St. Francis

Episcopal Church

We seek to be instruments of God's peace, bearing witness to the love of God in Jesus Christ for all people.

Little Portion

Week of March 24, 2014

Lenten Book Study Blog Post 3...

Join Karen, the associate rector, as she blogs once a week through Lent offering reflections on the book Who's Got Time? Spirituality for a Busy Generation. The book explores different spiritual practices we can use in our busy lives to connect with God.

Don't have time to read the book? No problem. Feel free to simply read the post (it's short, only about 500 words) and comment if you feel so moved or have something to share. Check out this week's post on how God has actually programmed us with a need to waste time here.

Copies of the book can be obtained from the church office for $15.00 or ordered online through Amazon or Barnes and Noble for Kindle or Nook.

Men's Service Ministry...

The mission is simply: To serve those who aren't able to keep up with tasks around the house and who have insufficient means to cope on their own.

Do you know of someone that needs a hand around their house? The St. Francis Men's Service Ministry provides handy man type services. We have replaced windows, patched ceilings, fixed dripping faucets, raked leaves and many other things, but can do things as simple as changing smoke detector batteries or moving heavy furniture; Two simple tasks that can cause serious injury in the event of a fall. Let us help! There are cards on the Mission Table in the narthex or contact Bryan Diehl-Project Coordinator by email at Diehl4@charter.net or call 508-962-3690.

We meet from 7:00-8:00 at St Francis on the second Saturday of each month for fellowship and a bite to eat before we head out to do the work He has given us to do. Men of all ages are welcome to join whenever they can.

Our Care of Creation... "God so Loved the World"

On Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas, Diocesan Missioner for Care of Creation, the Diocese of Western Massachusetts, will preach and present an Adult Forum following our 10:00 a.m. worship service.

The Forum will begin at 11:30 a.m. Part of the presentation will be a 20 minute PowerPoint she and her husband produced. It is called, GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD. I encourage you to go to her website, www.holyhunger.org, and see her professional bio and click on multimedia, click on PowerPoint, "God So Loved the World."

I was a colleague of Margaret's for one year when I served as Interim Rector at Grace Episcopal Church, in Amherst, MA. She is a bright, loving person, who has experienced her own share of pain and recovery. She is an excellent teacher, preacher, and presenter.

I believe our time with Margaret will bless us all and open us up to new possibilities as we care for God's creation.

If you have any questions please contact me at rkwilburn@comcast.net or phone me at 413-687-5568.

Rev. Dr. Randy Wilburn

Interim Rector, St. Francis Episcopal Church

Lenten Meditations...

Lenten Meditations written by and for the people of St. Francis and friends can be found here.

Music Notes...

Thanks to the "clock fairy" who gave the music room a new wall clock......and it's still working. If only I knew who to thank????

Festival Choir is off and running. I'm hoping to combine everybody on Tuesday, April 1 & Thursday, April 3 at 7:00 p.m. I've chosen two nights in hopes that choir members can make one or the other, or BOTH. (I can dream) Thanks to all for the hard work. Holy Week should be very
special.

Palm Saturday Program...

Saturday, April 12th from 9:00-12:30.

Children (age 3 through grade 5) will have a variety of Lent/Easter activities to choose from such as planting, painting, cooking, dyeing eggs, and other crafts. Small groups will also take turns in a "prayer walk" which will help them to experience Holy Week in a dramatic way (e.g. walking into Jerusalem with palms, sharing bread and "wine," participating in a Tenebrae service and crawling into the tomb.) Activities could get messy and the "tomb" (St. Clare basement) will be cold so please dress in warm play clothes! Friends are welcome. Children should bring a lunch. Drinks and cookies will be provided.

A sign up sheet is on the table in the narthex.

Serving this weekend:

March 29/30, 2014

Altar Guild: Gloria Goewey, Persis Hamilton, Sharlene O'Connor, Sarah Anderson

Saturday, March 29 -

5:00 p.m.

Ushers: Al and Helen VanDeMark

LEMs: Ann Tripp and Kathleen O'Connor

Sunday, March 30 -

Nursing Home: Karen Kappes

8:00 a.m.

LEMs: Pamela Hanson