O Be Joyful, Jerusalem!
f you are looking for an excuse to have a slight reprieve from your Lenten discipline, then this letter is for you. Sunday, March 14 is Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent—the halfway point to Easter. The Latin, laetare, is from the introit of the Mass on that Sunday which begins “O be joyful, Jerusalem!” This particular Sunday is known also as Mid-Lent Sunday, Refreshment Sunday, Simnel Sunday or Mothering Sunday. On this day, priests are given the option of wearing rose colored vestments, and the whole congregation is reminded and encouraged that we are making progress toward the end of this penitential season.
“Mothering Sunday,” or “Simnel Sunday” is a Christian festival celebrated throughout Europe. During the 16th century, on this Sunday, people returned to their mother church for a service. This was either a local church, or the nearest cathedral. Those who went “a-mothering” were inclined to gather with their entire families. A popular food to be served was Simnel Cake, a rich cake made of fruit and almond paste. Such cake was eaten to remind Christians that on this particular Sunday, families could gather and there could be a gentle lightening of the Lenten fast or discipline.
So, this year, on Sunday, March 14, we are going to celebrate Laetare Sunday with simnel cake. On Saturday, March 13, we will gather for what I am calling a Lenten Semi-Quiet Day. We will gather around 9:00 for Morning Prayer, Lectio Divina and meditation. Then we will move to the kitchen where we will bake enough simnel cake to serve in coffee hour the next day. At noon, we will have lunch together before cleaning up the kitchen to go home. Please bring your spring-form pan and something to share for lunch.
Please consider joining us on this day to strengthen your own Lenten discipline and to prepare for Laetare Sunday.
Yours affectionately in Christ, Mother Susan+
Also on March 14: Parent Meeting Planned
s promised in Jen Fulton's report on her Church Development Project which she presented at the Annual Meeting, we are scheduling a meeting with parents to talk about, among other things, how to keep children engaged in worship, what your needs are as parents, what their needs are as children, and what you would like to see for them at St. Paul's. Please make plans to join us for a brief meeting following coffee hour on Sunday, March 14. As Jen said, the presence of your children is a sign that the Holy Spirit is moving at St. Paul's. We now need to cooperate with that movement and do what we can to nurture their (and your) growth.
e’re just about ready to launch our new scrip program at St. Paul’s, and the vestry’s pretty excited about it. We plan to begin on March 14. Here’s most of what you need to know—if you have any questions just ask John or Kyle Lendel or Jeanne Dams. 
piscopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, celebrated its January Matriculation ceremony as they welcomed seven newly matriculating students into the school’s community during the noon service on January 6, 2010 in St. John’s Memorial Chapel. Renee Peggs was among those who signed the book that officially marks her enrollment. Peggs is in the Diocese of Northern Indiana and attends St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Mishawaka, Indiana. She is currently en
n March 25 at 7 PM, Mother Susan will hold a gathering at her home, 5721 Bridgeton Lane, South Bend, for anyone interested in seeing slides from her Holy Land trip and hearing more about the Diocesan Pilgrimage there in 2011. (The picture at left is of the Dome of the Rock, the dominant feature of the landscape as one enters the ancient city of Jerusalem.) If you’d like to come to this event, please call Mother Susan’s cell phone, 574-286-7587. 
ow that we have a good start on our electronic Epistle, we’d like to expand coverage of our parish family. Please let me know about anything exciting that’s going on with you and/or your family. New baby or grandchild? A wedding in the offing, or a retirement party, or a neat trip? Did you just win an award, or a scholarship? We want to let the parish know. Send your news, with pictures if possible, to me, jdams@jeannedams.com. I promise I’ll publish just as much as I can fit into every issue—and going electronic increases the space available. My deadline is the 20th of each month for the next issue. 
ere is the newest member of the Lendel family, Avery Rose Takace, who was born on February 17, 2010, weighing in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and 20 inches long. She’s healthy and happy, so is Mom, and especially Grandma Kyle (who is also pictured) and Grandpa John, who is smiling!!!! 
