Newsletter: Thursday, September 9, 2021

This Week's Announcements

Our Schedule of Services:

Here is our schedule;

more information may be found by downloading the bulletin.

Sunday September 26:

8:30 am In Person Eucharist

9:40-10:20 am Sunday School (3 years-12th Grade)

10:30 am In Person(also streamed virtually) Eucharist

Link For Facebook

Sunday 10:30 Bulletin

Virtual Coffee Hour

Zoom Link

Please pray for the Repose of the Soul of Jan Stephenson, who died Thursday, September 16. Jan was in the care of hospice. Fr. Ben and Dn. Dave were able to pray, and spend time with Jan and her family during that time. The funeral will be held at St. Augustine on Saturday, September 25 at 3:00 PM. Family and members of the parish are welcome to attend. If you would like to join virtually, please use this Link For Facebook and This Link for the Bulletin

Please pray also for Jan's family and friends, that they might be comforted in their loss with God's love and with the support of our community.

May Jan, with all the departed, Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory.

In-Person Service

We have a new mask requirement for the time being during service. Due to this, there will be no seating restriction, and you will no longer need to reserve seats. Thank you for your understanding while we work to protect our children under 12!

For detailed information about our return to worship and guidelines that we are following, please CLICK HERE.

Back to “Normal”

Our building is complete and staff are back in the office! Office hours are 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Monday – Thursday.

If you have announcements or other additions to our weekly email newsletter or the bulletins distributed on Sundays, please submit them by 1 PM (close of business) on the MONDAY of the week you want it to run along with a note detailing how many weeks it should be included. Anything received after Monday are not guaranteed to run that week.

Midday Prayer Opportunity

Great C.O.P.E. News

Hallelujah! Our prayers have been answered! The Christian Outreach Program-Elkhorn (COPE) has leased a space in Olde Downtown Elkhorn. Our new home is located at 20621 Elkhorn Drive.

In August COPE signed a 5-year lease on a 6,400 Sq. Ft. building that had previously been occupied by Paradise Pet Suites. The new space will enable us to provide expanded services to the families we serve right here in western Douglas County. In addition to food, we will again offer rent and utility assistance, clothing, household items, and furniture. We also plan to use the additional space for future training and classes for COPE families. We have started the remodeling process of our new space and hope to be open later this year.

This is an exciting opportunity for COPE; it is also a big financial undertaking as the space remodeling project is quite significant. To continue our mission, we need your support! If you would like information on how you can provide financial support, or if you have any questions about COPE, please contact your church’s COPE representative, Julie Pendegraft, 402-630-0180 (text preferred) or Jim Tomanek, 402-669-1019.

COPE is 402-616-2330

COPE website: www.copeinfo.org

New Choir Director and Organist

Jeff Hoffman is a native of West Point, Nebraska, where he served as organist at Grace Lutheran and St. Paul Lutheran churches. He attended Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, Nebraska and served First Baptist Church as organist. He continued his education at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln studying organ performance and has since served as Director of Music at Salem Lutheran Church and on the staff of First Lutheran Church, both in Fremont, directing the Handbell Choir and contemporary worship ensembles, and as an accompanist for the Fremont Public Schools. Mr. Hoffman also served as Director of Music at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Fremont, the Archdiocese of Omaha as an organist at St. Cecilia Cathedral and Accompanist and Administrator for the Archdiocesan Children’s Choir. He served as Executive Director for John C. Fremont Days for ten years and is currently Director of Operations for Harrer Homes Realty Group, affilated with Keller Williams of Greater Omaha.

Mr. Hoffman has served in leadership positions on the board of directors of the Omaha Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Friends of Keene Memorial Library, Fremont Area Art Association Board, John C. Fremont Days, The Jefferson House Advisory Board, and was active in the Fremont Area Chamber of Commerce as a member of the Membership and Professional Development Councils and founder and co-chair of their Youth Leadership Academy.

Mr. Hoffman currently serves on the Parish Pastoral Council of St. Cecilia Cathedral, Omaha, NE, and as Secretary of the Board of Directors and Program Chair for Cathedral Arts Project.

Golf Outing

Just one more day to left to register for Brewsky's Golf Open 2021!

