Mars Hill Proclaimer

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

November 2023 Newletter

FROM THE SENIOR WARDEN

Dear St. Paul's Parish,

Grief, depression, explosion of autumn leaf colors, soggy leaves after the rains, the sound of lovely warm breezes. We have been brave. We have held it together for others. We tried to see "the forest for the trees." We have felt God's presence in this meandering path through our church campus.

As we prepare for winter, as we prepare for Advent, I reflect on all that has been accomplished. Grief lingers and shows me that the memories were real. Joy and hope is there for what God is bringing next. Fear is there too. May we all feel God's loving nudge forward to meet what is next.

The powerful timing of all Saints Day, remembering, gratefulness, sorrow. Perhaps our parish is feeling the loss of a consistent clergy presence more keenly in this season.

Take heart. Pray for your vestry, pray for our diocese, pray for our visiting clergy, pray for the priest that is searching for us & that we are searching for.

There is action there. Your diocese has provided and is providing opportunities for your wardens and vestry to connect with searching clergy. God has a plan. Go forward, trust, and let the spirit replenish and guide us.

With joy and respect,

Jennie

WEEKLY DEVOTIONS AND

OCCASIONS TO CONNECT

Green Team meetings variable due to weather

MONDAYS

Green Team, 8:00 AM

TUESDAYS

Fellowship Dinner, 11/21, 6:00 PM

The Chosen Adult Education, 11/7, 7:00 PM at St. Peter's

WEDNESDAYS

Garden Students

THURSDAYS

Green Team, 8:00 AM

Choir Practices, 7:00 PM

FRIDAYS

Classic Movie Night, 11/3, 6:00 PM

SATURDAYS

ECW Meeting, 11/11 10:00 AM

SUNDAYS

Liturgy of the Word and Table, 9:30 AM

In Sanctuary and Streamed on YouTube

Coffee Hour following

Vestry Meeting, 11/19, 10:45 AM

Daylight Savings Ends November 4th

FROM THE JUNIOR WARDEN

I am writing this month about a subject that never goes away. At the risk of sounding like a broken record – WE NEED YOUR HELP! A handful of people are doing a lot of the work and would love to have your help. An immediate need is candidates who will stand for election to Vestry, including a Jr. Warden. Other committees would welcome a fresh face or two. We also really need people willing to learn a Sunday ministry.

The same few people are ushering, reading, and serving as acolyte every week. We can provide training as needed. If any of these ministries interest you, please tell me or Jennie. I recognize and appreciate that so many of us have been there/done that, and we hope others will step up to fill slots on committees and in ministries. It might be your turn again. Please consider being the one to step up to help keep St. Paul’s a vibrant community.

See you Sunday!

Peg Newby

ALL SAINTS DAY

Return the card with the names of your family and friends you would like remembered at the All Saints Day Service on Sunday, November 5th.

STEWARDSHIP

We are in the middle of our annual Stewardship Campaign. By now, you should have received your stewardship letter and pledge card. If you need another letter or card, please let Susan know. This year’s

campaign will wrap up before the start of Advent, so please consider your pledge and turn in your card. We will be working on our 2024 budget very soon. Our Wealth, Works, and Wisdom are all needed to maintain

and grow the Church of St. Paul. Thank you!

Peg Newby & Pat Brown

FRIDAY NIGHT MOVIE

As part of one of St Paul’s goals to increase opportunities for fellowship, we continue November opportunities with a Friday night movie, November 3rd at 6 pm.

We continue with our Cary Grant retrospective, this month with a spy adventure

directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains as three people whose lives become intimately entangled during an espionage operation. "Notorious is considered by critics and scholars to mark a watershed for Hitchcock artistically, and to represent a heightened themataic maturity."

The folks of St Paul’s are welcome, of course, but you are encouraged to invite and bring along a friend or two with you. It’s free and there will be food, with an opportunity to offer a free-will donation of any amount to help with costs for pizza and movie rental. It’s a good time. Come. Everyone is welcome.

FELLOWSHIP FUN!

Another movie night led off the busy month of October. Hope you can join in on the fun for the next fall movie night on Friday, November 3rd. Ten of us met for dinner out at P.J.’s in Sycamore on October 17th.

Our November 21st dinner will be at El Jimador in downtown DeKalb. RSVP to Peg by November 19th, please.

We gathered for a bonfire, food, and music on October 20th. This event was very well attended – fun evening! We provided Hospitality for guests who attended the wonderful Organ Recital on October 22nd.

As always, don’t forget to sign up for coffee hour duties! Helpful hints are posted in the kitchen. There are a lot of events coming up in November and December. Please watch for dates and times in the Proclaimer, weekly emails, and the Sunday bulletins.

SEPTEMBER 2023 APPROVED

VESTRY MINUTES

TREASURER'S REPORT

October, 2023

We spent $32,325.39 from the Heartland checking account in September. This includes approximately $12,387 for rectory renovations. We transferred $30,000 from the Building Fund at Edward Jones into the Heartland checking account to help cover the rectory renovation costs to date ($34,725.04).

Pledges received for the month totaled $4,790. Year-to-date, we have spent 66.4% of our budgeted expenses and taken in 72.9% of our expected pledge revenue. We are approximately 3/4 of the way through the year, so we are below projected expenses and close to projected pledge receipts for this point in the year.

The Rector’s Discretionary Fund balance is $994.95. The Garden Fund balance is $571.06.

As of September 29, the Endowment Fund was valued at $1,870,570.59. The Capital Fund held at Edward Jones was valued at $23,283.93.

