Thankful Tidings. Rector s Letter. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1 Rector s Letter 2

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1 Thankful Tidings A Quarterly E-Newsletter of Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church, Chattanooga Advent 2013 I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1 Rector s Letter Annual Parish Meeting Seminarian Transitions Christian Education Stewardship Report 2014 Ministries Newest Members of Thankful Worship, Office & Vestry Notes From the Diocesan Office Christmas Sharing Carols In (and out of) the Garden Upcoming Events Rector s Letter The Rev. Leyla King Christina Holmes posted this cartoon by the Rev. Jay Sidebotham on my facebook page (thanks, Christina!) and it did make me laugh mostly because it hits a little too close to home! Advent is meant to to be a time of reflection, repentance and renewal, but it seems to rarely work out that way. Of course, there are services to gear up for (like the priest in this cartoon) and events to plan (read on to learn about our Pre-Christmas Brunch and Carols in-and-out-of the Garden), but all these things are meant to turn our hearts and minds away from the distractions of the world and towards the Christ who has already come and is yet coming to meet us where we are and raise us up in His glory. But avoiding distractions is no easy task, is it? Our readings in the four Sundays of Advent continually remind us of the joy with which this season should be filled as we wait for the coming of the Lord, but also of the hard work, the repentance of sins and the turning from temptations that are necessary during this season if we are to ever discover the joy of such a meeting with Christ at Christmas in a few weeks, or in our lives on a day-to-day basis. And such a task is not made any easier when the Black Friday/Cyber Monday frenzy seems to well outlast just one weekend, setting our nerves on edge in all the wrong ways as we rush to get something first for ourselves or claim something no one else has. But the demand of Advent is that we slow down the pace of our lives, turn our attention towards the God of abundance who loves us and trust in that love, that plenty for each and every one of us. And the promise of Advent is that we will find the presence of the Lord among us. Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 Advent 2013, Page 1

2 Mark your calendars for our Annual Parish Meeting Sunday, January 19 after the 10:00 a.m. service Our annual parish meeting is a critical time in our life together at Thankful Memorial, and it s important that all our parishioners attend. We ll hear reports about what we ve done together as a parish in the past year, and look forward to our plans for the future. We ll approve our 2014 budget, elect new vestry members and establish new goals for the coming year. The hospitality team will be cooking up a spaghetti dinner to keep us going through the lunch hour, so please make plans to attend! Seminarian Transitions Saying Goodbye We ll be saying goodbye to our 2013 seminarian, Elizabeth Yale this coming Sunday, Dec. 8. Be sure to come to the church to take part in giving thanks to God for Elizabeth s ministry among us and to send her off with a fond farewell at our Pre-Christmas Burnch afterwards. We are grateful for Elizabeth s presence among us this past year. Saying Hello And on that same day, be sure to introduce yourself to our 2014 seminarian, Bonnie Underwood and her husband Jess. Bonnie will be worshipping with us on the 8 th and will begin serving the following Sunday, Dec. 15. Bonnie is in her second year of studies at the School of Theology at Sewanee and is a Postulant for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Atlanta. A hearty welcome to Bonnie and Jess! And Adult Formation Our fall Adult Sunday School series, looking at the theology of our Church through the lens of the hymns we sing, has been a great success! Thank you to the many of you who participated in that series. Our fall series ended on the first Sunday of Advent and, between our Pre-Christmas Brunch and Elizabeth s farewell on the 8 th, and the traveling that many folks do for Christmas and New Year s, Adult Sunday School will be on vacation throughout the rest of December and much of January. After our All Parish Meeting, Adult Sunday School will pick back up with our usual schedule, with offerings most Sundays after the 10:00 a.m. service. We ll begin 2014 with a short 2-Sunday series discussing the book of Job with the Rev. Dr. Rebecca Wright, the C.K. Professor of Old Testament at Sewanee, beginning on Jan. 26. Please join us to hear Dr. Wright s racy ideas about Job! And if you have any suggestions for topics for Adult Sunday School in Epiphany, Lent and Easter this year, speak with Mike Gray. (graysigsys@aol.com) Advent 2013, Page 2

