Angel Tree Christmas Program

Sunday, December 15

Calling all Angels! Our Angel Tree Christmas program is wrapping up. This year we will be providing clothing for students at our neighborhood school, Hornsby Elementary. Donations are appreciated, and checks should be made out to Saint Paul’s Church and designated for Angel Tree Ministry.

Please return unwrapped gifts by December 15.

For more information on how you can get involved, please email Barbara Coleman.

Bagel's for Breakfast

Sunday, 9 - 10 AM Tyler Hall



Busy morning? Breakfast with your friends at Saint Paul's instead! We have homemade bagels and all the fixin's for breakfast this Sunday in Tyler Hall at 9 AM. Donations welcomed.

Children's Choirs Rehearsals

Sunday, 9:25 - 10 AM

The Canterbury Choir (children in grades 3-9 and the St. Nicholas Choir (Pre-K through grade 2) rehearse Sundays, 9:25-10:00 AM.

If you or any family or friends are interested in the choir program, please email Director of Music, Keith Shafer or call (706) 724-2485 ext. 215.

The Sunday Forum

Sunday, December 1, 9:30 AM, Berlin Room

Jesus and the Disinherited (4 of 5 sessions)

Chapter 4: Deception

This Sunday at 9:30 Fr. Eric and Mtr. Kimberly will facilitate the second session of our Advent book study on Howard Thurman’s book, Jesus and the Disinherited. This Sunday we're discussing chapter two: Fear. Please find some discussion questions below to help guide our conversation.

Books are available in the Narthex this Sunday and in the Parish Office next week. Donation $15-$20

Children's Advent Program

Rehearsals December 15, 10 AM

We are preparing for our annual Children’s Christmas program for the next two Sundays. We will be telling the Christmas story and rehearsing for this joyful program during formation (10-10:45 AM) December 15 & 22. All are welcome. Please contact Aubrey Hinkson for more information.

The program will be shared by our children at the 11 AM service on December 22. A reception will follow the 11 AM service in Tyler Hall.

Godly Play (grades pk4-2)

Sundays, 10-10:45 AM

St. Francis' Room, CMC

During Advent the children will prepare for the Advent Program. This Sunday, we will continue rehearsals.

Kim Butler and Sara Dimsdale will lead our younger children in the Saint Francis Room (Godly Play Room). If your child is in the Saint Nicholas choir, they will transition from choir to formation.

Godly Play (grades pk4-2)

Sundays, 10-10:45 AM

St. Francis' Room, CMC

During Advent the children will prepare for the Advent Program. Our upper elementary children participate as the choir, telling the story in song. Each Sunday, our class will begin with a short rehearsal of the program.

Kitty Gordon and Jackie Pingel will lead our older children. They will meet in the Saint Patrick Room (large classroom across from the office). If your child is in the Canterbury choir, they will transition from choir to the formation class.

Middle School Formation (Grades 6-8)

Sundays, 10-10:45 AM

St. Benedict's Room, CMC

During Advent our book study will take a pause as our youth volunteer and support the advent pageant during the next 2 weeks.

Following the pageant, we will resume studying the book Half Truths: God Helps Those Who Help Themselves and Other Things the Bible Doesn't Say by Adam Hamilton.

Our book study will resume 1/5/25.

Are you interested in volunteering with this group in the future? Contact Aubrey Hinkson.

EYC this Sunday

December 15, 5-7 PM

EYC (Episcopal Youth Community, Grades 6-12) will gather in the River Room for a holiday-themed pajama party! Bring a friend for some relaxing time of fellowship and fun.

Next week (22nd) will be our final EYC of 2024 after we carol together.

Bill and Mary Lynn Ford lead our youth. Please contact Aubrey Hinkson for more information.

Celtic Evening Prayer and Communion

With Prayers for Healing

Sundays, 5:30 PM

Celtic Evening Prayer and Communion is a candle-lit service that emphasizes the contemplative side of worship, features some of Augusta’s best Celtic musicians, and offers prayers for healing for those attending, for others, and for the world. Come as you are and enter into a place of rest, prayer, and reflection.



Robyn and Don Macey are our guest musicians this week.

Sit and Wait

Sundays, 6:30 PM, Chapel 

Sit and Wait follows the Celtic Service Sunday evenings (6:30 PM). The service begins with a Service of Compline and will end with a twenty-minute sit. The people end in silence.

Please email Suzanne Pursley-Crotteau or contact by phone at (706) 910-9331 for further information.

Senior Lunch

Wednesday, December 18, 12 noon, Tyler Hall

Join us for our next Senior Lunch December 18, 12 Noon in Tyler Hall. While gearing to retirees, anyone is welcome. No agenda; just a relaxing social time every third Wednesdays September - May. Lunch is provided but donations welcome. Please sign up in the Narthex on Sunday mornings or use the link below.

Caring Prayer

Thursday, December 19, 3:30 PM, Chapel

Caring Prayer is for anyone who wants to pray and needs support. We gather on the fourth Thursday of each month at 3:30 PM in the chapel to pray Evening Prayer together, check in with each other, and provide mutual support. The group remains appropriate for caregivers, and is also now open for anyone who is mourning, lives with chronic illness, has lost their job, or faces any kind of challenge that might be helped by love and prayer. Contact Fr. Eric for more information.