Thursday, September 30th Crooked Creek Golf Course 333 S 134th St Lincoln, NE

Shotgun start at 11 AM

Please register and pay by September 24. For more details, please see flyer below.

If you have volunteered in the past, and would like to help out next Thursday, please let Kate know ASAP.

Nursery Now Open

The nursery is looking for a couple of donations, if you have these things and were planning to give them away, please contact Kate. We may have more requests as we get the nursery situated. Thank you!!

Rocking Chair, or other chair for nursery attendants to sit in, small slide, doll house, dinosaurs, trains, cars/trucks & nesting blocks.

Thanks Armitage Family for the sweet new wooden play kitchen!!

Nursery Re-Opening!

Nursery will be open from 9:30-11:30 in case anyone assisting in Sunday School has a nursery aged youth that needs care.

If you feel that you would enjoy volunteering in the nursery, please contact Kate so she can be sure you are safeguarded and added to the schedule. All of our staff and volunteers that work with youth in any capacity go through a safeguarding training and are background checked. We also always have 2 people in any room with children so our youth are never alone with one adult.

Acolyte Training

Acolyte Training for Fall 2021!

Hello all! As we prepare to return to a full building again, we are planning a good refresher meeting for our acolytes to help remember everything after a long year away! Serving as an acolyte (a word that means “Helper”) is often one of the first ministries children can assist with at church, and can be a special way of participating for them, and a sign for our whole community that God calls each of us to be a part of the holiness of worship and the great family of the church. Fr Ben and other leaders will be reminding current acolytes and training new ones in how to serve as torchbearer and crucifer (cross-carrier) roles. At present, we are asking that acolytes be in at least 3^rd grade to serve as torchbearer and at least 6^th grade to serve as crucifer. Please contact Fr Ben (rector@sainta.net) and Pam Wright (wrightpamelaj@gmail.com) if you have a youth interested in serving in this ministry! Please also send Pam any conflicts you may know about through December, and whether they would like to serve at the 8:30 service or the 10:30 service OR either one, as she is beginning to prepare a schedule. Parents are welcome to stay and learn too, so you can help remind your acolyte of the details.

As a reminder, all of our clergy, staff, and adult volunteers who work regularly with youth and children are required to have the Safeguarding God’s People training, which includes having multiple adult leaders present at our events with young people.

Trainings:

Sunday, November 14^th, 11:30 am – noon: New Acolytes
This training will be an opportunity for newer members or children who have had a chance to see acolytes at the service jump in and begin participating as well
“Rain Date” Training
Youth who cannot make the scheduled dates may coordinate a time for training with Fr Ben, with parents present.

Important Updates

Masking

Because so many of the members of our church are under 12 years old and cannot yet get a vaccine, we will temporarily require masks at some church events, including Sunday worship. We are hopeful that this present surge will be brief, or that the vaccines for younger children that are currently in development will be approved soon and assist in shutting down this new surge of the delta variant. It is incredibly important to create as safe a place as possible for families to build up a church habit again after the disruptions of the past year.

Key points:

To protect kids at church, Masks will be required, even for vaccinated persons, at Sunday worship and Sunday school.
Masks will be optional for vaccinated people at Coffee Hour (please wear a mask until you get to the tables), and children will be able to take a Coffee Hour treat to the Sunday School classrooms to eat, with masks required while not eating
Adult ministries will be able to make a decision as a group whether they wish to wear masks or use the rule that vaccinated people can choose whether to wear one or not
We will be steadily watching the virus rates and other major factors, especially children vaccine development and rollout, so as to review this regularly

Please keep our communities, our healthcare providers, and our church in your prayers as we continue to fight this virus.

Coffee Hour

We have returned to holding our regular coffee hour at St A’s! We’ll have coffee hour after each of our services as a chance for fellowship at church. As a reminder, we’ll be asking people to wear masks while in our halls on Sunday to help protect children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated, so please wait until you get to the tables to remove your mask. Otherwise, we’re looking forward to seeing each other again for fellowship!

Coffee Hour Crew!

Now that we are back and meeting for Coffee Hour, we need a crew to help serve coffee, put everything away, run the dishwasher and take out the trash at the end of the day. There will be a sign up next to the cappuccino machine to choose your date to help. Thank You!

