July 25, 2013

 

The services for this coming Sunday, July 28th, the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 AM.

Readings for this Sunday:  Hosea 1:2-10; Psalm 85; Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19); Luke 11:1-13.

Don’t forget the Barbeque! It’s tomorrow evening at 6:30! Delicious home-smoked pork, courtesy of Chris Boldt with secret sauce by Caroline – along with specialty beans prepared by our summer friends Mickey and Elaine Hassan, Gretchen’s special coleslaw, pasta salad, and Sandwich Creamery ice-cream with fresh berries for dessert! Folk and Celtic music by The Caravan Band! Bring your friends and don’t miss the summer fun! More info (will open in new window).

Calling all walkers!!! The Annual Church World Service CROP Walk will take place on Sunday, August 4^th, (a week from this coming Sunday), beginning at 1:30 from the Baptist Church in Sandwich. Please plan on walking the five-mile loop through Sandwich. Sponsor envelopes will be available this Sunday following both services. Our Community Food Pantry and Dinner Bell both benefit significantly from the money raised.

You are invited to the Rector’s Biennial Summer Brunch to take place immediately following the 9:00 service on Sunday, August 4^th. The rectory is at 247 Pound Road in Madison, a twenty-minute drive from the church. Heidi and Duane will provide beverages and a breakfast casserole, and welcome additional contributions to the food table. Printed directions will be available in your bulletin that Sunday. (And, yes, you’re invited even if you’re not in church that day!)

People of the Way discussion groups are now underway. This coming week, the Wednesday morning group will focus on chapters 3, 4, and 5, meeting at 10:15 in the Prince Room. The Wednesday evening group will meet next on August 7 – at 5:30 for a brown-bag supper followed at 6:00 by discussion of chapters 3 and 4.  

There will be an informal Roundtable Eucharist, open to all, in the Prince Room at 6:00 on Wednesday, July 31. This will be followed by a brown-bag supper, with the July Vestry Meeting beginning at 7:00. If you’ve been unable to attend on Sunday, desire a midweek eucharist, or would like to experience the intimacy of an informal celebration together, please join us.

Saint Andrew’s in the news! This week we received special recognition from the Governor’s Commission on Disability for our accessibility efforts. The award was presented at the State House by Governor Maggie Hassan. We were recognized for upgrading our Parish Hall entry ramp and doorway to the standards of the Americans for Disability Act even though churches are exempt from the ADA’s legal mandates. The award cited our desire to be welcoming to all members of the surrounding communities who use the building. As Duane Dale, who chairs our Facilities Planning committee, put it, “We recognized the Americans for Disabilities Act as the best standard for what it means to be accessible and welcoming, and we decided to pursue that standard.” New handrails on both sides of the walk, extending all the way to the parking lot, are about to be installed.

 

Tom Huckman, of Northcountry Metalcraft and also a parishioner, shown here with helpers, brought the railings over to fine-tune them prior to painting.

 

 Click here for more pictures of the awards ceremony http://dfdphotography.zenfolio.com/p896979007 

 

Saint Andrew’s out in the world: A large congregation of community members and friends, including an entourage from Saint Andrew’s, gathered last week in the beauty of a summer Sunday afternoon for a Celebration of the life of Billy McAdams, a good friend of the parish and for many years our lawn care provider and snow plower. The Norcorsses provided the site by the Bearcamp in South Tamworth near Billy’s home; Heidi officiated for prayers and sharing of reflections. Please continue to hold Billy’s wife Gina and their children in your prayers.

Food for thought from John Greenleaf Whittier...

Though heralded with naught of fear,

Or outward sing or show;
Though only to the inward ear
It whispers soft and low;
Though dropping, as the manna fell,
Unseen, yet from above,
Noiseless as dew-fall, heed it well,–
Thy Father's call of love!

See you in church!

Blessings, Heidi+

July 18, 2013

 

The services for this coming Sunday, July 21st, the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 AM.

Readings for this Sunday:  Amos 8:1-12, Psalm 52, Colossians 1:15-28, Luke 10:38-42.

See Picture galleries below for

-the Celebration of the Life of Our Friend and Brother in Christ John Booty on July 13^th.
-from Church Island in Squam Lake where Heidi preached last Sunday.

Tickets are going fast for our Holy Smoke Backyard Barbeque to be held on July 26^th. Have you reserved or purchased yours? Call or stop by the office or plan on picking them up this Sunday.

