St. Paul's Episcopal Church |
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From the Rector
By the Rev. Donna Mote
Dear People of St Paul’s,
Grace and peace. What a joy it is to write these words from the rector’s office in Holy Innocents Hall at St Paul’s, Key West. I am delighted to accept the call to become the thirty-fourth rector of St Paul’s.
I and our family dog, Shabbat, arrived at St Paul’s Friday evening, May 21. We spent two long driving days en route from our former home in Decatur, GA.
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Since our arrival, we have been getting acquainted with some of you in person and getting oriented to the campus of St Paul’s and to both Old Town and New Town in Key West.
In addition, with Shabbat’s constant presence, I’ve been finishing up the last bits of transitioning my previous responsibilities on the staff of Bishop Rob Wright in the Diocese of Atlanta to my successors and, with the very kind and tremendously capable assistance of Senior Warden Ray Warren, parish administrator Lisa McCarthy, and volunteer sexton Ken Bagge, taking up various duties day by day at and around St Paul’s.
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My spouse, Rebecca, and our cats, Isis and Pingu, will arrive next week after the Memorial Day long weekend.
Come October, our younger son, Jordan, will join us here in Key West.
I wish that it were possible for all of you to be present for the celebration of new ministry at 5:00PM on Saturday, June 5 at which I will be duly installed as your new rector by Bishop Peter Eaton. Similarly, I wish that it were possible for all of you to be present as I celebrate our first Eucharist together at 8:30AM on Sunday, June 6.
Meanwhile, we continue to make our way to the other side of this long and strange and difficult season of Coronatide. We trust that we will increasingly be able not only to return to the fullness of in-person worship but also to discern together the new things the Holy Spirit is stirring up and calling us to take up at this particular moment in this particular place.
I look forward to meeting more and more of you in person as that is possible and/or to connecting with you virtually until we can meet face to face.
With you on the journey,
Donna+
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This Week's News Highlights
Our Service This Week
Holy Eucharist on Facebook and for those in person will be at 8:30AM on Sunday. This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, when the Church celebrates the Holy Trinity. The altar color is white.
See below for how to attend by either mode of participation. Advanced sign up is no longer required. Masks are still required as is social distanced seating. Congregational singing is not yet permitted, but there will be beautiful music from the organ and our cantor.
Saying Goodbye to Father Haughton
Sunday will also be Fr. Lenworth Haughton's last Sunday with us as our supply priest. For almost a year he has faithfully preached, taught and inspired us. Those who are so moved are invited to send cards of thanks addressed directly to Fr. Haughton to the church office:
Fr. Lenworth Haughton
c/o St. Paul's Church
401 Duval Street
Key West, Florida 33040
Cards can also be physically dropped by the office or brought to Sunday's service. It would be appropriate for those wishing to do so to include a voluntary monetary gift gift card for Fr. Haughton in the card. Please do not write checks to the church, however, as St. Paul's is merely acting as a conduit for expressions of gratitude.
We'll present as many cards as we have to Fr. Haughton on Sunday. But don't fear if your card does not arrive by Sunday. He'll still be coming to Key West to serve at St. Peter's and we'll continue to forward cards to him as they come in.
Service on June 6th to Be At 8:30AM
Padre Donna is still considering and weighing options for future service times. There will likely be a change (and possibly more than one weekly service) soon, but the first Holy Eucharist over which she will preside on June 6 will remain at the now established 8:30AM time. Stay tuned for announcements of future changes.
And the Service on June 5th is At 5:00PM
There is a typographical error in the bulletins prepared for last Sunday and this coming Sunday. The installation service for the new rector (celebrated by Bishop Peter Eaton) will be at 5:00PM (not 5:30PM) on Saturday.
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Restoring and Preserving St. Paul's One Brick At A Time
A new set of bricks, representing love, remembrances and faith as expressed by parishioners, was recently set in the Memorial Garden. (The latest grouping is pictured.) Please consider joining in this project. You can order your brick(s) here.
Proceeds help preserve our iconic church and grounds for future generations.
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Junior Warden's Report
By Greta Philips-Ford
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We are very thankful to have received a verbal offer of a sizable donation to be used for the restoration of the Historic Rectory. Paperwork is involved and this is not a done deal. But the signs are very promising.
If received, the funds will be used to complete the foundation project and then to begin to tackle the roof, front porch and windows. I will provide more details once we have bids for the projects.
To date, we have made our match for the May Challenge. Thank you all who contributed! We will start the May Challenge projects in June.
The Volunteer group will meet this weekend, however, with the holiday I will understand if the turnout is not huge. But, if you want to help, please come to the church at 9:00AM on Saturday. We get as much done as possible in about two hours.
Happy Memorial Day!
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Senior Warden's Report
By Ray Warren
Our journey is almost over and I could not be happier. I know that our new rector is seriously considering the time and nature of worship services now that she has arrived. We were limited for the past year by a) Covid and b) the important work Fr. Haughton was also doing as the priest in charge at St. Peter's.
I can't imagine dealing with all the minutiae of reorganizing the regathering process after more than a year -- all the while trying to move and become established in a new state. Everything won't be settled on day one, but I suspect we'll have a regular schedule soon.
