Annual Pancake Supper

Transcription

1 THE GOOD NEWS February 2013 Annual Pancake Supper Shrove Tuesday, February 12, 5:00 p.m. Inside this Issue Parish News & Notes Vestry highlights Upcoming Events EYC Happenings Church Calendar and Ministry Schedule The Rector s Report excerpted from the Annual Meeting As we approach the first anniversary of our time together, you need to know how deeply I consider our finding one another as a true work of the Holy Spirit. From the day in mid-november when I first expressed interest in learning more about St. Paul s to the day I got a call from Senior Warden, Martha Polk, was barely fortyfive days unheard of in clergy searches. From the first Sunday I stepped up into our pulpit and behind our Altar, St. Paul s has continued to be my peace and my joy. I want to be sure to thank Judy Duncan, and Leslie Newman, and Monessa Curry, and Evalyn Champion, and Donna Mulcahy for so quickly and so gently folding me into the rhythm of our work here at St. Paul s. We pay these folks, but probably not enough for all the time they put in on our behalf, and certainly not enough for the love they throw in for free. With all the other things that we do, the one area of our life that is distinctive to the Church is that the primary focus of every thing we do is worship. In the last year, we have tried to bring more scope and breadth to our worship here at St. Paul s. For the record, we had an average Sunday attendance of a little over 70 over the 53 Sundays of 2012, versus the 66 we reported last year; we baptized four people, buried our friend Jean Trigg, and saw Tom and Donna Windberg married. As everywhere, children are one of our biggest joys at St. Paul s. We have the faithfulness of parents and other volunteers to thank for being able to offer a meaningful Sunday School experience week after week. We got a chance to host the fourcongregation joint Vacation Bible School program for the first time ever this year, teaching a very large gaggle of kids from all over town about the endless possibilities of God s love. In just a few weeks we will present six of our youth to the Bishop of Kentucky for Confirmation after several months of preparation to take on their role as adult Christians. Of course, education is not just for the younger set, and we ve had a great time finding new ways for us old dogs to learn new tricks as well. One of the things that makes us a Parish family is the connections that we build with one another. We care for one another by being there for one another. We ve made lots of opportunities for those connections to grow this year, and one can only imagine what we might get up to in the year ahead. In this first year together, it has been absolutely fantastic getting to know those of you that have let me. Along with seeing you when you are in the hospital or in times of crises, I hope you will let me know how I can be part of your life. I know I want you to be part of mine. Keeping all this joy to ourselves, though, just doesn t go with what we know about how Jesus did things, does it? And so we share, with each other, of course, but outside our doors as well. Some of St. Paul s outreach programs have been going on for a while, but the newest addition to our outreach efforts is actually contributing to one of our oldest The Third Sunday for Christian Community Outreach. Over the decades, a number of now thriving Henderson ministries have been launched from St. Paul s and perhaps it is time once again to dream of what can be done in the name of Jesus Christ and this Parish. So how do we do it all? Of course, one answer is that we do much of it with our own two hands. We do it with the considerable talents we have as a group. We do it by freely giving time that we never seem to have enough of in the first place. But as a Parish family we are also incredibly generous with our financial resources. The $160,000 that was pledged for 2013 was almost a 20% increase over last year, something that any parish I have known...continued on page 3

2 Upcoming Events Sundays 8 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite 1, 9 a.m. Choir Practice, Parish Family Breakfast, 10 a.m. Choral Eucharist, Sunday School. Coffee Hour following the service. Tuesdays 6 p.m. Saints, Sinners and Cynics, Rookie s Sports Bar Wednesday, February 6 No Wednesday Noon service Tuesday, February 12 5 p.m. Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, Parish Hall No Saints, Sinners and Cynics tonight Wednesdays during Lent 12 Noon Community Lenten Series and Luncheons See calendar for location Ash Wednesday February 13 12:10 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes 6 p.m. Soup Supper Sunday February 17 5:00 Youth Laser Tag Monday February Noon St. Ann s Guild Tuesday February 19 5:30 p.m. Vestry Meeting, Rector s Study Wednesday February 20 6 p.m. Potluck Friday and Saturday, January 22 and 23 Diocese of Kentucky Lay Leadership Conference, All Saints Center Saturday, February a.m. Prayer Shawl Ministry Wednesday, February 27 6 p.m. Hot Dogs and Program Parish News and Notes Sophia tries on the Bishop s mitre after the 8:00 service. Bishop White and Becky Carroll share some fun over breakfast during the Bishop s visit January 27. Alexis shows off treasure box the Parish gave our young people.

