Lent/ Easter 2012

Dear Friends,

Peace be with you.  As we listen to the lessons each week during Lent we are constantly reminded that the cross and the resurrection go hand in hand.  One without the other makes the greatest story ever told incomplete: even without meaning.

It is for that reason that the Church walks with Jesus the Way of Calvary beginning with the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday.  We are asked to enter into the journey with Jesus- to experience the pain and suffering and betrayal- to sit with this rejection awhile.  And then we are asked to celebrate the triumph of His risen life over death; victory over the world’s sins; forever achieved for all of us who have faith enough to believe.  Jesus offers all of us hope for a hurting world in this sacrificial act.

We are part of this history.  Jesus died and rose again for you and for me.  Please come and be a part of the retelling of it.  The Holy Week and Easter schedule can be found on the back of this page.

 

A Most Blessed Easter to you and yours,

 

Peggy

May 2012

Dear Friends,

Peace be with you. Dear Friends,

Peace to you.  The next liturgical schedule has been completed and will be sent out as soon as the internet is installed on the new computer.  Many thanks to Mark for making this happen.

We will be winding down the program year with a lot of activity.  Here is a breakdown.

• Sunday, May 13th is Special Ladies Day
• Sunday, May 20th is Early Communion.  Preparation for this will begin on Saturday the 19th when Ron Desmarais will meet with all those interested in participating from 9:30am-12N.  They will do a lesson and make family banners.  Ron will also give a lesson during the sermon time on Sunday.
• Sunday, May 27th – is Pentecost.  Please wear colors of the Spirit- red, yellow and orange- if you can.
• Sunday, June 3rd is Recognition Sunday.  We will give thanks for all the time spent in church school and will celebrate at coffee hour with an ice cream social.
• Saturday, June 9th – the Strawberry Festival from 9:00am to 1:00pm.  In addition to the delicious homemade shortcake, hot dogs, soda and coffee will also be served.  There will be a cookie walk and tables will be rented to crafters as well as those who want to have a yard sale. The cost of the table rental is $25.00.  You can call Margaret Westerlund to reserve one.
• Saturday, June 16th is Pete Jeffrey’s ordination to the Vocational Diaconate. The bus is now full and will leave St. Anne’s at 7:30am for the Cathedral. It will return in time for a reception at 2:00pm in Bixby Hall.  Please come to the reception even if you did not go to the service.  I have received some monies and a few cards.  Please give me your cards as they will be entered into a nice book and presented to Pete. We are hoping to purchase two stoles with the purse money. You can make your check out to St. Anne’s and mark “purse” on the memo line and give it to me. The next day Pete will read the Gospel, preach, set the table and give the dismissal as Rev. Deacon Pete.  How exciting is that!  You have raised him up and nurtured him along the way. Kudos to St. Anne’s.
• Saturday, June 23rd is the Annual Golf Tournament at the Swanson Meadows Golf Course in NB.  More information can be found on the bulletin board outside the kitchen.  Please know that many of us go just for the fellowship of supporting the golfers and the barbecue.  Registrations are due by June 1st.

  As always please let me know your thoughts and comments.  If there are things you think need minor changes this is a good time to do them before the next program year is under way.

Blessings,

Peggy

Fall 2012

Dear Friends,

Peace to you.  With rain and cool evenings we all know it is time to think fall.  This week all children will be back at school and we are planning for their return here as well.  I hope that you have had a good and restful summer.

The Welcome Back Brunch will be September 16th around 9:00am or in between the services.  There will also be a special coffee hour following the 10 o’clock service.  The brunch is potluck so please bring your favorite dish to share.  We have noticed lately that our children do not come to this event even though of course they are most welcome.
With that in mind we are scheduling this year a special Welcome Back to Church school on September 23rd.  This will be a chance to catch up with other students, the teachers.  It will not really be a Sunday school class but will include a craft, snacks and hopefully face painting.  The actual Sunday school classes will begin on September 30th.
Here is a brief description of the programs:
Seeds of Love is a Sunday School program for 3-7 year olds and children who need extra help focusing.  The structure is simple:   a gathering time followed by a short lesson, then there is time for individual work.  The children will be learning prayers, doing crafts and singing songs.  The main focus is on the love Jesus has for all the children.  In addition the basics of Episcopal worship will be covered.