3 Stewardship Report Financial Stewardship Campaign, from the Stewardship Ministry Team Our Stewardship Campaign at Thankful officially ended at the beginning of November, but we continue to receive pledge cards and are eager to receive yours. If you have not yet turned in your 2014 pledge card, please do so now. You can pick them up in the church and either mail them back using the address on the card or drop them in the offering plate on any Sunday. It is integral to our life together that we receive pledge cards from every Thankful One before the end of the year. The Stewardship Ministry Team invited many of you to dinner over the past few months where, hopefully, you got a chance to meet some new Thankful friends and reconnect with those folks you already knew. We asked everyone to think and talk a little bit about what brought you to Thankful, why you remain a Thankful One and why you give financially to our parish family here. We hope that such conversations continue to take place among all of us here at Thankful and that they helped you to prayerfully and thoughtfully consider your pledge for Unfortunately, however, we still haven t received pledge cards from every Thankful One. At the time of this newsletter, we have received 33 pledges, which represent about 70% of our Thankful families. So far, the total amount pledged by parishioners for 2014 is $78,165.00, which covers only about half of our regular operating budget. Thankful s financial stewardship is based on our hopes and visions for the future. In order for this parish to continue to do God s work in this community and beyond and in order to keep the lights on and our buildings intact we must become financially stable, which we can only do when our pledged income matches our operating expenses. We know and trust that you believe in the mission and ministry of this church, that you experience the abundance of God in our worship and fellowship together, that you hope, as we do, that we can continue to grow in our membership and in our ministry in the world. We invite you therefore, if you haven t already, to be part of Thankful s present and future by offering a financial commitment that speaks of your hope for and investment in this community of faith. Financial and Service Stewardship, from the Rector Stewardship to God at Thankful how we devote and invest ourselves in thanksgiving to the ministry and mission of Christ in and through this parish can be expressed in multiple ways. I hope that each of you reading this contributes financially to the life and mission of Thankful Church as an expression of the abundance of God s love you discover here and a commitment to the ongoing ministry that we do together. And, if you are not already tithing (giving 10% of your net income), I hope that you will consider increasing your pledge, year by year, until you are able to do so. It is hard work and sacrificial, I know but I think you will discover, as I have, that making a full tithe to the work of God in the world brings with it its own rewards and freedom. I encourage you to try it, and see what happens. Of course, stewardship can and does also happen in the service we give to the glory of God giving of our time and talents to the work of the Lord. On the next page, you can find a list of the ministry teams that work together in specific aspects of the mission of our parish, along with contact information (in most cases) for folks who head up these teams. Many of you already give of yourself in these ministries, for which I thank you. And there s always room for more! If you re not already involved, please consider contacting these folks to learn more about what they do and how you can help. Advent 2013, Page 3

4 2014 Ministries at Thankful Worship Servers the Rev. Leyla King Parish Life & Hospitality Ann Webster , , Altar Guild Kathy Prior Outreach & Mission Lynn Swearingen , , Stewardship John Grant Vestry John Stadler , , Children s Ministries MaryFrances Beesorchard New Membership Growth no current leader , beesorchard.maryfrances@gmail.com please contact Mother Leyla if you d be interested Pastoral Care Jane Stone, Ann Webster, Anne Stadler (JS); , annwebst@tvn.net (AW); , mssnaggs@yahoo.com (AS) Congratulations to our newest members of Thankful! Over the past year, we ve had a number of folks transfer their membership to Thankful, get baptized, and just a few Sundays ago be received into the Anglican Communion with the laying on of hands by our Bishop. Welcome to you all! We re so glad you re part of our Thankful family! Pictures, clockwise from top: Baptisms of Belou and Lennon, the laying on of hands at the Bishop s Visitation, posed picture of those received/reaffirmed along with ministers of the day Baptized: Belou Anderson Lennon Bolinger Received: Monica Luck Susan Street Laurie Perry Vaughen Transferred: Bob & Evie Bodine DeDe Cochran (reaffirmed by Bishop) Advent 2013, Page 4