Consider a Parish Ministry

The Canterbury Choir has begun rehearsals for the year! Please know that you are welcome to join us! Rehearsals are Wednesdays from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in the church. All singers are welcome! If you are uncertain if choir is a good fit for you, please come for a few rehearsals.

The Canterbury Choir will warm up at 10:00 a.m. Sunday and sing at the 10:30 worship service. Those who cannot attend Wednesday rehearsal may meet with Jeff at 9:30 a.m. to review the music for that morning.

Youth group will be kicking off soon! As we get ready to begin Youth Group in person, we are looking to start offering dinner again. Kate will be checking in with people who have volunteered before to see if they would like to continue providing meals. If we have the same number of volunteers, you would provide 2-3 times per school year(September-May) on Wednesday evenings. Meals will usually serve 15-20 people, dinner time is at 6:00 pm, you are welcome to stay and eat, as well join in on Youth Group, or drop and dash!

First Sunday Offering

In October, our First Sunday Offering (the second basket that we send around on First Sundays of the month) goes to Magdalene Omaha.

Please see photo of the circle of hope which features all the rays of light who are involved in supporting survivors in our community - including the wonderful volunteers, donors, & cheerleaders! Thank you for making a difference.

Please visit www.magdaleneomaha.org to learn more about their programs & services!

First Sunday Offering for October:

Offering Healing and Recovery Through Love

Light Up the Night for Magdalene Omaha

Friday, October 29^th, 5:30-7:30 pm is another great way to show your support to this cause!

Join Magdalene Omaha in celebrating our five-year anniversary at our first annual fundraising event! This happy hour evening event will feature complimentary hors d'oeuvres, beer/wine, and a signature mocktail. There will be information stations to learn about all of Magdalene Omaha's programs and you can browse and shop items from their workforce development program. Thistle Lights offers products designed and handmade with love by the survivors, and Voila! Magdalene Blooms, our award-winning floral and home décor shop, offers additional job training skills. We warmly welcome you to learn about and support the work of our organization.

At Magdalene Omaha, we deliver hope, healing, and economic self-empowerment to survivors of sex trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. We believe everyone deserves the chance for a new beginning. We love and support survivors at all points on their healing journeys, offering residential and non-residential services, addiction recovery, workforce development, and other learning opportunities in a peer support community. We look forward to seeing you on Friday, October 29th!

Tickets available: https://www.magdaleneomaha.org/events

Annual Council Event

Annual Council – Balancing the Scales Event

Saturday, October 23^rd, 1:00-2:00, gathering at Cornhusker Conference Center, Lincoln

The diocesan Balancing the Scales task force is inviting all those attending Annual Council, as well as anyone interested, to attend an event in support of helping returning citizens. Currently, those who have completed a sentence have to wait an additional two years before their full voting rights are restored, which represents a secondary punishment and leads to a sense of exclusion, rather than returning and participating fully in society again. Those interested can meet at the conclusion of Annual Council and walk together to the event, which will offer talks about the topic and a chance to be present to support those returning to society.

Save the Dates for Fall Fun!

September 25--Nebraska Diocese Youth Group outing to Vala's Pumpkin Patch

October 27--Boo Bash Halloween Party

November 7--Chili Cook Off

November 14--Acolyte Training

All youth heading into 6th-12th Grade are welcome to join us, and bring a friend or two if they would like. We meet every Wednesday from 6-8 PM.

We plan on adding "Sunday School" back into the schedule for our Youth Group aged children. It will be every Sunday from 9:40-10:20am. They will be working on Confirmation Prep, as well as other great lessons that would have normally taken place Wednesday evenings previously. With this change, we will plan on having more outreach and fun nights when we meet on Wednesday evenings!

