ANNOUNCEMENTS -- February 2012

ESCAPE, The New Eastern Shore Homeless Ministry: See details on the Outreach page of this Website.

Vicar's Discretionary Fund: Please remember that the Plate offerings on the first Sunday of each month are used to contribute to this Fund, which is used by Pastor Claire for the charitable needs within and outside our Parish. Give generously.

Pennies From Heaven: The Vestry is pleased to announce that our total collection in 2011 was $1,546. As a result we were able to increase our donations to local charities by $100.

The charities that we are supporting:

H&H Pharmacy - $450
Center for Independent Living - $150
Lighthouse Ministry - $100
Interfaith Crisis Center - $100
E.S. Literacy Council - $100
Hospice of E.S. - $100
Salvation Army - $100
Habitat for Humanity - $100
A-N Pregnancy Center - $100
Food Pantry - $200

Thank you for you generous support this past year.

For 2012, we have collected $96 through Jan. 15.

Recent Photos from Mexico of Ale, Eduardo and Fernando Go to "Links" page of this website and click on the link "Photos of Ale, Eduardo, and Fernando"

NEEDED! Altar Flower & Coffee Hour Patrons

COMMUNICATIONS

Rebuild Haiti Contributions

From Barbara Byers, Diocesan Coordinator for the Rebuild Haiti Collections in 2011:

Dear Friends: On this, the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti, I wanted to send a big Thank You to all who worked so hard on the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti campaign.

Here is a recap of our efforts: In the Diocese of Southern Virginia, over $33,000 was raised to help with this effort. Across the country, 92 Dioceses, 488 congregations bought 158, 259 bricks! Thank you so much for your contribution to this effort!

Barbara Byers

Pastor Claire's Corner

"Considering Epiphany which extends through February 21st”

The celebration of Epiphany originated in the Eastern Church in AD 361, beginning as a commemoration of the birth of Christ. Later, additional meanings were added - the visit of the three Magi, Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River, and his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. These three events are central to the definition of Epiphany, and its meaning is drawn from these occurrences. Not all of these points are in each year's Scripture selections.

Epiphany is a season of light, when Jesus Christ is shown to be the light of the world. During Epiphany, God is made manifest (made obvious) through the flesh and blood presence of his son, Jesus, on earth. The first celebration during Epiphany is the day of Epiphany itself, which Western Christians celebrate on January 6th. That day, the festival of light, celebrates the visit of the three Wise Men to the Baby Jesus in Bethlehem. They may have come from the west, perhaps Iran, and followed a star in the sky, which led them to Bethlehem.

During the Season of Epiphany we follow the disciples as they discover and are discovered by Jesus, and learn to follow Jesus. We answer the question, “What does it mean to follow Jesus; what does it mean to go His way?” The 1st Sunday after the Epiphany, Christians celebrate the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the River Jordan. The Holy Spirit descended from heaven in the form of a dove, the heavens opened, and a voice spoke, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus was sent forth in ministry as the beloved Son of God. He went forth calling others, teaching, and healing. The last Sunday of Epiphany, Transfiguration Sunday, Jesus goes to pray on the mountain. In a moment of Epiphany, of enlightenment, God speaks to those disciples present, telling them ... “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”

Epiphany is a reminder of God the Father’s unlimited love and mercy, which He has extended to all of mankind through the revelation of His Son, and of the hope of salvation that is now manifest for all who come to him in faith. For the Church, the Epiphany represents a responsibility to reveal Jesus as the Divine Son and Savior sent by God the Father to atone for the sins of mankind.

As you come to worship in this new year and then go back into your "ordinary" daily life, how will you choose to be a revealing point of Christ's light for others? How will God be revealed in what you say and do? It might cost you nothing more than an ordinary smile, or a few extra ordinary minutes ... but unbeknownst to you ... it might change the ordinary life of another through a little bit of God's love and grace casting its light through you.

May we have ears to hear the voice of Christ within our hearts this Epiphany, that we may make his word manifest in our lives and our world. ”

"ASH WEDNESDAY on FEBRUARY 22nd"

ASH WEDNESDAY is the first day of Lent. It has been a custom of the church since the 8th century to marking the foreheads of men, women and children with ashes. We get the ashes from burning the palms blessed and given out on the previous Palm Sunday. The meaning of this custom is taken from the Old Testament where ashes were a sign of repentance (being truly sorry for our sins; our misdeeds and wrong doings.) It was also part of the ritual of admitting those who sought to become Christians to the period of "catechesis" and those who sought reinstatement in the church through a period of penitence. When the priests make a cross of ashes on the forehead they say, "Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return" which is a reminder that we begin and end our earthly life as dust. The Book of Common Prayer (BCP p. 265) reminds us that "it is by [God's] gracious gift that we are given everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Savior."

Pastor Claire+

Church Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study
Letter from the Curch Pension Fund

Dear Clergy:

The Church Pension Group's Office of Research is assisting the Episcopal Church's Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music in fulfilling its General Convention mandate in Resolution B004 to determine whether a revision of The Hymnal 1982 is needed and wanted by the Episcopal Church.

Congregations, music directors, and clergy are invited to participate in the Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study, a landmark research study being conducted via online surveys and focus groups from fall 2010 to spring 2011.

If you have not already participated in the Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study, we welcome your involvement. Click here to go directly to the survey for clergy.

We would also appreciate your assistance in encouraging members of your congregation to participate in the study. You can accomplish this most easily by sending an email to your congregation's email list, directing them to the study's dedicated web page: http://www.cpg.org/hymnalstudy2. There they will find complete information about the study and links to the particular survey appropriate to their role.

The Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study surveys are also available in Spanish for Spanish-speaking members, music directors, and clergy in the Episcopal Church. Links to the Spanish surveys can also be found on the study's web page: http://www.cpg.org/hymnalstudy2.

Further information about the Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study may be found here on the Episcopal Church's Office of Public Affairs "Newsline" website. (Please note that the survey deadline of January 31, 2011 mentioned in that article has been extended to April 30, 2011.)

If you have any questions or difficulty logging into the appropriate survey, please send an email to hymnalsurvey@cpg.org and we will be happy to assist you.

If you have already participated in the Hymnal Revision Feasibility Study, we thank you for your participation; please disregard this message.

Faithfully,
Office of Research
The Church Pension Group

The Church Pension Fund, 445 Fifth Ave New York, NY 10016
2011 The Church Pension Fund. All rights reserved.
For more information about the Church Pension Fund privacy policies, see http://www.cpg.org/privacy

Proposed By-Laws: The Vestry continues to work on developing By-Laws for our parish.

A few of the good practices many organizations aim for, including churches, are transparency and traceability of decisions their governing boards make over the years. We realize that our Church has been blessed with new members recently, and these new members may choose to join the Vestry and other activities of the Church. By-Laws are a formalized way to introduce them to some of the governing regulations of one's church, compiled in one document.

During the past several months, your Vestry has been reviewing the By-Laws of other Episcopal Churches as well as the Canons of both our National Church and Diocese. It is our hope that the By-Laws will clarify how our Church is run, and exemplify what makes our Church so welcoming. We welcome feedback from all parishioners.

Vestry Members: Christine Murphy, Bev Fletcher, Benny Mason, Scott Norris, Michelle Hart, Eddie Kelley, and The Rev. Claire Hunkins