Breaking Bread. Our Mission is Growing Disciples of Jesus Christ. The Newsletter of the Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St.

Transcription

1 Breaking Bread Our Mission is Growing Disciples of Jesus Christ The Newsletter of the Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul ~ July 2016 Summertime by The Rev. Tom Pumphrey Dear Friends in Christ, Summertime is often time for vacation, for rest and renewal. We take a break from the normal pace of life. As we do so, we notice new things and we have the opportunity to learn and grow as individuals and as disciples of Jesus. One noteworthy thing (among many) about St. Peter & St. Paul is that church does not shut down in the summer for us. First of all WE are the church, and we don t shut down, do we? Wherever we are, we can join with the Christian Community to worship God, we can say our prayers, we can read scripture, and we can serve Christ in the world. The saying goes hunger never takes a vacation. St. Peter & St. Paul notices this. Part of the opportunity for renewal that you have is in your support of those who are hungry this summer. You can reflect on the blessings that God gives you, and share those blessings through your time, talent and treasure. You can buy grocery store cards for yourself from our 5 & 2 hunger ministry, providing a small margin from each card that we use to support individuals in need and support several food banks. In June, we packed lunches for kids who benefit from school lunch programs during the school year, but still have needs in the summer. This month, we will welcome girls to our church for the Cool Girls program, providing for them school supplies and our encouragement to make good choices for their future. Working with Mount Zion United Methodist Church across the street, we host homeless families through Family Promise, helping them get on their feet as a whole family. This summer, look for the opportunity to serve Christ in the world wherever you are. In so doing, you will find the renewal and refreshment that you seek, and those around you will be blessed. God bless you always! Yours in Christ, Jennifer Arnold, Children s Ministry. 2 Search Process Update. 3 Children s Consignment Sale VBS Thank You. 4 Adult Worship Opportunities. 4 ALPHA. 5 On the Inside... Caregiver Support Group. 5 SPSP Visitation Team. 5 Cool Girls. 6 Vestry Report. 7 20s/30s-Join the Conversation. 7 Stewardship. 8

2 Breaking Bread 2 Welcome to Jennifer Arnold, Director of Children's Ministry We are delighted to announce that Jennifer Arnold will join us starting July 11 as our new Director of Children's Ministry. Jennifer has a bachelor's degree from UGA, and a master's in counseling and psychology from Troy State. She has worked in special education, addiction counseling, and for six years was the Music Teacher at St. David's Episcopal Pre-school in San Antonio, Texas. Jennifer's passion for children and love of the Lord will be a great blessing to our ministry. Please be sure to thank the Children's Ministry Team for their hard work in helping me with this search: Susan Sherrard (chair), Mel Creveling, Tom Gotschall, Kim Nancarrow and Lisa Tis. This Team brought a lot of love and devotion, insight and skill to this process. They have been and will continue to be essential partners in leading our Children's Ministry with Jennifer and all our teachers and volunteers in the days ahead. May God bless us with faithfulness and fruitfulness in all our ministries, Growing Disciples of Jesus Christ! The Episcopal Church of St. Peter & St. Paul The Vestry 1795 Johnson Ferry Road Marietta, GA Office Hours: Monday Thursday ~ 9 a.m. 5 p.m. Friday ~ 9 a.m p.m. Phone: (770) Fax: (770) Visit us on the web at After Hours Pastoral Concerns: x8 Rector The Rev. Thomas C. Pumphrey Associate Rector The Rev. Elisa P. Harres Parish Administrator Suzy Bristow Financial Administrator Amy Pillsworth Interim Youth Minister Ron Mixon, Forum Leader Director of Children s Ministry Jennifer Arnold Director of Music George Chesnut Sexton Mitch Brown Vestry Senior Warden Susan Prout Junior Warden Justin Streeter Clerk Lisa Doss Treasurer Tom Martin Recorder Guy Creveling JoAnn Gotschall John Hooper Joey Mayes Mike Nancarrow Pamela Robinson Bryan Selby

3 3 Breaking Bread Dear Friends in Christ, SEARCH PROCESS UPDATE As we rejoice in welcoming Jennifer Arnold as our Director of Children's Ministry, I want to update you all on the status of our search for a Youth Minister. The Youth Team and I met in early March and reviewed our priorities for our candidates, especially candidates who naturally demonstrate: Love of Jesus and love of teenagers Professional youth ministry experience (or equivalent) Professional and emotional maturity. Since early March, we've received and reviewed over 25 resumes, phone contacted and reference checked ten and interviewed some of those ten. We haven't yet found the candidate we want to invest in to lead this ministry so we will continue to receive resumes and interview candidates in the days ahead. In the mean-time, our first priority is on carrying forward with youth ministry, as we did when teens and adults gathered for joyful fellowship at Johnny s Pizza last Monday night. God asks all of us God asks you to "do" youth ministry. We do this by caring about our teens personally and giving of our time and talent to share with them the grace of Jesus. Thank you to those who are committed to be there consistently for our youth, especially in Sunday School and Youth Groups. Please pray for us as we seek others to join us in that calling, both volunteers and our staff Youth Minister. As you pray, ask God to show you how you can reach out to young people, growing disciples of Jesus Christ. Yours in Christ, Tom

