Beloved,
The past two years have been full of ups and downs as we have navigated the pandemic, our return to church, and the completion of one full year back together in the worship and gathering spaces of the Cathedral. The past two years have also brought us the gift of tremendous growth in the numbers of people finding a home here; 2021 brought 21 new people who have stayed on and so far 2022 has brought 23 new people, 19 of whom are already engaging in ministry. What a gift of the Holy Spirit!
As we grow (thank you, Jesus) in numbers so we grow in ministry. We have so much going on here - when we listed out the ongoing ministries and projects on Discipleship Sunday there were 25 of them! And, if you separate out the liturgical ministers into their own categories (lector, chalice, crucifer, live-streamer, etc.) the number of ministries tops 30. Think of that. Thanks to all of you who serve in those ministries and deep thanks to those of you who have indicated a desire to newly serve in those ministries.
As we grow, and as our ministries grow, we realize a need for more staff support of such ministries. We have been very careful about living within our means, honoring the restrictions of our small endowments, and curbing our spending to keep our promise to God of good stewardship of the monetary gifts you offer and the yield we receive on our small investments. We have been very successful in that regard. To continue our careful stewardship any new spending must be paid for through our (yours and mine) pledges and special offerings.
As the Dean and Rector of this Cathedral, it is my solemn responsibility to see to the appropriate tending of all of our active ministries. Today, I am asking you to help me with that, by helping to fund a new part-time associate position. Such an associate would oversee our growing program areas of young adult ministry, adult formation, and community engagement. The annual cost for such a person would be around $23,000 - $25,000. That means this pledge campaign we are now in must yield around $310,000 to make the possibility a reality.
I am asking each of you to consider your financial pledge to this Cathedral. Is this the year you can increase it? Are you able to make an additional contribution outside of your pledge to support a new position? We give out of gratitude to God for all that we have in all aspects of our lives, including all that we have in this holy and life-giving place. I will be increasing my pledge this year, maintaining a tithe of my gross salary. I hope you will consider the same.
Together we are more. Together we can change the world.
Greta +
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Cathedral Church of St. Paul News & Events |
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This week we launch our 2023 stewardship campaign, themed Now thank we all our God. Pledge packets were mailed out this week - look for yours to arrive in the next few days. We will also have extra packets available on the Narthex table.
Consider what you can give - the dollars pledged to our 2023 campaign will be used to fund our operating budget - salaries, utilities, outreach programs, and much more. Donating to St. Paul's Annual Giving campaign enables us to accurately budget each year.
Pledges can also be made online using the link here. If you would like a pledge packet mailed to you, please reach out to Jennifer Sumner in the Cathedral office (admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org, or 802-864-0471).
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Our annual St. Paul’s Wreath Project to benefit the Cathedral’s outreach ministries is now taking orders. If you ordered a wreath last year, you will be contacted by email shortly to see if you would like to repeat your order. If you do not use email or are new to St Paul’s, please stop by our table in the South Porch after either service to check out what is available and fill out a paper order form. The order table will be available Sundays October 2, 9 and 16. We sell the freshest wreaths, garlands and boughs in a wide variety of sizes and decorations.
New this year: To place an order online, check out the Wreath Project website and order form:
The deadline for ordering will be Sunday, October 16. Wreaths can be picked up at the Cathedral on December 2 or 3, or shipped to a loved one.
If you’d like to help our the Wreath Project by gathering nice clean acorns with their caps still attached, we would appreciate it, and clean pine cones as well. We can use all shapes and sizes. Other WP volunteers’ tasks are available. Elves of all skill sets should call Penny Pillsbury 862-3575 or email her ppills949@gmail.com. She can probably find you a task or two! |
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Blessing of the Animals This Sunday |
In celebration of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, we will hold a service of thanksgiving for all creation on Sunday, October 2 at 4:00 p.m.
We invite you and your pets to join us.
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Many of us thought Vermont had abolished slavery in its original constitution - not so.
This Sunday, October 2, St. Paul's Jubilee Justice Social Outreach Committee will host a table to share information on Proposition 2, an important ballot item in November. This proposal is an amendment to VT's Constitution to abolish slavery in this state once and for all.
Please come visit us!
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There will be no church school this Sunday as Katie Gonyaw is away. Please join us next week.
Church school takes place on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. in the classroom downstairs.
Thank you to the adults who have volunteered to help out in the classroom! Church school volunteers can have a major impact on the youth in our congregation.
