Dearly Beloved,
YOUTH GROUP CHICAGO RIVER CLEANUP, THIS SATURDAY, MAY 9!
Get ready to help clean up the Chicago River! This will be our fourth year participating in the event. We'll meet at the church at 8:15 am and start cleanup behind the Highland Park Staples at 9 am. We should be finished by 11 am. Come and help clean up the river, serve as a good steward of our Earth, and get a free Chicago River Cleanup T-Shirt. Please let me know if you will be coming along by Wednesday, May 6.
RENEWAL OF SCOTT AND CINDY ELLIOTT'S WEDDING VOWS
This Sunday at the 8:00 am service, Scott and Cindy will mark liturgically the 10th anniversary of their marriage on May 21. They chose the 8:00 am service because that's the service Cindy most usually attends.
WALTER H. BLANCK, 1928-2015
Long-time and devoted parishioner Walt Blanck, who joined St. Gregory's with his wife Jeanette and their children Ken, Janice, and Shari in 1973, died after a brief illness this past Monday, May 4.
We will celebrate his life on Saturday, June 13, at 2:30 pm, with burial afterward in our Churchyard.
Please keep Walt and Jeanette in your prayers, along with their children's families, including Shari and John and their children, Ashley and Hannah.
MASS OF THE RESURRECTION FOR JACQUELINE K. UNGER, 1927-2015, MAY 16, 10:00 AM
As previously announced, Jackie died on January 31 of this year. I hope you will be able to join her family to celebrate her life and ministries in our parish.
Jackie and her husband John joined St. Gregory's in 1966, with their son John and daughter Henri. Jackie was a devoted member of the parish, and especially in her work with the Missions Board, and her love for our Music Ministry. She participated as a Lector, and in the Community Meal program. Jackie was also an indomitable bridge player.
Following the service, Jackie will be interred in our Churchyard, alongside her husband John.
MEET THE NEW CEO OF LAWRENCE HALL YOUTH SERVICES
On Sunday, May 17, at 10:10 am, Kara Teeple will speak at our Adult Forum about one of our own Episcopal Charities and Community Services agencies. She will highlight the issues in general with child welfare in Illinois as well as address the role of Lawrence Hall Youth Services within the system.
Parishioner Jeff Singleton is Lawrence Hall's Chairman of the Board, and this will be a stimulating and informative Adult Forum. Please join us. The Missions Board.
NEXT CAREER RENEWAL EVENT ON SUNDAY, MAY 17, 10:30 AM - NOON
Career Renewal is a joint ministry of St. Gregory's Episcopal Church and Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, whose 20 volunteer advisors provide free one-on-one assistance to help individuals navigate the job search maze.
The meeting is held in the Holy Cross Community Room at 724 Elder Lane Deerfield, IL 60015.
Please visit our new website at www.careerrenewal.org.
Questions? Please contact Mickey Casner casnerjm@sbcglobal.net or Sharon Dieter sdieter1@aol.com
INTRODUCING OUR 2015-2016 ARCHACOLYTES
I am pleased to announce that our Archacolytes for 2015 to 2016 are Jacob Hamilton and Brian Hill. Both have had exceptional service and leadership, and we are truly blessed to have them. We will formally induct them during the Acolyte induction on November 1. Bret Chandler, Acolyte Master and Youth Minister
AD HOC CHURCHYARD RENOVATION COMMITTEE
At our March meeting, the Vestry approved this Action Plan:
In accordance with the request of Tom and Dot Elliott's children that the Vestry use their parents' bequest to renovate the Churchyard, the Vestry authorizes the Rector and Wardens to form an ad hoc Committee comprised of not less than three parishioners (including Scott Elliott) who have either purchased plots or who have family members buried in the churchyard. The Director of BGMT and the members of the Vestry's Buildings and Grounds Committee shall serve on the Committee ex officio.
I am pleased to announce that Fran Ingram, Jim Mitchell, Jim Swager (who will chair the Committee), Kevin Christenson, Mary Maraist, Pat Auch, Scott Elliott, Sybil Ten Eyck, and Yvonne Sharpe have agreed to serve on this pastorally significant Committee.
MADAGASCAR THANK YOU
Dear St. Gregory's Episcopal Church,
Thank you for your recent donation for the people in the Diocese of Toliara affected by Cyclone Chedza and Tropical Storm Fundi.
Our brothers and sisters are persevering. They truly have the ability to rejoice in all circumstances. This is a gift from God.