3 Ash Wednesday It is hard to believe that Lent is already upon us, but Ash Wednesday this year is February 13. St. Paul s will offer two opportunities for the imposition of ashes as a reminder of our mortality, our need for forgiveness, and the wonderful gift we have been given by God s grace. The first is as part of our usual midweek service. We will begin at 12:10 to allow those with a standard lunch hour to get here for the beginning of the service. We will be finished in time to return to work. Ash Wednesday evening at 6:00 we will offer a simple supper as we begin our Lenten journey a bowl of soup and perhaps a salad. Our service of Holy Eucharist with the imposition of ashes beginning at 6:30. Lenten Luncheons One of the Lenten traditions in our community is the Lenten Luncheon series sponsored by the Henderson County Ministerial Association. Each week during Lent, another of the area s churches takes a turn providing an ecumenical worship opportunity at noon followed by a light lunch. This year s schedule is: Wednesday, February 20 First Christian Wednesday, Feb. 27 Community Baptist Wednesday, March 6 First Methodist Wednesday, Mar. 13 the Presbyterian Church Wednesday, Mar. 20 St. Paul s Episcopal Maundy Thursday, Mar. 28 Zion UCC Good Friday, Mar. 29 Holy Name Catholic No ticket is needed and there is no cost for the meal, but an offering is collected at each event for the work of the Ministerial Association throughout the year. As is usually the case, St. Ann s Guild will be taking the lead in providing hospitality here at St. Paul s. If you would be willing to help, please contact Barbara Butler. Shrove Tuesday PANCAKE SUPPER Bring your whole family! Invite all your friends! Eat all you want and then some! 5:00 Tuesday, February 12 The Paper Queen on the Throne Our Third Sunday collection of toilet paper for Christian Community Outreach was a comforting success netting 381 rolls of the household necessity! (We don t know how many sheets that is; the math was too hard!) The Senior Warden just had to squeeze the Charmin. This month s collection on Sunday, February 17 will be for standard-sized cans of fruit. Continued from front page... would love to attain. Mostly because of your increased pledges, plate and pledge accounts for 85% of our 2013 budgeted operating income. The portion of our budget from St. Paul s trust funds for the new year is 11% down from 15% in There s still plenty of way to go, but we are on the way to the Vestry s goal of being able to pay for all current expenses with current income. Can you imagine what we will be able to do in our community with our trust income when we need none of it for operations? Someone asked me the other day if I was going to lay out a lot of new plans for the year ahead. I guess I could do some of that. But you know, St. Paul s is our Parish. We are all part of what is going on here at St. Paul s, and our direction and our vision is not for me to determine. It is for us to dream. It is for us to grow. It is for us to love one another as we reach out to the world around us. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what dreams may come. I have told some of you before, but you might as well get used to hearing me say it, because, God willing, I plan to be with you all for a long time I love being a Christian, I love being a priest, and I love being your priest. Thank you for loving me, and thank you for letting me love you. Peace and joy,