5 Worship Notes As you have probably already noticed, the Choir is experimenting with some different ways of chanting the Psalm. For the time being, we ll continue to print the Psalm tune in the bulletin and the congregation is welcome to join in and chant along with the choir if you choose. If you prefer, it s also just fine to listen! At our All-Parish Meeting in January, we ll distribute a survey which, among other things, will give you the opportunity to express your opinion about how you d prefer to hear/chant the psalm in the future with the whole congregation or just listening to the choir. With the start of Advent, much of our liturgy (the words and hymns we use) has changed a little. The service music is different in both words and tunes in some cases and the hymn we sing before the Gospel; we use Eucharistic Prayer C which requires more congregational response (so keep awake and watch out for those italics that mean you re supposed to be saying something!). The liturgy will change again in three weeks for services of Christmas Eve and the two Sundays afterwards. And then once more when we make it to the first Sunday of Epiphany (Jan. 12). Christmas Sharing Each year, we collect gifts for a family in need identified through Metropolitan Ministries and the Salvation Army s Angel Tree program. Ann and Bill Webster will be organizing our efforts to do so this year and will have more information about our family and the gifts they ve requested soon. Please stay tuned and, when the time comes, be generous to those in need! Some news From the Diocesan Office A Book of Advent Meditations: The staff of the Diocese have put together a booklet of Advent meditations from our churches, with both clergy and lay contributors. The booklets will be available in hard copy at Thankful soon but it is also in digital form. It can be read on a tablet, desktop/laptop PC or Mac at (O n an ipad, use the landscape view to see facing pages, but use the portrait view for single pages.). Be sure to check out the meditation for December 15 to find a poem from a Thankful parishioner, Laurie Perry Vaughen. A Job O pportunity: Mary Berl, our long-time Diocesan Administrator is retiring and the Diocese of East Tennessee has begun the process of hiring her replacement. The Administrator is the primary financial role in the Diocese and would work at the Diocesan offices in Knoxville. For more information about the position and how to apply, please click the link here or click Job O penings under the O pportunities. tab on the Diocesan webpage ( Vestry Notes During our January vestry meeting, and again at our Annual Parish Meeting in January, we will have a chance to thank three vestry members, Christina Holmes, Esmé Oehmig, and Linda Puckett (who will be running for reelection) for their service as their terms come to a close. We are grateful for their leadership. Are things looking brighter to you in St. Mary s Parish Hall? It s because the overhead lights are a good few feet lower than they were before and finally working, too! The Vestry approved this upgrade at its last meeting among other important business, too, of course. Minutes of all meetings are available to any parishioner by calling the church office. Office Notes Regular office hours at Thankful are 9:30-1:30 Tues. - Thurs. Mother Leyla is in the office most Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-4:30. However, the office will be closed Dec. 24 Jan. 2 for Christmas and New Year s holidays. Mother Leyla will still be checking and is available by cell phone ( ) in case of emergencies only. Advent 2013, Page 5

6 Thankful Memorial Episcopal Church CAROLS IN (and out of) THE GARDEN SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 (out of the garden) 3:00-4:15 p.m. Hughes Avenue at Water Street The Villages at Alton Park Bring cookies, cheese sticks or other portable snacks to share with the seniors at the Villages Park at The Bethlehem Center, 200 West 38th Street, cross West 38th and up one block to Hughes Ave. We ll carol at the Clubhouse at The Villages, on your right. (in the garden) 4:30-6:00 p.m. Thankful s Garden (Alabama Ave. & Thankful Pl.) St. Elmo Bring snacks to share if you re not coming to Alton Park beforehand. We ll provide warm drinks! U P C O M I N G E V E N T S (Advent/Christmas Season Events are in red!) SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24 CIDER & SINGING : 9:00 P.M., CONGA LATIN RESTAURANT CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE: 10:00 P.M., CHURCH Join folks from Southside Abbey for an hour of carols on the Music begins at 9:30. Children are invited to attend the porch at 207 E. Main as part of Mainx24 service with their parents. SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 PRE-CHRISTMAS BRUNCH: AFTER SERVICE, ST. MARY S PARISH HALL This will also be Elizabeth s last Sunday with us, so we ll be saying farewell. Contact Ann Webster ( , annwebst@tvn.net) to let her know what you ll bring to our feast. Adult Sunday School begins its Christmas Vacation. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 TUESDAY, JANUARY 14 VESTRY: 7:00 P.M., CONFERENCE RM, ST. MARY S PARISH HALL The last vestry meeting before Vestry membership changes. Minutes of meetings are available by calling the church office. SUNDAY, JANUARY 19 ANNUAL MEETING: AFTER THE SERVICE, ST. MARY S PARISH HALL Spaghetti Supper will be served. VESTRY: 7:00 P.M., CONFERENCE RM, ST. MARY S PARISH HALL Minutes of meetings are available by calling the church office. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 CAROLS IN AND OUT OF THE GARDEN : 3:00 P.M. & 4:30 P.M. See details above! 1607 W. 43 rd St., Mail to: P.O. Box 2274 Chattanooga, TN , thankfulones@comcast.net Advent 2013, Page 6