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Thanksgiving
Sometimes it is not so easy to be thankful. The world intrudes so rudely into our pious desires to lift up our hearts. Our sacramental life, the life of the Holy Eucharist, can be something of a defense against these invasions. This great gift of Jesus offers us a rhythm of gratitude as the leitmotif of our lives: the musical theme which guides us in constant praise. It is designed to blunt the cacophony around us.
And it takes a bit of time as any really good meal should. A bit of time which is shared with others around the table of thanksgiving because we give thanks best as a chorus. Joy is certainly possible alone: but not quite so full, so pregnant with the possibilities of melody and harmony, round and canon.
At the head of the table is our Lord himself lifting bread and cup. Our Lord moving us to follow the orchestration of his life and death and resurrection: its tragic tempos and its wild fanfares. Our Lord taking, blessing, breaking, and giving.
The Eucharist is a symphony whose tune seeks us out day after day to be the personal soundtrack of our lives. It is, after all, nothing more and nothing less than a love song sung to us by God in the perfect voice of Jesus Christ. A song we, in turn are invited to sing to each other and to the world.
And that is worth a standing ovation, every moment of our lives, with every part of our redeemed bodies, led always by our lifted hearts.
In XP,
Jamie+
Buildings and Grounds
About Buildings and Playgrounds…
Months ago the wild weather we have been experiencing in our neck of the woods knocked down some large trees around Davis Hall. The vestry took the opportunity to take down both a few more that posed a danger around our parish hall. At the same time this made it possible to expand and improve our playground. That project is now complete except for the replacement of the larger equipment. We should soon have a fully functional playground with at least a third more of the space.
These last few weeks have been opportunities to take care of other items around the church. The tile floors have been stripped cleaned and buffed and, in some cases, repaired. Wall and sheetrock repair has been completed to the water damage caused before the roof repairs .Much needed painting has taken place in the church itself as well as in the narthex. And, of course, the front doors of the church have been replaced to provide a more secure, sturdy, and beautiful entrance into a place of worship.
All of these improvements have been part of the good stewardship of the leadership of St. Clement’s to maintain and embellish our ministry and to sustain our mission. But they wouldn’t have been possible without the good stewardship of the congregation who has been faithful in both their financial and physical support of this church. I thank you and I thank God for your faithfulness.
In XP,
Fr. Jamie+
From the deacon’s desk…
Dear Good People of St. Clement’s,
As I sit in my wheelchair looking out at the rain bringing down the last of the colorful leaves, I am truly grateful for each and every one of you and the loving support I have received the last seven weeks! The mailbox has been full of your cards and good wishes, the dinners have been absolutely delicious, the visits have cheered me and, always, I feel your loving prayers and thoughts in my heart. You have made the weeks bearable, even more bearable than I would have thought possible! Truly, you have been the body of Christ to me and to Ino. We both appreciate so very much your overwhelming kindness in all that you have done! We are thankful to be a part of a congregation who are family to us! I miss you and am looking forward to seeing you soon!
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.
Many thanks, dear friends!
MISSIONARY TO VISIT ST. CLEMENT’S
Fr. Russ Smith, our missionary to Chile, whom we have supported for over twelve years will be with us the weekend of December 5th and 6th! We have planned a wonderful Mission Weekend when he can speak to us of his and Heidi’s missionary work and show slides of their activities in the area in which they live.
There will be a pot-luck dinner on Saturday evening, and Fr. Russ will preach on Sunday.
Fr. Russ flew to Atlanta on November 4, and is now visiting the churches on the East Coast which support their ministry. Unfortunately, due to financial considerations, Heidi and their children were not able to come to Atlanta. They will fly directly to California next month, so that all of them can visit the churches on the west coast that support them.
Russ and Heidi are missionaries for the South American Missionary Society. SAMS' purpose is to recruit, send and support missionaries to be witnesses and make disciples for Jesus Christ in fellowship with the Episcopal/Anglican Church primarily in the Americas. SAMS' missionaries share the Gospel, establish churches, train national church leaders, and minister socially through medical clinics and Christian schools.
AMS sends adults to serve from a month to a career. SAMS also sends teams from churches for one to two weeks for assignments such as building homes for the poor or running a VBS.
SAMS supports individuals and churches who are called to go, give, or pray. Individuals who sense a call to serve as missionaries are assisted through a careful discernment, training and placement process. Short-term mission teams are given support through comprehensive training, logistical coordination and debriefing.
The Smith’s have served in Chile over twenty years in various locations. They have four beautiful children, two boys and two girls. Ino and I have been privileged to visit with Russ and Heidi through the years and watch their children grow up!
Every four years the Smith’s have time to spend in the USA to visit and share the good news of their ministry with the churches who are supporting them. Four years ago they visited us and the congregation enjoyed getting to know them and learning about their ministry in Chile.
Please plan to be with us for an exciting and Spirit-filled weekend! December 5-6, 2009!