With Donna handling the major decisions, I hope to become a better volunteer. Right now the office is staffed by our administrator almost all day on Monday and Tuesday and for about half a day on Friday. But, on Wednesday and Thursday she is only in for an hour or two late in the day. So, I hope to put in some volunteer office hours during the midday then. With that combination we'll have close to a fully staffed office.
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Speaking of volunteers, we are looking for one or more individuals to serve as editors for this newsletter. This involves not only entering (and editing) text, but putting together the graphics, colors, etc. using the Constant Contact interface. It is not a user friendly program, but it is what we use. If you have patience, a good eye for copy editing and the ability to learn a new program, please let me know if you want to volunteer.
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Contacts:
Church office phone: 305-296-5142
Church mailing address: 401 Duval Street, Key West FL 33040. Pledges and offerings can be mailed here or made electronically at the church giving page.
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A Message From Cantor Dean Warden
As Tim is out on a much-deserved vacation, the bulletins were printed before I had put together this weekend’s collection of organ/piano music for Trinity Sunday. Tim will be back next week and the Sequence Hymn and sung Offertory will return then.
I will also take this moment to say how much Tim and I both appreciate your support throughout this past year and then some. I know that I speak for Tim when I say that we can’t wait for that Sunday when the whole congregation can join in singing a full set of hymns and service music. Fingers crossed that that day is soon!
And now, the music for Trinity Sunday:
Prelude - Festive Prelude on Nicaea “Holy, Holy, Holy!” - John B. Dykes, arr. Wood/Linker/Warden
Offertory - Prelude on Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr “All Glory Be to God on High” - Craig Phillips
Communion - Bryn Calfaria “Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor” - William Owen, arr. Shackley
Postlude - Toccata on Grosser Gott “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” - Matthew H. Corl
PS. I should also note that I’ve done some work on our recent issues with streaming our Sunday services and I’m VERY hopeful that we have the problem fixed for this weekend and moving forward. Sincerest apologies for the inconvenience and lack of streaming these past few weeks.
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We Pray Each Day
Daily Morning and Evening Prayer is being offered on Facebook Live at 7:30AM and 500PM on weekdays.
Thanks to Bruce Hagemann, Lisa Laskow, Mary Simmons, Samantha Hall, Sarah Hall and Tim Peterson for volunteering to officiate at these sacred moments.
To join in the prayers via Facebook, go to the church Facebook page at the appropriate time and look for the window showing that "St. Paul's Key West is now live." Then click on the window.
"Like" us and turn on live notifications to get a reminder whenever we are offering prayers.
Please pray this week for healing for
Brittany (Sherri Hodies’ daughter), Beth and Jon Peterson (sister-in-law and brother of Tim), Al (Kitty Robert’s partner), Peter Nanos, Joseph Lyles, Danny Sweeting, Cari Varela, Carolyn Sangston, Ed Hinkle, Monica (Kitty Roberts’ daughter), Gina, Sandy Highsmith, Carla Harper (sister of Joseph Lyles), Fran Lepine (friend of Joseph)
We pray for the departed and their loved ones
John Lyon (partner of Joe Lowe, long-time organist at St Paul’s) and Christina Slone
"Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant"
(Send your prayer requests to Tim@stpaulskeywest.org for future publication and to be included in the Sunday service. By default requests will be listed for four (4) weeks. But if the need continues, please let us know.)
We celebrate these May Birthdays
Jim McCloud 05/01
Tom Valvoda 05/02
Milford Crandall 05/05
Jason Greko 05/05
Charlie Bradford 05/07
Janet Carr 05/08
Gianna Parrish 05/09
Edward King 05/10
Michael McLaughlin 05/12
Susanne Woods 05/12
Janet Staffen 05/16
Barbara Tirman 05/17
Pearl Pope 05/18
Marilyn Helgeson 05/19
Joseph H. Lyles, Jr. 05/19
Noe Nelson 05/20
Patrick Mobley 05/24
Melissa McLaughlin 05/25
Buzz Braley, Jr. 05/26
Cheryle Allen 05/28
Lisa Benfield 05/28
Tom Keller 05/28
Natalie Sweeting 05/28
Dotti Albury 05/30
(If your name is missing from this month's birthday list please send a note to info@stpaulskeywest.org so we can add it.)
We Celebrate May Anniversaries:
Peter & Faye Graniela 05/03
Michael & Sarah Kindinger 05/12
Samantha & Chris Hall 05/18
Wynn & Isabel Steincamp 05/19
Perry & Sherri Hodies 05/20
Ricardo & Caimyn Eage Montano 05/20
Jack & Lorraine Zimmerman 05/20
Kyle & Holle Campbell 05/27
Martin & Joanne Hindsley 05/27
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Reminders
Sunday school is canceled during the virus emergency.
Back issues of The Epistle are available here.
Send questions and comments to the editor of this newsletter here.
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Tel. (305) 296-5142
The nave of the church, the grounds and gardens are open for prayer and meditation daily.
The church office is located in Holy Innocents Hall.
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