All Saints Episcopal Church
Celebrating our Life Together in Christ
|
|
100 North Drew Street / Appleton, Wisconsin 54911 / 920-734-3656
Parish Office Hours: (during COVID-19) Monday 9-11am, Thursday 9-11am
|
|
From Fr. Christopher Wilkerson |
“Where do we go from here?”
My dear friends in Christ,
Not much has changed since I last sat down to write to you all. Covid-19 rages on around us. The numbers in our town, our region, our state, continue to increase. As a worshipping community, we have been forced to pivot from an approach to pandemic response that might be described as saying, “let’s ride it out,” to one that requires us to ask, “so, how do we live like this long-term?” Which, of course, reminds me of a song.
In August of 1973, English singer David Essex released a quirky little tune called “Rock On.” In it, he asks (perhaps rhetorically), “Where do we go from here? / Which is the way that’s clear?” In October of 2020, that lyric pretty much covers it for All Saints Episcopal Church, doesn’t it?
The long-term answer to both those questions is … we don’t know. The variables with which we’re all dealing are changing so continuously that it’s all but impossible to map out, with any certainty, where we can expect to go and how we can expect to get there over the long haul. What we can do, though, is identify which things to prioritize, both in the short-term and as part of a longer-range vision for our parish. We can decide what will be important to us and for us, regardless of any changes in our circumstances.
|
|
From the Youth Minister, Erin Wolf
|
Hello, friends and families of All Saints!
I hope this find everyone enjoying the gorgeous colors of autumn. Here are some updates and reminders for Sunday School & Youth Group families!
Youth Group: Students in grades 5-12 are invited to join our weekly gatherings on Wednesdays from 7:00-7:45pm (Compline will still be offered via the All Saints Church Facebook page at 7:45pm for any students wishing to help lead). Zoom links will be sent out ahead of time via the Weekly Update email list each Wednesday. If you have any questions or wish to be added to the email list, please contact me, Erin Wolf, at asygappleton@gmail.com for assistance.
Sunday School: For those in grades 4K and up, you’re welcome to join in for virtual Sunday School gatherings via Zoom Sundays from 9:00-9:25am (as we don’t want to be late for worship at 9:30am). Zoom links will be sent out ahead of time via the Weekly Update email list each Wednesday. As mentioned above, contact me for further assistance.
Adult Chaperones Needed: Parents and adults of All Saints: I need at least ONE other adult (though TWO are preferred) to assist me with virtual gatherings as we maintain Safeguarding guidelines in digital spaces. If you are interested in helping, please contact me via email or call/text for more information.
Diocesan Fall Lock-In: Due to changes in the current recommendations and guidelines set-out for diocesan gatherings, the annual Youth Fall Lock-In has been postponed. However, there will still be a virtual offering that Friday night, Oct. 16, open to all ages! Read below for more information.
Upcoming Diocesan Events
Oct. 16: Virtual Camp Fire Sing-along at 7:00pm via the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac YouTube page. Join live for an evening of some of your favorite camp songs and a time of prayer. You may submit requests for songs, and we will try to fit in as many as possible. We will wrap up our evening by 8:30pm, and the broadcast will be available to watch on the YouTube channel after. Questions? Contact Erin Wolf at ewolf@diofdl.org.
Oct. 24: Diocesan Convention beginning at 9:00am via the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac YouTube page. Join delegates and leaders from around the diocese for a virtual convention! Learn about the life, ministries, and business of the diocese while also engaging in worship. Bishop Matt Gunter will be offering a pastoral address to the convention as well. For more information, go to diofdl.org/convention.
|
|
Virtual Servers' Schedule |
NOTE: Now that we're including lectors, intercessors, and cantors in the virtual Sunday morning services, the servers' schedule (or a reduced version of it) has returned to the newsletter! Please scroll down to the bottom to see the schedule for the next three Sundays.
|
|
Book of Common Prayer Access |
With our worship remaining online for the time being, below are some options for access to the Book of Common Prayer at home if you do not currently have a copy handy. Of course, having your own BCP is valuable anytime for daily prayer, the Catechism, the Daily Office Lectionary listings, the Psalter, and more. Explore this treasured resource!
|
|
All Saints Online Weekly Schedule |
NOTE: Even if you're not on Facebook, you can still view the livestreams or any other information on the All Saints page by clicking the links below.
