St. Bede's E-News

We hope that this weekly offering will keep you up-to-date
on the latest information from the parish
and from around the Diocese of Atlanta and wider Church. 

Our e-newsletters are now being archived on our website. 
You can go to www.stbedes.org and look under the Connect With Us tab
at the top of the home page to find past newsletters.

The deadline for submission to the E-Newsletter each week is Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
Please send your submissions ready to go into the newsletter,
text and images attached in an email to the Parish Administrator.
Muriel's email address is mdiguette@stbedes.org

Sunday, May 22, 2022
The Sixth Sunday of Easter


Please join us as we gather together
to worship God this Sunday!


Worship in the Nave
in English at 10 am



Worship in the Nave
in Spanish at 5 pm


Mask wearing is now a personal choice
for those who are fully vaccinated
and up-to-date with any boosters available
and recommended for them.

Masks are still required
for those who are unvaccinated
or who are not up-to-date
with the boosters that are recommended for them.
(Read the full updated worship protocols through the link below.)

We will also be streaming our worship live
on

Welcome The Rev'd Mimi Guerra

We welcome the Rev'd Irma Guerra - who goes by "Mimi" - as a new member of our pastoral team. Mimi will join us in shepherding our Spanish language ministries while she retains her job as Associate Rector at Christ Church Norcross.

Mimi is a native of Mexico who moved to the United States in 1994. She has been an educator for 30 years and was a Spanish teacher with the Douglas County Schools. Guerra earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish in 1989 from the University of Victoria and earned a Child Development Associate (CDA) at Kennesaw State University for Early Childhood Education in 2002. She has also completed English classes at the Cobb County Adult Education Center, completed CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at the Training and Counseling Center (TACC) of St. Luke's, and last summer finished seminary at CETLA (Theological Education Center for Latinos) at the Diocese of Atlanta.

As a child, Mimi aspired to be a nun, but her father encouraged her to become a teacher. However, she never gave up on her dreams of working in the church, and today, in addition to her work as a translator for Title One public schools, she devotes time to helping people build a closer relationship with God. Mimi is the proud mother of one son, Henry, who is 20 and attends West Georgia College. She loves spending time with her family and helping people in need.

Over the past two years, Mimi has been particularly engaged in a ministry of educating and working to get immigrants comfortable with being vaccinated against the COVID virus. You can read more about Mimi's work during the pandemic here.

An Update from Senior Warden Molly Graves:
Answering Questions about Chad's Sabbatical


Chad began his sabbatical on Wednesday, May 11. He will return on Tuesday, September 20, with his first Sunday back being September 25, 2022.

We have prepared a “Frequently Asked Questions” document which we hope will answer questions you may have. If you have additional questions or concerns, please talk to me or The Rev’d Claiborne Jones, our Sabbatical Priest-In-Charge. 

 Molly Graves, Senior Warden


New Look For St. Bede’s!
 
We are pleased to announce that St. Bede’s has awarded a contract to CMC Services Group for replacement of the exterior plywood siding and updating of our main entrance. This project is Phase 1 of a facilities Master Plan that was developed with the help of our Master Planning Committee and Randy Young of Young / Goldstein Architects. The project will replace the existing deteriorating siding with new James Hardie cement fiber siding panels around the perimeter of our buildings. New main entry additions will highlight the area and provide an attractive, fresh new look to our entryway. Provisions have also been included to accommodate a future covered walkway to the entrance.
 
The project plans were submitted to DeKalb County along with CMC’s application for a building permit on March 10, 2022. Our schedule is based on receiving the approved building permit by mid-April and a planned completion date of late July 2022. You will start to see some landscaping changes as well as preliminary construction setup activities including the delivery of a dumpster, Porta-Potty, and temporary fencing in the coming few weeks.
 
The Vestry has approved a contract amount of $84,000, plus a contingency allowance of $8,400. Much of the project will be funded from existing maintenance reserve funds and grants from the Endowment. It is our goal to raise an additional $25,000 to offset costs associated with this exciting project and avoid having to borrow the final portion. We have already received several generous donations towards the project. Your donations are welcomed and you will soon be hearing more about opportunities to contribute to this project. We should note that this is the first major capital expenditure on our facilities since the construction of our Nave 25 years ago.
 
We hope you will share our enthusiasm for this exciting addition to St. Bede’s! If you have questions or comments, please contact Molly Graves, Jeff Swoope or Chad Vaughn.

EXTRA...EXTRA...WORK HAS BEGUN!!!

Work began this week on the exterior siding replacement and renovation project. Building supplies were delivered and the first Hardie siding panels were installed!

Please note that we will temporarily lose the use of two parking spaces in the upper lot accommodate a construction dumpster and a portable toilet facility.



