An Invitation
The nomination committee, which is comprised of Mother Michelle, myself, the senior warden and a retiring vestry member, Sue Cummings, invites anyone who is interested in being senior warden, junior warden or vestry member, to contact the committee.
The senior warden is really the connection between the parishioners and the priest. In the absence of a priest, the senior warden is the person in charge of the parish. Believe me, the position has become a whole lot easier now we have Mother Michelle!
The junior warden usually takes care of the parish buildings, in consultation with the vestry.
A vestry member is elected for a three-year term. The vestry meets once a month to review the finances and plan any events with the priest. We are currently meeting in person in the parish house, with some members attending by Zoom.
To be eligible for any position, a person must be a communicant in good standing, that is, baptized, worships regularly and supports the parish financially.
We welcome anyone who would like to serve the parish in this way. If you have any questions, please call:
Mother Michelle, 219-575-0226
Sandra Provan, 362-5618
Sue Cummings, 324-5610
It really is a privilege to serve as warden or on the vestry, I encourage you to volunteer.
God bless,
Sandra Provan
This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker
Dear St. Paul's Family,
Typically I compose the Friday newsletter on Thursday morning and have it all ready for electronic distribution. This week, I found myself waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Perhaps I thought I'd have more profound words to share if we had also heard the preliminary election results. Perhaps I was dreading acknowledging the discomfort and frustration of waiting for the votes to be counted, every single vote. I went to bed Thursday night saying "I'll finish in the morning."
This morning I wake to still no election results, although we expect them soon. The realization dawned on me that our Christian lives are so often about waiting for an outcome of which we're unsure. We pray and we wait. We may even fall asleep and then repeat again. We'll hear this Sunday the passage about the 10 bridesmaids who were waiting for the bridegroom and fell asleep while waiting. Waiting has always been part of our Christian journey. Waiting is hard, but NOT impossible.
So this morning, there are two things certain to me:
Regardless of the results of the election, approximately one-half of the entire country is going to be happy and the other half sad. God loves both halves ... we must attempt to do the same.
Regardless of any election, our God is always in charge, always loves us, is always there to hear our prayers. Offer him your prayers, on any topic!
My friends, as we wait, let us keep these two thoughts foremost in our minds. Whether we rejoice or mourn at the election results later today, let us be sure to remember God is in charge. Let us be sure to do our best to love our neighbor as ourselves. And let us remember to continue to breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out our anxieties.
In the meantime, life goes on. This week I attended (virtually) the orientation session of my Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program. It was a wonderful day filled with meeting other clergy from all over the state to plan our next two years of learning together. I am honored to have been selected to participate in this prestigious program, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment. You will hear lots more about this soon.
This week our IT consultants ran the internet cabling from the Comcast installation in the church sacristy to the church office. Soon, very soon, we will have only one monthly internet bill. Praise the Lord for the Technology Grant we received that is making this possible.
This week on Election Day we held a prayer vigil in the church from 9am-4:30pm. It was a blessing to all those who participated to be able to sit quietly in our beautiful building and offer prayers for our election, ourselves, and others. My belief in many of our offerings is that the people who need to be there to encounter God are the ones that show up. Whether that is a handful of people, or a church full of people (in a non-pandemic world) - the Lord brings to his altar the ones that need it most. That certainly was true on Tuesday.
Last week I joined a group of 14 other Episcopalians from our diocese who will be engaging in a 10-session video learning series on race and faith called Sacred Ground. I will participate virtually every other Wednesday evening. I'm leaning into my discomfort about talking about race and faith, both for my own development and in hopes that we might have some of these conversations at St. Paul's in the future.
Lastly, on October 20th our vestry met (partially) in-person for the first time since my arrival at St. Paul's. We set up the camera to allow those that needed to attend via Zoom to do so. It was good to be together in this combined environment. The vestry passed the proposed revisions to the ByLaws. The document has been updated with the changes and can be found on our website here: https://www.stpaulslaporte.org/leadership (scroll down, on the right side). In that same section you will find a Vestry Packet from our October meeting including: minutes, priest report, and financials. Praise God for our faithful vestry who has stepped forward to lead our beautiful church community.
And so, we wait. We go on about our business and we wait. And we remember God is in charge, ALL OF THE TIME, even when we can't quite understand it. Stay safe. Wear your mask. Say your prayers. And this week especially, take a few deep breaths!
Blessings!Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226
Diocesan Convention Address
Tonight (Friday 11/6) at 5:30pm, the Diocesan Convention opening worship and Bishop's Annual Pastoral Address will occur both on the Diocesan Facebook page and the Diocesan YouTube Channel. Please join in to hear Bishop Doug's words of hope to the diocese as we prepare to conduct the annual business meeting tomorrow.
As a side note, Mother Michelle's 'other job' is to plan for and help administer this convention each year. Your prayers for her during these next 24+ hours are greatly appreciated.