St. Paul s Epistle FEBRUARY 2010 Vergennes, Vermont January 25, 2010 Feast of The Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle Dear Members and Friends of St. Paul's, Where today marks the parish s patronal feast, it is fitting that yesterday the entire previous year was summed up. At the Annual Meeting of St. Paul s Church, reports of staff and committees were received, the budget for fiscal year 2010 was presented, and elections took place. Three persons were each elected to 3-year terms on the Vestry. They are Judy Langeway, Pam, and Meghan Olsen. Three delegates to Diocesan Convention were chosen. They are Sarah Cowan, Carol Knauss, and Margaret Lowe. The three alternate delegates to Convention will be Nan Guilmette, Pam, and Jeanne Wisner. Finally, Carol Knauss and Sarah Stroup were chosen to represent St. Paul s at the Otter Creek Deanery. Thank you to all these individuals who agreed to stand for election and will now serve in their respective positions. Please include them in your prayers. The Collect appointed for today suggests that through St. Paul, God has caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world. After reading through the handsomely presented [thanks to the skills of Judy Martel and Pat Barrows] Annual Report it seems that our congregation is certainly trying to do its part in helping to spread that light. My hope and prayer is that St. Paul s Church may continue in these efforts to follow the holy teaching of our patron St. Paul and become an ever brighter beacon in the community. Though it s also on the calendar page, I want to highlight the event coming on February 16. Shrove Tuesday will be observed once again with the legendary Pancake Supper and Talent Show. Serving will begin at 6 p.m. and the entertainment happens a little later. Please bring your appetites and talents as members of Bill Hanson s family star in the kitchen and on stage. Ash Wednesday is the next day and ushers in the season of Lent. Holy Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes will be offered at noon and again at 7 p.m. On another page of this Epistle, there is a piece titled Wednesdays in Lent with further details. Across the entire Episcopal Church, the 1 st Sunday in Lent, February 21, is designated ERD Sunday, so we will observe this locally. Of course in recent weeks Episcopal Relief and Development has been particularly focused on the people of Haiti. Please remember the Haitians in your prayers and with the gifts you are able to offer. Your servant in Christ, Alan +
WEDNESDAYS IN LENT This year the season of Lent begins on February 17. That day two services will be held at St. Paul s. Holy Eucharist with the Imposition of Ashes will be offered at Noon and again at 7 o clock in the evening. All parishioners are encouraged to attend. The liturgy of Ash Wednesday helps Christian people through setting a tone for the whole season of Lent as it unfolds prior to Easter Day on April 4. Again this year there will be a 5-week series on Wednesdays. Evening Prayer will be held in the Parish Hall at 6:30 p.m. This is followed by a simple supper of soup and bread. Those partaking eat in silence while an assigned lector reads from various spiritual writings. Dates for this series are February 24, March 3, 10, 17 and 24. If interested please add your name to the sign-up sheet which can be found in the Narthex. Mothers Without Borders Vermont is hosting simultaneous sew-a-thon s on Saturday, February 6, 2010 in Bristol and Middlebury. Every year Mothers Without Borders ships relief supplies to benefit widows, orphans and vulnerable children around the world. In the last three years the Vermont chapter has shipped just under 3,000 T- Shirt dresses for children to Zambia and Zimbabwe, Africa. We would love to continue this work, but we need your help. You don't need to sew to participate! We need help matching t-shirts to fabric, cutting, ironing, pinning, gathering skirts, and packing completed dresses. Join us for a day of fun and camaraderie as we work together to bring hope and comfort to the needy children of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Call or email Nancy today to reserve your spot! motherswithoutbordersvt@yahoo.com or 453-2376 Mothers Without Borders VT 4th Annual Sew- A-Thon SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER AND TALENT SHOW St. Paul's will again be doing our Mardi Gras party with a Shrove Tuesday pancake supper on Tuesday, February 16th starting at 6:00 PM in the Parish Hall. All are invited to join in the festivities. There will be pancakes, Vermont Maple Syrup and sausage (for FAT Tuesday) provided by Mary Cassidy and her infamous flapjack cooking crew. This is a family friendly event that has been a hit. People of all ages are welcome. After the supper an après dinner talent show will be presented in the Parish Hall. Here is your chance to participate and share your talents. We are looking for volunteers to share a poem, a story, a few jokes, sing a song, play a musical instrument or dance. Contact Bob Laidman if you would like to share a talent with us. Note: Jokes need to be child friendly. If you would like to bring a dessert (not required) there will be a sign-up sheet for that. In order to plan for the appropriate quantities of sausage and syrup, please sign-up indicating number of attendees you plan to bring. This sheet will be in the Church entryway or you can send email to Bob at blaidman@gmail.com<mailto:blaidman@gmail.com. Feel free to wear your Mardi Gras attire including beaded necklaces, boas, hats, costumes and masks Fat Tuesday: From the French: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/french_language> The term "Mardi Gras" (literally "Fat Tuesday"), has come to mean the whole period of activity related to those Carnival events, beyond just the single day, often called Mardi Gras Day or Fat Tuesday. Its roots lie in the Christian calendar, as the "last hurrah" before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. That's why the enormous party in New Orleans, for example, ends abruptly at midnight on Tuesday, with battalions of street sweepers pushing the crowds out of the French Quarter towards home. Time: 9:00AM Saturday, February 6th Location: Holley Hall, Bristol VT