Thank you for making a difference in their lives.
Prayerfully, Cheryl M. Harman, President, People Reaching People (supporting Bishop Todd and Mother Patsy McGregor).
UPCOMING VISIT BY GEN. AND MRS. BRADLEY AND CAPT. BUTLER
On Sunday, May 24, at the 10:10 am Adult Forum, we will welcome back Captain Mike Butler and introduce retired Lieutenant General John and Mrs. Jan Bradley. Although Mike and the Bradleys have never met each other face to face, they have collaborated in their common concern for educating the children of Afghanistan.
John and Jan founded The Lamia Afghan Foundation, a federally recognized 501(c)(3), non-profit foundation chartered and based in Tennessee.
The Foundation has been working in Afghanistan since October 2008, building schools for girls; providing job and skills training for women and men; and collecting, shipping, and distributing humanitarian aid. This aid has included winter clothing, blankets, school supplies, medical equipment and supplies, and food, distributed to hospitals, orphanages, schools, and Internally Displaced Persons (refugee) Camps.
Their programs for women have included sewing and tailoring to help them the acquire skills to help support their families.
To distribute their humanitarian aid, they have worked with the U. S. Military, Civil Affairs Teams, Provincial Reconstruction Teams, Special Operations Teams, and Female Engagement Teams. Their Afghan Country Director, Mr. Mahboob Shah, has been instrumental in their work.
For more information, please visit their website: http://www.lamia-afghanfoundation.org/.
Jan Bradley also established ALTSO (A Leg To Stand On) in Afghanistan, which provides medical care for children with disabilities and provides and fits custom-made prosthetics for children. Jan volunteered as the Executive Director of the Marshall Plan Charities and personally responsible for "building a village" in western Afghanistan. In addition, Jan has been working as a full-time volunteer on Air Force family support programs, "wounded warrior" programs, and humanitarian aid programs for eleven years. The Secretary of the Air Force awarded her the Air Force Exceptional Service Award in June 2008. She is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.
John Bradley retired from the United States Air Force in August 2008, with 41 years of service. He was the Chief of Air Force Reserve; and the Commander of the Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, the largest Major Command in the U.S. Air Force, responsible for over 76,000 Airmen around the world. Before that he served as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Reserve Matters in the Pentagon. He is a Vietnam veteran, with 337 combat missions as a fighter pilot. He has over 7,000 flying hours in the A-37, A-10, F-4, and F-16 fighter aircraft. He, too, is a member of the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council.
On 28 January 2015, John and Jan published an update on their work. Here are excerpts:
The Lamia Afghan Foundation finished building its sixth school for girls two months ago. We are now in the process of building a security wall around the school. This school is in Cheltan Village, near the mountains west of Kabul. When the school opens this spring, over 900 girls will have a real school to attend. The recent Minister of education, Mr. Farooq Wardak, had set in motion a plan for Internet connections and computer training for the students.
Our seventh school project, when we have raised enough money to fund it, will be a school for another 900 girls in Shorab Village, in western Afghanistan. Currently, they go to school sitting on the ground inside a set of stacked cinderblocks with a tarpaulin covering for the nine months of school (as did the girls in Cheltan Village before their school was built).
Our second upcoming school project will, when we raise the money, take us back to our first school in Lakan Khel, east of Kabul. We built a ten-room school for 400 children there. When it was built, it was stressed to accommodate a second floor when it might be needed. Now they have 750 students and they need a high school. So, we will add the second floor.
The Denton Program Office in USAID tells us no other non-government entity has moved as much aid to Afghanistan as have we.
CHRISTMAS BASKET NEWS (yes, already)
Please sign up at the church or call me or email me, and let me know if you'd like a senior or family (and family size). The ReVive Center's Christmas Baskets organizers need to know approximately how many families and seniors we will be able to sponsor this year because registration begins June 6.
If you are interested in helping with registration, here are the dates: Saturdays— June 6, 13, 27, and July 11; and Fridays— June 19, and July 10, from 8:45AM until about 3PM with lunch included. Thank you, Marilyn Knilans
In your prayers this week, please remember the sick, especially Bridget Caude, Danielle McLaughlin, Cecilia Rodriguez, Ardene Ejnik, Richard Babcock, and Maryellen Davis; and
for our companion parish in Madagascar, Santa Grégoire, Tolagnaro, and Dean Donné; and
for the faithful departed, especially remembering Walt Blanck.
Keep on loving and taking care of each other,
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