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Welcome to E-NEWS, the Diocese of Milwaukee's weekly electronic newsletter. If you are not already a subscriber or wish to add or change e-mail addresses, please click on the "Join Our Mailing List" icon. We invite you to send articles, photos, and news to info@diomil.org so that we may include them in the E-NEWS.
We wish you every joy and blessing at this time of Thanksgiving.
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How beautifully the leaves grow old.
How full of light and color are their last days
John Borroughs
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Vestry Day 2014 announced
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Advent and Christmas Events in our Parishes
 Christmas Bazaar at St. Aidan's, Hartford Christmas Bazaar and Brat Fry at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, located at 670 East Monroe Street in Hartford.. The event will take place on Saturday, December 7, 2013 from 9am - 2pm. Lunch available 11am -- 1pm.
Brats, homemade soups, and dessert. Christmas cookies!- Holiday gifts! Knit items-jewelry-wooden crafts. Raffle - great prizes! All profits support St. Aidan's church and outreach missions.  Advent Day of Reflection at Trinity, Janesville We invite you to join us for our annual Advent Day of Reflection on Saturday, December 7th from 9:00am to 3:00pm. The theme is the passage from John, "I am the light of the world." In this advent time, we are preparing to receive this new light into ourselves and into the world. What / who is this light for us at this moment in our life journey? How do we find it in this Advent season? How do we receive it? What keeps us from receiving it? How does it change us? How does it change the world? Lunch is provided. A free-will offering will be taken. Trinity is located at 409 East Court Street, Janesville. Please RSVP to 608-754-3402.  | Trinity, Janesville choir
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The Festival of Nine Lessons
and Carols at Trinity, Janesville
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 22nd, 7pm at Trinity Episcopal Church at 409 East Court Street, Janesville. The Choir of Trinity Episcopal Church in Janesville, will present its annual service of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 22, at 7:00pm. This lovely candlelight service has become a long-standing tradition at Trinity and always includes the familiar readings and prayers first established at King's College, Cambridge, in 1918. Christmas anthems will be performed by Trinity's twenty voice choir, and the congregation will join them in singing beloved carols of the season. Strings, organ and keyboard will provide the accompaniment. Please come and join us as we welcome the birth of our Lord. |
 Wreaths, garlands offered to parishes
Parishes -- if you need Advent wreaths, Christmas-type garlands (approx. 9 ft. long) or palm branch decorations, please contact Ms. Patty Jaffke, Bishop's Assistant, at the diocesan office at patty@diomil.org. These items come from St. Nicholas parish in Racine. |
 St Francis, Menomonee Falls announces Clothing Drive
We are at it AGAIN!! Once again the St Francis Outreach Committee is sponsoring their annual Warm clothing Drive. It will last throughout the winter and into early spring. We will again support woman's and men's shelters in Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties. It is a wonderful thing to See the Smiles on the Faces of the shelters volunteers when 20 bags of warm clothes are delivered. For more information, contact the parish at 262-251-7420.
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A message at Thanksgiving from Bishop Miller
We plough the fields and scatter the good seed on the land,
But it is fed and watered by God's almighty hand;
He sends the snow in winter, the warmth to swell the grain,
The breezes and the sunshine and soft, refreshing rain.
All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord, for all his love.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Fans of musical theater will recognize the words above as one of the songs from the musical Godspell, which is currently in revival on Broadway. Episcopalians will also recognize them as words from our rich tradition of hymnody. (Hymn 291, The Hymnal 1982)
As I drove in to work one day I heard a recording of this song from the recent revival of the play and then not liking the next song that came on the radio turned to NPR and heard a report on how more stores were planning to open on Thanksgiving Day this year. As I heard this, in the back of my mind was a conversation I had the day earlier with some clergy about Thanksgiving services both in parishes and as ecumenical occasions. Part of the discussion was on how few people attended these services and how many Community Thanksgiving services had also decreased in attendance over the years. I began to think that perhaps this was because, for many of us, the challenges of agriculture, and gratitude for a fruitful harvest on which our life depends, is something that is not a part of our experience. While many of us enjoy home grown vegetables, our life does not depend on the harvest of our own agricultural labors.