Church School for the older children will continue to utilize the Betty Lukens program which teaches Bible story through felt.  They will learn of God’s love and guidance through the stories of the Old and New Testaments not only through the telling of them with felt but also with interactive visual aids, craft projects, music, poems and prayers.  They will also learn about specific parts of the church service in preparation for worship.  The goal is to teach the children, at a level they can understand, about the Lord’s message of love.

As in the past children will meet during the 10:00 service and will join their parents during the Holy Communion.  We are fortunate this year to have the same group of teachers.  If you are interested in helping out on any level please let me know and I will connect you with the people in charge.

I have decided not to have any more Family services.  They were not well attended by the families they were intended for and the congregation as a whole did not support them as well.  It is still a struggle after all these years to get parents to take worship seriously.  If you have any ideas or suggestions as to what might improve these efforts please let me know.  It is discouraging for me and for the teachers who work so hard on behalf of your children.
For those children who have enjoyed reading the lessons I will put them on the rota once a month.  If your child would like to read please let me know.

Have you heard of Cans For Camp?  This year we had more children and youth who wanted to go to camp than we had money to send them.  That was very sad.  All children should be given that opportunity.  Maureen Thibeault came up with the idea of having parishioners save their cans and bring them to church on Sundays.  She will redeem them and deposit the money into a fund for camp which is in the M&M  Fund.  So please save those soda cans and bring them to church.  There is a trash can just outside the Thrift shop for them.

For many years we were blessed to have Jose Torres lead the youth group of the church.  It is now time for someone else to step forward in that role.  If you are interested please let me know.

In terms of Adult education the Bible studies will continue on Mondays beginning September 24th at 10:00am and Tuesdays at 7:30pm beginning on September 25th.  The Monday class will study “The Story of the Bible” with Prof. Luke Timothy Johnson. Prof. of NT and Christian origins at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology.  The Tuesday evening class will study the “Dead Sea Scrolls” with Prof. Gary A. Rendsburg, Chair in Jewish history at Rutgers University.  Anyone is welcome to attend either class.  There is usually a lively discussion after each presentation.

The Choir will continue to meet on Wednesdays but there is a time change.  It is now at 7:30pm for the convenience of more people who might be interested.  Please check it out beginning September 19th.

The Blessing of Animals in honor of St. Francis will be Saturday morning, October 6th at 10:00 in the Memorial Garden.  All favorite pets are welcome including stuffed animals.

The Thrift Shop continues to exceed expectations of both donations and sales.  They will return to Saturday hours on September 7th.

Coffee Hour will begin again on September 16th- the day of the Welcome back brunch.  Sue Geen will be putting together a rota.

The parking lot to be relined.  By the time of the Welcome Back Brunch the yellow lines will have been repainted in the parking lot.  In addition, those spaces nearest the church will be marked as “reserved.”  The vestry has chosen not to install “handicap” spaces because they are too limiting for those who need to park close to the church but do not possess a handicap pass.  We ask that you NOT park near the church unless you are mobility challenged.

The Fair date is December 8th and is in the beginning planning stages.  If you have any suggestions or want to hear more about it please come to the Welcome back brunch

around 9:00am on September 16th and sit with Belinda Fletcher, Tim O’Sullivan and Mark Komarinski, the Chairs.

Daylight Savings begins on November 4th.  Please turn your clocks back one hour on the 3rd.  Ah- an extra hour of sleep!

We are fortunate that Tammy McCoy will be having another lia Sophia jewelry party on November 18th- both in between the services and again after the 10:00 service.  Anything you purchase will be in your hands before Christmas and 50% of Tammy’s proceeds will come back to St. Anne’s.  Thank you Tammy.

Sorry this is so long-winded but it has been a long time in between correspondence.
Needless to say, I look forward to seeing all of you back in church.

Blessings,

Peggy

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