Quiz time: This photo was provided by a member of the parish.
Question 1: Who are the two vested women?
Question 2: A bishop's miter (hat) appears behind them. Who was wearing it?

For bonus points: What was the occasion, and the year?


Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley
Thursday MEMO
January 13, 2011

Services for Sunday, January 16th, the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, will be at 8 and 10 AM, with coffee hours following both services. The Rev. Ellie McLaughlin will be presiding and preaching in my absence. (Duane and I will be visiting my father and step-mother on the Vineyard, returning Monday.) Ellie+ is a good friend of this parish and is pleased to be coming back to be with all of you. I will be with you in spirit.

Reminders of upcoming events:

Last call for reports for the Parish Annual Report. Reports from committee chairs are due in Debra's "in-bin" by Tuesday, January 18. Please note she would prefer it in electronic form, so email it to office@standrewsinthevalley.org. Thanks.

On Friday, January 28th at 7 PM the Parish Life Committee will be hosting a Movie Night. Take the evening off! Come, enjoy a fun film with parish friends and snack on popcorn that will be supplied. The film will be Letters to Juliet, a romantic comedy about an American girl on vacation in Italy who finds an unanswered letter to Juliet in a Verona courtyard.

Sunday, January 30th is Annual Meeting Sunday. We will have ONE service only at 9:00, followed by brunch and the meeting. We will be out by noon. Annual Meeting is an opportunity for all of us to come together for a review of the past year, to hear the rector's "State of the Parish report," welcome the new members who have joined us this year, to receive the Annual Report and ask questions, and to elect new Vestry members. A quorum is required to hold the meeting, so your attendance is requested and encouraged. Please plan on being with us.

Sunday, February 6th will be another ONE service Sunday (9 AM). The liturgy will be followed by an open conversation about Outreach and Mission led by Duane Dale. Where to we want to focus our support for the coming year? How are we called to address the MDGs (the UN Millennium Development Goals towards reducing global poverty)? Is there hands-on mission work that we might like to pursue? All voices are welcome for this open conversation. (It's also Super Bowl Sunday, but that's later in the day, so you can do both!)

Thinking ahead to Mardi Gras! For the past many years we have had a Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on "Fat Tuesday" (Mardi Gras), the last day before Ash Wednesday -- that last day before Lent begins. This year that evening falls at the same time as the Tamworth Town Meeting, so....we will be doing something different! Instead, the FUN-Raising Committee is planning a Mardi Gras Dinner with festivities on the preceding Friday, March 4th. We'll be planning a menu of tasty Cajun food and New Orleans specialties, and we're hoping for some good music as well. Zydeco, anyone? Or New Orleans jazz?
All we need is a team of creative cooks and party-planners. If you're interested, tell Diane Lombardi (539-6134). This will be the first of the FUN-Raising dinners for 2011. Proceeds will be divided between outreach organizations and the parish.

Readings for Sunday: Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-12, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42

A Prayer for Parish Life as we approach our Annual Meeting on January 30th....

God of mercy, strengthen us to help shape a parish
where diversity is a source of enrichment,
compassion is common,
life's poetry realized,
suffering lightened through sharing,
justice attended,
joy pervasive,
hope lived,
the hum of the universe heard,
and together with you and each other
we build what is beautiful, true, worthy of your generosity to us,
an echo of your kingdom. Amen
by Ted Loder
Blessings,
Heidi+