nother joyous event for our parish was the ordination of Deacon Michael Cover to the priesthood on February 13 in 
our Congregational Development Team would like to thank all those who filled out a Worship Survey and came to the Town Hall Meeting last January. We received 37 surveys in all, and got excellent feedback at the meeting. The surveys revealed that those who attend our 8 AM Sunday service are very happy with their worship experience. For the most part, those who attend our 10 AM service are also happy, but find that they are often distracted during the service. This is not surprising, since this service has been blessed with many families with young children. Twelve children regularly attend this service, and account for approximately ten-fifteen per cent of our average Sunday attendance. In a world church with an aging population, this is certainly a visible sign of the Spirit working in our midst, but it does present us with some challenges which need to be addressed. We are calling for a renewed sense of mutual, inter-generational understanding. In addition, we are planning to publish a brochure detailing behavioral guidelines for children in church. The Peanut Brittle Committee has already purchased activity bags for the children to use during the service; thanks to them for their generosity and hard work! Mother Susan is planning on holding an instructed Eucharist for the children, and we will be hosting a meeting for parents of young children in which we can discuss behavioral guidelines, the specific spiritual needs of young families, and our Sunday School curriculum. Thank you again for all of your feedback, and if you have any additional ideas or comments, please do not hesitate to speak with Jen Fulton, Mother Susan, or Jon Adamson. 
am Jentz reports that St. Paul’s continues to be generous with our outreach efforts. In no particular order: (1) We contributed 295 pounds of food in January; (2) Our Souper Bowl offering was $290, which was divided between St. Augustine’s Church for their soup lunch, and the Food Bank. Nationwide, nearly $3 million was collected. (3) A record number of participants turned out for the St. Margaret’s House Winter Walk on February 21, and drew in donations of over $43,000. Thanks to all who contributed cookies, prayers, donations, and/or shoe leather. (4) Homework Thursdays continue to be very successful. As many as eleven students participate. Some help with meal preparation would be welcome; get in touch with Pam if you can help. (5) Pam has a few tickets for the quilt raffle to benefit Hannah’s House. A beautiful quilt entitled Emma’s Pineapple, it was designed and handmade by Rebecca Yoder. It is on display at Hannah’s House, and pictured on the Outreach bulletin board. Ticket costs: $5 for one ticket; $10 for three tickets; $20 for seven tickets. The drawing will be on Tuesday, April 27. (6) Great things are happening at the Rafiki Children's Center, which we help support. For those of you who don’t know, Rafiki, a part of Marafiki Global AIDS Ministry, is a home, incorporating a school, farm, and clinic, for children left orphaned by AIDS. The wonderful people who run it are doing amazing things, and the children are learning valuable life skills. More information is posted on the Outreach bulletin board. 
onathan Grant and Jon Adamson have come up with a new and exciting project for St. Paul’s. There is space here only to summarize, but the concept is to produce a "Stations of the Incarnation" analogous to the traditional "Stations of the Cross". To produce the stations, they hope to assemble a team of people willing to write and to do artistic creations as well. In short, the project would look something like this: (1) Make fourteen wall hangings (paintings, photographs, ?) to hang in the sanctuary during Advent in place of the Stations of the Cross. (2) Make a devotional booklet as a complement to the artwork. This could be used at home for private devotions and/or for a worship service during Advent. (3) The collection would, later, be shared with the public at large at an art gallery or other venue. 
he Bible is filled with walking trips – the Israelites in the desert, Jesus and his disciples journeying in Galilee and then traveling south to Jerusalem, St. Paul and his companions making their way through Asia (modern day Turkey) and Greece. It’s no surprise that “walking” is often used in scripture as a way of talking about our journey with Christ. “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). Sometimes, when we actually walk, we’re reminded of the deeper dimensions of our spiritual journey.
he Cathedral of St. James cordially invites you to attend a Eucharist and reception to honor Bishop Little on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of his consecration. The Eucharist will begin at 7:00 PM (EST) on Friday, March 5 with the reception to follow. RSVP by contacting the Cathedral office at stjames@michiana.org or (574) 232-4837. Please do come and share in this joyous event! 
he Companeros en Cristo Committee is sending a mission team to Honduras from March 6 to March 18. They will be installing a water treatment plant and continuing the health infrastructure project began last year. Please keep the following team members in your prayers: The Rev. Canon John Schramm (St. Thomas, Plymouth), Jim Guzikowski (St. Barnabas-in-the-Dunes, Gary), Melissa Goodwin, David Silva, Stella Silva, and Tim Skimina (St. Timothy’s, Griffith). 
he Rev. Roger A. Bower will be formally installed as the new rector of St. Andrew’s, Valparaiso on Sunday, March 14th at 5:00 PM (CDT). 
he Indiana Partners for Christian Unity & Mission are holding a workshop entitled “Congregations Feeding Indiana: People, Pantries, and Participation” on Saturday, April 17th from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM (CDT) at the Shipshewana Town Center. The cost is $25. A variety of topics will be covered including community gardens and new models for feeding programs. For more information, please visit www.ipcum.org.