Aislinn, Peg, and Alli prepare for the procession last Sunday. We welcome Aislinn as our newest acolyte, and Alli (granddaughter of George and Patti), who serves regularly in her home church in Connecticut and was here for a visit.
Thank you both for stepping forward with a desire to serve.
[More pictures below.]









Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley
Thursday MEMO
February 24, 2010

POT LUCK Supper & GAME NIGHT have been canceled due to the weather. Stay home. Stay safe. Enjoy the beauty of winter in New Hampshire.

Services this coming Sunday, February 27th and the 8th Sunday after the Epiphany, will be at 8 and 10 AM, with child care provided at the later service. Both services will be followed by coffee hour. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.

Stop by our offices when your next at church. At long last, the carpeting has been replaced, giving us a tidy new look (and an opportunity to do a lot of sorting)! Thank you for your support of our facilities improvement projects.

Mardi Gras Supper is this coming Friday, March 4th. at 6 pm: Come party with your parish family and friends in New Orleans spirit! Shake off those mid-winter blues with beads, masks, and lively jazz and zydeco music! Enjoy at tasty, good-for-the-soul menu, and don't worry, there will be plenty of non-spicy options for tame Yankee tastes. $10 for teens and adults; $2 for children 12 and under. Adults who would like to bring their own wine or beer are welcome to do so.
This is the first of our 2011 FUN-Raising dinners. 50% of the proceeds will go to support community outreach and 50% will support the church. Help make it a success.

And if we're celebrating Mardi Gras, can Ash Wednesday and Lent be far behind? Ash Wednesday is March 9th. Because that is Town Meeting Night in at least three of the towns we serve, WE WILL BE CHANGING OUR WORSHIP SCHEDULE. We will have ONE service with the imposition of ashes and holy eucharist at 5 PM (instead of services at noon and 7 PM).

If you have dried palms left from last Palm Sunday, bring them in. (There will be a basket on the piano on Sunday.) We will burn them at the beginning of the liturgy to provide the ashes for the imposition of ashes.

An appreciation of Saint Andrew's from the community: The Tamworth Exchange has been inviting people to contribute to a list of what makes Tamworth special. The following additions appeared this past week: "The Dinner Bell @ Saint Andrew's and all the volunteers that prepare and serve the meals," and "Saint Andrew's church bell on a Sunday mornings."

Readings for Sunday: Isaiah 49:66-16a, Psalm 131, 1Corinthians 4:1-5, Matthew 6:24-34

Food for thought in late February from Frederick Buechner:

There are times when I suspect the world may come to an end before most of us are ready to -- which would have the advantage at least of our not having to leave, one by one, while the party is still going strong -- but most of the time I believe that the world will manage somehow to survive us, and that has its advantages too. I suppose Judy and I will keep living in Vermont because after all these years it's hard to imagine living anywhere else, and as long as the dreams keep being dreamed, I suppose I will go on writing books. They never reach as wide a public as I would like -- too religious for secular readers, I suspect, and too secular for religious ones -- but in the end justice is almost always done in literary matters, I believe, and if they are worth enduring, they will endure. Who can say? Humanly speaking, in fact, who can say for sure about anything? And yet there are some things I would be willing to bet maybe even my life on.

That life is grace, for instance -- the givenness of it, the fathomlessness of it, the endless possibilities of its becoming transparent to something extraordinary beyond itself. That -- as I picked up somewhere in Jung and whittled into the ash stick I use for tramping around through the woods -- vocatus atque non vocatus Deus aderit, which I take to mean that in the long run, whether you call on him or don't call on him, God will be present with you. That if we really had our eyes open, we would see that all moments are key moments. That he who does not love remains in death. That Jesus is the Word made flesh who dwells among us full of grace and truth. On good days I might add a few more to the list. On bad days it's possible there might be a few less.

See you in church!
Blessings,
Heidi+

Spring comes to the Southern California desert




Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley
Thursday MEMO
January 27, 2011

Services for this coming Sunday, February 20th and the Seventh Sunday after Epiphany, will be at 8 and 10 AM with coffee hour following both services. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.

A hearty and appreciative thank you to Lisa Thompson and Tom Reinfuss for their leadership of Morning Prayer last Sunday in my absence, and to Robert Stiefel who preached and presided for the eucharist. Duane and I had a wonderfully satisfying and restful week in California visiting our son Chris, which included several walks amidst desert flowers bursting into bloom, and a visit to the Huntington Gardens and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena. And now it's good to be home.

