Dearly Beloved,
Master Plan Committee Potluck and Presentation
Please join us at 6:00 pm this Sunday for a potluck presentation on the work the Master Plan Committee has done on our behalf in taking your feedback from our parish-wide survey, and from one-on-one interviews, and sorting through options presented by our Architects to achieve our current consensus. Jim Stone is putting this together for us, for which I am grateful. After you see the presentation, you will have the opportunity to give further feedback to the Committee, which we will in turn consider and, as appropriate, pass on to the Architects to incorporate into the Master Plan. We will then pause in our reflection and discernment until I return from my Sabbatical.
Come Join the St. Gregory's Team!
As part
As part of our summer sabbatical activities we're kicking off the season with a team event. Come join fellow parishioners on Saturday, June 20, at 1:00 p.m. at the Ft. Sheridan Forest Preserve, and participate in the 8th Annual Walk to End Homelessness. Signup Sheets are available outside the parish office. You can walk, donate, or do both.
All ages are welcome. The full course is 4 miles with a 1 mile version available which takes you back to the starting point/parking lot. We'll have a St. Gregory "camp" and gather for food and fellowship at the end of the walk. PADS staff will be available to provide more information about their services and how we might provide ongoing support.
If you have questions please contact Nancy Nichols at 847-913-5836.
Additional information about PADS (the first in a series):
What is PADS? PADS is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to providing emergency shelter, permanent housing and supportive services to homeless families and individuals.
Where is PADS? PADS Crisis Services has fourteen rotating volunteer emergency shelter sites between October and April each year. This year sites were reporting a ten percent increase compared to last year which continues the trend of the past two years. Last year PADS provided 48,900 nights of shelter to 1,357 children, veterans, families and individuals.
What else does PADS do to help the homeless? First, the Assessment Center provides supportive services day seven days a week, 365 days a year, from 7:00am to 7:00pm, with client advocates and peer counselors make the necessary referrals and follow-ups. The Center meets such basic needs as shower and laundry facilities, telephones, mailboxes, and skills and self-help classes.
Next week we'll look at other ways PADS helps, including The Family Center and The Veteran House to alleviate chronic homelessness for veterans.
Did you know? May is Mental Health Month.
The Cathedral Counseling Center is one of our Episcopal Charities and Community Services agencies, and Leigh Stewart is their Director of Development. They recently sent "5 Tips for Managing through these Stressful Times":
1. Plan breaks from stressful situations and manage your time wisely. Take a break from the news and anything else causing you stress. Make time to have fun and enjoy leisure time. Break large demands into small, manageable parts and focus on one part at a time. Avoid procrastination. 2. Give words to your thoughts and feelings. Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings concerning the stressors in your life. Write them down. Use your computer to highlight, enlarge, and maybe delete them. Identify your needs and articulate them. Talk with friends or someone you can trust about what is going on inside you. 3. Take good care of your body. Get enough rest. Increase your levels of physical activity. Avoid junk foods and stimulants like caffeine, sugar, nicotine, and alcohol. Practice deep breathing or progressive muscle exercises on a regular basis. 4. Be aware of how you talk to yourself. Stop negative self-talk. Avoid unnecessary competition. Actively work on being less self-critical and more self-affirming. Focus on your good qualities and accomplishments. Find things to be thankful for every day. 5. Be guided by the Serenity Prayer: "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference."
Here's an easy, automatic way to support our Preschool. Go to www.goodsearch.com/default.aspx and enter "St Gregorys Episcopal Church and Preschool" and make GoodSearch your default Search Engine. I did, and in my experience it's as useful as other Search Engines. And if you use GoodShop, you get discounts and even greater contributions to our Preschool.
Faithfully yours,
"We are ambassadors for Christ, God appealing to the world through us." 2 Corinthians 5:20
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