The Celebration of the Life of Billy McAdams, long-time grounds-keeper and snow-remover for Saint Andrew’s and good friend of the parish, will be held this coming Sunday afternoon, July 21, at 4 PM in the meadow behind the Norcross house, at 1218 Bearcamp Highway (Rte 25), South Tamworth. This is about half a mile past the South Tamworth country store coming from the church. There will be signs designating the location. Gina, Shana, and Joshua are extending an open invitation to all who knew and loved Billy. Please join those of us who will be there as a way of expressing Saint Andrew’s appreciation of Billy and his years of service to the church. Come be the church out in the community!

Billy died very suddenly of a heart attack on July 10^th. There is a Billy McAdams Memorial Fund that is being set up at the Meredith Village Savings Bank. Checks may be made out to the "Billy McAdams Memorial Fund" and mailed to Tom Vachon at PO Box 28, South Tamworth, 03883. Billy’s several jobs were the major income source for his family. It is hoped that this fund will assist the family in making ends meet during this difficult time of transition. Questions? Talk to Rev. Heidi or Elizabeth Wiesner.

Another untimely death: Arrangements are being made for a funeral for Jeb Pike to be held at St. Andrew’s next week – date and time yet to be determined. Jeb was a long-time Tamworth resident, owner of Granite State Self-Storage in Chocorua, and a former parishioner and vestry member at St. Andrew’s in the 1980s. His wife, Beverly, extends an invitation to all who knew or remember Jeb to attend the service.

Calling all walkers!!! The Annual Church World Service CROP Walk will take place on Sunday, August 4^th, beginning at 1:30 from the Baptist Church in Sandwich. Please plan on walking the five-mile loop through Sandwich and Sponsor envelopes will be available this Sunday following both services. Our Community Food Pantry and Dinner Bell both benefit significantly from the money raised.

Saint Andrew’s will be at the Tamworth Farmers’ Market this Saturday! Stop by the Market between 9 and noon at the four corners in Tamworth Village. You can buy your tickets to our Holy Smoke Backyard Barbeque to be held on July 26^th and/or a chance for two tickets to a Red Sox Game, as well as sign up to walk in the CROP Walk – all while you enjoy the pleasures of this extended community. Another opportunity to be the church out in the world!

People of the Way discussion groups are now underway. This coming week, the Wednesday morning group will focus on chapters 2, 3, and 4, meeting at 10:15 in the Prince Room. The Wednesday evening group will meet at 5:30 for a light supper followed by discussion of the introduction and chapters one and two. Please confirm with the office if you plan to attend.

Thank you to all who provided such wonderful hospitality for John’s service last Saturday, with special thanks going to Sally, Carol, Gretchen, David and Duane for handling set-up, a wonderful reception, and clean-up, and to Bernice for her organ-playing, accompanying Clare Fischer-Davies for two solo offerings and the congregation for the splendid hymns.

Food for thought from poet Mary Oliver…
Summer Story

When the hummingbird
sinks its face
into the trumpet vine
into the funnels

of the blossom
and the tongue
leaps out
and throbs,

I am scorched
to realize once again
how many small, available things
are in the world

that aren’t
pieces of gold
or power ––
that nobody owns

or could buy even
for a hillside of money––
that just
float about the world,

or drift over the fields,
or into the gardens,
and into the tents of the vines,
and now here I am

spending my time,
as the saying goes,
watching until the watching turns into feeling,
so that I feel I am myself

a small bird
with a terrible hunger,
with a thin beak probing and dipping,
and a heart that races so fast

it is only a heartbeat ahead of breaking––
and I am the hunger and the assuagement,
and also I am the leaves and the blossoms,
and, like them, I am full of delight, and shaking.

See you in church!
Blessings, Heidi+

-the Celebration of the Life of Our Friend and Brother in Christ John Booty on July 13^th.

Rev. Heidi, Bp. Rob, Rev. Ellen Aitken (preacher)



Clare Fischer-Davies

Kitty Lou, Gillian and Diane bringing forward the bread and wine.

Retired NH Bp. Theuner with former St. Andrew's rector Clare Fischer-Davies

Bell-ringer Elsa

 

The Rectors of St. Andrew's
Clare Fischer-Davies, Heidi Frantz-Dale, Peg Custer

Sammie, former Sr. Warden for all three rectors!



-from Church Island in Squam Lake where Heidi preached last Sunday.

The boat ride out

View from Church Island

What is it about the front pews???

Morning Prayer officiant and preacher

July 11, 2013

The Service in Celebration of the Life of the Rev. John Booty will be held here this Saturday, July 13^th, at 3 pm. Members of the parish are encouraged to bring light finger food for the reception table.

