This Week At St. Matthew's January 20, 2019 - A Letter From Mother Liz and the Vestry, Vestry Candidates, Annual Meeting Info, Chili Cook-off, and More

St. Matthew's Messenger

This Week At St. Matthew's

Sunday, January 20, 2019

Second Sunday After the Epiphany

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8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist

9:00 a.m. Breakfast

9:30 a.m. Sunday School and Christian Education

10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist

The Rev. Pat Miller, Celebrant and Preacher at both services while Mother Liz is away for the weekend.

READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY

are found here . Year C

Adult Christian Education

EPIPHANY STUDY

Explore Christ's redeeming love by reading Paul's letter to the Roman's each day with tens of thousands of Episcopalians throughout the world.

1/ 6, 13, 20; 2/ 3, 10, 17, 24

DAILY READINGS

http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/

or go to www.itsthepeople.org/

These readings will be explored on Sunday Mornings in class.

Check out other Spring Adult Christian Education Classes and Other Than Sunday Offerings--

Click here for info.

A Letter From Mother Liz and the Vestry

January 17, 2019

On behalf of the vestry, I would like to thank the many people who sent emails expressing their feelings about having same sex unions at St. Matthew’s. I am also grateful to many who held me and the vestry in prayer as we discerned a decision.

I do not know how many responses the vestry received but I received somewhere near 40 emails. All of the emails were well written and whether the writer was in support or not, the views expressed were heart-felt, prayerful and cordial. The responses numbered approximately 5:1 in favor of Tina and Jen having their service at St. Matthew’s.

This past Sunday, the vestry voted to support use of the supplemental liturgies approved by the church for the union of same sex couples. The votes were 9 in support, 1 against and 1 abstention. The 12th vestry member was traveling but was available to be called if their vote was needed.

These liturgies were approved at General Convention in 2015 and reaffirmed at Convention in 2018. They are liturgies that work better for same sex unions than the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer.

The decision on who is married in the church is made by the rector, using the guidelines found in the national and diocesan canons. Tina and Jen are baptized members who have been confirmed in the Episcopal Church since they started attending St. Matthew’s. They are regular in worship attendance, they participate in ministries, their children serve as acolytes, and they contribute financially to the life and work of the parish. They have received premarital counseling as required in the canons, and they meet all other canonical requirements. In good conscience, and because I believe that God’s inclusiveness is broad, I support their request.

I realize that this decision will be met with mixed results. It is my continued prayer that we have the grace to agree to disagree on some things, knowing that it is what we hold in common, namely our need for the saving work of Christ, that brings us together as a worshiping community and unites us as we gather at the altar to receive Holy Communion.

If anyone would like to discuss this further, I would be happy to meet with you. Please contact me at the church office or by email at: rector@stmatthewssnellville.org .

God’s Peace,

Mother Liz+

NEXT SUNDAY, January 27, 2019

Annual Parish Meeting **

* *Nursery/Childcare for children aged 6 mos - 5th grade in the CE wing during the meeting

9:00 a.m.: Coffee & donuts & Sign In

9:30 a.m.: Annual Meeting:

Election of four vestry members

Click here for candidate information

Parish business

Forum discussions

followed by one combined Service

(nursery provided 6 mos - 4 years) .

12:30 p.m (time approx.) : Annual Brotherhood Fish Fry!

ANNUAL REPORTS from all ministries are due in the parish office ASAP. These reports are made available at the Annual Parish Meeting. For questions, see your vestry liaison.

BROTHERHOOD OF ST. ANDREW

ANNUAL FISH FRY

IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE SERVICE

NEXT Sunday, January 27, 2019

Children 3 & under - free

3-10 - $7

Adults - $12

Family - $25

JANUARY FOOD DRIVE

January is the month in which St. Matthew's focuses on collecting additional items for the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministries.

This month the Co-op is especially low on the following four items and has asked that we center our January donations on them. They are; shampoo, dried beans, canned mandarin oranges, and dried pasta.

