much!

And this is where I stand--seeing if I can find somebody with the knowledge and/or wherewithal to help this young lady out. If you are similarly moved and if you have any suggestions of sources or indeed any advice you can offer, it would be most appreciated!

All my best,

--Eric Johnson

An important announcement from Kitty Davis

George and I would like for the class in spirit to celebrate with us Philip's ordination service on Sun. Aug. 29 in Charlotte, NC, at Uptown Christ Covenant Church (Presbyterian). The Rev. Philip and his family will be going to Prague in the spring to plant an international English-speaking church. Kitty

Dates to Mark on Your Calendar

Sunday, August 29, The Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost (PH assumes you were counting): Dr. Sherman is down to six ideas, three this Sunday and three next Sunday. Don't miss hearing Cecil. Be sure to be on time, bring your Bible, bring your offering, prepare your lesson and know your memory verse (John 11:35).

On this same Sunday, Professor Jonathan Stubbs of the University of Richmond Law School will present his second lecture on "Brown vs. the Board of Education, Fifty Years After." For your information, Professor Stubbs earned degrees are as follows:

Jonathan Stubbs

M.T.S., Harvard University, 1990;
LL.M., Harvard University, 1979;
J.D., Yale University, 1978;
B.A., Oxford University, 1976;
B.A., Haverford College, 1974.

Sunday, September 5, We say thanks to Cecil in Fellowship Hall at noon.
At 9:45 AM, The final 2004 Catacombs Lecture: Can God Be Found in the Movies?
    The Pianist
Monday, September 6, Labor Day (maternity shops closed)
Tuesday, September 7, Pastor Mike Clingenpeel begins his duties as our pastor
Wednesday, September 8, 5:30 PM Fried chicken and baked beans just before the River Road Evangelical Follies
Sunday, September 12, Pastor Mike delivers his first sermon as our pastor.

ANOTHER IMPORTANT DATE FOR YOUR CALENDAR: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16TH. Carolyn and George Thomas will host our fall social. Fellowship, 6:00-7:00 PM; dinner, 7:00 PM. More details later.

DON'T FORGET. You can pick up your I and II Samuel commentary this Sunday (August 29th) or next Sunday (September 5th).

Prayer Rounds

For Class Prayer List - Audrey Thomson, her mother, and her sister. Audrey's mother, Sheila Komito, fell from a pier at the family home in Tappahannock and injured her leg so severely that it required over 60 stitches. Audrey's sister, Sharon Ruben, had a malignant lump removed from her breast and will begin radiation therapy immediately. Please keep Audrey, Sheila, and Sharon in your prayers.

Remember in your prayers Audrey, Sheila Komito, Sharon Ruben, Pam Hughes and her family, Jared Oliver, Cecil and Dot Sherman, Rick and Linda Mears, Franklin Fowler, Julia Tyler and her parents, Donald and Barbara Deer, Mary and Julian Pentecost, Kay and Bob Culpepper, John and Margaret Oliver, Mike and Vivian Clingenpeel, the Church staff, our military and civilians in harm's way, and those only known to you.

ISH School Supplies Campaign Ends with Success

The ISH school supplies campaign came to a very successful conclusion when Shepsons Charlotte, Bill, Brenda and PH made a final delivery of school supplies to ISH last Wednesday. The final delivery included:

800 sheets of notebook paper
11 spiral notebooks
42 pencils
30 ball point pens
102 washable markers
2 scissors
3 bottles of glue
5 glue sticks
200 three by five index cards
2 composition books
1 box facial tissues
2 highlighters
32 crayons
1 two pocket folder
1 pencil box
3 giant erasers
2 permanent markers
1 pencil sharpener
1 stapler
666 Cliff notes on passing the SOL's (just wanted to see if you are paying attention)

Shepson George Is Twenty-nine Tomorrow

Shepson Dr. George Thomas is still twenty-eight today, but will be twenty-nine tomorrow. Margaret and John Oliver will celebrate fifty-eight years of marital bliss on Sunday. They must have married as teen agers.

Is Title IX Working?

The Title IX Education Amendment of 1972 seems to be working. During PH's high school and college days, American women athletes seemed unable, unprepared and untrained to compete equally in international sports with women athletes within the Iron Curtain countries. During those years there were some notable exceptions. However, in the last four summer Olympic games American women, particularly in team sports, have caught up with the rest of the world and in some sports have excelled. Equal opportunity in the USA does seem to be working in sports.

Does the Catholic Church Need A Dose of Liberation Theology?

