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| 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+
Blessings, Heidi+
