Adult Formation, November 13 & 27, 9:45am

Adult Formation Class, November 13 and 27th, 9:45 am: Bob Hamilton will discuss the book “I’m Fine with God…It’s the Christians I Can’t Stand” by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz. We are all affected by the difference of everything from the Mennonites to the extreme fundamentalist Christians. Recently, Mormonism has been blasted as a cult. If someone asks you if you are a Christian, what do you say? If you ask someone to come to church that you know, what would you say if you are asked if it’s a Christian church? Is the word Christian becoming a negative term? Join this class as we continue our spiritual journey by answering these questions.

Episcopal 101 This Thursday, September 15 at 6:30pm

Episcopal 101 meets THIS THURSDAY, September 15 at 6:30 pm.

This month’s Episcopal 101 will focus on that nagging question in the back of your mind — “What is God Calling Me to Do?”
Are you new to St. Nicholas? Are you new to the Episcopal style of faith and worship? Are you a long-time Episcopalian who needs a jumpstart on why we do things the way we do them? Then you need to join our Episcopal 101 class! This monthly class is a perfect place to learn more about our church and what makes us unique as Episcopalians. Each month, we explore different topics that are important to us. If you are thinking about becoming an Episcopalian, this class is very important.

We’re Weird, But God Loves Us!

Wanna know how St. Nicholas’ Youth Retreat at Camp Mikell went last weekend? Watch this and find out!

Many thanks to our adults for the weekend Cami Fanning, Chris Lintner, and Terry Lyn Noonan!

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Graphic Parables

I’m not the only Episcopal priest who appreciates comic books, graphic novels, and sequential art. In fact, one of my classmates from VTS is making a career out of creating graphic illustrations of passages from Scripture.

The Rev. Earnest Graham, who is part-time priest and part-time illustrator is using his fantastic gifts to communicate the Gospel in a unique way. Check out this piece for this week, depicting the parable Jesus speaks in Matthew 15:10-11, 17-20.

Click on the image to see it in full size.

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Regular Sunday Schedule Returns August 14, 2011

Don’t forget this Sunday, August 14, we will return to our regular schedule of:

8:30 am Holy Eucharist

9:15 am Breakfast

9:45 am Children’s Sunday School, Teen Class, and Adult Formation

11:00 am Holy Eucharist

It’s a full morning of worship, education, and fellowship at St. Nicholas! Now’s a good time to jump back in if you’ve been gone; if you haven’t visited with us before, it’s a new beginning! See you then!

Bishop Whitmore Visits This Sunday

This Sunday at St. Nicholas, we will be joined by the Right Reverend Keith Whitmore, the Assistant Bishop of our diocese and his wife Suzie. We will start at 9:00am with a Bishop’s Forum which will be an open time for you to get to know Bishop Whitmore and ask questions about what he does, what’s going on in the diocese, and for him to get to know us better. Then, at our 10:00am service, Bishop Whitmore will preach and celebrate, and will receive 7 people into the Episcopal Church: Bill Caudill, Cora Coverson, Ona Graham, Ralph Graham, Carolyn Jacik, Judy Jacik, and Heather Roper. After church, we will have a reception for our new Episcopalians. Then, they and those who have been attending the Episcopal 101 class will go to the Mountain Creek Inn for lunch. It will be a full and wonderful day, and I hope you can all be there to meet the Bishop and support our 7 new Episcopalians.

Here’s is some information about Bishop Whitmore: The Rt. Rev. Keith B. Whitmore, the former bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, became the Diocese of Atlanta’s assistant bishop effective April 15, 2008.

He currently serves on the The Episcopal Church’s Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance and is president of Affirming Anglican Catholicism. He serves as a trustee for the Berekeley Divinity School at Yale.

He was ordained bishop of Eau Claire in April 10, 1999. He is a Wisconsin native and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Nashotah House, Nashotah, Wis. He has served congregations in Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas, where he was dean of Christ Cathedral, Salina, and is a retired Army chaplain. He and his wife, Suzie, have been married more than 40 years. They have two grown children.

And here are 10 random facts about bishops:

