St. Barnabas Episcopal Church Newsletter January 2015

Transcription

1 St. Barnabas Episcopal Church Newsletter January 2015 St. Barnabas New Year s Resolution: WWJD. What Would Joseph Do? While we all strive to follow Jesus example, Father Sean points out that following the example of Joseph might be a bit easier (no walking on water required). Joseph listened to God and then simply, humbly, followed. Our assignment is to listen and discern what God is telling each of us. How can we help others? Where are our skills needed? How can our parish be the hands and feet of Christ in the community? In 2015, What Will (insert your initial here) Do? Parish and Vestry News A Special Stump the Priest Question for January: What is the Annual Meeting and what are the duties of the Vestry members that we elect at the meeting? Our Annual Meeting is scheduled to follow the 10:00 AM service on Sunday, January 25. According to the Canons (the rules of the church) of the Diocese of Oregon, There shall be an Annual Meeting in every Parish, for the purpose of hearing and acting upon reports of the Rector, the Treasurer, the Auditing Committee, the Church School, and the various guilds and other organizations; for the election of Vestry members; and for the transaction of such other business as may legally and canonically come before the meeting. Voting privileges are awarded to all communicants [people who regularly receive communion (you must be baptized to be a communicant)] of the Church 16 years of age, who have been enrolled on the Parish Register for six months immediately preceding the Annual Meeting and have communicated in the Parish during the year preceding; and all baptized persons of like age who are and have been contributors in their own names, to the support of the Parish for not less than six months preceding, shall be legal voters of the parish. Voting shall be limited to those present at the Annual Meeting and voting by proxy shall not be allowed. That is the legalese version, but everyone is invited to come and participate in charting the future course of St. Barnabas. However, people who do not meet the voting requirements will have voice but no vote. One of the key things for which we vote is new Vestry members. The Vestry is the legal representative of the parish in all matters regarding its corporate property, or, as the Canons say, The duties of the Vestry shall be to manage the temporal concerns of the Parish.

2 According to the Canons, to serve on the Vestry, one must be at least 18 years old, qualified to vote for members of the Vestry in the parish, and a majority of the vestry must be confirmed. Anyone who meets these requirements and wishes to serve on the Vestry, or has questions about the Vestry is invited to contact Fr. Sean. We will accept nominations from the floor at the Annual Meeting, but if you know you are interested now, please contact the office no later than January 14. Parish Annual Meeting: Mark your calendars for Sunday, January 25 for the Annual Meeting. We need your input, your suggestions and your votes to elect two new Vestry members. If you have an inkling that this might be a ministry for you, please talk to Father Sean or Senior Warden Eva Calcagno. Father Sean s First Anniversary: January 4 marked the 1 st anniversary of Father Sean s Ordination and January 5 th the anniversary of his first Eucharist Celebration at St. Barnabas. Thank you, Father Sean, for your ministry and leadership through an eventful first year! Thoughts on Christmas and Advent services? Father Sean is requesting feedback on this year s Christmas-related services including the Dec. 21 pageant service, Christmas Eve, Lessons & Carols, whether we should resume a Longest Night service, and so forth. If you have ideas, suggestions, likes, dislikes, things missed or things you would never miss again. Please let Sean know. Stewardship 2015 Update: Thanks to all of the parish members who returned their pledges! As of January 1 st, a total of 57 pledges have been received with projected contributions of $114,628 for 2015, exceeding our modest goal of $105,000. If you have somehow forgotten to return your form, it is not too late! Please return it to the office or put it in the collection plate. Vestry will be drafting the 2015 budget and knowing the estimated income helps us prioritize. This increase in pledges will help us reduce reliance on investment funds to cover operating expenses, but it will not completely fill the budget gap. Other Facility uses in the works: At their January meeting, the Vestry will meet with representatives from a small preschool with which we are negotiating use of the lower floor of Grafe Hall. Through our real estate broker, Kidder Mathews, we are negotiating with Portland Kinderschule (a German language immersion preschool). They currently meet in Fulton Park Community Center, but will lose their space after this school year. Their use of Grafe Hall should not interfere with our parish and community outreach activities. Another dance group has also inquired about using Grafe Hall for their meetings. The Vestry is looking at multiple options to increase community use of our facilities and generate additional revenue to cover building expenses. Stay tuned Eva Calcagno, Senior Warden Check your Directory Listing: A rough draft of the revised church directory is in the Narthex. Please review your information and/or family information and make any necessary changes. Please initial next to your name, indicating the information is correct, even if no changes are made. If you are unable to come to church but need to make changes to your contact information you may any corrections/additions to Cathie at stbarnabas@hotmail.com or call A final revision will be distributed after the Annual Meeting and when new Vestry Commissions have been assigned.

