Frank: 314.740.1160.

We have an initiative to connect people to small faith sharing groups. If you are interested in joining a small group, please contact Jessica Rowley (314.918.2766 or email).

We Tithe as a parish and we need your recommendations
We donate 10% of our collections to worthy causes. We do this as an act of faith, trusting that, in doing this, we will still be able to meet our financial needs. Please let the Parish Council know about worthy organizations that you would like us to contribute to. Information needed: your name, name of organization you are suggesting, to whom check should be made payable, where to send check and to whose attention. Please send your suggestions to Marilyn Tenholder.

Matthew 25

The Matthew 25 Fund helps members in our community who need financial assistance. All information concerning the people with whom we work is held in the strictest confidence. If you would like to contribute to this fund, make your check payable to Matthew 25, and place it in the collection basket. If you need assistance from the fund, contact Peggy Montgomery.

Membership Care Prayer List
If you have a joy or concern you would like to share on the prayer list please contact someone on the pastoral team.

Jessica Rowley 314.918.2766;

Frank Krebs 314.740.1160;

We have a SafeChurch Policy to protect our children and other vulnerable populations.

Fundraising

Please keep our Schnucks E-Scrip fund raiser in mind when you shop. If you don't already have an E-Scrip card, please call Marilyn Tenholder (314.323.1467) and she will get one to you. There is no charge and all you have to do is activate it by either a phone call or by going online. Simply show the card when you check out and a percentage of your purchase cost will be rebated back to Sts. Clare & Francis. Thank you!

ECC Midwest

Partner Communities

Emmaus

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

San Damiano

Little Rock, Arkansas

St. Jerome

Tulsa, Oklahoma

COMMUNITY CORNER...

our family news

(It is good for us to know what's happening in each other's lives. If you have any news you'd like to share with the community, please email Steve ).

The Weekly News
January 9, 2104

Baptism of the Lord

Saturday, January 11, 2014

5:00 pm

Readings: Is 42:1-4,6-7; Acts 10:34-38; Mt 3:13-17

Presider: Frank Krebs

Homilist: Frank Krebs

Readers: Mark Reinhardt, Kay Schmitt

Eucharistic Ministers: Mary Ellen Kruger, Art Maines, Joann Noll

If you are not able to serve in your scheduled ministry, please let Steve know when you get a substitute so that we can publish the correct names in the newsletter. Thanks.

scampbell@ppcsinc.org or call or text 314.603.9991.

Communal Prayer and Discernment

Saturday, January 11, 2014

4:45 pm

All are invited to participate in communal prayer in church from 4:45 to 5:00 pm this Saturday, January 11 to mark the beginning of our search for a new associate pastor. As our community moves through this search process, various forms of individual and communal prayer will be encouraged.

ECC News

News of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion

Two Nominees for Presiding Bishop Announced

January 8, 2014

Greetings Sisters and Brothers of our beloved Communion!

The Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee (PBNC) is pleased to announce two nominees for the position of Presiding Bishop. The two nominees are: Rev. Frank Krebs, Pastor, Sts. Clare and Francis, St. Louis, MO and Rev. Kae Madden, Pastor, Church of the Beloved, Northglenn, CO. The Curriculum Vitae for each nominee is attached here. (Rev. Kae Madden, Rev. Frank Krebs)

Please allow us to briefly review the process the PBNC used to put forward our two nominees. This has been discussed in more detail recently in an open letter to the Communion by our Presiding Bishop. Those interested in greater detail are encouraged to review that letter. It is the function of the committee to engage in a process of mutual discernment to facilitate each candidate's decision whether to move forward.

The Committee began with careful study of our Constitution as it pertains to the Presiding Bishop election process and the roles of the Presiding Bishop (e.g., Canon 68 speaks to the election, Canons 1, 4, 5 and 8 speak to the role of Presiding Bishop). [Editor's note: You can find the complete text of the ECC Constitution here.] Next, on July 12 we invited everyone in the Communion to nominate individuals who you thought would serve you well as a Presiding Bishop. Subsequently, we invited everyone in the Communion to participate in an online survey. Through the survey process we wanted to learn your hopes, dreams, concerns and desires and what qualities you believed important in our next Presiding Bishop. We also sent the members of the Episcopal Council a survey in an effort to understand what each would like to see in the next Presiding Bishop. The survey results were used to shape the written and oral interview questions used by the PBNC with each candidate. The nomination period closed on September 15. During the nomination period, eleven candidates were named and asked to begin discerning the call to be our next Presiding Bishop.

Following this discernment, a few candidates agreed to begin a period of continued prayerful discernment and active participation in the evaluation process established by the PBNC. As part of the PBNC's evaluation process, each candidate was asked to submit to the committee the following: a letter indicating why he/she agreed to be considered as a candidate for our next Presiding Bishop; letters of recommendation; the completed PBNC questionnaire. We also conducted oral interviews with each candidate. Our interviews were extensive and much was gleaned as a result.

