E-pistle THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF St. Christopher s Episcopal Church SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA October 22, 2015 The Rev. Peter K. Ackerman 703-451-1088, ext. 1 or Email: rector@saintchristophers.net Sunday, October 25 The Twenty- Second Sunday after Pentecost 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 9:15 a.m. Sunday School for All Ages 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Nursery is Provided) 11:45 a.m. Fellowship and Refreshments 11:45 a.m. Christ Walk Ends Today 11:50 a.m. Children s Choir Rehearsal 12:15 p.m. Bell Choir Rehearsal Page 1
Servers Schedule for October 25, 2015 Acolytes Altar Guild Communion Bread Flower Guild Greeters Lay Eucharistic Ministers & Lectors 7:30 a.m. Acolyte 10:30 a.m. Crucifer Shelby Clardy Server Morgan Price Torchbearer Christian Price Virginia Clark and Katy Dunlap Pam Osborn Lynn Knox and Harriett McCollum Chriss Foster 7:30 a.m. (CB) Meredith Maple (L) Jim Hertsch 10:30 a.m. (PB) Lee Johnson (CB1) Chris Erbe (CB2) Lynn Knox (L1) Danny Gorham (L2) Beth Lytle Mary Andrews Janet Bush and Ginny Brown Intercessor Chapel Prayer Team P.A.T. (Pastoral Helen Spence Assistant Team) Minister Ref. & Fellowship Pam Osborn Usher Guild Team 1 Tellers John Olsen and Lynn Knox Page 2
Vestry Person of the Week Lectionary Readings Chris Medding Job 42:1-6, 10-17 Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22) Hebrews 7:23-28 Mark 10:46-52 *** If you cannot serve as scheduled, please be sure to switch with someone else. This Week at St. Christopher s Monday, October 26 10:00 a.m. Alcoholics Anonymous 7:00 p.m. Women s Group Meeting/Farrar s Home Tuesday, October 27 7:30 p.m. S.A. Anonymous Meeting Wednesday, October 28 9:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 7:30 p.m. Choir Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Gamblers Anonymous Meeting Thursday, October 29 Preschool Halloween Parade 10:00 a.m. Women s Discussion Group 7:30 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program Friday, October 30 Preschool Halloween Parade Page 3
5:00 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program Saturday, October 31 5:00 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program 8:30 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday, November 1 All Saints Day and Holy Baptisms at the 10:30 a.m. Service Daylight Saving Time Ends 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 9:15 a.m. Sunday School for All Ages 9:15 a.m. Christ Walk Forum with Author, Anna Fitch-Courie 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist and Holy Baptisms (Nursery is Provided) 11:45 a.m. Fellowship and Refreshments 11:50 a.m. Children s Choir Rehearsal 12:15 p.m. Bell Choir Rehearsal 4:30 p.m. Recital 5:00 p.m. Choral Evensong for the Feast of All Saints Page 4
ANNOUNCEMENTS From the Rector's Desk Near the first of every month Fr. Peter offers a topical reflection for our readers, so look for his next correspondence in upcoming issue here. Did you know? Daylight Savings Time ends Sunday, November 2 nd. Please remember to set your clock back one hour, on Saturday night. We continue this week with Building our next 60 years, an opportunity for each of us to decide what we will give to St. Christopher s for 2016. Our weekly offering is vital to the health and well-being of our mission and ministry. Our weekly gathering to share worship and fellowship is vital to the health and well-being of our souls. The church is not a building, but people however having a building helps to focus our worship, mission and learning. It makes it that much easier to share Christ s love with the world around us and with each other. Please make sure you take your pledge cards, read the letter, focus on our bulletin inserts and take up the challenge we offer to support the work of this wonderful parish. Commitment Sunday will be November 8, 2015. In Christ s Love, Your Stewardship Committee Page 5
November 1 at 9:15 - A Special Christ Walk Opportunity! St. Christopher's Christ Walk Crew is excited to welcome Anna Fitch-Courie on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 9:15 for a special presentation. Anna's book, "Christ Walk - A 40 Day Spiritual Fitness Program", has been the inspiration for our Christ Walk Program this fall and Anna has inspired many of us to exercise our Christian faith through health activity choices. Come see what Christ Walk is all about and get inspired! If you have questions or need more information, please contact Christina Manning at cmansquare@verizon.net or 703-975-4319. All Saints Day Services & Evensong All Saints Day falls on a Sunday this year! We have a few ways to commemorate the Feast Day. First we will hold, as usual, our two Sunday Services (7:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.) where we will hold Baptisms at the second service. As we did last year at both of these services, with the choir quietly singing a meditative piece at the second one, the gathered congregation can simultaneously speak aloud the names of their loved ones, whether by memory or from lists that they bring, during the appointed time before the Eucharist. In this way we bring our living selves and offer before God, in thanksgiving, the memory of the lives of those who came before us; relatives and friends, who have blessed us and our stories. The second event will take place later in the afternoon - The All Saints Concert and Evensong presented by the Choir at 5:00 p.m. to celebrate All Saints Day. Prior to the service there will be a recital at 4:30 p.m. We invite all of you to this special Page 6
