cheryl telling story
All Saints' Church E-Newsletter
 Finding our story in God's story, and the courage to talk about it.  

September 12, 2014
    
In this issue:
Quick reminders
Calendar
Fall Worship Schedule
Blessing of the Backpacks
Every member Canvass
Register now for Godly Play!
Join the Choir!
Adult Education- Online!
Quick Reminders



Godly Play starts 
THIS SUNDAY!!

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Volunteers needed to prepare the meal for Bristol Lodge on Sunday, Sept. 14

Calendar
All Saints' Window
 
 Sunday, Sept. 14
14th Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday's Readings 
 
8:00 am
Holy Eucharist

9:15 am
Adult Choir

10:00 am
Holy Eucharist
Godly Play
Childcare

11:30 am
Coffee Hour
Bristol Lodge Meal Prep.

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NEXT WEEK

Wed. 9/17
7:30 pm
Vestry
 
 
Fall Worship Schedule Begins September 14

8:00 a.m. - Holy Eucharist, Rite I (No music)
10:00 a.m. - Holy Eucharist, Rite II (with music!)

Summer is winding down, and we are very busy here at All Saints' gearing up for the start of the Program Year on September 14.  We will resume our usual worship schedule, Godly Play, and adult choir on the 14th of September.  
 
Attention families:  Bring your backpacks on September 14 for the Blessing of the Backpacks (see below for all the details). 
 
 
Sunday, September 14
at the 10:00 a.m. service
 
Invite your friends!
 
On Sunday, September 14 we invite all our children and youth to bring their backpacks to church for our first ever, "Blessing of the Backpacks."  The adults are welcome to bring their work bags as well!
 
When you come on Sunday, take your backpack directly up to the altar where you will find a growing pile of backpacks - including the one's we'll be sending to Haiti!  Head to Godly Play after that, and then at the end of the service we will bless the big pile of bags and the people who will use them.
 
You can pick up your bag after the service.  
 
 
Every Member Canvass in full swing!

As part of the Vestry's mission to develop a three-to-five year plan for our church we are striving to communicate more directly with members of the All Saint's Community.   


The next step in the Vestry's process is to conduct an Every Member Canvass.  The Canvass consists of individual meetings between parishioners and a member of the Vestry.   The goal of these conversations is to share where Vestry sees All Saints' going, and how we as a community can work together toward that vision.  These meetings will take the place between September 1st and October 15th, and are in lieu of the annual fall Stewardship drive. 


In the next few weeks you can each expect to hear from a Vestry member looking to set up an appointment to talk with you.  During the appointment they will deliver you a pledge card.


As is our tradition, our Stewardship In-gathering will be on All Saints' Sunday - November 2.

 
Godly Play is set to resume this week!
Godly Play
This Sunday our Godly Play rooms will be full of children again as classes resume.  If you have not yet registered your child, please download a form from the website and bring the completed form with you on Sunday. Follow this link...



All registered families will receive an email in the next few weeks asking you to sign-up to provide the "feast" for your child's Godly Play classroom one month this year.  Providing feast means bringing a couple of gallons of water, and a variety of peanut free snacks for your class (goldfish, animal crackers, pretzels).  We use "sign-up genius" to make this easy.  Please watch for the email and follow the link to the sign-up genius website.
Meet the teachers

The Godly Play Team met this week to prepare for the start of classes.  As is usual, we have a wonderfully dedicated team of individuals committed to this work.

Pre-school - Kindergarten
Katy Bedig, Kathy Haacke, Fran Hutchinson, Harriet Wong

1st - 3rd Grade
Lauren Harrision, Ross Hopkins, Liz McCarthy, James Talkington

4th - 8th Grade
Mike Blasik, Cheryl Minor, Nancy Morrision, and Regina Raz

Please join me in thanking this year's team!
 
Adult Choir begins again Sunday, September 14
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At All Saints' we have an all volunteer choir.  They rehearse most Sundays from September-June at 9:15 a.m.  

The Choir sings at the 10:00 a.m. service, leading the service music and hymns, and singing an anthem on special occasions.  For example, this fall we will be preparing for a special service of Advent Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 14.  We will also sing at the Christmas Eve Service at 5:00 p.m.

Questions!  Email Sandy Doneski at [email protected] 
 
Youth Choir Rehearsals Begin September 21

All Saints' is blessed with the music leadership of Sandy Doneski for both our adult and youth choir.  Dr. Doneski is a specialist in the developing voice, so don't miss this opportunity to have your child work with her. 

The youth choir is open to youth grades 2 and up.  They rehearse most Sundays after the 10:00 a.m. service for 20-30 minutes. The first rehearsal of the fall is Sunday, September 21. 
 
 


 
Every summer we spend significant time looking ahead to the program year - making plans for supporting the growth of children and adults.  Often our plan for adults takes the shape of an adult education offering.

Some of you are no doubt wondering why Sunday morning worship isn't enough - after all it features a healthy chunk of Bible reading, a sermon that gives you food for thought, and time for prayer and fellowship.  We won't argue with you that Sunday morning is definitely the "main event" in our life together, but we would also venture to say that there is more!  God wants to be at the center of our whole lives.  This is hard to do when the world is screaming for our attention 24/7.  A visit with him on Sunday morning is definitely helpful, but there is always more.

However, evening offerings are becoming increasingly less popular as our congregation struggles to juggle the busy schedules of family members (extra-curricular activities for children, heavy homework loads, long work days, and more). Getting to church an hour early is also difficult, and staying after church for some sort of adult forum is often impossible with all the other things on our "to do" list on Sunday afternoons.  This summer we've been wondering if there is another way.

Instead the usual six week class on a week-night or Sundays after worship, we thought we would try adult formation online in the form of a blog.

How will it work?

Paul plans to offer a series on the Catechism found at the back of the Book of Common Prayer.  He will kick off his topic at a forum on September 28.  Participants will be able to log on each week to read Paul's reflection on each part of the Catechism and have an opportunity to respond.  There will be suggested Bible readings as well.

Cheryl plans to offer something for parents.  On October 5 parents will be invited to a special forum to kick off their topic - Children's spirituality: What it is and why it matters.  Parents will be invited to read a book of that title along with Cheryl throughout the fall together with some suggested Bible passages.  Each week Cheryl will post something on this blog about the current reading, and comments from others who are reading along.

We hope you'll join us - and invite your friends as well!

 
We are a community gathered to find our story in God's story and the courage to talk about it.

Our purpose
is to know Jesus Christ and to make him known.

Our vision is to be a center of Anglicanism within the Episcopal Church.

Our mission is to communicate the universal church's witness to Jesus within the congregation and to the world thereby making disciples of Jesus Christ who personally know Jesus and strive to make him known.