The St. Paul's Epistle
November 1, 2007
Contents
Dear Members & Friends of St.
Pauls:
Expanding the Narthex
Stephen Ministers on the
Road
RAIHN at St. Paul's Church
Save the Date
St. Paul's Kneeler Christmas
Cards
SPY Canal Cruise
Tips For Year-end Giving
A Message of Thankfulness
Bits of Wisdom Needed
O Come All Ye Faithful!
Knitters Needed
Report from the Transition
Committee
The Hope of Sudan's New Educational
Program
Daylight Saving Time Ends
Adult Formation Continues
SPY Corner
Dear Members & Friends of St. Pauls:
As I enter my third month as your Director of Music, I am struck by the kindness and encouragement that abounds here! I want to express my deep appreciation to Nancy Kleintop, who heard through the grapevine of my love of yellow cake with chocolate icing, and who had such a cake at the Parish Picnic a few weeks ago - with the words, "Welcome, Robert!" written on it. The Parish Picnic was but one of several times recently that I've gotten to meet and speak with people; the Stewardship Kickoff was another such opportunity. This past Friday evening I had dinner with the Vestry at the beginning of the Fall Retreat, and on Sunday morning I met yet more people at the Adult Forum, where I was featured speaker.
Although I've spoken quite a lot lately about my impressions of, and hopes for, the music program here, I must say that it is your comments, questions, and sharing of your own hopes and dreams for the program that interest me most. One fact is crystal-clear: The People of St. Paul's care very deeply about the parish's music.
Some of you participate actively in the music through membership in one of our choirs. Some of you participate by receiving the music offered at worship. Some of you are cautiously interested in actively participating but would never dream of singing in a choir… but would you be willing to try ringing handbells? Some would like to sing but schedules simply don't permit an ongoing commitment. Who would be willing, then, to join a "seasonal" choir, the purpose of which would be to meet for several rehearsals to prepare music for one specific service? Do you play organ, piano, or some other instrument and feel confident enough to play in church? Would you be interested in supporting our "musical work" in a non-musical way?
Also… I know there are more than a few of you out there who would like to join a choir but for whatever reason just haven't! [N.B. a trained voice is not required…]
Looking at the front of every Sunday's service leaflet, I read this: "People on a Journey. Loving, Joyous, Inclusive." We are indeed on a new musical journey together and so far (for me, at least) it's been loving and joyous. Now it is time to work on the "inclusive" part.
The Music Ministry here belongs to the people of St. Paul's - everyone who is interested in the music we offer to build up the Body of Christ has a place in that ministry- we have only to find that place. So, please give it some thought and let's have a conversation about it. My number at the church is 271-2240, and my email address is robert@stpaulsec.org.
I look forward to hearing from you!
In Christ,
~ Robert Poovey
Forum November 4
Expanding the Narthex
Mark you calendars - come to the forum to learn about the current plan and to express your view from the pew. The clergy, vestry, new member ministry commission and property committee welcome your comments now or at the forum on November 4.
(One-to-one Ministry by a Trained, Caring Friend)
Stephen Ministers on the Road
On a bright September day, six Stephen Ministers set out with their tour guide, Anne Refermat, for an autumn adventure in Auburn, New York. The morning was spent having a wonderful tour of the Seward House, home of William H. Seward, celebrated statesman and negotiator of the purchase of Alaska. Our guide was full of stories of the Seward family and at times he became one of them. This mansion is huge and a treasure trove of the Seward family's furniture and belongings, much the way they had it. After a lakeside lunch in Skaneateles and a peek at the shops there, we returned to Auburn to tour the Willard Memorial Chapel. What a gem it is: once a part of the Auburn Theological Seminary, the chapel's interior was designed and handcrafted entirely by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York City and is the only complete and unaltered totally Tiffany designed religious interior known to exist in the world. It was indeed a day to remember.
At the Seward House: clockwise from top left- Donna Nash-Bayley, Anne Refermat, Nancy Frank, Carol Panzer, Floyd Bayley, Joyce Bogdanski, and Sally McGucken.