1. A Bishop is elected by a diocese. Dioceses search for bishops much like congregations search for priests. In fact, Fr. Jeff is currently serving on the nominating committee for the 10th Bishop of Atlanta, after our bishop, the Right Reverend J. Neil Alexander announced his resignation last month in order for him to go back to serving the church through his gifts of teaching. After the search process, there is a slate of 4 or 5 candidates for bishop, and a special election council is held. A bishop has to receive a majority vote from both the clergy and the laity of the diocese.
2. There are a few different kinds of bishops. A Bishop Diocesan is the main pastor and overseer of a diocese. Bishop Alexander is our Bishop Diocesan. A Suffragan Bishop is an elected bishop to serve to assist a Bishop. This is different from an Assistant Bishop, which is how Bishop Whitmore serves, because a Bishop Diocesan can appoint an Assistant Bishop whereas a Suffragan is elected by the diocese. Finally, there is a Bishop Coadjutor who is elected to succeed a Bishop Diocesan while that Bishop is still functioning.
3. The Bishop is an integral member of all the churches of the diocese. Therefore, one wouldn’t say “Welcome to St. Nicholas,” as if he were a newcomer. In some churches, there is a bishop’s chair that remains in the sanctuary as a symbol that even when the Bishop is not there, he or she still has an important place in the church. This is why we list our bishops at the top of our list of ministers in our bulletin because they are the chief pastors of St. Nicholas.
4. The hat a bishop wears is called a “mitre” and is pointed to symbolize the flame of the Holy Spirit that appeared above the heads of the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
5. A bishop carries a “crozier” which is a staff that looks like a shepherd’s crook, to symbolize his or her role as chief pastor of the diocese and shepherd to the larger flock of the church.
6. The bishop makes annual visitations to every parish in the diocese. When a diocese is large like ours, it requires a second person to help make those visitations, thus the need for an Assistant Bishop like Bishop Whitmore.
7. The word “Episcopal” means “having bishops,” therefore, the role of the bishop is central to who we are in our tradition of Christianity. When we talk about the “episcopacy,” we are talking about the role and function of the bishop. “Episcopal” comes from the greek word “episkopoi” which means “bishops” found in Acts 20, Titus 1, and 1 Peter 5.
8. Only bishops can confirm a Christian, receive someone into the Episcopal Church, and ordain people to holy orders. This is special because of “apostolic succession,” or the historic line through which people have been connected all the way to the first apostles, who had hands laid on them in prayer to equip them with the power of the Holy Spirit. The heads whom receive Bishop Whitmore’s hands will be connected to those apostles this Sunday.
9. While a congregation may call a priest to serve their church, the bishop must confirm that call.
10. St. Nicholas was bishop of Myra which is in modern-day Turkey. We celebrate his feast day on the Sunday closest to December 6.

Gotta Have Faith-Episcopal 101 This Thursday

Episcopal 101 Thursday, June 16 6:30pm

This month’s Episcopal 101 will focus on the concept of faith. How do you get faith? What do you do with it once you get it? Can you increase faith, or does God give you a set amount? Join us as we talk about our faith!

Are you new to St. Nicholas? Are you new to the Episcopal style of faith and worship? Are you a long-time Episcopalian who needs a jumpstart on why we do things the way we do them? Then you need to join our Episcopal 101 class! This monthly class is a perfect place to learn more about our church and what makes us unique as Episcopalians. Each month, we explore different topics that are important to us. If you are thinking about becoming an Episcopalian, this class is very important. If you want more information, please contact Fr. Jeff at fatherjeff@stnicholashamilton.org.

Planning For Funerals

I hope you didn’t miss our May series in Adult Forum, but if you did, we’ve got you covered. Here are the recordings of all the sessions (the second one accidentally cut off in the middle). If you want to make an appointment with Fr. Jeff to discuss anything from these, don’t hesitate to do so!

If you missed the first session of the series “Before I Go” with Al Jackson, click here.

If you missed the second session of the series “I Wanna Look Good When I Die” with Fr. Jeff, click here for the first 30 min. of the recording.

If you missed the third session of the series “After I’m Gone” with Al Jackson, click here.

You can also download a copy of the Funeral Service Form by clicking here that Fr. Jeff gave out during the series. If you need help in filling it out, please contact Fr. Jeff.

Adult Forum: Going With Grace

Going With Grace: Dealing with Grief & Preparing for Death, Adult Forum in May: Easter is a time to remember that death is not the end for us, but a change in our lives. No one can ever truly be prepared for the death of a loved one, but there are positive things we can do to make that time easier when it comes. Have you made your funeral plans? Have you thought about what you want your memorial service to look like? Are you just plain scared to talk about death? This May on Sunday mornings at 9:45am, we will spend a few weeks with Fr. Jeff and his father, Al Jackson, a retired funeral director and grief counselor of 30 years to open up about these issues and learn about constructive steps to take when we lose a loved one.

May 1: “Before I Go” with Al Jackson–We will talk about the dying process, aspects of using hospice, regrets, acceptance of terminal illness, sudden death, and healthy “good grief.”

May 15: “I Wanna Look Good When I Die” with Fr. Jeff–Most people don’t know what they want their funeral to look like and leave it up to their grieving families to make those critical decisions. In this session, we’ll look at the Episcopal burial liturgy and talk about how to plan for that celebration.

May 22: “The Funeral Process” with Al Jackson–How do I choose a funeral director? What should I expect in making arrangements and what information do I need? We will discuss the value of the funeral process to the family, the Church, and the community.

Episcopal 101 after Maundy Thursday Service

Our next E101 class is this Thursday, April 21, which is Maundy Thursday. Maundy means “commandment,” which refers to Jesus’ new commandment to us to “love one another as [he] loves us.” The service will start at 6:30pm. It is one of the most beautiful and dramatic liturgies in the Episcopal church. It includes a service of footwashing, where the congregation is invited to engage in that loving act of serving one another by washing each other’s feet. Then, at the end of the service, we have the “stripping of the altar” where everything goes dark and everything is taken away from the altar, much like that time where Jesus is stripped of his garments. It’s beautiful, sad, and holy.

After the service, we will meet for 30 or so minutes to reflect on the service and how it relates to how Episcopalians see Scripture, especially the New Testament. No liturgy better illustrates this than Maundy Thursday.

It will be a great evening, so please come and be a part of it. Hope to see you then! Our class in May will be on the 19th at 6:30 and we’ll be looking at the history of the Episcopal Church. Mark you calendar now!

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