In the year 2005, we participated in our regular round of worship, ministered to the spiritual needs of our parish family and continued our various means of outreach to the community at large.

This past year, the Pioneer Church was spared yet once again from disaster during the recent Chatsworth fire thanks to the merciful protection of Almighty God and to the diligence of the brave firemen of the fire department who kept the flames at bay.

One of last year’s high points was the welcoming of newcomers Barbara and Steven Gallardo into our fellowship. In the year Barbara was baptized and both she and Steven were confirmed. Also, Ann Hanna became a regular attendee. Sadly, long-time member John Mabbett was taken from our midst by death, and Gretchen Martin lost her son, Peter, and Cecelia Tomney lost her brother, Raul.

Notwithstanding our customary methods for advertising our existence and new exposure in the Chamber of Commerce’s monthly publication, membership remained nearly the same this past year. Overall attendance showed a slight increase which, incidentally, is not attributable to an increase on Sunday mornings, but rather to attendance associated with two funerals. The average attendance per Sunday morning in 2005 was 30.

We continued our practice of having members of the congregation serve as Lectors for the reading of an Old Testament lesson at the Sunday Mass. We sincerely thank all of our volunteer Lectors for the enhancement they render our worship.

Prayer for Christian Unity is offered weekly in our worship and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, annually observed by many Christian bodies, is observed in our parish also. As we have done previously, we again invited the Rev. Darnell Coleman, an ordained Baptist minister, to preach on the Sunday within the 2005 remembrance. Rev. Coleman officially became a member of our parish in the latter part of the year.

For the first time in the history of our parish we celebrated our Patronal Feast Day. Our new Suffragan Bishop, The Right Reverend Henry Joseph King, was our guest celebrant for the Mass. The event was followed by a gala brunch at the Eton Mobile Park Recreation Center.

We also had our very first quarterly Widow and Widower’s Mass and Brunch. For a first-time event the attendance was good and the fellowship over brunch down at the Country Deli was enjoyable.

The parish hosted the All Parish Deanery Mass and the Offertory raised over six hundred dollars which was sent to the Diocese of New Orleans to help with relief efforts following hurricane Katrina. A wonderful lunch was enjoyed afterwards at the Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant in Encino.

A Newcomer’s Luncheon to officially welcome several new members who have joined us within the past two years was held at B.J.’s Restaurant and Brewery.

The presentation of the Seventh Annual Advent Festival of Lessons and Carols was combined, for a third time, with a Sunday Choral Mass. This time however the Mass utilized a Schubert Mass setting and was accompanied by the Recorder Players West which made for a beautiful and moving presentation. Our Choir is to be commended as always for their inspirational offering and hard work.

Last year’s calendar of special events ended with a festive Parish Christmas Party hosted by Gretchen Martin at her lovely home in Chatsworth. Twenty-seven attended, the food was delicious and a great time was enjoyed by all present.

Besides worship, fellowship and special events, many other things took place in the past year.

After many months of planning, our new Air Conditioning and Heating units were installed and are up and running as needed. This should make our summer and winter months at St. Mary’s pleasant and may (hopefully) even increase attendance in those months!

We joined the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce and subsequently have a listing in their widely circulated monthly newpaper. Thanks to Ken Kubo, our web site is once again up and running. If you wish to log on and have a look we are at http://www.stmaryanglican.org.

We had four fund-raisers this year: the Baja Fresh Mexican restaurant, the Souplantation restaurant, the Hospitality Booth at the Chatsworth Pioneer Days and the sale of Discount Coupon Books.

We continued the weekly mailing of the Sunday Sermon to our shut-ins and a few of our hearing impaired members thanks to the faithful efforts of Beth Kubo. And birthday cards were faithfully sent out thanks to Rick Lee. Both the sermons and the cards were gratefully received.

Our thanks to everyone who again contributed food items throughout the year to the FISH Food Basket and to Annette Self for transporting the food items to the FISH distribution center.

Your providing of birthday gifts and Christmas gifts is deeply appreciated by the retirement home residents who are the recipients of your kindness. Our thanks to Sande Gleason for delivering the Christmas gifts to their proper destination for us this year.