In mid-October twelve of us attended the annual Gathering of Stephen Ministers, a Saturday morning retreat at Faith Lutheran Church. The large group in attendance was very appreciative of our keynote speaker, our own Leslie St. Louis! It was a chance for all to contemplate, renew our commitment, and be reenergized, to meet others doing the work of caring for those at a difficult point in their lives, and for our five trainees, all of whom attended, to become better acquainted with other Stephen Ministers.
~ Judy Carpenter, Sally McGucken, and Anne Refermat
RAIHN at St. Paul's Church
The RAIHN (Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network) program continues, and St. Paul's Church will be the host congregation for families during the upcoming Thanksgiving week - November 18 through 25. The RAIHN program allowed St. Paul's to skip a scheduled host week in August due to our building reconstruction. Since our reconstruction remains in progress, the Thanksgiving week hosting must be held at another location. The First Presbyterian Church of Pittsford is preparing to become a RAIHN host congregation and has offered their facility to St. Paul's volunteers. By doing this both churches will share in the program while First Presbyterian will learn from St. Paul's volunteers.
To accomplish this at another location and make it a great week for all the families, extra volunteers are needed to support the program activities. Volunteers may choose to prepare meals, to enjoy dinners with the families, to participate in evening activities, to stay overnight as hosts, to work on the Sunday 'set up', to work on clean up at week's end, or to do laundry of bed linens at home. Many hands will make this program easier for all volunteers and families involved. You can help by volunteering a few hours to St. Paul's RAIHN program. Please contact us at 385-3187 or send your e-mail to hkingsto@frontiernet.net.
~ Hank & Kathy Kingston
Save the Date
Shop til You Drop, a fundraiser for RAIHN, will be Monday, November 26 at Pittsford Plaza from 6-9 p.m.
Look for flyers around the church with all the details.
~ Nancy Frank
St. Paul's Kneeler Christmas Cards
Order beautiful Christmas cards with images from our St. Paul's kneelers and support St. Paul's Youth (SPY) fund raising for their future mission trips.
Orders must be placed by November 15. Cards can be ordered in any quantity and are available for $1.00 per card. (Note the number on each card.) Please send your order form and check made payable to St. Paul's Episcopal Church to Laura Hayden, 129 Brookside Drive, Rochester, NY 14618. Contact Laura Hayden at 383-8808 if you have any questions.
SPY Canal Cruise
Tips For Year-end Giving
To be eligible for tax-deductible charitable donation status, all contributions to St. Paul's Church must be received in the office or postmarked by December 31.
Charitable donations of non-cash items, such as stock, may be made electronically. Please contact Dick Stryker at (585) 271-2240, or dick@stpaulsec.org for information about routing and account numbers. We ask that all such donors also provide a letter or e-mail correspondence reporting the gift and the number of shares donated to St. Paul's.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 provides some new charitable giving opportunities, according to a variety of published sources. Donors more than 70.5 years of age who have money in an IRA will be able to withdraw an amount up to $100,000 for a charitable contribution without penalty and without having to subject it to the adjusted gross income on the tax form. This may be especially useful for those over age 70 who are required to make minimum distributions from their IRA each year, as these charitable contributions can be considered part of their minimum distribution. The charity cannot be a donor-advised fund, and the tax break is available only through December 31, 2007. This information does not constitute tax advice, and you are advised to consult with your tax or financial advisor before acting.
You may prepay your 2008 pledge by December 31, so that your contribution may qualify as a charitable deduction on your 2007 tax return. If your gift includes a prepaid 2008 pledge, please let our financial office know, so that St. Paul's can properly record your gift.
For more information, please call the office at (585) 271-2240.
