X St. Andrew’s Net X
October, 2009
PASTORAL LETTER
Dear Friends,
Fall programs are off to a great start at St. Andrew’s. On Sunday, September 27th we had 16 people enjoy the movie Animals of the Bible and a delicious pot-luck supper which could have fed double the number present! The next night there were 8 teens and adults for Teen Night for pizza, popcorn, discussion and the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
As you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, the Christian Meditation class will be starting soon. On October 4th at 4:00 we will have a short service to bless our animal friends. At our September vestry meeting we discussed serving a free meal to the community on the last Wednesday night of the month. We will do this to help out those in our area who find that there is frequently “more month than money.” More information on this exciting new ministry will follow as we finish the plans.
We have come so far in such a short time from the disaster of the “Flood of 2009!” I am reminded of the brief scripture passage often read at the conclusion of Morning Prayer: “Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.”(Ephesians 3:20, 21) There are so many out there in the world, who don’t know the story, haven’t shared the love we have for each other in Christ. Who knows what other works we will do in his name?!
If we haven’t seen you in a while, please join us for worship. Remember that we have nursery care for our littlest ones and Christian Education classes for the school-age children. All join together for Eucharist.
God’s blessings to you,
Jean
PRIEST’S SCHEDULE
“The Priest in Partnership’s work includes not only activities directed to the parish and its well-being, but also labors on behalf of the Diocese and the community. The P-i-P’s scheduled workweek will be 9.5 units per week (a unit being a morning, afternoon or evening). The vestry expects that the P-i-P will use two full days each week for personal and family activities… It is also mutually recognized that the nature of some congregational responsibilities requires that the P-i-P be ‘on call’ 24 hours a day.”
The above is the wording from my contractual agreement with St. Andrew’s. It is also the standard agreement in the Diocese of Vermont (except for the workweek as I am only 2/3 time, not fulltime). What this means for the members of the parish is that I work from the office and from home. I go out and visit members and community people and participate in Diocesan committees as part of my work for you each month. My posted office hours are Tuesday 10-noon and Wednesday noon-2:00. Because of the nature of the work (and because I still have a child in school who occasionally gets sick!), I am not always there at those exact times, although I do try. So that you will not drive in to see me and find me out of the office, please try to phone ahead. I am available at most other times by appointment. I always take Monday off and my other day and a half varies depending upon the needs of the church and my family. Please do not hesitate to call me at home in the case of a pastoral emergency!
The Rev. Jean MacDonald
CHRISTIAN MEDITATION COURSE
“Introduction to Christian Meditation” will be offered at St. Andrew’s beginning on October 22nd. The course will run for 5 weeks (10/22, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19) beginning at 6:00 pm and running for 1 ½ to 2 hours each time. This course is offered by The Rev. Ken Poppe, Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Burlington. Each session will consist of a brief teaching on meditation, 20 minutes of meditation, a question period and then a presentation of a different aspect of Christian contemplative prayer. It aims to reveal the riches of contemplative prayer within Christianity. The course teaches a consistent practice of non-discursive meditation: silent, imageless, ‘pure’ prayer as we seek God in silence and stillness beyond word or thought. At the first session a DVD will be shown, Coming Home – an introduction to Christian meditation and the community it creates.”
Please let Jean know if you are interested in participating as a Resource Guide will be provided for each participant.
PARTNERS FOR SACRED PLACES
On the front page of this month's Mountain Echo there is a great summary of the first training session for the Partners for Sacred Places program. Jean, John, Diane and I attended that session. It was a long and informative day. The program promises to help participants be able to seek the resources they need to preserve, restore or renovate their buildings in order to continue (or begin) to provide services through their ministry to the community.
Before being able to make a case for public or private funds a church must have a deep appreciation of their heritage, know exactly what they have in terms of building and property, and understand what their presence provides for their community. There are three questions we are being asked to consider as a team and as a congregation: who are we?, what do we have?, and what do we do?
