This Week's Announcements

Our Schedule of Services:

Here is our schedule;

more information may be found by downloading the bulletin.

Sunday, February 5:

8:30 am Service of Holy Eucharist in person

Sunday 8:30 Bulletin

10:30 am Service of Holy Eucharist

in person, also streamed virtually

Link For Facebook

Sunday 9:30 Bulletin

Annual Meeting Report

Our Parish Annual Meeting was a great chance to have brunch together and go over some of the business of St A’s!

We named Shane Rhian as Parliamentarian and Hondo Gallegos as Clerk for our meeting.

We received reports from our ministries in our Meeting Booklet.

We reviewed our financials from 2022 and presented our budget from 2023. Maggie Wellman, our treasurer, took the opportunity to thank us again for our pledging to the parish operating budget, and some continuing funds for our building expansion.

We passed a resolution matching our parish bylaws to the Diocese of Nebraska bylaws for nominating a Senior Warden.

We recognized and honored parish leaders completing their leadership roles:

Richard Krueger, Rhonda Vest, Steve Cudly, and Maggie Wellman (Vestry Seats)
Kathy Pospichal (Parish Life Chair)
Shane Rhian (Senior Warden)

We had a chance to elect and recognize incoming and continuing leaders:

Jim Keepers (Garden Steward, gave us a report on volunteer hours and grant funding)
Barb Hall and Leslie Stubbendieck (Parish Life co-chairs)
Carrye Fassero, Jean Lahti, and Maggie Wellman (Vestry seats)
Maggie Wellman (treasurer) and Hondo Gallegos (vestry clerk)
Angie Gallegos (Altar Guild)
Grant Suhr (Junior Warden)
Pam Wright (Senior Warden)

Fr Ben presented goals for 2023, including:

Fellowship and Reconnecting with old friends and new, as our parish continues to grow!
Having broad conversations this Spring about what kind of Sunday morning arrangement can help us live out our best traditions of worship, fellowship, formation, and ministry
Stay Tuned for more this year, and thanks to everyone for their participation and attention at the Annual Meeting this year!

Restorations Update

Over the past week or two we had two big administrative step and several practical steps completed. The biggest administrative step is that we directly connected Maggie Wellman, our treasurer, to Church Insurance, and that’s already a very effective channel for communicating, documenting, and getting funds sent to St A’s to handle repairs and replacements. Another set of steps involved directly connecting our Project Manager from Paul Davis with Church Insurance, which should create the last set of confirmations we need to formally sign the work orders and schedule contractors. Also, our documentation has been high enough quality that Church Insurance has felt comfortable concluding the contract of the local adjustor; this doesn’t really save us money (it saves Church Insurance money), but it’s a sign of trust and respect for our documentation that they don’t feel a need to have someone check our work, and saving steps saves us time and headaches!

On the practical side, we had many pieces of restoration completed already:

We paid a plumber directly for “extra” work to move the pipe that burst. It had been insulated, but in our attic, which is not “conditioned” (heated) in the winter. We have moved it down into conditioned space inside walls and routed around soffits in the ceiling of the Narthex and Nursery. This has also given us better access for gardening and for shutoffs in the furnace room west of the Sanctuary.
Parish member John Fraser, who is a professional woodworker, has purchased materials to replace the top of the original parish altar (which we are currently using in worship in the Parish Hall). It had swollen from some water, and should be replaced in the next week or two. This will be covered in our claim.
Joe Threlkeld submitted good documentation for our damaged microphones and A/V materials that were in the sacristy or connected to them. This has been accepted for the claim, and Joe will be able to pursue purchasing our replacements.
Angie Gallegos led a team in documenting our sacristy losses and cleaning needs, and Dry Cleaning has been completed on those items; they should be delivered on Feb 2^nd, and available for us to begin using at worship again. That cost should be accepted in the claim as well.

As always, thanks for grace and patience, and please reach out if you have questions or concerns through the next weeks as we get into the actual repairs and get ourselves back to worship in our sanctuary!

