The Stewardship Committee's fundraising subcommittee is excited to introduce a new event to the parish. A "boutique fair" that will feature vendors of unusual items from personalized gifts, gourmet foods, bulbs to and one of a kind clothing and trendy jewelry. Mark your calendars for September 25, 2004, at St. Peter's from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. This is also the Golden Ball Tavern Antique Sale weekend, whose fame brings people from far and wide to shop in Weston - some even come park their cars on Friday night just to insure a parking place. We are excited to add St. Peter's to this weekend full of community activity. Our spirit will be obvious from the Children's Activities held out front on the lawn. This in turn will advertise our vendor sale.

On Friday night from 6-8 p.m. there will be preview party for our parish and their invited guests. You will enjoy delicious food, libations, exciting raffle items and excellent company, as well as an opportunity to shop first from our vendors.

The group working to bring this to our parish and community needs your help. Many details will come to you over the next days. Please respond to our first CALL TO ACTION by putting this event on your calendar for the Sept. 24, 25th weekend. Then find your niche from the many needs we'll detail in upcoming information and join us in at least one way. There is something for everyone to be offered by this new venture.

For more information, comments and questions call Janice Corley: 781-891-3236 or email jgcorley@comcast.net

Sunday morning liturgy for the fall- The Rev. Dr. Carol Flett, Rector

In the fall we will continue our pattern of Holy Eucharist Rite II at 8 am in the Chapel.

At 10 am we will use a Worship booklet for our celebration of Holy Eucharist Rite II. The booklet contains everything anyone needs to participate in worship except the hymns for the day and the insert with the lessons, which will be provided separately. The liturgy will be a combination of the Episcopal Church's Enriching Our Worship and the Book of Common Prayer. The Prayers of the People are from the Anglican New Zealand Anglican Prayer Book. I have combined the most inspiring and helpful parts of each. When you worship you will discover that this liturgy balances the use of traditional and familiar words with new and inspiring words from contemporary theology.

During the summer months at 10 am we used a similar Worship booklet that contained all the service music, Prayers of the People from the Anglican New Zealand Prayer Book, and a Eucharistic prayer and Blessings from Enriching Our Worship. The booklet was well-received and critiqued. Having a booklet that contains all the parts of the liturgy makes it easier and smoother for anyone to worship. The words of the Prayers of the People and the Eucharistic Prayer emphasized the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the mission of the Church. The prayers balanced the significance of Jesus' ministry with his willingness to die for what he believed to be true about God's love and mercy for all. E.g. The Prayers of the People invited us to pray that "we may be salt of the earth and light to the world". In the Eucharistic Prayer we prayed that "Living among us, Jesus loved us. He broke bread with outcasts and sinners, healed the sick, and proclaimed good news to the poor." Therefore, according to his command, "We imitate his life, we remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection and we await his coming in glory." As we break the bread we proclaim: "We who are many are one body, for we all share in the one bread." During the fall, we will use the contemporary version of the Lord's Prayer. I invite you to reflect on the words of these prayers and to meet with me anytime to share your experience in worship and your thoughts about God that may arise from these prayers. In Advent we will return to the traditional Lord's Prayer.

Altar Guild - Jan Seeley The Altar Guild is a small volunteer group that prepares the Altar for Sunday worship. You may classify us a behind the scenes support group. Two members work as a team before and after each service. Traditionally, members volunteer for three months of each year and out of each month they work only three Sundays with another person. So if you already come to church on Sunday here is your way of supporting the church. If you are relatively new to St. Peter's or the Episcopal Church, joining the Altar Guild will provide you a way to get to know other people and to learn about worship in the Episcopal Church. Not having been brought up as an Episcopalian, this organization taught me a great deal about the church. You do not have to have any special experience to join. We will teach you. I welcome the opportunity to speak to anyone, male or female, teenagers or adults, about our group. If you are interested, please contact Jan Seeley at 508- 358-4456 or jan.seeley@verizon.net.

Flower Guild - Carol Hansen As summer comes to an end, the Flower Guild is planning for the Flower Festival that St. Peter's is hosting on October 22 - 24. Anyone at St. Peter's who wants to know more about flower arranging, but can't commit to the Flower Guild's schedule is warmly invited to take part in this exciting event.

"Flowers Offered in Faith" is the fall program that the diocesan Altar Guild for the congregations in our deanery, the Concord River Deanery.

