Dearly Beloved,
THE SHROVE SUNDAY PANCAKE BRUNCH IS UPON US!
Our annual Shrove Sunday Pancake Brunch and Rent-a-Priest fundraiser is THIS SUNDAY!
Everyone is invited to enjoy the wonderful food, live music, and fun atmosphere.
Tickets may be purchased for $6 adults, $3 children ages 3-12, with the max for a family being $18.
You are encouraged to purchase tickets prior to the 9am service, so you may skip the ticket line after the 9am service and begin eating!
The food will be served from 9:30 ― 11:30 am, with priority seating given to those who will be worshiping at the 11am service.
And please sign up to make your Rent-a-Priest donations. You may pledge per plate washed or give a flat gift.
Pancakes and pumpkins are the principal power providing programming for our plant ("plant" is the Welsh word for children, permitting the requisite alliteration)!
JOIN THE JOURNEY THROUGH LENT
On Sunday every bulletin will include this Lenten poster for 2011.
It's a way for us to join a journey of simple devotions and thoughtful meditations leading through the 40 days from Ash Wednesday through Easter week. Father Jay Sidebotham, our neighboring Rector at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest, drew the light-hearted cartoons and wrote the text help, helping us decipher the meaning of the Passion Gospel and the Easter season.
And here's another way we will Journey through Lent, led by Deacon Dennis Lietz:
WELL, WELL, WELL― WE WILL DIG
Yes, we will soon begin to dig! Bishop Jeffrey Lee has challenged the Episcopalians of The Diocese of Chicago to dig wells in order to make a difference in the lives of others worlds away. He has challenged all of us in the diocese to contribute to the cost of digging 50 wells in villages that need clean water the most. Every 20 seconds, a child under the age of 5 dies from illnesses related to unsafe water. We can change that number.
Our goal at St. Gregory's is to contribute $5,000.00, the cost of digging just one well. We can do it if we all pitch in and contribute. Just think of it as costing just $15.00 per foot. How many feet can you pay for? It will take many of us if we each pay for only one foot, so how about buying 10 feet or 20 feet—or more? Would you like to challenge your neighbors to a matching donation? Digging can be fun if we approach it properly.
Officially our campaign will begin on March 13, the first Sunday in Lent, but should any of you wish to contribute before then you may do so. Just place your contribution in an envelope and either leave it at the church office, place it in the alms basin on Sunday, or somehow get it to Deacon Dennis, our Water Rep. Make checks payable to St. Gregory's Church with Well, Well, Well in the memo line.
AN INVITATION FROM OUR WARDENS
Dear Parish Members,
On March 13th Catherine and I will be hanging out in the Parker Room immediately after the 9 o'clock service to have an informal discussion and dialogue with anyone who would like to join us. We want to make sure that everyone has access to discuss church business more frequently and we also know that not everyone can always make the regularly scheduled vestry meetings. This is the first of our new initiatives to reach out to our parish proactively and we welcome anyone to come by and speak with us. So please stop by and we will be happy to talk about our 2011 vestry goals, our progress, and get to know a little more about how the new vestry is serving you and the parish.
Kind Regards,
Art and Catherine
CONGRATULATIONS CORNER: Emma Martin is a National Merit Finalist!
Faithfully yours,
GIRL SCOUT WEEK, MARCH 6 – MARCH 12
Girl Scout week is celebrated each March, starting with Girl Scout Sunday and ending with Girl Scout Sabbath on a Saturday. It always includes the Girl Scout Birthday, March 12, commemorating the day in 1912 when Juliette Gordon Low officially registered the organization's first 18 girl members in Savannah, Georgia.
Julie Ann Ariano and Shari Benson invite all of our Daisy, Brownie, and Girl Scouts to wear their vests and sashes to Church on Sunday.
THIS SUNDAY IS ALSO MANNA SUNDAY!
"Please remember to bring your checkbook to church to purchase your gift cards to many of the stores you buy from every week.
"If you use gift cards to make your purchases as places like Wal-Mart, Target, Jewel, Dominick's, Fannie Mae, LL Bean, and many more, some of the proceeds will go our Preschool. Keep in mind that there is no pledge or donation here but rather for every $1 gift card purchase you make, you get $1 in store purchases― and the Preschool gets a percentage of your purchase as well!"
March Manna orders are due by Sunday, March 6, and the cards will be distributed on March 20.
If you are reading this online, click here for an Order Form and here for a list of our gift card vendors.
"ODD REQUEST" DEPARTMENT
from Preschool Director Debbie Ham-Bolger
"I have an odd request. I would like to spend a week on recycling with the kids and one of the projects I would like to do is to recycle paper. This is a messy project that requires a blender that would no longer be used for food preparation. If anyone has an old blender that they no longer need, I'd love to take it off your hands. Please ask other family members. Sometimes grandparents have extra things they don't want taking up space in their basement. Thanks!
W W W W W W W
In your prayers this week, please remember the sick, particularly Joel Burrows, Joanne Anderson, Jeffrey Foltz, Harvey and Dorothy Rion, Marice Smith, and Mark Friend;
our companion parish in Fort Dauphin, Madagascar, and its leaders, Rev. Donné and Evangelist Tomboasy;
the men and women serving in the armed forces and their families, remembering especially Cary Clark, Bob Morrissette, Jack Lee, Carl Best, Mike Demmon, Ryan Krochmolny, Sarah Shirley, Jason Greenman, Jamie Hayes, Ilan Kedar, Chris Meinhardt, Robert Steere, Eric Cloe, Robb Dunlap, Greg Hirsch, Jamie Mitchell, Brian Adamson, Hunter Levine and Chad Field;
and for the faithful departed, especially remembering Bill Lietz and Halina Goldsmith.
Deacon Dennis wrote this about his uncle Bill: "He passed away on Monday in McMinnville, Oregon, at the age of 101, having celebrated that birthday on the day before passing away. He was the last of my paternal aunts and uncles and I always thought highly of him."
Halina Goldsmith and her family first joined our parish in December of 1961. She was confirmed on March 11, 1962, and continued to be a faithful member. In these last few years often brought to church by her fellow parishioners and her son, Tony. She also has two daughters, Miriam and Amy.
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