~ Dick Stryker
A Message of Thankfulness
We are so grateful for your generous support which enabled us to fulfill our urgent need for safe, clean drinking water. In my previous correspondences, I shared with you that the mission of the Church in the semi-arid regions of Northern Kenya, which borders southern Sudan, is to help struggling communities as they seek to lift themselves out of a cycle of disease and poverty. Clean water is the fundamental basis upon which communities can subsist. Drilling a well to provide a clean source of drinking water will prevents water-born diseases, as well as eliminates the need for annual migrations of villages and their livestock in search of available water during the dry season.
Through your partnership, and generous support from you, we were able to drill water well at our pastoral village community in northern Kenya. After spring semester 2007, I traveled to Kenya in mid-June 2007. We made a contract with a drilling company, Living Water International, in Nairobi, Kenya. We traveled for two full days with a big rig and three huge trucks, all of which were needed for the drilling project. Because of prior experience on this road, I was ready to face the unexpected circumstances.
After we arrived at our drilling area, the Lmisigiyoi [Kisima] village of 5, 000 people, we were welcomed by a crowd of pastoral villagers. They were singing and rejoicing in anticipation of the fulfillment of their hope for safe, clean drinking water. The setting and drilling work took two days only, from June 19 to 20. The community appointed a committee of nine members who will oversee the daily running and the maintenance of the water management.
After the rig struck water at 90 meters, one of the elders shouted with joy and jubilation. He testified, "All these years, our people, cattle, goats and sheep have been walking and grazing on this ancestral land without knowing that there is water. We are grateful for western technology." We are thankful, "to our friends who have made it possible for our children and all of us to drink clean and safe water."
Another member said, "Goodbye brown, dirty and contaminated water! I am so thankful that I will never again walk seven miles to fetch water with a 20-liter jerry can." She was saying this while shedding tears of joy.
One man held a cup of clean water from the well. He said, "This is fascinating. I have never seen crystal clear water like this in my life!" At that moment he drank four cups of water, non-stop!
Another elderly woman said, "I am tired of boiling water trying to kill germs from contaminated water. I am tired of taking drugs for typhoid as a result of dirty and unsafe water" She was so excited for the "miracle of clean underground water."
The well was dedicated to St Paul's Church, Rochester by making it possible the provision of safe, clean drinking water. Thank you, St Paul's church. Your generous contributions have transformed this pastoral community. With ample clean, safe water our pastoral community, as well as neighboring schools, will have a stable, sustainable, and integral foundation to grow on. Our faith in the sanctity of human life and the environment demands our Christian response and good will with support from our partners in the Body of Christ.
Thank you for quenching our thirst from the dusty, arid and desert lands!
~ Michael Lolwerikoi, for Lmisigiyoi-Kisima pastoral nomadic community, Kenya
Bits of Wisdom Needed
Treat everyone exactly like you want to be treated. - Steve, saying my grandfather told me
Tomorrow is a new day for a fresh start! - MaryJo, mother
Hug someone every day. - Leslie, priest
What advice do you have to support our thirteen year-olds as they gain maturity and strive to become increasingly responsible young men and women? Please offer a sentence or two of practical or philosophical advice that you have found useful. There are collection baskets at the front and back of the church. The young people will reflect on your wisdom as they prepare for the Rite-13 Liturgy. Please share your thoughts, pray for this fall's class of young people, and participate at the ten o'clock service on Sunday, November 18.
~ Barbara Warner
O Come All Ye Faithful!
This year's Christmas Pageant
Sunday, December 16, at 4 p.m.
Practice Times
Saturday, December 8, 10 a.m. -noon
Rehearsal and Costuming for readers and actors,
not angels and shepherds.
Saturday, December 15, 10 a.m.-noon
Dress Rehearsal for all, including angels
and shepherds.
Adults and children of all ages are needed for
production, stage crew and audience.
Please watch for sign-ups.
~ Barbara Warner
Cold Days Ahead
Knitters Needed
Chilly fall days remind us that the Seamen's Institute needs warm scarves and hats to give the seamen as gifts. You can enjoy a relaxing evening of knitting and help a seaman stay warm during the cold winter days at sea. We provide yarn and instructions. All you need do is pick up yarn at the next ECW meeting, or call Mary Jane McKnight (248-0393) or Marylu Andrews (425-1517) and we will deliver it to you. What a pleasant way to warm a stranger in body and spirit.