Celebrate Together--Vacation Bible School 2022
(Estudio Biblico de Verano Celebramos Juntos)

Mark your calendars! Our bilingual, all-ages evening VBS (dinner included) is returning in person Tuesday Evenings at 6pm in July (and August 2)! 

We'd love to have you on the team! Please get in touch with Alyssa (asali@stbedes.org) to learn how you might get involved.
Volunteers needed:
Brainstormers
Organizers
Music Makers
Craft designers
Storytellers
Games wranglers
Food providers and preparers
Bilingual helpers


Alyssa Sali (she/her)
Director of Children's and Family Ministries
St. Bede's Episcopal Church, Atlanta




Family Ministries Micropractice 

Join our households with
birth through elementary aged children
in this simple intentional practice
as we bring our learning from the lectionary
into our everyday lives.


The Altar Guild Seeks New Members
No Experience Necessary


Are you being called to join a ministry of service at God's table? Would you like to get to know others by serving on a team that helps prepare the church for worship?

The Altar Guild is a ministry open to all members. Members work as a team and serve one weekend per month. All training is provided and grace abounds. If this sounds interesting to you, please let us know. We'd love to have you join us!


For questions or to join the Altar Guild contact:
Anita Montelione - ammontel12@gmail.com
or Helen Ackall - hfackall@yahoo.com



EPISCOPAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT:
A WAY TO HELP THOSE SUFFERING IN UKRAINE?

As you may know, helping families fleeing violence has been at the heart of Episcopal Relief & Development's mission from the very beginning. In fact, we were established by The Episcopal Church to assist people fleeing Europe during World War II.

Today, we are counting on our faith communities to join us in helping our extended beloved Ukrainian family in need.


Thank you in advance for your compassion, and for praying for those affected by this conflict.


Yours faithfully,
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO

SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF E-NEWS TO READ MORE
ABOUT WHAT EPISCOPAL RELIEF & DEVELOPMENT
IS DOING TO HELP THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE.

FORWARD DAY BY DAY ON LINE

CLICK HERE for the daily meditations found in the Day By Day booklets
You can also find paper copies in the Connect Center in the Commons.

Forward Movement, a ministry of the Episcopal Church , grew out of the determination of the General Convention in 1934 to counter a period of anxiety, distrust, and decline in the Episcopal Church with a "forward movement" charged to "reinvigorate the life of the church and to rehabilitate its general, diocesan, and parochial work."

We are best known for the popular daily devotional Forward Day by Day, which provides daily meditations based on scripture readings appointed by the lectionary and Daily Office. Forward Day by Day is published in English, Spanish, large print, audio cassette, and Braille editions, and the daily meditation is available online.

The 2022 Annual Pledge Campaign
for St. Bede's

THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU!

Thank you to all who have already 
prayerfully considered and returned 
your 2022 pledge of financial support to St. Bede's.

As of April 17, we have received pledges 
from eighty-seven folks/families totaling $421,000.

If you have not already made a financial pledge 
to support St. Bede's for 2022,
we would love to hear from you. 
We hope that you will prayerfully consider
your pledge to St. Bede's
and return your pledge card
or use the link below to pledge online.





If your pledge packet never arrived in the mail, 
please call or email the church office
and we will get one sent out to you as soon as possible.


Thank You!


Gathering Going Forward
Guidance for the Parish

GET VACCINATED - AND BOOSTED!
(as you are eligible and able)


The Gathering Going Forward Group continues to encourage all eligible St. Bede’s parishioners to get vaccinated and keep up-to-date with 3rd doses (for the immunocompromised) and boosters - which have now been authorized for all adults. We would love to be a parish that models Christ’s call to love our neighbors and the most vulnerable among us by being a community that is as fully vaccinated as it can be.
Healing Our Racism
Book Discussion Group
Monday, May 23.

Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm 
on ZOOM

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry


"Never before, the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959.

Indeed Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of Chicago connected profoundly with the psyche of black America—and changed American theater forever. The play's title comes from a line in Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," which warns that a dream deferred might "dry up/like a raisin in the sun."

Please join Muriel Diguette and other members/friends of St. Bede's to discuss current books pertaining to the issues of racism and white privilege.

Email Muriel for the Zoom link to join the discussion.

We will meet the 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm.

If you want to go ahead and order books for future discussions:
 

Race Matters by Cornell West
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Slavery By Another Name by Douglas Blackmon
The Church Cracked Open by Stephanie Spellers
Praying for Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Greene

The Book Group will be on recess for the months of June and July.



Mostly Mysteries Book Group
May 23 at 7pm on Zoom
 
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 7:00 pm on ZOOM

The Mostly Mysteries Book Group is continuing to meet on Zoom. If you would like to take part, please contact Connie Coralli and she will send you the link.


The May selection is
The Maid
by Nita Prose

Molly Gray is not like everyone else. She struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others. Her gran used to interpret the world for her, codifying it into simple rules that Molly could live by.