We are fortunate to have Kenn Stephens as our designer and instructor. He is well known in our diocese and around the world as an expert in design, architecture and liturgical practice. He is at home with large groups in Westminster Abbey, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, as well as with small groups in parish churches.

Workshops and presentation will be held on Friday, October 22, 9-12 noon. On Sat. Oct. 23rd, we will be arranging in many areas of the main sanctuary, the Chapel and outside on the front steps. The Festival will be open to the public to view on Sun. Oct. 24th, 1-4:30 pm, and will close with a special service of sung Evening Prayer at 5 pm. We are planning to have both choirs of St. Peter's take part in this service with special music.

Registration blanks will be in an envelope on the Flower Guild's bulletin board in the Parish Hall. The cost to participate in the Flower Festival is $25, which covers refreshments, lunch on Saturday and all the flowers and materials needed.

If you would like to join the Flower Guild, or would like more information about the Flower Festival, please call Carol Hansen 781-894-2338.

Evening Prayer offered "Every Sunday at Six" in the Chapel.

If you are away for the weekend, or would like to close your weekend with a quiet 30 min. service, please consider attending Evening Prayer at Six. There is no sermon or music, but quiet traditional Episcopal service. Please bring a friend. If you attend a concert from 4-5:30 pm, consider staying for Evening Prayer, too.

Animal Lovers, mark your calendars! Blessing of the Animals - Sun. Oct. 3, 11:30 am, front circle

Each year Carol gathers us with our pets in the front circle to share in a celebration of God's love for all of creation. People bring their dogs, cats (in carriers), birds and hamsters (in cages), fish, turtles and snakes in bowls. We get to know each other through our pets and each pet receives a blessing and a treat. Don't miss it - it is great!

Music News - Miranda Loud, Music Director Welcome back all singers! I hope everyone had a rejuvenating summer, full of adventures, old & new friends and hopefully music!

This fall I would like to challenge all of you to use your singing voice in new ways - let those high notes rise effortlessly from your feet, sing in the car, try humming as a way to heal a headache, reduce tension, or connect with your dog or cat. The human voice is our most powerful instrument and a source of transformation and healing. As a community, we need to reclaim the power of AMEN and HALLELUJAH. We can move mountains and create peace through our words and voices. "In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God."

NEW MEMBERS ARE WELCOME in the Adult Choir at any time. Please join us on Sunday mornings at 8:30 for the rehearsal before the 10 o'clock service.

The Junior Choir (2nd thru 6th grade) will meet this year on Sunday evenings, 5:30-6:45 in the choir room. We will have a party on Sept. 12th to kick off the year. Please contact me at music@stpetersweston.org for specifics. As we did last year, parents need to attend a junior choir rehearsal on a rotating basis, bringing dinner for the kids and staying to help with maintaining an optimal learning environment. The juniors will sing every other Sunday at 10 am. Schedules of the Sundays the kids will sing in church will be available at each rehearsal.

The Cherub Choir (children ages 4-6) will meet this year in the sanctuary directly following the Sunday worship service. There will be booklets of songs the children will sing throughout the year with optional CDs to purchase (to avoid copyright issues) so that you and your child can sing along at home or in the car. First rehearsal is September 12!

"MUSIC AT ST. PETER'S" CONCERT SERIES - FALL SCHEDULE

Sunday September 19 4:00 PM Don't miss this family concert where you can dance in the aisles! The Atlantic Clarion Steel Drum Band comes from Brookville, Maine to play an afternoon of music including hymns and music from the tropics

Sunday October 17 at 4:00 PM Christina Jennings, flute and Lura Johnson, piano perform music of Fauré, Mozart and others. Sunday November 14 at 4:00 PM Virtuoso multi-percussionist Joseph Gramley performs GLOBAL ACOUSTIC, World music for multi-percussion and marimba

Adult Education Events - Carol Flett, Rector Guest Speaker - Wed. Sept. 22 - The Rt. Rev. John Spong, retired Bishop of Newark and author of "A new Christianity for a new world" Topic - "Liberating the Gospels"

Two discussions, each $7 at the door:
4-5:30 pm- "The Gospels as Midrash"
7:30-9 pm - "Influence of the Synagogue on Gospel Formation"

$ 10 Buffet Spaghetti dinner (meat or veggie) 6-7:15 pm
By reservation only - call 781-891-3200 by Fri. Sept. 17

$20 for combination of 2 talks and dinner.

