There is a momentum flow these days at St. Nicholas and I, for one, am very excited. These hazy and hot days of an early summer have brought us some very wonderful occasions of faith, family and of friendships started and renewed. An Open House is only natural and warranted and certainly some thing Douglas and I are most happy to host. We wish our parish family to come and spend time with one another and with us in an atmosphere other than within the walls of St. Nicholas Church. Of course, within those sacred walls of our worship space there is no better place to be. God calls us there to worship and give praise and thanks. However, we do need, on occasion, to spend time together and just have some fun. So, you see, this Open House is in actuality, a necessity of sorts...to take good advantage of the momentum created and to make good use of this wonderful, albeit hot and humid weather we've been blessed with of late. And, of course and most importantly, because we are a community that knows how to enjoy itself and to savor the company of our beloved sisters and brothers in faith, we open our home to you, our St. Nicholas family.

 

There are more events on our calendar that will afford us time together outside the worship space and Liturgy. Saturday, June 30th is our first ever Life Line Health Screening with St. Nicholas Church serving as host. Vanessa Welch reported that over 80 people throughout the Village have signed up. How wonderful. How encouraging that so many are taking this time to seek sound health and also, so many of our neighbors will venture into our spiritual home and many perhaps for the first time ever. I hope and pray they like our environment and maybe, just maybe, come back and see who we are and what we are all about. July 14th, Saturday, we will celebrate a Hawaiian themed Parish Picnic. Food, fun, games and hot weather are all but assured...what we need is YOU. Come and enjoy a day in the sun with family and friends. Weather permitting, we will conclude the day with our 4:30 Liturgy outdoors. Toward the end of July or perhaps early August, we'll resume our Friday Night at the Movies. Nothing says summer like a movie, popcorn, pop, family and friends and all in the comfort of our blessedly air conditioned Holy Innocents Hall. Stay tuned for an exact date...

 

Later this summer and into the fall and winter season, I'd like to see our Movable Feast Program reinstated. For those unfamiliar with this, let me explain: in the past, parishioners were invited to sign up to participate in the program. All those who signed up were broken up into smaller groups and each member, on a designed night, once per month, would host a small group for dinner at their home. If your home is not large enough to host, Holy Innocents Hall is made available for use, too. Conversation, food and fun made for a wonderful time. A specific topic was chosen ahead of time and that subject was discussed during dinner. After several weeks and assuring all had the opportunity to serve as host, we all gathered for a parish pot luck supper at the church after the Sunday Liturgy. What a wonderful time we all have had: the stories shared, and the conversations and friendships developed then continue to live on.

 

There's more to come. Stay tuned, my friends. First things first, enjoy the day at hand and celebrate all the blessings and good things God provides us. Hope to see you come Saturday and Sunday, whether at St. Nicholas, at our home or maybe at the Little Boots Rodeo...wherever we see one another, let's share that time as friends and family do best...with love and peace in heart, mind and spirit.

 

-Manny 

manny@stnicholasepiscopal.org

Attention community of St. Nicholas: Douglas and Manny cordially invite you to come, visit and spend some time with us at our home.  Saturday, June 23rd, from Noon to 3pm.  A sign-up sheet is available in the Gathering Space outside Holy Innocents Hall or you can email us to let us know you're coming (please let us know how many people in your party).  Even though we are a bit north...there is no chance of snow...we promise!  All you need bring is yourself!  Come and enjoy...we'd love to see ya'.

This weekend, Elk Grove Village welcomes back The Little Boots Rodeo.  We encourage the community of St. Nicholas to take advantage of this family-friendly venture and help represent our community of faith.  St. Nicholas will be part of this event come next year.  As much as we desired to be involved this year, we had just too much going on.  Also, our tee-shirts and St. Nicholas magnets were not ready for distribution.  Again, next year, we will be eager and anxious to be actively involved at hopefully staffing both a game and a St. Nicholas Table.  The Rodeo takes place on the grounds of Prince of Peace Methodist Church, located at the corner of Devon and Arlington Heights Road.  Gates open at 12 noon till 5pm on both Saturday and Sunday, June 23rd and 24th.  Come on out and enjoy a day in the sun with lots of family fun.

Thanks to David & Ginny Gibbs, some wonderful photos of the Celebration of a New Shared Ministry & Installation Service are now online. 

Click here to view them.

 

On July 14, Saturday, we will have our Parish Family Picnic.  Festivities begin around noon and will conclude with an outdoor Liturgy, (weather permitting) at 4:30pm.  Games, food and lots of fun...bring the whole gang along.  St. Nicholas will provide the hot dogs and burgers.  We ask the community to bring along the 'side dishes.'  Sign up at church and plan for a fun-filled day in the sun with our sisters and brothers of St. Nicholas.

Thanks to:

David Gibbs, who took wonderful photographs of the Installation Service last week.  We appreciate his generosity. 

Ginny Gibbs, for posting said photographs online!

Jeremy Gruenwald for getting all the food heated and set up for the reception following the installation service so that we were all able to enjoy the entire service.  He did a great job!

 

Bishop James Allan, Nancy Allan's late husband's cousin, who is seriously ill.

 

Mary Beth Jarvis and family, as they mourn the loss of Eileen Maher, Mary Beth's sister 

 

Our sisters and brothers at St. Bede's Church, that they know of our joy at having them join our family.      

 

Kathy Seghers, sister to our Jennifer Garcia.  Kathy is in the hospital with symptoms of MS.  Pray for her full recovery. 

 

Nathile Paul, Vernon Forde's sister.  Ms. Paul is recuperating from surgery.   

 

The Martin Family: Karen, Tom and Katie 

  

Ethel (Corkey) Stratton, the mother of Hal Stratton 

 

 

Paul Brouillette

  

For those in transition: those searching for work, those who are moving and those encountering changes in life.