Volume 5, Number 15                                     Fourth Sunday of Easter                                      April 13, 2008

Feedback from the Katrina Team (Part 2)

My experience in New Orleans became transformative during our second workday, while we were gutting what obviously had once been a beautiful house in the Lakeview district, where a family of ten children had been lovingly raised.  On the exterior of the building, the infamous Katrina water line is still clearly visible.  Inside, the home had already been emptied of all family belongings and the walls had been ripped from the studs.  Our job was to remove piles of debris into dumpsters and finish removing the ceilings and insulation above them.  As I was shoveling dirt from a huge pile, I heard something fall off my shovel.  I looked down, and found a man’s smoking pipe.  In an instant, I went from shoveling dirt to shoveling someone’s belongings.  These moldy piles contained the remains of someone’s life, someone’s family, and someone’s father.  I no longer was just doing a dirty job.  I was helping, healing, serving people in need.  I became the arms of Jesus.

                                                                                    Darla Max

THIS WEEK AT IMMANUEL: 

Sun     13      Fourth Sunday of Easter

                      8:00 am        Holy Eucharist in Chapel

                      9:30 am        Sunday School Classes

                    10:30 am        Sung Eucharist
                                              followed by Lunch and Annual Parish Meeting (Dining Room)

Mon - Fri      7:30 am        Morning Prayer

Mon   14       6:30 pm        Vestry Organization Meeting

                      6:30 pm        Girl Scout Leaders Meeting (Common Room)

                      7:00 pm        Finance/Stewardship Meeting (Library)

Tue     15       6:30 pm        Search Team (Parlor)

                      6:30 pm        Choristers (Music Room)

                      7:00 pm        Al Anon (Common Room)

                      7:45 pm        Coro Allegro (Music Room)

Wed   16       6:30 pm        Quiet Prayer (Common Room)

                      7:30 pm        Healing Service (Chapel)

Thu     17       7:30 pm        Mixed Choir (Music Room)

Sat      19       9:00 am        Vestry Retreat (St. James’ Church, Millcreek)

                    12:00             Al Anon (Common Room)

COMING SOON (save this date):

Sat      26       8:30 am       Parish Clean-Up/Fix-Up Morning with Lunch

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.

3 !       Annual Meeting       3 !

The Immanuel Church, Highlands, Annual Meeting will be held in the Dining Room on Sunday, April 13, after the 10:30 service.  Lunch will be provided.  We will vote on revisions to our bylaws and elect vestry members.

Copies of the bylaws and proposed changes are in the foyer and have been emailed to the parish list.

The slate of candidates is:                   Carl Burnam

                                                            Ryan Day, as youth candidate

                                                            Andy Fairchild

                                                            Tom Greer

                                                            Phyllis Harvey

                                                            Byron Hobson

                                                            Simon Jeynes

                                                            Barbara Volko

Copies of statements by all of these candidates are available in the foyer and have been emailed to the parish.

From our Bylaws:

Article III,

Section 2.  Qualified voters at the annual congregational meeting are those who have been baptized, are sixteen years of age or older, are regular attendants upon the services of Immanuel Church and whose names have been entered for at least six months upon the records of Immanuel Church as contributors to the support thereof.

                                                                                    Carolyn Gibson, Junior Warden

Sunday School Notes: 

May 10       Pentecost rehearsal 10 a.m. – 12 noon

May 10       The "Sistine Chapel" painting – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

May 11       Pentecost service rehearsal 9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. and

                        Pentecost service at 10:30 a.m.

Upcoming: do you know your New Testament books?  Coming to a service near you is soon the great New Testament quiz, brought by the Grade 4/5 class.  Bone up while you can!

                                                                                    Simon Jeynes, Christian Education

Dear Parishioners and friends,

To hear this week's sermon, click on http://drop.io/April_6th_Sermon/interactive.  It will begin to play automatically.  There is also a button to download the file in case you want to save it or put it on your iPod.  It is a plain .mp3 file.

                                                                                   Best, Thom

P.S.  While I have you on the line, there was a wonderful show on American Public Radio's "Speaking of Faith" program.  It is called "The Spirituality of Parenting".  Here's the promo: 

“More and more people in our time are disconnected from religious institutions, at least for part of their lives.  Others are religious and find themselves creating a family with a spouse from another tradition or no tradition at all.  And the experience of parenting tends to raise spiritual questions anew.  We sense that there is a spiritual aspect to our children's natures and wonder how to support and nurture that.  The spiritual life, our guest says, begins not in abstractions, but in concrete everyday experiences.  And children need our questions as much as our answers."

You can find it to listen at: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/spiritualityofparenting/. Highly recommended.

Desserts with Bach:  Immanuel musicians are proud to present an evening of Bach and his contemporaries.  Saturday, June 14, from 7:00 to 9:00, we invite you to join us to hear piano, violin, cello, recorder, and voice playing/singing Bach and his friends.  Entry fee is a plate of desserts (finger food).  There will be a thank offering in favor of St. Luke's parish, New Orleans.  This is a great opportunity to bring musical non-church-going friends and introduce them to our wonderful community.

                                                                                    Simon Jeynes and Jack Burnam

Another change in Boerger Fund:  As of April 9, 2008, we are at $1600 of our goal of about $3000 for the Boerger’s airfare.  We’ve helped for the 15 years’ of translation.  Let’s help them to finish the last step.

                                                                                    Sue Welles, Outreach