News from St. Timothy's

Cutting out God's words

~ The Rev. Roger S. Greene

God Keeps Calling Us

Until We Get It

Last Sunday Roger preached about the source of St. Timothy's ministry, asking the question: "What are we grounded in?" If we look to the Gospel of Mark for the answer, we discover two things: First, the source of our ministry is not ourselves. The disciples in Mark's Gospel never get it. Three times he foretells his passion and each time the disciples completely misunderstand what is going on. Secondly, Jesus never gives up on them. In spite of their lack of understanding he keeps calling them. In fact, the Gospel ends with the voice directing the disciples to go back to Galilee if they want to see him. In other words, the story ends by inviting the disciples and us to go back to where it all began and begin again. What we discover in Mark is that our ministry is grounded in a God who never gives up on us, but just keeps calling us until we get it.

Click here to listen to Roger's sermon in its entirety.

Roger's NEW Blog Post

Cutting Out God's Words

In The Book of Jeremiah (36:1-32), we are told that Jeremiah has his secretary Baruch write down all the words that the Lord has spoken to Jeremiah. (This may well be the first copy of The Book of Jeremiah.) These words announced a harsh judgment against Israel and were calling them to renew their commitment to God's covenant if they wanted to avoid disaster. Because these words were critical of King Jehoiachin's leadership, Jeremiah tells Baruch that it would be too dangerous for the prophet himself to read these words in the house of the Lord. Therefore, he would need Baruch to read them.

Baruch reads the words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. When King Jehoiachin's officials were informed about these words, they were so concerned that they asked Baruch to come and read the same to them. Here is where things get interesting.

Read the blog in its entirety by clicking here.

We Are Grounded. We Are Growing. We Are One Body.

We Are Growing.

During our annual giving appeal we are using this statement as part of our appeal. But what do we mean by "We are growing"? For me, it is about growing as a human being and a community. It is about caring for the homeless families in IHN. It is about helping to provide the facilities for various AA group. It is about the Wednesday night English Conversations and Homework Club. I feel privileged to be able to help provide the means for these various missions. Our pledges help these missions and many more, but our pledges also help us to grow into Christ:

"Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ."

(Ephesians 4:15)-Caryn White, Annual Giving Appeal Committee

Blessing of the Animals - Sunday, October 7, 2:00 pm

On Sunday, October 7 bring your furry friends and join us for our annual St. Francis Animal Blessing at the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection at 2:00 pm.

All of God's creatures are welcome. This is a fun liturgy and a great service to invite friends or neighbors to join.

Health Ministry Council

If you would like to be part of enhancing St. Timothy's support of health and wellness in our community, please consider being part of a new Health Ministry Council.

This Council will work to: bridge the gap between ministries so all are better informed; develop a method to connect people to the services available; enhance or add to our current ministries to better fit the needs of our parishioners and community using them; decide on 2-3 programs to make available to the congregation in the next year that would benefit a wide variety of persons in our parish and community.

Contact Debbie Rathsack for more information.

International Fair Trade Sale

Make a difference while shopping, for unusual, international gifts! Don't miss the second annual International Fair Trade Sale at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Hyde Park. Hours are Friday, September 28th from 4-8pm and Saturday, September 29th from 10 am - 3 pm.

Timothy's Tables gathers singles and couples into groups of 8-10 to meet in members' homes for a meal and fellowship. A new group is now organizing for October through March. If you've never participated, please consider joining now. A sign-up sheet is available in the Gathering Space or contact Jerry Eichert.

NEW Modern Worship Ensemble

This group of instrumentalists, typically made up of instruments such as guitars, piano, percussion, woodwinds, and strings, join a volunteer group of singers to help lead worship songs and provide musical offerings at the 9:00 am service. They rehearse on the second and fourth Thursdays 7:00 pm in the choir room. In addition to normal rehearsals, the ensemble provides opportunities for singers/instrumentalists to participate in Sunday worship through a short rehearsal on Sunday morning at 8:30 in the choir room. New modern worship leader Jacob Perez leads the instrumentalists and singers. Please contact Daniel Parsley for more information.

Coming Soon: A NEW Way to Connect

Introducing Realm Connect

As part of our Invite. Welcome. Connect.

initiative, St. Timothy's will be transitioning from Church Life to a new membership database called Realm . In addition to an online directory and payment options, Realm includes a Connect App which will offer more opportunities for us to connect with each other. This may mean some disruption in your ability to access the church directory and make online payments for the next few weeks. Please do not hesitate to contact the office if you do, and we will do our best to get you the information you need. We will keep you updated on this process and let you know when it's time to try the new smart phone application. Thank you for your patience!

Raising our Kids in the Faith Parents Group

The Parents Group meets every Sunday for an informal gathering over coffee and to discuss how we practice our faith at home and with our families.All are welcome to join the conversation beginning Sunday mornings at 10:15 am in Room 6. For more information contact Laura Caprino.

Coffee Hour News

Have you been tempted to help out with coffee hour, but know that you cannot take on another fall-time commitment? We have just the solution for you! We are rolling out a new way to sign up that would give you the freedom to choose just those days that work for you. Click here to check it out and sign up!

Book Club Meets Tuesday, October 9

This group meets once a month on the second Tuesday of the month, 7:00 pm -8:30 pm, in Room 8 to discuss the assigned book of the month. October's book is Dead Wake the Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. All are welcome to attend. Contact Lee Freund for more information.