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• Senior Warden Message
• Vestry Corner
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Next Sunday’s Readings

Imagine how the disciples must have felt on the first day of the week. After betrayal, arrest, trial, cross and tomb, what more can there be? Surely this is the end. And yet, when the women go to the tomb to prepare Jesus’ body, the tomb is empty. And that is not all. And Angel, and then Jesus himself appear. Death has been defeated!

This is not just a story people tell. This is what God has done and what God is continuing to do in the world today. This is a great week to read the readings ahead of time. Come on Easter morning, ready to encounter the reality of the risen Christ.

Read Next Sunday’s Lessons here.

Last Sunday’s Sermon:Who Would You Most Love to Meet?

After the Palm Sunday Procession I asked the children whom they would most like to meet in all the world. Then we handed out tambourines and maracas and we marched around the congregation one more time, singing and making a joyful noise as we celebrated Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

At the Gospel time in this service we heard a reading in three parts of the Passion according to Matthew. You can read the Passion, along with daily reflections, at my blog:

http://revmarshall.com/blog/

This week’s sermon was very interactive and will not be posted as a recording. You can listen to or read other sermons at my sermon page:

http://revmarshall.com/sermons/

or by subscribing to my PodCast through iTunes. Simply search for “The Rev. David Marshall” in the iTunes store or follow this link:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id424733629

We Are Ready

Dear Friends,

Last Saturday we had a wonderful work day to clean up the grounds at St. Dunstan’s Church. There were people here from age 8 to age 80, shoveling, hoeing, trimming, digging, power washing and more, in order to make our grounds beautiful for Easter. I want to thank all of you who came, rolled up your sleeves, and worked so hard. A special thank you to the ladies of St. Agnes Guild, for in addition to making the lovely palm crosses, they also provided great food and coffee for all of us. It was a joyous time to share fellowship with each other. For those of you who couldn’t make it this year, I hope we see you next year.

Our mission statement has a new question attached to it this week. Please take a look at it and add your answer to the question. All of the previous questions and answers are posted on the wall in the Narthex and I hope that you will take time to read them. There are some very insightful responses and some great ideas that are being generated.

Please remember to tell your friends and neighbors about our Vacation Bible Camp this summer. It will be held on July 11th through July 15th, from 9:00 a.m. until noon. It is open to all children, ages kindergarten through 5th grade. We have a team of people working on making this a learning experience for the children and also one that will provide fun and games. If you would like to be one of our lucky volunteers that gets to work with the children, please let me know. We would love to have you join us.

I want to extend a special invitation to all of you to attend our various services during Holy Week. A list of these is on the website. The Great Vigil will be held at St. Dunstan’s this year on Saturday, at 7:00 p.m. and it promises to be outstanding. We are doing something that we have not done before. Come join us and find out what it is.

I wish all of you a very blessed Easter. May you and your family feel God’s presence and His love and grace all of your days. Let us all thank God for the gift of His Son and for the promise of eternal life

Blessings,
Mary E. Pacher

Vestry Corner

Our Vestry team is excited about all the great things happening at St. Dunstan's. Our four Vestry Teams:
Community Life, Communications, Stewardship, and Building and Grounds
have been busy and hard at work. Please take a moment to check out the team photos that will be posted Easter Sunday in the Narthex on the bulletin board. Our photos are grouped so that it is easy for you to see on which teams we are serving. Our hope is that if you have a question or particular interest in any activity of the teams, this will help you to know who to ask.  All members of the vestry will always be happt to assist you in any way we can. 

Vestry Meeting Recap 4/17/11

JUNIOR WARDEN
• Electrical repairs completed in kitchen for new ovens.
• St. Agnes’ looking is for a new oven now. The previous one was remove and money returned.
• Pilot light should remain on.
• Refrigerator repairs coming
• Water heater turned down to 90 degrees. Must be at 100 per Public Health guidelines. Will be set back to 100.
• New programmable thermostat in Room 10 should help with gas bill.
• Fireproofing of draperies and fabric in Sanctuary still in progress. Too expensive to replace with fire-proofed fabric.
• Columbarium power-washed 4/16. Will need more cleaning, then completely dried out, and then treated.
• Spring cleaning went well 1 ½ parking spaces reclaimed from the mud.

COMMITTEES:
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION:
• Plans for Vacation Bible Camp underway
• Volunteer teachers continue in the Sunday School classroom
• Youth Group involved in 30 Hour Famine.

