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Stewardship

Working Definition of Christian Stewardship

Christian stewardship is grateful and responsible use of God’s gifts in the light of God’s purpose as revealed in Jesus Christ. Christian stewards, empowered by the Holy Spirit, commit themselves to conscious, purposeful decisions.

Stewardship is lived out in:

living and telling the Good News;
haring God in seeking justice, peace, and the integrity of creation in an interdependent universe;
wisely employing God-given human resources, abilities, and relationships;
sharing the material resources we hold and giving them in service, justice, and compassion;
providing for future generations, sharing in the life, worship, and responsible stewardship of the Church and of its mission
Both for the individual and for the community, stewardship is a joyful act for the sake of God’s world.

This definition comes from the Standing Rules of the Ecumenical Stewardship Center. The Episcopal Church is a founding member of this group and remains active in its continuing work. You can find out more about ESC at their website, www.stewardshipresources.org.

Stewardship has also been defined as:

What I do, with all that I have, after I say, “I believe.”

and

Using the gifts God has given us, to do the work God is calling us to do.

Join us on October 18 for Stewardship Sunday. There will be a brunch following both the 8 and 10 a.m.

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Church of St. John the Evangelist

Vestry Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Present: Father John Martin, Karen DiPaolo, John Elliott, Fran Kramer (Rector’s Warden), Shelly Lapish, Walt Marvel, Jerry Rhoades, June Varas, Bob White, and Trina Zema.

Regrets: Tammy Morgan.

The Meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. with concerns, followed by prayer led by Father John.

The Minutes from the May 17, 2009 Meeting were approved as presented.

Accounting Warden’s (Treasurer’s) Report for May 2009: was approved as presented. As of now the profits from the Strawberry Festival were $4732.13. It was felt that we need to get the ad book started earlier to garner more profits there.

Interim Rector’s Report: Father John will be on vacation in late July. The Rev. Leslie Evans will be the celebrant and preacher on July 26^th and August 2^nd. Fr. Martin noted that the recent Bible study was well attended.

Senior Warden’s Report: Fran suggested we send thank you letters to the young people who were doing Community Service work for their participation in the set up of the Strawberry Festival. Walt added that we also send a letter of thanks to the Tinicum Fire Department for their work in controlling traffic.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Religious Education: Fran reported that Tammy needs help in setting up for the V.B.S. during the week prior. They also need fake trees and a pup tent for the scenery. Flyers were distributed throughout the “Village” announcing the V.B.S.

Outreach: We received a thank you note from E.C.S. for participating in E.C.S. Sunday. It was agreed that the presentation was very good.

Hospitality: Trina noted that people have been signing up for the coffee hour following the 10 a.m. service. We will be having a little extra for Father’s Day- June 21^st which is also the date for the parish picnic.

Property: John Detwiler installed the lighting for the outside sign (cost- $200). The carillon has been repaired and is now up and running. The final cost was $811. $300 was moved from the Clara Karlesses Memorial Fund to help cover costs. Walt installed all of the new fire extinguishers. Walt and his wife Linda cleaned the carpet.

Memorial Garden: Father Martin and the Vestry discussed the matter that only natural flowers should be used in the garden, rather down artificial ones. There was no vote or decision made.

Stewardship: John E. has put together the annual appeal letter to be sent to former members and those who no longer are able to attend Church on a regular basis, but may wish to contribute financially in some way. It will be mailed out shortly.

Evangelism: We need to have welcome packets to give out to visitors. The packet would include the welcome brochure the Discernment Committee is putting together.

Finance: A note will be put in the Evangelist for people to keep up their pledge giving as receipts have been down.

Liturgy: Shelly will be scheduling just two acolytes/servers each week at 10 A.M. throughout the summer.

Discernment: John E. passed out drafts of the Position Profile Document which will be sent to potential candidates for priest-in-charge. The first page will be tweaked by Fran and Fr. Rice. The Vestry reviewed the 2^nd page (Responsibilities/Skills) requirements and recommended a few changes. It was noted that Jill Mathis knows of two candidates who are very interested in a part time priest-in-charge position.

NEW BUSINESS: We will be scheduling a Flea Market with snacks sale on Saturday, September 26^th. NOTE: The Flea Market has been re-scheduled for sometime in 2010.

CALENDAR:

V.B.S will be held from Sunday, June 28^th thru Thursday, July 2^nd from 5 pm – 8 pm.

Sunday, Sept. 13^th- Bishop Lee Visitation with Confirmation and Baptism – 10 am.

The Delaware Deanery will be having a picnic for all member churches at Trinity Church, Boothwyn in the fall.

The next Vestry Meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 8th at 7 PM unless deemed otherwise.

The Meeting adjourned with the Lord’s Prayer at 8:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

John Elliott, Clerk for the Vestry

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This years Christmas Bazaar will be on Friday November 20^th and Saturday November 21^st . Volunteers of all kinds are always needed. There will be a sign up sheet in the Gathering Space.

We will be having the Attic Treasures and Tired Jewelry tables again this year. Keep this in mind while doing your fall cleaning. Don’t throw away those unwanted knick knacks, household items and “precious jewels”. Bring them into St. Johns with you and we will gladly store them for the Bazaar. Keep in mind too, that our Cookie Walk table is always a HUGE success, so dust off those cookie recipes and be prepared to sign up to bake a few dozen. We will be baking in the church on Sunday, November 15^th after coffee hour and everyone is welcome to help out. If you’re not a baker you can still help by sorting the cookies, clean up, or giving supplies or a monetary donation.