Sunday
10:30 a.m.: Virtual Coffee Hour - Zoom
Monday*
11:00 a.m.: Weekly Lectionary Bible study - Zoom
3:00-5:00 p.m.: Pastoral Care “Office Hours”**
~ Fr. Christopher (920.266.9262)
Tuesday*
10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Pastoral Care “Office Hours”**
~ Fr. Christopher (920.266.9262)
Wednesday
Thursday*
12:00 p.m.: Faith Talk - Zoom
6:30-8:30 p.m.: Pastoral Care “Office Hours”**
~ Fr. Christopher (920.266.9262)
Friday
Saturday* (services TBD)
Notes
* Morning Prayer @ 9:30 a.m., Evening Prayer @ 5:30 p.m., and Compline @ 7:30 p.m. (7:45 on Wednesdays) services can be lay-led, and at least some of them should be lay-led. Anyone interested in leading any of the Daily Office prayer services should contact me @ fatherchristopherallsaints@gmail.com ~ I am happy to provide any needed guidance and/or training (hint: it’s pretty easy!). I will also be leading these services, myself, but I really want to get more of the parish involved with leading prayer.
** I will announce at the appointed hour via the All Saints Facebook page that I am available and post my Google Voice phone number (listed above), inviting folks to share comments and conversation, and I will use that time to check in with folks, answer questions, and make appointments for private pastoral conversations as needed.
Thank you, everyone, for your patience and flexibility as we have worked to put together an online presence for All Saints Episcopal Church. It is a steep learning curve, and I (like many of you) had to start largely from scratch. As we go forward, please let us know what is working, what could work better, and what else you would like to see as part of our online ministry and outreach. I am putting together a new ministry team to oversee our digital presence and ministry; if you would like to get involved, please send me an email and let me know.
Blessings,
Christopher+
|
|
Hello, friends and family of All Saints!
We have the opportunity to share the All Saints experience with a wider range of our own networks and circles - and in ways we might not have considered before! Each time we like, follow, comment, or react while participating in any of our weekly online worship services, our worship becomes more visible in digital spaces.
At last year’s Way of Love Revival, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry reminded us that evangelism is as simple as sharing our stories with others. If you are on social media, how might you consider sharing what you appreciate and cherish about our community within your network? Follow All Saints on Facebook or Instagram? Share one of our worship services on your personal page? Have you joined us, or invited a friend to join you, for Zoom Coffee Hour or any of the weekday prayer/study groups?
These simple acts are a great way to get more people engaged in our growing digital presence now and sustain it later when we are able to return to in-person worship. Social media offers a way to share with our networks a small piece of our story, a window into who/what shapes us, and which communities form us. It’s digital evangelism! It provides a great opportunity to grow All Saints.
If you have a question about how to interact with our church’s online presence, reach out to a member of the Online Ministry Team: Stephanie Gadzik; Sarah Gilbert; Carol Jegen; Dean Kaul; Brad Retzlaff; Fr. Christopher Wilkerson; Erin Wolf
|
|
Parish Birthdays & Anniversaries |
October Birthdays
10/1 - Emily Wilkerson
10/7 - Sage Rutz
10/10 - Ellyn Lepisto
10/10 - Thomas Lonzo
10/14 - Dan Dobkoski
10/16 - Jan Reeves
10/20 - Malcolm Allen
10/31 - Craig Augustine
Jim Marks
|
|
Alternative Gift Market — Pandemic Edition |
Our annual Alternative Gift Market at All Saints will be all remote this year. While much of it will happen online, we will also make provisions for those not connected to the internet. It will be smaller, lower key, but still filled with opportunity to spread light through thoughtful gifts that impact people and places in need. We may not be gathered in Jackson Kemper Hall poring over fair trade crafts and food and colorful table displays, but we will be working together to give the world a present! |
|
The market will run November 1-22 with these partners:
-
Alternative Gifts International: online and catalog options.
-
SERRV: online via their SERRV and Earn program, a few catalogs available if you need us to order online for you.
-
Equal Exchange: preorder for pickup or delivery.
-
Caneille Regional Development Fund: donate online or by mail.
Stay tuned for details in the next newsletter! Contact Sarah Gilbert (920-735-9832 or email) with any questions.
|
|
Diocesan & Community Events |
|
From Bishop Matt Gunter:
You are requested to join a season of prayer for the upcoming election. In the midst of a contentious election season, with opinions sharply divided, there is always one thing we can do, every one of us. We can pray. We can pray for wisdom, for grace, for patience, for courage, for hope. We can and must pray for those with whom we disagree. Whatever else we do, we must pray. We might use our own words, or we might like some language to give voice to our concerns and hopes. We Anglicans are blessed with riches of common prayer.
