Volume 4, Number 46                   The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost:                  November 18, 2007

Fall Vestry Forum

We’ve come to the end of another quarter!  This Sunday, November 18, will be the Fall Vestry Forum.  The Vestry will be offering this opportunity for announcements and discussion at 9:00 a.m. in the Common Room.

At the time of this writing, the prepared agenda is still being firmed up.  So far, we know that you can expect a financial update, where we are in the Search process, and other topics of interest that the Vestry has been and will be working on.  It is also your opportunity to ask questions of the Vestry.

Please plan to be with us.

John Lampinen, Senior Warden

Honor for Jack Burnam

We have always known that Jack Burnam is a gentleman; now we know that he is a scholar as well.  He was elected to membership in the Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church at the Guild’s annual meeting on Saturday, November 10.  The Guild is an assemblage of about 70 lay scholars, mainly from colleges and universities, who meet annually at General Theological Seminary in New York for two days of intellectual discussions and fellowship.  Their common denominator is that all are Episcopalians who have distinguished themselves by scholarly publications.  Jack’s contributions have taken the form of published musical arrangements and compositions. 

We at Immanuel should celebrate this occasion.  Jack brings honor to us all through this recognition of his accomplishments.

                                                               George Parshall

Editor’s Note:  For more information and pictures, go to www.guildofscholars.org.

Attention all families - all ages, sizes, talents.  November 17 (this week, Saturday) from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m., we are continuing to paint our own Sistine Chapel (aka Sunday School corridor) with the story of the Bible, drawn and designed by Phyllis Harvey.  Please join her and me as we paint the next stories.  Already done is Creation, Adam and Eve, Abraham and Isaac.  We're up to Moses now.  Come and have some fun.  Bring sheets for the floor.  Paint is provided and some brushes – bring your own if you have them.  Note that when Solomon built the first Temple, he “carved cherubim, palm trees, and open flowers” (1 Kings 6: 29).  We are going to do a similar thing!!

                                                                                    Simon Jeynes, Christian Education

THIS WEEK AT IMMANUEL:                                           COMING SOON:

Sun     18      Pentecost 25                                                       Sun     25               No Sunday School

                      8:00 am        Holy Eucharist in Chapel                                               (Thanksgiving Recess)

                      9:00 am        Fall Vestry Forum                           Sun  12/2               Advent 1, Year A

                                               (Common Room)                                            9:30 a.m.   Sunday School resumes

                      9:30 am        Sunday School classes                                          4:00 p.m.   Lessons and Carols

                                               (bring in your UNICEF box)

                    10:30 am        Sung Eucharist and

                                               Sunday School Recognition

Mon   19       7:00 pm        Vestry Meeting (Parlor)

Tue     20       8:30 am        Emmanuel Dining Room Cooking

                                               (see Nancy Loux)

                      6:30 pm        Choristers (Choir Room)

                      7:00 pm        AlAnon (Common Room)

                      8:00 pm        Coro Allegro (Choir Room)

Wed   21

                      6:30 pm        Quiet Prayer (Common Room)

                      7:30 pm        Healing Service (Chapel)

Thu     22                           Thanksgiving Day     office closed

Sat      24     12:00             AlAnon (Common Room)

The Search Committee has been meeting weekly and is in the process of updating information to reflect our current environment.  We are sharpening the focus, given the accelerated time line, and have fine tuned the Parish Profile by adjusting the following areas:
1.  Description of Immanuel
2.  Mission Statement/Goals
3.  Responsibilities of the Rector
Our search consultants are pleased with our progress.

We will continue to keep you updated; please continue to keep us in your prayers.

                                                                                    Connie Shultz, Search Committee

Advent Lessons and Carols is December 2. The Season of Advent prepares us to experience the real meaning of Christmas; and at Immanuel a very important part of keeping Advent is our annual Service of Lessons and Carols for Advent.  Invite someone to join you Sunday, December 2 at four o’clock, the First Sunday of Advent, when the combined choirs of Immanuel will present this dramatic service of music and Scripture as an Advent gift to our parish and our community. A festive candlelight reception follows the service.

                                                                                    Jack Burnam

Still have your pledge card?  Completed pledge cards can be mailed directly to the church.  If you have not received a pledge card, a supply is available on the credenza in the foyer.  If you have questions about the pledge process, call Liz Curtis Swain (302-892-7635) or George Parshall (302-658-2066).

                                                                                    Stewardship Ministry

Last call: UNICEF Reminder:  If anyone has not brought in their UNICEF box or donation, please bring it to church, so that we can change 22 children's lives.  You can give it to me this coming Sunday (November 18) or put into the parish secretary’s office (the locked one).  Thank you!

                                                                                    Simon Jeynes, Christian Education

Fr. Thom may be reached at his church phone, 302-658-7326 Ext. 14, during his normal office hours Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He works from home on Fridays. Please feel free to call him on his cell phone 302-229-8449 or write to thomjensen@gmail.com at any time other than church office hours, if a need arises.

Come to Quiet Prayer. We meet Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m.  We enjoy a meditation presented by one of our members and silence to listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit.  Please come join us.  The next meeting will be November 28.  In December, we’ll meet on the 5^th and the 12^th.

