Announcements for the week of March 22, 2009

The Fourth Sunday of Lent

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 AND VISITORS
Please feel free to join us at the communion rail when it is time to receive Holy Communion. Our ushers and any member will be happy to assist if you have any questions during our worship. Jesus loves you! We are glad you are here.

Holy Week is coming. Please plan now to attend one or more of the daily Holy Week services. Please check the board in the entry and the website for dates and times.

YOUTH

CHRISTIAN ED

Remember we offer a program for the children Sunday evenings. They eat with us and then from 6-7 we learn a song, do a craft and will start making instruments for our Palm Sunday Band. We also do a little bell practice. We are making a “joyful noise!” it all starts at 5:30 with soup.

Bell Choir; The bells are here. We want to do two pieces for Easter. I need eight children, preferably 3-6th grade who will be here on Easter Sunday and will be able to begin practicing now. We will take a little younger and a little older for Easter if we need to. We may be completely inter-generational at Easter. Any teens or adults who might want to learn let me know. After Easter we will try and form the choir from the 3rd to 6th grade age group for an end of year performance. I believe for Easter we will have an inter-generational Bell Choir. I am truly excited. Questions? Contact Kristi.

COMMUNICATIONS

LENTEN PROGRAM
Our 2009 Lenten Program is underway. We meet on Sunday evenings in the parish hall beginning with a soup supper at 5:30pm. Our focus this year is “Music in Worship” Each week we look at hymns used throughout the church year. This week we are looking at hymns of the church and faith. Join us as we learn the story behind some of the hymns we sing and then help us make a joyful noise as we sing them to familiar and not so familiar melodies. It’s great fun!

Fr. Tom will be out of the office all day on Wednesday, March 25th. The 9:30 service will consist of Morning Prayer in lieu of Holy communion.

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT will be playing at Bellevue West High School on March 26-28 at 7pm and also at 2pm on March 26.Ticket prices are: Adults $7.00, Students $3.00, Under 12 Free. See poster posted on the bulletin board in the undercroft for more information.

Altar Guild meeting next Sunday, Mar 29 at 9:15 in the conference room.

Lay Readers: Please check the bulletin board and sign up for any services you can during Holy Week. Thanks. (?'s? Ask Mary Ruth 291-7416).

MAUNDY THURSDAY VIGIL

Following the service on Maundy Thursday, we will once again hold a vigil in the chapel before the altar of repose (the altar containing reserved sacrament to be used on Good Friday). The vigil is an ancient tradition that affords participants an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the next day’s service or to keep watch over the body of a deceased person until burial. This year, the vigil will run from the close of the service until noon on Good Friday. A sign-up sheet has been placed on the bulletin board in the parish hall. We would like to have at least two people commit to each one-hour block, however more are welcome. For security reasons, Fr. Tom plans to be here throughout the night to let people in and out of the church. Please select a time that works best for you.

Good Friday Collections: Since 1922, the Episcopal Church has supported the Episcopal Church (TEC) in Jerusalem provide a Christian witness in the Holy Land through its support of the many Christian pilgrims that walk the Via Delarosa this time of year or who visit Jerusalem throughout the year by pooling the Good Friday offerings from across the Church. To support this ongoing tradition, we at CHS will send any non-designated donations collected on Good Friday to TEC’s Good Friday Offering. Please help us discern the difference between EOG contributions and Good Friday contributions by using the Maundy Thursday envelope for cash donations on Good Friday or by placing “GFO” in the memo line of you check.

Website: Our new website is up and running thanks to the hard work of Kim Culp. Our next task is to keep it current. We are putting a team together to help make this possible. Each team member would act as a contact for one or more of our ministry teams and update the site’s information to keep this current and relevant. If you have a working understanding of Microsoft Word and you would like to help, you should contact Kim Culp or Fr. Tom.

Dean Fricke Food Pantry: If you have a few spare hours each month the Pantry could use your help. Traditionally, each parish has two members on the board who help coordinate parish support. With Diana’s departure last year we find ourselves down to a single representative. While Carrie Feingold is an outstanding CHS representative, we really need someone to help her keep our support flowing. If you would like to know how you can help the diocese of Nebraska make a difference in the greater Omaha area, please talk to Carrie during coffee hour. Don’t know who Carrie is? Ask around or grab Fr. Tom (that is if you can catch up to him on Sundays).

MDG-A Partnership of Episcopal Relief and Development, 191 Countries, and many other organizations. - Reducing/Eradicating Extreme Poverty● Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.
● The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world’s 7 richest people (individuals) combined.
● Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read book or sign their names.
● Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.
● 1 billion children live in poverty (1 in 2 children in the world). 640 million live without adequate shelter, 400 million have no access to safe water, 270 million have no access to health services. 10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (or roughly 29,000 children per day).

If you would like to support this effort, please use one of the envelopes at the end of each pew and put it in the collection plate. If you write a check, please note MDG.

On April 17-19, 2009, Women’s Ministries of the Diocese of Nebraska is sponsoring a retreat to be held at Saint Benedict Retreat Center in Schuyler, NE. The retreat leader is Teresa Monaghen, AO, a retreat leader and Spiritual Director from Omaha. “Developing a Discerning Heart According to St. Paul” is the theme of the retreat. All women of the diocese are invited to participate. Registration forms can be found on the bulletin board in the undercroft.

Rae E. Whitney Hymn Celebration will be April 23-26 in Omaha. For times and places please see the flyer on the bulletin board in the undercroft.

Our prayers of thanksgiving are offered with those who are celebrating birthdays this week, especially: Jane Burns, Corey Hagen (Mar 22). Bruce Smith (23), Darius Hagen, Joan Wood (28).

Our prayers of thanksgiving are also offered with those who are celebrating wedding anniversaries this week, especially: Eugene & Carol Beran, Gary & Karen Gray (Mar 25).