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United Thank Offering-- Today we will be taking an extra collection for the United Thank Offering. This is a way of giving out of our gratitude to an organization that helps locally, nationally and world-wide. It has funded many, many worthy projects. Please be generous; we take two of these collections each year - Spring and Fall, and we have always been able to donate $1000 or more. So, please, prayerfully consider what you can give!
Rabbi George Schlesinger to speak at Saint Rose Catholic Church. As we continue our task of discovering the holy in other people, cultures, and religions, we welcome Rabbi George Schlesinger of Beth Ami Conservative Jewish Congregation to be our guest speaker. The Rabbi will give a short presentation on Jewish perspectives and invite questions and dialogue with his audience. Please join with us as we share our faith traditions. To be held on Sunday, May 15th (TODAY!) at 2 pm in the St. Rose Catholic Church Parish Hall, Room A. The Church and Hall may be reached by driving West on College Ave from Mendocino Ave to just before the 101 freeway; turn left on Morgan Street. Drive 2 blocks or so to 10th street, left one block and into the parking lot at 322 10th Street.
The Newsletters are here and ready for you to pick up in Farlander Hall, for those of you who wish to have a hard copy. There are various ways to receive your newsletter - by email, by snail mail, and by picking it up at church. If you currently receive it by snail mail but would like to save a stamp, let Claire in the Church Office know and we'll either email it to you or you can pick it up at church.
We hope you have noticed the new "Incarnation Yellow Page" at both entries to the church. These are free listings of parishioners who own businesses, which we hope you will support. Please take one, and keep it handy when needing to call on a business for products or services.
Haydn "Stabat Mater" CD's now available! If you missed the Good Friday Concert, or just want to experience the beautiful music again, we have CD's available for the purchase price of $12. Please see Carol Menke (707-542-0452) if you want to buy a CD.
The Evening Women's Group will meet on Tuesday, May 17 at 7 pm at the home of Kathy McCallum. All women are welcome to join us. We are a supportive group providing a place to share our lives and our spiritual journeys with each other, building friendships as we go. If you have any questions, please contact Donna Wiuff at 837-8768.
Come to the Book Talk by Francis Geddes! Contemplative Healing: The Congregation as Healing Community is the title of a new book and subject of a book talk by Francis Geddes. It is now available in our bookstore. He coordinates Caritas, our healing prayer group that meets monthly. The talk will be held Wednesday, May 18th, at 7 pm in Room 3.
Joan Clarke will be leaving us after 8 years. If you have children and used our childcare, your children probably have fond memories of being with Joan. We are putting together a farewell gift for Joan. If you would like to contribute to this gift please contact Daphne Vernon (707-579-2604 ext. 106 or youthmin@incarnation-sr.org).
Our Former Associate for Children and Youth, Emily Wilmer, is returning to California in May, to hold a couple of workshops at The Bishop's Ranch. See details below.
Lord, teach us to pray: A four-week course
Wednesday evenings from 7:30 PM - 9:00 PM. May 4, 11, 18, 25
Prayer is at the heart of the Christian path. Using the four Gospels we will explore Jesus' life of prayer, including his quiet personal prayer, his prayer at synagogue and temple, his teaching about prayer, his contemplative experiences, and the consequences of his prayer for his personal life and his active engagement with society. There will be a special focus on "The Lord's Prayer" and opportunities to relate Jesus' prayer to your own personal prayer, parish spiritual formation, and the relationship between prayer and daily life. Cost: There is no charge, but participants may make a donation to the Ranch.
Learning to Listen to the Life Within: An overnight retreat
Sunday May 22 at 4 pm - Monday May 23 at 6 pm
Most people live very busy and responsible lives. Our attention and energy is directed to the 'outside' of life. This is necessary, but is only half of our true selves. The 'inside' of life is often neglected; this is the life of the heart where our spirits and God's Spirit dwell together. The inside of life is the source of our desire, words, and actions. This retreat will help participants focus on three disciplines to "listen" to the inside of life. An Experience of Contemplative Prayer: the prayer of stillness and silence. Praying with Scripture: a method for hearing the mystery of God's voice in scripture. Praying with Body and Soul: several forms of prayer from our Christian tradition including contemplative walking, the Lord's Prayer and practices form the early Desert Mothers and Fathers. Cost: $130, Double Occ.; $170, Single Occ., including lodging and meals.
