E-pistle THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER OF St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church SPRINGFIELD, VIRGINIA October 23, 2014 The Rev. Peter K. Ackerman 703-451-1088, ext. 1 or Email: [email protected] Sunday, October 26 – The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 9:15 a.m. Sunday School for All Ages 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Nursery is Provided) 11:45 a.m. Fellowship and Refreshment 12:00 p.m. Flower Guild Committee Meeting-Christmas Flower Planning Page 1 Servers’ Schedule for October 26, 2014 Acolytes 7:30 Jacob Farrar 10:30 (C) Grace Belisle (S) Creighton Dunlap (T) Bebe Dunlap Altar Guild Pam Branstetter, Nina Miller and Debbie Frear Pam Osborn Lynn Knox and Mary Rietman Communion Bread Flower Guild Greeters Lay Eucharistic Ministers & Lectors Intercessor Chapel Prayer Team P.A.T. (Pastoral Assistant Team) Minister Diane Jones and June Hoffman 7:30 (CB) Lynn Knox (L) Helen Spence 10:30 (PB) Stan Spence (CB1) Helen Spence (CB2) Carroll Hill (L1) Gaye Evans (L2) Christina Manning Betty Carper Lynn Knox and Jennifer Guernsey Ruth Meagher Page 2 Jennifer Guernsey for Niki Purkowski Team 4: Richard Sellers, Barbara Usher Guild Christy, Richard Downie, and Andrea Meloni John Olsen and Lynn Knox Tellers Vestry Person of the Mary Johnson Week Ref. & Fellowship Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 22:34-46 *** If you cannot serve as scheduled, please be sure to switch with someone else. Lectionary Readings THIS WEEK AT ST. CHRISTOPHER’S Monday, October 27 10:00 a.m. Alcoholics Anonymous Tuesday, October 28 2:00 p.m. Book Discussion Group/Library 7:30 p.m. S.A. Anonymous Meeting Wednesday, October 29 9:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist :30 p.m. Adult Choir Rehearsal 7:30 p.m. Gamblers Anonymous Meeting Page 3 Thursday, October 30 10:00 a.m. Women’s Discussion Group 7:30 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program Friday, October 31 5:00 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program Saturday, November 1 5:00 p.m. S. A. Anonymous 12 Step Program 8:30 p.m. Alcoholics Anonymous Sunday, November 2 – All Saints’ Sunday; Daylight Saving Time ends 7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist 9:15 a.m. Sunday School for All Ages 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Nursery is Provided) 11:45 a.m. Fellowship and Refreshment 12:00 p.m. Sr. EYC Youth Group What’s your favorite thing about St. Christopher’s? How does it help you in your daily walk with Christ? Our hope is that you will find many reasons to support mission and ministry at our church as we Walk the Way together. Page 4 Lector Workshop, November 16th, from Noon to 1:30 in the Fellowship Hall Seminarian Jennifer Southall will lead a short interactive workshop for all current lectors and anyone interested in joining, or just curious about, this important ministry. Jennifer will share tips on reading Scripture learned through Virginia Seminary’s Oral Interpretation of Scripture course, required to help seminarians “bear effective witness of God’s Word . . . with passion, authority, and authenticity.” Pizza will be provided! “Decisions: How to Make the Right Choice,” is the topic for discussion for the upcoming Men's Group meeting. The group will meet Saturday, October 25 at 8 a.m. in the auditorium for fellowship, breakfast and our continuing discussion of "The Man in the Mirror." All men of St. Christopher’s are welcome to join us. For more information, contact Mike Snyder at [email protected] or Bob Hall at [email protected]. The Flower Guild will meet in the Library on Sunday, October 26 at 12:00 noon. We will plan our Christmas decorations by choosing the kind of flowers and colors of flowers. There will be a sign-up sheet for you to choose what you would like to decorate. Bring your beverage and treat to the meeting. The planning meeting is open to anyone who would like to decorate the church for Christmas. See you there. June Hoffman and Ruth York. Page 5 Sycamore Row: New Book Selection for October The Book Discussion Group will discuss John Grisham's Sycamore Row on October 28 at 2 pm in the church library. Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact Christine Meloni or Janet Bush. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad will be discussed on November 18. All Saints Concert will be held on Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 7:00p.m. Saint Christopher's will host its annual All Saints Concert. The program will include choral works by Rutter, Dvorak, Phillips, and Durufle as well as others. Joe Gabalski, our organist and choirmaster will perform organ works by Bach, Locklair and Widor. A free will offering will be taken to benefit Saint Christopher's participation in the Hypothermia Program. St. Christopher’s Outreach Garden 2014 The Outreach Garden ended its 2014 productivity October 19. The harvest total was 422 pounds. The primary vegetables produced were tomatoes at more than 300 pounds, sweet peppers at 30 pounds, jalapenos at 16 pounds, and green beans at 46 pounds. The total harvested in 2013 was 107 pounds, so 2014 was an amazing year. We planted two varieties of sweet peppers and three of tomatoes, keeping track of the length of time for harvest and the weight. Although there were clear "winners", we'll continue to plant more than one variety of these so we aren’t too reliant on just one. Zucchini and cucumbers were disappointing this year as they both developed mildew, so Page 6 we'll try mildew resistant seeds next year. Tomato sauce made from the tomatoes which weren't good enough to give to ECHO participants will be sold after the 10:30 service Sunday, October 26 with proceeds used to support the garden. We've been very fortunate with some donations already, which helped us purchase tomato cages and wire for beans. Plans for 2015 are underway as we hope to meet with someone from the extension service before planting next year to get advice on best use of the plot, as well as other advice, and meet with Lucinda Marvin, the ECHO food coordinator, to make sure ECHO and St. Christopher’s are working towards the same goal. For those who want to be involved with this fun and productive outreach activity, please contact Marifran Bustion, 703-4550878 or [email protected]. Introducing “Teenie Weenie Greenie,” a product of St. Christopher’s new Environmental Stewardship Committee: Our parishioner, Elaine Sevy, invites interested members of St. Christopher's to join her starting a St. Christopher’s Environmental Stewardship Committee, as suggested by the Diocese of Virginia, and as being done by other parishes. The “Teenie Weenie Greenie” will be monthly suggestions, published in this E-pistle, that you can use in your homes and offices to help save you money and help the environment in the process. Look for the first of these in our next edition of this newsletter! For now, if you are interested in being a part of this Page 7 committee please contact Elaine at [email protected],or 703-901-5612. Preschool Prattle Occasionally our preschool outreach has some special news, a teacher to introduce, or other tidbit to share. Fr. Peter encourages you to watch this space in future issues of the E-pistle for those times when such news comes forth! 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