Online Community for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fort Mill, SC
The flower chart for 2010 is in the Narthex. Each week, except during Lent, fresh flowers are placed on the altar. Everyone is encouraged to sign up for a Sunday that is special, such as celebrating a birth, birthday, anniversary, graduation, remembering someone special, or just because. The cost is $53 for the 2 vases.
Please take a moment the next time you are at Church and sign up for flowers.
Thank you,
Clare Hawes and Cathie Nocella
Altar Guild Co-chairpersons
On December 12th, the Diocese of Upper South Carolina met in convention and elected the Rev. Andrew Waldo to be the 8th Bishop of Upper South Carolina. For the past 15 years, Mr. Waldo has served as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, MN. Originally from Alabama, he is the son of an Episcopal priest and prior to ordination he was a classical musician. For more concerning our Bishop elect, go to edusc.org.
One of the most important things we do in life is prepare to meet our Lord. We prepare in how we live today and in how we approach the end of this mortal life. We will have an adult Sunday morning Christian Education class entitled “Living Fully, Dying Well.” In this class, we will talk about how we approach life daily, how we find meaning as we age, and how we meet the end of this life. Someone asked me who this class was for. It is for everyone. Whether we are 30 or 90 years old, this class will address issues that we all will face.
Continue reading ‘New Adult Class’
Our new senior warden for 2010 will be Julia Bemis. Julia has been an active vestry member for the last year as the vestry contact person for the Newcomer Committee. Julia has also been an active choir member. Before moving to Fort Mill, Julia lived in Burlington N.C. where she also served on the vestry and as senior warden.
I’d like to thank all of you for the Christmas gift that the parish gave me at the Christmas party. Your generosity always astounds me. I will use the gift certificate for something special. I’ll let you know when I decide. But for now, I’d like to say that God has blessed me by placing me in the midst of the St. Paul’s community. In thanksgiving for our life together and in honor of all of you, I have given a llama to the Heifer Project. The Heifer Project provides animals to families throughout the world and teaches the families how to raise the animals and earn an income. Llamas are given to families in Latin America who use them for wool, transportation and income. This ministry is dear to my heart because it not only gives generously but empowers people to make a better life for their families.
Don’t forget to save your Christmas trees for our Epiphany Bonfire service! We will have a Eucharist followed by a hotdog supper and then a HUGE bonfire fueled by our old Christmas trees. It is a sight to behold. This special service will begin at 5:00PM on Sunday, January 10, 2010, at the Field Trial Barn on Springfield Parkway. Directions to the Trial Barn will be posted in the January bulletins and we will have copies of the directions in the parish hall in January. Please sign up to bring food and drinks for supper, save your Christmas trees for the bonfire and bring them the night of the service OR call Chanee at (803) 802-5974 for pick up.
A printable version of the holiday schedule can be found here.
Sunday, December 6
Second Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite I @ 8:00AM
Parish Breakfast @ 9:00AM
Annual Parish Meeting immediately following breakfast @ 9:30AM
Second Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite II @ 10:30AM
Saturday, December 12
St. Paul’s Neighborhood Christmas Caroling @ 5:30PM
Sunday, December 13
Third Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite I @ 8:00AM
Third Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite II @ 10:30AM
Annual Parish Christmas Party @ 5:00PM – 7:00PM in the parish hall
Sunday, December 20
Fourth Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite I @ 8:00AM
Fourth Sunday of Advent- Holy Eucharist Rite II @ 10:30AM
Children’s Christmas Pageant @ 4:00PM
Christmas Eve, December 24
Christmas Eve Special Music @ 4:40PM
Christmas Eve Family Service- Holy Eucharist Rite II @ 5:00PM and Christmas Pageant
Christmas Eve Special Music @ 10:30PM
Christmas Eve Midnight Mass – Holy Eucharist Rite II @ 11:00PM
Much of the world has already started its celebration of Christmas. In fact, in the retail world Christmas begins as soon as Halloween ends. Wreaths and garlands are strung from display to display in hopes of selling more merchandise. Slowly through the years others have taken up this tradition of early decorating. By Thanksgiving, many homes already have all their Christmas decoration hung. But in the church we wait. This is because we are not yet at Christmas. Now is the season of Advent. Advent is the first season of a new Church year, a season to prepare for the advent or coming of Jesus. Continue reading ‘Advent: A Season of Preparation’
On Saturday, December 12th, the convention of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina will reconvene at Trinity Cathedral in Columbia for the purpose of electing the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Upper South Carolina. The nominees were listed in last month’s newsletter and information about them can be found on the diocesan website at www.edusc.org. Your four delegates to convention are Betty Allegretti, Ed Reuille, Carol Genest, and Bob Griffin. As a member of the clergy of this diocese I will also have a vote. Please pray for our Diocese as we gather for this important task.
I learned about Cursillo more than six years ago while we lived in Greenville and went to Christ Church. It was a little mysterious, probably some exclusive club for “real” Christians…
Last year several of our church friends at St. Paul’s, Fort Mill, started talking about Cursillo – I was curious, and everyone I asked about it always got this peaceful look on their face and would give me just about the same answer… “Aauuhh – you’re going to Cursillo! (big sigh) – - You’re gonna LOVE it!” But no one would ever really say anything other than “It is wonderful!” “You’ll get pampered all weekend!” “The food is great!” “You’ll love the music!”… Hmm, left me wondering, still very curious, but we signed up – could not be all bad… I got Clark to sign up with me, and we sort of looked forward to the weekend (me a bit more than him; it was more of a “honey do” for him – - he is a good man!). Continue reading ‘A Cursillo Experience’
