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ECC Midwest
Partner Communities | |
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Little Rock, Arkansas
Tulsa, Oklahoma
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This Week
"At a Glance"
Friday, May 13
7:00 am Centering Prayer
Saturday, May 14
5:00 pm Mass
Sunday, May 15
11:30 am Pickle Springs
Tuesday, May 17
4:30 pm Pastoral Team
Wednesday, May 18
7:00 pm Parish Council
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Want to add an event to the calendar? Contact Lisa (314.795.0114). |
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General Info | |
The Parish Council meets on the third Wednesday of the month. Members: Anne Knight, Frank Krebs, George von Stamwitz, Jessica Rowley, Nancy Wamser, Sheila Leander, Steve Campbell, Sue Stolze.
We frequently have community gatherings called Convocations where we discuss the vision of the community. Dates and times are announced in this newsletter.
The Parish 0ffice is located at Eden Theological Seminary, 483 E. Lockwood, Suite 3, Saint Louis, MO 63119. Frank and Jessica are available for appointments. You can reach them at... Jessica: 314.283.4697, Frank: 314.740.1160.
We have an initiative to connect people to small faith sharing groups. If you are interested in joining a small group, please contact Jessica Rowley (314.918.2766 or email).
Do you have friends who would like to know more about Sts. Clare & Francis?
Would you be willing to invite them to your house for an hour or so to hear about us? Frank is willing to come to your home to share the story of SCF with your friends.
We Tithe as a parish and we need your recommendations
We have committed to tithing as a parish. We donate 10% of all that we collect in our offerings to worthy causes. We do this as an act of faith, trusting that, in doing this, we will still be able to meet our financial needs. We have received a number of wonderful suggestions. Please continue to let the Parish Council know about worthy organizations that you would like us as a community to contribute to. Information needed: your name, name of organization you are suggesting, to whom check should be made payable, where to send check and to whose attention. Please send your suggestions to Marilyn Tenholder.
Matthew 25 The Matthew 25 Fund helps members in our community who need financial assistance. All information concerning the people with whom we work is held in the strictest confidence. If you would like to contribute to this fund, make your check payable to Matthew 25, and place it in the collection basket. If you would like to donate cash, put it in an envelope labeled "Matthew 25" and place it in the collection basket. If you need assistance from the fund, you can contact We have a SafeChurch Policy to protect our children and other vulnerable populations. |
| Fundraising |
Do you shop at Schnucks?
Please keep our Schnucks E-Scrip fund raiser in mind when you shop. If you don't already have an E-Scrip card, please call Marilyn Tenholder (314.323.1467) and she will get one to you. There is no charge and all you have to do is activate it by either a phone call or by going online. Simply show the card when you check out and a percentage of your purchase cost will be rebated back to Sts. Clare & Francis. Thank you! |
| Parish Financial Report |
The March 2011 financial report for Sts. Clare & Francis parish can be found here. |
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COMMUNITY CORNER...our family news
(It is good for us to know what's happening in each other's lives. If you have any news you'd like to share with the community, please email Steve ).
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The Weekly News
May 12, 2011 |
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4th Week of Easter
Saturday, May 14, 2011 5:00 p.m.
Readings: Acts 2:14a, 36-41; 1 Pt 2:20b-25; Jn 10:1-10
Presider/Homilist: Frank Krebs
Lectors: Carol Ogier, Michelle Smith
Sacristan: Sheila Leander
Eucharistic Ministers: Barb Winkler, Marty Campbell, Joan Switzer
Children's Church has ended for the season,
and will resume in the Fall.
If you are unable to serve in your scheduled ministry, please let Lisa know when you get a substitute so that we can publish the correct names in the newsletter. Thanks so much. Lisa von Stamwitz (314.795.0114). |
This Sunday! Return to Pickle Springs
 | | The SCF Pickle Springs Gang, 2010 Edition |
Sunday, May 15, 2011
11:30 am Meet at Art's & Frank's house to caravan
Last year's outing to Pickle Springs Natural Area was so popular we decided to do it again! Because Easter arrives fairly late this year, we are planning this year's trip for Sunday, May 15. Meet at Art's and Frank's house at 11:30am, and we'll plan to leave at 12 noon for Ste. Genevieve. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to get to the trailhead, and approximately 1- 2 hours to hike the trail. Afterward, join us at Crown Valley Winery for a light dinner before heading home.
