ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
NEWSLETTER FOR SEPTEMBER 2009
The Diocese of Southern Ohio
The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal, Diocesan Bishop
The Rt. Rev. Kenneth L. Price, Jr., Bishop Suffragan
The Rev. Judi A. Wiley, Rector
234 North High Street, Hillsboro, OH 45133
Priest’s office hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tues. 12:00 noon to 7:00 pm – Sat. by appointment
Priest’s office phone: (937) 393-9445
Business office hours: Thursday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
Church office phone: (937) 393-2043
e-mail: stmary@bright.net
web site: http://www.bright.net/~stmary/
Worship Services: Sunday 10:00 am
Sunday School for all ages at 9:00 am
Wednesday Holy Eucharist with Healing Prayers at 12:00 noon
A WORD FROM OUR RECTOR
Welcome Home. The official Homecoming for the programs and families of St. Mary’s erupts this month! Just look what we have in store!
Welcome Home to our Sunday School for the children. 9:00 am on Sundays. New classrooms, new curriculum and new teachers! Plenty of surprises and fun activities are in store for this year. Our children will feel a connectedness with the congregation as they join us for worship each Sunday. We will enjoy families sitting together and children learning to be part of the service. There will be Angel Bags” for the smaller children to keep their little hands busy during the service. Look for them in the narthex. Youth Group will take on a bigger presence as the year continues. Watch for activities in the Youth Group Newsletter included now in the monthly newsletter.
Welcome Home will mean an adult forum each Sunday covering various topics geared for our changing world. Some topics will include “The Five Love Languages” presented by Jennifer Benson, a social worker and teacher/presenter from St. Anne in West Chester, Ohio. Bishop Price will lead an informative discussion on issues from our Episcopal National Convention. We will learn how to “tell our story” as the ancient civilizations did so well so that future generations will know what we stood for and how we lived. “Why Study the Bible?” will be another informative class. You won’t want to miss this Sunday morning event. 9:00 am in the church nave.
Welcome Home will energize us to continue the ministry and outreach we already do. Appalachian Ministries and Soup’s On help us serve the poor and be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Saving pocket change to contribute to the support of our compassion International child, Fitri Liana and hearing the coins banging into the pots for our Day of Change collection for our Soup’s On program will keep us reminded of our service to others. Continued support of Samaritan Outreach and the Homeless Shelter show us that we are part of a bigger plan initiated by God.
Welcome Home means some new programs as well. Men’s Bible Study/Breakfast will start soon as well as the Prayer Ministry during the service. Stewardship will be the focus of a dinner and auction in November and look for a fantastic Christmas Cantata on our newly revamped organ in December.
Welcome Home St. Mary’s people! You have a lot to do to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and lots of different ways to do just that. Can you feel the energy in the air? Welcome Home. Rev. Judi+
ST. MARY’S HOMECOMING SUNDAY
SEPTEMBER 13TH AT 9:00 AM
ST. MARY’S STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The mission of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church is to share the joy of a loving God through worship in the Anglican tradition, fellowship, and service.
(Adopted by Vestry April 5, 2008)
CLASS SCHEDULE FOR FALL SUNDAY SCHOOL
CLASSES BEGIN PROMPTLY AT 9:00 AM
SUNDAY MORNING AND END BY 9:45 AM
Nursery (in Creation Room): birth through age 2
Pre-school (in Noah Room): ages 3 to 5
Grades 1-3 (in Lacy Hall classroom #1)
Grades 4-5 (in Lacy Hall classroom #2)
Grades 6-8 (in narthex)
Grades 9-12 (in Telfair Room)
Adult Forum (in church nave)
Thank you to all the wonderful disciples who have volunteered to teach our children this year! Dedication to God and the knowledge that our children will benefit from the careful guidance toward a closer relationship with God will be a gift to our future. St. Mary’s is proud to announce the teaching staff for the 2009-2010 Sunday School year: Carol Drummond, Jennifer Drummond, Shirley Furbee, Shirley Gilliam,. Stephanie Habig, BJ Hopkins, Nancy Ogden, Debby Shuler, Hollis Stevenson, Jane Stratton, Mary Brown Turner, and Larry Wiley.
