This Week at St. Paul's

Well, the final count is in for the ECS campaign, and our total now stands at $9153.05, bringing us to 122% of our original goal!!! Once again, St. Paul's generosity has exceeded all of our expectations. Thank you!!!

Diocesan Events - HAPPENING NOW!!

Ascension Day is TODAY - this is the day - 40 days after Easter - when we remember Jesus' Ascension into heaven. It is one of the feasts of the Church. There will be a Diocesan Ascension Day service at St. Paul's Cathedral at 7 p.m. on June 2. All are
welcome to attend.

On Saturday June 4, the Rev. Jerry Keucher will present Preparing the Ground for Growth, a stewardship conference. The conference will run from 9:30 to 3:30 p.m. at our Diocesan Center, 1064 Brighton Rd. in Tonawanda. The registration fee of $20 per person includes lunch and all materials. When a congregational team of five or more register together the registration cost per person is just $15. The registration deadline is May 31. Each congregation is asked to bring 10 copies of the stewardship materials we used last year. If you want to attend the conference let Pastor Vicki know and she will prepare the copies for you. To register send your name, address and congregation to Howard Gondree at howardgondree@episcopalwny.org.

Attention Graduates!

Calling all graduates - are you, or your child, graduating from high school, college, or grad-school this spring? Please let Liz (paulspals@gmail.com) know, so that we can celebrate your accomplishments.

Pentecost - June 12

June 12 is the Feast of Pentecost - it is the day that the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles. It is sometimes called the birthday of the church because it is the day that the apostles started telling others about Jesus.

We are celebrating Pentecost in several ways this year:

Wear red, yellow or orange - the Holy Spirit descended like a tongue of fire - so wear fire colors to church
Spirit of St. Paul's awards - We initiated these last year - we will award people who seem to demonstrate the spirit of St. Paul's in a variety of ways - these are mostly the unsung heroes of the church - if you know someone who should be honored let Pastor Vicki or Mona Gaddis know.
Sunday School awards - for Sunday School students who have achieved distinction
Teacher recognition - for the teachers who give tons of time to our students
Graduate recognition - if you know of a high school or college graduate who should be honored let the office know

And lastly - the next in our series of coffee hour contests. The 10 a.m. coffee hour contest will be Picnic food. Bring your favorite picnic food to share - vote with your cash - the winner gets a fabulous prize and proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity.

Chiavetta's Chicken Fundraiser - June 18

We will once again hold a Chiavetta's Chicken Dinner fundraiser on Saturday, June 18. Pre-sale tickets are now available, and are $10.

If you have signed up to donate an item, please drop it off at the church by June 12, so that the folks making potato and macaroni salads have all the ingredients they need.

Also, we will need people to help out on the day of the event, so sign up for a shift (or two!) on the poster in the parish hall. Thanks!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Dan Pinti, who will become the Priest-in-Charge of St. Aidan's, Alden on July 3.

Dan will be ordained to the priesthood the day before (Saturday, July 2) at 10:30 a.m. at St. Paul's Cathedral, downtown.

Habitat for Humanity

As you may have heard, the Clarence community is sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity house in Buffalo. So far Clarence has raised $70,000 towards the house - with over $1200 of that coming from St. Paul's. The next step is actually building the house. Construction has been delayed because the rainy spring has prevented the preparation of the foundation and the framing of the house - but volunteers will be needed in June, July, August and September. Normally work is done on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays during the day.

The best way to sign up to work is to go to the Habitat Web-site at -

www.habitatbuffalo.org and click on the volunteer tab at the top of the page. You can see when work is being done and when volunteers are needed. All skill levels can be accommodated - you don't have to be experienced to be helpful. There is also an on-line safety video they would like you to watch. If you are interested in putting together a St. Paul's work crew let Pastor Vicki know.

Our Bishop has a Blog!

Bishop Franklin has begun a blog at where each week he will share his ideas, thoughts and reflections.

He invites you to subscribe to the blog and comment on his posts. You'll find the subscription box on the blog's homepage at www.jerusalem-crossing.com

Can you knit or crochet?

Help us turn all of the yarn that's been donated into blanket squares for Roswell and and full-size blankets for Project Linus. Pick up an instruction sheet and a kit from the church. Instruction sheets are on the poster in the kitchen hallway, and kits are available from Barb Dascomb.

Submissions for "This Week"

If you have information to submit for this newsletter, please send it to Liz at paulspals@gmail.com, no later than 9 am on Wednesday of the week in which you would like it to appear. Thanks!