The services for this coming Sunday, July 14^th, the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 AM with Ellie McLaughlin as our guest preacher. Rev. Heidi will be guest preaching at Church Island.

Readings for this Sunday:  Amos 7:7-1, Psalm 82, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37.

People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity! Lots of you have been reading it. Our first conversation will be this coming Wednesday, July 17^th  at 10:15 and will cover the first three chapters.

Sign-up sheets on the easel in the Parish Hall.
      Wednesday mornings, July 17, 24, and 31 from 10:15 to 11:30
       Wednesday evening conversations with supper from 5:30 to 7
              (Express your date preferences)
       After church on two or three Sundays, at 11:30 (Express your date preferences)

HOLY SMOKE! Mark your calendars! Reserve or purchase your tickets! Invite your friends! Help get the word out. Flyers are available in the Parish Hall and we’d like your help getting them posted on area bulletin boards. Also please check the sign-up list and sign up to lend a hand. These dinners depend on broad-based parish participation so that we share the work, the satisfaction, and the fun!

 

It is with great sadness that I announce the unexpected and untimely death of Billy McAdams. While not an official member of the parish, for more than a decade, Billy has been our faithful snow-removal person (and in past years our lawn-care person as well). He died very suddenly of a massive heart attack on Wednesday of this week working in his wood lot. A gentle, humble man with a warm heart and sweet smile, as well as a deep commitment to this church, he will be missed. Please keep his beloved Gina and their children Shana and Joshua in your prayers. Plans for a service have not yet been made.

Food for thought (from Not by Bread Alone, 20120, by Jay Cornier) …

If we pay attention, any moment or any place or any person might be a bearer of wisdom…Nothing is off limits as a potential source of wisdom, as the dwelling-place for divinity… Jesus’ invitation in the gospel to fishermen, tax collectors, farmers, laborers, and peasants to be his followers is extended to us, here in our own time and place. Our baptisms were our acceptances of that invitation to take on the work of discipleship in the homes and classrooms and workplaces and minivans where we live our lives. Christ invites us to take on the same work that was entrusted to him by the Father: to bring others to God through the Gospel of peace, reconciliation, and love.

What common, simple, everyday activity or task of yours can you make into a work of God?

See you in church!

Blessings, Heidi+

July 4, 2013

The service for this coming Sunday, July 7^th, the Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, will be ONE SERVICE ONLY at 9:00 am. (At that hour, the church will still be lovely and cool.) Coffee hour will be hosted by the Stewardship and Finance Committees. Join us as we welcome our summer members and their families.

The Service in Celebration of the Life of the Rev. John Booty will be held here on Saturday, July 13^th, at 3 pm. Members of the parish are encouraged to bring light finger food for the reception table.

Readings for this Sunday:  2 Kings 5:1-14; Psalm 30; Galatians 6:7-16; Luke 10:1-11, 16-20.

Sign up for book discussions of People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity! Lots of you have been reading it. Now let's engage with it. Sign-up sheets on the easel in the Parish Hall.
       Wednesday mornings, July 17, 24, and 31 from 10:15 to 11:30
       Wednesday evening conversations with supper from 5:30 to 7 (Express your date preferences)
       After church on two or three Sundays, at 11:30 (Express your date preferences)

Congratulations, Saint Andrew’s!!!  We have just received word that on July 23^rd we will be receiving a New Hampshire Governor’s Accessibility Award 2013. Each year the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities recognizes organizations that have done exemplary work in making their facilities truly accessible to people with a range of disabilities.
The particular reasons for our recognition? As a church, we are not required by law to meet state accessibility codes, but because of our parish commitment to welcoming all who might choose to make use of our facilities:  We did our homework, including going to Concord to meet with the access specialist so that our ramp project meets the top standards in terms of slope, landings, width, railings (now in the works but still to be installed), grading, and entry door. We are committed to providing access to community groups. We obtained community funding, along with generous contributions from members.
The actual award ceremony will take place on Tuesday, July 23^rd at 1:00 pm at the State House, where Maggie Hassen will present us with our award. If you’d like to attend, please tell Rev. Heidi.

Food for thought during this week of celebrating Freedom:

Those who belong to God and know themselves to be loved unconditionally by God find great confidence and freedom. There is nothing that God does not know. There is no place where God is not present. There is nothing that can separate us from God’s love. Nothing!  Ever!
Br. David Vryhof, SSJE 

See you in church!

Blessings, Heidi+