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FIELDNOTES
The Monthly Newsletter of
St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
689 Sugartown Road, Malvern, PA 19355
The Rev. Kevin Dellaria, Rector
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Our Vision:
We aspire to be a growing community, worshiping together, celebrating our diversity & lay ministries, and offering God's healing love to all people.
Our Mission:
We seek to foster spiritual growth & renewal while spreading God's message of love, healing and peace.
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New Email!!
St. Francis-in-the-Fields now has a new email.
Please start using this email when contacting the church office.
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Lent: A Time for Connection and Community
Recently, I was part of a very short but profound conversation with a good friend. She mentioned that, due to a number of factors, she had been unable to attend worship in her parish for several weeks. During this time, although she had deep affection for her friends in the congregation, she noticed her will to attend worship drifting away. She even confessed to asking herself why she ever attended church in the first place.
Does this story sound familiar? It's probably one we have all been through to some degree. And of course, it doesn't just apply to worship. I find that if I stop reading regularly, I lose the will to read. If I stop exercising, I lose the will to exercise. If I stop attending to the needs of my soul, I'm likely to forget that those needs were ever there in the first place.
A few weeks back, I challenged our congregation with what I called the "Ten in Twenty Challenge". That challenge was to increase participation at St. Francis by 10% in three areas over the course of 2020: Sunday Worship Attendance, Participation in Parish Life, and Participation in Outreach. To aid that challenge, we added a kind of slogan, which I'm pleased to say has been repeated back to me now in a number of settings:
Community, Community, Community!
During this season of Lent, when we are particularly called to rouse our complacency and attend to our faith, I hope you will take the "Ten in Twenty Challenge" to heart. Have you been drifting away? Has it been getting harder and harder on Sundays to come to worship? Do you see events coming up in the parish and think to yourself, "No, not this time..."? As I mentioned, we've all been there. There is no place for finger-pointing, but just a gentle reminder of how easy it can be to wander away from important things.
So this Lent, get Connected at St. Francis, and let's work to build Community. Take a look at the events coming up in the parish: Worship, Bible studies, Choir practice, Fellowship events (March 27!), even a blood drive! There is something for everyone. Now is the time to come close again, and remember the faith in Jesus Christ that binds us to one another.
See you in church!
Fr. Kevin
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A Word on Worship, Eucharist & Illness
by Fr. Kevin
Regular worship through the sharing of Holy Eucharist is the central act of Episcopal faith and practice. Although scientific studies* suggest that sharing a common cup does not lead to increase in the infection rate, during the cold and flu season it is always helpful to be prudent. For that reason, please consider the following to help minimize the risk of spreading infection at worship:
- Do you feel sick? Have you experienced recent vomiting or fever? Stay home. Use the same guidelines you would for sending a child to school. If you would like prayers for healing or home communion, notify the parish office.
- Take advantage of the hand sanitizer stations (on the bulletin table in the Narthex, at the coffee station near the sink, and at the back of the church on the glass case). Feel free to follow the rule for visiting hospital patients: "Scrub In / Scrub Out".
- At the passing of the peace, you are welcome to acknowledge your neighbor without shaking hands or hugging. A bow, an elbow bump, or a warm verbal greeting can serve just as well. Pay attention to the other persons body language in case they are trying to avoid physical contact. (And of course, always try and greet visitors and anyone you don't know!)
- During communion itself, partaking in the common cup is always optional, and should be avoided if you may be ill. Communion "in one kind" (bread only) is perfectly valid. If you do not wish to receive from the cup, just cross your arms on your chest and the Chalice Bearer will pass by. If you intinct (dip the wine in the chalice), be careful that your fingers do not touch the wine.
A little bit of common sense and diligence can help us maintain a happy and healthy parish!
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 Vestry Update
Vestry Update, March 2020
The Vestry welcomed newly elected members -- Sherri Lewis, John Stearns and Suzanne Steinberg -- at the monthly meeting on February 11. Agenda items focused on planning and development for 2020.
- Connie Scanga will chair the Phase II Committee of the Capital Campaign.
- Fr. Kevin is in communication with the Bishop and Diocesan staff to procure a deacon for our parish.
