We’re just about ready to launch a new fundraising program at St. Paul’s called Scrip, in which St. Paul's can receive a percentage of the money you spend at restaurants, grocery stores, and other establishments. We plan to begin on March 14.

You can read all about the program here.

Your 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 8AM 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 10-15 per cent of our average Sunday attendance. In a denomination with an increasingly 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.

Renee Peggs, who began attending St. Paul's with her son Patrick a few months ago, recently matriculated at Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, enrolling in the doctor of ministry program. Renee will be doing most of her work from here in South Bend, so we'll see her around.

Be sure to congratulate her when you see her, and ask her about her studies!

Now 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 Jeanne Dams, jdams@jeannedams.com. She promises to publish just as much as she can fit into every issue—and going electronic increases the space available. Her deadline is the 20^thof each month for the next issue.

Here 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!!!!

Congratulations to Fr. Michael Cover, who was ordained to the priesthood on February 13, and to his wife Susanna! There will be a reception for him after the 10am service on Feb 21.

Click here for more photos!

Jonathan 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.

The fourteen stations would be entitled: 1, The Word Became Flesh; 2, An Angel Visits Zechariah; 3, The Annunciation; 4, Mary Visits Elizabeth; 5, The Magnificat; 6, John Is Born; 7, An Angel Visits Joseph in a Dream; 8, The Genealogy of Jesus Christ; 9, The Journey to Bethlehem; 10, The Nativity; 11, The Heavenly Host Praises God; 12, Shepherds Visit the Holy Family; 13, The Presentation in the Temple, and 14, The Visit of the Magi.

For more information about this project or to be a part of the artistic or writing team, see Jon or Jonathan.

Pam 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.

At the annual meeting, Dave Collier informed us of the establishment of an endowment fund for St. Paul's. The announcement was as follows:

On the 11^th of June in 2008 the fund was created by your vestry through an Enabling Resolution. A board was elected to implement this resolution. We have established policy to a point were we can now accept gifts to the fund.

We are the recipient of some cash gifts and a paid up insurance policy. The value of the fund as of 1/7/10 is $8,677.33.

The enabling resolution can be viewed on our web site and describes the funds goals. Other documents will be forthcoming and will also appear on our web site under the title of “St Paul’s’ Endowment Fund”.

Respectfully submitted by,

David L Collier Chairman

Jude Keltner Board Member and Secretary

Bill Whitman Board Member

Bill Bissell Advisor

Rector and Senior Warden ex-officio members of the Board

Jack Frieden Treasurer

Dear brothers and sisters,

The news from Haiti is devastating. Images on our television screens touch our hearts and leave us speechless. This island nation, already one of the poorest in the world, now faces unprecedented tragedy.

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese – numerically speaking – in our church. Countless brothers and sisters are suffering as a result of the earthquake. Our cathedral in Port au Prince was destroyed. Bishop Zache Duracin was uninjured in the earthquake, though his wife suffered injuries. Episcopal Relief and Development is already on the ground, providing immediate assistance in the face of overwhelming ruin.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has asked us to do two things.

First, pray.

Disaster of this magnitude drives us to the foot of the cross, where we gaze at him who himself suffered beyond measure.

Second, give.

Our own Episcopal Relief and Development is one of the finest relief agencies in the world. It responds to disasters with speed, efficiency, and a minimum of administrative overhead. I encourage every parishioner in the Diocese of Northern Indiana to make a gift to ERD, using the link below.

St. Paul’s advice in 2 Corinthians 8-9 – in which he urges Christians in Corinth to provide aid to Christians in Judea suffering from a famine – is particularly apt. He reminds us that our generosity flows from Jesus’: “You know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). Jesus binds us to himself through his generosity, and empowers us to be generous to others in response.

May our Lord touch our hearts as we respond to brothers and sisters in Haiti. With all blessings –

Yours in Christ,

+Ed

Links:

Donate through Episcopal Relief and Development

Updated information available from The Episcopal Church Office of Communication, including items from across the country on missionaries, church responses, persons in Haiti, etc.

Video message by Bishop Katharine and ERD Director Ron Radke

Episcopal News Service article detailing the impact on Episcopal churches and missions

At long last, we will have an online version of the St. Paul's newsletter avaiable to view or download each month. In the past, most of the content of the newsletter has been integrated into the website, and that will continue to be the case. However, the full newsletter has only been available in a hard copy that is either picked up in church or mailed out. Now, you can view the newsletter online and/or download a PDF file for printing, etc., at this page.

In addition, each month we will be emailing the newsletter to all of those who have signed up for the St. Paul's electronic mailing list. This means that you have three ways of receiving the newsletter: by hard copy, by email, and by downloading it from the website.

If you have not signed up to receive the newsletter electronically and would like to, please do so here. If you would like to change the way you receive the newsletter, an email should have been sent to you indicating how, or you can send an email to webmaster@stpaulsmishawaka.org.

This Lent we will host small group meetings in individual homes. The first meeting will be on Wednesday, February 24 (a week after Ash Wednesday). We will be studying Richard Foster’s book, Celebration of Discipline: the Path to Spiritual Growth. The cost of the book will be $10 and checks may be made payable to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Also, thefirst 30 pages of the book is available to preview online for free here.

If you would like to participate, please let the church office know.

The Flower Calendar is up for 2010! Be sure to sign up for the special day(s) when you would like to offer altar flowers.

The Flower Committee wishes to express abundant thanks to all who provided for the St. Paul's Altar throughout this past year. If there is someone interested in helping with the flowers, and perhaps taking over this wonderful opportunity to serve in 2011, please contact Jan Frieden, 291-1742 or jan-art@comcast.net.

We would be grateful to work with you and enjoy your new ideas! To the Glory of God!

Imagine yourself sitting on the Mount of the Beatitudes beside the Sea of Galilee and partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord along with your Bishop and fellow members of your Diocese. That’s the opportunity that you will have in February of 2011 when the Diocese of Northern Indiana, led by Bishop Ed Little, makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a ten-day journey from Dan to Beer Sheba including four days in Jerusalem.

Save the dates: February 21 to March 2, 2011.

More information can be found here. The proposed itenary can be viewed here.

An information meeting will be held on March 25.

Many of you who knit have expressed an interest in starting a prayer shawl ministry here at St. Paul’s. Plans are underway now to begin that ministry.

If you would like to be a part of this, please see Betty Jo Adamson or Mother Susan.

Church Basement Ladies, a musical comedy celebrating church kitchens, will be presented in Wabash, Indiana, on Thursday, April 22 at 3 pm and 7 pm. Tickets are $12, $18, and $25. If a group from St. Paul’s is interested, we could drive down together. Check out the information posted on the bulletin board and let Mother Susan know if you’d like to attend.

We had a wonderful Christmas Pageant this Christmas Eve; thanks to all who helped and participated!

Check out pictures here!