The Monthly Newsletter of 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NIV) 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” (The Message by Eugene Peterson). 

As I have mentioned previously, Nina and I have found great blessing in reading a daily devotional called A Diary Of Private Prayer by John Baillie. Here is a phrase from the 27th morning that seems especially appropriate regarding burdens. “Give me a stout heart to bear my own burdens. Give me a willing heart to bear the burdens of others. Give me a believing heart to cast all burdens upon Thee.”

St. Francis-in-the-Fields Calendar 

The next Men’s Fellowship Breakfast will be held on Saturday, July 1, at 9:00am, at the West Chester Diner (1147 West Chester Pike). This is BYOB (“Bring Your Own Bucks”).

All men of St. Francis are welcome to attend.

St. Francis will host our next blood drive with the American Red Cross on Tuesday, July 11 from 2-7 pm. 

Please consider donating blood to help patients in need in our community. If you are healthy and eligible, roll up your sleeve, book your appointment at www.redcrossblood.org (search St. Francis Malvern) and become a part of the lifesaving mission of the Red Cross!

With questions, contact Sue Lenkaitis.

Please mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 12th (5:30PM-7:00PM) for our third guest speaker, Abdul Mughees from the Islamic Society of Chester County.

A light dinner will be provided so please use the sign-up sheet in the Narthex to RSVP. Thank you! 

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We will have a parish renewal activity on Saturday July 22, featuring a picnic lunch and guided tour of Chanticleer Gardens in Wayne.

We will meet at St. Francis at 12:30pm to carpool, arrive and enjoy our box lunches in the picnic area by 1:00, and begin our tour at 2:00pm. Bring your cameras to capture where you see God in this beautiful local gem.

You may sign-up in the narthex or call the church office. As Chanticleer limits its tours to twelve individuals, please do not invite guests who are not a part of St. Francis.

If we have more than twelve St. Francis members who are interested, we will pursue a second outing.

The Landscaping Narrative Budget Meeting will be Tuesday, July 25 from 10 - 11 am in the Library. If you're interested in the Landscaping of the church, please attend.

Please join us for a Francis and Friends Fellowship Event at the home of Mike and Jill Quinn on July 28 from 6 o’clock to 9:00 PM. The Quinn’s live at 39 Wistar Rd. in Paoli.

We are excited to announce that St. Francis is offering Vacation Bible School this summer! It will be held Monday, August 14th thru Thursday, August 17th from 9:00 am to 11:30am. Our curriculum is from Grow Kids and the theme is On the Case. The children will act as detectives to solve the mystery of how to grow with God through some of Jesus' Parables.

Volunteers are needed for 8/27 to supply lemonade and/or iced tea and snacks after the 10 a.m. service during the summer months. 

  

Sign-up sheet and more details to come in July.

Here are two examples of invitations He issued. "Come away with me for a while to a quiet place and get some rest." (Mark 6:31). "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. (Matthew 11:28). 

The plan is to have a combination of Scripture readings, prayer, meditation, singing some songs, and reading poetry. As someone wisely stated, "We need to slow down to catch up with God”. 

This "mini" retreat will be a time to do just that, and come away refreshed, revived, and renewed. 

Sign-up sheet and more details to come in July.

Our selection for September is The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd.  Ana, the heroine of this historical novel is a brilliant woman with a daring spirit.  She meets, falls in love with Jesus, and they marry.  

Mondays at 5 pm weather permitting.

July is Plastic Free Month!   

In 2023, about 380 million metric tons of plastic—about the weight of all of humanity living today—will be created. Much of this new plastic will enjoy a single use (that plastic bottle of water; that straw with your restaurant beverage; that shopping bag at the local checkout line). Less than 10% is recycled, where it will not break down for hundreds of years or longer. And it’s not just in the landfills and oceans. Micro-plastics have been found in our local streams - Crum, Ridley and Darby Creeks. And more information is coming out every day concerning the impact on our health. Consider how you can be part of the solution.

One local organization that has great information is in our backyard - The Willistown Conservation Trust. Check out  https://wctrust.org/plastic-free-july/

The garden has been part of mission to help others for about 22 years. Chester County Food Bank launched a project to establish vegetable gardens at schools, businesses, and churches.

Two years ago, we took 440 pounds of fresh vegetables to the West Chester Food Cupboard. Last year it was half. Our garden became a tasty target of animals. Not deer. Our fence needed to be replaced and that happened this spring. We also had an Eagle Scout project led by Blaise Watson under Dan Goff’s leadership to rebuild the 6 beds, A team of Eagle Scouts spent several days building new beds and moving dirt. Blaise still is $366 short of the goal to pay for the materials. Please consider a donation to this Eagle Scout project Go Fund Me that helps people get fresh vegetables.