- Everett Warren has helped the Vestry and office staff to migrate church-related e-mails and archives to a Google Drive G-Suite program. Any Vestry or staff member can be reached at their new email address - [email protected].
- Contract discussions are underway for a new sign on Sugartown Road.
- Vestry will hold its annual retreat on March 6 from 6-9 p.m.
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Capital Campaign - Phase 2 Renovations
A committee to lead the planning and implementation of our much needed renovations has been formed, and an initial meeting was held to begin formulating our approach.
Connie Scanga is serving as chair, along with the following members: Fr. Kevin Dellaria, Jill Quinn, Dan Goff, John Healey, Frank Donohoe, Karen Richards, and Shirley Warren. The committee is eager to evaluate options for making our parish space more welcoming.
Look forward to hearing frequent updates over the coming weeks and months as the project takes shape.
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Important Parish Dates in 2020
A list of some important upcoming dates for St. Francis, as currently scheduled.
Always check parish bulletins, etc., for updated information on service times and events.
April 5-11 Holy Week
April 12 Easter Sunday
May 31 The Day of Pentecost
June 28 - July 3 St. Francis Youth Mission Trip
September 13 Welcome Back Sunday
October 4 St. Francis Day and Blessing of the Animals
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Discipleship: Lenten Studies at St. Francis
You are invited to two Christian Discipleship opportunities that will be available during the Lenten Season, sponsored by our Christian Discipleship Committee:
Get Your House in Order
 A practical planning program for dying, death, and what happens after. Sunday evenings at St. Francis, 5 pm to 6:30 pm March 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29. A light supper of soup & salad will be provided.
March 1 - Get Your House in Order: Wills, POA's, and Other Stuff We Forget
Guest speaker: Steve Potts, Attorney
March 8 -
Going Home
: Funeral Services & Burial Options
Guest speaker: Michael DellaVechia, Funeral Director
March 15 - Caring Hands: Understanding Hospice care
Guest Speaker: Bobbi Castellan, Hospice Care Specialist
March 22 - The Last Celebration: Episcopal Burials and the Book of Common Prayer
Includes a Funeral Music Sing-Along with Joe Perry!
March 29 - Final Things Workshop: Plan your funeral over dinner with friends! Forms will be provided to choose readings, hymns, and other important details. Copies will be made and kept on file in the St. Francis Office.
The Sabbath
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Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Does life ever seem so busy, so over-filled with things and obligations, that you lose sight of the joy and purpose of it all? F
r
om the earliest pages of Genesis, God offers humanity a gift, a remedy for this com
mon ailment, in the practice of Shabbat (the "Sabbath"). Over six weeks, as we journey toward the Paschal Feast (Easter), we will explore the gift of Sabbath using renowned Jewish Scholar Abraham Heschel's short but important work on the practice of Sabbath. Heschel's wisdom on this ancient practice of our Jewish sisters and brothers will speak to us, inspire us ... and challenge us to ask the question: "To whom (or what) are we beholden?"
Tuesdays, March 3 to April 7 1 to 2:30 pm at St. Francis
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Copies of the book are available for purchase at St. Francis for $8.00 (see Fr. Kevin). All are welcome to attend.
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 Brown Bag Lunch - March 3
We welcome
Erika Bhatia, Executive Director, from Main Line Meals on Wheels to the Brown Bag Lunch on
Tuesday, March 3 Noon-1PM
Since 1972, Main Line Meals on Wheels has been delivering nutritious meals to home bound individuals. This critical community need has enabled these individuals to maintain their independent living status, rather than relying on costly assisted living programs or hospital stays. Meal deliveries also provide a much-needed mental and physical health benefit. They provide a social interaction to isolated individuals as well as a safety check on their physical well-being.
The first day of operation, meals were delivered to twenty-four patrons. Now we deliver to one hundred and thirty patrons from two locations. The Bryn Mawr Hospital site serves the Montgomery County area, and the Surrey Services for senior's site in Devon serves the Chester and Delaware County area. Each delivery consists of a hot meal, soup and a cold meal, which are packed and delivered by volunteers. Some 3.2 million meals later, Main Line Meals on Wheels continues to work to meet those same and increasing needs of our patrons.
