Upcoming Congregational Activities
Wednesday, June 8: 6:30pm Book Club at the home of Deb Raita
Sunday, July 24 – Aug 14: MAKE for children during the 10:30am service
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
Here is an update on the air conditioning for the church. The good news is that OSU has approved the easement to run the new electrical service across their property to the church. The remaining approval is with the state of Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Ultimately it is the state of Ohio’s land and requires their approval.
The installation in the church continues; the three air handling units (which provide heat and cooling) are complete on the east side of the church. Installation continues on the west side of the church; an additional heating and cooling unit is being installed on the southwest corner near the entrance. This unit has been a time consuming installation due to a lack of access from the tunnels. The cooling lines are being run outside the church on the flat roof above the interior planters. Installation continues on the air handling unit above the foyer entrance to the church on the west side. The actual air conditioning units will be set either this week or next in the new enclosure on the north side of the church.
As to completion date, it really depends on how quickly the state of Ohio will process approval on the easement.
Any questions please let me know.
Bernie Castell, Junior Warden
Sunday, June 5
This Sunday, June 5 we welcome The Rev. Dcn Sherm Everett to preach and The Rev. Hanci Newberry to celebrate at both services.
BREAD Updates
Over 2,200 people from congregations around Columbus (68 from St. Stephens) attended the Nehemiah Action a few weeks ago. Our Justice Ministry Network helped to get people there to be counted among those who work for justice in this city. Our progress:
- Mental Health — Three new Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams were added to our local resources, and $1 million has been invested in preventing crisis care.
- Violent Crime — George Speaks, the Columbus Director of Public Safety, agreed to get the Safe Neighborhoods gang reduction initiative in Columbus.
- Welcome Columbus — Ron O’Brien, the Franklin County Prosecutor, and Terry Boyd, candidate for County Commission, support efforts to bring a municipal ID to Columbus.
- Hire and Better Pay — City council members Jaiza Page and Shannon Hardin attended, and a representative of Elizabeth Brown confirmed their commitment to draft an ordinance to expand job opportunities to those returning to the community after serving prison time. Mayor Ginther still has not met with BREAD representatives, and his office will be contacted again this week.
BREAD… rises!
Clinking Quarters and the St. John’s His Place dinner
On May 25, your clinking quarters were put to use by offering a meal to 120 hungry souls at St. John’s church in Franklinton. The dinner included fried chicken, bean and corn salad, rolls, and fresh fruit. Our thanks to Nora Anderson, James Marquart, Elise Schaefer, Carolyn Vanderstouw, Norm Wernet, and Mignonne Whitlow for helping to prepare, serve and clean up! St. Stephen’s serves this dinner twice a year, so keep the quarters clinking in the collection plate — just 10 of them will buy a complete dinner. Interested in helping at the next meal in September? Contact Peter Anderson at anderson.sandman@gmail.com.
AWAKE, AWARE, ALIVE
There is no AWAKE or AWARE this Sunday, June 5. HOWEVER, we have a bunch of ice cream left over from last Sunday, so we will eat it after church. Plus, children can play in the courtyard then as well.
NSI Donations for June
The item for NSI for June is SOUP!
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
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