St. Martin's Newsletter
   Weekly E-News   January 23, 2015

Worship Schedule
Sunday
8am and 10am
Holy Eucharist
9:45am Nursery
Tuesday-Friday
9am Morning Prayer in the Chapel
Wednesday
7am service with Holy Eucharist 
 
Last Sunday I addressed the complex issues of identity. In our Post-modern Western society the emphasis is on personal identity. We think of ourselves as autonomous individuals, some of us feeling more autonomous than others. The point is that identity is experienced as either mine or yours residing in each one of us as a product of our own individuality. For most people on the Globe this is not that case. In non-Western societies, often referred to as Traditional societies, identity results from one's place within a network of relationships, e.g. family, clan, tribe, religion.  We (Westerners) express our individual identities through our possession of legally guaranteed rights. The right that is often a contentious one in the US is the right to bear arms. In recent days the right that distinguishes us our Western individualistic worldview is the right to freedom of speech. By contrast, in Traditional cultures identity is expressed most commonly, through a sense of duty.  Differing notions of identity are in contention between Western and Traditional cultures because there is a profound difference in worldviews between rights and duty cultures. You can read more about this tension and how our Christian faith offers us constructive ways to think about what's going-on in the world around us at the moment in reference to the tension between rights and duties at www.relationalrealities.com or http://www.stmartinsprov.org/sermons.

 

On Wednesday I wrote to you about the death of The Rev. Dan Burke, a much-loved former Rector of St. Martins. Dan's funeral service will be held in  St. Martin's on Saturday January 31st at 11am followed by a Wake (a traditional name for a funeral reception) in the Great Hall. Because many people will want to be present in order to say a fond farewell to Dan, we are expecting parking to be an unusually difficult issue. I do encourage you to arrive in good time. Dan remains an important figure in the St. Martin's memory and the Vestry on Wednesday evening voted to dedicate the restoration of the St Martin Window in Dan's memory. With the agreement of Jo and the Burke family, we would invite contributions made in memory of Dan and his ministry among us to be put towards the restoration project. Checks can be made to St Martin's Church. You can write memorial fund in the check's reference line.

 

This coming Sunday, January 25th is the Annual Parochial Meeting. As I said in last weeks E-news, the Annual Meeting provides a reference point enabling us to take a snapshot of how we commence the New Year, which then forms a good baseline for reviewing our passage through the year. We hope to begin promptly with collecting lunch at 11:15AM in order to conclude the business meeting by 12:45PM.

 

See you in church, this Sunday.

 

Mark+ 

READINGS THIS WEEK


Jonah 3:1-5, 10 (OT)

 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 (NT)
Mark 1:14-20 (Gospel)
Click here for this Sunday's readings.
     THIS SUNDAY

Please join us Sunday after the 10am service for our
St. Martin's Annual Meeting. All are invited and child care is provided. 

The Hospitality Committee will be serving a hot lunch.  Pick up your copy of the Annual Report and learn about the state of the parish.  There is no Youth Group meeting Sunday in order for the youth to attend the meeting.

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New Coffee being launched!
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No Episcopal 101
(Resumes February 1st)
MORNING PRAYER
    
It is my practice to endeavor to say Morning Prayer in the Chapel of the Church at 9am   on Tuesday through Friday each week I look forward to seeing you there!
           Mark+
Vestry Nominees

We are pleased to announce the following Vestry nominees:
 
Kate Chute
Peter Dennehy
Arline Walker (continuing) 
for the Class of 2018. 

All nominees will be voted on at the Annual Meeting on January 25th.

to Susan Loney and Lisa Ballou Tyler who spearheaded the  

Amos House Christmas Holiday Drive.  
The fundraising effort, which brought in $15,684, provided new toys and clothing for over 250 children and adults, over 500 Christmas Eve meals, and gift bags for men and women living in Amos House's Transitional Housing program. 


Thank you to St. Martin's and the Outreach Committee for contributing $500 to the effort.

 

Coming Up!!