Eight Year Old's First Holy Communion Invalidated by Church

By JOHN CURRAN

The Associated Press BRIELLE, N.J. - An 8-year-old girl who suffers from a rare digestive disorder and cannot consume wheat has had her first Holy Communion declared invalid because the wafer contained none, violating Catholic doctrine. Now, Haley Waldman's mother is pushing the Diocese of Trenton and the Vatican to make an exception, saying the girl's condition - celiac sprue disease - should not exclude her from participating in the sacrament, in which Roman Catholics eat consecrated wheat-based wafers to commemorate the last supper of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. "In my mind, I think they must not understand celiac," said Elizabeth Pelly-Waldman, 30. "It's just not a viable option. How does it corrupt the tradition of the Last Supper? It's just rice versus wheat." It's more than that, according to church doctrine, which holds that communion wafers must have at least some unleavened wheat, as did the bread served at the Last Supper. The Diocese of Trenton has told Waldman's mother that the girl can receive a low-gluten host, drink wine at communion or abstain entirely, but that any host without gluten does not qualify as Holy Communion. Pelly-Waldman rejected the offer, saying even a small amount of gluten could harm her child. Gluten is a food protein contained in wheat and other grains. "This is not an issue to be determined at the diocesan or parish level, but has already been decided for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world by Vatican authority," said Bishop John M. Smith. "Hosts that are completely gluten-free are invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist," Smith said in a prepared statement released Thursday by the diocese. Celiac sprue disease, an autoimmune disorder, occurs in people with a genetic intolerance of gluten. When consumed by celiac sufferers, gluten damages the lining of the small intestine, blocking nutrient absorption and leading to vitamin deficiencies, bone-thinning and sometimes gastrointestinal cancer. It isn't the first such communion controversy. In 2001, the family of a 5-year-old Natick, Mass., girl with the disease left the Catholic church after being denied permission to use a rice wafer. Some Catholic churches allow the use of no-gluten hosts, others don't, according to Elaine Monarch, executive director of the Celiac Disease Foundation, a Studio City, Calif.-based support group for sufferers. "It is a dilemma," said Monarch. "It is a major frustration that someone who wants to follow their religion is restricted from doing so because some churches will not allow it." "It is an undue hardship on a person who wants to practice their religion and needs to compromise their health to do so," Monarch said. Haley Waldman, a shy, brown-haired tomboy who loves surfing and hates to wear a dress, was diagnosed with the disorder at 5. "I'm on a gluten-free diet because I can't have wheat, I could die," she said in an interview Wednesday. Last year, in anticipation of the Brielle Elementary School third grader reaching Holy Communion age, her mother told officials at St. Denis Catholic Church in Manasquan that the girl could not have the standard host. The church's pastor, the Rev. Stanley P. Lukaszewski, told her that a gluten-free substitute was unacceptable. But a priest at a nearby parish contacted Pelly-Waldman after learning about the dilemma, volunteering to administer the sacrament using a gluten-free host. She said she won't identify the priest or his parish for fear of repercussions from diocese. On May 2, Waldman - wearing a white communion dress - made her first Holy Communion in a ceremony at the priest's church. Her mother, who also suffers from celiac and had not received communion since her diagnosis four years ago, also received. But last month, the diocese told the priest that Waldman's sacrament would not be validated by the church because of the substitute wafer. "I struggled with telling her that the sacrament did not happen," said Pelly-Waldman. "She lives in a world of rules. She says `Mommy, do we want to break a rule? Are we breaking a rule?'" Now, the mother is seeking papal intervention. She has written to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, challenging the church's policy. "This is a church rule, not God's will, and it can easily be adjusted to meet the needs of the people, while staying true to the traditions of our faith," Pelly-Waldman said in the letter. For her part, Pelly-Waldman - who attends Mass every Sunday with her four children - said she is not out to bash the church, just to change the policy that affects her daughter. "I'm hopeful. Do I think it will be a long road to change? Yes. But I'm raising an awareness and I'm taking it one step at a time," she said.August 12, 2004, 2:25 PM (2004 Copyright Calkins Media, Inc.)

PH: This little girl's communion being invalidated seems like one of those situations in which you wonder, "What would Jesus do?" Since Jesus had no hesitation about healing the ill and disabled on the Sabbath in violation of the Jewish law, PH thinks He would let the little girl eat a rice wafer in place of the wheat bread without pause. How do male human beings in multicolored robes rationalize that they can judge for God?

PH

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