Canon 68 allows up to three nominees to be proposed by the committee. Through this extensive process of discernment and evaluation, including consultation with the Episcopal Council, Rev. Kae and Rev. Frank agreed to continue this next period of discernment as the PBNC's nominees. The other nine candidates have all determined, as a result of the discernment process, that they are not called to stand for election at this point in time.

Now that the names of the nominees from the PBNC have been posted, the next steps in the Presiding Bishop election process are as follows:

A. The 90 day period has begun to accept additional nominations from the Communion at large. This period will end at midnight on April 8, 2014. The process for Floor Nominees is set forth in Canon 68.3 of our Constitution, which reads:

A nomination from the Communion at large ("Floor Nominee") shall be considered made upon receipt by the Nominating Committee of the following:

a. Endorsement signatures by at least 15% of the Lay Delegates and 15% of the Clergy

Delegates in the ECC at the time the Nominating Committee is constituted;

b. The signatories to the petition shall represent at least six (6)different ECC organizations in at least three (3) different regions in the ECC;

c. The Floor Nominee must be eligible for election as Bishop according to the Constitution and By-Laws of the ECC;

d. The nomination must be accompanied by a signed statement by the Floor Nominee that she or he is eligible and is willing to be nominated and agrees to the other conditions of the nomination;

e. If not already performed pursuant to other requirements of the Constitution, Floor Nominees shall be subject to the same background checks as applicable to clergy;

f. Written materials presented to delegates, other than ballots, shall clearly distinguish between nominees of the Nominating Committee and Floor Nominees.

B. Prior to the 2014 Synod the Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee will assemble and distribute to all voting delegates additional background information about each of the nominees including their individual responses to the PBNC questionnaire, Letters of Intent and Letters of Recommendation.

C. Rev. Kae and Rev. Frank, and any other candidates nominated from the floor, will be invited to speak to the Communion during the opening of the 2014 Synod, and all delegates present will vote during our gathering.

The Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee asks that we give the nominees (the PBNC nominees and anyone nominated from the floor) the space for continued prayerful discernment free from politicking or pressure. There will be ample time to hear each nominee's thoughts and vision and to learn more about each of them prior to and during the Synod in October.

We want to thank everyone who has participated in the process to date. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us as we move into the next phase of discernment for the benefit of our beloved Communion.