The balance in the ECW account is $8,150.70.

St. Paul's Audit Committee met earlier this month to review the 2022 Financial Statements per Diocesan guidelines. The Audit Committee report has been submitted to the Vestry for approval. Hearty thanks to Bill Cummings, Roy Mason, and Jamie Stubblefield for serving on the audit committee. I also want to express my gratitude to Pat Brown and Susan King for their help gathering the documents needed to complete the financial review.

Respectfully Submitted,

Maureen Gerrity, Treasurer

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

Giving for the three year Capital Campaign now stands at 68% of the $48,000 pledged as we head into the second year. Thank you to all who have contributed! If you'd like to check on the progress of your pledge,

please contact the Parish Office.

GREEN TEAM NEWS

I'm writing this article at the last of October, on a night that will bring a killing frost. Only our hardiest flowers and vegetables will remain by tomorrow.

Harvest time brings a mix of emotions for gardeners. It is a sad time, for it brings the loss of what we worked so hard to nourish and grow. We feel happy and grateful that the garden did thrive despite a drought, hungry wildlife, and losing our teammate, Rick Johns.

Harvest time is a time of clearing away and then taking some time to rest. And reflect.

When our team began our initial meetings early in the year, I think none of us imagined what our humble garden would, in fact, become by the season's end.

The 2023 garden season gave all of us at St. Paul's an opportunity to look at how we respond to rapid change. For some of us, it brought a sense of trepidation. For others, it brought great joy. For me, the changes brought trepidation that grew into joy. Now , while we prepare the garden for winter, our time of reflection will be joined by a time of looking ahead. A new growing year, new plans, new faces....

You see, the gifts of the garden bring us much more than food. The garden brings us opportunities. We can learn; we can teach; we can build relationships; we can problem-solve; we can connect with one another, and with the community. It inspires; it creates; it challenges.

The garden truly grows us while we are growing it.

I can't help but believe that winning a grant for our garden shows us that God wants us to go forward with this work. And I believe that God will send the right people to ensure that the work gets done. Please keep the Rick Johns Community Garden in your prayers as we look forward to our future.

Gardening times are now variable due to the weather. However, we continue to make deliveries which are gratefully received to New Hope on Mondays, and to Barb Food Mart on Thursdays. Please contact me for any questions you might have.

Respectfully submitted,

Jo Plenger-Schulz

EPISCOPAL CHARITIES SOIREE

Kris Borre and Jim Wilson attended the Episcopal Charities Soiree representing St. Paul. The October 27 event was held at the Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago. This fall season gala is the major fundraiser for the Episcopal Charities grants to churches for outreach, community engagement, and development. Last year close to $50,000 was raised.

Matthew Berryman, the Director, provided an overview of the organization and its services. Afterward, donations were solicited in auction style, beginning with a $25,000 bid and going down to $50. The total amount raised has not been reported yet. The evening soiree included stand-up cocktails and mocktails, appetizers, small plates, and desserts. A DJ rocked the place with generational musical selections and everyone enjoyed dancing and watching his performance.

St. Paul's received a grant from the organization this year to address food security in the Annie Glidden North community through donation garden expansion and partnership with other churches. Kris and Jim highly recommend that St. Paul's come as a group next year to meet others with shared interests in Episcopal Charities programs and enjoy fellowship.

Kris Borre

AT ST PAUL'S IN OCTOBER

THE ORGAN CONCERT

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22ND

with Host John Novak and Musicians

Kathleen Johnson, Marianne Kim,

Hyoukyoung "Joy" Kim, and Trent Westfall

Episcopal Church Women

Our next meeting is November 11th (note change of date). Following our 10:00 a.m. meeting in Parish Hall, we will enjoy a potluck lunch at 11:00 a.m. An invitation has been extended to our friends at St. Peter’s. Bring your favorite dish to pass and join us! RSVP to Peg by November 10th, please.

At our October meeting, we finalized plans for our next Giving Basket, which will be in November. Following St. Paul’s long-standing tradition of donating to Safe Passage and Salvation Army during the holiday season, the November Basket will benefit those agencies. Please be generous!

On October 16th, we presented our September Giving Basket proceeds to Barb City Manor for their Resident Assistant Fund in honor of Maureen Gerrity, who recently retired from that facility. A total of $341 was donated – thanks everyone!

Submitted by Peg Newby

Lakeshore Recycling Guidelines

Updated guidelines for proper recycling are posted in the kitchen. They’re very detailed, but please do read them. If anything is in the recycle bin that doesn’t fit the guidelines, the whole bin is discarded with regular waste. One of the biggest no-no’s is plastic bags. When you take the recycling to the outside bin, please empty the bag into the bin and bring the bag back inside so it can be reused. Thanks for helping make the effort to recycle properly.

New Plates for Coffee Hour and Fellowship Events

In September, Dick and Peggy Dowen donated 6 dozen white plates for use at our events. They look like a white paper plate, but don’t throw them away! These plates are dishwasher safe and made of a light weight melamine. Use them whenever you’d like. They are in the cupboard to the right of the sink. (The church’s china plates have been moved to above the microwave.) Thanks, Dick and Peggy!

Instructions for Coffee Hour

Updated instructions for hosting coffee hour are posted in the kitchen by the housekeeping closet. If you need to make coffee, those instructions are posted inside the cupboard door to the left of the sink. Please do not leave dishes in the drainer – everything should be dried and put away. We have a lot of people working in the kitchen for various reasons, so it’s important to leave the area as tidy as possible.