Greening of the Church

Learn to make a Window Arrangement

Saturday, December 21, 9:30 AM

You are invited to join the Flower Guild as they begin their Christmas Greening Preparation, Saturday, December 23, 9:30 AM. Contact Barbara Register for more information. This is a great opportunity to learn how to make a window or table arrangement.

NEW THIS YEAR, 2-4 PM, the Children are invited to decorate the trees in the Narthex. We will have playground time as well. More details to follow.

The Longest Night

A service of Hope and Healing

Saturday, December 21, 7 PM, The Chapel

This Eucharist in the chapel makes space for all of the ways that this time of year is also hard. It is a Christmas liturgy of hope for those of us also living with loss, regret, disappointment, and pain. All are welcome.

Caroling Together: An Intergenerational Event

December 22, 5:30 PM

All ages are invited to meet at Saint Paul's and bring your holiday cheer! Instructions will be given and we will carpool to the various caroling locations. Wear your festive apparel and bring your jingle bells! Please RSVP by 12/16/24 so we can coordinate logistics.

Dates for your calendar

Dec. 16 - No Vestry Meeting

Dec. 22 - Children's Pageant and Reception

January 5 - Confirmation Classes Begin

January 7 - Tuesday's Music Live resumes

January 8 -- Mmm... Men's Monthly Meal

January 12 - Reception Following Celtic Service

January 14 - W.E.E.M.

January 18 - MLK, Jr. Parade

January 26 - Annual Parish Meeting

Greening of the Church

Monday, December 23, 9:30 AM

You are invited to the Greening of the Church, Monday, December 23, 9:30 AM. Contact Laurie Montgomery join the Flower Guild as they decorate the church for Christmas.

Christmas Schedule

Christmas Eve, 4:00 & 10:00 PM

Christmas Eve Festival Celebrations with Choir, Brass, & Drums

The Nursery will be open for the 4 PM service.

Christmas Eve On-line, 4:00 & 10:00 PM

Streamed live on Facebook and YouTube

10 PM live on WGAC (wgac.com)

Christmas Day, 10:00 AM

Christmas Eucharist with Carols in the Chapel

Lessons and Carols

The First Sunday after Christmas

Sunday, December 29, 11 AM

Christmastide is the joyous and short season between the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and the Feast of the Epiphany. On the First Sunday of Christmas, we continue to celebrate with A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at 11:00 AM. This beloved tradition helps us to set the mystery of the incarnation into the larger sweep the biblical story of God’s salvation for the world. These are the stories that shape our lives as we pass through the church’s year of grace, year after year, season by season, and Sunday by Sunday.

Baptism Offered

Sunday, January 12

The Prayer Book notes Holy Baptism is especially appropriate on four dates: at the Easter Vigil, on the Day of Pentecost, on All Saints’ Day or All Saints’ Sunday, and on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord.



We will celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism on Saturday, January 12, 2025 on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord. All who wish to be baptized are invited to contact Fr. Eric

Year-End Gifts

Offerings or Special Gifts of cash/check must be dated and postmarked no later than December 31, 2024, to qualify as 2024 charitable contributions. Please note the Parish Office will be closed at noon December 24 and remain closed December 25-27.

VESTRY NOMINATIONS

The Vestry Nominating Committee is seeking candidates whom you believe would make outstanding Vestry members for Saint Paul's. If you'd like to suggest someone, including yourself, please contact retiring Junior Warden Erick Montgomery. Prior to nominating someone else, please discuss with them their interest and willingness to serve in this role.

VESTRY RESPONSIBILITIES

The basic responsibilities of the Vestry are:

• to help define and articulate the mission of this congregation
• to support the church's mission by word and deed
• to support the clergy in furthering the mission of Saint Paul’s
• to ensure effective organization and planning
• to manage resources and finances
• to attend monthly vestry meetings and annual vestry retreat
• to serve as liaison to assigned parish committees

We expect to elect for three full three-year terms. If the new junior warden comes from the current vestry, we may have an additional unexpired term to fill.

MINIMUM CRITERIA

To be eligible for the Vestry, a nominee must answer "yes" to all of the following questions.

• Have you been confirmed or received in the Episcopal Church?
• Do you regularly attend worship services at Saint Paul's?
• Are you a pledging member of Saint Paul's?

CANDIDATE PROFILES

Each nominee slated to run for election to the Vestry will be invited to share a profile with the parish via our regular parish communications including the weekly newsletter.

A Note on Eligibility: Those eligible for election are those “confirmed adults in good standing eighteen years of age or older enrolled in the Congregation” (Canon 2.1). Those eligible to vote in an election are “those confirmed adults enrolled in the Congregation who are in good standing and who have reached the age of sixteen” (Canon 2.3). Those already in the process of being confirmed or received and otherwise eligible, are eligible to run and vote while waiting for the bishop’s next visit. If you are interested in being confirmed when the Bishop visits next year, please contact Fr. Biddy.

Fall Program Guide Available

"A Church for the City -- A Church for You!

Our new Fall Program Guide is available here. A printed copy is available in the Narthex and in the rack outside the parish office. We invite you to browse this publication and look for ways that you can discover or rediscover where you belong, what you are called to do, and how we might grow together in God's Presence.