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Dear Companions in Christ,
A new year – a new decade (yikes!) – is a time of new beginnings, new possibilities. This year it’s especially so for us as a parish as we’ve been invited to participate in the “Joining Jesus in the Missional Age” capital campaign initiative of the Episcopal Church in CT.
Six ECCT parishes have already participated in a pilot program which collectively raised more than $3 million to expand their ministries. We’re among seven parishes now considering whether to take this opportunity in the new year.
The initial stage takes place this month with a Rapid Study to assess our readiness for a capital campaign. The Vestry and staff have been discerning how any funds raised might be used to expand our ministries of music and Christian formation, make our building even more welcoming and accessible to all, and help secure our financial future, among other ideas. Now, with the help of a fundraising consultant provided by ECCT, we’ll be seeking feedback from others in the parish. Please stay tuned -- and, as always, be in touch with any questions or comments.
Faithfully,
Dee Anne
A new year – a new decade (yikes!) – is a time of new beginnings, new possibilities. This year it’s especially so for us as a parish as we’ve been invited to participate in the “Joining Jesus in the Missional Age” capital campaign initiative of the Episcopal Church in CT.
Six ECCT parishes have already participated in a pilot program which collectively raised more than $3 million to expand their ministries. We’re among seven parishes now considering whether to take this opportunity in the new year.
The initial stage takes place this month with a Rapid Study to assess our readiness for a capital campaign. The Vestry and staff have been discerning how any funds raised might be used to expand our ministries of music and Christian formation, make our building even more welcoming and accessible to all, and help secure our financial future, among other ideas. Now, with the help of a fundraising consultant provided by ECCT, we’ll be seeking feedback from others in the parish. Please stay tuned -- and, as always, be in touch with any questions or comments.
Faithfully,
Dee Anne
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Sunday Worship - 8:00 & 9:30 AM
Vestry – 2nd Tuesday at 7:00 PM Wednesday Eucharist - 12:10 PM in the Chapel Choristers - Thursdays at 4:15 - 5:00 PM Choir Rehearsal - Thursdays at 7:00 PM. Note: The Parish Office will be closed December 31 & January 1 for the New Year holiday. Normal office hours will resume on Thursday, January 2, 2020. A FESTIVAL OF LESSON & CAROLS FOR EPIPHANY Sunday, January 5 at 8:00 & 9:30. Start the year right by getting your “Star Word” for 2020 Church School, Nursery and Adult Forum resume GIRLS FRIENDLY SOCIETY Saturday, January 4 – 9:00 AM Tuesday, January 21 – 6:30 PM YOUTH GROUP Sunday, January 5 – 2:30 PM Sunday, January 19 – 2:30 PM CHURCH SCHOOL RESUMES Sunday, January 5 at 9:15AM HEALING PRAYER MEETING Tuesday, January 7 – 7:30 PM VESTRY MEETING Tuesday, January 14 – 7:00 PM ANNUAL REPORTS DUE Please provide to Parish Office by Tuesday, January 7 ANNUAL MEETING 9:30 Combined Service followed by Annual Meeting & potluck brunch Sunday, January 26 (snow date is February 2) |
Lord, it is Night (adapted from the New Zealand Prayer Book)
This prayer was used during Advent “Do-nothing”. Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done; let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In your name we pray. Amen. --submitted by St. Paul’s Healing Prayer Group |
Adult Forum
This winter the Adult Forum will read and discuss Serene Jones’ most recent book, Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World. Jones, the first woman president of Union Theological Seminary, uses experiences from her own life to contemplate how theology deepen each of our lives. Amazon’s description says “Jones makes complex teachings around hatred, forgiveness, mercy, justice, death, sin, and grace understandable and immediately applicable for modern people.” The Forum meets on Sundays at 9:00 am in the Common Room, and we will begin discussing this book on January 5. Please contact Amy Foster if you would like to order a copy (afoster@choate.edu or 203-675-4657).
Church School
Happy New Year! Kids are encouraged to wear their favorite pjs to Church School on 1/5/2020 to start the new year off with some fun! We will pick new star words and play with Legos at coffee hour too! In January Pre-K – K students will continue learning lessons from the Old Testament. Kids in grades 1-5 will start a new rotation learning about Jesus and John the Baptist. The kids are close to earning a movie and popcorn during church school as a reward for good attendance. Let’s see how quickly we can do it!