"Say Cheese"  The St. Martin's Pictorial Directory is in the works! 

Thanks to the generosity of David Brookhart, who will take the photos, and Laura Bartsch, who will do the layout, we are putting together a new pictorial directory (our last one was in 2007).  We will need the support of all of you to make this project successful.
 
We will begin by taking photos on February 1 and February 8 after both services. 

Sunday, February 8 at 10:00am
 
We will have a special service highlighting the talents and ministries of St. Martin's younger generation. Not only will the children's choir be singing a joyful anthem, but we will have young readers, ushers and greeters as well. Join us for this wonderful inter-generational liturgy!


Providence Village Informational Session! 

                                                          February 22 at 11:30am
 
Do you plan on staying in your own home for as long as possible?

Are you interested in finding out how to do just that?
 

Please join us in the Stearns Room for an Info session about a Village in Providence. The Village movement is a non-profit network of support for independent seniors who want to stay in their own homes. There are now over 120 of these grassroots Village organizations around the U.S. Learn about the Village movement. 
 

Find out what you can do to help make the Providence Village a reality. St. Martin's is actively seeking to become a partner in this endeavor. Bring a friend!

 
Save the Date!
February/March
 
Sundays February 1, 8
Episcopal 101 
at 11:30am in the Stearns Room

Directory Photos in the Great Hall after both services
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Wednesday, February 4
Vestry Retreat
Sunday, February 8
Children in Church...come hear our St. Cecilia Choir sing

Directory Photos in the Great Hall after both services
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Sunday, February 15
Baptism Sunday
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Tuesday, February 17
Pancake Supper in the Great Hall at 5:30pm 
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Wednesday, February 18
Ash Wednesday services:
7am Eucharist
7pm Eucharist with music
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Sunday, February 22
Providence Village Information Session at 11:30am in the Stearns Room
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Wednesday, February 25
Lenten Supper Program 
5:30pm Eucharist
6pm soup
Compline at 8:15pm
(also on March 4, 11, 18 and 25) 
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Saturday, March 7
Parish Pot Luck Supper and Community Mapping in the Great Hall 
5-8pm
All ages encouraged to attend.
Child care provided.
Newcomer Ministry
Happy 2015!  

If you are called to invite, welcome and connect with newcomers, please contact
Kate Chute at
[email protected]
or at 401-723-4824.
 
Thank you, Kate 

 

We can build this living tapestry here at St. Martin's. 
God is the weaver and we are all 
the threads.

2015 Stewardship Campaign
 

We continue to receive pledges for our 2015 Stewardship Campaign. If you have not already pledged, please return your pledge card as soon as possible to the church office or put it in the Sunday offering plate. 

 

Pledge cards and envelopes are available in the back of the church or by contacting the church office at 751-2141. ** If you requested contribution envelopes, they are also at the back of the church.
 

Participants in Worship
January 25, 2015
February 1, 2015
Reading Link 
8am:
Reader/EM: Joe Handly
Altar Guild: Al Howes
8am:
Reader/EM: Denny Scott
Altar Guild: Pat Knowles
10am: 
Readers:

Beth Shearer (OT)
David Whitman (NT)
Carol Tucker (Prayers)
Altar Guild:
Laura Bartsch
Raya Goff
Eucharistic Ministers:
David Whitman (Verger)
John Condon
Hall Conner
Acolytes:
BG Goff
Elizabeth Blake
Erin Welshman
Diana Blake
Ushers:
David Brookhart
Linda Brookhart
Edye DeMarco
Bill Hollinshead
Shelly Sheldon
10am:
Readers:
Erin Welshman (OT)
David Whitman (NT)
Malcolm Griggs (Prayers)
Altar Guild:
Raya Goff
Eucharistic Ministers:
Helen Bodell (Verger)
Rich Gruber
Acolytes:
Robin McGill
Rebecca Loell
Gabrielle Ellicott
Olivia Gray
Ushers:
Charlie Bodell
Sarosh Fenn
Brooks Magratten
Parker Smith
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