The Sanctuary Renovation has begun.  The renovations will include new flooring, new "cathedral red" carpet in the tower and chancel, newly painted walls and ceiling, new light fixtures in annex to replace the fluorescent lights, and other cosmetic details.  

 

During the renovation work all weekly services-including Sunday morning 8:00 and 10:00 services and Sunday evening 6:00 vespers, Wednesday evening 6:00 service, and Thursday morning 7:00 service-will be held at their usual times in the Parish Hall.  

 

We are asking all members and visitors to enter the Parish Hall via the south side entrance for services (breezeway doors closest to the Gabard building).  

 

The fourteen Dominican Republic missioners on the team sponsored by Christ Church (Valdosta) returned home on Monday, June 19. They were based at the Campamento Monte de la Transfiguración in the central highlands, in the village of El Pedregal near the city of Jarabacoa. While at the Campamento, they laid a concrete floor for a house in the village to be used by their longtime translator, conducted Vacation Bible School for the 120 children enrolled in the local Episcopal school, gave rabies vaccinations to 56 dogs and cats, put on a "splash party" for the school children to celebrate the end of their school year, and installed two new basketball rims and chain nets on the Campamento's basketball court. Christ Church has been sending mission teams to this community since 2001, and so another activity was walking through the village greetings longtime friends and showing first-time missioners the houses and other projects accomplished over the years. They also hiked to a nearby waterfall (crossing a river on a suspension bridge) in the mountains close to the Campamento and attended an annual flower festival in Jarabacoa. On Sunday, June 18, the Rev. Deacon Leeann Culbreath assisted in the worship service and read the Gospel in English while Padre Daniel's wife, the Rev. Deacon Aurianne Rosier de Samuel, read it in English.

 

After the team left the Campamento, finishing steps continued on the house for Leidy's family. The windows have now been installed, and work is about half-done on installing smooth white tiles on top of the concrete floor foundations. To see photos of the house in all of its construction phases, click here. 

To date, the combined work of the Home Team and the Go Team has raised funds for 50 scholarships for children at the K-8 Episcopal school in El Pedregal for the 2017-2018 academic year. Each scholarship costs US$350. We have been informed that another 15 scholarship donations are on the way, for a total of 65. This puts us close to the 70 scholarships we gave in the past two years. If you would like to contribute one or more scholarships, please turn in your donation by Sunday, July 2. We will be sending all donated scholarship funds to the El Pedregal school in the first week of July so the administration can prepare for the next school year.

University of the South Offering - Will be collected on Sunday morning during the 10:00 service. Christ Church will be receiving a special offering for mission of the University of the South and the School of Theology. The Diocese of Georgia is committing these funds to help with the University of the South Capital Campaign, to build a new School of Theology campus. If you are interested in seeing the plans for this they can be found here. 

Stitchers of Love will take a short break due to Father's Day, and the weekend before the 4th of July.  We will take up our group needles again on Sunday, July 16, 2017 in the Parish Hall from 4-6 p.m.  Bring your projects and a friend.  You do not need to know how to knit or crochet, we have plenty of teachers.

You are cordially invited to attend a Retirement Reception honoring Joan Dear for over 30 years of friendship and service to Valdosta State University on Wednesday, June 28, from 4:00 pm until 6:00 pm in the Cypress Room at the University Center.

25 Buddy Pitts                                   

28 Karen Diamond Bell        

30 Stella Clark            

25 Julia Claire Copeland