The Beacon of St. Alban s Illuminating the Word of God in the World

Transcription

1 April 2014 The Beacon of St. Alban s Illuminating the Word of God in the World During Lent, I have been encouraging all of us to focus on forgiveness as a way of preparing for Easter. Sunday sermons and Wednesday programs have moved along a path towards finding forgiveness. We began by remembering the nature of God s love for us, which is unconditional. God s love is stronger than the worst that humans can do. Even from the crucifixion of Jesus, God is able to bring new life. God s unconditional love is the foundation on which forgiveness becomes possible. Then we turned attention to the distinctive life purpose that each of us has as a gift from God. This purpose is evident in the things we most love to do, what brings us great joy. Even during the worst times of our lives, this source of joy continued as a golden thread extending from before we were born, in God s idea for us, out into our future. How might that purpose take shape in the future, bringing you joy through actions that serve God? Given God s unbreakable love for us and the joy that living into our deep purpose can bring, what gets in the way? Enemies. Resentments. Guilt. Despair. In your life, what blocks the love of God from flowing more fully through you and bringing to fruition the purpose for which you have been created? Here is where learning how to forgive others and how to forgive ourselves becomes crucial. What is involved in forgiveness, and what isn t? I have offered some guidelines and some practices to try. God s ways of compassion provide examples for Inside Holy Week Services....2 Altar Guild Needs Help!..3 Lenten Boxes 3 Prayer Shawl and Stitching Ministries Bishop Suffragan Meet...4 Easter Flowers Form...5 Calendar..6-7 News & Happenings....8 St Alban s Youth Budget Deficit...10 Light It Up Blue St. Alban s Fresh Face...11 April 2014 us, teaching us to expand beyond tenderness to the fierce and sometimes mischievous methods God uses. Sometimes personal coaching in forgiveness is useful. For that purpose, I am happy to meet with any of you individually and, should it seem helpful, to offer the sacramental Rite of Reconciliation provided in our Book of Common Prayer. What act of forgiveness might roll away the stone blocking new life in you? Faithfully, Paula+

2 Holy Week Services The joy of Easter dawns most brightly in our hearts when we ve accompanied Jesus through the decisive events of the week before. PALM SUNDAY 8:00 and 10:30 am Join the procession, waving palm leaves high, as we remember Jesus entrance into Jerusalem. This service carries us through the story of Jesus crucifixion and burial. MAUNDY THURSDAY 7:00 pm Our worship this evening commemorates Jesus Last Supper. Following his example to his disciples, we may wash one another s feet. If you would like to participate in this rite, wear socks that you may remove easily. At the conclusion of this service, the altar area is stripped bare and all traces of Jesus sacramental presence are removed. PRAYER VIGIL If you would like to watch with him for an hour at the church or at home during the time between the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, please sign up on the vestry bulletin board or phone the church office. GOOD FRIDAY 7:00 pm Reflect prayerfully through art and music on the Seven Last Sayings of Jesus in his crucifixion. Stay with him from his plea Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do to his final utterance, It is finished. How might these Seven Last Sayings of Jesus speak to your life? EASTER SUNDAY 8:00 and 10:30 am The trumpet shall sound and alleluias burst forth on this happy morning! Easter flowers, joyous music, and baptisms at both services help us celebrate the passage through death to new life that Jesus resurrection opens for all of us. Festivities will include a breakfast between services and an egg hunt. 2 This Is the Church For You

3 Altar Guild Needs Your Help During Holy Week! After the 10:30 service on Palm Sunday, April 13th, the Altar Guild will have Maundy Thursday "Stripping of the Altar" practice. Many hands are needed for this very meaningful service. Easter flowers for the sanctuary will arrive on Saturday, April 12:00. All are welcomed to come help - even those with pollen allergies! Please contact Brenda Gish ( , cedarpup@cablespeed.com) if you are able to help or for more information. Don t Forget Your Lenten Boxes! Please remember to collect your coins for the Lenten boxes to buy chickens and goats through the ERD Gifts for Life Program. As little as $25 will buy a share of a flock of chickens and $80 will buy a goat for a family struggling to feed their children. The Lenten boxes will be collected after Easter and blessed by Rev. Paula before we count them. It will be fun to see how many chickens and goats we have bought together! Thank you for your generosity in offering your coins so that St. Alban s can make a difference in the lives of struggling families. Prayer Shawl and Stitching Ministry Little Dresses for Orphans: The Prayer Shawl and Stitching Ministry will meet 2 times a month through the end of May to make more little dresses. We will meet the 2 nd and 4 th Wednesday from 2 4 pm. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 9th. We will be cutting and sewing. You need not be an experienced seamstress to help us; just someone who enjoys being part of a group making these adorable dresses. Please check out the St. Alban s Outreach bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall to see one of these dresses, and pictures of little girls from Nicaragua who are wearing some of our dresses. It takes 1 yard of fabric to make 1 dress. We are looking for donations of cute fabric, appropriate for little girl sun dresses, preferably 100% cotton. If you have some fabric in your stash that you would like to donate, or any questions about sewing the dresses, please contact Barbara Phillips. April