Click here to view or download The Sunday Paper for the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. The Sunday Paper is a weekly publication for children that includes Scriptural images, and stories that relate the Gospel to the Old Testament, the life of the church, and their own lives. |
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Second Sunday Supper October 9 |
All are invited to gather for a delicious potluck dinner and great conversation on Sunday, October 9 at 5 p.m.. Feel free to bring a main dish, a side or dessert to share. Your presence, however, is what is most important! There is no need to RSVP.
If our October gathering date doesn't work for you - mark your calendar! We'll have our next potluck supper November 13 from 5 to 7 p.m.
Plan to enter the building through the lower entrance. To cut down on dishes, please bring your own plates, flatware, and cups. We'll have paper plates available if you're unable to or if you forget.
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Young Adult Gatherings in October |
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Join young adults ages 18 and up and meet new friends. The St. Paul's young adults next gathering will be an apple picking excursion on Sunday, October 16.
On October 30, we'll gather at The Boardroom, a board game café and retail store in Burlington. Stay tuned for more details, or email group leaders Henry Kellogg ( henry.kellogg@gmail.com) or Ashley Bolger ( ashley.bolger.97@gmail.com) to learn more. |
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Cathedral Arts Presents Maurice Clerc, Organist |
Join us on Friday, October 21 for an evening of organ music performed by renowned French organist Maurice Clerc.
Mr. Clerc is a part of the great French tradition of organ playing, yet he draws energy from the dynamism of our time. Traveling four continents for forty years, from Europe to Australia, he has played in prestigious places such as Notre Dame de Paris, Saint Patrick's Cathedral of New York, the Dom de Lübeck, the Basilica Saint Marc of Venice, an Oratory Saint Joseph of Montreal, the Cathedral Saint Paul of Melbourne, the auditorium of the N.H.K. of Tokyo, and the Cultural Center of Hong Kong.
Organist Emeritus of Dijon Cathedral, Maurice Clerc served as titular organist of this great instrument for 46 years from 1972 to 2018. He also taught at the Conservatoire de Dijon and lectured at the University in Dijon. He has recorded a dozen CDs, including Bach and German baroque masters, French repertory of Franck, Vierne, Dupré, Fleury, and Langlais. His most recent recordings have been of works by Cochereau and French transcriptions. Maurice Clerc is Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
The program will include varied works from composers such as Bach, Buxtehude, and Jean Langlais.
Friday, October 21, 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul
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Justice Speaks: Something to Read |
Westina Matthews' book, This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith and the Church, recognizes the recent election of African American women as bishops in the Episcopal Church, with conversations with these women. There were six recorded conversations across seven months. During this timeframe, Bishop Barbara Harris passed, the COVID pandemic raged, racial unrest and protests occurred, and there was the 2020 presidential election. These events shaped the conversations. Matthews writes: “As we journeyed together over the months, I witnessed a band of sisterhood being formed.”
The bishops were:
Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, Dioceses of Indianapolis
Carlye Hughes, Diocese of Newark
Phoebe Roaf, Diocese of West Tennessee
Kimberly Lucas, Diocese of Colorado
Shannon MacVean-Brown, Diocese of Vermont
Conversations included experiences of growing up in or around a Black church; leading through the pandemic; their spiritual journeys; gender and race in the Episcopal Church; being a woman and aspiring to ordination. Themes of love, healing and hope are prevalent. In the chapter titled, We Are the Church, Bishop Shannon stated, “I think that we’ll actually move forward as a Church because we can bring our personal experiences of who we are as Black women to the conversation around reconciliation.”
This band of sisterhood represents the transformative power of God working within the Episcopal Church to become a welcoming place for authentic, vulnerable, inclusive, spirit-filled, truth-telling people who can join together to say, “We are the Church.”
Each conversation ended with a beautiful prayer by one of the bishops. The Introduction ended with a prayer by Matthews: “Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you, completely trusting in your goodness and mercy. I appeal to your loving spirit to watch over these women gathered for this book. I praise you for their lives and their souls and I am filled with deep gratitude. Look upon my sisters with your tenderness and grace. Bless these women. Let them be healthy, free, and protected in the strength of your loving arms.”
You can order this book here. |
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We gather for coffee hour downstairs in the Parish hall following each of our worship services. We hope you will join us for a quick cup of coffee, or, if you have the time, a longer conversation with old friends and new ones.