3 Knitting Nights: Interested in gathering to knit with fellow needlers? On Monday, January 19 at 7pm bring your knitting projects and gather in Room 1 (lower level of church building) to discuss how this might happen. Questions can be directed to Cathie in the office. Get Ready for Dinners for Eight: Liz Martin and Sean and Melissa Wall are ready to kick-off this new social opportunity. They were pleased with the enthusiastic response of so many members and group assignments will be made soon. These will be casual monthly gatherings of 8 people to allow parish members can get to know each other better. One person within each group will take the role of the convener. This person can host the first month s meal and make sure that all questions and loose ends are taken care of throughout the four months. Every four months the groups of 8 will be rearranged and new people can sign-up and the process will start again so you get to meet other individuals or couples from the parish. These gatherings are meant to be low key and the primary goal is social fellowship, food and fun. You can make new friends or get to know old friends in a new way. If you have any questions, contact Parish Life Coordinator, Liz Martin ( ), or Father Sean in the office. Thank You from West Women s and Children s Shelter: The Women of St. Barnabas collected items, then Kay and Stu Martin stuffed their van full of bedding, cleaning supplies and personal items for the women and children who reside at the shelter. Thanks to the generous donations of parish members, they also delivered $260 in Fred Meyer gift cards that the shelter can use for purchasing necessary items. Kay noted that the staff was particularly appreciative of the new items our church members provided pillows, sheets, and personal hygiene items. Through generous donations to the Angel Giving Tree which was decorated with donated hats, gloves, and scarves, the shelter was able to use the items as stocking stuffers for residents. Thank you to all of you for your heartfelt gifts for the Shelter! Barnabas House Sale process marches slowly forward: A funny thing happened on the way to fixing the parking lot the contractor broke the water pipe that messed up the church plumbing for Christmas. That has been fixed, but the parking lot is still not finished. The parking lot is in the final stages of deconstruction to satisfy city code requirements for the Barnabas House sale. We hope this will be the final hurdle in this lengthy process, but I ve said that before. Have faith! Eva Calcagno Need a ride to church? St. Barnabas is initiating a ride program for members who cannot drive themselves to church. Our plan is to offer rides once a month, on the third Sunday so that the riders can share in the monthly breakfast before attending the 10:00 AM service. If you are interested in either driving or riding, please Fr. Sean or call the church office. News from the Women of St. Barnabas: To avoid a conflict with the Oregon Ducks Football National Championship Game on January 12 th, the Women of St. Barnabas have changed their meeting date to Sunday, January 11, following coffee hour and the forum. All officers will be cheering in front of their TV sets so... GO DUCKS!!!!!

4 December was a busy month. It started with our annual Holiday Tea on December 6th. We had a wonderful turnout of 40 people coming together to socialize, enjoy lots and lots of great food, and to hear Jody Grant from SW Loaves and Fishes/Meals on Wheels. As you know St. Barnabas has a team that serves at the Multnomah Center the second Wednesday of each month. Jody runs the kitchen there and takes care of much paperwork to make this program such a success. I think everyone enjoyed hearing stories she shared about the center. She is bubbly and passionate in her work. The team looks forward to seeing her (as well a chef Chad) each month. If anyone is interested in joining our team please see Lisa Begley. We were able to supply her with many cans of coffee (always an ongoing need) and approximately $600 in donations! Thank you all for attending and supporting and for inviting friends from outside St. Barnabas to participate. If you missed it, we look forward to having you join us next year. We had a tree and ornament sale in the back of the church during December. The sales were very profitable and this will help support our outreach projects. If you missed purchasing any of these great collectable ornaments they will be available during our annual rummage sale in the spring. It was also nice to have the decorated trees up during the holiday season. The New Year is here and the Women will host the coffee hour for our annual meeting on January 25. We could use your help. Please check the bulletin board in Grafe Hall for a sign up for food, set-up and cleanup. It would be greatly appreciated. Sunday, February 15 will be our kick off for SW Hope: Feed The Hungry - Neighborhood House's largest call out to help replenish our local food bank shelves. There will also be a sign up for this to bring a pot of soup for the kick-off or help with set-up, serving, or clean-up. Please see where you can help. Happy New Year! Lisa Begley - President, Leslie Coefield - Vice President, Kay and Liz Martin - Secretaries, Anita Galloway - Treasurer Help St. Barnabas by using your Fred Meyer Rewards Card: Do you have a Rewards card? If so you can help the St. Barnabas budget just by using your card. Free money for St. Barnabas! Rewards card members can link their cards to the community organization of their choice (i.e. St. Barnabas). Then every time you use your card, Fred Meyer will make a donation to the church. In the third quarter of this year we received $81.97 making the total donations received to date from this program $ You pay nothing extra and you do not lose your Rewards points it s free to you! Go to the Fred Meyer Rewards website and link your card to St. Barnabas. Our community rewards number is Here is the link: Church now Accepts Credit Cards: We have finally moved into the late 20 th century and the church office is now equipped to accept credit card payments for pledges, donations, fund-raising events, and so forth. The church website will soon be set up so you can even make online payments. So, if you would like to earn airline miles or get cash back for your church donations, please contact the church office. The Vestry