Location: The Bishop's Ranch. 5297 Westside Road. Healdsburg, CA 95448. To Register for these workshops: Call 707-433-2440 or email shannon@bishopsranch.org
Led by David Keller and Emily Wilmer. David and Emily led weekly contemplative prayer at the Ranch from 2003-2006. They now live in Asheville, NC where they are Stewards of Oasis of Wisdom: An Institute for Contemplative Studies, Practice, and Living. (www.oasisofwisdom.net). Emily has over fifteen years of experience providing spiritual direction to individuals seeking spiritual growth and discernment in their lives. David is Adjunct Professor of Ascetical Theology at the General Theological Seminary in New York and Director of the Contemplative Ministry Project.
In two weeks, starting on May 29th, we switch to our summer service schedule: 8 am & 10 am services only. This will continue throughout the summer. We return to our three-service schedule on September 11.
The Summer Festival is on May 29th after the 10 am service ends. Come one, come all - fun for all ages! We will have games and a bounce house for the young and young-at-heart. There will also be a pie-eating contest and a hat decorating station for people of all ages!
We'll also have a picnic area set up with blankets, lawn chairs and umbrellas, and we'll be featuring a slide show of photos of life at Incarnation, and music.
There is also a change from the latest Newsletter. Instead of doing a cake walk, the Youth Group will be selling snow cones and cotton candy to raise funds for their mission trip in June to the Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.
We'd love to share the fun with your friends, so please invite them to join us on May 29th for the Summer Festival.
Be expecting a call, if you haven't gotten one already, from one of our church's leadership team of the North Bay Sponsoring Committee. We're forming small conversational groups throughout the city so that we may get acquainted and/or deepen our relationships with one another. The meetings or "Incarnation Conversations" will begin in early June. We hope you'll say "yes" when invited to join. If by chance you don't receive a call, forgive our omission and call the church office (707-579-2604) to let them know you'd like to be included.
We'll be doing baptisms on Pentecost, on June 12. Please contact Fr. Matt if you are interested in a baptism. And if you've talked to Fr. Matt but you didn't see him actually write down, with a pen, the names of your family members and godparents, please call again and leave a voice message.
Small Groups span a wide area of interest. We offer Care + Support groups, Study + Reflection groups, Topics + Interest groups, and Prayer + Contemplative groups. To learn more about each one go to our website and explore the possibilities! If you have a desire to form a small group, I would love to hear from you. You can call me (Mitch Garcia) at 707-703-4162 or email me at smallgroups@incarnation-sr.org.
A friendly reminder: As we put down our hymnals and head for the doors, let's remember that for our organist and those who stay behind to enjoy the glorious postlude, the service isn't over! Let's honor them with silence or quiet voices as we leave the sanctuary.
Small Group Art Workshop! "Art is the Next Peace" taught by Carla Grace Baldassari. This is a six-week art workshop starting mid-May. The workshop is for those who are beginners, intermediate, and future artists of all ages. You will develop love for your personal artwork, overcoming any fears that you might have. The Art Workshop will provide you with the opportunity to explore different mediums, such as: charcoal, pastels, color pencils, watercolors, acrylics and silks in a caring, playful and loving environment. Our goal is to offer this workshop at convenient times for those who are interested. We will conduct a survey to find out which times are the best time for you. You can sign up in Farlander Hall at the Small Group table. For any questions contact Carla at 707-239-3943.
Small Group: Growing Together. This group is to be hosted by Nick and Donna Lawrence (707-393-7484). It will include meeting one to two times per month for play dates, including hiking, bbq's, picnics, camping, baking of Communion bread, special community events. The goal is to help children and their families form meaningful, long-term relationships with the other families in our congregation and to grow together through Christ and our common language here at our church. There is a sign-up sheet on the Small Group table for more information about this exciting venture!
Play, Listen, Learn about Music. Would you like an opportunity to share your musical talents, learn musical repertoire and be inspired by the gift of music. A new small group will be starting up that will give you a chance to do just that! If you would like more information on this group you can sign-up at the Small Group table in Farlander Hall. Martha Peterson will be leading this group and she will contact you.
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