By George! Rule of Life for St George s. Growing with You in God s Love and Service April By George! April 2018 A monthly publication of

Transcription

1 By George! Growing with You in God s Love and Service April 2018 Rule of Life for St George s Based on our spiritual values and practices, this is our commitment to each other. We:! Nurture ourselves with the Bible and spiritual books! Care deeply about each other, including in prayer.! Fellowship together and have fun.! Are grateful, glad and giving stewards of God s creation.! Reach out to the world, living and spreading the Word. By George! April 2018 A monthly publication of St. George s Episcopal Church 5600 Winding Way Carmichael, CA (916) stgeorge@sgec.us The Very Rev. Ray Hess, III Priest in Charge fatherray@frontiernet.net Sandra Crenshaw, Senior Warden sacren1960@gmail.com Rev. Robert Olsen, Deacon rolsen8070@gmail.com Tess Testeza, Organist/Choir Director Sandy Olsen, Editor sandyolsen8070@gmail.com Dolores O Brien, Deacon Bob and Carol Adkins, Circulation In this issue St.George s Episcopal Church 5600 Winding Way Carmichael, CA (916) BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES BOOKS BOUNTY BAG DEACON BOB FROM OUR PIC HAPPENINGS HOSPITALITY ROSTER SENIOR WARDEN SERVICES WOMEN S GUILD

2 Thoughts From Our PIC (Priest in Charge) It s Easter So What? For many people around us, Easter is a cute season about bunny rabbits, chicks, and spring flowers. Easter is not a life-changing event. I m not against bunnies and spring flowers and Easter baskets, but what real difference does this season make for us? The obvious answer to this question for Christians is that Easter is about the resurrection of Jesus. Our Easter proclamation in the liturgy is Christ is risen! We could still ask the question, What difference does it make to us that Christ is risen? There are many ideas about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For me, there are two very powerful meanings of the resurrection. First, it means that Jesus is alive. I can know his presence and love now. He is not a person of history only; he is alive now. Hymn 182 in our hymnal says, Christ is alive! Let Christians sing. Unlike other admirable people of history who did great things but now are gone, Jesus is present in our lives now. Second, the resurrection of Jesus means that his way of life is victorious. Jesus way of life is the path of self-giving love, compassion, and serving others. When we look around us, it can often seem that the path of hatred, prejudice, and cruelty is very powerful. Jesus resurrection shows that love cannot be killed off or destroyed by darkness or death. When I get up each day, it makes all the difference to know that God in Jesus is alive and present with me. I can always know the love of Jesus. It also makes a difference to remember that Jesus way of love is the most powerful force in the world. I am encouraged to move forward in loving and caring because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8:38-39). What does Easter mean to you? I encourage you to think about this in the Easter Season. I wish us all a joyful, loving Easter! Father Ray 1

3 Senior Warden Dear Parishioners, For us Christians because of Jesus, death is never the final word. Instead it is promise for a new beginning. Spring is a time of new birth and renewal. We see it all around us. You know I have a crepe myrtle tree in my backyard and every winter since I planted it, I am convinced it is dead because the branches are so withered, brittle, and bare. Yet every Spring I see little specks of green life budding forth which turn into beautiful blossoms. Nature is life. Death and dormancy is a part of nature, but so too is resurrection and new life. "Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in the spring-time." ~Martin Luther. So thisspring, take in nature's beauty and rejoice in the Lord's resurrection which is a promise of our own resurrection. Yours in Christ, Sandra Crenshaw Senior Warden 2

4 WOMENS GUILD Easter season has arrived. Alleluia! Time for Joyous Celebrations. No Women s Guild meeting is scheduled for April. A luncheon for May or June is being discussed. Details will come later. In the mean-time, if anyone has any suggestions for any activity our members might be interested in, please call me or leave a message on the church phone voic ( ). With the recent passing of Barbara Girard and Merle Crawford, two dear and special ladies, we anticipate asking church members to help with receptions following memorial services. When dates are set for those services, we will put out word of what help will be needed. Donations to the Women s Guild are always appreciated. Those funds help keep coffee and other kitchen items in supply for social hours, receptions, dinners, etc. We continue to invite all church members who enjoy partaking of goodies following Sunday services to take a turn providing the social hour goodies and helping to clean-up so the same people are not always doing the cleaning and locking the doors. Carol Adkins President, Women s Guild APRIL BIRTHDAYS 1 Tess Testeza 4 Rene Cress 11 Jean Paveglio 21 Aaron Adkins 23 Joy Allmuth 23 Christian Perparos (If your name was not included, please let Sandy know so she can add your name.) APRIL ANNIVERSARIES 1 Ray & Deb Hess ( 78) 14 John & Vicki Karsten (`62) 22 Leslie Thelen & Ryan Jeske (2005) 3

