Upcoming Congregational Activities
Sunday, May 29: after the 10:30am service –AWAKE/AWARE end of year picnic
Monday, May 30: Parish Office is CLOSED for Memorial Day
Wednesday, June 8: 6:30pm Book Club at the home of Deb Raita
The Parish office will be CLOSED on Monday, May 30 in observance of Memorial Day.
Pastoral Care Coverage
Deacon Pam Elwell has graciously agreed to be the coordinator for pastoral care calls. Several clergy will be available for pastoral care: The Rev. Bruce Smith, the Rev Deacon Sherm Everett, the Rev. Karl Stevens, and the Rev. Deacon Pam Elwell. Please call Pam first—she will know who is on call at any particular time. Pam’s contact information is: 614-736-1204 or pamelwell@gmail.com .
Transition News
One of the tasks that fall to the Senior Warden in the absence of a Rector or Interim Rector is the scheduling of supply clergy. Cynthia Whitacre took care of this through the end of June and arranged for us to hear a variety of voices from the pulpit. This Sunday we will be deviating from her schedule because David McCoy will be unable to be with us. Instead Carin Delfs will be our celebrant and preacher. This will be her first visit to St. Stephens.
I have been working on the schedule for July. Originally we were to have a visitation by Bishop Breidenthal on July 17, however, he needed to change the date and we will not see him until sometime in 2017.
Our schedule so far:
May 29 Carin Delfs, Preacher and Celebrant
June 5 Sherm Everett, Preacher; Hanci Newberry, Celebrant
June 12 Susan Beem Beery, Preacher and Celebrant
June 19 Bruce Smith, Preacher and Celebrant
June 26 Karl Stevens, Preacher and Celebrant
July 3 Michael Jupin, Preacher and Celebrant
July 10 Shem Everett, Preacher; Hanci Newberry, Celebrant
July 17 To Be Determined
July 24 Michael Jupin, Preacher and Celebrant
July 31 Karl Stevens, Preacher and Celebrant
August 7, Marjorie Menaul, Preacher and Celebrant
We will keep you informed as the schedule develops. Please join us on Sundays to hear some great preaching.
-Joe Fowler, Sr. Warden
Sunday, May 29
This Sunday, May 29 we welcome The Rev. Sister Carin Delfs, who will be serving as celebrant and preacher at both services.
AWAKE, AWARE, ALIVE
- AWAKE PIZZA PARTY follows the 10:30 service. ALL children, parents, volunteers, etc. are welcome to come and celebrate!
- AWARE also has the fifth of the ‘Five Sundays in May”!
- ALIVE will not meet after church this Sunday.
Thank you!
A big thanks to everyone who helped this past Sunday with mulching, raking leaves ,weeding and moving some plant material: Julia Shepherd, Rae Fellows, Francis Harris, Shelley Boales James Marquart and Joe Rutter. Special thanks to Joe and James who used James truck to pick up 60 bags of mulch as well as haul 15 bags of yard waste to the recycle center!
Bernie Castell, Junior Warden
NSI Donations for May
The item for NSI for May is toilet paper.
Volunteer at NSI!
NSI has been very busy this year and we are looking for additional volunteer help on Monday and Thursday mornings from 9:00 am to 11:30 am. In addition, we are looking for volunteer(s) to be an occasional direct retail pick up transport person for our weekly trips to Aldi’s, Giant Eagle, and Pepperidge Farm.
In the first four months of 2016 NSI has had 2,359 family visits which has resulted in the feeding and/or clothing of 7,282 people. Total meals provided were 137,930. 41% of the neighbors served were children, 9% are seniors.
Interested people should contact Matt Austin maustin@neighborhoodservicesinc.org , or Martin Butler mbutler@neighborhoodservicesinc.org .
Respectfully,
Martin Butler -Executive Director
Book Club News
In June Book Club will be discussing the nonfiction work Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor. You can take a look at Barbara Brown Taylor’s website here: http://www.barbarabrowntaylor.com/ and learn more about the book. We’ll meet on Wednesday, June 8 starting at 6:30 PM at Deb Raita and John Cosenza’s home. Please let Deb and John know if you plan to attend. We’ll share a potluck super followed by the book discussion. Please bring something to share (main dish, side dish, dessert, beverage). Everyone is welcome! If you wish to read ahead for July, the book for the July 13 discussion is the fictional Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
—Cynthia
PS: This book was one I suggested. I’m eagerly looking forward to discussing it with all of you. Brown is an Episcopal priest who also wrote Leaving Church, which we read a number of years ago in the book club.
13th Annual Iftar at St. James Episcopal: June 23
For the last several years St. James has hosted an IFTAR for our Muslim neighbors and friends, serving more than 80 guests and sharing fellowship and interfaith dialog. This is a meal that breaks the fast during the month long season of Ramadan and is served after sundown. This year the date is Thursday, June 23rd.
We are inviting our fellow Episcopalians and friends to help set up, serve and socialize, and stay late to clean up. Please consider helping with this ministry. Contact Janet Bailey at janetmbailey@msn.com for more information
Annual PiMil Luncheon and Silent Auction: July 23
Another Chance to help the children of Liberia!
Liberia is a small West African country that has emerged from 14 years of civil war, struggling to bring order and some measure of prosperity to its inhabitants. PiMiL (Partners in Ministry in Liberia) was established 11 years ago at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Westerville to provide financial assistance to impoverished children in Liberia to get an education. Over the years, other local Episcopal churches such as St. Stephen’s have also helped by sponsoring students and raising funds to repair school buildings. ECW and a number of individuals also sponsor Liberian students.
Recently Liberia was devastated once again – this time by Ebola. For a time all the schools were closed. Thousands of children who escaped death were left without parents. One of the school children, a boy of 15 named Jonathan, wrote to his sponsor about the pickup truck who visited his neighborhood countless times to pick up dead bodies. “I cannot stand to see such a thing again. Each time I see dead bodies in such a number, I do not come out of my house for two days.”
On Saturday, July 23, PiMiL will hold its annual Fundraising Luncheon and Silent Auction at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 700 High Street, Worthington. The theme is Feeding the Mind, Body and Soul (John 21:15). The theme is “Seeking, Caring and Belonging” (John 10:16). The goal is to raise $10,000 to send Liberia’s Ebola orphans to school in the coming year. This will be a family event with many activities for children.
How can we help now?
* Put an advertisement or personal message in the event program. Forms will be available in the back of the church near the bulletin board to the left of the entrance to the sanctuary. Forms can also be obtained by contacting Edward Lasseigne at lasseigne@hotmail.com or by calling 504-874-3350. Ad prices and sizes are on the forms.
* Purchase tickets to the July 23 Fundraising Luncheon. Tickets can be purchased by contacting Edward Lasseigne. Prices are $15 for adults, $5 for children.
* Ask family, friends, and neighbors to set aside items for the Silent Auction on July 23. More information about how to donate items will be available later.
* Invite your family, friends, and neighbors to the July 23 Fundraising Luncheon at St. John’s. It’s never too early to get this event on your personal calendar.
* Go to www.pimil.org for information about sponsoring a child. Costs vary per grade level and are displayed on the site. This is a wonderful way to involve a school-age child in a humanitarian mission, because sponsored children will write to you and you can write back through the PiMiL organization.
Reminder: If you’re mailing something to the church, especially time-sensitive materials, we recommend using the PO Box! St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, PO Box 82263
Columbus, OH 43202