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Dear Companions in Christ,
After ten years serving as your Rector, I'm preparing to take a Professional Development Leave (or Sabbatical). Professional Development Leave is three months of study and renewal (in addition to vacation) taken every five years. I'll be taking my first such leave after Easter returning later this summer.
Our Vestry has been preparing for this for some time. We're delighted to announce that the Rev. Patricia Hames - friend of the parish who has served here numerous times - will be serving part-time as your priest. Most weeks Pat will be here on Sundays, and Tuesdays-Wednesdays. Our dedicated parish wardens and staff are prepared to step up to keep everything thriving.
My sabbatical is coming together along the themes of hope and reconciliation. I begin with a week-long retreat of clergywomen from around the world gathering on the sacred isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. Our topic is “Renewal on the Edge: Being Church in a Liminal Time.” This is funded by a continuing education grant from the Episcopal Church in CT.
Also, across the pond, I plan to spend a few weeks as a volunteer at Corrymeela, an ecumenical community devoted to reconciliation, located in Northern Ireland. (It so happens to be in the same county from which my ancestor - the Rev. Francis Dodd - emigrated). I return to Iona to meet a group from Holy Cross Monastery to prepare to walk St. Cuthbert’s Way, a 62-mile pilgrimage from Melrose Abbey, Scotland, to Lindisfarne/Holy Isle in northern England, following the footsteps of the 7th Century bishop and monk Cuthbert.
Closer to home, I hope to participate in a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama sponsored by our Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Ministry Network. Here in Connecticut, I'll attend the “School of Celtic Consciousness” with John Philip Newell. This will be the last of a three - year course of study at Mercy Center in Madison.
Perhaps some of this captures your imagination almost as much as it does mine? I have a feeling these adventures will inform my preaching, teaching and prayer life for years to come.
Faithfully,
DeeAnn
After ten years serving as your Rector, I'm preparing to take a Professional Development Leave (or Sabbatical). Professional Development Leave is three months of study and renewal (in addition to vacation) taken every five years. I'll be taking my first such leave after Easter returning later this summer.
Our Vestry has been preparing for this for some time. We're delighted to announce that the Rev. Patricia Hames - friend of the parish who has served here numerous times - will be serving part-time as your priest. Most weeks Pat will be here on Sundays, and Tuesdays-Wednesdays. Our dedicated parish wardens and staff are prepared to step up to keep everything thriving.
My sabbatical is coming together along the themes of hope and reconciliation. I begin with a week-long retreat of clergywomen from around the world gathering on the sacred isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. Our topic is “Renewal on the Edge: Being Church in a Liminal Time.” This is funded by a continuing education grant from the Episcopal Church in CT.
Also, across the pond, I plan to spend a few weeks as a volunteer at Corrymeela, an ecumenical community devoted to reconciliation, located in Northern Ireland. (It so happens to be in the same county from which my ancestor - the Rev. Francis Dodd - emigrated). I return to Iona to meet a group from Holy Cross Monastery to prepare to walk St. Cuthbert’s Way, a 62-mile pilgrimage from Melrose Abbey, Scotland, to Lindisfarne/Holy Isle in northern England, following the footsteps of the 7th Century bishop and monk Cuthbert.
Closer to home, I hope to participate in a Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama sponsored by our Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation Ministry Network. Here in Connecticut, I'll attend the “School of Celtic Consciousness” with John Philip Newell. This will be the last of a three - year course of study at Mercy Center in Madison.
Perhaps some of this captures your imagination almost as much as it does mine? I have a feeling these adventures will inform my preaching, teaching and prayer life for years to come.
Faithfully,
DeeAnn
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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. |
Comcast Cable Channel 18
Frontier Channel 99 www.WPAA.TV - WPAA on the Internet Sunday - 5:00 PM Monday - 8:00 AM Wednesday - 2:00 PM Saturday - 7:00 PM |
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CHURCH OPEN FOR LENTEN PRAYER & REFLECTION
Wednesday & Friday - 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM HEALING PRAYER MEETING Tuesday, March 3 – 7:30 PM GIRLS FRIENDLY SOCIETY Saturday, March 7 – 9:00 AM Tuesday, March 17 – 6:30 PM SUNDAY LENTEN PROGRAM 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM March 1, 8, 22, 29 & April 5 Please note NO class on March 15 OR THURSDAY LENTEN PROGRAM 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM March 5, 19, 26 & April 2 Please note NO class on March 12 |
VESTRY MEETING
Tuesday, March 10 -7:00 PM FLOAT COMMITTEE MEETING Tuesday March 3 - 7:00 PM ACOLYTE/CRUCIFER TRAINING FOR ALL AGES Sunday, March 22 - 11:00 AM Open to current, would-be or just curious folks of all ages. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME STARTS SUNDAY, MARCH 8! Spring Forward Save the Date: ST. PAUL'S NURSERY SCHOOL ICE CREAM SOCIAL Saturday, April 4- 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM |
**DEADLINE FOR THE APRIL NEWSLETTER IS TUESDAY, MARCH 17**
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Enjoy film, popcorn, and fellowship!