Then we had a groundhog that dug under our beautiful new fence. A slow spring. We now have a metal grid that seems to have stopped the groundhog.

So, the garden is now flourishing once again with lots of vegetables growing. We had our first harvest of Spinach a few weeks ago. Come visit the garden and always feel free to water. It has been a very dry spring. Growing today in the garden: green beans, sweet peas, lots of types of peppers, basil, cilantro, yellow and zucchini squash, cucumbers. Our goal is to get three full crops in each bed a year.

This is a project with many volunteers: Lynd Meyer, Esther Underhill, Maria Huggins, John Groch, Mahala Renkey, Tom Renkey, Dan Groff, Erich Meyer, Laura Petersen, Jill Quinn, Nancy Needhammer.

Circle of Friends is a pastoral care ministry of note writing (birthday, get well, thank you, encouragement, etc.)

The Circle of Friends will meet in person, in the library, on Wednesday, July 26 at 5:30 pm. If you are unable to join us in person but would still like to participate, please contact Sue Lenkaitis. Packets can be prepared for pickup or delivery as needed.

In the meantime, anyone who would like to support this effort can visit nscphila.org for details about ways to help refugees by volunteering or making a donation.

From the Sabbatical Committee – “Thank You” to St. Francis Family

There are five more congregational renewal activities planned for July, August and September; however, in the meantime, please join us on Thursday, June 29 (5:30PM-7:00PM) for our second guest speaker, Rabbi Jon Cutler. Jon served Beth Israel Congregation of Chester County for eight years and served as a Navy Chaplain for 32 years, including service as chaplain with Marines in Desert Storm and Iraq. He and Beth Israel are very active in the Interfaith Action Community of Northern Chester County. A light dinner will be provided so please RSVP using the signup sheet in the Narthex so we can order food accordingly.

As mentioned by Nancy Needhammer, and included in Fr. Kevin’s sermon on May 7th, we announced our Congregation Collage Project, “Finding God in our Everyday Lives”, which runs from May through September and everyone is welcome to participate.

“Finding God in Our Everyday Lives” is the theme of our Congregation Collage Project, which mirrors one of Fr. Kevin’s sabbatical activities. How is God reflected in work, nature, music, art, and industry? Or even when we play? Fr. Kevin plans to capture this through photo journaling to share upon his return with the congregation.

We are inviting everyone to engage in a similar activity by capturing their own pictures, over the summer months, which St. Francis will then use to build collages reflecting God’s presence. Please consider taking pictures from May through September and send these to photos@stfrancisfields.org.

Everyone is welcome to participate and no experience is necessary. A picture that is meaningful to you is more valuable than a perfect picture. Please don’t forget to send your pictures to the email above.

Fr. John and Nina will lead a "mini" retreat designed to help us respond to the wonderful invitations by Jesus to rest in Him. Here are two examples of invitations He issued. "Come away with me for a while to a quiet place and get some rest." (Mark 6:31). "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. (Matthew 11:28). The plan is to have a combination of Scripture readings, prayer, meditation, singing some songs, and reading poetry. As someone wisely stated, "We need to slow down to catch up with God”. This "mini" retreat will be a time to do just that, and come away refreshed, revived, and renewed. Sign-up sheet and more details to come in July.

From June 7^th–10^th delegates from 10 protestant communions (including the Episcopal Church) met in the Philadelphia historic district for the Triennial gathering of CUIC. There was a deep sense of fellowship through the dialogues and shared worship experiences. 

If you’d like further information on CUIC, the 8 marks, or the gathering, you can visit CUIC’s website, www.churchesuniting.org or speak with John Woodcock, one of the delegates.

The Very Rev. Kevin Dellaria, Rector (On Sabbatical)

The Rev. John Whitnah, Sabbatical Supply Clergy

 Diane Faison, Parish Administrator & Deacon

Joe Perry, Music Director

St. Francis-in-the-Fields is an active parish, even during COVID-19. For more information about our worship, outreach, and other ministries, visit our parish website, www.stfrancisfields.org. Our monthly parish newsletter, Fieldnotes, may be found by clicking HERE. Stay current on events by following our parish on Facebook.

St. Francis-in-the-Fields is a parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, a member of The Episcopal Church, and part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.