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Pickle Springs Natural Area is a deep, forested gorge consisting of geological formations and plants that are found in few other places. Visitors will find examples of a sandstone glade, talus, forest, savanna, as well as a number of rare species of plants and animals. The area is noted for its blooming wild azalea and wildflowers in the spring. According to local legend, the area is named after William Pickles, a settler from Illinois who owned the land until he was shot by a band of renegades during the Civil War. Pickle Springs and other area creeks flow into Pickle Creek, which in turn traverses into Hawn State Park. | |
Designated a National Natural Landmark, Pickle Springs Natural Area features a 2 mile hiking trail maintained by the East Ozark Audubon Society in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Conservation. This two-mile journey has an estimated hiking time of 1 hour and takes hikers past waterfalls, rock shelters, a double arch, towering bluffs, canyons and amazing rock outcrops. Wooden bridges along the trail aid hikers past troublesome spots. |
For more information about Pickle Springs Natural Area:
http://www.greatriverroad.com/stegen/sgattract/picklesprings.htm
For more information about Crown Valley Winery:
http://www.crownvalleywinery.com |
New Faces Presiding and Preaching
Jessica will be stepping aside from presiding while she is on maternity leave. We decided to use this opportunity to ask several ECC clergy to preside and to provide a variety of preaching voices.
 | | Rev. Jim Schratz |
May 21, 2011 I will be in Tulsa covering for Bishop Rick while he has knee surgery that weekend. I have asked Father Jim Schratz, who is the associate pastor of San Damiano, our sister community in Little Rock, AR, to preside and preach that Saturday. I see this as an opportunity for our two communities to have a little bit more connection. I am certainly hoping that is what happens when I visit Tulsa again (third time).
 | | Rev. Kay Schmitt |
May 28, 2011 Kay Schmitt, a member of our own community, who is an ECC priest serving persons with HIV, will preside and preach on that Saturday. This will be a good opportunity to experience Kay's gifts and for her to preside at the table as her own community gathers.
 | | Bp. Rick Hollingsworth |
June 4, 2011
Bishop Rick Hollingsworth is the pastor of St. Jerome's ECC Church in Tulsa, OK. He and his community just came into the ECC officially at the last Synod in St. Louis. Rick has been appointed vicar of the Midwest for the ECC. In that capacity he is working to create as much unity as possible among our four communities. We asked Rick to preside and preach that weekend. As we welcome persons into our community who have joined in the last year, Rick can help us welcome them into the wider church as well. Again, I'm hoping for more connection with a regional sister community here too.
I'll keep you informed of other guest presiders and/or preachers.
Your brother,
Frank |
Michelle Smith
Discerning a Call to the Priesthood
 | | Michelle & Sharon |
Michelle Smith and Sharon Jones have been a part of our community for two years. Michelle was a lay delegate to the last Synod; Sharon helped out administratively. Michelle has been a lector and Eucharistic minister; she and Sharon recently gave a witness during Lent. In addition to being an attorney, Michelle has a MA in Pastoral Studies from Aquinas Institute. She and Sharon have worked in various kinds of ministry, particularly youth ministry, for years.
Now Michelle is discerning whether she has a call to the priesthood. So we have surrounded Michelle with a "cocoon" of members of the community to help her discern this call. If it is discerned that she is so called, then they will further discern whether that call would relate in any way to Sts. Clare & Francis. The cocoon's recommendation would then be passed on to the Parish Council for further discernment. As a part of this process we want to give Michelle an opportunity to preach to the community. She is being coached for this role by George von Stamwitz. We're anticipating that Michelle will preach to the community for the first time on July 30th. |
Events Sponsored by Friends of SCF
 Catholic Action Network
Visioning Meeting
May 15, 2011
1:30 - 4:30 p.m.
The Former CSAT Building
(Center for Theology and Social Analysis)
1077 South Newstead Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63110
(in the Forest Park Southeast Neighborhood)
Catholic Action Network (CAN) is planning a visioning meeting for our upcoming work. We would like members of the Sts. Clare & Francis Community to come help us create the future at CAN by attending. If you are interested, please contact John Powell at jpowell@vdoh.org. For more information about CAN, click here.
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Opening to the Sacred Facing Obstacles Two Opportunities: Friday, May 20, 2011 Saturday, May 21, 2011 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
336 E. Ripa Avenue
St.Louis, MO 63125
$50 per person, lunch is included
$45 early bird registration
Scholarships are available
In opening to God's movement, we often encounter
obstacles that keep us from fully experiencing God's
grace. What are they and how do we face them?
LEADERS
Susan Ulmer and Dr. Devoree Crist are Spiritual Directors
who seek ways to identify, deepen and nourish
experiences of God. We listen with compassion and
openness to persons of diverse traditions, lives and
perspectives. |
random sightings
wisdom...reflection...insight...amusement
While nothing is easier than to denounce the evildoer,
nothing is more difficult than to understand him.
Fyodor Dostoevsky |
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