St. Paul's Memorial Church Newsletter
Telephone: 295-2156 www.stpaulsmemorialchurch.org April 25, 2012
Pastoral Emergency: 806-9069
Rector’s Blog – Join in the conversation with Rector Jim. You are invited to join each day in conversation on Rector Jim's blog Fiat Lux. Jim updates it daily. You can reach it by clicking http://spmcrector.blogspot.com/
Condolences of the parish to Martha Keenan upon the death of her mother Jean Blount.
Congratulations to Leslie and John Hunter upon the birth of their grandson Aboubacar Dinah Sampil, whose parents are Priscilla Ashamu Sampil and Mohamed Dinah Sampil.
Election of Bishop Suffragen - The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia is pleased to announce that the Rev. Canon Susan E. Goff was elected as bishop suffragan of Virginia at a special Electing Council of the Diocese held on Saturday, April 21 at St. George’s, Fredericksburg. Goff was elected on the fourth ballot, with 148 votes in the clerical order and 164 votes in the lay order. An election required 104 votes in the clerical order and 130 votes in the lay order. A suffragan is a bishop elected by a diocese to assist the diocesan bishop.
A New Community Night Offering from The Rev. Janet Legro - Three Bits of Wisdom to Guide Our Relationships: Wednesdays at 7 p.m., April 25 - May 23. Sometimes our judgements, opinions and desires can become stumbling blocks for our most important relationships. In our relationship with friends, children, partners or colleagues it can be hard to let go of the way we think things should be and yet, letting go of these thoughts might be exactly what we need to do. Using the teachings of the Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, Episcopal priest, author and contemplative, we will look at three ways to free ourselves from judgement and attachment in our relationships. In other words, we will explore ways to free up our relationships - free for joy, compassion, and loving attention. The Rev. Bourgeault's work comes directly from the teachings of Jesus, the wisdom tradition, and the practice of Centering Prayer. We will spend four Wednesday evenings together exploring these teachings, looking at examples from scripture and life, and finding ways to put them into practice. Janet will provide some brief readings to guide our conversations for those who would like to read along. Janet will also try to show some funny clips from the TV show, Modern Family, to highlight these teachings and have a little fun. Please join us any Wednesday evening you are able from 7 - 8:15 p.m.: April 25, May 2, May 9 and May 23. There will be no class on May 16th.
Baccalaureate Sunday – On Sunday, April 29, we will honor our University of Virginia graduating students and all those who are connected with the University.
Adult Education on April 29: Whither Theology? III . This is the third session exploring the cutting edge of contemporary theology led by graduate student members of the Canterbury Fellowship and the Rev. Nik Forti. Meet in the lounge at 11:30 a.m.
Integrity of Charlottesville Annual Meeting – Integrity of Charlottesville will hold its annual meeting on Sunday, April 29, from 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall. The annual meeting will include a potluck lunch and board elections. For more information, contact Ben Kong at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or Janice Dean at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Evensong - Please join us for the Evensong (with Holy Eucharist Rite One) sung by Zephyrus on Sunday April 29 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Paul's. An Organ Prelude with works by J. S. Bach and Max Reger will begin at 5.15 p.m. Zephyrus, directed by Megan Sharp, is an early music vocal ensemble based in Charlottesville, specializing in medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.
IMPACT Update: Healthy Transitions voted into city and county budgets! - We want to recognize the City Councilors and County Supervisors for coming through on the commitments they made at the Nehemiah Action on March 26. And we want to recognize the members of St. Paul's that were among the 1,500+ people who came on March 26 to show their support for Healthy Transitions (helping ex-offenders with mental illness).
It was because of your persistence and determination - showing up at budget hearings and at the Nehemiah Action - that Healthy Transitions was made possible. Thank you!
Our Tuesday noontime Holy Eucharist is being temporarily discontinued. We will still continue to offer Morning Prayer each weekday at 8 a.m. We hope to resume the Tuesday Holy Eucharist once we fill the position of senior associate rector.
The Men’s Bible Study recently celebrated its 6 month anniversary, a milestone for our weekly fellowship of engaging, interesting study of the Gospel of Mark. The conversation/study has progressed slowly one might say (we’re on Chapter 9), but that’s because Andy Guffey is such an amazing source of knowledge and also because we explore the readings in a historical and religious context as well as our own, personal context. Come join us for really good bagels and coffee on Wednesdays, 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. in the church library. Contact us if you have any questions (or answers): Tim Rambo at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Sunday Scriptures: Going deeper – Join Joe Lenow, our ministry intern, for a preview of the following Sunday’s Scripture lessons after our 10 a.m. worship each Sunday. We’ll examine what the lessons say, and explore why they say it, and, time permitting, the way they say it.
Morning Prayer - St. Paul's is now offering Morning Prayer weekdays at 8 a.m. with ministry intern Joe Lenow. Come begin your day with this peaceful, reflective service - and then join us afterward for some free gourmet coffee. Monday-Friday, in the choir loft; the service lasts around 20 minutes. We hope to see you!
Update on our Stephen Ministry - Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Ephesians 4:32). The Chinese word for crisis is a combination of two characters: one for “danger” and the other for “opportunity”. This drives home the fact that every crisis, though it involves impending danger, also offers opportunities for personal or spiritual growth. Stephen Ministers are trained to walk with you through the dangers of crisis and to help you find the opportunities God has in store for you. For more information about Stephen Ministry, please contact Jim Richardson.
Generation Wise will meet on May 3 at 12:30 p.m. in the lounge. Please join us - About 15 people showed up for our organizational meeting of Generation Wise as a shared leadership group. We were so pleased that six of them were men. We had an enthusiastic discussion about how we could best serve our age group in the church and be of service to the church. The consensus was that we would like to serve as a support group for each other where we can discuss our experiences both spiritual and psychological, with the aging process and retirement.
We felt that community building was the most important aspect of the group. There was also a lot of interest in reading good books or articles and discussing chosen parts of them together. We decided that this might all work better if we met twice a month. Therefore, we will meet on May 3 and May 17. People may volunteer to serve as leaders for a meeting if they want to. It is not required. Mary Caroline Lawson will be the leader on May 3 and Carol Muntz will lead us on May 17. We decided that each meeting would start with prayer and then divide into small groups of 6 to 8 people to eat our lunch and have in depth check-in. Then the whole group would come together for discussion of a chosen topic. We thought that we should schedule our meetings on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 12:30-2:30 p.m. in the St. Paul’s lounge. There were about 7 or 8 people who will be here in the summer and would like to continue meeting during the summer months.
Since we do hope to operate as a support group, we will keep all personal information that is learned in this group confidential. We will be free to suggest changes and new ideas and learn together what works best. This offers us an exciting opportunity to share leadership and help the group evolve into a good service to the elderly in the church as well as a good service to the church.
Shrine Mont 2012: Pilgrimage and Pathways, Traveling with God - Share stories of pilgrimage, go hiking, play softball, meditate, swim, listen to music... do as much or as little as you like...join us this July 13-15 for our parish weekend at Shrine Mont. The weekend this year coincides with the Bishop's Music Festival. Individual recreaton, family fun and more. Questions? Contact Anne Cressin: 434-249-4362/ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Ministry Beyond Our Walls (MBOW) : Calling Bingo Callers! - Members of St. Paul's have been helping with weekly bingo games at Midway Manor (low income senior housing near downtown) for some time, and they are in need of a new caller. If you can spare 2 hours one day a week, we'd love to hear from you! Please contact Betty Kerner (202-0616) or John Frazee (242-0103) for more information.