In January Youth Group will meet on January 5th and 19th. All kids in middle school are welcome to join us! Please see Miss Frances for a registration form.
This winter the Adult Forum will read and discuss Serene Jones’ most recent book, Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World. Jones, the first woman president of Union Theological Seminary, uses experiences from her own life to contemplate how theology deepen each of our lives. Amazon’s description says “Jones makes complex teachings around hatred, forgiveness, mercy, justice, death, sin, and grace understandable and immediately applicable for modern people.” The Forum meets on Sundays at 9:00 am in the Common Room, and we will begin discussing this book on January 5. Please contact Amy Foster if you would like to order a copy (afoster@choate.edu or 203-675-4657).
Church School
Happy New Year! Kids are encouraged to wear their favorite pjs to Church School on 1/5/2020 to start the new year off with some fun! We will pick new star words and play with Legos at coffee hour too! In January Pre-K – K students will continue learning lessons from the Old Testament. Kids in grades 1-5 will start a new rotation learning about Jesus and John the Baptist. The kids are close to earning a movie and popcorn during church school as a reward for good attendance. Let’s see how quickly we can do it!
In January Youth Group will meet on January 5th and 19th. All kids in middle school are welcome to join us! Please see Miss Frances for a registration form.
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Vestry Highlights from December Meeting
Pastoral concerns were shared and the Rector's Report was presented with Dee Anne describing how she’s hosted a meeting of local colleagues to form a group called United Faith Leaders of Wallingford. The immediate impetus behind forming the group is addressing the racist flyers posted around town this fall. Ted presented the Treasurer's report as well as the proposed budget for 2020. Vestry went over the proposed budget and accepted points that needed our approval before the budget is presented at the Annual Meeting. Ralph shared that, to date, we have received 90 pledges for a total of $190,259 for the 2020 pledge year. Follow up continues. The Property Committee Report was shared, with the recent Phase I of our ambitious landscaping being a highlight. New business such as the Joining Jesus initiative and Dee Anne's late spring 2020 sabbatical was discussed. Ongoing business such as RenewalWorks followup and a report from the Nominating Committee was shared. --Kate Adams-Bravo, Clerk ***Special Thanks!*** A special thanks to Ranee, Ava, and Rachel Bibisi for running our Christmas Eve Pageant this year. We appreciate you volunteering your time to make sure this wonderful Christmas tradition continues at St. Paul’s! ***Special Thanks!*** A special thanks to the Carboni family for donating a large collection of Legos to the St. Paul’s Church School. These Legos will be used and appreciated for many years! ***Special Collection for Colin’s Crew*** Colin’s Crew is a local charity committed to raising funds for families affected by childhood cancer. In church school in January the students will be putting together Valentine’s Day goodie bags to help raise the spirits of some of these kids. Would you like to help by donating goodies for these bags? See the sign up sheet on the board in the back of the church. Thank you! The Memorial Flower Fund The calendar year for placing flowers on the altar will begin on January 1st of each year. If you would like to have flowers placed on the altar in memory of someone or in thanksgiving for a special occasion, please submit your request on the green form enclosed with this newsletter indicating the names of those to be remembered and the date of the Sunday on which you wish the flowers to be on the altar. A contribution of $45.00 per date is suggested. Checks for these memorials are to be sent to the church to the attention of the Treasurer of the Memorial Flower Fund. |
Lay Delegate Report of the Episcopal Church in CT – 2019 Annual Convention – October 26-27, 2019