5 Women s Guild Hospitality Sunday will be the 1st Sunday of each month, special offering envelopes are included in the bulletin. These are used by the Women's Guild to provide weekly coffee hours, special receptions and other events for parish members. Please make checks payable to St. George's Church with a memo note in the left corner for HOSPITALITY. The women s Guild is happy to provide the book corner for your enjoyment. We appreciate the books you all donate. However, I would like to remind you to bring fiction, non-fiction, historical or humorous books. Please NO self-help or study books. Thanks for your attention to this matter. CDs...$1 BOOKS...$1 PAPERBACKS...50 Happy reading! Janet Jenkins 4

6 Last month I forgot to put in an article for the Round table. I did send it out but those who only get the print version did not get it...so here goes THANK YOU MEMBERS OF ST. GEORGE S The members of St. George s Round Table wish to thank you so very much for your generous donations in the past for our Veterans/Outreach ministry. As you probably know, one of our more active programs is to help the homeless in our community. We distribute packages on a regular basis by searching for the less fortunate and surprising them with personal items as well as hats, gloves, scarves, socks and a $5 gift certificate from McDonald s, protein bars, candy and always a copy of Forward Day By Day. We are now giving them plastic tarps for the winter months. The recipients are always so extremely grateful. The work we do seems to be endless, and we ask once again for your help in order for this ministry to continue. We need donations of small containers of toothpaste, toothbrushes, chapstick, shampoo, bar soap, hand cream, Kleenex, BandAids, deodorant, etc., etc., etc. We suggest that you purchase any of these items at the Dollar or 99 Cent stores (the best places to buy most of these items). Our next project is to fill handbags with hygienic and above mentioned items for homeless women. Dolores O Brien has generously donated purses for this, and we will be asking the women at St. George s to select a handbag and shop for products, returning them to the church by April 15 th. Once again, we thank you for your generosity and support. DESERT MOTHERS AND FATHERS MAY 19, :00 11:30 AM From the 3 rd to the 5 th centuries, women and men left the cities and towns for the desert in order to journey their way to union with God. These women and men became so well known to the people in the cities and towns, that they would search them out for spiritual advice. Many sayings of these ammas (mothers) and abbas (fathers) were written down. On May 19, we will spend time with some of these sayings to search for the message contained within them. Come and join us. Lana Engler The Members of St. George s Round Table 5

7 Reminders Emergency Contact forms periodically I remind folks that if they are hospitalized or having an operation, to please let us know (Fr Ray, myself or the office) so we can arrange visits and pray requests. It would also be helpful if folks fill out an Emergency Contact Form, so we will have contact information for your family or friends in the case of an emergency. I ve run into the situation of learning of someone s hospitalization, but the person letting me know didn t know which hospital. So far I ve been able to track folks down, but it hasn t always been easy or quick. On a glummer note It has been a while since I mentioned completing the form for burial/memorial services. Providing this information to your family and the church will be a blessing from you and a very trying time for those left behind. Deacon Bob 2 nd 6:45 pm The choir will now be meeting 2:30 Last 11 a.m. 10:45 6

