June 11, 2015

Peonies given in loving memory of Alison Hagerup
by her parents, Bill and Marge.
Services for this coming Sunday, June 14th and the Third 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.

The readings for this coming Sunday are: 1 Samuel 15:34-16:3, Psalm 20, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10, (11-13), 14-17.

Don't miss the picture gallery from Taste of the Valley at the end of this post.

THE PICNIC IS COMING !!!
Our Third Annual All-Parish Picnic at White Lake State Park will be held June 21st at 10:30 AM, a week from this coming Sunday. A regular service of Holy Eucharist will also be held as usual at the church at 8 AM. Our event will be held rain or shine since the pavilion is under cover. This has proved to be a fun community event, so feel free to invite friends and family members who might not regularly join you for church. The worship service will begin at about 10:30 (not our regular 10:00), and will be followed by the picnic. You are free to stay and enjoy the park until park closing time.

When you come through the “check-in gate” just tell them you are there for Saint Andrew’s Picnic, then proceed to the pavilion. Set-up will be taking place from 9:00 on, so feel free to arrive early to drop off your food and get settled. The site is wheelchair accessible, including the bathrooms. Burgers, hotdogs, buns, and beverages will be provided, but you are invited to bring  something for the food table: chips, salads, or dessert. The swimming at White Lake is excellent and good for children as well as adults; the water warms up early. Bring your kayak if you want to enjoy the whole late.

The official amount that the church will pay for pavilion use is $5 per person, BUT WE DO NOT CHARGE FOR THE EVENT. If you want to come, come! If you would like to help subsidize the cost to the church, we welcome your contribution, large or small. (Checks can be made out to St. Andrew’s with a memo: for parish picnic.)

What to bring:
A food table contribution of chips, salad, or dessert
Informal clothing suitable to the weather, including an extra layer in case it gets chilly

Albert and Tommy in 2013
Optional:
A comfortable portable chair (The pavilion has only backless picnic tables.)
Swim suit and towel (if you want).
Sunscreen
Kayak or swim toys

What not to bring:
Pets, with the exception of licensed service animals.

Directions from the south: The White Lake State Park entrance is on the left about a three-minute drive north from the West Ossipee intersection of Route 25 W and Rte 16. (Think McDonald’s, then head north toward Conway.)

Directions from the north: It is on the right about 3.5 miles south from Chocorua Village.

Click here for a map of the park: http://www.nhstateparks.org/uploads/pdf/White-Lake_Campground-Map.pdf

Garden peonies, Siberian iris, and ferns
Food for thought in the form of a message from the Rector about Altar Flowers…

Think about it: Can you imagine the altar without altar flowers during the summer season?  They add beauty and variety to our sensual worship experience, but they are more than just “decoration.”
The long-standing tradition of the church is that flowers are offered (provided) by individuals as a way of inviting the congregation to share in joys and memories of important people and events in the life of the giver, so that all of us together can lift up that person or event in our shared prayers of memorials and thanksgiving. The names of both the person(s) being honored and the giver are included in the bulletin.

The flowers can be ordered from the florist through our office ($25), or provided by the giver, either by your own ordering, or your own providing of flowers, or your requesting that an altar guild volunteer procure flowers from someone’s garden (with permission) and arrange them, for which it is also appropriate to offer a monetary contribution to the church for the flowers. At the same time, please know that this is not about money; it's about fuller participation in our worshiping community.
At Saint Andrew’s we have simple evergreens during the four Sundays of Advent, poinsettias and laurel roping during Christmas and early Epiphany, simple bare branches that over time leaf out during Lent, and Easter lilies during the early Sundays of Eastertide. That leaves approximately 30 Sundays in winter and from May through November, including some special days, open and available for offering flowers.

What great joy in your life – what wonderful, grace-filled event – what sweet and cherished memory might you like to mark and lift up to God with thanksgiving by providing the flowers for an appropriate Sunday,
perhaps the anniversary of the death of a loved one, perhaps their birthday, your own anniversary, perhaps to honor and give thanks for someone’s caring in your life, or the birth of a grandchild, or graduation or a marriage?
The natural world around us – including our gardens, but also our fields and shrubs – are a bountiful source. The flower sign-up chart is posted on the Food Pantry door in the Parish Hall. If you have questions, please talk to Gretchen, Deb Hoyt (in the office) or me. If each household had the pleasure of choosing one Sunday with significance to them, we would know each other better and pray for each other more deeply.

 Blessings,

Heidi+


Picture Gallery: Last Sunday 28 of us gathered at Hobb’s Tavern for Bearcamp School Taste of the Valley dinner event


Preston step-dances up a storm to fiddle tunes!
Winner #1: Carol wins the golf tournament fee and gifts it to George!

Winner #2: A one-year Remick Museum family membership