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The Spirit of Saint Nicholas
The E-Newsletter from Saint Nicholas Episcopal Church
69 Mobley Road, Hamilton, GA 31811
Sunday Services 8:30 and 11:00am
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St. Nicholas' mission is to be an example of Christ's love
for all people.
Our vision is to be the center of nourishment in mind, body, and spirit
for all people in our community.
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Summer Office Hours
Monday thru Thursday- 8:30 am - 2:30 pm
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From Fr. Jeff:
When was the last time you laughed at God's plans for you? Sarah had long thought her dream of having children was a distant memory. She and Abraham should have been great-grandparents at their age. So of course the thought of having a baby was ridiculous. But our God is the God of the impossible! God turns her cynical laughter into grateful laughter once her son is born. Stop thinking that whatever dream you have for yourself or the world is silly and unrealistic. God is the God of unrealistic dreams! There is nothing too wonderful or fantastic for God. It may not happen in the way you expect, but never stop hoping, praying, and working toward the thing that puts fire in your belly.
*If you would like to receive messages like this in text form from Fr. Jeff every week, text "Add me" to
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Outreach Ministry Opportunties:
Mondays at 2:00pm
Holy Eucharist at Harris County Jail, contact Fr. Jeff at 706-761-0115.
Wednesdays at 1:40pm
Packing
back packs for BackSnacks, deliveries to school on Thursdays, contact Grant Flynn at 706-457-9531
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Braylon Isaiah Copeland
Please join me in congratulating Brittany Vargas on the birth of her son Braylon Isaiah Copeland, born June 19, and weighing 8 lbs 7 oz. Mother, son, father Maceo, big sister Armani, and the whole Butzon family are all doing well! Thanks be to God!
Let us pray.
O God, you have taught us through your blessed Son that whoever receives a little child in the name of Christ receives Christ himself: We give you thanks for the blessing you have
bestowed upon this family in giving them a child. Confirm their joy by a lively sense of your presence with them, and give them calm strength and patient wisdom as they seek to
bring this child to love all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious, excellent and admirable, following the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
As you know, raising children is tough, especially for a young mother. Please continue to pray for Brittany and her little family. Also, if you would like to "pamper" her with a pack of diapers or a grocery gift card, I will be collecting those. Feel free to drop items off any time. I know Brittany would appreciate any support from her church family.
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Come join us as we celebrate a baptism on
June 25 @ 11 am
! If you have not been baptized, or if you have a child that needs to be baptized, please contact Fr. Jeff.
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St. Nicholas T-shirts are back!
If you ordered a St. Nicholas T-Shirt, but did not yet receive it, we now have plenty. Also, if you would like to purchase one, they are $10.
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St. Nicholas Summer Lock-In
July 28
will be here before you know it.
We are looking for energetic helpers to assist with the end of summer 4
th Annual lock-in to be help at the church.
There are several ways you can help: brain storming, promotion,
food preparation, registration, decorating, chaperoning, teaching, setting up and breaking down.
This event is fun for all ages.
More details of the event to come soon.
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Stewards of the Month
Back in Epiphany, when determining where to take our annual Ashes to Go, Father Jeff asked new member
Shannon Klein
, who has done a monthly Bible study at the Harris County Jail, if we could take ashes in to the jail. She put him in touch with the authorities there and they allowed us to come in on Ash
Wednesday
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That led to a conversation with parishioners of taking communion to the prisoners there.
Since
March 20
, Father Jeff and three other volunteers have gone every week and set up a full Eucharist service in the jail.
Men and women prisoners alternate weeks that they come.
As many as 15 men and 8 women have been served in this outreach ministry.
The volunteers give their time to be present and listen to the prisoners, with non-judgmental ears.
We read Scriptures, have a conversation about them, and break bread together. As several volunteers say commonly, "I get more out of this than they do."
These volunteers exemplify the Scripture that when we visit the prisoner, we are visiting Christ himself.
Therefore, this month's Stewards of the Month go to the
Jail Eucharist Ministers: Martha Dimon, Alex Garrett, Jim Gilliam, Katherine Johnson, Shannon Klein, Janice Murphy, Larry Nordin, Phebe Robertson, Barrett Smith, and Bert Tomlin.
Thank you all for your ministry!
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Needed --- Lay Eucharistic Visitors (LEV's)
Aside from regular services, St. Nicholas is out and about visiting parish members and community.
Fr. Jeff and LEV's visit hospital or home-bound parish members, family members, Bright Way Personal Care Home, and Harris County Jail. Other places would love to have visits from us. There is a big need to bring God's love to the community through Eucharist and pastoral care. LEV's are trained to give Eucharist and provide pastoral care.
We are in need of additional Lay Eucharistic Visitors for this ministry.
Several members are visiting the prison and Bright Way, however, only two LEV's are active at the moment.
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Bright Way Services
Worship services continue at Bright Way Personal Care Home
in Pine Mountain. Other
Lay Eucharistic Visitors are needed for this ministry.
Contact
Bert
if you would like to participate.
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Lectionary Readings
If you would like to see the readings for Sunday,
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The Gospel of Matthew presents the story of Christ's life and teachings in a well-organized format, almost in the five-part structure of a Greek drama. Each week we take seven small sections of the Gospel. Each section has professional commentary plus questions that lead us into the real impact of Christ's life on our lives in the 21st century. .Additional back-stories of the history and sociology of Christ's time and place will be explored. All are welcome. Invite a friend.