A Season of Prayer for Elections, which offers a new prayer each day through November 4, can be found on the diocesan website. Forward Movement and the Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations offer more resources here.
|
|
Oct. 24 - Diocesan Convention |
The Diocesan Convention will be held virtually this year, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 9am-4pm. Delegates will participate via Zoom; if you're not a delegate, you can watch a livestream on the diocesan YouTube channel. Visit the diocesan website for more information.
|
|
Tech Support Volunteers Needed |
Now that we are beginning to expand our online worship offerings (thanks to our official Online Ministry Team’s impressive efforts), and especially given the fact that it looks like Covid-19 won’t be going away anytime soon, we need your help to make sure as many folks in our parish are able to get connected.
We’ve found that the most effective way to get folks who are not computer-experienced connected, plugged in, and up & running with the electronic technologies that All Saints is using for worship, Bible study, formation, and fellowship … is personal, one-on-one help.
So if you are A) computer-savvy yourself, B) relaxed & comfortable when walking people through new things, and C) willing to be a one-person IT/tech support department for someone in our parish, please let Fr. Christopher, Emily Gilbert in the church office, or Carol Jegen on the Online Ministry Team know, and we’ll connect you with someone who needs your help getting connected!
|
|
Lectors & Intercessors Wanted |
We are expanding our online worship! If you have access to Zoom (and a decent internet connection) and would be interested in serving as a lector or an intercessor (reading Scripture or the Prayers of the People) as part of our Sunday morning livestream worship service, please contact Emily at allsaintsappleton@gmail.com.
|
|
Building a New Pastoral Care Team |
Covid-19 has been with us for half a year, now, and it’s starting to sink in that this virus and all the changes its brought to our daily lives won’t be going away anytime soon. The people of All Saints have been amazing and truly inspiring in your responses to the kinds of drastic changes that have pulled other parishes apart. Your resilience, and the strength and depth of your faith, are to be commended and celebrated!
The time has come to be a bit more organized in our approach to ministry under the shadow of Covid, and to be a bit more long-term in our planning. To that end, we need to put together a Ministry Team to oversee pastoral care within the parish. It will not be the job of this team to do all of the pastoral care that needs doing at All Saints. The team’s job will be to identify the pastoral care needs in the congregation, and to coordinate with volunteers and clergy to make sure those needs get met.
If you have a passion for taking care of your brothers and sisters in Christ, if you have a strong feeling of connection with this parish family—or would like to develop one—and if you have a heart for the Gospel as revealed in loving and caring for people in need, please consider joining this Ministry Team. Help us provide the best pastoral care possible. Help us to be truly the hands of Christ here at All Saints.
|
|
Stephen Ministry:
Bringing Christ's healing love to hurting people
|
******************************************************
What is a Stephen Minister?
Could you or someone you know benefit from the Christ-defined, confidential care of a Stephen Minister? Do you feel called to be part of this caring ministry?
Contact: Susan McCardell 920-915-0288 or Susan
|
|
Emergency Shelter Servers |
From Sue Stenz:
Dearest friends,
It is with great sadness I once again pen a note about the next few months at Pillars. Although some groups have gone back to volunteering with stringent guidelines, due to our higher ages in our volunteer groups, we will not be doing so at this time. It will be revisited in Jan. 2021. Tony, the current director of volunteers totally understands and has been very gracious.
That being said, I have discussed this with Sarah. Phil and I, being so far away from Appleton, especially in winter, have decided to resign as leaders of this exceptional team. We have loved every moment of our time with you all, and hope to stay on at least in the non-winter months. Sarah will discuss this with Father Christopher and see what 2021 might look like in the terms of leadership.
I am including a wonderful opportunity to donate to Pillars with a matching donation. I hope you will consider this wonderful cause.
Feeling very blessed.
Sue and Phil
|
|
Calendar of Upcoming Events |
|
All events are canceled until further notice. |
|
Sunday, October 18
Twentieth Sunday
after Pentecost
Lector
Nancy Krueger
Exodus 33:12-23
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Intercessor
Peter Gilbert
Cantor
Carol Jegen
Psalm 99
|
|
Sunday, October 25
Twenty-First Sunday
after Pentecost
Lector
Mike Gadzik
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Intercessor
Ellen Watson
Cantor
Eric Neiswender
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
|
|
Sunday, November 1
All Saints' Day
Lector
Emily Gilbert
Revelation 7:9-17
1 John 3:1-3
Intercessor
Nancy Krueger
Cantor
Erin Wolf
Psalm 43:1-10, 22
|
|
All Saints Episcopal Church | 920-734-3656 | allsaintsappleton@gmail.com | allsaintsappleton.org |
|
|
|
|
|
|
