Choir Rehearsal Starts Wednesday

Don’t forget! Choir starts up again this Wednesday at 6:30pm, under the direction of St. Nicholas’ Director of Music, Sam Roney. Now’s a great time to jump on board to this wonderful ministry! Come sing a new song to the Lord! For more information, contact Sam at samroney@stnicholashamilton.org.

I’m the TAPlain

Since my involvement in the Thompson-Pound Art Program, I haven’t been really sure about my official title. This year, I was finally dubbed “the TAPlain.”

That’s really what I was…a TAP chaplain. My role was to be present in the midst of the program, helping where I needed to help, guiding where I needed to guide, and shepherding where I need to shepherd. It’s about the easiest and most rewarding job one could have at such a program. Read more

Thank God For Camelbaks!

It’s been a while since I posted about my weekly hikes. With the exception of vacation last week, I have been diligent in my weekly discipline. I still am amazed at the beauty of our Pine Mountain Trail and how much fun it is to hike on it, while at the same time, serving as my de facto labyrinth path on which I pray regularly.

Today I went on the 3 1/2 mile trek around the East End Loop, which starts at the Rocky Point parking lot and includes the White Candle and Beaver Pond Trails. It’s a great hike with a great overlook called “Odie’s Overlook.” This was after an early morning in Columbus at TAP, which I’m doing all week. Today we learned about prayer in the Hindu religion, how to make challah from the Jewish tradition, and banged on drums, as we focus on being “People of Peace.” Even on the first day, you can see the children laughing and playing, creating new relationships and learning about the cultures and traditions of one another. Read more

Pentecost at St. Nicholas

The Holy Spirit was in full sight on May 23, which was Pentecost Sunday. The congregation celebrated by wearing red to commemorate the liturgical color of the day. The choir began the service with the anthem Spirit of the Living God, and later sang Every Time I Feel the Spirit at the Offertory. All the music Sam prepared was great! We brought out our “dove” and “flame” kites which symbolized the Holy Spirit zooming into the presence of the gathered disciples. Bobo Morgan once again hung our gigantic Pentecost banners from the front of the church. After the service, we released red balloons into the sky, as we recalled the Spirit’s guidance as we all go out to spread God’s love into the world. It was a fantastic day!

Special thanks to Lynn Hall for capturing Pentecost in the pictures below.

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

Frozen Ponds

Hiking in the cold…

Last week, I fell off the hiking wagon and decided that studying at Huddle House was a better idea than hiking. This was due to freezing temperatures that I’m sure our northern brothers and sisters would laugh at. Harris County schools closed last Friday due to threats of frost and icy roads. Laugh all you want, but this is Georgia, and that’s just what we do down here.

Before I left, I layered up, as if I was about to embark on some Himalayan expedition. I think I had about four layers before I walked out the door. But I was thankful as the bitter wind stung my face. I was especially thankful for my dear wife who had gotten me new wool hiking socks for Christmas!

I decided to take it a little easy since I was practically trekking the planet Hoth. I did a short section of the Pine Mountain Trail between the Gardens Overlook parking area to Buzzards Roost parking area and back which was about 4 miles. When I left, it was 22 degrees. Read more

Music Notes from Sam

Advent/ Christmas 2009

Happen to miss Christmas Eve and/or Lessons & Carols at St. Nicholas Church? Well, you missed a treat! The music by our new choir, guest singers & special soloists certainly uplifted our High Holy Days worship experiences!  Joyful music of the season soared through our beautifully decorated church.

Thanks to each you who participated in our special services during Advent and Christmas. Your congregational singing brought our music up to an even higher level of celebration! I hope our Allen Organ (“the organ transplant”), will continue to inspire you to sing joyfully in weekly worship!

Please extend a word of thanks to our St. Nicholas Choir members.  Their faithful commitment went above and beyond “the call of duty” during December. Several extra rehearsals were needed to prepare our seasonal music. The choir enthusiastically shared their time and talents in preparation for Christmas 2009. Read more

Organ Transplant

No, not that kind of organ transplant! Although I’ve been resisting the urge to use the term “organ donor” numerous times.

For those who have not heard, God provided for us once again through the generosity of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Smyrna. In November, I was at Diocesan Council when an announcement was made that an organ was on auction. The Vestry and I had been wondering what we might do to procure a new organ, so I approached the front table at Council and asked about the organ for auction. Bishop Alexander happened to be standing there, and warned me that that organ was not worth looking in to, but St. Benedict’s, a new congregation that had just bought a new organ for their new building, might have one available. Read more

The Hiking Preacher Part 9

Wolfden Loop Part 1

Rocky Point to Mile 20 & back: approx. 4 miles, 2 hours
Rocky Point to East End Loop & back: approx. 4 miles,  2 hours 15 minutes

This is the ninth in a series of posts about my weekly hikes on the Pine Mountain Trail.

Today I’m posting about two separate hikes. Last week, I just plain ol’ ran out of time and couldn’t get my act together to write about the first chunk of the Wolfden Loop. Wolfden is the longest loop on the trail, at 6.7 miles. I haven’t hiked the whole loop at one time, but I’d like to do so someday. Instead, I have broken the loop into 3 hikes which are all very manageable if you don’t have a lot of time. You can hop onto these trails really easily from the Rocky Point Parking Lot, whereas next week’s section will require going all the way over to the WJSP Tower and starting there.

Read more

The Hiking Preacher Part 8

Dowdell Knob Loop

Approx. 4.3 miles, 2 hours, 15 minutes

This is the eighth in a series of posts about my weekly hikes on the Pine Mountain Trail.

This week, Dowdell Knob was open! I went on Tuesday rather than Monday because I had to get the bulletin and newsletter ready before Thanksgiving. It wasn’t quite as beautiful a day as it was last week, but it’s hard to mess up the view at Dowdell Knob! I really needed this hike after a stressful couple of days. I found myself getting grumpy and down, and once again I find that if I feel myself getting this way, it’s time to lean on the spiritual disciplines we have for ourselves. In my case, I had to get out on the trail, do some praying, and even write some thoughts down in my journal.

Read more

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