We are fortunate to have Bishop Spong return to St. Peter's for another thought-provoking talk followed by discussion. He spoke at St. Peter's on Wed. Sept. 19, 2001 shortly after 9/11. His talk and the discussion were very helpful and inspiring to all.

Invite your friends to this event, and stay for dinner and fellowship.

New 8-week series on the Episcopal Church - "The Via Media" - An Anglican Way of Being Christian Series begins Wed. Sept. 29, 6:30-8:30 pm.

There is more to the Episcopal Church than sitting in the pews on Sunday morning!

Get involved and be inspired by your faith. This program was recently developed by the Episcopal Church in an effort to respond to questions that members and newcomers have about the way Episcopalians worship, use the Bible, care for each other and those beyond the Church, make decisions within a congregation and within the national Episcopal Church, and understand the mission of the Church.

Are you looking for a way to get to know the Episcopal Church or to get to know other parishioners at St. Peter's? This eight-week series, modeled on the format of the Alpha program, begins with a supper, followed by a 20 min. video presentation, and then moves to small group discussions. The evening concludes with the large group gathering for a short worship service and a hymn. The series concludes Wed. Nov. 17.

Carol will coordinate the program and worship, but small group facilitators needed. Call Carol if you would like to help with this program.

Please call the office 781-891-3200 to sign-up for the first session. No cost. Meal provided. Decide after you attend if you want to make a commitment to attend any or all of future evening sessions, and bring something to share for future suppers.

CHURCH SCHOOL NEWS - Lynette Banks, Church School Coordinator "Welcome Back Church School Children" - September 12, 10 am Registration & activities - please attend and sign-up to help teach

St. Peter's Church School will be in full swing again this fall with a brand new curriculum. The Witness Curriculum by Augsberg Press will be a great way to start out the new school year. Check out their website at w ww.augsbergfortress.org/witness/

Volunteers are still needed for our Church School! The 5th/6th grade and the 7th/8th grade still need teachers for the fall. Also, although the other grades have two teachers already signed up, a third person is also needed to lend a hand. If you have been thinking about signing up but just aren't sure what this teaching stuff is all about and want to spend 6 weeks as an aid, if you are a parishioner who doesn't have children registered in the church school but would like to spend some time with great kids or if you are a teenager (perhaps post-confirmation) and miss the church school environment please consider signing up to help out. Help is needed in our Jr. K/Kindergarten class, Grades 1 & 2 and Grades 3 & 4. The pattern in the past has been that these classes have a huge number of children in the fall so the more adults to help out the better! Please call me if you can help (781) 891-3200 or email churchschool@stpetersweston.org. Thanks!

Church School registration has been ongoing via the mail since the beginning of summer and 112 kids are registered. But there are still a number of children who have not registered. We will try to catch up with them on Welcome Back Sunday September 12. Members of the Church School Advisory (CSA) will be available to assist you. Look for our table downstairs in the Parish Hall. The CSA is also planning to host an all-church-school event on September 12. This will be a group activity and promises to be a lot of fun and a great chance to see your old friends and make new ones. Following the activity children will go upstairs to the sanctuary to join the congregation for communion. Church School classes begin September 19 at 10 a.m. with the following classes meeting downstairs in the Parish Hall: Jr. K/Kindergarten, Grades 1 & 2, Grades 3 & 4 and Grades 5 & 6. Pre-schoolers (2 & 3 year olds) will meet in the toddler room at the end of the hallway (past the kitchen) and 7th & 8th grade will meet in the Youth room.

CSA will meet September 8 at 7 p.m. to prepare for the all-church-school event September 12. Members are: Sarah Strong (chair), Peggy Batchelder, Annie Clutz, Monika Floyd, Catherine Lachenauer, Dianne O'Connor, Liz Reilly, Marty Rodgers, Sarah Schott and Scott Westvold. Others are welcome to join us. If you have questions and would like to know more about CSA please speak with Sarah Strong or me.

Last but certainly not least: a Teacher meeting will be held September 12 following the 10 o'clock worship service for those who will teach Unit A or Unit B or for anyone interested in hearing more about Church School, teaching, the new curriculum, etc.

Youth and Confirmation News - Carol Flett, Rector

Youth activities this fall will be coordinated by several parents of youth in the 9th and 10th grade, Sarah Strong and Wes Kussmaul. There are plans to meet on Sunday evenings from 5:30-7:30 pm for pizza supper and activities. Please call Sarah 781- 893-5624 or Wes 781-899-8379 if you are willing to help with the rotation of parents who will remain with the youth on Sunday evenings while they eat, have fun and talk about "stuff".

