Pentecost 2012
Table of Contents:
Diocesan Convention
Letter from the Rector
Notes from the Vestry
Church Calendar (see Calendar)
Keep the Spirit Alive (see Donations)
Beaver Cross 2012
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An Event Worth Celebrating
This year St. Stephen’s will celebrate our 50th chicken barbecue on Sunday, May 20th from 12:00 to 2:00 PM at the Monument. The Vestry of St. Stephen’s Church will supply a ½ chicken (approximately 1¼ lbs.). The Youth Group will also be on hand with their baked goods sale, which will include those baked beans that seem to sell out really quickly, so be sure to stop by and check it out.
As in the past, we need help to set up the pit the evening before the barbecue and volunteers are welcome to help with the pre-sale activities starting around 8:00 AM Sunday morning.
Back to the topDiocesan Convention
This year a number of missionary bishops will be at the Convention to take place at Camp-of-the-Woods, Speculator. Workshops will focus on evangelism and reaching people in your community. So, save the dates — June 8-10, 2012 — and come and join us at this year’s convention. May 29th is the registration deadline. Adult and Youth Registration forms are available in St. Stephen’s Parish House.
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Letter From the Rector
Dear Friends,
Traditional imagery of the Easter season, both religious and secular, focuses on images of life — represented by living things: flowers — not just flowers on the altar of the church — but on the blossoms now appearing in our gardens and on the forest floor. The other day, Susie and I enjoyed a walk through the lovely Wilton Wildlife Park, and part of the pleasure of that walk was seeing the tiny wild flowers poking up through the dead leaves on the forest floor — wild strawberry blossoms, buttercups, a pretty star-shaped white flower, and, of course, purple lupines which hopefully will attract blue Karner butterflies — all the new life of spring, perfect, lovely symbols of the Lord returning to new glorious life on the first Easter day. The name Easter does not have a Christian origin, but harks back to an ancient pagan Anglo-Saxon festival in pre-Christian England, a festival celebrating life, a festival from which we retain Easter eggs, images of incipient life, bunny rabbits, imagining the fertility of all Nature. During the spring and summer seasons when the richness of natural life is burgeoning, perhaps in our imagination from time to time we might associate it with the Lord and creator of life, who gave each one of us life, and whose own miraculous return from the dead foreshadows and promises for you and me the Eternal Life which is our destiny through His almighty power and His infinite love.
Father John Kettlewell
Rector
Notes from the Vestry
Already we are midway through spring and the Annual Monument Chicken Barbecue is almost upon us. It is our 50th, as many of you may know, and we hope to make it a little special this year. Tickets are only $6 again this year for a ½ bird. Fifty cents from each ticket sold will be donated to SAFER.
Now that the better weather is here, the painter for the memorial inscriptions on two remaining stained-glass windows is available and we are making plans for a memorial plaque.
The 144th Convention of the Diocese of Albany will take place from June 8th through the 10th. Brittany Cole and Sarah Garnsey will be St. Stephen’s delegates to the Annual Convention.
Beaver Cross is offering seven week-long overnight camp sessions starting June 24th. Day camp sessions begin July 2nd.
Helene Patterson has introduced a change in St. Stephen’s Youth Program to two (2) Sundays per month with the remaining Sundays to include in-church activities (e.g., reading lessons, serving as acolytes, lighting candles, etc.).
On a closing note, Doug Bischoff has indicated that he will be leaving. We wish to express our heartfelt appreciation for Doug’s service to St. Stephen’s Church and offer him our best wishes as we begin to search for a replacement organist.
Back to the topBeaver Cross 2012
The centerpiece of our diocese’s ministry to the youth of the region is Beaver Cross Camp. In 2012, Beaver Cross offers week-long camp sessions to kids from 1st to 12th grade and welcomes youth of all denominational, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Brochures covering Overnight Camp and Day Camp are available in the Parish House for those interested. The brochures also include registration forms or you may register online at www.CtKCenter.org.
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