Thanks also to the special people who have volunteered to be in the nursery with our wee ones: Peggy Addington, Deanna Flinn, Judy Franklin, BJ Gee, Andrea Harner, Whitney Harner, Jeanne Leydig, Margaret Lyons, Angie Martin, and Jan Vosper. With the new cannon stating that we need two helpers in the room at all times,. It takes more volunteers. However, the more people we have involved, the less often you will be scheduled. Come on, young and old, sign up!
Dear Father in Heaven, please look with
compassion on those who teach our children.
Guide their words and actions as they model
Your Will for each child that comes to them
for knowledge of You. Give them the love and
patience to shine as a beacon in the lives of
our children, remembering that the memory
of them may live with each child forever.
In Jesus Name, our great Teacher. Amen.
ADULT FORUM SCHEDULE
September 13th: Mark 7:24-37 (Rev. Judi)
September 20th: “Telling our Story” part 1 (Rev. Judi)
September 27th: “About Bible Study” (Lee Kaufman)
October 4th: “Five Love Languages” (Jennifer Benson)
October 11th: Presentation by Bishop Price
October 18th: “What Exactly Is Stewardship?” (Tom Conroy & Jim Heathcote)
October 25th: “Telling Our Story” part 2 (Rev. Judi)
November 1st: “Four Famous Saints” (Rev. Judi)
November 8th: “Women of the Bible” part 1 (Betty Heathcote)
November 15th: “Women of the Bible” part 2 (Betty Heathcote)
November 22nd: TBA
November 29th: ADVENTure ONE: “Singing Carols” (Rev. Judi)
December 6th: ADVENTureTWO: “Discovering Christmas” (Rev. Judi)
December 13th: ADVENTure THREE: “Jesus Is More than a Baby” (Rev. Judi)
December 20th: ADVENTure FOUR: “The Greatest Gift” (Rev. Judi)
December 27th: “March to Epiphany 2010” (Rev. Judi)
Please contact a member of your Vestry with all concerns,
joys and ideas concerning St. Mary’s Church!
Tom Conroy, Dorothy Elble, Deanna Flinn, Jim Frodge,
Jim Heathcote, Phyllis Johnson, Jane Stratton and Jan Vosper
SENIOR WARDEN’S REPORT
Members of your Vestry have been busy working on our buildings and furnishings. Those of you who were in church Sunday heard our refurbished and digitized organ play in grand and glorious style. It is a fine looking piece of equipment and the sound it produces is great. John Glaze could not say enough good things about it and those of us who heard it were very impressed.
The building and grounds work session last Saturday scraped and painted the outside of our Rector’s office. It is a wonderful improvement and looks so much better. More needs to be done on that building, so look for your opportunity to join in the “fun”.
We have seen the last of the bats that had invaded our attic area. That is good but it was not a cheap process. The organ renovation and the removal of the bats were necessary and beneficial projects, but they were also unexpected and very costly. As we enter the beginning of our stewardship season, I hope all of you will look very favorably toward boosting your pledge to continue to make our church the fine place that it is. (Jim Heathcote, Senior Warden)
CONFIRMATION/INQUIRERS CLASSES
What is Confirmation? On page 860 of The Book ofCcommon Prayer it says: “Confirmation is the rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ, and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and laying on of hands by a Bishop.” Bishop Breidenthal suggests that someone seeking confirmation be at least 16 years of age and ready to serve Jesus Christ in the Church. On September 10th at 6:30 pm classes begin to prepare those seeking confirmation by Bishop Price on October 11th. We will meet in the comfort of the Wiley home. Everyone is welcome to attend the classes but the following people have asked to be prepared for confirmation: Holly Culbreath, Stephanie Habig, Jeanne Leydig, Angie Martin, and Randy Martin. If anyone else would like to be confirmed, please let Rev. Judi know. You must be prepared to attend all four classes for confirmation.