Their mission is to deliver nutritious meals to the aged, convalescents, home bound and handicapped persons who are unable to shop or cook for themselves, regardless of race, color, creed or ability to pay.
https://www.mainlinemealsonwheels.org/
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Circle of Friends
Circle of Friends meet
every 1st Wednesday of each month. "The Circle" is a pastoral ministry of card-writing and encouragement. All supplies are provided. Anyone is invited to participate.
Next meeting is
March 4, 6 to 7:30 pm.
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Vestry Meeting
Tuesday,
March 10, 2019 at 7 p.m.
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 Book Club
Friday, March 20, 7:30 pm
The Home for Unwanted Girls, Joanna Goodman
In 1950s Quebec, French and English tolerate each other with precarious civility. Maggie's English-speaking father has ambitions for his daughter that don't include marriage to the poor French boy on the next farm over. When she becomes pregnant at fifteen, her parents force her to give baby Elodie up for adoption.
Elodie is raised in Quebec's impoverished orphanage system. This takes a tragic turn when Elodie, along with thousands of other orphans in Quebec, is declared mentally ill as the result of a new law that provides more funding to psychiatric hospitals than to orphanages. Bright and determined, Elodie withstands abysmal treatment at the nuns' hands. At seventeen she is thrust into an alien, often unnerving world.
Maggie cannot forget the daughter she was forced to abandon. As time passes, the stories of Maggie and Elodie intertwine but never touch, until Maggie realizes she must take what she wants from life and go in search of her long-lost daughter, finally reclaiming the truth that has been denied them both.
From Barnes and Noble "Overview."
Friday, April 17, 7:30 pm
Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others, Barbara Brown Taylor
The author recounts her moving discoveries of finding the sacred in unexpected places while teaching the world's religions to undergraduates in rural Georgia.
In Holy
Envy
, she contemplates the ways other people and traditions encounter the Transcendent, both by digging deeper into those traditions herself and by seeing them through her students' eyes as she sets off with them on field trips to monasteries, temples, and mosques.
Taylor returns to her own tradition for guidance, finding new meaning in old teachings that have too often been used to exclude religious strangers instead of embracing the divine challenges they present.
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March Madness!
March 27 - Save the Date!
It's almost time for March Madness! Whether you like watching college basketball or not, please plan on attending Francis and Friends "NCAA Watch Party" on Friday, March 27 from 6 pm to 9 pm at the Callahans' house (1722 Bow Tree Drive, West Chester.)
Pizza, snacks, soft drinks, and desserts will be provided but please BYOB! Babysitting and videos will be available in the Callahans' basement so bring the whole family.
Dress is casual and feel free to wear your favorite team shirt, even if they are not among the field of 64. Please sign-up in the narthex so we know how much food to purchase. The Fellowship Committee will be jumping through hoops to make it a fun evening!!
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 Easter Flowers
Easter Flowers to decorate the church can be purchased as memorials, thanksgiving and in celebration of loved ones or an event in your life.
The cost is $30 and payment is due no later than Monday, April 6, 2020. Applications will be made available in each Sunday leaflet and in the Narthex.
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 No Fooling...Save the Date, April 1
The Outreach Committee will be hosting our next Red Cross blood drive on Wednesday, April 1 from 2 to 7 pm in the Undercroft.
Amazon is thanking donors April 1 - 30 with a $5 Amazon.com Gift Card* by email.
Appointments favored over Walk-ins.
We are hoping to have 35 donors. Please sign up!
For questions, contact Anne Crowley.
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Hobart and William Smith College
Choir Concert
On
April 4, 2020 we will be hosting the Hobart and William Smith college choir.
The
Hobart and William Smith Colleges Chorale under the direction of Robert Cowles will present a concert as part of its annual spring tour at St. Francis-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, Malvern, PA, on
Saturday, April 4, 7:00 pm. The program will include choral works by William Byrd, Thomas Bateson, Dietrich Buxtehude, Mikhail Glinka, Lars-Erik-Larsson, and more. In addition the group will perform a newly commissioned work by Giselle Wyers. The concert is free and open to the public; donations will be gratefully accepted.
