My dear family in Christ,

Alleluia! He is risen!

The Lord is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

We are now well into the great Fifty Days of Easter, and despite some fits and starts (and stops, and restarts), it appears, at least as of today, that we might even be on the verge of Spring. Alleluia, indeed!

In the previous column, we considered the shape the disciples were in when the risen Jesus Christ appeared to them after the devastation of the crucifixion. In particular, we looked at their need for recover and healing before they could take up their new vocation as apostles. I mentioned that there were two stories from Scripture that have been on my mind of late: the first was from John’s Gospel, the story of the man by the pool of Beth-zatha whom Jesus asked, “Do you want to be made well?”; the second, our subject for this column, is from the Second Book of Kings, the story of Naaman of Aram and his encounter with Elisha the Prophet.



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The March financial summary can also be viewed as a PDF here.

In preparation for the Special Convention on Saturday, May 4, our lay delegates (Sarah Gilbert and Paul Van Duser) and alternates (Susan Allen and Stephanie Gadzik) will be commissioned during the 10:30 am service on Sunday, April 28.

Fr. Christopher will also bless the scarves to be donated to the Seaman's Church Institute at the convention. Please bring any finished scarves to church on Sunday. If you aren't quite done making your scarf yet, you can still drop it off in the office anytime before Friday, May 3 to be delivered to the convention.

The Spring Sale is on! Send your lists of fair trade, small farmer-owned coffee, tea, chocolate, nuts, Palestinian olive oil, and dried fruit to Sarah Gilbert by Sunday, April 28 and I will place our group order. We who order will pay the full listed price for our items, and All Saints will receive the 15% we save with the sale. Shipping is free. You will be notified when the shipment is ready for pickup.

https://shop.equalexchange.coop/

Our second Fiber Night gathering will be held on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 pm. Join us in the Palmer Room for an evening of crafting and fellowship! Bring along any portable handcraft you'd like to work on (or want to get help with). Tea and refreshments will be provided. Contact Sarah Gilbert for more info.

On Saturday, May 4 from 9am-12pm, come help clean up our lawn and flowerbeds for spring! Bring gloves and any tools you want to use.

We had a blast at our inaugural mah-jongg night! Come join us and bring a friend to learn and play.  We'll meet again on Tuesday, May 14th and Tuesday, May 28th @ 6:30pm in the Palmer Room. Other board games will also be available to play depending on numbers and interest. Questions? Contact Stephanie Gadzik, Pamela Padley, or Catherine Neiswender.

Beginning the day after Pentecost, on May 20th, I will be hosting a new gathering on Monday evenings at 5:30: Living Christianity: A “How To” Guide. I envision that our work will vary from session to session but will include worship, prayer, meditation, theological reflection, community building, discernment … and a lot of great fellowship, and even more humor & fun! We won’t take ourselves too seriously, but we will take sacred fire of God’s Holy Spirit most seriously. In doing so, I believe we will learn a lot about ourselves and about what it means to be Christian disciples in this world, here and now. Please make plans to be part of this new experience at All Saints. 

Questions, thoughts, comments, and/or ideas? Please contact me at 920.266.9262 (voice or text) or at fatherchristopherallsaints@gmail.com.

Peace & blessings & see y’all soon!

Christopher+

The coffee hour schedule has lots of openings for the months of May and June! If you'd like to provide treats for our socializing time after the 10:30 am service, please sign up on the bulletin board or contact the office.

New editions of Forward Day by Day for May-June-July can be found by the lift, in the tract rack at the back of the sanctuary, and in the office. Pick one up for your daily meditation.

REMINDER: If you'd like to have your birthday or anniversary recognized, please contact the office.

April Birthdays

4/2 - Patrick Bates

4/3 - Steve Gilling

4/11 - Dennis Fischer

4/15 - Diana Hovind

4/21 - Ginny Stephany-Lonzo

4/25 - Susannah Gilbert

4/25 - Ken Schoenike

4/26 - Pat Tilman

The candidates for the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church have been announced. The House of Bishops will hold the election at General Convention on June 26.

For information about the first four candidates (The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Barker, The Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutiérrez, The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, and The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright), click here. For information about the fifth candidate (The Rt. Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe), who was nominated by petition, click here.

As our dioceses discern reunion, Episcopalians across Wisconsin are invited to celebrate our shared commitment to outreach by creating handknitted or crocheted scarves for the Seaman’s Church Institute “Christmas at Sea” program. Our May 4 convention will include an ingathering and blessing of scarves, which will be sent to the Seaman’s Institute. The project is sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Milwaukee in conjunction with the Trialogue Steering Committee.

You do not need to be a needlework expert to take part. The Institute’s favorite scarf only requires one skein [300 yards, 4 ply] of worsted yarn, and uses a simple pattern available on the Trialogue website. Other patterns, for both crochet and knitting, are on the Seamen’s Church Institute website.

Please drop off your completed scarves at the church office by Friday, May 3 to be delivered to the convention!