If the Rector is away please call Diane at 985-3177 or the Sr. Warden at 758-2211 if you have an emergency. You can also leave a message on the church phone at 877-3322; it will be forwarded to the Sr. Warden and you will receive quick response. BIRTHDAYS February 3 Martha Redpath February 4 Cricket Laidman February 7 Carla Gustafson February 11 Bernadette Laberge February 12 Bonnie Huizenga February 24 Bo Price February 24 George Chauvin February 25 Howard VanDine February 26 Colin Jennings February 27 Betty Aseltine February 27 Theresa Davis Vergennes Community Food Shelf Behind the Congregational Church Hours: Tues. & Thurs. 2-4pm Saturday: 8-10am The Food Shelf always needs canned vegetables other than corn, beans and peas. Beets and spinach seem to be especially popular. Welcome also are canned fruits, especially pineapple. Non food items such as toilet paper and soap, shampoo and dog and cat food are always needed too. Thank you all. We are grateful for any contribution. The food shelf has been spending between 600 and 1200 dollars a month on supplies from the Food Bank in Barre. In addition we get commodities from the Federal Government. We might get powdered milk, oatmeal, macaroni or spaghetti, dried beans, vegetarian beans, applesauce or occasionally frozen meats. We never know what those commodities will be or how much we will get. Variety comes from donations such as yours and from food drives and other contributions. You fill in our holes and we thank you. The Caregiver's Group continues to meet about every three weeks. Members of the group join together for sharing and support along with time for spiritual reflection and prayer. Although most members of the group are actively involved in a care giving situation, we are aware that all of us either have been or will be involved in some type of care giving in our lives and each of us has a need to also find places of self care as we navigate our busy lives. During February and March, our schedule is somewhat altered due to Diane's time away in February and also looking ahead to Holy Week in April. Please note upcoming dates in the newsletter calendar. The Outreach Committee met on Sunday January 17th to discuss several areas of the outreach ministry of St Paul's. Much of our time was focused on the upcoming Migrant Worker dinner in February. Laurie Earle and Lenore Morse are coordinating this event with the help of many additional volunteers. The dinner will be held on Saturday February 20th. Lee and Judy Martel also gave us an update of their ministry with the Vergennes Food Shelf and the ever increasing need by families in our area for adequate food each month. Outreach will meet again on Sunday January 31st to continue our discussion of upcoming events and our overall plans for 2010. It was good to see St. Paul s Vergennes on the list of Faith Community Members of the Interfaith Power and Light. Vermont Interfaith Power and Light was organized five years ago to support the efforts of Vermont's diverse faith communities in confronting the challenge of Climate Change by educating and reducing the "carbon footprint" of our congregations. If anyone has questions about this, Steve Lowe is St. Paul s environmental steward.
FEBRUARY 2010 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Presentation of Our Lord Rector at Fresh Start Meeting 9:30-3 Choir 7pm 3 4 5 6 7 5Epiphany 8 9 10 11 12 13 9:30 am Caregivers group Parish Hall Second Monday Group7pm Choir 7pm 14 Last Epiphany 15 16 10:30 Service at 17 Ash Wednesday 18 19 20 Epistle Vergennes Services at 12 noon Deadline Residential Care & 7pm pbarrows@pshift.com Home jerm@gmavt.net 7:30AA 21 1 Lent ERD Sunday 28 2 Lent 22 23 Pancake Supper & Talent Show 6pm Choir 7pm Vestry 7pm 24 St. Matthias the Apostle Ember Day Evening Prayer Soup/Reading group 6:30pm 25 26 Ember Day Migrant Workers Dinner Bridport 27 Ember Day 9:30am Caregivers Ember Days are those days set aside 4 times a year when we pray for those who are to be admitted to Holy Orders. Note: The Vestry will meet on the 23 rd.
If you can not serve on the day shown please arrange to switch Sundays with someone. Thank you. FEBRUARY SUNDAY CHART Date Feb. 7 5 Epiphany Flower Guild Bootsie Morris Sunday School Pam & Sarah Hale Coffee Hour Lector Chalice Welcome Comm. Judy Woods Steve Lowe Tim Earle& Diane Lenore Morse& Steve Lowe Acolyte Counters Readings White& Jeanne Wisner & Cricket Laidman Isaiah 6: 1-13 Psalm 138 1 Corinthians 15: 1-11 Luke 5: 1-11 Feb. 14 Last Epiphany Anne Sevee Family Service Mary Cassidy & Bonnie Huizenga Sarah Cowan Carol Knauss &Diane Margaret Lowe & Mary Gordon White& Stephen Lowe & Sarah Cowan Exodus 34: 29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9: 28-43a Feb. 21 1 Lent We do not have flowers on the altar during Lent Nan Guilmette & Lenore Morse Laurie Earle Bob Laidman Tim Earle & Diane Margaret Lowe & Lenore Morse White& Mary Gordon & Kim Hatgen-Carrig Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 Psalm 91: 1-2, 9-16 Romans 10: 8b- 13 Luke 4: 1-13 Feb. 28 2 Lent No flowers on the altar during Lent Rebecca Chauvin & Meghan Olson Madelaine Calise & Karen White Jeanne Wisner Carol Knauss & Diane Lee Martel & Mary Gordon White & Betty Bristol & Carol Knauss Genesis 15: 1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13: 31-35
The winter potluck (or tale end of winter potluck) will be held on Saturday, March 13th at 5:00 in the church social hall. Please be on the look-out for a sign up sheet from Nan Guilmette.