service, especially those of you who would like to take time to remember those have passed. This promises to be a special time for worship and prayer. This would be a time to reach out to those who are struggling and grieving the loss of a loved one and invite them to church to experience the peace that only God can bring. We hope that you can join us. To All Flower Guild Members and any newcomers: There will be a Christmas Decorating Flower Guild Planning Meeting on Sunday, November 8, 2015in the Library at 12:00 noon. We will plan our choice of flowers, where to decorate, use of greens and any ideas that you can bring to the planning session. Hope to see all of you. Grab your coffee or tea and a goodie before you come. I am looking forward to seeing all of you. Please invite anyone who would like to come and help us at Christmas. All are WELCOME. June and Ruth (co-chairs) Substitute Teachers Needed Once in awhile, our teachers have activities that take them away from St. Christopher's and their teaching ministry on Sundays. We are looking for people who would be willing to step in on an asneeded basis for our Preschool, Elementary, or Junior High classes. All materials and supplies are all ready here -- you would just need to show up and teach the kids! Believe me, all classes are interactive and lively and joyful. Please talk to Kellee Wattenbarger if you have any questions or are interested in this ministry. Page 7
Saturday, November 14 Lobster Dinner IT'S COMING!!! Yes, we are going to have the Lobster dinner -- Saturday, November 14th. Put the date on your calendars now so you don't miss it! We don't want anyone saying they didn't know it was coming up and miss this timehonored tradition at St. Christopher's. Pricing for this yummy annual event are Lobster and Chicken dinners -- $15.00/each; extra lobsters $10.00 each; hot dogs $2.00/each. Please call Danny or Kellee with your reservations if you can't find us on Sundays -- prepayment will be greatly appreciated! They are looking for cookers and servers -- help both at the lobster pots and in the kitchen. Yes, Kellee will have her brownies and pumpkin squares and there will be lots of lobster for everyone! We will start serving at 5:30 p.m. and go until the last pot is cleaned. Deadline for reservations will be November 11th. Come for wonderful food and fellowship!! Reading Selection for November The Book Discussion Group's selection for November is Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers. More information will be forthcoming. Preschool Prattle Occasionally our preschool outreach has some special news, a teacher to introduce, or other tidbit to share. Fr. Peter encourages you to watch this space in future issues of the E-pistle for those times when such news comes forth! preschool@saintchristophers.net. Page 8
Teenie Weenie Greenie, October suggestion: Aluminum is the most Valuable Resource to Recycle! According to American Disposal Services, one of our local recycling companies, aluminum not only is the most valuable resource to recycle; it can be recycled an infinite amount of times. Here s some additional facts from ADS about aluminum: We use over 80 billion aluminum cans every year. In the time it takes you to read this sentence, 50 thousand 12-ounce aluminum cans are made. If you recycle just one of these cans, it will save enough energy to power a TV for three hours, and it is the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline If you throw that can in the landfill, it will still be a can 500 years from now. So definitely recycle those aluminum cans! You also can recycle aluminum foil and trays. The product must be rinsed and fairly clean before putting it in the recycle bin. There s a lot of debate about which product foil vs plastic wrap is the kindest to creation. Personally, I save money and feel better about using foil to wrap leftovers cover pot-luck dishes, and freeze food, etc., since it can be recycled. It s more versatile than plastic wrap too since I can cut or tear it to fit, and store the leftover pieces of the foil in a container to keep clean for later use. Page 9
Foil cannot be used in the microwave, but I ve overcome this problem by using heavy-duty, washable plastic covers to reheat food (available at Bed, Bath and Beyond). Based on my research, foil should NOT be used to wrap acidic foods, like tomatoes and berries. The acids react with the aluminum, leaving a harmless but unsightly blue residue. I get around this problem by storing produce and other food in washable, reusable sometimes recyclable plastic containers that can be sanitized in the dishwasher. The reusable, recyclable plastic containers Whole Foods uses for it s prepared foods are sturdy and great for snacks on the go as well as storage. We would love to share your personal experiences and recommendations for going green and saving green. Please send me (Elaine Sevy) suggested topics and/or ideas or join me to help shape our new Environmental Stewardship Committee. Contact me at Yorkiemum.sevy95@gmail.com,or 703-901- 5612. Page 10