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This Week
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ADVENT GIFT MARKET: PALMER'S OUTREACH MINISTRIES DEPEND ON YOU!
Palmer's outreach ministries depend on your contributions during the holiday season so that they can extend their critical services throughout the year. Please make a donation to one or more of our outreach ministries through our Advent Gift Market. Just complete the gift card(s), selecting the ministries you would like to support, and we'll get the rest done for you. You can order online at
palmerchurch.org
by clicking on the Advent Gift Market link or stop by our table this Sunday on the breezeway. Ministries supported by the Advent Gift Market are: Archway Academy, Emergency Aid Coalition, Kairos, Palmer Place Apartments, Star of Hope, Refugee Resettlement, and Yellowstone Academy.
A small quantity of boxed 2016 offering envelopes are available. If you are a cash contributor and would like envelopes for making your donations to Palmer, please send me an e-mail to
tmatchett@palmerchurch.org
and I will leave you a set in the church office. Thanks for your support for Palmer Church.
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Upcoming Palmer Events
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SAVE THE DATE! ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD!
The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, will -- God willing -- ordain the Rev. Alex Easley, our Curate, as a priest on Wednesday, January 20, at 6:30 p.m. That ordination will take place at Palmer and include a festive reception afterwards. There will also be a special guest preacher with us that evening. More details forthcoming, but mark your calendars now so as not to miss this wonderful occasion in the life of our congregation.
OPEN HANDS, WILLING HEARTS
Open Hands, Willing Hearts is an online and in-person course offered by the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and facilitated by the Rev. Kit Wallingford. This contemplative six-week course is intended to support and encourage you as you look prayerfully at your life, no matter what age you are, and move towards discovering your unique contribution to God's vision. You will receive weekly online materials on Sundays, and on your own time engage the audio teachings, reflection questions, prayer practices, and other resources. Then on Wednesday nights we will meet together to go more deeply into what the Spirit has begun in us. You will have the rest of the week to go deeper still.Dates: January 10-February 14, 2016.Meeting Times: 7:15 on Wednesdays: January 13, 20, 27, and February 3 and 17. (We will not meet on Ash Wednesday, February 10.)Place: Holy Cross Chapel. Cost: $50. Scholarships are available.Registration: (1) Provide your name, preferred email address, and mailing address to
kwallingford@palmerchurch.org; (2) Send your check for $50 made out to the Rev. Kit Wallingford to her at Palmer Church, 6221 Main Street, Houston, TX 77030. Write "Shalem" in the memo line.Registration Deadline EXTENDED: Monday, January 4, 2016. For more information go to the
Palmer website or contact
kwallingford@palmerchurch.org.
TASK FORCE ON SAME-GENDER MARRIAGE - SMALL GROUP CONVERSATIONS
The task force has set the following dates for small-group conversations with parishioners who have questions or comments about whether same-gender marriages should be performed at Palmer: Sunday, January 10, at 12:30 p.m. and Wednesday, January 13, at 7:00 p.m. For those who would like to participate, a copy of a Conversation Agreement that sets guidelines for discussion, and with which we all agree to abide, is available from John Wallace at
jbwtex31@gmail.com. If you are interested in attending one of these conversations, please email John Wallace by January 3, 2016, and let him know which conversation you will attend. We hope to provide those attending with background information beforehand.
The task force has heard from a number of individual parishioners already. We continue to invite you to get in touch with any of us in person, by email, or by phone; contact information is online at MyPalmer. Although we will share the content of the feedback, we will keep parishioners' identities confidential if asked to do so. We can also meet with people in established smaller groups such as Bible studies, individual ministries, etc. Task force members are: Jeanine Baker, Debbie Brassfield, Hal Gordon, Matt Kent, Allison Marek, Elizabeth Maynard, Patrick Sermas, and John Wallace. For those who do not know how to use MyPalmer, you are welcome to contact the chair of this task force, John Wallace, by using his email address listed above or by calling the church office at 713-529-6196 to ask for his telephone number.
The task force will be making a written report and recommendation to the Rector, who will present it to the Vestry for consideration before the next annual parish meeting. Thank you for prayerfully considering this issue and for being in dialogue with us.