During the season Lent, let us intentionally learn about Christ through a film series. This year's Lenten series focuses on the ministries of Christ by exploring Christopher Spencer's film the Son of God. In doing so, each week parishioners will watch excerpts from the film and respond to trivia questions which compare the film to its Gospel reference. Through such a method, participants obtain a greater understanding of the Gospel narratives and learn how to distinguish between the Gospels’ portrayal of Christ and modern illustrations of Christ. Christology on Screen: Jesus Live in Film runs every Sunday at 11:00am to April 5th, 2020 OR every Thursday from 5:30pm to 7:30pm from March 5th to April 2nd. There will be NO Class on Thursday, March 12th or Sunday, March 15th. The screening on Sunday, March 1st will provide an overview of the series and a full screening of Son of God. After March 1st, each week is assigned the same curriculum, therefore; participants can choose to attend either Sunday or Thursday workshops. The location is TBA. |
Church School
Lenten Mite Box Offering 2020
This year's Lenten mite box offering will go to buy disaster relief kits through Episcopal Relief and Development's Gifts For Life campaign. Kits provide lifesaving necessities like food, clean water, and medicine to jump start recovery after disasters. Consider giving your child a daily chore during Lent so that s/he can earn $0.25 to put in their mite box each day. Our goal is to buy 3 kits! Thank you.
Lenten Way of Love Coffee Hour
Do you have spring fever? Join us on Sunday, March 29th, for a special coffee hour celebrating the Way of Love, season of Lent, and the start of spring. There will be seed planting, butterfly prayers, puzzle building, and seasonal treats! Hosted by the Christian Education Committee.
Palm Cross Making
Palm crosses will be made on Friday, April 3 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM in Wilkinson Hall. No experience necessary - we will train. Come have fun and learn a new skill.
Ice Cream Social
St. Paul's Nursery School will be hosting their Ice Cream Social fundraiser on Saturday, April 4th from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Tickets are available in advance at the school or pay at the door. $5.00 per adult and $3.00 per child. Fun for the whole family!
Lenten Mite Box Offering 2020
This year's Lenten mite box offering will go to buy disaster relief kits through Episcopal Relief and Development's Gifts For Life campaign. Kits provide lifesaving necessities like food, clean water, and medicine to jump start recovery after disasters. Consider giving your child a daily chore during Lent so that s/he can earn $0.25 to put in their mite box each day. Our goal is to buy 3 kits! Thank you.
Lenten Way of Love Coffee Hour
Do you have spring fever? Join us on Sunday, March 29th, for a special coffee hour celebrating the Way of Love, season of Lent, and the start of spring. There will be seed planting, butterfly prayers, puzzle building, and seasonal treats! Hosted by the Christian Education Committee.
Palm Cross Making
Palm crosses will be made on Friday, April 3 from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM in Wilkinson Hall. No experience necessary - we will train. Come have fun and learn a new skill.
Ice Cream Social
St. Paul's Nursery School will be hosting their Ice Cream Social fundraiser on Saturday, April 4th from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Tickets are available in advance at the school or pay at the door. $5.00 per adult and $3.00 per child. Fun for the whole family!
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Vestry Highlights from February Meeting
Dee Anne had the Vestry read together a draft of the Parish Prayer as our opening prayer. Pastoral concerns were shared. Vestry members introduced themselves and recounted some favorite memories from the first time they came to worship at St. Paul's. We had a Vestry Orientation going over the by-laws for the Parish, Sacred Trust, Memorial Garden and Nursery School, and other reference materials. Ted shared the Treasurer's Report complete with notes for a tour of how to properly read the report for new members of Vestry as well as being a refresher for returning Vestry members. Kathy shared updates and progress that has been made with the Float Committee for St. Paul's parade float for the Wallingford 2020 celebration this coming June. Gene shared updates from the Property and Security Committee. The Vestry spoke about new business such as the Joining Jesus capital campaign and Dee Anne's upcoming sabbatical plans. The Vestry discussed old business in the form of progress made to our RenewalWorks plans. The meeting was adjourned after sharing learnings, appreciations, and regrets as well as reciting the Parish Prayer a second time." -Katie Adams-Bravo, Clerk Easter Memorial Flowers If you would like to submit names for Easter Memorial Flowers, please fill out a form and return it to the office with your check by March 29th. Forms will be available at the entrances to the church. A donation of $25.00 is suggested for the first two memorials (i.e. John Smith and Mary and Tom Jones) with a $5.00 donation for each additional name. Checks should be made payable to "St. Paul's Memorial Flower Fund.” As a reminder, flowers are not placed on the altar during Lent or Advent but if you desire a date during those periods, the arrangement can be placed on the side altar. A donation of $45.00 is suggested per date. 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 Tuesday, March 3rd at 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 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! Annual Reports Available Copies of our current Annual Report as distributed at the Parish Meeting on January 26, 2020 will be available at both entrances of the sanctuary during the month of March for those who did not attend. There will also be copies available in the Parish Office. Please pick up a copy for your review. |
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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"Joining Jesus" capital campaign
After much discernment, St. Paul's Vestry has determined that the time is right for St. Paul's to participate in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut's "Joining Jesus" capital campaign designed to help churches develop financial resources. We are one of 13 parishes participating. This campaign will allow us to continue to embrace God's mission here at St. Paul's more fully, with the help of professional counsel provided by the ECCT. Please stay tuned for more information as a committee begins reaching out to the parish. 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. If you are interested in joining the team, see Gene Gervais after church or call 203-314-9368 or email rggervais50@gmail.com 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. St. Paul's Thrift Shop Donation Information Just a reminder, donations are ONLY ACCEPTED during the Thrift Shop operating hours: Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Thank you for your generosity and cooperation. |
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 Morning Prayer During Lent Thursday mornings at 7:30 AM in the chapel. March 5, 12, 19, 26, & April 2 Helen Stowe 203-848-7113 Church open for Prayer & Reflection during Lent We are looking for volunteers to keep the church open 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Wednesdays & Fridays during the Lenten season. For more information, please contact Gene Gervais rggervais50@gmail.com or 203-314-9368. Get emergency texts! Sign up for our infrequent but important texts about weather cancellations. Please send your name and cell phone # to stpaulswallingford@gmail.com. |
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Instagram: stpaulswallingford.org
Twitter: @StPaulsWlfd