All Saints e-Newsletter

June 9, 2021

All Saints Episcopal Church

Celebrating our Life Together in Christ

100 North Drew Street / Appleton, Wisconsin 54911 / 920-734-3656 or 920-249-4147

Parish Office Hours: Mon-Tues-Thurs 9am-12pm, Fri. 11am-3pm

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Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see

the schedule of servers for upcoming Sundays.

From Fr. Christopher Wilkerson

My dear friends in Christ,

Here is the next installment of my Spiritual Autobiography. As I mentioned in the introduction to Part 1, I’m sharing these details of my spiritual journey from childhood to priesthood and to All Saints Episcopal Church not (with all due respect to Walt Whitman) to celebrate myself, but in an attempt to begin (at least) to make up for time lost to the Covid-19 pandemic, time we would otherwise have been able to spend getting to know each other and building the close relationships that are so important to the life and health of a thriving parish. If anything here sparks your interest, if you have questions, or if you’d just like to connect and talk about something else entirely, please let me know at fatherchristopherallsaints@gmail.com, or at 920.266.9262. I look forward to hearing from y’all!

Call Story, Pt. 3

By the time I was in graduate school (at Southern Illinois University) in my late twenties, I believed I had managed to get a pretty fair idea of what I, personally, believed, and that I had nurtured a healthy and productive relationship with Christ Jesus on my own, independent of any formal worship or of any formal institution. Not really having experienced such a thing for myself at that point, I had little concept of a “faith community,” much less a “church family.” The irony, therefore, of nurturing a healthy and productive relationship with Christ Jesus in the absence of the covenant community was quite lost on my younger self.

From the Youth Minister, Erin Wolf

Greetings to all!

FDL Summer Camp is right around the corner, and we are incredibly thankful to be able to return in-person even though things still look at bit different due to the pandemic. All sessions will take place at Waypost Camp in Hatley, WI. Please keep the following campers & staff from All Saints in your prayers:

Senior Camp (June 20-26): Campers: Mallory; Staff: Erin

Middler Camp (June 27-July 1): Campers: Jorden; Staff: Erin

Junior Camp (June 27-July 1): Campers: Martin, Fletcher, Abby, Charlie; Staff: Brad, Mallory, Erin

Kinder Camp (July 1-3): Campers: Jonah; Staff: Erin

For more information on Summer Camp and to access materials from Camp @ Home 2020, head to the FDL Summer Camp webpage. Check out the Virtual Camp Tour, too!

Camp Mail: If you would like to send mail to any campers or staff during their respective sessions, you can! It’s a great way to connect and to show prayer support while they’re away. Please plan at least 2-3 days for delivery when sending a letter.

Camper Name

c/o Waypost Camp

210608 Crooked Lake Dr

Hatley, WI 54440

Summer Events: At this time, we will be offering TWO events this summer for families to gather in-person for fellowship, prayer, and play.

Dates: Wednesday, July 14 and Wednesday, August 18

Times: 6:00-7:30pm

Location: North Lawn, corners of Drew & Washington Streets

Details: To be announced

Have a great rest of the week! Peace be with you all.

All Saints Events

Fr. Christopher’s Vacation

Father Christopher will be officially on vacation from June 19 to July 3 this summer. For the two Sundays that he will be gone (the 20^th & 27^th), we will have Morning Prayer at the regular time (9:30 a.m.), simultaneously in-person and live-streamed via the All Saints Facebook page as we’ve been doing since Palm Sunday.

If any pastoral emergencies arise during those two weeks, please contact our Senior Warden, Sarah Gilbert (cell: 920-205-9053; email: pses@sbcglobal.net).

Your prayers are requested for safe travel and good rest!

Jul-Aug-Sept Server Availability

Emily is starting to put together the servers' schedule for July-August-September. Please contact the office by Monday, June 14 with your availability in those three months.

Note: Lectors and intercessors may now read in person or virtually, as preferred. If you plan to read in person, please make sure you're fully vaccinated and contact Emily by Thursday of that week so she can add you to the attendance list.

Lay Delegates to Diocesan Convention Needed

At our Annual Meeting we delayed the election of lay delegates and alternates to the Diocesan Convention, deciding the vestry would elect them later. Well, the time has come, and we need to certify our delegates at the June 15th vestry meeting to meet a July 1 deadline.

All Saints is allotted 4 delegates, plus 2-4 alternates. Please consider whether you would like to serve in this way, and let Senior Warden Sarah Gilbert know as soon as possible.

Current plans are to hold Diocesan Convention in person in Fond du Lac, October 29-30 (Friday evening banquet and Evensong, Saturday business meeting and Eucharist). If necessary it will be virtual instead. Visit the diocesan website for more information about Convention.

Parish Birthdays & Anniversaries

REMINDER: If you'd like to have your birthday or anniversary recognized, please contact the office. Laurie Leonard has volunteered to start sending birthday cards to parishioners, so we'd like to have as complete a list as we can!

June Birthdays

6/2 - Karah Crabb

6/3 - Wendy Laswell

6/5 - Lily Mick

6/10 - Sarah Gilbert

6/14 - Meredith Kiesnowski

6/19 - David Lepisto

6/20 - Chris Laswell

6/20 - Phil Sealy

6/21 - Annette LaBrake

6/22 - Aiden Javoroski

6/22 - Brenda Perkins

6/24 - Heidi Bates

6/25 - Joanne Bozeman

6/27 - Tim Peterson

6/28 - Paul Tilman

Barbara Schimmelpfenning

June Anniversaries

6/13 - Jan & Bill Reeves

6/18 - Dean & Janet Kaul

If you'd like your birthday or anniversary included here, please contact the office.

Diocesan & Community Events

Good News For Marionettes

Many of you will remember the All Saints Marionettes, which were given to Fox Valley Lutheran High School some years ago. The following announcement appears on the FVLH website:

We are excited to announce the establishment of the Fox Folk Marionettes & Friends, Inc. The goal of this new entity is to continue the ability to offer FVL students the opportunity to develop their puppetry talents and perform the repertoire of marionette show our followers have come to enjoy. Director Dave Payne is retiring from full-time FVL ministry in June, 2021, but this new arrangement will allow the school to partner with him in leading this unique experience. Payne serves as President of this newly established non-profit group which seeks to expand the legacy of the marionettes.

Updates to Covid-19 Safety Guidelines

By now, you may have noticed that the Diocese of Fond du Lac has updated the guidelines and regulations governing in-person worship. While we are not yet “out of the woods” in terms of the Covid pandemic, we are seeing some very encouraging signs across the country and in the state of Wisconsin. The fact that the Bishop Matt and the Covid Task Force are making some changes to our safety protocols reflects the general, if modest, good news that we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel (and that it’s probably not an oncoming train 🙂).

The updated guidelines may be found here.

It is important to note that the permissions granted to parishes by the diocese are options, not mandates. From the beginning of the pandemic and resultant shutdown, the diocese has set limits, restricting what parishes are allowed to do. As things have improved, the diocese has allowed certain restrictions to be relaxed, but each parish has had to decide individually how much to relax restrictions, based on the needs of each community respectively.

Since the diocese first began allowing parishes the possibility of partial, limited reopening, as your rector I have proceeded out of an abundance of caution, preferring to move incrementally, rather than rushing to do too much too soon (and possibly having to pay a price for such haste). Now, as we (hopefully!) near the end of this pandemic, I still intend to move us back towards full reopening incrementally. I know that’s not what everyone wants to hear, but it is, I believe, the way we need to handle this process.

The three most significant subjects about which changes have been made to the diocesan guidelines are masks, singing, and wine.