Upcoming Congregational Activities
Friday, April 15 7:00-9:00pm: EASE Gallery opening
Sunday, April 17 after the 10:30am service: Celebration for Faith!
Sunday, April 17 ~12:30pm Stewardship of the Future
Friday, April 22 10:00am – 4:00pm Red Cross Blood Drive
Saturday, April 23 10:30am Lecture/Discussion with Maia Kotrosits
Monday, May 9 7:00pm BREAD Nehemiah Action at the Celeste Center
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.
Transition News
We may not have a Rector, but things are still happening. Last Sunday we had former Rector Cam Miller with us as preacher and Celebrant. Cam is now semi-retired, working as a writer and part time at a church in Geneva, New York. We had an enjoyable Sunday with some visitors attending that we had not seen in a while. This Sunday we will have Rev. Bruce Smith with us as we move forward toward finding a new rector. This Sunday we will also celebrate Faith Perrizo’s time with us as an Interim Rector with a reception organized by Lorraine Deal after the 10:30 service. Also, at some point after the 10:30 service, the Stewardship Committee will be having a presentation in the sanctuary by Lloyd E. Fisher, Esq. regarding Will, Trusts, and estate planning in general.
The Search Committee is conducting on site interviews at secret locations throughout the U.S. and is moving forward with the selection process. Mikalene Guiser and Melanie Schlosser have been magnificent in keeping the Search Committee on task. Their goal is to have a recommendation to the Vestry by the end of June.
Your Vestry is interested in hearing from you if you have questions, comments, or concerns. Vestry members names are on the back of each Sunday bulletin. Please feel free to talk with a Vestry member if you would like. St. Stephen’s doesn’t give you a receipt with an online survey link on it, but we do welcome your questions or concerns.
-Wayne Sheppard, Co-Sr. Warden
AWAKE, AWARE, ALIVE
AWAKE will be MAKE this Sunday, April 17, led by Jen Schmeid. All children are invited to come and express their artistic side during this post Easter time.
BREAD Updates
Mark Your Calendars! May 9: 7 pm, Nehemiah Action at the Celeste Center
BREAD… rises!
Members of the St. Stephens Justice Ministry Network attended a rally this week in preparation for the Nehemiah Action on May 9. At the rally, we learned about the problem for this year, and some possible solutions. Jobs and Economic Opportunity is the broad category for action, and specifically the concern this year is for helping people who are most vulnerable to the barriers of unemployment and under-employment: those with criminal backgrounds. 11,000 people returning from jail in Franklin County each year struggle to rebuild their lives and to find employers who will hire them.
Two solutions are recommended by the committee. A good model is the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland (www.evergreencooperatives.com). A second solution is to seek a commitment from city officials to create incentives for private industries through city contracts to hire people with criminal backgrounds. The committee is still working with officials to see who will attend the Nehemiah Action.
The St. Stephens BREAD team has set a goal of 100 attending. We are planning a potluck dinner before the event and will get a bus to transport us from the church to the fairgrounds. It takes all of us working together to effect change and to demand justice for everyone in our community.
“Hire and better pay! Don’t throw away!”
Celebrating Faith’s Ministry
Faith will be returning to worship with us Sunday, April 17th, and we will be hosting a party for her after the 10:30 service. The plan is for a buffet of finger foods with accompanying beverages. If you can help by providing a dish, setting up or cleaning up afterwards, please contact Lorraine Deal.
Stewardship of the Future
The Stewardship Committee is presenting a workshop titled Stewardship of the Future as a part of the year-long Stewardship campaign and part of the Gratitude Project. This program will be presented on April 17th, 2016 after the party for Faith, about 12:30. The program will take about an hour and will be located in the chapel.
This program is being presented by Lloyd Fisher, and he calls this talk Estate Planning 101 – Who Gets Aunt Mamie’s Bracelet. It will be a light-hearted look at common estate planning mistakes and misconceptions and a review of essential lifetime planning documents.
Lloyd is a retired partner of the Columbus law firm of Porter, Wright, Morris and Arthur, a former adjunct professor in the OSU College of Law and trust officer at the Huntington National Bank.
NSI Donations for April
The item for the rest of March and all of April is any kind of pasta.
Report on the Endowment Gift in Honor of Wayne Sheppard
You’ll remember that in February, we set out to honor Wayne Sheppard for his long service as treasurer with gifts in his honor to the St. Stephen’s Endowment fund. Monies were collected through the end of March. A total of $5,405 was collected. Those funds will be transferred to the St. Stephen’s Endowment funds later in April. Thanks to everyone for their generosity in honoring Wayne!
The Garden of Earthly Delights at EASE
Opening Reception 4/15 @ 7
April 15 – May 13.
An exhibition of glass-based works, The Garden of Earthly Delights presents the lush worlds of Joanna Manousis and Zac Weinberg.
Special Speaker Maia Kotrosits, April 23&24
The St. Stephen’s Speaker Series continues April 23 & 24, with special speaker Maia Kotrosits. Ms. Kotrosits is Assistant Professor of Religion, Queer Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies at Denison University, Granville, Ohio. She has written several academic articles, along with two books, and co-authored a book (with Hal Tuassig) titled, “Re-Reading The Gospel of Mark Amidst Trauma and Loss”. She will be speaking on Saturday, April 23, at 10:30 am, followed by a question and answer discussion, in the chapel. Coffee, tea, and donuts will be available. She will also be speaking in the April 24 Sunday worship services, both 8:30 and 10:30 am. Please mark it on your calendars for an informative and insightful time.
In order to assist Maia in preparing for the Saturday discussion, please RSVP at http://tinyurl.com/zv7xkzv or contact the Parish office.
St. John’s Worthington invites you to hear “A Hymn and Two Hers”
organ music based on the poetry of hymns
Sunday, April 24, 3:00 p.m.
Organist Sara Seidel will be joined by reader Jo Pascoe to present a program that celebrates the poetry of hymns in both word and composition. Ms. Seidel is Coordinator of Music at St. John’s and holds degrees from The College of Wooster (Wooster, Ohio) and the Jacobs School of Music (Indiana University, Bloomington) in both Organ Performance and Church Music. Mrs. Pascoe is a parishioner at St. John’s and a regular lector. The program will include works of Tournemire, Bach, and Rogg, among others. We invite you to enjoy excellent music in a beautiful and historic space. There is no charge for admission to the concert; a freewill offering will be taken to support the continued growth of the Music Series. St. John’s is located at 700 High Street in Worthington, on the southeast corner of the Olde Worthington Village Green (High Street at SR 161). Visit www.StJohnsWorthington.org for more information.
Yasue Sakaoka’s Retrospective Exhibition
Highlights of the artist’s works from 45 years in Columbus will be at Upper Arlington Municipal Building Concourse Gallery from May 4-June 26.
Opening reception will be on Saturday, May 14 from 2:00–4:00 p.m. Everyone is
invited. Come one and come all.
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