by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Lay Delegate – MaryEllen Connell ECCT Annual Convention was held at the Hartford Convention Center on the last weekend this past October. I accompanied our Rector, Dee Anne Dodd, and parishioner Kristin Liu. Saturday’s session began with the opening business agenda and then the attendees broke into groups to attend one of several World Cafés – Addressing the Causes of Injustice; Climate Change; Formation for Children & Youth; Forming Disciples; Racial Healing & Justice; and Young Adults. Kristin attended the session on children and youth and Dee Anne participated in the Racial Healing seminar. I attended the World Café: Forming Disciples (How can our smaller congregations, especially those with half-time clergy or less – best grow in their capacity to make disciples). There were easily 15 tables, groups of 6 – 8 people at each table. One table was hosted by an individual who would make notes of conversations. For about 20 minutes, the group would discuss a topic and then move on to another table of his/her choosing. The host at the table would review the thread of the previous discussion(s) and the new group would continue the discussion for that table’s topic. This pattern allowed us to sit at four to five different tables, with different folks and hear about other points of view. At the end of the Café’s table conversation, we narrowed down (as best as possible) one idea that would be presented at Convention. Many Episcopal churches in CT are struggling to grow their congregations. Some of the challenges, thoughts and ideas that were proposed (in no particular order) included how to be relevant and to complete with other Sunday activities; the challenge of being “tied” to buildings; the danger of a church with no outreach; what are we “stuck” on? Asset uses – outside of the church; kids don’t think they “need” church – many competing distractions and activities. Other thoughts that were discussed included: Book of Common Prayer is an underused resource; identify fears to growth; sharing space with other churches; being visible and engaged in the local community; fellowship and service outside of the physical church; nontraditional worship times (other days of the week, like Saturday evenings); nontraditional music; how to best incorporate technology in worship. This session wrapped up with a recommendation that a Coaching Network be developed as a resource for parishes by parishes. The Coaching Network would be composed of Parish Administrators and other Parish staff or parishioners with particular expertise or gifts to share with other Parishes. Initially, the thought was that a parish questionnaire would be developed to ascertain what types of expertise a parish needed; and the ECCT website would develop a helpful link “Who to Call” coaching network for parishes. We should expect to hear more about this suggested Coaching Network in the coming months. We enjoyed a delightful lunch and had opportunities to meet or reconnect with folks we hadn’t seen in a while. The next day, Sunday’s Worship concluded the Convention. It included lessons and the Gospel offered in both English and Spanish. The Preacher was the Right Reverend Barbara C. Harris, retired Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Massachusetts. We also had a Visiting Bishop attending, the Right Reverend Anne Dyer, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney, Scottish Episcopal Church. The music was outstanding and included St. Luke’s (New Haven) Steel Band and combined parish choirs. Respectfully submitted, MaryEllen H. Connell, Lay Delegate |
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ANNUAL MEETING REPORTS
Committee Chairs, please have your Annual Reports to the Parish Office by Tuesday, January 7th. ANNUAL PARISH MEETING Sunday, January 26th, 2020 (Snow date: Sunday, February 2, 2020) 9:30 AM combined service with potluck brunch Church School at 9:15AM & Nursery Care throughout the morning Let’s Make a Float A committee is forming to design and construct a St Paul’s float for the Wallingford 350th Jubilee Parade. The parade is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 20, 2020. We need folks to help with design ideas, decorators, builders, assemblers, painters and anyone interested in volunteering your time for this short term project. A meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 16, 7:00 PM at St Paul’s. For additional information please contact Jane Smith 203-265-4846 or Carole Ireland 203-988-7405. Volunteers are also needed to help out along the parade route. Email: 350paradevolunteers@gmail.com “Souper” Bowl Sunday! – Sunday, February 2, 2020 How does a nice HOT bowl of soup and a FRESH sub sandwich sound to you on a cold winters’ day? Even better, you don’t have to make it! Pre order your soup and sandwiches for pick up on Sunday February 2, 2020, after both services. St. Paul’s Youth Group and St. Paul’s Girls’ Friendly Society will be cooking fresh soup and assembling sandwiches to enjoy while watching the BIG GAME or just relaxing on a Sunday afternoon! Our groups are combining their efforts for this fundraiser. Funds raised will be sent to an outreach program of the kid’s choosing and will also support our individual groups. ORDER FORMS WILL BE AVAILABLE IN CHURCH (at both entrances to the sanctuary) with