‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.’ (Matthew 11:28)
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St. Dunstan's Weekly Message |
† Bless This Animal † |
Sometimes the dictionary definition of a word can be an essay all by itself. This Sunday we will celebrate the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi with a blessing ceremony for our animals. God made our animals, and they are holy to God as his creatures. So, we won’t be making them holy (1.). I will probably make the sign of the cross over each of them (2.), but that won’t be to make them holy. Rather, we will be invoking divine favor upon them (3.). We will be asking God to preserve them from evil (4.). We will certainly be invoking God’s blessing to confer wellbeing on them (5.). So, we will bless our animals and we will ask God to bless our animals. We will open our hearts to God’s love and ask that God give that love to these creatures in a special and specific way. This is a wonderful paradox. Our pets are already a blessing to us. They trust us and love us unconditionally. We, in turn, love our pets with an abandon that we can rarely accomplish with the people in our lives. That’s a lot of loving. What a blessing.(You are invited to bring your pets to church on Sunday to the 9:30 service. Please keep them caged or leashed for their own safety. You will be invited to bring your pet forward during the sermon time to receive a blessing. The Children’s Choir and Adult Choir have special musical offerings for the occasion.)
Many Blessings, |
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Come to Oktoberfest on Friday, October 9th |
Don’t forget Oktoberfest is next Friday Oct. 9, social time at 6:30 pm, dinner at 7:00.
This promises to be a great evening, but we do need some help.
Hey, it’s fun and a great way to get to know your fellow parishioners. You can volunteer at the ticket table. Bring a smile and an appetite and we’ll see you next Friday. |
| Carrying Extra Luggage? Unpack it at "God in Real Life" |
| Maybe a friend turned their back on you. Maybe someone you loved betrayed you. We all have wounds and we end up carrying around these things that people have done to us for weeks, months, and sometimes even years. It isn’t always easy to forgive these people and after a while these hurts get really heavy. What can we do about this? Is revenge the answer? If not, what? How do we deal with these burdens? On Wednesday morning at 11:00 AM the God in Real Life group will explore this issue with teaching, conversation and prayer. |
Keeping our Accounts |
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The Vestry of St. Dunstan’s has hired a church finance consultant to work with us on a brief project to review our financial procedures. The Canon of Finance at the Diocese has informed us that we are out of compliance in certain diocese procedures and policies. This was a routine communication and not an indication of a problem with our financial management. The non-compliance can happen simply because diocesan procedures change over time. The diocese has also requested that we migrate our financial management to a church specific software system. We already use this system to track our member database and pledges. Over the next few weeks our finance committee and Gretchen, our Treasurer, will work with the consultant to assess our current financial procedures and identify any necessary changes. We will continue to keep you informed on matters that are important to St. Dunstan's. We thank you for your support. |
Read Last Sunday’s Sermon – “Have you prayed about that?” |
| Prayer is a basic spiritual practice, and yet we are often reluctant to pray. Many of us wonder how to pray and, more importantly, how God answers prayers.
The text of last Sunday’s sermon is available here. |
Read the Lessons for this Sunday |
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St. Francis had a grace and power that fills us with wonder. His great influence, and the beauty of his life, arises from his complete humility. He let go of all earthly and material possessions to make room in his heart for God’s will. The readings for this Sunday are like a roadmap from self-serving power to self-giving love. The full readings and an essay about St. Francis are available by clicking here. |
| Parish Events and Announcements |
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Sunday: Holy Eucharist, 8:00 AM, Henry Chapel & 9:30 AM, St. Dunstan's Church Wednesday: Holy Eucharist, 10:00 AM, St. Dunstan's. Families With Children: At the 9:30 service we offer Sunday School for kindergarten through middle school children. We also offer nursery care for babies and toddlers not yet ready for Sunday School. Our teachers are dedicated to the safety and Christian education of your children using a lectionary based curriculum called Seasons of the Spirit. Children come back to the service for communion. Children are always welcome in the service. Nursery Volunteers needed: We are very blessed to have a new nursery attendant, Kate Marshall. She is taking the position once held by MeiLing Morrison-Beals. The Diocese now requires two people to be in the rooms where there are children, and this includes the nursery. Will you please consider volunteering for this important opportunity? It is for Sundays during the service and if we get enough volunteers, you won't be called on often. Teenagers might also want to consider doing this as it will count toward your service credit at school, and Ann-Patrice Riccardo will sign off on that for you. Volunteer Training: We are holding a training this Sunday, October 4, for volunteers who will be teaching in the Sunday School this year. It will be held at 11:00 in Room 3. Please join us and be a part of this program—we would love to have you. We have a wonderful new curriculum entitled “Seasons of the Spirit.” Eucharistic Visitors: We are expanding our Eucharistic Visitors program to ensure that all our members who cannot make it to church have the opportunity to receive communion. We welcome the participation of everyone, and are especially looking for couples who would like to participate together. If you wish to be a part of this effort as Eucharistic Visitors, please let Deacon Jerry know. There will be training presented by diocesan staff on two Saturdays in October. God in Real Life: Father David is now offering a new class on Wednesdays from 11:00 AM until noon. We use a variety of resources, including a wonderful video series by Rob Bell, to explore the questions that we face as we attempt to live as followers of Jesus. Each session begins with a short teaching or presentation to introduce a topic and then we explore that topic as a group. See the note above, "Are You Carrying Extra Luggage," for a description of this week's session. St. Dunstan’s Annual School Supply Drive for the children of New Beginnings was a wonderful success. Thanks to everyone who helped make the start of a new school year better for these children of abused women. Special thanks to Kathy Newman who coordinated this effort. A more detailed report will be available shortly. The Parish Choir is inviting new members to sing with us as we begin the new season. There are openings in all sections. Please consider joining us, and pass the word to others. It is not necessary to be a member of St. Dunstan’s. Speak with Marion at coffee hour or call (206-449-5537) about our exciting plans for the year. Please send announcements to office@st-dunstans-episcopal.us or call the office by Tuesday evening to have them included in the Weekly Message and the Sunday Bulletin. If you would like to make an announcement during the service, please let Father David know prior to the start of the service. |
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