September Vestry Notes

Vestry Notes are included in our announcements the week following Vestry meetings. (Full minutes are always available on-request from Fr Ben or our Vestry Clerk, currently Hondo Gallegos)

Vestry Updates: Our Vestry (the parish board) met on September 19^th. Here are some highlights

Bishop Barker and Canon Liz joined us for part of our Vestry meeting this month and received an update on our capital campaign progress, including our use of the diocesan Revolving Loan Fund as part of our financing structure. Bishop Barker reported that the small interest that will generate over the term is helping with diocesan budget programs.
The Vestry approved a plan to fund a freezer unit to be added to the new parish kitchen, using funds that include a private donation and budget space from both parish life and kitchen expenses
Our Vestry formally gave its final approval for ordination to the diaconate for Rebecca Smith. Rebecca will meet with several diocesan committees to finalize her formation and approvals in the coming months.
The Vestry noted that we have had many visitors to the parish, and we are encouraging everyone to be aware and welcoming of visitors and new people as many in our community return to worship or find their way here as a new possible church home

Elaine Randall Book Club

Volunteers

Friday, September 24

8:00 AM -Men's Bible Study via Zoom CLICK HERE
Meeting ID: 725 959 1126

Sunday, September 26

8:30 AM -Eucharist in person

9:40 AM -Sunday School Pre-School-12th Grade

10:30 AM -Eucharist in person & via Facebook Live CLICK HERE

3:00 PM -Walking the Mourners Path

Monday, September 27

6:15 PM -The Order of the Daughters of the King Prayer and Bible Study

Tuesday, September 28

11:00 AM -Elaine Randall Book Club

6:30 PM -EFM (Contact Jack for Zoom Link)

Wednesday, September 29

6:00 PM -Youth Group

September 30 Brewsky's Golf Outing
October 10 Ministry Fair
October 21-23 Annual Council
October 23 Balancing the Scales Event (Lincoln)
October 24 Stewardship Season Celebration
October 27 Boo Bash
October 29 Light Up the Night for Magdalene Omaha
November 7 Chili Cook-off
November 14 Acolyte Training

PARISH CALENDAR

Rector's Reflection

Thursday, September 23, 2021

A Cheesy Trick?

I’ve started to see a story shared around on social media recently about reducing stress.

The story is from the book Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski, and essentially describes science experiments with mice in mazes. The mice, it explains, can be taught “learned helplessness” by being placed in a maze with cheese … except the cheese has been placed unattainably beyond some wall or other. After a while, the mice stop trying to go find the cheese: they’ve internalized that it’s impossible.

The “twist” of the experiment is that the attitude lingers. The scientists can take their mice and put them back in the maze, and even if the cheese is placed somewhere else – somewhere gettable – the mice won’t bother to try.

The good news? It also works in reverse. If the learned-helpless mice are taken to the now-gettable cheese in the maze, they start to try again, or at least, they’re more likely to try next time. Helplessness, it turns out, can be unlearned.

And that, of course, is the lesson people are offering us in our stress right now. Each of us can be stewards of our inner mice. The suggestion? It’s an old trick: start by doing something manageable. Stressed out by all the competing needs of the world around us, which we cannot possibly satisfy? Remind yourself that you can do something.

Maybe it’s calling a friend to check in. Maybe it’s some personal craft time (the social media memes suggest knitting a sock and putting on your foot – “now you’re foot’s warm!”). Maybe it’s picking one thing on your to-do list and saying “that gets done next before anything else.” Maybe it’s setting aside time for a nap and asking family to cover for you for an hour. Maybe it’s getting a cheese stick from the fridge (or, as my daughter asks for it, “Chiss-sta?”).

And as a matter of faith, maybe it’s a time to turn to God for a minute, too. You don’t have to suddenly re-establish a lifelong discipline of prayer and mindfulness … maybe just instead a simple “God, I feel stressed and overwhelmed and need your help.” And then the Our Father. And a few breaths of silence – however many seems right.

The trick might be, ahem, cheesy. But your inner mouse might just need to remember that it doesn’t take much to reconnect with the Creator who loves you. Who knows that you’re valuable. Who understands that while you cannot do everything, there are things you have been made – and maybe also called – to do. And that there are differences you are making for yourself, and your neighbor, and your God, in your day.

St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church

285 S 208th Street

Elkhorn, NE 68022

402-289-4058

Church Communication and Announcements

Those of you who need to share information with the parish, please be sure to send it to parish@sainta.net as well as ministries@sainta.net Jay and Kate will need to have this information by Wednesday at 10:00 am to be included in that week's communication for bulletin and newsletter. We appreciate your support.