4 FUN d Raisers St. Albans will hold a Quarter Auction fundraiser at the Moose Lodge at 1119 Crain Hwy. Glen Burnie Md on Monday April 7, Tickets are $5; this will get you admission to the event as well as 2 paddles for the event. Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and the event will begin at 7:00p.m. Make sure you mention St Albans if you pay at the door! Raffle Tickets for week in June in Williamsburg at a lovely condo! See Bonnie Taylor at coffee hour. Take some and sell to friends and neighbors! $2 each or 3 for $5. Do you have any ideas for more fundraisers? Rev. Paula and Peg Davidson would like to hear them! Take a First Look at Bishop Suffragan Nominees The Diocese of Maryland will be electing a Bishop Suffragan to work with Bishop Sutton. Four people have been nominated. You can meet them and ask questions in a forum setting at the First Look events, which will be held at four locations around the diocese April 2-5. Wednesday, April 2 Emmanuel Church, Cumberland 7-9pm Thursday, April 3 St. John's Parish, Ellicott City 7-9 pm Friday, April 4 St. Margaret's Church, Annapolis 7-9 pm Saturday, April 5 Trinity Church, Towson 9-11 am For information on the nominees such as videos and photographs, detailed biographies, resumes and letters of introduction, please visit bishopsearchmd.org. 4 This Is the Church For You

5 Easter Commemoration and Flowers Our tradition is to remember our departed loved ones at Easter time. Names will be commemorated on Easter Day at the Holy Eucharist service. Cut off date for submitting names and placing orders for flowers is Palm Sunday, April 13th. If you wish to purchase or make a donation to the flower fund for decorating the church with Easter Lilies the cost is $ If you wish to purchase tulips, we are limiting the total number of tulips purchased to 30 due to space constraints in the church windows. Cost of a 6-bloomed tulip is $9.00. We appreciate your donation. Please place this form in an offering plate or mail it to St. Alban s, 105 1st Ave SW, Glen Burnie, MD Checks are payable to: St. Alban s Church With a notation in the memo section: Easter flowers Number of Lilies: cash: check: Number of Tulips (limit 2): cash: check: Submitted by: Name(s) of Departed Loved Ones (please print): April

6 April 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 7:15 pm Yoga For Everyone 7:30 pm Food Addiction 2 6:00 pm Lenten Dinner and Program 3 4 7:30 pm Alanon 7:30 pm Alateen 5 6 8:00 am Holy Communion 10:30 am Holy Communion pm Quarter Auction 8 7:15 pm Yoga For Everyone 7:30 pm Food Addiction :00 pm Prayer Shawl Ministry 6:00 pm Lenten Dinner and Program 10 6:30 pm Handbells 7:30 pm Choir 11 7:30 pm Alanon 7:30 pm Alateen Youth Group Overnight Palm Sunday 8:00 am Holy Communion 10:30 am Holy Communion :00 pm Social Ministries 7:15 pm Yoga For Everyone 7:30 pm Ladies Guild 16 7:00 pm Vestry Meeting 17 12:30 pm Lunch Bunch Maundy Thursday 7:00 pm Holy Communion 18 Good Friday 7:00 pm Holy Communion 7:30 pm Alanon 7:30 pm Alateen 19 12:00 pm Decorating the church for Easter 20 Easter Sunday 8:00 am Holy Communion 10:30 am Holy Communion :15 pm Yoga For Everyone 7:30 pm Food Addiction :00 pm Prayer Shawl Ministry 24 6:30 pm Handbells 7:30 pm Choir 25 7:30 pm Alanon 7:30 pm Alateen :00 am Holy Communion 10:30 am Holy Communion :15 pm Yoga for Everyone 7:30 pm Food Addiction 6 This Is the Church For You 30 April

7 Have Lunch with the Lunch Bunch! The Lunch Bunch is meeting at Snyder s Willow Grove on April 17 at 12:30 pm.good Food and good fun and conversation! All are invited! Contact Mary Moran if you need directions or a ride. April Birthdays Sylvia Day 4/3 Betty Smith 4/9 Aaron Hunt 4/9 Dana Matsis 4/11 Barbara Phillips 4/11 Jim Koblinsky 4/19 Jordan Moneski 4/27 Nicholas Lloyd 4/28 Steven Denson 4/28 St Alban s Day Celebration June 22nd This year, as we celebrate St Alban's Day on June 22nd, we will have a special guest, Bishop Sutton. Some suggestions for celebrating the day have been a luncheon, possibly games for the kids, perhaps something special during the service. We would like to invite members of St Albans who have either moved away or just been away from church for awhile to join us. To do this we need help from you by way of names and addresses so we can send letters out inviting past congregants. Would you like to be on the planning committee? If so please contact either Charleen, at the church office or Peg Davidson. I know the date seems far off but you know how fast these days fly by. Please send your submissions for the May Beacon by April 28 to lynnmcfarland@gmail.com, or place them in the newsletter editor bin in the vestry room. 8 This Is the Church For You

