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| Prelude "Down by the River to Pray" [Don’t miss Picnic picture gallery below] |
Services for this
coming Sunday, June 28th and the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost,
will be at 8 and 10 AM, with coffee hour following both services. We hope you
will join us for worship and fellowship.
Readings for this Sunday: 2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27, Psalm 30 1-6, 12-13, 2 Corinthians 8:7-15, Mark 5:21-43.
Reminder: Next
Sunday, July 5th, we will have ONE service only, at 9 o’clock.
Since this is will be July 4th weekend and often a time for
returning friends, family members, and guests, don’t hesitate to remind folks
that the service will be at 9, rather than 10.
The 78th
General Convention of the Episcopal Church opens today in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I encourage you to take some time at the Convention website http://www.generalconvention.org/ You
will have access to the “Blue Book,” which contains all the resolutions, as
well as daily reports.
General Convention takes place every three years and runs
for slightly longer than one week. It is an intense, exciting, legislative
event that shapes our church through democratic action by the House of Bishops
and the House of Deputies, guided by the Holy Spirit. We will be represented by
our diocesan deputation consisting of four lay deputies (Cathie Lewis is one of
the alternates and will be there.), four clerical deputies, and our bishop.
A scan through the Blue Book will give you a sense of the
vast range and depth of the resolutions that will be addressed. To name just a
few:
·
The Election of the next Presiding Bishop
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Issues of restructuring and re-imagining the
Episcopal church and seminaries
·
Developing and maintaining online resources for
licensed lay leadership in small congregation
·
Urging all congregations to establish
relationship-based social justice minitreis with the people we serve
·
Pastoral ministry resources for victims of
trauma
·
Taking a fresh look at Just War tradition as it
applies to cyber warfare and robotics
·
Calling on the church to set a time of
discernment regarding economic investment/divestment strategies.
·
Developing formation materials that relate to
the 5 Marks of Mission
·
Urging all to become members of FORMA (www.episcofroma.org)
·
Developing liturgical materials to honor God in
creation
·
Authorizing a variety of liturgies relating to
Marriage and the Blessing of Lifelong Covenants
The New Hampshire deputies will be posting daily blogs
reflecting on the issues under discussion, as well as personal reflections: http://nhgeneralconvention.blogspot.com/
The General Convention Media hub will have live streaming of
some events: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/gc/
Episcopal News Service (ENS): http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens
And for on-site daily news coverage, opinions, and analysis
from different perspectives:
Center Aisle http://centeraisle.net/
Episcopal Café http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Issues from the progressive perspective of “The Consultation: http://www.theconsultation.org/
Center Aisle http://centeraisle.net/
Episcopal Café http://www.episcopalcafe.com/
Issues from the progressive perspective of “The Consultation: http://www.theconsultation.org/
The internet makes it possible to be well-connected to this
core event in the life of our church from the comfort of your own home … or
wherever your mobile device takes you! I encourage you to jump in and explore.
One suggestion is to zero in on a few issues that interest you and track them
closely. You might want to interact with blog posts, especially with our own
deputation. And regardless of your internet explorations, please KEEP GENERAL
CONVENTION ACTIVELY IN YOUR PRAYERS, including prayers for strength and
sustenance for the bishops and deputies, who will be working (often for
grueling hours) to shape this branch of Christ’s Church to be all that we can
be for the benefit of this world and to the glory of God.
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| Kayaks at the ready |
Picnic Reflections….
The weather may not have been what we had hoped for, but the rain was its own gift to our verdant world, and we all stayed dry under the pavilion. We missed you if you stayed home, but offer the gallery of pictures that follows.
The weather may not have been what we had hoped for, but the rain was its own gift to our verdant world, and we all stayed dry under the pavilion. We missed you if you stayed home, but offer the gallery of pictures that follows.
Special thanks:
·
To David and Carol for taking care of the food
arrangements
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To Tom and Duane for getting the grills
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To Tom, Jim, and Beverly for grilling
·
To Chris, Carolyn and Sammie for their impromptu
sung prelude “Down by the River to Pray”
·
To Duane for leading the choir and the choir for
their wonderful support of all of us in our hearty singing
·
To Sammie and Lisa for their altar guild work
involved with taking church on the road!
·
To our photographers: Duane, Connor, Melissa,
and Albert (And if there were more of you, please send your pix. Every photographer offers a different perspective!)
·
To those of you who made financial contributions
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To the bakers, salad-makers, and snack provider
·
To ALL of you who came, for your enthusiasm,
faithfulness, and hearty willingness to celebrate and delight in God’s
creation, undaunted by dampness and cool temperatures
·
And to our children – some of whom flaunted the
weather entirely and had a great time swimming!!!
Blessings, All!
See you in church!
Heidi+
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| Altar frontal, stole, and pillow designed and sewn by children of the parish during our Liturgical Arts group two years ago |
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| One of our parish photographers |
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| Pondering the implications of the Gospel together |
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| Delicious desserts, including Bunker strawberry brownies and Preston blue-frosted cupcakes (Blue's the water) with fish-shaped sprinkles. |
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Ellie’s t-shirt:
Laudamus te.
Benedicimus te.
Adoramus te. Glorificatmus te.
Translation: We praise you, we bless you,
we adore you, we glorify you … for thy great glory!
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