Contemplating Children & the Shepherd

Last weekend, a group of us from St. Nicholas went up to Atlanta for the annual Ministry Fair. The Ministry Fair is a wonderful resource to all of us in the Diocese of Atlanta. There are a host of workshops ranging from spirituality to finances, from adult education to children’s curricula.

One of the workshops I went to was on a program called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. I went primarily as a parent more than a priest, but found this program stimulated both natures. I tried to get a program like this going at my last parish, but was not successful in getting people around the vision. At the time, I also didn’t have children, so my interest level might not have been at it’s highest. Read more

Yard Sale This Saturday!

Listen to Strategic Planning Committee

You can now listen to Thursday night’s Strategic Planning Committee meeting on the right side of the screen in the podcast section or by clicking here. Chaired by Nick Simpson, the Strategic Planning Committee has been tasked with beginning the process of looking at our current physical buildings and grounds and how we can begin to make plans for future growth. In this podcast, we discuss plans for developing a master site plan as well as appoint a chair for the Data subcommittee.

If you have any questions or thoughts on our discussion, be sure to contact Nick by clicking here.

Sundays at St. Nicholas

These are recent photos of our Sunday services in Lent by our parish photographer, Lynn Hall. Thanks, Lynn! Read more

Your Week at St. Nick, 13- 20 March 2010

Saturday, 13 March 2010

9:30am Flower Arranging Workshop (with guest speaker) and luncheon

1:00pm Web Site Workshop-learn how easy it is for you to contribute to our web site.

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Sunday, 14 March 2010

The Fourth Sunday in Lent

8:30am Holy Eucharist

9:30am Parish Forum (bring your questions, thoughts, and ideas)

9:45am Adult/Youth/Children’s Education

11:00am Holy Eucharist

11:45am Depart for HUNGER WALK in Atlanta; all welcome to attend.

Usher/Greeter

8:30am Bobo and Barbara Morgan

11:00am Graham Horne/Jan Pylant

Reader

8:30 Nordin

11:00 Moody/M. Martin

LEM

8:30 Blackmon

11:00 P. Martin

Altar Guild

Dixon/Townsend

Flower Guild

Suzy Eidson

Sunday School Teacher

Andy Butzon

Cider

Andy Butzon

Acolytes

Date Table Crucifer Gospel Offertory      Torch

March 14              Abby B.                  Abbey A.                 Abbey A.              Dalton            Dalton/Abbey A.

Tuesday, 16 March

6:30pm Lenten Dinner (Italian Pasta Bar and salad) and Speaker

The Rev. Donna Gafford, Priest Associate for Adult Education at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbus, looks at the interior journey of the early Anglican church.

Wednesday, 17 March (St. Patrick’s Day)

3:00pm St. Nicholas Quilters

6:30-7:45pm Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, 18 March

6:30pm Episcopal 101

The Bible Part 1:  Old Testament

Friday, 19 March

Church open for turn-in of yard sale items

Saturday, 20 March

9:00am-2:00pm

St. Nicholas Yard/Plant/Bake Sale

Happy Birthday!

3/1       Anne Simpson

3/1       Nan Jones

3/5       Chris Price

3/6       Ansley Butzon

3/6       Shelley Butzon

3/8       Gabe Lane

3/11     Wes Brown

3/11     Julie Nordin

3/13     Mark Kurtz

3/14     Jan Pylant

3/16     Hal Armstrong

3/19     Michael Brooks

3/20     Talbot Brooks

3/24     Beth Brown

3/27     Dave Halmrast

3/31     Peggy Martin

Happy Anniversary!

3/18     Kenny & Terri Townsend

Flower Guild Workshop & Luncheon

Facebook, Twitter, & Blogs, Oh My! Podcast

Today, the Rev. Alicia Shuster-Weltner, Canon for Congregational Development, and I taught a workshop on using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and blogs at the 2010 Ministry Fair of the Diocese of Atlanta at the Cathedral of St. Philip. To my delight, the workshop was well-attended. But there were many who couldn’t come, so I promised I would record the session and put it on our website. Many thanks to all who attended and contributed!

You can listen to the workshop in it’s entirety (almost an hour and a half) to the right of this page in the Podomatic window.

This podcast also marks my first exploration into souping up the recording with an introduction and conclusion. It took me a little while to figure everything out with a program on my Mac called Garageband, but once I got it, it should be much easier. It takes a little more work to do this kind of thing, but I think it adds a nice touch. Hope you like it.

Your Week at St. Nick, 7 - 13 March 2010

Sunday, 7 March 2010

The Third Sunday in Lent

8:30am Holy Eucharist

9:30am Breakfast/Fellowship (Breakfast costs only $3!)