We are grateful to all who gave generously to our diocesan missions through the quarterly Mite Box Offering which totaled $335. The Angels Assistance Fund, which is funded through your Birthday Offerings, ended the year with a balance on hand of $1716.84.

Our thanks to our faithful and dedicated Organist, Acolytes, Altar Guild, Cantor, Choir, Hymn Board Monitors, Lay Reader, Long Range Planning Committee, Sunday Lectors, Sunday School Teachers, Ushers, Parish Wardens, Treasurer, Clerk and Vestry. To all of YOU who consistently give generously of your time, talent and treasure to the unending work of Christ’s Church and this parish we are eternally grateful!

Looking Forward in the new year 2006

We hope to continue to deepen the spiritual life of the parish. There are three ways of doing this which have come to mind. The first would be to offer the sacrament of Penance (auricular confession) on a regularly scheduled basis (such as on the first or last Saturdays of each month at a specific hour), in addition to the practice of making an appointment. We may initiate this by offering the sacrifice of Penance on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday. Second, we have yet to explore the viability of holding a first-ever Parish Quiet Day for the members of St. Mary’s, possibly at a nearby Retreat Center in the San Fernando Valley. Third, perhaps we might explore the desirability of establishing a chapter of the Oblates of St. Benedict, a lay devotional order, open to combined participation by men and women. And fourth, as some members recite the Rosary as a personal devotion perhaps we might consider establishing a sodality which would pray the Rosary in behalf of St. Mary’s Parish and for Christian Unity.

To further strengthen the fellowship of the parish family the time may have finally come to establish both a Men’s Group as well as a Women’s Guild. Included in the founding of each would be the goal of doing something for the building up of the parish as well as for the good of the community.

When celebrating the Feast of All Saints on its liturgical date (as well as on the Sunday nearest), the Mass of the liturgical date was followed by a fellowship brunch as a local restaurant. This year we may celebrate other important feast days on their respective liturgical dates, followed by a fellowship brunch at a local restaurant.

The celebration of our first-ever Parish Patronal honoring our patron saint, the Blessed Virgin Mary, was well received. We plan to establish this as a traditional annual observance. Some have suggested we might make more out of the observance. We are open to your ideas for improving it.

The Vestry has decided to renew membership in the North Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce annually so as to be included under the listing of churches in their monthly newspaper. The fee for annual membership is less than the cost of one small seasonal advertisement in the Daily News.

The time has definitely arrived for us to implement providing transportation to Sunday Mass and for parish evening events to our members who are reluctant to drive evenings or are unable to drive at all.

First impressions leave lasting impressions! What impression do visitors receive when they drop in to worship for the first time? Anyone has only to look around on a typical Sunday morning to notice a layer of dust on the pews, kneelers and window sills, cobwebs in the corners and dangling from the rafters to realize that we are in true need of regularly scheduled janitorial service. Small nicks on enameled surfaces and the dog-eared condition of many of the ‘blue books’ and the ragged condition of many of the prayer books and hymnals in the pews also cry for attention. First impressions create lasting impressions!

Lastly, our parish will host the 2006 Annual Diocesan Synod on May 18th & 19th. Plans are already underway for holding the business sessions and banquet at the Raddison Hotel on Topanga Canyon Boulevard. We need you to attend and your participation to help carry it off successfully.

Let us continue in prayer for our national Church, for our bishops and clergy, for our Diocese and local Deanery, for our family at St. Mary’s and for our brother and sister Christians throughout the world, as well as for the Unity of Christ’s Church. And let us do whatever we can as opportunity presents, to be responsive to the needs of others.

Unscathed by the recent fire we continue to be blessed with a beautiful house in which to worship God and deepen spiritually, bring souls to Christ one at a time, nurture them and lead them into fullness throughout his Church. Perhaps we were spared because we have been faithful to the special purpose to which God has called us: to teach and practice the Catholic Faith, biblical morality, the traditional teachings and discipline of the Church and to preserve the beauty of the historic Anglican liturgy. May we continue to practice and safeguard these for the sake of the generations who shall follow us.

Faithfully yours,
The Very Rev. Anthony F. Rasch, Rector
January 27, 2006