Recently, I read a book entitled, "Cultivating Reality; How the soil might save us" by Ragan Sutterfield. It was one of the best theological works I have read in quite some time. What struck me most about the book was . . . read more
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Please Help Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) respond to Super Typhoon Haiyan
 | In the midst of devastation, hope is born
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(from ERD) On the morning of November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the central Philippines, causing widespread damage and knocking out power and communications lines. Episcopal Relief & Development's local partner, the Episcopal Church in the Philippines, is assessing needs and determining how best to respond. Your donation to the Philippines Fund will enable Episcopal Relief & Development to support the Episcopal Church in the Philippines as they respond to Super Typhoon Haiyan. Read more - Bulletin insert
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You are invited to attend the next Madison area  Julian Gathering on December 11, 2013
Madison-Area Julian Gathering
Wednesday, December 11, 7:15 - 9:00 PM
St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church
6205 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
We welcome everyone who is interested in learning more about contemplative spirituality in the Christian tradition. We meet monthly for contemplative prayer for twenty-five minutes, after which we discuss a reading from Julian of Norwich, a 14th Century English mystic who has been called "a theologian for our time." These gatherings are supported by the Order of Julian of Norwich, a contemplative monastic order in the Episcopal Church. We would love to have you join us. If you have questions, call Susan Fiore, AOJN at (608) 845-2413 or e-mail at slfiore@mac.com
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Help the Hospitality Center make a difference
 The Hospitality Center, a ministry of the Diocese of Milwaukee at St. Luke's, Racine, is holding an open house from 8am on Saturday,December 7 to 8am Sunday, December 8, 2013. Walking tours (30 minutes in length) of the Center at 9am, 12 pm, 3pm, 6pm and 9pm will give visitors a chance to see and hear how the homeless survive in our midst.
This is the Center's primary fundraiser and Thrivent Federal Credit Union has generously agreed to match financial contributions received, dollar for dollar, up to $5,000. You can help by sending a check payable to Hospitality Center to The Hospitality Center, P. O. Box 250972, Milwaukee, WI 53225. Checks may also be dropped off at the Center during the 24-hour fundraising event.
Donations of bottled water, ground coffee, non-perishable food items, hats, mittens, gloves, socks, coats, etc. are also needed and will be gratefully received.
Your support of the Hospitality Center's 24-hour fundraiser will allow the Hospitality center to continue caring for those who are hungry, thirsty, tired, cold, ignored, passed by and too often forgotten.
Questions? Contact the Center's director, The Rev. Kevin Stewart at clerickevin@me.com or (414) 405-5619.
The Hospitality Center's location is 614 Main Street, Racine, WI 53403.
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 "Ask A Theologian" is back! The Rev. Wayne Fehr publishes new book answering questions about the Christian faith
Tracing the Contours of Faith is a collection of brief essays written in response to specific questions about the Christian faith-vision of reality. It is addressed to Christian believers who are feeling the ambiguities and challenges of a life of faith. Many of them are uncertain about the meaning of the faith which they profess. The familiar words that they hear in sermons and prayers seem to belong to a reality far removed from the actual world they live in. They need to discover a meaning that seems related to their own life experience and their general knowledge of the world.
To meet this kind of need, Dr. Fehr wrote between 1999 and 2006 a monthly column called "Ask A Theologian" for the newspaper of the Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee. Readers were invited to send in specific questions about the beliefs, doctrines and practices of the Church, and he would attempt to answer them.
This material was originally written for members of the Episcopal Church, but most of it is equally relevant to Christians of other traditions. The author has selected the best of these columns and revised them for publication in the belief that they are worth preserving and making available to a wider readership.
Wayne Fehr has been a priest for many years. He is also an academic theologian with a doctoral degree in systematic theology from Yale University. These two vocational commitments-as priest and as theologian-have come together for him in a life-long involvement with the interpretation of Christian faith for the benefit of his fellow believers. At present he serves as Priest Associate at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wauwatosa.
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One more time . . . THANK YOU for forwarding this newsletter to parishioners and others who may be interested and for sending YOUR news/events / photos to info@diomil.org ! See you next week! Sincerely, Barb
Barbara Klauber
Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee
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