We are always on the look out for new fund raising ideas, feel free to bring them to our attention.

If you know of anyone who may need a Bazaar Registration form contact Sherry Moore, either at church or call her at 484-494-0767 with the persons name and address.

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We are pleased to let you know that as of now, we are actually interviewing candidates whom we feel will become our next Priest-in-Charge. It is most imperative that in this interview process that it culminates in a new ministry with a very clear understanding of the roles God has us, the Congregation and the next priest-in-charge, playing in the Mission and Ministry in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Essington for the years ahead. Once again, the Committee expresses its thanks to you the Congregation of the Church of St. John’s for the way you have participated in the process; filling out surveys, giving up of your Sunday afternoons to dialogue openly in our workshops led by Father Ted Rice, and above all for your prayers. To God be the glory.

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St Johns has done it again, a wonderful service where 8 children were confirmed and 3 were baptized. The Bishop’s visit was well received full of joy and fellowship.

It seems we are like that little pink bunny we just keep on going. Father John has given us a year of service and we continue to grow.

The first day of Sunday school had 20 children all eager to start a new year with St Johns.

When this comes out we will have interviewed two candidates for Priest in charge at St Johns. I would like to take this time to thank the Search Committee. They have given this job their complete attention, giving up a lot of time this summer so we could keep moving along. You as a congregation should be proud of them. The two workshops we had and working with Father Rice has provided us with knowledge and tools to make sure we are making decisions that are good for all of us. John Elliott, Carol LaMarr, Brian Show, John Smith and Tammy Morgan are your team. They deserve our thanks for their efforts.

The coming months will have more changes for St Johns and new experiences. I know change is hard but along with the change we continue as usual.

Along with good news is the sad news that of course Father John will be leaving us. I have had a wonderful experience with him as his Rectors Warden and am very glad we were lucky enough to have had him as our Interim.

So in the spirit that we have always shown, I am certain that our family of St Johns will face these new challenges with the faith that we all have.

Fran Kramer

Rectors Warden

The Starting time for Sunday School will change to 9:45 a.m. starting October 25^th . The will also be Trick or Treating in the church after the 10:00 a.m. service that day.

All Saints’

If you have a loved one that you would like remembered on our All Saints’ Day list, please give the name to Gail Rzepka by Sunday, October 25. You can also call her:

610-521-0944 or send her an email: diehardeaglefan@juno.com

Fr. Martin is holding an Eclectic Bible Study on Wednesday nights from 7 – 8 p.m. Topics are any parts of the Bible the participants wish to study. If you plan to attend, please sign the list in the back of the church

One of the most dangerous books ever published is also the largest seller in the world: it is the Holy Bible. If the Bible is read and interpreted with integrity, with an open mind and a prayerful heart it will overthrow most governmental policies in any nation; it will lead to radical social and economic reform and it will produce such changes in personal and societal standards that our present race and class systems will crumble. Therefore, the Bible is often read, rarely taken seriously and never practiced on a wide scale basis. The Reverend Tom Haugh at Lehman United Methodist Church in Hatboro wrote an excellent article in which I will quote a portion. He writes about how little people understand the scriptures and he gives some standards for things to “be aware of when the Bible is used:

1. To enforce power structure

2. To shut down thoughtful dialogue

3. To install fear for the future.

4. To excuse you from taking risks.

5. To breed feelings of superiority over others.

6. When you are asked to believe the human race hasn’t learned anything new in the last 2,000 years!”

In various adult church school classes around the diocese over the years, I have asked people what part if any the Bible plays in their spiritual lives. Many people have admitted that it play little or no part. They do not read or hear scripture except in church. I appreciate very much their honesty about this. And I agree with them that the Bible is not easy for people to understand…especially thinking people. However, our lack of understanding of the scriptures means that we tend to make decisions which we think are Biblical but they are not….they are just biases. We also get suckered by preachers and politicians who quote the Bible for their own ends because we are not well enough informed to know how self-serving their use might be. We do need to beware of public use of scriptural citations, and the standards that Tom uses are right on target. But we often need to beware of our own ignorance and our inability to evaluate how valid or invalid the quotes we hear really are. The sad thing is that our lack of understanding of the Bible is of our own making. Fr. Martin

Rev. Dr. Arnold Aubrey Hiltz

Born in 31/07/1924 at Sea View , Prince Edward Island , Canada

The death occurred at the Riddle Memorial Hospital on Monday, August 31, 2009, of The Rev. Dr. Arnold Aubrey Hiltz, of Swarthmore, PA, formerly of Halifax, N.S., and summer resident of the Hebrides, Prince Edward Island, age 85 years.
Veteran of the Second World War.
Born in Sea View on July 31, 1924, son of the late Aubrey Claremont and Fannie Mae (Bryanton) Hiltz.
Arnold is survived by his wife Margery Jane (Beer) Hiltz whom he met at PWC in 1943 and were married in July of 1946; daughters, Dr. Sharon Lynne Hiltz and Dr. Deborah Jane Hiltz, both of Fairmont, West Virginia; and two granddaughters, Meriel Lynne DeLong of Philadelphia, PA, and Anna MacKay DeLong, of Fairmont, WV. Brother-in-law of Lillian Hiltz, Kensington. Predeceased by brothers, Reginald, Roy, Leigh and Elmer.
Resting at the Davison Funeral Home, Kensington, for visitation on Saturday from 1:30–2:30 p.m., followed by funeral service in St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, Irishtown, at 3 p.m. Interment in the church cemetery.
If so desired, in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Stephen’s Anglican Church. www.davisonfh.com