4 Breaking Bread 4 Children's Consignment Sale The SPSP Children's Consignment Sale is coming up! Clean out your children's closets and toy rooms and begin to tag items for the sale scheduled for Friday, August 26th and Saturday August 27th. Clothing and shoes appropriate to consign are fall and winter weight, winter coats/jackets, and Halloween costumes. Toys, books, puzzles, and baby items are not season specific so you may consign any of those. New this sale- MATERNITY! Volunteer and shop early! This sale runs solely on volunteers and cannot happen otherwise. Please consider donating your time to the sale. There are a variety of opportunities for volunteers from helping shoppers during the hours we are open to organizing items to childcare. If you have received the Safeguarding God's Children training you are able to volunteer in the nursery where the need for volunteers is the greatest! Questions? Please contact Mel Creveling at melcreveling@gmail.com or check out the consignment sale website at VBS was a huge success! The children had a wonderful time learning about the adventures of Moses! We couldn t have done it without our wonderful volunteers! Thank you! Other Adult Education Opportunities Thursday Men s Bible Study: a Bible Study group for men meets Thursday mornings from 7:00 8:00 AM in the Conference Room. We will be studying Genesis summer Every other Saturday: Brotherhood of St. Andrew welcomes guests to attend their men s Breakfast, Bible Study and Meeting from 7:00 8:30am in the Garden Room. Wednesdays in Roswell - BBC (Books for Biblical Christians) meet. This is a Men s study one need not be a biblical scholar. We are currently studying Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle a gang-land intervention leader. We meet from 11:30 AM to 12: 30 PM. If you want to know more contact Justin Streeter at justin@revwealth.com. Summer Women s Wednesday Bible Study Room 5 10:30am-12:00pm Questions? Call Connie Kerdasha at or Caroline Woodruff at Remember to bring your Bibles!

5 5 Breaking Bread Alpha It Is Time to Invite Guests to Our Alpha Course By Sam Tuttle It may not be news to you that we are starting Alpha on Sunday, August 21st. We have run the course several times over the last ten years or so, always attracting 90% or more of our guests from among ourselves and only a few people at most from outside the church. This year, we are changing our focus. This course will be an opportunity for all of us to serve, rather than to be served. We are challenging ourselves and each of you to invite non-members to the course. I know that sounds hard and maybe crazy, but stay with me for a minute. It is not hard at all. Though Alpha is open to all, we especially hope to invite and attract young adults (22 to 32 yrs old), many of whom are in the beginning of living independently and are wrestling with the big questions that Alpha addresses: questions about doubt, God, hope, fear, truth, life, death, freedom, meaning, love and faith. Many young adults today have these big questions because their faith was shaken during their time in college, where living one s faith can be extremely difficult and abandoning it all too easy. They need this Alpha course. And they need to hear about it from us. Do you know anyone who fits the description above? Your own adult child? The adult child of your neighbor? Please, please pick up one of our Alpha Invitation Cards from the office or contact me, Sam Tuttle, to get one. Ask the young adult who is on your mind whether he or she has life all figured out or not and offer them the invitation card. How hard is that? My is sjtuttle0611@gmail.com and my phone number is Or see me at church if you go to 10:30 service and get your Alpha Invitation Cards right away. The Caregiver Support Group meets on the Second Thursday of each month from 12:00-1:00pm downstairs in Room 1. We hope you will join us! OPEN INVITATION: Please join the St. Peter and St. Paul Visitation Team. We are a group of people who are assigned each month to visit one person one time. A small commitment with huge benefits! The friendships you make are such a blessing to you! In fact, most of our visitors make more than one visit a month because of the joy they receive in their visits. Please consider this way of being the hands and feet of Christ in this world. Call Mary Williams at