STEWARDSHIP
• Family Game night - $5 per person
• Legacy Giving presentation planned for the future
• Bronn Journey Concert – Mr. Journey is considering our request for a Benefit Concert in September
• 2012 Stewardship Campaign – Not too early to begin thinking about this.

PASTORAL CARE:
• Care Teams initiative will gear up after Easter. Brief orientation / training April 30th, 10 a.m.
• EV Ministry if moving along. Group meets every 4th Wednesday of the month for 1 hour.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• Lyn Donivan, Joe Waltz, Harley and Melinda Wahl distributed 1000 door hangers in the surrounding neighborhood.
• Greenwood Food Bank has a matching dollar for dollar challenge from the Feinstein Challenge Group covering the entire month of April. Checks could be written and given to St. Dunstan’s and will be forwarded to the food center.

SENIOR WARDEN
• Thanked everyone who came to the Spring Clean-up.
• Thanked Lyn Donivan, Joe Waltz, Harley and Melinda Wahl for distributing the door hangers with Palm Sunday and Easter Services.
• Mutual Ministry Review set for May 7th 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

RECTORS REPORT
• Encouraged by how much is going on in the church
• 23 people have signed up for the Care Teams
• Stained Glass window project moving forward
• Continue to engage with our Mission Statement
• Please attend Easter Vigil Saturday, April 23rd at St. Dunstan’s

NEW BUSINESS
• Schedules: Need to have a meeting with all parties involved in fund raising to make sure we don’t over book.
• Policy / procedure for accepting non-financial gifts.

TREASURER’S REPORT
Tom Paulson presented his synopsis of the financial items.

 

Holy Days Leading to Easter

This is the most holy week of the year for those of us who have devoted our lives to Christ. The Gospel story is our story. We follow Jesus by allowing our lives to be shaped by and guided by the Gospel, by Jesus’ life. This year I have been posting installments of the Passion story on my blog, along with reflections, questions to ponder, and a prayer each day. This is just one way to enter into the story.

The Church has traditionally entered into the story with the three services of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil. If you cannot come to these services, I invite you to read the blog entries so that you can move through this powerful story and come to Easter ready to experience the wonder and joy of resurrection.

Thursday night at 7:00 PM we will hold Maundy Thursday services with the ritual of foot washing. This practice, along with the Eucharist, comes directly from Jesus himself. We will experience, just as Peter did, the confusion and discomfort of a savior who humbles himself so that we might have the courage to humble ourselves.

On Friday, at both noon and again at 7:00 PM we will hold the solemn service of Good Friday. For many of us, this is the most powerful service of the year. This is the service where the power of the Gospel connects with the pain and sorrow of our lives.

The Easter Vigil, held this year at 7:00 PM on Holy Saturday, is an ancient tradition that deserves our attention. This year we will hold vigil for Jesus. We will re-tell the stories of salvation history with dramatic presentations of the Creation, the Flood, Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea, and Ezekiel’s dry bones. The service continues with a renewal of our baptismal vows and the first celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

This is going to be a wonderful Easter at St. Dunstan's Church. At 8:00am at the Henry Chapel we will raise our glad cries of Alleluia. Our main service will be at a special time, 10:00 AM, to allow as many people to attend as possible. Bring a flower with you to this service where we will “flower the cross” by putting flowers into a special cross at the Altar. This is going to be a great celebration and you will want to be there!

Your brother in Christ,

The Rev. David Marshall

Click here to respond to this posting in my blog.
 

Bring Flowers Easter Morning

This year’s Easter service at 10:00am (note the later start) at St. Dunstan's Church will include the beautiful and fun ritual of flowering the cross. We will each have the opportunity to place flowers in a mesh covered cross at the altar. The hard wood of the cross will be transformed into the new life of Easter with a hundred blossoms. This is great fun for children and adults, so bring a carnation, tulip, daffodil, or your favorite flower to our Easter Celebration.

 
 

Community Engagement

Greenwood Food Bank participating in the Feinstein Challenge!  Please plan to join Alan Shawn Feinstein for the 14th consecutive year in giving away $1 million to hunger fighting agencies nationwide. For every dollar or pound of food Volunteers of America can raise through April 30th, the Feinstein Challenge will match it with a dollar. This is an amazing opportunity to double the food and funds coming into the Greenwood Food Bank. Next time you go to the grocery store, please consider picking up some healthy food items for our less fortunate neighbors. Bring your donations and place them in the food box in the narthex. Cash donations are also welcome. Make your checks payable to St. Dunstan's with a notation for the Food Bank- Feinstein Challenge. Thank you for your support!