Announcements for the week of August 3, 2008

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

MISSION STATEMENT
The Church of the Holy Spirit (Episcopal) shares the love of Jesus through being a friendly community, participating in liturgically rich worship experiences, and by empowering individual ministries.

WORSHIP NEWS

WELCOME NEWCOMERS
You are welcome to join us at the communion rail when it is time to receive Holy Communion. Our ushers and any member are happy to assist if you have any questions during our worship. Jesus loves you! We are glad you are here.

YOUTH
Happening Weekend for youth in grades 9 - 12 will be Labor Day weekend at St. Luke’s in Kearney.

CHRISTIAN ED OPPORTUNITIES

Sunday School starts Sunday, September 7. Registration forms are in the basket on the table in the undercroft. It will be an exciting, memorable God filled year. Teachers are always needed and helpers are always needed. If this is your calling please see Kristi Smith or Mother Ruth. Thank you

Education for Ministry, affectionately known as EFM, will resume in September. You will find that EFM teaches you how to think theologically, deepens your faith and your understanding of our Christian heritage, and provides you with a new confidence to be Christ’s minister. For more information please speak with Mother Ruth or the co-mentors: Marian Barnett and Joan Wood.

Our third Annual appearance in the Arrows to Aerospace parade is about 3 weeks away. (Saturday, August 23) Last year many of you graciously donated water bottles and hard candy. We are asking for that help again this year. Bags of candy (no chocolate, except little tootsie rolls please). Also, water is a necessity! Please leave all donations on the counter in the Christian Ed Office and if that becomes full, water can go on the floor.

Wednesday Journeys
Wednesday Journeys starts again on September 3, at St. Martha’s in Papillion. Second stop this year will be at Church of the Holy Spirit, and the Spring will find us back at St. Luke’s. Youth, grade 6 and up are welcome. If you are not already a part of Journeys and would like to join us for food, fellowship and fun every Wednesday during the school year see Kristi Smith or Jan Sinram. We also need teachers. Training will be offered in mid August, please pray about this and speak with Mother Ruth or Jan Sinram if you would like to know more.

COMMUNICATIONS

Lay Readers please notice! Mary Ruth is working on the new list of readers and will send it by email ASAP. Please check and let her know if there are any corrections. We’d like to have a final list by September. A few people have had to stop lay reading. They will not receive a list. If you don’t get one and still want to be included, let Mary Ruth know. Thanks for all your good work.

Daughters of the King: We will soon meet to plan for our new year of prayer and service. Have you given your dues to Toby? If not, please do so....we’re late!

Prayer Chains: There are three ways you can ask for prayers: write our request on the biddings list which is kept in the rear of the sanctuary before each service or call it in to the church office, call Trudy Conley (291-7793 to be put on the telephoned list of prayers, or call Toby Wingert (291-6257) to be on the Daughters of the King prayer list. Do all three, if you’d like. We want to be able to pray for your concerns. All we need is a name (first will do) and a category (ill, other concerns, etc.). You need not go into detail.

The Psalter: The book of Psalms was the hymnal of old Israel. These poems represent about a thousand years of history and just about every religious feeling a people could have. Written by many different poets, they cover everything from inexpressible anguish to unspeakable joy. Jesus knew them well. The Wednesday Morning Bible Class will begin studying them September 3. We hope you can come and join us at 10:15, after the Eucharist on Wednesdays. A study Bible will be helpful but not necessary.

Please Support Our Annual CHS Open House and Parish Picnic!Please invite your friends, family and colleagues to our Annual CHS Open House and Parish Picnic, and share the love of Jesus Christ and the joy of your Episcopal faith with others We’ll hold our Annual Open House the weekend of September 13 and 14, 2008 at your regularly scheduled service times of 5 pm Saturday, 8 am or 10:30 am Sunday. Then, we’ll hold our fun and food filled Parish Picnic beginning at 12 noon Sunday the 14th that will include a potluck, a face painter, dunk tank and more. Watch the bulletin and your weekly e-mails for information regarding formal printed invites you can use to share with others, the potluck “letter” assignments and we’ll also pass a sign up sheet during services to help us determine our headcount to purchase chicken as our main course for the picnic. If you’re interested in providing assistance to this important effort, which involves almost every aspect of our parish to prepare for, please see Lynda Wyant or email her at lwyant@cox.net. We look forward to seeing you there!

South Omaha Meeting: There will be a meeting about Ministry in south Omaha on Wednesday, August 6, at 7pm at CHS. Churches involved in this discussion are Trinity Cathedral, St. Martin’s in South Omaha, St. Martha’s in Papillion along with Church of the Holy Spirit. We welcome anyone who would like to hear more about ideas and contribute to the discussion. See Mother Ruth for more information.

Search Committee Update: Our parish profile and rector opening advertisement have been publicized for about six weeks now, and we have received applications from several interested priests. Our evaluation and interview process are currently drafted and should be finalized within the next two weeks. Very soon thereafter, we will begin the interviews and other steps toward narrowing the field, with the goal of having a final recommendation list for the vestry established by September. We continue to be pleased with both the quality of the candidates and the progress we’ve made along the path toward hiring a new rector. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask Vic Culp, Helen Moffett, or any other member of the search committee.

Attention Leaders
If you like to demonstrate leadership and make a difference, then a position on the CHS Vestry IS FOR YOU! We have ministries that are in need of Vestry representation and leadership: Building (currently open) and Communications (soon to be open). You may have noted that Pastoral Care was listed as open in previous bulletins - since then, Kim Culp has made plans to transition to this role in the coming months. Currently, Kim has been taking over duties from Amy Denman, who has been serving as the Communications Commissioner , as Amy, Brian, Abby and William will be relocating to Virginia in early September. As the Vestry representative for the Building commission, you will oversee planning, and b, and be the liaison for the team who currently take care of CHS building needs. Communications oversees the church calendar and website and participates in the many communication efforts of the church including advertisements, weekly e-mail updates, and the Flame. The Vestry meets one evening per month for 2 hours and is a wonderful group of leaders to work with. Please see Chris Darrell, Dean Olander, Amy Denman, Kim Culp or any other Vestry person for more information.

3D (Diet, Discipline, Discipleship) Program
The 3 D meeting has been postponed until Saturday, September 6, at 10am, in the conference room. Anyone interested please contact Pat Tarleton at 292-8684. This is a wonderful way to have fun and fellowship and is also a great learning experience!
Lay Eucharistic Visitors and those interested in making pastoral calls: Please let Mother Ruth know if you might be interested in visiting people who are home bound or in the hospital. We will have a training in July for those who might want to explore what this ministry is all about. Mother Ruth has a Master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry so this might be the right time for any parishioners to learn more about this ministry and discern if you are being called to do this important job within the church.

Our prayers of thanksgiving are offered with those who are celebrating birthdays this week, especially: Annaclarice Miller, Ian Tuttle (Aug 3), Sandra Tuttle (4), Wendy Lee, David Scarborough (5), Robert Cook II (6), Allysa Westman (8).

Our prayers of thanksgiving also are offered with those who are celebrating wedding anniversaries this week, especially: Bob & Ruth Richter (Aug 2), Bill & Eileen Sheldrick (4).