There are opportunities to support this wonderful event. We need 9 hosts to house 2 students each (2 without animals) and one host to house 3 students. The hosting houses will accommodate students of the same gender. The students will need transportation to your house after the concert and need to be returned to the church the next morning for breakfast, around 7:30AM. We would like to invite the host families for the breakfast as well. Please contact me if you are able to help with this housing.
Secondly, I will be posting a sign-up sheet to help with food donations and food preparation for dinner and breakfast. I appreciate your willingness to help with this project.
Thank you,
Pam Hudson
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Holy Week and Easter Services
Palm Sunday , April 5
8 & 10 AM
Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Distribution of Palms
Maundy Thursday, April 9
7 PM
Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Stripping of the Altar
Good Friday, April 10
Solemn Vigil at Noon
Easter Vigil, April 11
7 PM
Easter Sunday, April 12
8 & 10 AM
Holy Eucharist, Rite II
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Spring Fellowship Dinner - Saturday, April 25
Fellowship Dinner is a great way to get to know new and existing members of St. Francis, while having dinner in a small friendly setting at someone's home.
This year the Spring Fellowship dinner will be on Saturday, April 25. You can sign up as a guest or a host for a dinner. The host will set the time, coordinate the dinner in their home and provide the main dish. The other guests will bring a salad, side dish, dessert, or wine. The host can invite a guest or two to join them - a new member or anyone they would like to know better - however many the host would like.
A sign-up sheet will be in the Narthex.
If you need further information on the Fellowship Dinner, just email Sharon Fernandes.
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Have you heard of the Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD)?
The tax laws are confusing to most of us, but there is one rule that should definitely be understood by anyone age 70 ½ or older. The QCD rule allows an individual to make donations directly from their IRA accounts to the church, without having to pay tax on the distribution. When done properly this can save a considerable amount of federal tax, and this is especially true under the new tax laws.
To learn more please ask your investment advisor, or see Mike Quinn with any questions.
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Holy Land Pilgrimage
March 12-25, 2020
Save the date for this Bishop-led pilgrimage. Interested people should email The Rev. Matthew Dayton-Welch at [email protected] to register or inquire with questions.
Travel package costs are still being finalized.
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Welcome to Amazon Smile!
Do you love to shop on Amazon? If so, please consider selecting the St. Francis smile account before you begin your shopping.
Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the parish. The Vestry approved designating this money for Outreach during the coming year.
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Wear your name tag for a chance to win a mug!
Get in on the fun on Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. by wearing your name tag during the service and coffee hour and placing it in one of the small buckets at each door on your way out. Diane will draw a name on Monday and announce the winner in the Friday Parish News!
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Bible Study
Lectionary Bible Study meets on Wednesdays at 10 am to pray and discuss the readings for the following Sunday. Holy Eucharist follows the study. Anyone is invited to attend.
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Greatly needed at this time are: Men's sweaters (S, M & L); Men's winter jackets (S, M & L); Belts (black & brown, size 32 34, 36 & 38); winter hats, winter gloves. PLEASE remember these are BOYS - 9-12th grade. Items can be left under the coat rack in the narthex.
Thank you for your donations.
Contact Sheila Rees
with any questions.
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Donate Your Time and Talent
Want to get personally involved? If you are over the age of 18 and want to donate your time and talent to the 100% volunteer team at the West Chester Food Cupboard, please email Charlotte Cain at [email protected].
Money and food is welcome too, because no one should go hungry.
Thank you!
610-344-3175
431 S. Bolmar Street, West Chester, PA 19382
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 Altar Flowers
Did you know that you can dedicate the Sunday Altar Flowers in honor of a friend or family member, in remembrance of a loved one, or for some other special recognition? Altar Flower dedications are just $50.00, and helps provide a fresh arrangement each week. The form for dedicating Altar Flowers can be found on our parish website at:
https://stfrancisfields.com/wp-content/uploads/Altar-Flowers-Dedication-form.jpg
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Fieldnotes Deadline - April
The deadline for the April Fieldnotes is
Monday, March 23, 2020!
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Calendar 
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