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For those who are ill, recovering or needing special prayers:
Members of St Nicholas:
Ingrid Cheshire
Mabry Collins
Bill Caudill
Chris Butzon
Jacqueline Duval
Jenny Jackson
Michelle Moody
Bill Eidson
Nate Taylor
Clara Butzon
Crowley Family
Family members and friends of the Community:
John Halmrast
Terri
Anita Cheshire
Denson Franklin
Trish Davis
McCullohs Family
Harris County Prison Ministry
Brightway Patients & Staff
BackPack Program
Safe Families Program
Barbara Hamilton
Danny Hatchell
Derek McMurty
Michael & Jerry Bishop
Burr Family
Brenda
Vivian Wahl
For Those In Mourning
Prayers for all our veterans, those currently
serving their country
away from home,
for their safe return and for their families
who wait for them.
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JUNE BIRTHDAYS
2 Devyn Hinnant
3 Jeff Jackson
5 Kathie Torres
Michelle Moody
6 Robert Queener
15 Meghan Davis
17 Barbara Bradley
Terry Buchanan
21 Caitlyn Whitworth
25 Janice Murphy
28 Carolyn Cox
JUNE ANNIVERSARIES
2 Josh & Helena Davis
3 Barrett & Barbara Smith
7 Liz Dixon
9 Sheri & Jeff Cody
John & Charlotte Winsness
10 Ingrid Cheshire & OliverVida
13 Margaret Zachry
20 Steve Morse & William Morgan
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In This Issue
Summer Office Hours
From Fr. Jeff
Outreach Opportunities
Baptism
2017 Organ Tour
Summer Lock-In
Prison Ministry
Lay Ministry
Stewards of the Month
Vestry Minutes
Bright Way Ministries
Lectionary Readings
Zion Worship
Prayers
Birthdays & Anniversaries
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Links (in alphabetical order)
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CONTACT
Deadline for submitting news items is noon Monday.
Send news and photos to:
The Spirit of St. Nicholas
is published weekly by
St. Nicholas Episcopal Church.
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If you or your family members will be in a play, concert, sports or school activity please send the information to the church
contact@stnicholashamilton.org
to be printed in the newsletter.
St Nicholas members can then know what is happening with their church family and perhaps attend some of the functions. Include the event with dates, times and location. This is for children, teens and adults.
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Please help us keep the church directory as up-to-date as possible.
If you have not yet filled out a form, please pick one up in the cloister room and return to the church office. Or you can send your info via email to the Parish Administrator at contact@stnicholashamilton.org
- Please include:your names and the names of your minor children,
- address,
- email addresses,
- phone numbers (cell and home),
- birthdays and anniversaries.
If you need a new picture or a new name tag, indicate that as well. Feel free to use a favorite picture. Just send it in jpeg form to contact@stnicholashamilton.org.
Mobile App Installation Instructions
Church members can view the St. Nicholas Church Directory from their iPhone, iPad, Android or Kindle Fire by downloading the free Instant Church Directory Members App.
You may search for "Instant Church Directory" in the Apple App Store, Google Play, or Amazon Appstore, or use this link:
After installation, open the Instant Church Directory icon (it looks like a church). It will ask for your email address. If your email address is in our church directory, the program will generate a password for you and email it to you.
This worked great for most, but if you have any problems make sure you first check to see that your email address is in the church directory.
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Please look for these cards in the narthex or in the pews and place them in the alms basin if you give electronically.
Father Jeff will bless them at each service along with the other offerings.
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Electronic Common Prayer
Electronic Common Prayer, Version 2.0
(eCP)
is a brand new update to the first, fully authorized, interactive version of the Book of Common Prayer 1979 of the Episcopal Church USA.
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GoFundMe Campaign for
Zion Church
There is much to be done to help this amazing bit of Georgia history.
Please share this and encourage people to be generous.
For over 160 years, Zion Episcopal Church has watched over the village of Talbotton, GA.
There are not many 160-year-old structures still standing in our country.
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TAP Sponsor a Child
One of the most important programs St. Nicholas helps with is the Thompson-Pound Art Program (TAP). TAP is a day-camp in June, sponsored by Chattahoochee Valley Episcopal Ministry (CVEM), which brings children from all religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds to build relationships and unity amongst our ever-diverse American community using various art forms. I have been the chaplain for TAP (or TAPlain) for 9 years and all my children are involved. Several St. Nicholas adults and children are active in the program as well.
We take pride in offering TAP free-of-charge to all the children ages 6-11 who participate. But as you well know, programs like TAP are not truly free to put on. The TAP co-planners do an amazing job of keeping our costs down and rely on the generosity of many people to fulfill our mission. It costs an average of $150 per child to put on TAP. This year, we are also going to be taking a field trip to the Butterfly House at Callaway Gardens, which will cost the children $10.
If you are able and wish to sponsor a child, please send your checks for $160 directly t
o CVEM at P.O. Box 5811, Columbus, GA 31906.
If you would like to learn more about TAP, or if you'd like to stop by and see us in action next week June 26-30 from 8:30 to 12:00pm at the Rankin Arts Center in Columbus, please let me know! Also, mark your calendar for our TAP Celebration night on June 29 at 7:00pm at Temple Israel in Columbus, where you can see the children perform and talk about all they learned.
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