8 On March 4th the Youth Group put on the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. With master chef Bob Lanning at the grill many hungry people were treated to a delicious meal of pancakes and sausage. Bill and Billy served as sous chefs to Chef Bob and kept the pancakes and sausage coming. Becca, Victoria, Amelia, Nick and Bonnie were assisted in the serving of the pancakes by Lilly Cook and Sam and Sydney. A lot of people were fed a lot of pancakes and sausages. As hungry as the patrons were, they were even more generous. Thanks very much for your kind contributions to the youth group effort. Thank you also to those who helped clean up after the supper. Your contribution is also appreciated. On March 8th Victoria, Bryanne, Amelia, Billy, Bill and Bonnie helped Kevin Gish catalog almost 3,000 comic books. You know what 3,000 comic books looks like? It looks like a whole lot of comic books. It sounds kind of boring but it was really interesting for everyone to learn about significant cultural influences like the Silver Surfer. Just don't mention Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Kevin. Apparently it was an opportunity lost. It makes him a little sad. We had our normal 4th Sunday meeting on March 23 and discussed the upcoming overnight at St. Alban s on Friday, April 11 and the possibility of participating in the Glen Burnie Memorial Day Parade. More information to come on both these activities. April Anniversaries Candy & Walter Morrison 4/17 32 years Michael & Jennifer Hunt 4/21 13 years T.J. and Mandy Barranger 4/22 8 years Bill & Peg Davidson 4/23 48 years Bob & Barbara Phillips 4/28 52 years Rich & Linda Bumgarner 4/27 51 years April

9 Serious Words about our Budget Deficit from Peg Davidson We have a serious topic: a $27,000 deficit in our budgeted General Operating funds. This is not to be confused with the Endowment Repayment Loan, which covers the building maintenance and repairs that we plan to pay off through fundraisers and special donations. What I am referring to is the account that we use to pay our bills, our employees, Sunday School, and general expenses for the church. When we elected to change Rev. Cindy s status to full time, we discussed the additional costs and said to do so we needed extra income via pledges and donations. As it turned out Rev. Cindy became sick, was on disability, and never really worked in her full time capacity. Payments from her disability insurance enabled us to cover the cost of her full time status. In fact, by hiring a part time supply priest to fill in for Rev. Cindy, we actually made money resulting in our ability to have a balanced budget. In spite of the overwhelming desire for a full time priest at St. Alban's, the additional funding via pledges to pay for this never became a reality. We are now getting all we wished for and more in Rev Paula, but only with a large budget deficit. Also, if you compared what we are paying her as our Priest-in-Charge to what the Diocese requires as a minimal amount for a full time Rector of congregation our size, we fall short by approximately $995. So we need $28,000 more in income to have a full time priest and a balanced operating budget. The reality now is that we have an opportunity to bring Rev Paula on as our full time Rector. However, in order to hire her or anyone else, we have to decide whether we really want a full time priest and are willing to adjust our pledges to pay what this costs. We ask that each of you prayerfully consider what you have pledged and ask yourselves if you are able to increase your pledge. If everyone who currently pledges gave $6.75 more a week ($350 per year), the deficit in our operating budget would be gone. Some people can do this easily by foregoing Starbucks or something similar, others cannot, some can do more. Some people who aren't pledging now might realize that this is a good time to begin. It would take pages to explain all we have benefited by having Rev Paula working full time with us this past year, just take a look at the faces of our children the future and you ll understand. About 15 months ago, we were not sure we would even have a Sunday School program. Can we count on you? 10 This Is the Church For You

10 Light It Up Blue for World Autism Awareness Month During the month of April, St. Alban s will be blue but not because we re sad. April is World Autism Awareness Month. To help celebrate, St. Alban s will Light it Up Blue! When you drive by the church, it will be glowing blue at our two major entrances, the red sanctuary doors and the white doors to the Fellowship Hall. St. Alban s joins with Autism Speaks and thousands of people to Light It Up Blue and shine a light on Autism. 1 in 88 children are on the Autism Spectrum. Please consider changing your front door light to blue during the month of April to support this cause. Thank you! St. Alban s Fresh Face Most of us going about our business in and out of the church didn't realize how badly our exterior had degenerated. Here's the face we presented to the public a month ago. Here s what it looked like while undergoing the face lift: And here is our fresh new face!! April

11 The Beacon of St. Alban s St. Alban s Episcopal Church 105 1st Ave SW Glen Burnie, MD Phone: , Fax: stalbans.church@verizon.net RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Sunday Worship Services 8:00 am - Holy Communion, Rite I (no music) 10:30 am - Holy Communion, Rite II (with music) Sunday School, K-8 and Nursery Church Office Hours Monday-Friday 9am-12 pm Priest In Charge Rev. Dr. Paula Datsko Barker 12 This Is the Church For You