We will have a craft day this week in the Preschool Sunday School Room/Temp Nursery. We will be making Valentine's Day Cards to send to a nursing home during Sunday School time at 9:40 am

Maggie and Jay are logging volunteer hours to send the insurance company.

If you have or will volunteer time for cleanup, please use this link as many times as necessary as we continue this process and thanks for all that you’ve already done and will do!!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyMwzIPlSvAkYo3J-CqBtLPaQOhOMsVuvCT42Tr43Du8HnpQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

February Special Collection

Bishop Barker will be here for both services Next Sunday, February 12.

Part of our Special Collection for February will go to the Bishop’s Discretionary Fund. Bishop Barker is the custodian of a discretionary fund that is regularly enriched by gifts offered during his parish visits. These funds are appropriately used to support those in great need – including through the support of local church programming that serves the poor, the marginalized and the outcast.

If you would like to donate to the Bishop's Discretionary Fund please make

Checks payable to: the Diocese of Nebraska/ Bishop’s Discretionary Fund

Online contributions: CLICK HERE

Confirmations and Receptions February 12, both services

We will have Bishop Barker visiting with us on February 12^th, and part of his visit will involve presiding at Confirmations and Receptions. Confirmation is a sacramental rite that “confirms” the promises of the Baptismal Covenant in our Book of Common Prayer, and it is also an affirmation of living out a life of faith in the tradition, worship, and fellowship of the Episcopal Church. While anyone is able to join St Augustine’s as a member of our church (by contacting the office and filling out our membership form), Confirmation is the sacramental way to affirm the vows of baptism and most fully become an Episcopalian. Reception is a similar rite for those who have been Confirmed in another Christian tradition, and represents a commitment to practice that sacramental life in the Episcopal Church as well.

Some members of our parish have been preparing for Confirmation or Reception over the past months with a series of classes with Fr Ben, but if you are interested in being Received or Confirmed and would like to speak with Fr Ben about whether that’s appropriate for you at this time or whether a time of reflection or formation and conversation would be appropriate first, you can be in touch with him at rector@sainta.net. If you are planning to be Received or Confirmed, please do send a note to Fr Ben this coming week (even if you believe he is already aware of it!) to make sure he has your name included on the list for Bishop Barker.

Shrove Tuesday February 21, 5-7 pm

Youth Group will be running their Annual Shrove Sunday Pancake Feed on Shrove Tuesday, February 21. Since our Parish Hall has become our Sanctuary, we have decided to not hold the pancake feed on a Sunday, as it would be very distracting to have so many cooks in the kitchen during worship! Instead, we are moving it to it’s traditional day of Tuesday this year. Take the day off from cooking dinner and head here instead. Youth will be taking goodwill donations that go toward scholarships to Camp Canterbury as well as the Youth Capital Campaign Fund(They are hoping to create a fun hang out area with couches and other comfy seating). Thanks for your Support!

Forgive Everyone Everything: A Virtual Lenten Study with Balancing the Scales

Join Balancing the Scales and the Diocese of Nebraska as we journey--virtually-- through Lent with Fr. Gregory Boyle and the contributors of Forgive Everyone Everything. Fr. Boyle is the founder of HomeBoy Industries, the country's largest reentry program.

Whether you read the book of reflections all at once or read one reflection each day as part of your Lenten prayer practice, we invite you to join us.

Each Wednesday during Lent, you will receive an email from Balancing the Scales with a short reflection written by someone in DioNeb.

To receive these reflections and join our virtual Lenten study, please complete this form: https://forms.gle/eHx1Ux8M5K28b3Zm7

Questions? Please email Kaity Reece

"Session 12": 12 Actions You Can Take This Legislative Session Sunday, February 26 4-5:30 PM

On Sunday, February 26, join our seminarian Kaity Reece for a special Session 12 focused on legislative advocacy in support of racial reconciliation. Together, we will learn more about the legislative process in Nebraska and important legislation facing Nebraska senators this year. By the end of the session, you will walk away with practical tools and information to support you in advocating for reconciliation and Beloved Community. This workshop is open to anyone interested in how we can practice reconciliation from a faith perspective, and is also connected to the Sacred Ground small group curriculum by the Episcopal Church, both as a way of entering into these conversations as part of our life of faith, and exploring whether a future Sacred Ground group would be powerful formation for you, or as continuing the conversation for those who have completed Sacred Ground already. Our invitation is open to anyone interested in participating!