4 church, plays trombone with the SMS jazz band, and is on the SMS academic team and helping hands. Zoe is a 7th grader and is the daughter of Todd and Michelle Green. In recognition of all their hard work, the Parish presented each of the kids with a personalized box to collect memories of this and all their future accomplishments. We know those accomplishments will be many! I ve got to tell you, Fr. Rich said in his report to the Annual Meeting, it has been an absolute joy for this priest to spend so much time with them I m going to have to figure out some way to see them more often when our class comes to an end. We at St. Paul s are indeed proud to have such young people among us. Youth Happenings By far the biggest thing happening for the Youth of St. Paul s is the fulfillment of a year of preparation as six of our young people were presented to the Rt. Rev. Terry A. White, Bishop of Kentucky for Confirmation. Warner Mattingly is a sophomore honor student at Henderson County High School. He is a long-time Acolyte for St. Paul s, plays soccer on the HCHS team, and for the traveling Owensboro United team. He is a Life Scout looking for an Eagle project. Renner Wehr is a freshman at HCHS, acolytes for St. Paul s, and swims on the school team. He is a hunter and a scuba diver, but especially he is a hockey player, one of the mainstays on his traveling team. Lary and Leigh Ann Wehr are Renner s parents. Alexis Purdy is also a freshman at HCHS and also serves St. Paul s as an Acolyte. She has studied dance for many years, sings in the HS concert choir, and has competed in several pageants, in 2010 crowned Miss Henderson County Pre-teen. Reade Mattingly is a 7th grader at South Middle School, playing soccer, archery, and golf on the school teams, and saxophone in the jazz ensemble, and is on the SMS academic team. He is a Boy Scout and at St. Paul s is an Acolyte. Joe and Christie Mattingly are Reade and Warner s parents, and Marie Huber is their grandmother. Trae Purdy is a 7th grader at SMS, In addition to acolyting, he is a member of the Choir at St. Paul s, and sings in the choir at SMS as well. He has just finished a season with the American Basketball Association and is part of Lego club at school. Jerry and Giselle Purdy are Trae and Alexis parents. Hannah Stocum is a 6th grader at South MS and is a devoted horsewoman. Mischele Stocum is Hannah s mom, and her grandmother, Susan Sauls is, of course, our Senior Warden again this year. Though she was not presented for Confirmation this year, Zoe Green was also very much a part of the group of youth who have studied together since last spring. She studies piano with Evalyn here at the A Warm Welcome It is fair to say that Larry McMindes completed his formal education some time ago, but he was presented to Bp. White for Confirmation as well. He is retired from a career with CSX Railroad. Larry was Baptized as part of our Easter celebration last year and, with his wife, Diane, he has been active in almost every aspect of St. Paul s life and work. Bp. White formally welcomed three others to the Episcopal Church with both a handshake of recognition and the laying on of apostolic hands. Though Greg Powell had some previous contact with St. Paul s he is the artist who created the watercolor of our beloved church that hangs in the Parish Hall he and Kathy were woven firmly into the fabric of our Parish earlier this year. We knew we were home, Greg has joked, when nobody told us not to come back. Greg comes to the Episcopal Church from the Methodist Church and Kathy was a Baptist. Richard Wilson came to St. Paul s several months ago with his new friend, Susan Sauls. Having grown up Roman Catholic, Richard found himself at home with our liturgy and enfolded by the friendly atmosphere here, especially at the Wednesday evening suppers. If you haven t gotten a chance to know these new members already, make it a point to do so they are St. Paul s kind of folk. A Note of Thanks Just to let you know that we weren t the only ones that enjoyed Bishop White s visit to St. Paul s, we thought we d share a note we got from His Grace. Great day! the Bishop texted late Sunday afternoon when he finally got home to Louisville, Thank you! Coming Soon! After Church Feb 10 Pancake Supper Prep Pancake Supper Service 4:00 Tuesday, Feb 12 Laser Tag! Laser Tag! Laser Tag! 5:00 Sunday, Feb 17 bring a friend!