WOMEN'S RETREAT REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED, PAYMENTS DUE IN FULL
We have reached capacity for registration for the 2016 Women's Retreat. Thank you to all who have registered! If you need to pay the remainder of your registration fee, please see committee members under the breezeway between services this Sunday, December 13. If you need to make alternate arrangements, or to be placed on the waitlist, please contact Sue Murphy (
sbmurfclan@aol.com
) or Priscilla Plumb (
priscillaplumb@gmail.com
). For more information about the retreat, contact Jeanine Baker (
jeaninebaker143@gmail.com
) or Laura Van Ness ( laura@centralhouston.org).
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Announcements
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PALMER PECANS ARE BACK!
The famous Palmer Pecans are back! This year we have branched out to package Jordan Almonds in festive colored candy coating and festive colored Jelly Belly jelly beans too! Solve all your thank you, neighbor, co-worker and teacher presents in one fell swoop with a visit to the table in the breezeway in the 10 am hour this Sunday and for the next few. Funds raised support the Diocese ECW and for the first time in a few years there should be enough left over funds to be available to Palmer ministries. Watch out in the new year for the invitation to apply for those funds.
CONSIDER THE PALMER INTER-GENERATIONAL COSTA RICA MISSION TRIP IN YOUR 2016 PLANS
As you start making 2016 plans at the end of the year, please consider including the Palmer Costa Rica mission trip next year. Here are the key planning information you will need: DATE:
May 28th - June 4
th
,2016. WHO: Adults, high schoolers, and 6-8
th
graders if accompanied by a parent. COST: $400-$500 for airfare (assuming early booking on Southwest) + approx. $600 for accommodations/meals and local transportation (per person). HOSTED BY: The local community and the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Costa Rica at the diocesan house in San Jose. QUESTIONS: Please ask Roger Hutchinson, Alex Easley, George Ferry, or someone from this year's mission trip, Burdette Keeland, Bob Ittner, Cindi Tharpe, Abigail Butler, Scott Follmar, Lynn Morstead, Kip Krause.
REFUGEE MINISTRY DONATIONS
Palmer is preparing to welcome a newly arriving refugee family in support of Interfaith Ministries and Episcopal Migration Ministries' efforts to resettle refugees fleeing persecution in their homeland. Your participation is all we need now. Help on moving day and in the first weeks as we greet and welcome the family to Houston is important in making the family feel welcome in their new home. Contact Frances Vonk
fvonk@yahoo.com
or 936-537-5937 for details and to volunteer.
MARKER RECYCLING
Palmer's Senior High Sunday School Class is collecting old/dried out markers.
The students will send the markers to Crayola, where they will be recycled into something new. They don't have to be Crayola markers - any kind of markers can be recycled. The ones that still work will be donated to Palmer's Christian Formation Program. Our wonderful high school students have volunteered to be the testing panel. "Environmental stewardship, one overcrowded art drawer at a time." Questions? Please contact Carrie Willard at carrie.willard@gmail.com
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NO GREAT WEDNESDAY
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LONGEST NIGHT SERVICE
6:00 p.m. St. Bede's Chapel
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Young Adults at Palmer
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Wednesday, Dec. 16th
Christmas Party! Join us for food, drinks, and festivities at Alex's apartment from 7 to 9 pm. More details to come.
Sunday, Dec. 20th, 12:30 pm
Lunch after 11:00 service
Pasha (2325 University Blvd.)
Want to know more?
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Palmer Youth Ministries
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TOUCHSTONE: WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
On Wednesday nights, young people are invited to work on homework, eat dinner with the larger church community, and participate in Touchstone, a relaxed gathering with The Rev'd Alex Easley and her team of adult volunteers. This fall, the youth are studying 1st Corinthians 13 and exploring what love is
and what love isn't.
The conversations so far have been deeply powerful and moving. Dinner is from 6:15-7:00 and Touchstone meets from 7:00-8:00 in the Palmer Youth Room.
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Contact Us
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Palmer Memorial
Episcopal Church
6221 Main Street
Houston, TX 77030-1572
713-529-6196
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