5 Upcoming Events Mark Your Calendars: St. Barnabas Choir practices are held on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the church. No experience necessary; will train. Bring your enthusiasm! First Tuesday Knitting Group 10:00 a.m. in Room 1 (Prayer Shawls and more) followed by the First Tuesday Pot Luck/Brown Bag lunch bunch 12:00 p.m. in Room 1 St. B s Team at Loaves & Fishes at Multnomah Center each 2 nd Wednesday, 9:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Second Sunday Singers meet on the Second Sunday of the Month! No experience required, just show up at 9:15 a.m. and join the Second Sunday singers. You ll learn and perform a song that day. Second Sunday Yard Party on hiatus during the winter weather. Vestry Meeting, Thursday, January 8, 7:00 p.m., Father Sean s Office. Guests are welcome; learn about Vestry and see if this is a ministry for you. Free Community Dinner, Saturday, January 10, 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. Special pizza dinner prepared by the children this month. Cooking starts at 2pm. The signup sheet is on the bulletin board in Grafe Hall. Dinner is held each 2nd Saturday, so if you are busy this month, mark your calendar for next month! Men s Breakfast 3rd Sunday, January 18: Come to church a little early or stay late after the 8:00 a.m. service - and enjoy a meal and fellowship. Parish Annual Meeting, January 25: Please attend to hear an update on parish finances and activities, to elect new Vestry members, and to enjoy the delicious spread provided by the WOSB. If you are not there, you might get nominated for something! Every Sunday, 2pm: Ss. Brendan & Brigid Catholic Mission holds Mass in our church. When to Call the St. Barnabas Church Office When a member of your family is in the hospital. When you learn of a death in the church family. When your class, group or committee plans to meet. (All meetings MUST be on the calendar) When your address, phone number, or address has changed, or to use your Away address for mailings of the Newsletter.* When you would like more information or a mailing. When you learn of someone who may be interested in church membership. When you would like Holy Communion brought to you in your home. When you feel we can assist you in any way. Church Office Hours: Office Administrator, Cathie Dainton Piacente s hours, are Mon-Thurs, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Father Sean s Office Hours: Mon-Thurs 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. or by appointment. The office will generally be closed on Fridays, but Father Sean is available by phone for emergencies. Please note: While office hours are maintained, it is always good to call ahead to be sure that the individual you want to see is in the office,

6 Father Sean Wall s is: rectorstbarnabas@gmail.com and his cell phone is Senior Warden Eva Calcagno s evac@teleport.com, telephone Junior Warden Chris Battista s cb9999@hotmail.com, telephone Treasurer: Ken Ross: Other Vestry Members: Christian Education: Jim Anderson Outreach: Jennie Armstrong Pastoral Care: Scot MacLean Parish Life: Elizabeth Martin Finance/Stewardship: Betty Woerner Altar Guild President: Anita Galloway Organist: Lewis Needham Music Director: Glenn Bjorkquist Education Coordinator: Susan Mahon Men s Group: Keith Enos Women of St. Barnabas: Lisa Begley Do you OECN? Oregon Episcopal Church News is available online. Keep up with Diocesan events and issues, at Stump the Priest Question for February Newsletter Question from Eva: The church calendar has a three year cycle (years A, B, and C). Why is that and how did they decide which lessons to include in each year? About this newsletter: Got news? Submit items (electronically is best, but we also accept paper or even phone calls) to Cathie in the church office by the 30 th of the month for inclusion in the next month s Newsletter. Or send them directly to Eva Calcagno, evac@teleport.com, Newsletter Editor. (503) stbarnabas@hotmail.com Did you know St. Barnabas has a Facebook page? Check it out at St. Barnabas Vocation Statement: As followers of Jesus Christ, the people of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church are called to learn, serve, welcome, and celebrate. Believe Out Loud Welcoming Statement: At St. Barnabas Episcopal Church we believe there is a place for everyone around God s table. With love and respect, we welcome all people into our community. Whatever your beliefs or background, your sexual orientation or gender identity, your race or ethnicity, your age or family structure, abilities or disabilities; wherever you are on life s journey, your presence is a blessing. We cherish the diversity you bring to us.