Announcements for the week of
November 20, 2016
Congregational News
Hot Chocolate Run traffic
We have received word that the Hot Chocolate Run will be passing on High St and turning on Lane this Sunday. While High St will be open to traffic, turning onto Woodruff and 18th will be restricted based on number of runners at any given time, so traffic may be slow depending on your arrival time. The CLEAR PATH with no delays is to come to campus from the West on Woody Hayes from Kenny Rd.
Quick Dates
Campus Ministry Services every Sunday at 6pm
Thursday, November 25: Office Closed, Happy Thanksgiving!
Sunday, December 4: 5pm Advent Spaghetti Dinner
Wednesday, December 14: 6:30pm Book Club at the home of Kaitlin Raver
Staffing Change
Dear people of St. Stephen’s,
I wanted to let you all know that Bill Miller tendered his resignation as organist/choir director at St. Stephen’s in a brief email dated November 10th which I have accepted.
I have appreciated Bill’s theological insights and the background of musical experience he brought with him which he gained working at many churches of many denominations over many years. I have thanked him for his significant contribution here at St. Stephen’s this past year and a half. In conversation with the wardens, St. Stephen’s will be paying Bill his full salary through the end of 2016.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dale Sparlin has agreed to be our “supply” organist/choir director through Christmas. Dale, currently a member of St. John’s, Town Street, played for years at St. Patrick’s, Dublin and then for over a decade at St. Andrew’s, Pickerington. He has advanced degrees in both music and theology and teaching experience on the college level. He is now retired from permanent church music work but supplies regularly in the metro Columbus area. His new vocation is designing and installing labyrinths including the handicap accessible one at Procter Conference Center.
If we weren’t careening towards the Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas I might immediately convene a process to search for a new director of music. However, at this point I am content to hear suggestions from all of you on an informal basis about worship life in general here at St. Stephen’s and wait until after the first of the year to begin to formalize our plans. Yes, there undoubtedly will be a committee! I will keep you fully informed as that develops.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email me and I am very happy to talk in person or on the phone.
Yours truly,
Becky M.+
Thank You from James Marquart
AWAKE/AWARE
This Sunday, November 20, AWAKE will give a presentation about the St. Stephens stewardship program by talking about how us kids……..’SHARE, SAVE, and SPEND’ our money. Following that, we will then go to AWAKE for more fun.
Sunday, November 27, there will be NO AWAKE/ AWARE. Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Sunday, December 4- Rachael Smith will lead AWAKE/ AWARE in SERVE, where we fix and prepare food for people in need.
December 11- Carolyn Baginski brings MAKE, as we celebrate Advent and art.
Saturday, December 17-AWAKE Christmas Pageant rehearsal, from 10:00 am-12 noon. Breakfast will be served at 10 am.
December 18 The AWAKE Christmas Pageant will be held in the 10:30 am service.
Generations of Generosity… Campaign Coming to a Close
As of November 15, 2016 we have received 32 pledges of support for 2017. This represents 35% of our goal of 100% participation in pledging for next year. Our hope is that everyone expresses support for the mission of Saint Stephen’s via a pledge, whether it is a one time donation or a sustaining weekly or monthly amount.
Perhaps you have sent your response since our last update? We thank you. If you haven’t responded yet please look over the materials you received in the mail. Let us know right away if you did not receive the invitation to pledge or have questions or concerns. You can do this by email to parishoffice@ststephens-columbus.org or by calling 614-294-3749. A member of the committee will be calling you back and be happy to speak with you.
Sunday November 20th is the final event of our Fall Campaign. The young folks of AWAKE and AWARE are going to share their insights into faithful stewardship. I hope you can join us.
If you haven’t mailed in your pledge card, or want to spare a stamp, you can bring the card to this Sunday’s services and place it in the offering plate. And we will of course accept pledges beyond next Sunday so please do respond.
Rob Wood Stewardship Campaign Chair
First Ever Advent Spaghetti Dinner!
Sunday, December 4, 2016: 5:00 – 6:30 pm
Come join the fun and bring your friends, kids, and neighbors.
Enjoy a traditional spaghetti dinner: sauces, noodles of various sorts, meat balls, salad, bread, and a surprise dessert! Refresh your memory on those Christmas carols (anticipated “sing-off” of the Twelve Days of Christmas), and shop at the world bazar of craft items made by international artists to benefit emerging economic communities. At the end there will be a lightning tear down and sweep up and we’ll leave with only the memories. Wear something red and bring your jingle bells! Donations accepted but free for all! We’ll send an “Evite” closer to the date so we’ll be well prepared for the fun. To volunteer to help, contact Becky Michelfelder at rebecca_michelfelder@icloud.com
Book Club News
The December Book Club meeting will be on Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 6:30 PM at Kaitlin Raver’s home. Kindly let Kaitlin know in advance 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). And, instead of a book, we’ll all bring a poem to share (a favorite, one that moves you, something new you’ve discovered — you decide). Everyone is welcome. In January we’ll be sharing books that we would like to read in 2017, so please start thinking about what you’d like to suggest.
Service Opportunities
Volunteers Needed for Driving
We are seeking a few volunteers to pick Bill Platt up at Wesley Glen for church around 10:00am on Sundays. Please contact the Parish Office at parishoffice@ststephens-columbus.org if you can help.
NSI Donations for November/December
Many thanks for boxes/bags of stuffing. You donated 430 of them. With money from “Clinking Quarters”, 30 more boxes of stuffing were bought to reach our goal of 450.
Now NSI is getting ready for Christmas. We’ve been asked to donate 450 boxes/bags of potatoes, any kind. They should be at church by Sunday, December 18.
