Pride Festival

June 28 - 30, 2013 

Show you are PROUD to be a Welcoming Catholic by joining Sts. Clare & Francis in celebrating the annual Pride Festival June 29-30.  

Kick off the weekend with an outdoor movie night showing the documentary "Fish Out Of Water," which tackles the bible verses used most to discriminate against homosexuals. The film features theologians, clergy, and laity to help us understand what our faith really says about homosexuality and how we can move forward with love and compassion.  The movie will be shown on the Commerce Bank lot off South Grand Boulevard, near the intersection of Grand and Hartford, Friday, June 28 at 8:30 pm.  Bring a blanket or lawn-chair to sit on.

 Pride Movie Night Flyer

Pride Parade  

Then join us on Sunday, June 30 for the annual Pride Parade, which will march down Market Street this year.  Plan to be downtown by 10:00 am. We'll meet at Broadway and Chestnut, in front of the Old Courthouse. 

If you ordered a t-shirt, it will be available this Saturday after Mass.

After the parade we need volunteers to staff a booth for the group of Welcoming Catholic Communities from 12:30 pm - 4:00 pm.  If you are able to work the table at all during that time, please e-mail Jennifer Reyes Lay: jennlay331@gmail.com with your name, phone number, and times you can be there.  We look forward to celebrating Pride with you as a Welcoming Catholic Community! 

Pride Festival Events Flyer

The St. Louis Civil Courts Building lights up  to celebrate the Pride Parade.

The Pride Flag flies proudly at St. Louis City Hall this week.

Bishop Peter's Statement on  

ECC Bishop Peter Hickman issued a statement, picked up by the Religion News Service and the St. Louis Post Disptach, commenting on the Supreme Court decisions this week regarding DOMA and Prop 8. 

 "The moral issue for Christians is not whether love is homosexual or heterosexual, or on a continuum between these two. The moral issue is the extent to which our love is characterized by the fruits of the Spirit (i.e., love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). This applies to all people, whatever their sexual orientation."

For Bishop Peter's complete statement, click here or here.

We still have a long way to go in Missouri. If you are interested in collecting signatures for Missouri non-discrimination initiative at Pridefest contact Sue Nauert at suenauert@gmail.com. 

It's that exciting time of year again...time to submit nominees for the PARISH COUNCIL.

Mary Crecelius and Nancy Wamser will be rotating off of the Parish Council and we have one remaining opening to have our full 9 member Parish Council complete.

Please submit your own name (if you are a registered parishioner) or the name of a fellow registered parishioner by July 13, 2013 to be on the Parish Council. You can do this  by e-mailing Michelle Smith or completing a paper nomination at church and putting it in the Nomination Box after Mass. 

Thanks to all those who participated in the Communal Work of Service Movie Night last Saturday to watch "The House I Live In."  It was a powerful evening full of insights into the injustices of the War on Drugs and the criminal justice system that has targeted a disproportionate number of poor and minority communities.  

For those who weren't able to join us, but would like to see the film, you can watch it free online at this site: http://viooz.co/movies/15458-the-house-i-live-in-2012.html.  

Many stayed for a group discussion after the film to continue moving forward and brainstorming how we as a parish can respond to the many people and communities targeted and affected by the prison industrial complex, and work to change the system.  Some of the ideas that came out of that discussion include:   

• reaching out to family members and children of those incarcerated
• aligning ourselves to fix the problem and change the system that currently exists
• informing ourselves about judge's sentencing records during election time
• educating ourselves about what is going on locally in our community, 
• creating a central resource as we learn more identifying the problems and possible solutions
• inviting someone from the St. Louis police department to speak about law enforcement and the war on drugs in our community, and 
• working to change people's hearts and minds to see one another as brother and sister and change the culture of fear that exists.  

If you would like to continue to educate yourself about mass incarceration and how it targets poor and minority communities, there will be a book club starting in mid-July discussing Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.  All are welcome to participate.  In order to plan the days/times that work best for those interested, please e-mail Jenn Reyes Lay at jennlay331@gmail.com with your name and e-mail address.  Once we gather the list of everyone interested, we will send out a survey to figure out the best meeting times. 

This is your opportunity to participate in micro-lending through a community.  Often only a relatively small amount of money stands in the way of Kiva borrowers and their dreams.  Whether it's a Kenyan farmer who needs $500 in order to double her grain production, or a young Bolivian woman who lacks the $1,500 tuition for nursing school, Kiva lenders provide a hand up to these and countless other borrowers.  Sometimes providing just one small loan to people in poverty can be enough to help them become profitably self-employed and financially stable.  These loans are not donations, and are almost always paid back.

We need at least eight persons interested, and so far we have four.  So if we get at least four more, then together we will finalize the model for implementing this.  A preliminary concept is that our group would meet once per quarter to jointly decide loan recipients.  We will determine the schedule for these meetings as a group.  Funds for the loans would be provided by our SCF community. 

If you are likely to participate in these meetings and/or want further information, please contact Clarence Heller (marclar123@aol.com, 636.256.6515) no later than July 6.

6:00 - 10:00 pm

Frank & Art's

3007 Eads Avenue, 63104

Frank and Art will be hosting a BBQ on Thursday, July 4 from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. with fireworks viewing from their deck.  Please bring a side dish or dessert to share and your favorite beverage.  

Homilies      

Jessica's homily from the 11th Sunday of the Year, Suspend Judgment, Frank's homily from the 12th Sunday of the Year, What Does Goodness Look Like?, and all homilies from Sts. Clare & Francis can be found at