January 1, 2015

On Sunday, January 4, the 9 and 11:15 a.m. services will include instrumental First Sunday Music, featuring flavors of West Africa, South Africa, and the Caribbean with Homero Cerón, Amilcar Guevara, Joaquín Zamudio, and Aaron Szabo. In keeping with our custom of highlighting a specific field of work on the first Sunday of January, we will honor those doing God's work in the world while working in science and technology. The preacher at 9 a.m. will be Dr. Richard Powell, and the preacher at 11:15 a.m. will be the Rev. Dr. Thomas Lindell. The liturgy will include special prayers for scientists. Please invite your friends and associates.



The next First Sunday Food Drive will be next Sunday, January 4. Thanks so much for the overwhelming response in December. However, the food seems to go out as quickly as it came in, so we are still in serious need of food supplies for January. Most needed are canned fruit, canned meat and fish, pasta and pasta sauce, rice and dried beans, cereal, and peanut butter. Please, nothing in glass jars or bottles as we are not allowed to hand those out. Financial donations are also always welcome! Thanks again for your generosity!

On Tuesday, January 6, we will celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany with a Eucharist at 7 p.m. in the Church. This service is a celebratory close to the Christmas season as we remember the visit of the Magi. The Rev. Anne Sawyer will preach.



On Thursday, January 8, at 7 p.m., in the Murphey Gallery, there will be a special memorial service to mark the fourth anniversary of the Tucson shootings.
The service will include prayers and readings by community leaders from a number of faiths and cultures, augmented with musical meditations. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and guest readers from the Tucson community, including representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Temple Emanu-El, the Community Food Bank, and others, will lead us to consider ways we are in community with one another, moving to hope and action. The service is being sponsored by St. Philip's Committee for the Prevention of Gun Violence. The mission of the committee is to bring people of differing ideas together to explore our thoughts in the hopes that we can bridge our differences and move forward in action. All in the Tucson community are invited to attend.

On Saturday, January 10, 7 p.m. in the Church, St. Philip's Friends of Music presents Woosug Kang, organ: Pipes, Pedals and Virtuosos: Famous and Less-Known Corners of the Organ World. Well known for his unerring musical instinct, authenticity, finesse and technical prowess, Kang is a doctoral candidate in organ performance at Indiana University.  Proceeds from this concert with benefit the 2016 United Kingdom Choral Residency in Worchester, England by St. Philip's youth choir. Suggested concert admission is $20 per person. For more information click here or call 222-7277.




In order to celebrate St. Philip's becoming an official, Welcoming Church, Cameron and Eric Rau will host a potluck brunch on Saturday, January 10, at 10 a.m. at their new home (just off Sabino Canyon Road). For those of you who do not like to cook or bake or just do not have the time, please feel free to arrive without food and/or drink. We want to invite everyone, not just members of the LGBTQ+A (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning + Allies) Ministry, to celebrate this milestone in the history of St. Philip's In The Hills. Please contact Bob Kamilli (349-9336) or Cameron Rau  (440-2240) if you have any questions and for directions to their home. RSVP to Bob or Cameron only if you intend to come.

A few spaces are still available for our next parish pilgrimage for adults May 4-18, 2015, to walk the pilgrimage road to Santiago, Spain, with the Rev. Greg Foraker. After beginning our pilgrimage in Avila at the 500th anniversary of St. Teresa's birth, our group will travel north to make the journey from Roncesvalles to Santiago. Along the way villages, towns, and cities will inspire our journey, and sacred places will stir our spirits. An Information Session is scheduled for Monday, January 12, at 5:30 p.m. in La Paz. This active walking pilgrimage involves vigorous physical activity including the ability to walk 5-7 miles, climb steep hills, and be "on one's feet" for several hours on many days. Attend the information meeting to learn about this inspiring journey.

St. Philip's In The Hills Episcopal Church is offering a new series of the grief support program Walking the Mourner's Path®: Transforming Grief into Joyful Living. The series is a Christ-centered, faith based, 8-week, non-denominational  grief program and is open to anyone who has experienced a death within the last 24 months. Each session is facilitated by two Mourner's Path certified facilitators as well as a member of the clergy. Sessions are Saturday mornings, beginning January 17 through March 7th from 9:30 to 11 a.m. in the Ferguson Room. or Richard Kuns at 615-9527. The sessions will conclude with the Eucharist Celebration in the Chapel of the Nativity. The fee of $75 covers the cost of materials. Registration is required; contact Richard at MournersPath@stphilipstucson.org. If you know someone who may benefit for this grief support time, please contact Richard as well. Parishioners and non-parishioners are welcome to register.

The 2015 Annual Meeting of St. Philip's In The Hills Parish will be held on two Sundays: 18 and 25 January 2015. On both Sundays we will observe the usual service schedule. The annual State of the Church report will be given as the sermon on January 18, and the Senior Warden's report will serve as the sermon on January 25. On January 18, the Annual Meeting Part I, at 10:15 a.m., will include reports on mission and ministries, with opportunities for discussion and conversation. On January 25, the Annual Meeting Part II, at 10:15 a.m., will focus on the fiduciary aspects of the parish, with opportunities for Q&A. Elections of three Vestry members for 3-year terms, two Vestry members for 1-year terms (to complete terms of members who moved or stepped down), the Junior Warden for a 1-year term, and five lay delegates to the Annual Diocesan Convention will take place at Part II of the Annual Meeting (January 25) only. Nominations from the floor will be accepted at Part I of the Annual Meeting (January 18). In order to be nominated, the nominee must be a Pledger of Record for 12 consecutive months, communicant in good standing (attends worship and communion at least 3 times a year), and an active participant in ministries of the parish; must have previously agreed to serve, if elected; and must bring 150 copies of a one-sheet biography with picture. There will be no nominations from the floor during Part II of the Annual Meeting (January 25).
 
The Constitution & Canons of the Episcopal Church provide that decisions are made by vote of the Vestry, who represent the parishioners who elect them. Therefore it is important to be informed about your representatives and to attend the annual meeting and vote.

To vote, one must be a member in good standing of St. Philip's In The Hills Parish according to the following definitions from our Bylaws and the Canons:

Qualified members shall be all of the communicant members of the congregation as shown by the Church Register who are over 16 years of age, and all other members of the congregation over 16 years of age who have been regular contributors for the past six months, as shown by the treasurer's books.

Communicant members shall be those meeting the qualifications of the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. (From Bylaws, Article I, Section I.)

All communicants of this Church who for the previous year have been faithful in corporate worship, unless for good cause prevented, and have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom of God, are to be considered communicants in good standing. (From Title I, Canon 17, and Sec. 3 of The Canons of the Episcopal Church.)

The Annual Meeting issue of "Good News" will mail next week, and will include bios of the nominees for Vestry and Junior Warden. There will be an opportunity to meet nominees on Sundays, January 4 and 11, at 10:15 a.m. Everyone is encouraged to attend -- bring your questions!