St. Paul's Memorial Church Newsletter
Telephone: 295-2156 www.stpaulsmemorialchurch.org February 3, 2011
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 every day. You can reach it by clicking http://spmcrector.blogspot.com/
The Adult Education Forum four-week series on environmental stewardship:
Week 2 (2/6) will present Water, Water Everywhere? The Adult Education Forum features Dudley Rochester speaking in the lounge after the 10 a.m. service about water and the environment in part two of the series on environmental stewardship.
Week 3 (2/13) will feature Sharon Biaocco of the Green Sanctuary Program talking about mountain top removal coal mining and its implications for the church.
Week 4 (2/20) will conclude our series with Exploring the Nitrogen Footprint. Our final session features UVA professor James Galloway and Canterbury-UVA student Olivia Hutton discussing their research in mapping the earth’s nitrogen footprint and its relation to global warming. We meet in the lounge after the 10 a.m. service.
PACEM - ATTENTION, PACEM Volunteers! From Saturday, February 12 through Friday, February 25, St. Paul’s Memorial will serve as a safe, welcoming and sheltering refuge for homeless women in our community. Please lend your support by volunteering to assist with arrangements. Help is needed for setting-up and taking-down the equipment; preparing and serving dinners; being an evening host; sleeping over; and transporting the large supplies of linens. Look for sign-up tables in the Parish Hall after the 8:00 and 10:00 a.m. Sunday services. Or contact Anne Ribble ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 296-7882) about food or Marsha Trimble ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) about other volunteer opportunities.
Pictorial Directory – The Vestry has decided to update our pictorial directory, and Janet Hendrix and Wayne Nolen have agreed to serve as Chairs for this project. We will be using Olan Mills Portrait Studios as our vendor, the same firm that produced our directory in 2003. Please watch for details in the coming weeks.
IMPACT Update - The IMPACT research committee, through its interviews and fact-finding work, has zeroed in on its specific area of focus: Increased access to mental health care through
• The removal of barriers to treatment, such as potentially cost-prohibitive copays, gaps in medications, and a lack of available psychiatric care;
• An increase in supportive housing; and
• An increase in job training.
The committee is now conducting a second series of interviews to gather facts and solicit the support of individuals or groups who have the ability to help move these issues forward. Stay tuned for more updates, and please make plans NOW to attend the Nehemiah Action (the big meeting) on Monday, March 28 at 6:30 PM at U Hall.
For more information, please contact John Frazee, Christie Thomas or Margaret Victoria Lee.
The prayer shawl ministry will meet on Saturday, February 5 from 10 a.m. - noon in the parish hall lounge. Newcomers and beginners are always welcome. Peggy and Paige Latham will display prayer shawls in the parish hall following the 8 a.m. service on Sunday, February 6. Please feel free to take a shawl for a loved one. The shawls are knit with prayerful intention for comfort and healing.
Pilgrimage - "Happy are they whose hearts are set on a pilgrim's way." Five years after Katrina, less than 25% of the 18,000 working poor that lived in the lower ninth ward in New Orleans have returned to their neighborhood, and the area looks more like a Nebraska wheat field than bustling city. Volunteers from St. Paul's youth group and Canterbury fellowship (others welcome) will head south to help rebuild their neighbors' homes in the Diocese of Louisiana June 11-19. Deadline to sign up is Feb. 15. Participation in two retreats (Feb. 26 and April 9 is required). To sign up, or for more information, contact Jonathan Schnyer by phone (434-760-1354) or email ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).
Lenten Retreat: Finding our peace in his will – Koinonia of Charlottesville is sponsoring a Lenten Retreat at St. Paul’s on Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. until noon. As we move into Lent, Margaret Guenther will offer Meditations on a few lines of T.S. Eliot’s “Ash Wednesday.”
Blessed sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain, spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river, spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated
And let my cry come unto Thee.
Guided by the poem, participants will reflect on the deceptively simple challenges of Lent – to care and not to care, to sit still amid the rocks in a frantically busy world, to let go and find our peace in God’s will.
The retreat is free and open to all, but we do ask that you call the St. Paul’s office to reserve a space.
Concert by the Catholic University of America Chamber Choir - On Friday, Feb. 18, St. Paul’s will host the Catholic University of America Chamber Choir, for a free concert at 7:30 p.m. The concert is being presented by the St. Anselm Institute, an intellectual Catholic organization at the University of Virginia. The choir is conducted by the renowned Leo Nestor, and will perform works by Jakob Handl, Monteverdi, Howells, and Britten, along with music of American composers such as David Hurd and Gerald Near. Escape a winter’s evening with some treats for the ear, mind, and soul.
Jazz Mass - It’s Mardi Gras at St. Paul’s! Sort of. On Sunday, Feb. 20, we will celebrate our first ever Jazz Mass at the 10 a.m. service. The jazz ensemble from our November centennial concert will be back to accompany our worship with jazzed-up hymns, fun sets, and a taste of New Orleans. Join us as we “sing a new song to the Lord” with a Jazz Mass!
Shrine Mont - Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for another wonderful weekend at Shrine Mont. This year's parish weekend will be held July 15-17 with plans to share many wonderful gifts from within our own parish. Watch for more details in the near future.
Newcomer's Class -- Are you new and interested in joining St. Paul's? Would you like to meet people and learn more about the opportunities to be involved at St. Paul's? Would you like to know more about the Episcopal Church, our ways of worship and our wide perspective of inclusion of all God's people wherever you are in your spiritual journey? Rector Jim Richardson will lead a Newcomer's Class beginning Feb. 6. The class will be offered after 10 a.m. service, and continue for three Sundays (Feb. 6, 13, 20). Please join us! You can sign up for the class by calling the office 295.2156.
United Nations Association - The next United Nations Association Chapter meeting will feature Bruce Knotts, executive director of the Unitarian-Universalist United Nations Office. The title of his talk is "Defining Human Rights in the 21st Century at the United Nations". This meeting of the local chapter of the UNA-USA will be Sunday, February 20 at 3:00 PM. It is free and the public is invited. Refreshments will be served. Bruce Knotts long resume of international service includes service in the Peace Corps, Management Officer in the U.S. Department of State for 23 years, Communications Director of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies, Chair of the UN NGO Human Rights Committee, Chair of Faith and Ethics Network for the International Criminal Court. His topic is a very timely concern for the United Nations. Please mark you calendars.