details on types of soup(s) and sandwiches offered. Orders can be placed in the collection plates or dropped off at church until Sunday January 26 or you can email your order to: k.rowe@cox.net. ORDERS WILL BE TAKEN UNTIL SUNDAY JANUARY 26, 2020. WE WILL NOT HAVE EXTRA SANDWICHES OR SOUP AVAILABLE ON THIS DATE – PRE-ORDERS ONLY! Thanks for your support! Karen Rowe, Jane Smith, Kate Adams, St. Paul’s GFS Frances Chamberlain, Leigh Barnes, St. Paul’s Youth Group St. Paul’s Girls’ Friendly Society – Bake/Craft Sale Update! Many thanks to our faithful St. Paul’s parishioners for their support of our December 2019 bake/craft sale! We made approximately $350.00! So what will we be doing with this money? A portion of this money is being donated to the St. Paul’s church school fundraiser (Episcopal Relief and Development- Gift for Life Program) and the remaining will be deposited into our checking account to help fund our programs such as Blessing Bags, care packages for our senior church members and supplies for our bimonthly GFS meetings. GFS-St. Paul’s is funded solely by the leadership, a yearly stipend of $100.00 from GFS-USA, and donations and/or fundraisers such as bake sales. We are not a budgeted line item at St. Paul’s so YOUR faithful support of our events is VERY much appreciated. Our bimonthly meetings are planned, paid for and executed by the leadership. Fundraising helps for larger expenses and will also help GFS-St. Paul’s and GFS-Connecticut send our leader, Kate Adams, to World Council in South Africa this summer! Kate is our GFS-CT representative! This is an incredible opportunity for Kate to meet and network with many women (young and old) from around the globe and make friendships that will last a lifetime! Thank you ALL again very much for your continued support. Happy New Year! With love, Karen Rowe, Jane Smith and Kate Adams- GFS-St. Paul’s |
Build UP our pledging for 2020!
A hearty thank you to everyone who has turned in a pledge form for 2020, and an extra-special thanks to those who heeded the call to “build up”. Your monetary gifts to support God’s mission here. Even an extra $5 a week makes a big difference and would help us move toward eliminating the draw from our General Fund endowment. If you’ve not already done so, please place your form in today’s offering or drop it off in the office during the week. Pledge forms are available at each entrance, or pledge online at stpaulswallingford.org. We encourage you to see if your employer offers Matching Gifts. Please contact the parish office for more information on how we can arrange for St. Paul’s to be the beneficiary. THANK YOU! A Note from the Property Chair In the new year we are splitting property into two parts; grounds and building. It takes a lot of hands to keep this building and grounds in beautiful condition. I am planning a work night for January 8, 2020 at 7:00 – 9:00 PM to inventory our needs and compile a list. Please come. If you are interested in joining the team, see Gene Gervais after church or call 203-314-9368 or email rggervais50@gmail.com Mercy Center Retreat Our annual retreat at “Mercy Center By the Sea” in Madison will be held on May 9th from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. I’m happy to say that our facilitator will be Shancia Jarrett, our Seminarian, who loves Mercy Center just as we do. She has shared some of her special skills at the Fellowship Thursdays Bible Study. I will need a deposit of $10.00 as soon as possible to hold our meeting room which is near to the beach area. If the weather isn’t cooperative, there are two comfortable sitting rooms with windows overlooking the sky and ocean where you are warm, comfortable and quiet. The deposit may be made in cash or check made out to Vivian Horvath. Any questions see me at church or call me at 203-284-8873. --Thank you, Vivian Horvath Holy Baptism The Sacrament of Holy Baptism may be celebrated on the following Feast Days: The Sunday after the Epiphany (January 12, 2020), Easter Eve (April 11) or the Feast of Pentecost (May 31). Preparation for this celebration of Christian initiation includes a formal application and participation of parents and godparents in our Baptism Workshop and Rehearsal. Please direct any inquiries to the Rector at rector@stpaulswallingford.org or 203-269-5050. Get emergency texts! The official start of winter reminds us to urge you to sign up for our infrequent but important texts about weather cancellations. Please send your name and cell phone # to stpaulswallingford@gmail.com. St. Paul’s is on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter! Please follow us: Facebook St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Wallingford, CT Instagram stpaulswallingford.org Twitter@StPaulsWlfd |