Confirmation preparation is offered at St. Peter's to adults, and to youth in the 8th grade. The date for this year's Confirmation service is Sat. May 7th at another Episcopal Church in our Deanery. Classes for the youth will begin after the youth and parents have met with me to determine the day and time that fits into the youth & parents' schedules. I guided this program for 5 years at St. Peter's prior to the arrival of the Asst. Rector, the Rev. Nick Morris- Kliment. Since Nick has moved over to the Episcopal Church in Concord, I will return to this ministry with the youth. Parents and Youth in the 8th grade and older (who have not been confirmed) are requested to attend a meeting on Sun. Sept. 26 at 11:30 am in the Parish Hall. Email and telephone messages have been made to remind parents and youth to attend this meeting. Adults interested in Confirmation in the Episcopal Church will meet separately with me closer to Confirmation date in the spring.

Hospitality & Coffee Hour - Lynn Maruskin

Our popular time for food and fellowship returns in September! Once again, there will be an assortment of food, as well as coffee, tea, and apple juice, downstairs in the Parish Hall, after the 10AM service. If you enjoy all the refreshments and conversation after church, please be sure to volunteer to help. It takes 5 or 6 people every Sunday to provide enough food to fill the two tables we use and it also takes the help of 3 or 4 people to set up & clean up. So, please offer your food and service during the coming year--- and make new friends in the kitchen! Sign-up sheets are on each of the tables during Coffee Hour, or you can contact me at 781-899- 6290 or maruskinl@yahoo.com Thank you.

Parish Directory is complete! Come and pick it up in the Parish Hall.

All the data we requested on each household in the parish has been gathered and an updated Parish Directory is available for every household. With the new data-base, we now have the capability to publish a new directory each fall. To avoid the expense of mailing 250 directories, they will NOT be mailed. Please pick up the one with your household's name on it in the Parish Hall on Sun. Sept. 19. They will be hand-delivered to members of our parish who cannot come to the church.

The Parish Directory contains the last names, then first names in those in a household, household mailing address, phone number and one email address. We have published only information that each household has given us with their permission to print. Unpublished phone numbers and private or professional email addresses will NOT be printed in the directory. We ask everyone in the parish to respect the privacy of others. Please do not photocopy or give the directory to anyone who is not a member of the parish. Supplemental pages with new members will be distributed during the year.

Women's Potluck Supper - Tuesday, September 28, 6:30 pm

All women are invited to the first monthly potluck supper for this program year. There is no agenda. This is not a meeting. Just plain fun and good food! Miranda has offered to attend this supper and play the piano so that we could have a hymn-sing with dessert. No need to sign-up - just come as you are and bring either a salad, main dish or a dessert. Sometimes we eat mostly dessert!

Parish Cycle of Prayer continues

Beginning with the week preceding Sun. Sept. 12, six families whose last names begin with the letter B, (Barrows, Bartlett, etc) will receive a postcard and a phone call from Carol. The names of those six households will be printed in the Sunday bulletin and included in the Prayers of the People during worship at 8 & 10 am. When Carol calls she will ask how the family is doing and if there are any specific prayer requests that she could include in her daily prayers. All prayer requests are kept confidential. Carol began this pilgrimage through the parish last January with those whose names begin with M. Each week six households in our Parish list receive the same postcard and a call from Carol. But do not wait to be called. You may always call and speak to Carol or leave a voice mail if you have a prayer request or a concern to share with her.

News around the Parish - Ted Rhoades

Our beloved parishioner Margaret Kirchner celebrated her 104th birthday on August 16. On Sunday, August 15, after the 10 AM service, ten St. Peter's people, plus son Ted and his wife Kathy, went to the Marist Hill nursing and rehab center in Waltham for a party in her honor. MK was as sharp and delightful as ever, even leading us in singing the Lord's Prayer. She regaled us with a story about her salad days selling women's apparel in a store near Wall Street.

Louise Strasenburgh, as many know, moved to Charleston SC in mid-July, just in time to welcome Bonnie and Charley-the hurricanes, that is. She reports that she only received a glancing blow that generated tons of rain but caused no damage. The first week there was also super hot. Despite all this, she's ensconced in her eight-unit townhouse in downtown Charleston, with stores in easy walking distance. There's also a popular dog park across the street, where she takes Digger and Daisy daily. She sends regards to all her friends here, and hopes you'll e-mail her at l_strasenburgh@bellsouth.net.