9:45am Adult/Youth/Children’s Education

11:00am Holy Eucharist

Usher/Greeter

8:30am Bobo and Barbara Morgan

11:00am John and Charlotte Winsness

Reader

8:30am Halmrast

11:00am P. Martin/Avery

LEM

8:30am L. Dixon

11:00am M. Horne

Altar Guild

Hinnant/Nordin

Flower Guild

Bert Tomlin

Sunday School Teacher

Graham Horne

Cider

L. Dixon

Acolytes

Table

Cody

Crucifer

Cody

Gospel

Cody

Offertory

Austin

Torch

Austin/Ivy

Tuesday, 9 March

6:30pm Lenten Dinner and Speaker

Mary Jane Watkins looks at the development of early Christianity and the interior journey of the women during that time.

Wednesday, 10 March

3:00pm St. Nicholas Quilters

6:30-7:45pm Choir Rehearsal

Thursday, 11 March

6:30-8:00pm

Strategic Planning Committee

Saturday, 13 March

9:30-11:30am Flower Guild Training

1:00pm Web Site Training

Happy Birthday!

3/1       Anne Simpson

3/1       Nan Jones

3/5       Chris Price

3/6       Ansley Butzon

3/6       Shelley Butzon

3/8       Gabe Lane

3/11     Wes Brown

3/11     Julie Nordin

3/13     Mark Kurtz

3/14     Jan Pylant

3/16     Hal Armstrong

3/19     Michael Brooks

3/20     Talbot Brooks

3/24     Beth Brown

3/27     Dave Halmrast

3/31     Peggy Martin

Happy Anniversary!

3/18     Kenny & Terri Townsend

Making New Beginnings

This past weekend, I was invited by one of my former youth group students from St. Peter’s (and god-sister to my kids) to be a Spiritual Director for New Beginnings. New Beginnings is a weekend retreat for 7th through 9th graders. Many dioceses have New Beginnings, including our own Diocese of Atlanta, but this one took place in my home diocese, the Diocese of Georgia at their camp and conference center Honey Creek. As many of you know, Honey Creek was almost as much of my childhood home as Augusta was. So I was honored when Kimberly asked me to serve, along with her father, my former rector at St. Peter’s, Sam Buice.

New Beginnings is a weekend that touches middle-schoolers where they are. That age group is in such flux, not quite children and not yet close to adulthood. They are learning about peer pressure, friendships, sexuality, family issues, and within all of those, how to navigate their own faith. New Beginnings does a really good job of addressing many of these issues.

The weekend is mostly led by teenagers. There are plenty of adults present to chaperone and support, but the youth are the ones who keep us on schedule, lead games, play music, give talks, facilitate small groups, and lead most worship services. It’s always quite amazing to see this take place. These young people do a great job of using their own God-given gifts to spread God’s love to all the new participants.

The weekend always starts off a little awkward. Teenagers are still used to their school identities, where you clump with your friends or similar-looking people. But very quickly, they are engaged in games, singing, and small groups that allow these walls to crumble. By the middle of the second day, these young people are arm-in-arm as they sing, laugh, play, and learn.

For as many weekends like these that I’ve done, I am still in awe of that transformation. It’s a sign of God’s kingdom present in our world. It’s a beacon of light and hope in our sometimes dark world. I’m also amazed by the friendships that are forged here, which last forever. There were adults on the weekend with whom I went through these programs as a teenager, and some who were youth when I was first ordained, who have now grown into maturity and are giving back by supporting the programs and leading them behind-the-scenes.

The climax of New Beginnings is a “sin-burning service.” We explain that sin is separation from God and that God always forgives them and wants them back. We invite them to write these sins on slips of paper and then invite them to bring them to the altar, where there is a bowl of flames waiting to consume their paper and their sins. It’s a tangible reality of God’s consuming love for us. As you can imagine, it’s an intensely emotional experience for young people who have never heard this message before. Afterwards, we invited them to come for healing prayers. After receiving forgiveness, they are healed in mind, body, and spirit and thus, a new beginning is made.

While things change at Honey Creek as I get older, and while God’s beloved children are making fresh starts and new changes, I am struck by how simple, important, and constant the message of God’s forgiveness is. That message that was communicated to me as a teenager is still being communicated on the holy ground of Honey Creek. The same could be said for Camp Mikell, or any other place where these types of programs happen.

The church is indeed alive and well, my friends. As Kimberly told the group in her talk entitled The Church and Me, we are not called to go to church, we are called to be the church.

As I listened, 15 years since I first went to a New Beginnings, a new beginning was forged in my heart again. Thanks be to God!

Many Thanks to Our Altar Guild!

This past Saturday, our fantastic Altar Guild met to train, refresh, and fellowship with one another. Thanks to the leadership of Altar Guild chair Liz Dixon and Vestry liaison for Worship, Sharon Cheatham, the crowd looks like they had a good time with one another.

The Altar Guild are “behind the scenes” people who set up the bread, wine, altar hangings, and so on. They learn a lot about liturgy and handle the very important and delicate elements of our worship. They are responsible for enhancing our worship in ways that most people don’t recognize. They handle the “holy things” and without them, our worship would be sorely hindered.

Many thanks to our whole Altar Guild for their incredible service to St. Nicholas! If you are interested in being a part of this wonderful group, contact Liz Dixon at Jcemdixon@aol.com.

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