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News from Nick:

The Newsletter for the Community of St. Nicholas

 1072 Ridge Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL  60007

www.StNicholasEpiscopal.org 

February 17-23, 2011


Our thanks to Randall Warren for joining us last Sunday for the 10AM liturgy, and for the congregational meeting afterward.  Thanks also to everyone who came to the meeting with Randall.

More details about the transition process are in the Bishop's Committee News article below.

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Welcome
Upcoming Events
Calendar

Worship

Sundays - 10:00 am

Saturdays - 4:30 pm

 

NW LGBT Spirituality Group

Saturday, February 19

5:45 pm in the St. Nicholas Sanctuary 

 

Bishop's Committee Meeting

Sunday, February 27

8:15 am

 

Annual Meeting

Sunday, February 27

Following 10:00 am worship

 

Food Pantry

Wednesday, March 2

4:30-6:30 pm

 

1st Annual Chili Supper

(more info. at this link

Saturday, March 5

4:30 Holy Eucharist

Followed by

6pm St. Nicholas Church Community

Annual Chili Supper & Raffle

 

Book Discussion - The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Sunday, March 6

12 noon - Paneras,  

90 Biesterfield Road, Elk Grove Village

 

Ash Wednesday 

Wednesday, March 9th 

7pm Ash Wednesday Holy Eucharist  

imposition of ashes  

Food Pantry

Wednesday, March 16 

4:30-6:30 pm

 

Wednesdays in Lent
(March 16, 23, 30, April 6 & 13)

6pm Holy Eucharist 

 

Upcoming Scripture Readings

February 20, 2011 - 7th Sunday after the Epiphany  

The Episcopal Church uses the Revised Common Lectionary.  When a choice is given for the Old Testament lesson and Psalm, at St. Nicholas we use the first option, or Track 1.  More about the Revised Common Lectionary is at this link.  

In This Issue
+Upcoming Events
+Upcoming Scripture Readings
+Chilly Weather, Chili Supper and the Warmth of Lent: A Reflection from Manny
+Bishop's Committee News
+St. Nick's Shout-Out
+NW LGBT Spiritual Group Meets Every Saturday
+Reminders
Miss an issue of News from Nick?  Need to refer to an earlier issue?  No problem--issues are archived and available at any time at this link.
Chilly Weather, Chili Supper and the Warmth of Lent
Manny

 

It's still cold.  The sky is mostly gray and the sun, as if with a mind of its own, teasingly comes out and gives us just a small sample of its power and warmth.  We look up and gaze into the grayness and think of the spring time that is getting closer and closer, all the while we grow more anxious for warmer, more inviting weather.

 

We keep ourselves busy, with all the responsibilities that occupy our time while we find healthy ways of distracting ourselves from thinking spring, the start of baseball, working in the garden that has been so quiet and dormant through these cold, winter months and all the beauty and new life that are part of the season of "recreation."  However, we live in the here and now and there is much for us to do and more for us to prepare.  There is much yet to enjoy and celebrate...right here and right now.

 

Let's start by marking our calendar for a rather big gathering on Saturday, March 5th...our first and what we fully expect and hope to be 'annual' St. Nicholas Community Chili Supper!  I ask you...what's better on a brisk, late winter's evening than a robust and hearty bowl of piping hot chili?  And, as good as the chili will be, we will get to share this treat with one another...a certain and solid reason to come out and celebrate.  Bring the whole and extended family and ask your friends to come out and support a community event!  Consider yourselves, all of us, families and friends, invited to St. Nicholas Episcopal Church Community celebration of chili, fantastic door prizes that are to be raffled and lots of good fun and conversation.  Make a full evening of it by first attending our 4:30pm Saturday Holy Eucharist.  How wonderful...our souls are nourished with the gifts of Jesus and we then replenish our bodies with more of God's bounty.  We certainly have much for which to be grateful. 

 

And lest we forget the week following our Saturday, March 5th Chili Supper, we enter the holy and sacred season of Lent.   We begin this 40 day journey as we celebrate Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent on March 9th.  We will make good use of Lent, preparing ourselves for the great Feast of Easter.  Each Wednesday in Lent, we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist, starting with our 7pm Ash Wednesday Liturgy.  The following Wednesdays of Lent, we will gather at 6pm to pray and worship.  It is our hope that many will come, in fact it is our hope we all are able to gather, taking a much needed midweek break from the daily grind, as we relax and rejuvenate both soul and body with our sisters and brothers, gathered round the altar to share the gifts of the earth and of God's beneficence to us. 

 

And so we prepare ourselves for our Lenten journey.   We live our lives fully, with joyful Liturgy, social gatherings and with our traditionally warm and welcoming gestures that have made St. Nicholas Church Community the unique and loving place it is. 

 

Mark the calendar:

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

4:30 Holy Eucharist

Followed by

6pm St. Nicholas Church Community

Annual Chili Supper & Raffle

 

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

7pm Ash Wednesday Holy Eucharist

 

Peace,

Manny Borg

[email protected] 
Bishop's Committee News

 

Canon Randall Warren met with the congregation Sunday and explained the transition process we will be going through in selecting our new vicar.  He emphasized that we do not want to hurry the process, but be thoughtful, intentional, and prayerful.  In the next few weeks, we will have an opportunity to take an online survey that will give us objective data that will provide us with a profile of St. Nicholas.  In turn, the Search Team will use this profile to build a profile for what we are looking for in our next vicar.  The survey will identify where our strengths lie and where we want our focus to be, so that we can continue to grow as a worship community. 

 

This can be an exciting time for us to express our feelings and desires for what we want St. Nicholas to be and become.  The survey will be completely anonymous.  For those who do not have a computer, there will be hard copies of the survey; you'll then put your unsigned survey into a box and someone will take them and enter them into the computer.  I strongly encourage everyone to participate in the survey.  Your voice counts! 

 

In the meantime, Manny will continue to be our Transition Minister.  He will be contracted to be here on a 75% time basis and is eligible to interview for the position of Vicar.

 

Please let me know any questions and/or concerns you have.

  

Pat Kalicki

[email protected]

St. Nick's Shout-Out

 

Thank you!Profound thanks to Ginny Gibbs, webmistress extraordinaire, for her tireless work on the St. Nicholas website (www.stnicholasepiscopal.org).   

 

Equally profound thanks to David Gibbs, for securing and donating our domain names and new email addresses.

NW LGBT Spiritual Group

 

The NW LGBT Spiritual Group is a weekly group that meets every Saturday @ 5:45pm in the sanctuary of St. Nicholas'. We explore spirituality, as well as other LGBT issues. Our goal is to explore how we can make our spirituality a bigger part of our entire lives. We discuss issues concerning identity, and how that impacts our overall spiritual selves. Through group discussion and friendly fellowship, we hope to continue to deepen our bonds, and then to eventually, reach out to the wider community. Sending out a message of tolerance and inclusion is something we want to be very vocal about. Our watchwords are exploration, reconciliation, and acceptance.

 

More info at this link.  

Reminders

 

Don't ForgetThe St. Nicholas Annual Meeting will take place on Sunday, February 27, following the 10AM service.  Your voice matters - please plan to attend!  

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Please consider submitting a pledge for 2011 if you have not yet done so.  More info. is at this link.  Thank you for your consideration. 

News from Nick is published by St. Nicholas Episcopal Church, Elk Grove Village, Illinois each Thursday.

 

Please submit copy to Douglas by clicking here.  Deadline is Wednesday at noon.