5 Farewell and Hello At the Annual Meeting of St. Paul s Parish on Sunday, January 6 St. Paul s elected a new Vestry. Three members of our governing body completed their term and three more were elected. We offer our full gratitude to Steve Pruitt, Ellen Redding, and Louis Smith for their faithful service, especially in a challenging transitional time in our Parish life. We are also excited to welcome the new members of our Vestry, Carolyn Fuller, Susie Watkins, and Marty White. The remaining members of the 2013 Vestry are Susan Sauls, Holly Vickers, and Leigh Ann Wehr, and Michelle Green and Larry Courtney. Take whatever chance you get to thank these faithful servants of our Parish. Vestry Notes As he concluded his Annual Meeting address, Fr. Rich challenged all of us to dream of how our Parish can continue to grow in our love of each other and our mission to our community. He announced then that St. Paul s Vestry would be taking a planning retreat on Saturday, January 26 to help move that dreaming forward. The Vestry met for a little more than four hours as they conducted their usual monthly business and then addressed each of the areas of ministry, highlighting our successes from the past year and brainstorming where we might go in the year ahead of us. The Vestry was excited about some of the additional ways that we have found to share our life together, periodic events like our Wednesday night suppers, Sunday morning breakfast and coffee hour, and our major events like the Christmas Eve reception and the new Thanksgiving family dinner. We look for more such opportunities in the year ahead including the development of our own chapter of the Daughters of the King and the revival of Cottage Suppers and monthly birthday cakes. Through even greater involvement with each other, the Vestry has set a goal of bringing three new families to our Parish in the new year. Budget matters are considerably less glamorous than most aspects of our Parish life, but one of the keys to the Vestry s responsibilities. In addition to addressing some complicated questions with the trust funds that are gift of those that have loved St. Paul s before us, the Vestry celebrated our robust Operating Fund Campaign for 2013 which has allowed us to program less trust income for operational use. The Vestry hopes to leverage our favorable position into even greater stewardship of our time, talent and treasure, looking forward to a Ministry Fair, 2014 pledges totaling $175,000, a plan to capitalize on our Capital Campaign success, and budgeting less than 6% of our 2014 from trust income. The Easter Vigil, the St. Nicholas Children s Service, and increased participation in the Choir were worship highlights of the past year for the Vestry. Looking forward, the Vestry would like to see even more upbeat music for our worship, they want our average Sunday attendance to increase to at least 75 and they d like to see new vestments for our worship leaders. Christian Formation happens in a variety of ways at St. Paul s. The Vestry celebrated the increased attention on our children s Sunday School program, our participation in the community Vacation Bible School, and our adult Wednesday evening program. They would still like to see a more vibrant youth program, perhaps including a companion program on Wednesday evening for our children and youth, aiming for an educational offering for every age, with at least 80% of the Parish attending at least one event. The wonderful and highly visible success of the Capital Campaign renovations to St. Paul s stained glass windows was a real highpoint of our year. In addition to moving forward with the next most visible item on the capital list, the renovation of the Parish Hall, the Vestry s emphasis for the coming year was on planning for the continued improvement and upkeep of the precious gift entrusted to our care in our buildings and grounds. While some work has already been done, the Vestry looks forward to completion of plans for our grounds, for proper and efficient use of storage in our facilities, and for preventive maintenance to preserve our priceless heritage. Long time programs and projects like the Prayer Shawl Ministry, the Christmas party at Henderson Manor, and Christmas on the River continue to be mainstays of St. Paul s outreach to the community we are here to serve. In addition, the Vestry applauded the new Third Sunday collections for Christian Community Outreach. They would like to see us expand on all these opportunities, both in how much we are giving and in how many of us are involved. To help with these goals, they have pledged to include $10,000 from St. Paul s trust income for the 2014 budget year. Financial Summary as of December 31, 2012 Pledged Amount to Date $135, Pledged Income received to Date $129, Other Operating Income to Date (plate, trust and other) $85, Operating Expenses to Date $206,035.00

6 St. Paul s Episcopal Church Staff The Very Rev. Rich Martindale, Rector Leslie Newman, EYC Director Evalyn Champion, Organist/Choir Master Donna Mulcahy, Bookkeeper Judy Duncan, Parish Secretary Phone Prayer List Parish Family Our Family & Friends Larry Marcia Kathy Todd Jeff Carol Betty George Bill June Peggy David Bebe Dan Robin Rita Jerry Byron Billy Marsha Brenda Jackie Darrell Mary Pat Seymour John Rich Gary Herb Terry Betty Jack Jean Chris Patty Joe Elmo Dorothy Gail Larry Please Note: Because our newsletter is published on the internet, only first names are listed. Vestry Members Service Times Senior Warden Susan Sauls Sunday 8:00 Rite I Junior Warden Larry Courtney 10:00 Rite II Treasurer Becky Carroll Wednesday 12:10 Rite II Clerk Holly Vickers w/ anointing Stewardship Holly Vickers and Larry Courtney Building and Grounds Parish Life Susan Sauls Communications Worship and Music Leigh Ann Wehr Christian Formation and Youth Michelle Green St. Paul s Episcopal Church 5 South Green Street Henderson, KY