6 Breaking Bread 6 COOL GIRLS Back to School Boutique Saturday, July 23, 2015 at SPSP ARE YOU READY FOR AN AMAZING, INSPIRING DAY Cool Girls, Inc. is a nonprofit organization devoted to self-empowerment and nurturing for girls in Grades 2 through 8. Offering weekly programs that support their personal, social and academic needs. COOL GIRLS inspires girls to change the world by instilling leadership, confidence and self-respect. St. Peter & St. Paul is proud to assist this effort with our Back to School Boutique. We bring 200 girls to our church for a fun day filled with eating, dancing, singing, crafts and shopping for new and gently used age-appropriate accessories. Our purpose is to get the girls excited about returning to school and ensure they have some of the essentials they will need to succeed. VOLUNTEERS NEEDED If you want to be a part of something truly special, consider joining our SPSP COOL GIRLS Back to School Boutique team. Help is needed on the week leading up to the event in many areas. Sunday, July 17 th after the late service to set up the Parish Hall. Monday, July 18th - 7:30pm in the Parish Hall - Committee and Volunteer meeting. Volunteers attend the meeting and sign up for the area in which you would like to work. Assorted times during the week of July 18 th to sort stations and set up boutique. Friday, July 22nd - 1:00pm in the Creation Chapel to fill books bags with school supplies and take up to Sanctuary. (Access from South parking lot) Saturday, July 23 rd from 9:00am to 3:00pm - DAY OF EVENT - ALL HANDS ON DECK To volunteer, contact Ingrid Williams at ingridwilliams6@gmail.com or Cheryl Leagan at cd.leagan@att.net. We are still accepting donations of new and gently used items in all categories. DONATIONS may be left in the outreach closet blue bin marked cool girls. PLEASE HAVE ALL DONATIONS IN BY SUNDAY, JULY 10TH PAJAMAS age appropriate in all sizes PERSONAL CARE ITEMS brushes, hair accessories & products, lotions, makeup & bath products PURSES of all types & sizes - new or used JEWELRY new and used HATS, GLOVES, SCARVES (warm scarves and fashion scarves) SMALL DECORATIVE ITEMS - picture frames, wall plaques, jewelry holders or boxes SCHOOL SUPPLIES - The basics are in the book bags. Additional FUN items would be welcome. BOOKS Youth and Young Adult books are welcome.

7 7 Breaking Bread A Message from the Vestry.. To some people, serving on the Finance Committee, is something that does not seem interesting. However, I view it another way as a privilege. God has blessed St. Peter and St. Paul with many gifts. Some of those gifts include the people that are part of our church family, some are the talents that those people bring to our church, and God has blessed us with financial resources. All of these gifts have been provided to St. Peter and St. Paul by God. He wants us to use those resources wisely and to do that, we must manage those resources. That is the job of the Finance Committee - to manage our financial resources effectively to do the work God has given us to do to grow disciples of Jesus Christ. The Finance Committee meets at least quarterly to review the financial results of the church, to assist in the budget development for approval by the vestry, and to assist in other financial areas of the church. All of these tasks are part of being good stewards of all that God has generously entrusted to us. That is why I view my membership on the Finance Committee as a privilege. I am helping us to do the work God has commanded us with the resources He has entrusted to us. As a side note, the Finance Committee is seeking additional members. If this is something that interests you or if you would like additional information, please feel free to give me a call. Current members are JoAnn Gotschall, Allison Milligan, and Roger Sherrard. Tom Martin, Treasurer, is also a committee member and is available for any questions you might have. JoAnn Gotschall Vestry Liaison to Finance and Stewardship Anglican Rosary Prayer Group Meets Weekly Anglican Rosary prayer group now meets after the 10:30 service each Sunday of the month. We meet in the north transept and have our prayer time at the side altar. All are warmly invited to participate and explore together the ancient Christian practice of praying using a string of beads as a guide. All are invited to join us for Sunday lunch afterward. Please come and join us! For more information, contact Pamela Robinson at or George Chesnut at s/30s: Join the Conversation! The 2nd Sunday of every month we meet at Keegan s, 4401 Shallowford Road in the Shallowford Corners Shopping Center, after the 10:30 service. You can meet us at the restaurant at noon or meet up at the parish hall entrance immediately following the 10:30 service. Please RSVP Leigh Mickalonis at leighmickaolonis@gmail.com to ensure we have enough seating.

8 Breaking Bread Breaking Bread July 2016 Breaking Bread 8 Stewardship and Spiritual Growth Connecting the Dots Submitted by Larry Kelley, Stewardship Forum We have shown that Awareness and Understanding are ways to increase your relationship with God. As you build this relationship the next step is Commitment. In Hebrews 11:6 it states, And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him. The funny thing about commitment is that there are two definitions: The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc. An engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action. Do you feel dedicated or obligated? 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. As the above title states Stewardship and Spiritual Growth Connecting the Dots, you have to have an Awareness and Understanding about God before you can make a real commitment to Him. Otherwise, your commitment may be more of the second definition rather than the first. By seeking this Awareness and Understanding you realize the gifts that God has given you, and let s state this again, the gifts that God has given you. Appreciating that these are gifts you become open to sharing them with others. That is, the love that God has shown to you, you are now showing to others. That feeling of love helps change the commitment from an obligation to a dedication, and commitment then becomes committed (i.e. faithful) to loving others as God as loved you. So how do you commit yourself to God? By listening to God and using your talents based on His direction in the most effective manner. Not sure about your talents? Pray to God for guidance and ask those who you respect and whose lives follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. When you have identified your talents it makes the commitment easier because you have the confidence that you are using one of God s gifts. Want to guess the next step in our four step process? It is Action. Ask for God s help through prayer if you have questions on where you are in your Commitment to God. The Holy Spirit can guide the willing listener, and the willing listener guided by the Holy Spirit will grow as a disciple of Christ.