~ Marylu Andrews
Report from the Transition Committee
The Electing Convention
- Saturday, February 2, 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Geneva, NY
- Registration @ 8:30 a.m. with Opening Eucharist @ 9:15 a.m.
- Snow Date: February 9, 2008 (if necessary)
- Registration will start in November after the Diocesan Convention
Bishop's Retirement Reception
- Saturday, May 3, 2008 from 4 - 7 p.m. at Steamboat Landing, Canandaigua
- All are welcome
Consecration/Installation of the
8th Bishop of Rochester
- Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 11 a.m. at The Eastman Theater, Rochester
- Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori will attend
- All are welcome
- Volunteers needed for the liturgy, ushering, parking and guides to the theater, choir members and musicians
- Parishes will be asked to bring a banner and to lend space for music rehearsals
More information to follow.
The Hope of Sudan's New Educational Program
As a result of our mission trip to Africa last year, we have decided to roll out a pilot program that enables the sponsoring of children in Sudan or in the refugee camp to go to a private Kenyan boarding school under the oversight and guidance of The Episcopal Church in Kenya and the Dominicans of East Africa.
We have found the Kenyan system to be extraordinary! The boarding schools are a safe place for students to stay and have access to food and clean water every day. Our oversight program enables health care oversight and accountability where the coordinators check up on the children's progress in school and in health on a frequent basis. All this and tuition and books can be provided for $750 per year!
With Province VIII of the Episcopal Church, The Hope of Sudan is currently funding 32 children. We have allowed the local Lost Boys to subsidize the sending of their relatives by chipping in $250 per year to the program. We are sending 12 Lost Boy relatives effective January 1, 2008 and there are 13 other Lost Boys who wanted to send a relative but we did not have the funding.
Why not sponsor a child? We are asking for a minimum commitment of 4 years. Once you see the difference you and your family are making with your gifts and your ongoing involvement and encouragement, you will have the opportunity to continue that sponsorship through high school for your student.
As you know, the infrastructure of Sudan is just not built to enable children to get educated in any sizable quantity and in any meaningful way. This program provides a terrific interim measure to make a difference.
Call us at 585-582-2648 if you wish to become a sponsor.
Blessings to you!
~ Ann Marie & Jerry DeLuccio
Daylight Saving Time Ends
Remember that Daylight Saving Time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 4. It will be time to "fall back."
Adult Formation Continues
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints eschewed alcohol and caffeine long before current trends for good health. What is the history of the Mormons, and what is the impact of this church today? Join Rector Fred Reynolds on Sundays, November 11 and 18, in Wainwright Parlor from 9-9:40 a.m., to focus on coming to understand a uniquely American faith and to get to know ourselves better. On Sunday, November 11, David and Kathleen Cook, leaders among Mormons, will take part in discussion at 9 a.m. and at a Forum in the Vestry Room at 11:30 a.m.
You are encouraged to participate in a variety of offerings this fall. See opportunities listed in the Fall 2007 brochure available around the sanctuary and on line at www.stpaulsec.org or speak with any of the clergy.
~ Barbara Warner
SPY Corner
Bowling at Fairview Lanes
November 11, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
We will meet at Fairview Lanes (1407 Fairport Road) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 11th. Transportation will be provided from St. Paul's for SPY members attending choir rehearsal. All others should meet us at Fairview Lanes. Pick up time is at 2:30 p.m. at the bowling alley. Cost is $5 per child.
Please RSVP to Laura Hayden by Friday, November 9 (383-8808 or lhayden@rochester.rr.com)
Save the Date!!!
On Saturday, December 1st we will be preparing and serving the mid-day meal at St. Joseph's House. We hope that you can join us for this meaningful service opportunity.