Combat Cabin Fever with a Pot Luck Supper and Game Night this Friday evening, February 25th! Thanks to the Parish Life Committee for hosting is. Gather at 6 o'clock with a dish to share for the pot luck supper. We'd like to make the clean-up a breeze so please bring your own dishes and utensils. We'll follow our meal with games for all ages and abilities. Lots of variety! If you have a favorite, bring that along as well! No charge, just good fun, and feel free to bring a friend. If you need a ride, please call the office by Thursday.


Mark your calendars!
Invite your friends!
Prepare for Lent this year
with Mardi Gras festivities on Friday, March 4th!






An invitation from the Tamworth Nurse Association: Pizza Party at Chequers Villa on Sunday, February 27th to benefit TCNA. It costs $12.00 and will be an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet from 11:30am-2:30pm. TCNA has a deficit budget this year (-28,000) and this event will help. Everybody loves pizza so we’re hoping for good attendance.

Notes from our February 6th Parish Outreach and Mission conversation are available by clicking here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qGRj6cuhPdubjD356_wVypzz0i_TgT73xC0jI9eqRbg/edit?hl=en&authkey=CNOl4aUO

Readings for Sunday: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18, Psalm 119:33-40, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, 16-23, Matthew 5:38-48

Food for thought on Christian Community from Henri Nouwen (prompted in part by spending this past week in a Buddhist monastic community):

It is important to remember that the Christian community is a waiting community -- that is, a community that not only creates a sense of belonging but also a sense of estrangement. In the Christian community we say to each other, "We are together, but we cannot fulfill each other. We help each other, but we also have to remind each other that our destiny is beyond our togetherness." The support of the Christian community is a support in common expectation. That requires a constant [alertness to] anyone who makes the community into ... a cozy clique, and a constant encouragement [within the community] to look forward to what is to come.
The basis of the Christian community is not the family tie, or social or economic equality, or shared oppression or complaint, or mutual attraction ... but the divine call. The Christians community is not the result of human efforts. God has made us into his people by calling us out of "Egypt" to the "New Land," out of slavery to freedom, our of sin to salvation, our of captivity to liberation. All these words and images give expression to the fact that the initiative belongs to God and that God is the source of our new life together. By our common call to the the New Jerusalem, we recognize each other on the road as brothers and sisters. Therefore, as the people of God, we are called ekklesia (from the Greek kaleo = call; and ek = out) -- the community called out of the old world into the new.
As members of the Christian community, we are not primarily for each other, but for God. Our eyes would remain fixed on each other but be directed forward to what is dawning on the horizon of our existence. We discover each other by following the same vocation and by supporting each other in the same search. Therefore, the Christian community is not a closed circle of people embracing each other, but a forward-moving group of companions bound together by the same voice asking for their attention.
From Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life, 1975.

See you in church!
Blessings, Heidi+

Saint Andrew's-in-the-Snow
Thursday MEMO
February 10, 2011

This coming Sunday, February 13th and the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, we will have two services, one at 8 and one at 10, each followed by coffee and refreshments.
But this Sunday is not "business as usual!"
At 8 o'clock we will have a service of Morning Prayer, with Tom Reinfuss and Lisa Thompson officiating and Tom offering the homily which (I'm told) will drawn on his experiences as a chaplain with Seafarer's Friend. Lay ministry takes many forms, including worship leadership. I am grateful to Lisa and Tom, both of whom are trained and licensed Lay Worship Leaders, for their desire to exercise their ministry with you.
At the 10 o'clock service of Holy Eucharist, the Rev. Robert Stiefel will preach and preside.
Robert is a retired faculty member from the University of New Hampshire, and engaging preacher, and a welcomed supply clergy person here at Saint Andrew's.

Duane I will be taking a week of vacation and retreat time with our son Chris at his Theravada Buddhist monastery in the hills east of San Diego California. We leave Thursday morning and will return on the 17th. In the event of a pastoral emergency in my absence, please call Debra Hoyt at the church if it is during morning office hours or contact Sammie Wakefield at 476-2346 or Sally DeGroot at 323-2050. Episcopal clergy at our neighboring parishes are available if needed.

Do check your mail box when you are at church. You will be rewarded with a Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley pen, courtesy of the Parish Life Committee. These have been purchased to include with our new member packets and to offer to guests, but the committee figured members might like to have one as well. So enjoy... use it out in the world... share it when someone who needs a pen... and if you lose track of it, know that our church is being made known wherever the pen goes!

