July 9, 2015






Thank you, Carolyn & Chris Boldt
Services for this coming Sunday, July 12th and the 7th Sunday after Pentecost will be at 8 and 10 o’clock with coffee hours following both services. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.
 
Readings for Sunday: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19, Psalm 24, Ephesians 1:3-14, Mark 6:14-29
Have you put the Lobster/Steak Dinner on your calendar? Please do, and invite your friends as well! The date is August 7. Tickets need to be purchased in advance. We also would like your help distributing fliers to local bulletin boards … or put one in your car window. They are on the stand near the kitchen in the Parish Hall.
 
 
 
A recommendation: “Good People,” now playing at the Barnstormers Theatre. In many ways, this week’s show at the Barnstormers says a lot about listening – especially about listening to the difficult aspects of people’s lives. It’s full of humor, very human, and also very thought-provoking. As we Episcopalians learn to rise to the challenge that is being put forward to all of us in the wider church of really paying attention to the lives of people we might not otherwise be in contact with, this production is worth listening to. It’s a great mix of entertaining comedy, good theatrical drama, wonderful characters and engaging acting! It might also prompt a bit of soul-searching. The setting: South Boston and Chestnut Hill. NY Drama Critics’ Award for best play of 2010-2011. How ‘bout using it as a coffee hour conversation starter?
 View of the mountains from Lakeview Neuro Rehab Center

Food for thought and prayer…
Since my arrival here at Saint Andrew’s in 2004 I have been serving as chaplain to the residents and staff at Lakeview Neuro Rehab Center in Effingham, gathering a group of 6 to 12 clients (and usually a staff person or two) for a simple eucharist twice a month. Many are among the most faithful and eager church-goers I’ve ever known! They sing with terrific enthusiasm, accompanied by shaker eggs and two buffalo drums. Their prayers are heartfelt, their reflections and questions often insightful, they often show deep concern and tenderness towards each other an me, and virtually every time someone appreciates how tasty the bread is and wants to know who baked it! (Thanks regularly get relayed to Joan Wright and George Rau.)
Please keep all of them – the former and the few remaining clients, as well as the staff of Lakeview – in your prayers. This is an especially challenging time for everyone, as each day long-time clients are transferred to other facilities around the country, the staff has been dwindling, and those remaining have been given notice. The facility is officially to close by August 1st. For all the difficulties, which I’m sure you have read about in local papers, there are many deeply caring, hard-working and faithful care-providers there who are now working under poignant and considerable pressure and generally low moral as they say goodbye to clients some of whom they have worked with for many years as they worry about their own futures. The clients, most who have difficulty understanding anything as complex as why this closing is deemed necessary, are anxious and uncertain about their futures.
My prayer is that new and suitable facilities are found for each of them where their needs will be compassionately and safely met, where staff and friends are able to see and appreciate their many gifts even in the face of their struggles, and that they continue to know their belovedness before God. This has been deeply rewarding ministry for me. I always leave with my heart uplifted, and they will always have a special place in my heart, for which I give great thanks to God.

I hope to see you in church!
Blessings, Heidi+