September 10th: Story of the Episcopal Church (DVD & discussion)
September 17th: The Book of Common Prayer and hymnal (discussion)
October 1st: Doctrines, Canons, Priests, Bishops and Deacons
October 8th: Gifts Inventory/Called to Serve
OUTREACH OBSERVATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER
I want to really thank all of the volunteers, from Carlene to Lydia, who helped to make another successful year of making brown bag lunches for the clients of Samaritan Outreach Services. THANK YOU!
I want to remind everyone of the need for volunteers for Soup’s On. Your help is needed for set-up at 3:00 pm serving starting at 5:00 pm and clean-up starting around 5:30 pm. As always they need desserts. Soup’s On will be on August 29th and September 26th. (Peggy Addington, Outreach Chairperson)
OLD TIMERS DAY FESTIVAL
Old Timers Day Festival in Peebles, September 17-20, is fast approaching. St. Mary’s has rented a space, and we need to staff it on September 17, 18, and 19. On September 17 we will be setting up our street space from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. and on Friday and Saturday we will be face painting and giving out information about St. Mary’s. We need at least two volunteers for each time bloc. A sign-up sheet has been posted in Lacy Hall. I encourage everyone who can help to sign up. On Sunday St. Mary’s will be entering a float in the parade at 3:00 pm. If you are free on Sunday, come to Peebles to cheer on the adults and children who have worked so hard on the float. A DVD will be produced of the parade. Please see me or Jim Frodge if you have any questions or would like a copy of the DVD. Hope to see all of you at the festival. (Tom Conroy, Junior Warden)
DATES TO REMEMBER
Choir Practice: Attention all singers!
Choir practice starts on Thursday,
September 3rd at 5:30 pm. We welcome
all! The change from Sunday morning
has been made to make room for our
new Sunday School program.
Annual Episcopal Church Women Conference: Saturday, September 12th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Procter Conference Center. This year’s theme is Certainty in Uncertain Times. The Rev. Ruth Paulus will be the keynote speaker. Exciting ministries will be highlighted.
Mountain Grace Conference: Saturday, September 12th at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Huntington, West Virginia. Registration at 8:30 am and meeting ending at 4:00 pm. The theme for the day will be Keeping Faith in Hard Times.
Cathedral Youth Event: From 2:00 pm on Saturday to after the 10:00 am worship service on Sunday (September 12-13). The cathedral welcomes the youth of the diocese for an overnight kickoff to the program year. More information on the bulletin board.
Next Vestry Meeting: September 13thth at 11:30 am in the Telfair Room
Youth Group Gathering: Sunday, September 20th for the parade in Peebles
Fall Rummage Sale: Saturday, October 3rd from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm . . . Set-up will be on Thursday and Friday, October 1st and 2nd beginning at 9:30 am. Items for sale may be brought in all the preceding week, but NO LATER than Thursday morning. WE NEED LOTS AND LOTS OF VOLUNTEERS . . . please join in the fun! WE NEED BOOKS FOR THE CPC BOOK SALE!!
Stewardship Sunday: November 8th . . . there will be a potluck dinner and auction and the presentation of our 2009-2010 stewardship appeal. Keep this date open for this important event. If you have any questions or suggestions about stewardship, please see Tom Conroy or Jim Heathcote.
THANK YOU
To all St. Mary’s folks . . . thanks for sending me to the Sewanee Church Music conference last month. It is a wonderful week of worship and music, music, music! I brought back a pictorial history of the University of the South which was part of the history project of celebrating the college’s 150th anniversary. It has been placed in the church library. (John Glaze)
ST. MARY’S APPALACHIAN MINISTRIES
This month I will take the opportunity to discuss this year’s Christmas in Bell County program and to answer a few questions that some of you have asked.
We are once again “adopting” 40 families for Christmas. We will provide a food box to each family along with toys and clothing for the children in the family. In order to qualify, each family must have a child enrolled in and actively participating in Head Start. The families that we “adopt” will be the 40 neediest families out of the nearly 1,000 families in the family assistance program at Bell-Whitley Community Action. Obviously we wish that we could do more, but we have to work with what we have.
We will soon be putting out the collection boxes where you can place your donated gift items. We are looking for items appropriate for newborns up to around 13 year olds. Please keep your gifts simple and inexpensive. We have found that you can get great items at stores such as Family Dollar or Dollar General that work just fine. Clothing items such as mittens, scarves and toboggans are also great gift ideas. Please try to keep the items small since we try to use shoe boxes for packaging.