Since Gran died a few months ago, twenty-five-year-old Molly has been navigating life’s complexities all by herself. No matter—she throws herself with gusto into her work as a hotel maid. Her unique character, along with her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette, make her an ideal fit for the job. She delights in donning her crisp uniform each morning, stocking her cart with miniature soaps and bottles, and returning guest rooms at the Regency Grand Hotel to a state of perfection.

But Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she enters the suite of the infamous and wealthy Charles Black, only to find it in a state of disarray and Mr. Black himself dead in his bed. Before she knows what’s happening, Molly’s unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. She quickly finds herself caught in a web of deception, one she has no idea how to untangle. Fortunately for Molly, friends she never knew she had unite with her in a search for clues to what really happened to Mr. Black—but will they be able to find the real killer before it’s too late?

Clue-like, locked-room mystery and a heartwarming journey of the spirit, The Maid explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and yet entirely different—and reveals that all mysteries can be solved through connection to the human heart.

If you are interested in receiving the Zoom link, please email Connie Coralli



St. Bede's Prayer List


Prayers have been requested for:

Ixia Barasorda, cousin of Nora Cruz-Diaz
Hector Laguna, friend of Nora Cruz-Diaz
Joan Davis
Jai Haithco, son of Robin Brown-Haithco
Joy Sims, daughter of Nina Daniel
Jack Raymer & Ginnie Ferrell
Myles Metcalf, nephew of Susan Reef
Carmen Graciaa, friend of Laura Martin
Jim Poulos, husband of Carol Kemker
Helen Abraham
Mac Thigpen
Fay Key
Lisa Maloof, daughter in law of Anita Maloof
Kevin Maloof, son of Anita Maloof
Bill Edgar, father of Beth Cannon
Rosalene Larson, mother-in-law of Michael Daniel
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Willie Diaz
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Jim Ohl
Frances Bowen
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Cameron Maddox

For those who have died:

Marisue Bevacqua, mother-in-law of Laura Ribas
Laura Deck, friend of Suzanne Shapiro




We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week: 
  
5/23: Janice Welch
5/23: Miriam Needham
5/23: Nicolas Caceres
5/24: Lynnsay Buehler
5/26: Ray Lampros
5/27: Helen Abraham
5/28: Will Mizell
 
 
The flowers on the altar Sunday are given to the glory of God
and in thanksgiving for the 50th wedding anniversary
of Jeff and Jan Swoope on May 27th.
 
 


 


Your Amazon purchases can support St. Bede's 
through Amazon Smile
 
If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through 
and designating St. Bede's as your charitable beneficiary.

To find St. Bede's in the beneficiary list,
you must search for "St Bedes Episcopal Church" 
(without the apostrophe) 
and choose the one located in Atlanta.




From around the Diocese
and the wider Church...


OPPOSE THE DEATH PENALTY IN GEORGIA?


Opportunity to express your faith: Join the vigil for the execution of Virgil Presnell May 17, 6:30. Locations are either downtown at the State Capitol or in Decatur at the Ponce de Leon side of the old Court House. Hope to see you there.

For more information, contact Neva Corbin at nevacorbin@comcast.net



Pathways
the magazine of the Diocese of Atlanta

The new Pathways is now available online! Through original photography, articles, and interviews, Pathways shares inspiring stories from Middle and North Georgia — examples of spiritual growth.



Bishop Wright's Weekly Podcast

Did you know that Bishop Rob Wright has a weekly podcast? You can take a spiritual "deep dive" each week with Bishop Wright and his special guests and grow deeper in faith and understanding as you listen and learn.





Support the Cathedral Book Store.




Friend in Christ,

As violence escalates in Ukraine, over one million people have already fled the country — and the borders are flooded with many more people desperate to leave.

Almost all of them are women and children who have had to seek safety on their own, leaving their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons behind.

As this crisis continues to evolve, we are working with Anglican agencies and our other partners to provide humanitarian assistance, and urgently ask for your help.

Your emergency gift today will support our immediate response, providing cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needs as this crisis unfolds.

Our faith networks are currently on the ground in the border areas of Poland, Hungary and Romania, and we will continue to coordinate with them in order to help those who have been displaced. Specifically, our partner ACT Alliance is helping families on the Hungarian border, and our Anglican partners are mobilizing both an immediate and long-term response in Poland, Romania and Hungary.

Yours faithfully,
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO
Episcopal Relief & Development

Several St. Bede's regulars subscribe to-and like! - these e-publications. To stay up to date on activities throughout the Diocese of Atlanta, sign up for the e-newsletter, Connecting.

You can also sign up to receive For Faith, which is a weekly devotional podcast from Bishop Rob Wright sent by email on Fridays. To sign up for either or both,  click here

Quick Links



To schedule events, please contact our 
Muriel Diguette

For the weekly lectionary readings visit: