St. Philip's In The Hills Episcopal Church
Parish News: Connecting Electronically North Campbell Avenue at River Road, Tucson
April 3, 2012
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Did you miss out on receiving previous St. Philip's e-letters? You can read them by clicking here.
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Service Schedule
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Sundays7:45 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I 9:00 a.m. Sung Eucharist Rite II Third Sundays: All-Generations Service (Sept. through May) Fifth Sundays: Morning Prayer and Eucharist 11:15 a.m. Sung Eucharist Rite II Fifth Sundays: Morning Prayer and Eucharist 4:00 p.m. "Come & See" Service 5:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II Third Sundays: Choral Evensong with Eucharist (Sept. through May) Tuesdays10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite II and Healing 6:00 p.m. Evening Prayer Thursdays (Sept. through May) 11:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I Worship services at St. Philip's
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Click to Connect
| Latest News on St. Philip's web site contains the Sunday bulletin, upcoming events, and links to Episcopal sites of interest
St. Philip's has a group on Facebook, the popular social networking Web site, where you can share reflections with our online community
St. Philip's Green Team has published Green Tips, suggestions for things you can do to help save our planet!
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Ministry E-Letters
| Various ministries at St. Philip's offer e-letters:
To sign up for the Adult Formation Ministries e-letter, contact Greg Foraker.
To receive the Music Ministry e-newsletter, contact music@stphilipstucson.org
St. Philip's new Border & Immigration Ministry has a weekly e-letter, posted on the Outreach page of St. Philip's web site. To subscribe, contact Suzanne.
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| Greetings! |
 God calls us not just to believe and to have faith, but to act. During Holy Week, we invite you to explore the many spiritual, educational, musical, and ministry opportunities and follow where God is next calling you.If you know of someone who might like to receive these e-updates, whether they're a parishioner or someone interested in St. Philip's, feel free to use the "forward to a friend" link to share the newsletter with them! That doesn't add them to any lists but gives them the opportunity to choose to subscribe. We hope this e-letter is a useful tool in connecting and staying connected with our St. Philip's community! |
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Loaves is online!
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St. Philip's quarterly newsletter, Loaves & Fishes, is posted on our web site. The web edition is in color and contains an expanded photo spread of parish activities. Check it out!
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| Holy Week & Easter Services | |
Tuesday in Holy Week (April 3)
6:00 p.m Evening Prayer -- Gregorian chant Sarum compline service, which is the last monastic prayer time of the day before the monks retire. In the Chapel of the Nativity.
Wednesday in Holy Week (April 4)
7:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I
7:00 p.m. The Office of Tenebrae
A moving descent into the darkest days of the church year. The liturgy is a merger of the traditional Matins and Lauds, with plainchant led by the upper voices of the Canterbury Choir. During the service all of the lights in the church are progressively extinguished except one candle.
Maundy Thursday (April 5)
11:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist Rite I
6:15 p.m. Supper (hosted by the Vestry)
7:00 p.m. Liturgy for Maundy Thursday
 Includes the traditional footwashing, Eucharist, and Stripping of the Altar, which symbolizes the laying of Jesus in the tomb. Music will include plainchant led by the tenors and basses of the St. Philip's Singers.
9:00 p.m. Vigil and All-Night Reading of Dante's Inferno begins
(continues until 10 a.m. on Good Friday)
In 30-minute segments, each segment includes reading of one canto from Dante's Inferno, silent meditation, and atmospheric music. Participants may arrive and leave throughout the night.
 Good Friday (April 6)
"Seven Last Words of Christ" format, with each segment focusing on one of the seven statements by Jesus from the cross, with a meditation by a guest homilist. Music includes hymns and Bach's Passion Chorales sung by a quartet of St. Philip's staff singers
4:30 p.m. Children's Way of the Cross
A remembrance of Jesus's last day, led by the 5th and 6th grade Church School
5:45 p.m. Good Friday Musical Offering
Sacred arias and chorales by Bach and Handel with Lisa Spurlin, soprano; Laurel Decker, alto; Doug Spurlin, tenor; Jess Koehn, bass, and string ensemble with Jeffrey Campbell on continuo, conducted by Thomas Cockrell
Holy Saturday (April 7)
7:00 p.m. The Great Vigil of Easter
 The Service of Light (lighting and blessing the New Fire and Paschal Candle and candlelit procession, with allergen-free incense), the Vigil recounting the history of our salvation, Holy Baptism and sprinkling of holy water, and the first proclamation of Easter with fanfare and noisemakers, culminating in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Music by Palestrina, Scheidt, and Darke, sung by the Schola. Followed by a potluck reception: bring your favorite sparkling beverage and chocolate finger food!
Easter Day (April 8)
6:00 a.m. Sunrise Eucharist Rite II, including hymns, with keyboard and trumpet
7:45 a.m. Festival Eucharist Rite I, including hymns, with organ and trumpet
9:15 a.m. All Generations Eucharist Rite II and Baptism (in the Children's Center courtyard) with the children's choir, bell choirs, and brass
 9:15 a.m. Festival Choral Eucharist Rite II and Baptism (in the Church) - Music by Peeters, Dirksen, and Karg-Elert with the St. Philip's Singers, congregational singing, organ, brass quintet, and timpani
11:15 a.m. Festival Choral Eucharist Rite II with Incense - Music by Peeters, Dirksen, and Karg-Elert with the Canterbury Choir, congregational singing, organ, brass quintet, and timpani
4:00 p.m. "Come and See" Service
5:30 p.m. Evening Eucharist Rite II
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| Special Update from the Vestry | |
Dear Friends in Christ,
As we close our 2012 stewardship campaign, we take this opportunity to update you on the financial health of St. Philip's and to send our thanks to those of you who have allowed us to finish the campaign at a level of $1,065,019 - up just over $10,000 from last year. Many of you (over 200) increased your pledge levels, and many who had been historic "givers of record" joined the ranks of pledgers, for which we are truly grateful.
Good news is that the budget for 2012 represents the third straight year in which our projected budget shortfalls will decrease, as we work very hard to reach a balanced budget goal. Your Vestry holds this as a primary responsibility, and is committed to living within our means. Cost reductions in the year just ended amounted to about $125,000, and with the exception of most of the staff furloughs, as noted below, those reductions will continue into 2012.
As we emerge from difficult times and close our budget gap, St. Philip's will still have the need to delve into our diminishing budget reserves during the 2012 year to the tune of about $90K. Fortunately, we have been able to eliminate all staff furloughs, with the exception of the Rector's, which he has volunteered to continue through 2012. This keeps our bargain with the dedicated individuals who make St. Philip's run on a daily basis. We hope that with the improving economy in 2012, income will rise to the point where we can eliminate the Rector's furlough, further close the budget gap, and get our parish back on the firm financial footing that we'll need as we go forward in our service to our parishioners, our staff, and to the many in our community who are served by our multiple ministries.
St. Philip's has all the appearances of a financially wealthy parish, but we are a truly wealthy parish only because of the financial contributions of our membership. While we are fortunate to have some limited monies set aside as a result of bequests for buildings and grounds, music and other budgetary support, St. Philip's does not enjoy endowment income to any significant degree of budget relief. So, as we did last year, we remind you that a parish is truly "wealthy" only when its members value its offerings to the extent that they willingly support them at a sustainable level.
We continue to rely on our current members for the great majority of our annual financial needs.
If you attended the annual meetings, you heard the following numbers, but for those who were unable to attend, here is a snapshot of our pledge and budget results for the 2012 year:
While the average pledge increased for 2012 to $2,029, it is still significantly below the $2,314 national average and the $2,170 Arizona average for Episcopal parishes. Programmatically we operate as a top tier parish in the great Episcopal tradition, but in terms of individual pledged financial support, we are still below the averages for Episcopal parishes.
We received 525 pledges from a membership over twice that size - 1,061. While all financial support is important and appreciated, only about half of St. Philippians actually pledge the funds that constitute the lion's share of our annual income, and allow us to plan and prepare our annual operating budgets.
Our winter membership increases our numbers substantially, and we are grateful to the many winter members who pledge their support. We are your parish home while you are here, and we work hard to provide a place that will allow you to feel welcome and well served. As one of our "snowbirds" said in an appeal to other winter members last year, it is both gratifying and rewarding to feel the "belonging" that comes only after one abandons "visitor" status and becomes a contributing member. That member now serves on the Vestry along with others who also are residents elsewhere during part of the year, and support their parishes there as well.
So we again ask all St. Philippians to reflect and pray on our financial situation, and to join with us in committing to a level of pledged support that will allow our beloved parish to grow in its rich tradition as we go forward in the support of our Lord, our dedicated staff, our historic facility, our programs and ministries, our community, and our lives together in Christ as they are enriched by all that we experience in this wonderful place.
Quite simply, it is our charge, our responsibility and our opportunity in the service of our Lord.
Yours in Christ,
The Vestry
PS If you have not yet pledged for 2012, it's never too late. Call the church, visit our website and click on stewardship, or contact any one of us.
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