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Letter from the Associate Rector
Job Opportunities Needed
Heads Up!!!!
A Special Back-to-School Breakfast Sunday, September
11
Christian Pathways Struggles and Survives
Living the Lectionary
ECW
Acolyte Meeting & Training
Summer's Last Hurrah - The Fall Picnic
Life-Long Learning
Youth at Convention 2005
Mendelssohn's Elijah
All too often we are uncertain of how to begin a conversation with someone we don't recognize. Here are some simple ways to overcome this:
Helpful Hints
We're all in the business of welcoming. I hope the above will help you welcome people this summer and throughout the year.
Thomas McCart
2 Young Men of Sudan and 1 Young Woman of Sudan looking for work (1 full time and 2 part time). Please contact Ann Marie DeLuccio at 582-2648.
During Holy Week this year, we mailed a post card to every household in our 14607 zip code inviting people to our Easter Day services. (There are more than 7500 households in our zip code!)
Although it is difficult to determine exactly how many people accepted our invitation, we do know from those who told the clergy at the door that approximately 20 families in our neighborhood did join us that day, several commenting "Thanks for the invitation." We also know that other families joined us for services during Eastertide, because several commented "I couldn't be here for Easter, but I came today."
Encouraged by this response, we will be sending another post card inviting people to our Back to School Breakfast and our wonderful Church School program.
So, on Sunday, September 11, be on the look out for new faces in the congregation, and be prepared to give these folks a wonderful St. Paul's Welcome by greeting them warmly, helping them through the service, inviting them to coffee, encouraging them to complete a visitor's card, handing them a St. Paul's Brochure (in the display racks), and letting them know that there is a place for them at St. Paul's!
The Back-to-School Breakfast on Sunday, September 11, takes place on the lawn this year - under a tent if the weather is inclement! You can have breakfast any time between 8:45 and 9:30. Meet the teachers, register for classes, and find out how to by-pass the Parish Hall to get to the classrooms. Classes meet from 9:40 to 10 and then all classes gather for worship.
The Church School Staff is eager to welcome students and get started building faith and community. Information about the program year will be available at the Breakfast, in the Sunday Church Office and in Wainwright Hall (271-2240).
Barbara Warner
Right when evolution is back in the news as a controversial subject in the schools, Christian Pathways has undergone some evolving of its own.
We have never seen any value in reaching agreement on questions that are most likely unanswerable anyway, but we do understand religion as a way of life rather than a system of belief, and specifically as a life most fully responsive to that which is sacred. Where we differ from some others, perhaps, is that we find the nature and even the existence of the sacred problematic. We see the least inadequate response to THAT WHICH IS as evolving in different directions depending on the details of our particular environment and requiring the full use of our repertoire of faculties: sensual, aesthetic, emotional, intellectual and social.
Previously on Christian Pathways we have read works by such converts to Anglicanism as Bishop Butler, John Macquarrie and Marcus Borg. This fall we have decided to concentrate on Hans Küng, one of the best-known and most controversial of living Roman Catholic theologians. For decades now, Küng has been as successful as Butler, Crapsey, Macquarrie and Borg at fully engaging those with no specialist training in serious and systematic reflection on the experience of the church and of all peoples as they come to terms with that which is, or seems to be, sacred.
Pathways meets at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday in the Conference Room. Clean but previously-read hardcover copies of Küng's Does God Exist? are available for eight dollars. We will be reading and discussing Hans Küng throughout the fall and perhaps into 2006. For more information, call David or Linda White, (585) 482-2616.
Experience the word of God mid-week. Stop by the Church Conference Room on Wednesday evenings from 7-8 p.m. for lively discussion of the week's scripture, sermon and song. We will gather for the first time on Wednesday, September 14, and continue through the Wednesdays in September. Won't you join this conversation?!
The Rev. Leslie St. Louis and Barbara Warner
A booklet about the ECW has probably already reached you. This is a reminder that the first meeting will be on September 15 in Wainwright Hall. A business meeting will be held at 11 a.m. followed by "Brown Bag Lunch"- which means bring whatever you like. Drinks and dessert will be served. At 12:45 Tom McCart will lead us in one of his stimulating Bible Studies. The discussion which always follows will intrigue you.
The October 6 meeting of ECW will hopefully be held in the newly renovated Parish Hall. If not, we have plans to serve our usual tasty lunch in Wainwright Hall. Ted Curtis will talk about "Sam and Mary: Cruising the Erie Canal and Genesee River". The business meeting will be at 11 a.m. followed by lunch. We request reservations for this, please (271-2240). The program will start at about 12:45. Both men and women are invited to come to this event.
All current and potential acolytes are requested to attend a training session with the clergy on Sunday September 11th, after the 10 o'clock service at the high altar.
During the session the clergy are going to review the coming year, and provide guidance to acolytes on the form of the service the clergy desires. Acolytes will have a chance to ask questions, and practice new skills. Potential Acolytes should be nine or older, and able to approach their duties with maturity, humility, and care.
Come join us and help make it a successful year!
Come one and come all to the Fall picnic on Sunday, September 18 after the 10:00 a.m. service. There will be a large tent set up on the front lawn to keep us dry in case of rain, giving all of us shelter and the opportunity to connect again with those whom we have not seen for awhile. Hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and beverages will be provided; please bring a salad or dessert to share. We ask that you not bring anything which needs to be heated, as we will have no way to do that. A free-will donation basket will be in place. See you there!
The Parish Life Commission
Choose an Adult Christian Formation class or series this fall to look at life in new ways. Share your ideas and grow in community through reading and discussion. You can be good to yourself by participating in 9 AM Sunday morning Bible Study or Christian Pathways or taking part in the weekday and evening gatherings. Look for the Adult Christian Formation brochure to see the schedule of offerings.