Faithfully,
Deacon Lucy+
The Outreach Committee
The outreach committee is always busy in implementing our various Fall projects. We are currently wrapping up both our coat drive for Papa's Pantry and our annual turkey contribution for M.U.S.T. Ministries We are starting the process of selecting our families for our Christmas Angel Tree Project. We usually pick 5 or 6 families depending on the number of family members and prefer that they are not receiving public assistance other than food stamps or Medicaid. A Christmas tree will be set up in the narthex . There will be angel ornaments with a number of which family they belong to, name, age, gift requested, and size if appropriate. A date will be announced when the gifts must be returned to the church. They must be wrapped and with the original gift tag attached. This is very important, since we usually have around 100 gifts or more to dispense. If you would like to volunteer to deliver to a family, please contact Barbara Martin @ 770-479-9075. To show the love of Jesus Christ through the action of helping others can be a very humbling and rewarding experience!
Our Outreach community phone lines continue to be very busy. We usually receive on average 20 calls per week. Most of the assistance is needed with utilities, prescriptions, gasoline, and food. We've added 2 new volunteers. Margie Jordan and Kathy Morrison. This means we now have a total of 9 volunteers that take the phones a week at a time working within the budget of Fr. Jamie's discretionary fund and other private contributions. Anyone interested in joining or wanting more info on Outreach please contact, Jan Owings 770-517-4781 or Sallee Macknik 770-704-1731
Blessings,Jan Owings
Altar Guild News
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Thank you Altar Guild members for all time you have given. If you haven't already noticed, we are a behind the scenes group. I would also like to thank our bread bakers for the family service. We all appreciate that there is a group that was willing to step up to the plate. We thank the flower ministry for all they do. I know it was a little of a rough start for the two groups to coordinate and make this important ministry happen.
The new flower chart for 2010 will be in the Narthex in Advent. The suggested cost to donate service flowers will remain at $30.00 per family. The Altar Guild relies 100% on the generosity of the congregation. This is a wonderful way to remember birthdays, anniversaries and memorials. For those of you new to St. Clement's, cards are provided to write your intention for the flowers. There are two bins to the left the the flower chart next to the door. ... one for blank cards and the other for completed cards. Please sign the flower chart and fill out a card as well. The completed card will be the announcement in the church bulletin. Please write neatly. Reminder cards will be mailed.
The Altar Guild will begin taking donations for the poinsettias and trimmings for the Christmas Eve service. Please remember that this is a donation from the heart and no gift is too small. Please write in the memo area for check " Christmas flowers".
On December 20th, we invite the congregation to join in on the "greening" of the Church. We will begin after the 11:00 service. Everyone is welcome to help.
This year the greens and Christmas tree will be taken down following the 11:00 AM service on December 27th. The wreath and poinsettias will remain. Everyone is welcome to help in the clean up.
I am pleased to announce that we have a new Altar Guild member, Margaret Whitley. She will begin training in December. If you missed rally day, it is not too late to join Altar Guild. I need a minimum of 4 people to join. We are very short staffed and it would be just wonderful to have more hands. It is true, "many hands make light work". This is very rewarding work. If you have been considering, you are welcome to "visit" any of the teams. And, who knows, we might just give you a little hands on action. My email address is: susieb15@att.net (home phone: 770-926-8037)
Thanks again for all your support.
Susie Bishop
Altar Guild Chairman
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ECW NEWS
ECW News of the Holidays!
We will be hosting our Annual Christmas Party on Dec. 4th @ 7pm in Davis Hall. Please, come join us for an evening filled with fellowship and lots of laughter! Bring a wrapped “Items found in the Kitchen” (around $10) for our gift swap, canned or dried goods to be donated to Papa’s Pantry, your favorite appetizer to share and favorite beverage. Plans are in the works for a special Angel House project for Christmas. Information to come at a later date.
Top 10 reasons To Attend ECW Meetings:
10. Retreat!
9. Quality time with Wonderful Women!
8. Lifelong Friendships are formed!
7. There's always A LOT of Laughing going on!!!
6. Involvement in Church Improvement Projects!
5. You get to eat Marge's cooking and many other Women’s fabulous cooking!!!
4. Unwavering Moral Support in any situation, anytime, night or day!
3. You will be spending time with a group of Dynamic, Intelligent, Amazing Women!
2. Two words: FUNNEL CAKES!!!!
1. Did we mention RETREAT???
ECW - Women With A Mission: A look at our past projects!
v Hymnals & Books of Common Prayer for the church
v Christmas Family Projects
v Emmaus House
v American Cancer Society
v Contribution made to Honduras Mission Trip
v Scholarships for ECW Retreat
v Scholarships for youth attending Camp Mikell and other related events
v Angel House
v St. Clement’s Cross
v Crazy Episcopalian T-Shirts
St. Fiacre's Garden Guild
We want to thank the parishioners of St. Clement's for the encouragement, hard work and financial support you have given to Bill and me during the last 6 years as the Garden Guild Chairpersons. Our grounds just look wonderful and the Meditation Gardern gives us a lovely and holy place to rest and be with our Savior, Jesus Christ. The work is more than Bill and I can do at this time in our life, but we have loved every minute of this ministry! I am sure you noticed that our grounds continue to look great week after week. We have been blessed by the presence of "Doc" Dockerson in our church. He has been doing the mowing, trimming, weeding and blowing of leaves. He has agreed to be in charge of the Garden Guild and will be in touch with the members who have helped before. He will continue to do all of the above jobs, but needs parishioners to help weed and plant flowers. Even though "Doc" does most of the work, he does need help. Please offer what you are willing to do to "Doc".
May God bless and keep you, Bill and Bonnie Porch
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