                                                                                    Maria duPont, Quiet Prayer Group

Seamen's Center Christmas-at-Sea.  During the rest of November we are collecting Ditty Boxes and items to fill the boxes for the Seamen's Center to distribute during the month of December.  Last year the Center gave away 1500 Christmas Ditty Boxes to the sailors who are away from home for many months at a time.

Please wrap Ditty Boxes so the lid can be removed – then the Seamen's Center can make sure they all contain a knit cap, etc.

There is a box in the foyer for donations of Ditty Box contents: Toothbrush, Comb, Knitted hat/scarf, Razors, Playing Cards, Cough Drops, Pens, Sewing Kit, Toothpaste, Deodorant, Shampoo, Chap Stick, Hand Lotion, Candy, Stationery, and Soap.

                                                                                    Sue Welles, Outreach Ministry

Help at Craft Shows, please!  Two members of the Katrina Mission Team raised $630.00 for the Mobile Respite Care Unit in New Orleans through the sale of New Orleans Remembered bracelets at St. David’s Craft Show.  The team will also be selling NOR Bracelets at Parish Life Day on Saturday, November 17, and at St. Paul's Craft Show on Saturday, December 1.  If you would like to help at craft shows, please contact Vicki Anthos at vanthos@dol.net.                                        Vicki Anthos, Katrina Ministry

United Thank Offering (UTO) envelopes and boxes are in the foyer.  The offering boxes are a special way for children, as well as adults, to give in response to daily blessings and all we have from God!  A report of last year's grants is on the foyer table.  The UTO thanksgivings will be offered at the Eucharist on Sunday, December 16.  Give thanks with a grateful heart!

                                                                                    Sue Welles, Outreach Ministry

Articles from The Net - A Weekly Newsletter For Delaware's Episcopal Clergy:

Interfaith Resource Center Workshop – Wednesday, November 18^th

The Interfaith Resource Center will host a workshop with Sybil MacBeth, author of Praying in Color on November 18 from 2-4 p.m. at Aldersgate Church, 2313 Concord Pike, Wilmington, DE 19803. The innovative approach to prayer encourages busy people of all faiths to center on prayer using brightly colored markers to doodle prayer requests. Skill in drawing is not necessary... only receptivity to the Holy Spirit. Supplies will be provided. Tickets may be purchased for $10 ($15 after October 31) by contacting the Interfaith Resource Center at 1-800-336-6152 or 1-302-477-0910 or emailing us at resource.ctr@dol.net.

Additional note from the Interfaith Resource Center:

About the author & her book: Sybil MacBeth is a mathematics instructor, a dancer, and the spouse of an Episcopal priest in Memphis, Tennessee. She has been leading workshops across the U.S. using Praying in Color for two years and is now teaching others to do the same. Although Ms. MacBeth is the daughter and granddaughter of artists and an avid doodler since birth, she claims no drawing ability at all. Skill in drawing is not necessary... only receptivity to the Holy Spirit.

Claymont Community Thanksgiving Service – Sunday, November 18^th

This annual ecumenical service will be held at 4 pm at Church of the Ascension and is sponsored by the Northeast Parishes (Holy Rosary, Atonement, Ascension, Silverside, Holly Oak and St. David's churches).  The service will be led by Sr. Katherine of Holy Rosary Catholic Church and Fr. Al of Ascension Episcopal Church. The offertory will be an Aztec dance performed by a Hispanic Youth Group.  You are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to be added to  Claymont Community Center's Holiday Baskets for those in need.  All monies collected will go to the Claymont Community Center Crisis Alleviation Fund.  Light refreshments will be served following the service.  For more information, call Church of the Ascension at (302) 798-6683.

Wills and Probate in Delaware – Sunday, November 18^th

From 8:45 - 10:15 a.m., in the Great Hall at the Cathedral Church of Saint John in Wilmington, a workshop about wills and the probate process, led by the New Castle County Registrar of Wills, Diane Clarke Streett. The public is invited to attend.

Come Hear Stephen Post – Friday, November 30

Starting at 7:00 pm, Dr. Stephen Post, Episcopalian, Professor of Bioethics & Family Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, and author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People will give the keynote lecture for the 20^th Anniversary Celebration of the Brandywine Pastoral Institute and Community for Integrative Learning. Dr. Post heads an institute which has drawn international attention for its sponsorship of ground-breaking research demonstrating that persons who develop their capacities to live generously and to serve selflessly actually become healthier physically and psychologically as well as feeling fulfilled spiritually. There is now hard scientific data demonstrating that it is, in fact, “more blessed to give than to receive!” Advanced ticket ($10.) and book ($20.) sales at community@integrativelearning.org  (or at the door, if not sold out) and more detail at www.cil-de.org.  Dr. Post will speak at Westminster Church, Community Hall, 1502 W. 13^th Street in Wilmington.

Additional note to the Highlands Voice from the Community for Integrative Learning:

Dr. Post’s lecture is open to the public.  For all details, you may go to www.cil-de.org/2007_Post.