If you want to do a bit more, you can buy a food box for $40.00. Last year the food boxes contained a 5 pound canned ham, 5 pounds of potatoes, dressing, gravy, 12 cans of various types of vegetables, rolls, powdered milk, fruit juice mix, coffee, hard candy, fruit, a pie and various fresh vegetables. Your donation for a food box would be most welcome.
We will put the gift boxes together on December 12th at the church in Middlesboro. We will start at around 1:00 pm and should be done by late afternoon. Last year we had around two dozen people helping and it took about three hours, so your help would be welcome. If you want to stay overnight there are several motels in the area but the only ones that I would recommend are the Holiday Inn Express in Middlesboro or the Cumberland Gap Inn in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee.
Thank you for both your interest and support of this ministry and please try to remember to order scrip cards and to use your Kroger Neighborhood Rewards Card when you shop. (Jim Frodge, Chair)
PRAYER CONCERNS
“Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us, to your never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that you are doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We ask your blessing on Judi Austin, Bob Barker, Pam Bruce, Earl Burnett, Mitch Franklin, Candy Hedge, Lois Higgins, Glenn Lucas, Nancy Miller, Donna Parshall, Morgan Pence, Esther Russell, Violet Schmidt, Anne W. Stamps, Charlie & Marge Starr, Adam Strawmyer; all persons serving in our Armed Forces; for the ministry of St. Mary’s Church; and for peace in our country and in the world.
Lectors/Chalice Bearers
9/6 Lector: Jennie Harner
Intercessor: Paul Orth
Chalice: Lee Kaufman
9/13 Lector: Jim Frodge
Intercessor: Stephen Williams
Chalice: Watina Frodge
9/20 Lector: Larry Addington
Intercessor: Betty Heathcote
Chalice: Jim Heathcote
9/27 Lector: Peggy Larkin
Intercessor: Jan Vosper
Chalice: Peggy Larkin
Altar Guild
Barbara Conroy
Watina Frodge
Carol & John Joy
Lee Kaufman
Stephen Williams
Acolytes
9/6 Lee Kaufman & Jordan Elmore
9/13 Stephen Williams & Meghan Stratton
9/20 Lee Kaufman & Grant Joy
9/27 Stephen Williams & Brandon Elmore
Ushers/Greeters
9/6 Watina Frodge & Stephen Williams
9/13 Paul & Nancy Orth
9/20 Larry & Peggy Addington
9/27 Paul & Phyllis Johnson
Sunday School Teachers
Pre-school: Shirley Furbee
Debby Shuler
Jane Stratton
Grades 1-3: Jennifer Drummond
Nancy Ogden
Grades 4-5: Carol Drummond
Mary Brown Turner
Grades 6-8: Stephanie Habig
Larry Wiley
Grades 9-12: BJ Hopkins
Hollis Stevenson
Floater: Shirley Gilliam
Nursery Care Providers
9/6 Peggy Addington
Judy Franklin
9/13 Andrea Harner
Whitney Harner
9/20 B. J. Gee
Jeanne Leydig
9/27 Deanna Flynn
Margaret Lyons
substitutes:
Deanna Flynn
Judy Franklin
Margaret Lyons
Angie Martin
Coffee Hour Host
9/6 Angie & Randy Martin
9/13 Larry Addington
9/20 Peggy Larkin
9/27 Mary Brown Turner
Marilyn Varvel
Kitchen Cleaners
September: Barbara & Tom Conroy
October: Peggy Larkin & Margaret Lyons
November: Peggy & Larry Addington
December: Watina & Jim Frodge
September Celebrations
Happy Birthday
Russell Roever (9/2)
Barbara Conroy (9/5)
Mae Lindner (9/11)
Mitch Franklin (9/11)
Jim Heathcote (9/22)
Nicole Shawhan (9/23)
Happy Anniversary
Amy & Matt Schneider (9/16)
Whitney & Sam Harner (9/20)
Shirley & Jim Furbee (9/21)