
Here are the week’s announcements. In particular please see:
- Wednesday Walkabouts (Around the Neighborhood)
- Summer Projects (Buildings & Grounds)
- Summer Choir (Worship)
- Young Adult College, Work, Gap Year Blessings (Worship)
- Fishing Trip (Parish Life)
- Bible Study (Christian Formation)
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Wednesday Walkabouts: July 11 – Gillette (meet and then have dinner at Chimney Rock) How well do you know the neighborhoods that All Saints’ serves? No matter how often you drive through a place, you never see it the same way as when you walk it. This summer we’ll have evening Walkabouts in parish neighborhoods at 6:30 pm. Each walk will last about 45 minutes, with a meal at a local restaurant afterwards to share fellowship and talk about what we have seen and learned. Details are on the sign-up sheet in the Narthex.
July 11 – Gillette (meet and then have dinner at Chimney Rock)
July 18 – Warrenville Center (meet at 41 Mountain Boulevard and then dinner at Ye’s Asian Bistro)
BUILDINGS & GROUNDS
Summer Projects
- Playground Wood Chips: we’ve had a donation of wood chips that need to be spread on our playground. If you can give Tom Day a hand with this, please speak with him.
- Solar Shade for Organ Window: will be installed in the next week. The wooden frame holding the wooden organ pipes that faces the large window in the front of the Church is cracked, due to 20 years of sun and heat exposure. The shade will protect the organ and prevent further damage. It can be raised and lowered as needed for acoustics.
- Emergency Egress Lighting for Church and Parish House: a state safety requirement in case of fire. This will be installed by an electrician before the township September deadline. Both the shade and the lighting will be paid for from our Legacy/Capital Funds.
PARISH LIFE
Summer Refreshments are available after the 10 am service on the Parish House lawn. Please join us for a cool drink and conversation.
Summer Fishing Trip – would you be interested in a day of fishing at the Shore? Steve Kowalik is willing to organize an outing on a boat this summer. Please put your name on the sheet in the Narthex if you would like more information, and Steve will be in touch with you.
Ladies Night Out: Planning Ahead! Tuesday, August 28, 7:30 pm. Stop by the Stirling Hotel (outdoor area) for conversation, catching up after the summer, and a cool beverage. Bring a friend, too! No need to sign up.
FUN & FUNDRAISING
Reminder from the Finance Committee – While you are traveling or away from Sunday worship this summer, please remember our parish expenses continue! You may always mail in or drop off your pledge contributions during the week. Or you can initiate a direct payment from your bank. Please speak with Barbara Barbeau if you would like information about this. Thank you. All of your support is needed and appreciated.
Rummage Sale! We need help on Aug. 4 to set up tables in the Parish Hall so we can begin accepting rummage Aug. 5, the First Sunday of Rummage. If you can assist, sign up on the poster in the Narthex. What do we take? Good, usable, clean rummage: furniture, housewares, tools, toys, holiday items, yard & garden, art work, kids’ books, small electronics, boutique, office supplies, sporting goods, etc. What don’t we take? Cribs, large appliances, large sofas, entertainment centers, tube TVs. Tell your friends and neighbors! This sale is our most visible community event, and our largest fund-raiser: September 29! Check the poster in the narthex to see how you can help. Questions? Speak to Kimberly Celeste.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Bible Study Wednesdays at 10:15 am in the Rath House. This week we’ll read and discuss Galatians chapter 4. Bible study is for everyone, whether you own a Bible or have ever read it, or not! Hope to see you there!
WORSHIP
Come join the fun and sing in the All Saints' Summer Choir! Two different opportunities: July 22 & August 19! No experience is needed. You are welcome whether you sing in choir during the rest of the year or not. Meet in the choir room at 9:15 am to learn the anthem and then help lead worship at 10:00. Please talk to Alison Siener Brown for more information.
Blessings for College and Post-High School Students – is a young adult in your family going off to college, work, or a gap year at the end of the summer? Folks age 18-22 are invited to come July 22 at 10 am and receive a blessing for study, work, or travel.
Hymn Sing: During the summer, in place of an instrumental prelude we’ll have a simple hymn sing – the first verse of some of our favorite hymns, starting this week. If you have a request, please be ready with the hymn number!
EPSCOPAL CHURCH NEWS
The General Convention (GC) of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Austin, TX 7/5-7/13. It gathers all the Bishops, and 8 deputies from every diocese (4 lay and 4 clergy) elected by our diocesan convention. It also gathers representatives of many other Church-wide groups and staff, including our own Lisa Webb who works for the Episcopal Office of Communications. GC meets every three years to pray and study Scripture together, worship, discuss matters of importance to the Church, to consider our response to social concerns, and to set a budget and mission priorities.
Some of those priorities from 2015 included evangelism, racial reconciliation and justice, and creation care. Those initiatives will continue. While there are many different resolutions to be considered – offered from dioceses across the church – some of the major conversations will include: whether it is time for a revision of the Prayer Book (the last one was forty years ago) and if so, how it should be done; a review of the trial-use marriage service for same-sex couples; a response to the #MeToo movement, especially as it applies to sexual harassment experienced within the Church.
Of particular interest for us in our diocese will be the affirmation of the election of our new Bishop Carlye Hughes. (Look at the sign-up sheet in the Narthex for a bus to her consecration 9/22). When a bishop election happens within 60 days of a GC, the convention as a whole votes to affirm, rather than having the Standing Committees of all dioceses vote separately.
To follow GC news “straight from the horses’ mouth” (as opposed to the secular press who don’t always understand Church issues) go to www.episcopalnewsservice.org. Please pray for GC, for our Bishop Beckwith and deputies, and for all in attendance – including Lisa! – that they may be filled with the wisdom, love, and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
PARISH CALENDAR
7/10 Finance Committee Rath House, 7:30 pm
7/11 Bible Study Rath House, 10:15 am
Wed Walkabout Chimney Rock, 6:30 pm
7/12 Eucharist & Healing Church, 7:00 am
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Prayer and Evangelism
A simple way to be a partner in God’s mission in telling the Good News of Jesus is to pray in the morning and ask God to show you a natural opportunity during the day to share the love of God with another person – and the words to say that are authentic to you. Here is a brief video of Bishop Skip Adams of South Carolina while he’s at General Convention telling a story about a conversation he had the day before with an Uber driver in Austin, TX. https://youtu.be/P6inebgZ_BU
And remember, the definition of evangelism in the Episcopal Church is: “the spiritual practice of seeking, naming, and celebrating the loving presence of Jesus in the stories of all people...and then inviting them to more.” How did Bishop Adams name and celebrate Jesus’ presence in the Uber driver’s story? In what ways did he invite her to more?
Blessings, Vicki+