Altar Flowers

In January, our altar flowers were purchased in Celebration of Deacon Rebecca's one year ordination anniversary.

Altar flowers can be given to the glory of God, in remembrance of someone, or to celebrate a special event. We are partnering with Magdalene Blooms for flower arrangements, and are happy to do the ordering for you and getting them onto the altar, or you may do the ordering yourself. If we order for you, suggested donation is $100 earmarked for altar flowers on the memo line. If you are donating in someone’s name, for a special celebration or for a specific date, please let Jay know what you would like printed in the bulletin, also contact her for any questions.

Metal Wreath Form Storage

We would like to reuse the wreath forms that were used to make the Advent wreaths.

If you have any of these forms still at home, please bring them in. We will have a container inside the North Parish Hall doors to leave them. Recycling the wreath forms, is great for the earth, as well as next years budget! If you've already stored them away, no problem, you can bring it with you when we make wreaths!

Play: Behind Every Bush

Feb. 12, 2 PM

We just added an opportunity to talk to previous St. A member, Virginia Kincaid on Thursday, February 9 for friends that would like to catch up with her when she’s in our area. We are holding a BYO luncheon on Thursday in the Parish Hall from Noon – 1:30 PM (or 2ish!) This is a great opportunity to visit with Virginia before her performances February 10-12 in Manly, NE. Don’t forget to bring you own lunch!

A previous St A member, Virginia Kincaid (now of Oregon) will be presenting a one woman dinner theatre play at The Lofte near Manly, NE (40 min drive from St A’s) Feb 10-12. She has written Behind Every Bush and will be portraying Barbara Bush with unique highlights from her childhood, marriage, political adventures, and literacy advocacy. Cost is $40.00. Call 402-234-2553 for your reservation. There is no reduced fee for a group. If you wish to car pool to the 2 pm matinee on Feb 12th, contact Carol Ott by email or text 402-469-9264.

January Vestry Notes

Vestry Notes – January

Vestry Notes – January:

In January, the Vestry held their meeting early (Jan 8^th) to go over the contractor planning and staff/ministry operations we’ll be using as we renovate after our burst pipe. The very brief version is that demolition was completed on Jan 7^th, insurance has approved us using Paul Davis for the renovation steps next, and they are currently assembling plans for that. The Vestry spent significant time reviewing the actual break, our response, the interactions we’ll have with insurance, and possible building issues to review while the walls are already open (eg, re-routing a pipe to the south garden for better ease of access). In addition, the Vestry did some planning for the Parish Annual Meeting on January 29^th (after a combined 9:30 worship service), and approved language for a formal amendment to the bylaws for the Annual Meeting (see separate announcement). The Vestry will be reviewing financials by e-mail, rather than holding an additional meeting this month.

Elaine Randall Book Club

Friday, February 3

8:00 AM -Men's Bible Study

Sunday, February 5

8:30 AM -Service of Holy Eucharist

9:40 AM -Sunday School Craft in Nursery

10:30 AM -Service of Holy Eucharist, also streamed virtually

Wednesday, January 18

6:00 PM -Youth Group

February 9 BYO Luncheon with Virginia Kincaid
February 12 Visit from Bishop Barker with Confirmation
February 21 Youth Pancake Feed
February 22 Ash Wednesday
February 26 Session 12
February 28 Elaine Randall Book Club

CLICK HERE TO VIEW ONLINE PARISH CALENDAR

Rector's Reflection

In place of a reflection this week, Fr. Ben would like to share some thoughts and a prayer from a Facebook Live video earlier in the week. If you would like to talk further with him regarding the incident at Target, please reach out to him through his EMAIL. For the video link, please CLICK HERE

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.