We are always seeking volunteers to contribute a snack, to make coffee, or to help set up or clean up. You can volunteer using our online signup here, or let a member of the welcome ministry know.
Please join us in this important ministry to welcome one another, get to know newer folks, and stay in touch with everyone who is a part of the St. Paul's family. To learn more, please get in touch with me or any member of the Welcome Ministry.
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Join us this Sunday, October 2 as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist at 9:00 a.m. in person and 11:00 a.m. in person and live streamed on the Cathedral's YouTube channel for those who would like to join us virtually.
Please see the schedule above or visit the Cathedral website for other worship at St. Paul's.
You can view or download the order of worship for the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist on our website.
Other Regular Services
All are welcome to join us for our weekday services:
Morning Prayer, Monday - Friday at 8:30 a.m. on Zoom.
Morning Prayer will take place online only September 19 - 30.
Compline, Sundays and Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. on Zoom.
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For Our Prayers This Week |
We pray for blessings and joy for those who celebrate birthdays this week: Henry Maciejewski, Kit Roberts.
Let us name before God those for whom we offer our prayers: Jay Slobodzian; Thomas McGrade; Ashton Christy; Robert Libbert; Caroline Rood; Scholar's House; James Booze; Jennifer Jenkins; Michael Fay; Henry Maciejewski; P.J.; John; Antonia; Lindsey Fay; The Anthony Family in Moscow, Russia; Nancy Bishop; Marie Cole; Kim Martin; Helene; Martha Ladue; Karin Davis; Karen Lewis; Sandy Nicholson; Cole; Nancy Johnson; Ella Baskett; Mary Magot; Jean Erno; Jackie; Lillian Robinson; Emily Harwood; Peter Adams; Elizabeth Webster; Pat Barra; David Glendinning; Debbie Altemus; Vaughn Altemus; Marion Montross; Naomi Hodgett; Helen McGrath; and Mary Carter. For all those suffering from COVID-19 in our country or around the world. For those who have died from COVID-19 and for the grief of those who loved them. For Ukraine and those fleeing its borders and for the people of Russia. For all victims of gun violence.
We pray for those who are in the discernment process: Kenzo An; and for our seminarian, Susan McMillan.
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Blessed Michael, the archangel, defend us in the hour of conflict.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil
(may God restrain him, we humbly pray):
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God thrust Satan down to hell
and with him those other wicked spirits
who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
Amen.
--James Joyce,Ulysses
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Lessons for October 2: The Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost |
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Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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Accessibility Survey Offered |
If we're lucky, we will all be older adults some day. Industrial design student Clare Maxwell is working on her senior project with the goal in mind of designing a product that will increase accessibility for older adults.
You can help her out by taking this short survey on your daily experiences that affect access to the world:
Thanks for taking the time to answer her questions!
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This year, the Joint Urban Ministry Project (JUMP) was thrilled to welcome Katharine Stockman as the new President of the Board of Directors.
Click here to see an interview with JUMP Director Wanda Hines and Katharine discussing JUMP's initiatives and program needs going forward.
JUMP provides assistance in the form of vouchers to individuals and families. In 2020, assistance was provided by JUMP to 4,477 individuals in 2,062 households from 7 Vermont counties and 32 towns in the form of vouchers for food valued at $44,458, assistance with utility bills valued at $12,192, thrift shop vouchers valued at $11,055, and vouchers for gasoline and transportation assistance valued at $9,436.
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Diocesan Convention is October 8 and 13 |
The 2022 Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont will be held in two parts:
The Bishop’s address, worship, and other programming will take place in person on Saturday, October 8 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration and time for fellowship will begin at 9 a.m.
The business portion of diocesan convention will be held online via Zoom the evening of Thursday, October 13 beginning at 6 p.m.
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Submission Deadline for St. Paul's eNews |
This weekly e-newsletter is circulated on Fridays. Please have your pieces submitted to Jennifer Sumner at admin@stpaulscathedralvt.org by noon on Wednesday. Thank you. |
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Contacts:
The Right Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown, Bishop of Vermont
The Very Rev. Greta Getlein, Dean and Rector
The Ven. J. Stannard Baker, Cathedral Deacon and Diocesan Archdeacon
Mark A. DeW. Howe, Canon Precentor and Director of Music
Jennifer C. Sumner, Office Administrator
Barbara F. Comeau, Financial Administrator
Katie Gonyaw, Children's Formation Coordinator
Grace Jack, A/V and Social Media Coordinator
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