The Partners for Sacred Places program provides the" tool kit" for answering these questions. These "tools' are in booklet form. There is a Heritage tool, which will help us tell the story of who we are in the context of our community and national history. There is a Building Assessment tool, which will help us create a master plan for regular maintenance and major repairs so they can be attended to in a routined fashion even in the event of personal change. And there is a tool for calculating our public value, which will help us to put a dollar value on the ministry we do in the community.
This is a great work in progress - both learning how to use these tools and then working with them. The point was made during September's training that in almost all cases the connections we already have are more than enough for what we need, we just haven't tapped into them yet. The Partners for Sacred Places program will help us tap into them. You will be hearing more about our involvement in the program and you will have opportunities to help out in various ways.
-Robin Bergman
UNITED THANK OFFERING FALL INGATHERING TO BE NOVEMBER 1
What goes around comes around – Betty Maynard is going to take over the United Thank Offering again. The fall ingathering will be on All Saints Day this year since All Saints Day is Sunday, November 1. Bring your Blue Box or an envelope that will be provided for your check. There will be more information available later in the month of October. We have a lot to be thankful for and hope you have been putting coins in your boxes since the Spring Ingathering on Mothers’ Day.
H1N1 OR “SWINE” FLU
Flu season is upon us. At the last vestry meeting we discussed our response to it and I have also communicated with the Bishop about this. There are some changes we will make for the duration of the flu season. First, use common sense around leaving home when you are sick. As much as we want to see your face in church we would rather have you healthy! Second, please use your discretion when passing the peace. We are a hugging, hand-shaking bunch, but there may come a time when we will need to just speak to each other. There will be hand sanitizers available for before/after sharing the peace. Lastly, we will switch to wafers for communion and there will be no more intinction (dipping the bread into the wine) because of the possibility of fingers going into the wine. I will use a hand sanitizer before consecrating the elements. There may be more changes coming as we hear from the diocese and the Bishop. Communion in one kind (bread only) is full communion. We will go back to normal worship practices at the end of flu season!
URGENT NEED CONTINUES: We are still seeking additional folks who can spare a little time and energy to extend pastoral care services to our fellow parishoners. At the moment, Sybil, Jocelyn, and Armand are attempting to provide pastoral care (along with our priest, Jean), and this important ministry is in dire need of extra helping hands and hearts! Contact Jean, Armand, Jocelyn (748-5247; jocelyn292@earthlink.net), or Sybil (626-8678; nekenna@kingcon.com) if you feel called to this important ministry!
Also, please take a moment to look over the following "call list" that the Pastoral Team currently has. If you wish to add your name to or delete your name from any of the important ministries listed, please contact Sybil or Jocelyn by phone or email as soon as possible.
Home/Hospital Visits: Arlene Cornell, Robin Bergman, Karen Cheney, Diane Montague, Jocelyn Burrell, Mary Strole
Child care: Robin, Nicky Stevens,Sybil Hazen
Casseroles: Betty Maynard, Arlene, Robin, Nicky, Sybil, Karen, Jocelyn, Mary
Special Coffee Hours / Receptions: Arlene, Robin, Margaret Ryan, Nicky, Sybil, Karen, Diane, Jocelyn, Mary
Transportation: Robin, Sybil, Jocelyn
THANK YOU!
The family of Fred Maynard thanks all who so generously helped them with the memorial service on September 19. We thank you for moving the chairs and tables so many times to accommodate us and for furnishing all the delicious food for the reception. We heard so many good things from our family and friends about the service and it wouldn’t have happened without all your work. Fred’s sisters told us how wonderful they were treated and were very grateful. Fred was their last remaining brother and they felt rather vulnerable at that time. We thank you so much –
Betty, Stephen, Sandra, Cheryl, Charles, Stuart, Christopher, Craig and Sarah
and their wives, husbands and children
Thursday, October 8th
5 p.m.
FREE ORGAN RECITAL
at
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church.
A member of a visiting group of German organists
will give a free organ recital
on our lovely 1882 Hook and Hastings pipe organ.
ALL ARE WELCOME!
PLEASE INVITE THOSE IN YOUR CONGREGATIONS