You may also adopted a child or children for Christmas gifts. The Jesse Tree under the pulpit has paper ornaments on it that tell you the name of the parent with phone number and child, gift preferences and directions. Please sign your name on the sign-up sheet next to the parent/ child that you chose. Plan to spend approximately $50 per child in purchasing gifts. The gifts need to be at church by Sunday, December 11. If you’d rather not shop, you can make a money donation. Write your check to St. Stephen’s with NSI Christmas gift on the memo line. The monetary donations need to be at church by Wednesday, Dec. 7. Shopping for those gifts will be done the next day. If you have any questions, contact Carolyn Vander Stouw at cvanderstouw@att.net or 614-785-9772.
BREAD News
On Monday evening, fourteen members of St. Stephens attended the BREAD Annual Assembly. We learned that around Columbus during September and October, 751 people attended 95 house meetings to discuss their concerns.
For the coming year, it has been decided to focus our collective energies on Restorative Justice practices. Restorative Justice is the opposite of punitive justice; instead of focusing on punishment, restorative justice seeks to reunite the offender and the community and restore broken relationships. Several years ago, Judge Elizabeth Gill instituted RJ Circles in her juvenile court as an option for first-time juvenile misdemeanor offenders — to give them the opportunity to work with their community and avoid a criminal record. The program has grown, but slower than anyone anticipated; the 100th case was just heard recently, after 5 years. It is operating in six neighborhoods around Columbus, and there is the need to expand. On Monday, we heard testimony from Diana DelBianco who described her son’s experience with bullying and the school’s response: suspension and expulsion for the bully. In the Oakland CA school system, restorative justice is in place in the school system and it has been documented to lower the incidence of such bullying. The Columbus Public School System is considering adopting restorative justice practices, and BREAD feels that with our collective support, we can make progress in the coming year to benefit the young people in our community. School superintendent Dan Good was invited to appear, but was not present on Monday.
Progress was reported on the other outstanding BREAD issues; in the interest of saving space, those will be summarized in future newsletters!
The BREAD Research Kick-off is set for Monday December 12 at 7:00 pm at First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St. Several members of St. Stephens have committed to attend.
Other dates for your calendars: Rally on Monday April 3, 2017 and the Nehemiah Action on Monday May 1. (The Nehemiah Action is the BIG ONE at the State Fairgrounds.)
BREAD… rises!
St. John’s Town St. His Place Dinners
As many of you know, I have coordinated our dinners at St. John’s for the last 15 years or so. I find that it is time for me to step down from this and I need to ask anyone willing to consider taking this over to let me know. It is a very rewarding ministry that requires not a lot of time as we only serve two dinners a year. Next year we are on the calendar for the last Wed. in May and Sept. 2017. The main work is recruiting volunteers (which is never hard as many of us have done this for a long time), planning a menu, buying and preparing the food, and coordinating the night of the dinner.
I am more than happy to help anyone who takes on this role and I will be more than willing to share how I’ve done it, when I do what, etc. Please email me at lapudvan@gmail.com or call me at 614-203-3116 if you are interested or just want to talk more about it. Thanks for your help – it is greatly appreciated.
Linda Richter
Around Town and Beyond
St. John’s Worthington invites you to hear pianist Abhik Mazumder
2016 winner of the hank marr jazz award
Sunday, November 20, 3:00 p.m.
A high school sophomore with formal training in both classical and jazz piano, Abhik has performed at notable venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Lincoln Center, Haus der Musik (Vienna), and Mozarthaus (Vienna). He has won first and second prizes in several state, national, and international competitions in both performance and composition. Notable among these are the silver medal in the national Carol Klose/Hal Leonard composition competition, the Jazz Arts Group’s Hank Marr Jazz Award (best high school age jazz musician in Ohio), and first place in the junior division of the state-level Buckeye Auditions classical piano competition. The Hospitality and Fellowship Committee will host a reception in the Atrium following the concert. 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 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.
Franklinton Cycleworks, a non-profit organization in the St. John’s family, is looking for a contractor and/or structural engineer.
Franklinton Cycleworks (FCW) is a non-profit bicycle cooperative. We help people get where they need to go, both around town and in their lives. Our mission is to empower individuals in pursuit of wellness and community connectedness through bicycle repair and education. We believe transportation is opportunity, education is empowerment, and connectedness is wholeness. We’ve served Franklinton, an under-resourced neighborhood on the west side of Columbus, since 2011. Back then, the support of St. John’s played a significant role in our ability to secure our great location and create effective programming. To this day, St. John’s and the larger Episcopal community have continued to invest in the people of Franklinton through the work of FCW.I’ve been a parishioner of St. John’s since moving to Franklinton in 2008, and we’ve always had at least one St. John’s member on the Franklinton Cycleworks Board of Directors.
We’re now looking to beautify the space in front of our shop. The West Broad corridor is home to many vacant or otherwise blighted storefronts. We want to serve the neighborhood by turning our ugly parking lot into a welcoming patio. The patio will not only beautify the street, but provide ample bike parking for FCW and neighboring organizations, provide outdoor classroom space, and offer 24 hour access to an outdoor bike stand and tools. The patio will be a gathering place and will extend our services to the neighborhood.
To get this project off the ground, we need help from a contractor and/or structural engineer. If you’re interested in helping with this project, please contact Jonathan Youngman at 614-546-6385 or email me at info@franklintoncycleworks.org.
Refresh Your Soul Conference
Exciting news! ERS Parish Health Ministry (PHM) and Xavier University (XU) are partnering to present two days devoted to dementia care.
Refresh Your Soul 2017 – Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Overcoming the Struggles & Living Inspired: Monday, March 13, 2017 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. &
XU Dementia Care Summit: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Location for both events: The Cintas Center at Xavier University
For more information or to download a printable flyer to share, please visit parishhealthministry.com/rys
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