Friend Delle Moore went to Ireland for 10 days in May and had a blast-a graduation present to herself. She received her master's degree from Leslie College and on August 16 started working as an agency-based counselor at New Bedford Child and Family Services. Somehow she found time to build a pond, complete with waterfall, granite bench and pagoda (for contemplation) in her back yard in Marion. Lindsay is a senior this year at UMass, while Tommy is a sophomore at Weston High. Peter continues full-time at Cardinal Cushing special needs school, where he will learn a trade. In sum, Delle says all's well.

The Apostle Program is up and running! Seven of the 11 groups have already met with various results. All expressed their hope that there would be future gatherings with even more members attending. For those that may be new to St. Peter's the Apostle Program is designed to help better connect members of St. Peter's within their neighborhoods. Our plan is to have all groups meet on the same evening beginning with a church wide cocktail hour prior to individual gatherings in the respective neighborhoods. Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 7th, 2004.

This fall get-together should accomplish several things. First and foremost, is fellowship with other members of the St. Peter's community who live near one another. Second, elect a captain who will maintain (not set up!) a data base of the neighborhood. Third, decide how each group would like to go forward whether it be on a regular rotating basis or just a once a year neighborhood welcoming event. Finally, how each group sees itself participating in the community of the parish.

The roster for each group will be sent with the next email newsletter. Each listing includes phone numbers. We are looking for one person from each group to host a neighborhood pot luck. Please call or email Julie Panagakos if you are willing to host on Sunday, November 7th at 781-893-8718 or jpanagakos@comcast.net.

Knitting for Preemies - Dot Chase

Welcome back all knitters. Hope you had a nice vacation. It is now time to renew our project for providing premie caps and booties and premie blankets to the Boston Medical Center Neo-natal Center. I just delivered 42 premie caps and some booties but only two premie blankets. I also delivered 36 toddler caps and some mittens to the Grow Clinic. More blankets are needed. There are plenty of blanket kits in the basket by the Outreach bulletin board in the Parish Hall. Please help yourselves! New knitters are always welcome! The basket in the Parish Hall has kits and explicit how-to instructions.

Eight members of St. Peter's completed a "successful" service project at the El Hogar School and orphanage in Tegucigalpa, Honduras in late July. We joined eight members of the Church of the Epiphany, Winchester. El Hogar has been a ministry of the Episcopal Church in Honduras for 26 years. They accept young boys who are either desperately poor or orphaned. Their mission is to break the cycle of poverty and offer well educated leaders for their country. It was very rewarding to see what a difference our work team made in just one week and to experience the joy and hope of the boys whose lives are literally being saved by this school.

We assisted the workers who are constructing a new building for the high school age students at the Technical Institute. The existing facilities are in the capital city of Tegucigalpa and are too small for the number of students that need the education in order to have jobs as adults. The new facilities are 45 minutes outside the city in a beautiful rural area where the air and water are cleaner. At that site our team sifted sand, shoveled many mounds of dirt and moved 2000 cement blocks in a human chain from the delivery site to the foundation of the new building. We all found strength we didn't know we had and lost a few pounds, too.

We learned much about the dire situation in Honduras. The air and water are polluted, and there are no social services of any kind. We visited a family living in a refugee camp of survivors of Hurricane Mitch, still living in abject poverty. In the evenings we played with the younger children (ages 5-12) in the orphanage which houses, clothes and educates 85 boys. When the boys reach age 13 they choose to move to the Technical Institute where they learn welding, electronics, and carpentry, or the Farm School where they learn agronomy and animal husbandry. There are 44 boys at the Farm School and 66 at the Technical Institute. All boys graduate and find good jobs. The love, compassion, hope and Christian faith provided to the boys is returned with joy.

Please come to our presentation on Sun. October 10 at 11:30 am when we will show pictures and objects from our visit. We had such a meaningful experience that we are committed to returning March 11-18. This is a private school vacation week and we hope to bring a full team of 16 adults and youth (age 15) along next time.

Mission Team 2004: Carol & George Flett, Rosanne and Andrew Iacono (15), Scott and Sarah Lubeck (15), Jason Murphy (Cheryl Murphy's 23 yr. old son) and Karyn Paglierani.

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