Game Night coming up! On Friday evening, February 25th, the Parish Life Committee will be hosting a Pot Luck supper and Game Night. Gather at 6 O'clock with a dish to share for the pot luck supper. We'll follow our meal with games for all ages and abilities. Lots of variety! If you have a favorite, bring that along as well!

Would you be willing to be on an "Available to Help" list? From time to time someone comes to the church in need of help that is not necessarily financial. This week we received such a request from a woman who need some snow shoveled. Sometimes it's a request for a ride needed on short notice or a run and/or ride to a grocery store or pharmacy. These requests do not come often, but when they do it would be helpful to me if we had a list of folks who would be willing to be called. Being on this list would never require you to say yes to any given request, but it would mean that you'd be willing to be called. If being part of this approach is interesting to you, please let me know. If you would be willing to be the official "caller" for such a list, having such a person would be helpful as well. Thanks.


Kathy and Albert prepare the table to celebrate Peg Cade's birthday at coffee hour -- Cake and decorations courtesy of David Manley. Thanks, David!









Readings for Sunday: Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 15:15-20, Psalm 119:1-8, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, Matthew 5:21-37

Food for reflection: Cathie Lewis, Duane, and I have just returned from the joyous Celebration of New Ministry at St. James' Church in Laconia, at which Tobias Nyatsambo was installed as rector. The biddings that follow are from the Litany for the Renewal of the Church that we prayed this evening:

That the Church may become alive again with the fire of its first charity, fearless of danger ... in the splendor of that Life which is the light of the world.
Receive our prayer, O Christ.
That the Church may be worthy of its liberty, persistent in reform, active in benevolence ...]
Receive our prayer, O Christ.
That the old may dream dreams, and the young see visions; that its sons and daughters may prophesy, bearing eager witness of its beauty to the world.
Receive our prayer, O Christ.
That all its members, putting aside self ... may seek and find God, and rejoice in the truth.
Receive our prayer, O Christ.
That we may forsake that love of party which keeps us from loving one another; and so, coming together in friendship, we may find the overpowering love of God, which shall knit us all together in on united Church.
Receive our prayer, O Christ.
And, finally, that the church, with love recovered in its midst, may teach all to love one another, and all nations to dwell together in helpfulness and friendship, reconciled and redeemed.
Receive our prayer, O Christ.

Blessings, All.
Have a good week.
Pax, Heidi+

Annual Meeting conversation



Saint Andrew's-in-the-Valley Thursday MEMO
February 3, 2011

This coming Sunday, February 6th, we will have ONE service only at 9 AM. We hope you will join us for worship and that you will stay for coffee hour and an open conversation about Outreach and Mission, led by Duane Dale. Where do we want to focus our support for the coming year? How are we called to address the MDGs (the United Nations goals towards reducing global poverty)? All voices are welcome. (Yes, I know it's Super Bowl Sunday. Consider this your warm-up!)

Annual Meeting Follow-up: We had a lively, well-attended liturgy, parish brunch, and Annual Meeting last Sunday. Thank you to all who brought food to share and to our kitchen crew from Parish Life Committee who set it out and did the clean-up.

We now have three new Vestry members: Bob Seston, George Rau, and Phil Wallick (summer), and two new Delegates to Convocation and Convention: Cathie Lewis and George Rau.
Continuing in their previous positions are Sammie Wakefield, Sally DeGroot, Gretchn Behr, and Jonathan Brady as officers. Judy Grace, Carol Tubman, and Frank Lombardi as Vestry members, and Bruce Kennedy and Kaitlyn Marshall as our Delegates to Convocation and Convention. I hope you will thank them all for their willingness to serve.
If you missed last Sunday's meeting, do remember to pick up your copy of the Annual Report. Affiliate members: Your copies are in your parish mail boxes. If you would like it mailed to you, please let us know. It is also available on the web site.

The snow storm caused cancellations of various parish meetings that are now in the process of being rescheduled. Check with your committee chairs for dates and times of the next meeting.

Readings for Sunday: Isaiah 58!-9, Psalm 112:1-9, 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, Matthew 5:13-20

Food for thought: As I mentioned last Sunday in homily/rector's report, the ability and willingness to listen deeply to each other, perhaps especially when there are significant differences in opinion, is at the heart of meaningful relationships and a healthy, diverse community. The following poem by John Fox came to me this week from a dear friend and I offer it to you:

When Someone Deeply Listens to You
When someone deeply listens to you,
the room where you stay
starts a new life.
...and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind's eye.
If it is as if gold has been discovered.
When someone listens to you,
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

Blessings, all!
See you in church.
Heidi+