Beginning on Sunday, January 13, the Outreach Committee will be handing out bags with attached food list after both services, so please fill bag and return to barrel outside of the Parish Hall. All items will be promptly delivered to the Co-op.

"For I was hungry and you gave me food,

I was thirsty and you gave me drink,

I was a stranger and you welcomed me,”

Matthew 25:35

THE GO! SUMMIT

RACIAL HEALING IN A CHANGING WORLD

The Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta

Saturday, February 16, 2019

8:30 a.m.—4:00 p.m.

Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, ph.D,

Sr Pastor, Ebenezer Bapt. Church, Keynote

and featuring

The Rt. Rev. Robert C Wright, D.D.

Around St. Matt's

THANK YOU FROM THE OFFICE STAFF

DEAR MEMBERS OF ST. MATTHEW’S ,

Another year has come to a close, and as we embark on a new year, we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to you for your Christmas gift and how much we appreciate it.

We wish you all the best for the new year and always.

- Mother Liz, Kyle, Susan & Charmaine.

Please Note: The Church Office will be closed Monday, January 21

in observance of Martin Luther King Day.

ANNUAL CHILI COOKOFF

Sponsored by the ECW

Monday, January 28

6:30 p.m.

In the Parish Hall

How does YOUR chili stack up??

ECW invites all members of Saint Matthew's to join us for our Annual Chili Competition. We ask you to either make a pot of chili (any kind) to enter the competition, or join us to sample, taste and judge the chilies. A condiment bar and drinks will be provided along with spoons, bowls and even Tums.

Trophies will be awarded to the top three entries. We will meet in the Parish Hall on Monday, Jan. 28 at 6:30 and finish up by 8:00 after we eat as much chili as we like. See you there!

See Rebecca Bowen or Nancy Drury for more details.

IMPORTANT -- REALM / ACS UPDATE

We are in the process of migrating all our parish member records to the newer ACS cloud-based records system called REALM. Thank you to all who have logged into the new system! In order for REALM to be fully functional, it is important for ALL members to begin using this new system.

If you have received an email inviting you to REALM, please take a few moments to follow the instructions in the email and log into REALM. This will allow you to view your family's records in the new system. If you have not yet received an invitation email to this new system , or if you have any problems logging into REALM, please contact Susan Carson

REALM offers many ways to stay in touch with your ministry and group activities, look up other members’ contact information, and track your own record of giving. You will be able to change your address and contact information and upload a photo to the directory, among other things. If you have any problems logging into REALM, please contact Susan Carson at registrar@stmatthewssnellville.org in the parish office.

Because we converted from ACS to REALM in mid 2018, your record of giving in the old system (Members Connect/Church Life) is no longer updated with giving past May 30 2018. All gifts made after that date are recorded in REALM and are merged with those earlier 2018 gifts. Should you find any discrepancy in your record of giving, either online or in your end of year statement, please contact Charmaine Warmington at stmatts@bellsouth.net in the parish office.

END-OF-YEAR PLEDGE STATEMENTS

End of year Pledge and gift Statements will be available as of Monday, January 14th. As always, please let the office know of any discrepancies. Please call 770-979-4210 or email to admin@stmatthewssnellville.org

2019 PLEDGE ENVELOPES for those who ordered them are available in the church narthex. Please pick yours up this Sunday.

YOUTH GROUP meets Sundays at 6:00 p.m . in the Undercroft. ALL youth of the parish 6th - 12th grades are invited to be a part of this exciting year. For more information, contact Holly Bond or Amanda Livermont.

DIVE BIBLE STUDY FOR HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH meets Wednesday evenings at 6:00 p.m. in Mother Liz's office. For more information on this dynamic Bible study please contac t Mother Liz or Amanda Livermont ..

THE STEPHEN MINISTRY CORNER

What a Stephen Minister is Equipped To Do

While much has been written about a Stephen Minister’s role, and additional info is available on the St. Matthew's website or from stephenministries.org , many people do not get the whole picture of what a Stephen Minister is equipped to do.