In Peace and Hope,

The Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee

Mthr. Kedda Keough, Co-Chair

Carla Altepeter, Co-Chair

Fr. Scott Jenkins

Bonnie Fraser

Fr. Don Pachuta

Rev. Kathy McCarthy

~~~~~

The next Communion Synod will be held in Aurora, CO from October 7-10, 2014. It is in the context of our Synod meetings that we most fully witness, experience and celebrate the wonderful, diverse and beautiful thing the Spirit of Love is unfolding among us. It is also in the context of our Synods that we witness and experience the full participation of all of the baptized, as the House of Laity and the House of Pastors meet to consider and decide upon various issues for our Communion. And, it will be in the context of our upcoming Synod that the full participation of all of the baptized will be evident as we discern and elect our next Presiding Bishop.

HELP SMALL FARMERS

AROUND THE GLOBE

Fair Trade logo

Do this by taking the opportunity to meet your coffee and chocolate needs the second Saturday -- January 11-- in our Gathering Space, by purchasing delicious and well-priced coffee and chocolate products that are organic, FAIRLY TRADED, and high quality. See you there!

Sue Stolze

Mass Incarceration: Slavery Revisited?

Sunday, January 12, 2014

2:00 - 4:00 pm

Missouri History Museum

Did you know that one out of every 100 people in the U.S. is currently incarcerated, and that while the US only makes up 5% of the world population, it incarcerates 25% of the world's prison population?

There are currently more African American men incarcerated today than were enslaved before emancipation, and the U.S. incarcerates more of its African American population than did South Africa at the height of apartheid. $50 billion of our tax money is spent annually on incarcerations. This is due to the current system of mass incarceration, fueled by the prison industrial complex.

Come to the MO History Museum on January 12, 2014 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm for a free community forum and panel of activists, researchers, lawyers, and former inmates to learn more about the current system of mass incarceration: what it is, how did we get here, and how is it affecting our neighbors and communities.

Then come back to the History Museum on February 9, 2014 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm to learn about local efforts to dismantle this current system and how you can get involved in being part of the solution. Come out and put your faith into action to abolish a system that prioritizes profits over people.

For the flyer, click here.

BATTERY RECYCLING

Saturday, January 18 will be the last day for me to pick up dead batteries and small electronics for recycling here at Sts. Clare & Francis . (I have to say there are a lot of batteries in my tiny garage at this moment that are grateful to be saved from our polluted landfill.) That gives you two whole weeks!! Then I will be renting a truck (joke) to haul everything to the Maryland Heights Center for their big recycling event!

In case you have larger items (that won't fit in my little box) to offer for recycling, or forget to bring the final haul of batteries to church, that grand event is Wednesday, January 22 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm at the Maryland Heights Center on McKelvey, next door to the Waterpark.

Healing Our Wounds and Finding

Our Way Forward

January 25, 2013

1:00 to 4:00 pm

All SCF Members are encouraged to participate in a Healing Our Wounds and Finding Our Way Forward gathering on Saturday, January 25 from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. It is hoped that this event will mark the beginning of a new defining attribute for Sts. Clare & Francis as a community committed to exercising the graces of reconciliation, compassion and forgiveness with each other.

The facilitator for this gathering will be Dave Ebenhoh - husband, father, spiritual director, artist, writer, consultant, coach and friend (www.stillwaterspeaks.com).

Let us together mediate the love that God is offering through the community we continue to build and nurture.

Communal Work of Service

KIVA

Kiva is a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet and a worldwide network of microfinance institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little as $25 to help create opportunity around the world.

We extended a loan of $100 to Segundo Orestes toward his total loan request of $200 to help with his photography business.

Segundo is 53 years old. He lives with his wife and children in the Pucara district. This is a place with a warm climate, where the residents work selling fruits, rice, coffee, and other products, and they also sell dairy cows. It's located 2 hours from the city of Jaen, and is in the Cajamarca region in the northern highlands of Peru.

Segundo has a business selling cellular phones, chargers, memory cards, USB connectors, and cellular minutes. He also has a photographic studio, and he works providing transportation services in his moto-taxi. Segundo requested a loan to buy photographic paper and a printer that will allow him to develop his photos. This would enable him to generate more income for his family.

On February 1 at 3:15 pm in the Fireside Room we will join as a community to extend loans. Everyone is invited and encouraged to participate in choosing loan recipients at this meeting.

If you have any questions or want further information, please contact Clarence Heller (636.256.6516, marclar123@aol.com).

Homilies

Frank's homily from December 25, Afraid of the Infant Christ, and all homilies from Sts. Clare & Francis, can be found at http://scfhomilies.wordpress.com/.

Sponsored by Friends of SCF

Month of Guided Prayer

An Ecumenical Retreat in Everyday Life

Meet one-on-one with a prayer guide one hour each week for four consecutive weeks. Morning, afternoon and evening meeting times available. Co-hosted by First Presbyterian (in Kirkwood) and Webster Groves Presbyterian Churches. Starts January 26, 2014. For more information, or to register, visit www.weekofguidedprayer.org or contact Clarence Heller at 636.256.6515 or marclar123@aol.com.

~~~~~

Mary Magdalene - The Road Less Traveled

February 7 - 9, 2014

Retreat presented by SCF member Marilyn Koncen

Il Ritiro

For information, go to www.il-ritiro.org.

For registration info, e-mail il.ritiro@gmail.com, or call 636.274.0554.

Marilyn's phone contact is 314.776.0554.

random sightings

wisdom...reflection...insight...amusement

THE WINTER IS COLD, IS COLD

The winter is cold, is cold.
All's spent in keeping warm.
Has joy been frozen, too?
I blow upon my hands
Stiff from the biting wind.
My heart beats slow, beats slow.
What has become of joy?

If joy's gone from my heart
Then it is closed to You
Who made it, gave it life.
If I protect myself
I'm hiding, Lord, from you.
How we defend ourselves
In ancient suits of mail!

Protected from the sword,
Shrinking from the wound,
We look for happiness,
Small, safety-seeking, dulled,
Selfish, exclusive, in-turned.
Elusive, evasive, peace comes
Only when it's not sought.

Help me forget the cold
That grips the grasping world.
Let me stretch out my hands
To purifying fire,
Clutching fingers uncurled.
Look! Here is the melting joy.
My heart beats once again.

Madeleine L'Engle

Sts. Clare & Francis offers information about other organizations and activities as a way of providing information that we feel is useful or relevant to our members and to the public. As an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) organization, Sts. Clare & Francis is required to abide by certain rules. Sts. Clare & Francis is absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Sts. Clare & Francis is also prohibited from devoting a substantial part of its activities to attempting to influence legislation. As a result of these rules, we do not specifically endorse these organizations or activities nor do they specifically represent the views of Sts. Clare & Francis, to the extent that doing so would jeopardize Sts. Clare & Francis' standing as a Section 501(c)(3) organization.

If you have an item that you wish to submit for publication in the Weekly News, please send it to

Steve Campbell no later than noon on Wednesday of the week you would like it to appear. If you cannot send an

e-mail, you may contact Steve at 314.603.9991.