8 APRIL/MAY APRIL 1 st EASTER SUNDAY Acts 10: Psalm 118: 1-2, Corinthians 15: 1-11 John 20: 1-18 CELEBRANT: RayHess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Aaron Adkins LECTORS: JoAnn Cookman & Carol Adkins ALTAR GUILD: Joy Allmuth & Vicki Karsten USHER: Carol Adkins & friend APRIL8 th 2 nd SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 4: Psalm John 1: 2:2 John 20: CELEBRANT: Ann McKeever EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Dave Allmuth LECTORS: Becky Freie & Aaron Adkins ALTAR GUILD: Barbara Cooper & Wendy Nelson USHER: Jenny Smith & friend APRIL 15 th 3 rd SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 3: Psalm 4 1 John 3: 1-7 Luke 24: 36b-48 CELEBRANT: Ray Hess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Diane Perparos LECTORS: Aaron Adkins & Randall Abbott ALTAR GUILD: Angela Saunders & JoAnn Cookman USHER: Conrad Cookman & friend APRIL 22 nd 4 th SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 4:5-12 Psalm 23 1 John 4: 7-21 John 15:1-8 CELEBRANT: Ray Hess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Ryan Saunders LECTORS: Becky Freie & JoAnn Cookman ALTAR GUILD: Vicki Karsten & Joy Allmuth USHER: Jenny Smith & friend APRIL 29 th 5 th SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 8: Psalm 22: John 4: 7-21 John 15: 1-8 CELEBRANT: Bill Rontani EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Aaron Adkins LECTORS: Karen Lolmaugh & Carol Adkins ALTAR GUILD: JoAnn Cookman & Barbara Cooper USHER: Carol Adkins & friend MAY 6 th 6 th SUNDAY OF EASTER Acts 10: Psalm 98 1 John 5:1 6 John 15: 9-17 CELEBRANT: Ray Hess EUCHARISTIC MINISTER: Karen Lolmaugh LECTORS: Aaron Adkins & Becky Freie ALTAR GUILD: Angela Saunders & JoAnn Cookman USHER: Conrad Cookman& friend Lessons can be found on our website 7

9 Join us on Sunday April 22 nd, following the service at 10 a.m. to meet the Afghani family we have been helping. The Round Table adoped Maqbool Khalilzad and his family after out community picnic last summer. Maqbook and his wife have three children ages 5, 3 & almost 2. This is a chance for us all to welcome them. Merle Crawford Saturday April 21 st at 11 a.m. Federated Church, 1031 Thompson Way, Placerville, CA (this is the church where Merle s husband served as Pastor.) Barbara Girard Tuesday May 1 st at 11 a.m. St George s 5600 Winding Way, Carmichael, CA 8

10 Did you know? This past month I attended one of the Listening Event sponsored by the Bishop Search Committee in preparation to develop a Diocesan profile, answering the questions of who we are and what we looking for in a Bishop. During the sessions, I kept hearing folks saying that there wasn t good communications about what was happening in the diocese. Now I get all kinds of information from the Diocese and know where to find even more and it dawned on me that it has been a while since I ve shared that information in one of my articles, so here goes. The Diocese website is: which takes you to the home page which has links to upcoming events, latest news within the Diocese as well as links to the National Church and other Diocesan/Episcopal agencies and Anglican sites. On the home page is a link to sign up for the Diocese monthly newsletter, e-news. Here is a picture of that link: Using that link you can sign up to get the newsletter. In the upper portion of the Home Page is a section with scrolling images for upcoming major events/activities, by clicking in-side the picture it will take you to additional information about the event. This is where you d have signed up for the Listen Event last month. You can also get information about the current Bible Challenge. The website has pull down menus with information for: Congregations; our Beliefs & Practices; Governance; Ministries and Calendar. If you are using the site to find upcoming events off the home page, it is easy to use. However, if you are trying to locate the answer to some specific question it can sometimes be a bit difficult. Or if you are following one link within a pulldown or page to another and then another sometimes you drift into space (known as page not found ). However, it is no worse (and often better) than trying to find an answer on the IRS or California DMV s websites. Thinking of communications, I would also like to remind folks of St George s website at: graciously maintained by Mel Rose. The website is easy to use and the links all work. We also have a presence on Facebook St George s Episcopal Church, Carmichael, thanks to Thea Mangels. Deacon Bob BOUNTY BAG We re collecting dry goods, canned goods, dried cereals, soaps, toothpaste tooth brushes or any non-perishables, We collect Bags ANYTIME!! NO TIME TO SHOP a check to St. Georges with memo to River city Food Bank (everything is welcome). Articles are always welcome...but KEEP it short! The best way to submit an article is via my sandyolsen8070@gmail.co m, March 26 th will be the deadline for the April issue of the By George SUNDAY SERVICES Family Service 9 a.m. Sunday School 9 a.m. Traditional Service 10:30 a.m. 9