TODAY & THE WEEK AHEAD…
Rev. Miranda will be away from August 10 – 18. The Rev. Paul Goddard, one of our resident retired clergy, will preach and celebrate on Sunday, August 16. Father Paul and Father John Rasmus will be available if anyone urgently needs to speak with a priest during Rev. Miranda’s absence.
Rector’s Discretionary Fund Offering, Sunday, August 16: Half the cash in our collection plate, and any designated checks, will go towards the Rector’s Discretionary Fund this day and on every third Sunday. This fund is a way to quietly help people with direct financial needs, in the parish and the wider community. Please give generously.
Information Sessions on Education for Ministry, Fall 2015 Enrollment, Sunday, August 16 at noon and Monday, August 17, 7-8pm at St. Dunstan’s: Education for Ministry (EfM) is a four-year distance learning certificate program in theological education based upon small-group study and practice. EfM groups meet weekly from September through May with a trained mentor. Members sign up for one year at a time (a continuous four-year commitment is not required). Groups at St. Dunstan’s are tentatively scheduled to meet Monday evenings and Thursday mornings.
Evening Eucharist Dates in August: Our Sunday Evening Eucharist will NOT take place on Aug. 2 or 16. We WILL have an Evening Eucharist on Sunday, August 23, at 6pm. Sorry for any inconvenience!
THE WEEKS AHEAD…
Education for Ministry Grads Invited Back!! The new EfM curriculum was put into use in 2013, and EfM participants are enthusiastic about the scholarship, relevance, and scope of the new program. We are offering a scholarship of $100 off the yearly regular price of $350 to EfM grads who would be interested in repeating any year with the new materials. There are two scholarships available at this time.
Vestry Meeting, Wednesday, August 19, 6:45pm: The Vestry is the elected leadership body of our parish. Any members are welcome to attend our meetings, to observe or raise questions or ideas.
Grace Shelter Dinner, Sunday, August 23, 7pm: Every fourth Sunday, a loyal group of St. Dunstan’s folk provides dinner for residents at the Grace Church shelter, and breakfast the next morning. See the signup sheet in the Gathering Area to help out.
Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, August 28, 6pm: Join our monthly get-together as we dine at area restaurants and enjoy good conversation among women of all ages from St. Dunstan’s. This month we will meet at Claddagh, 1611 Aspen Commons in Middleton.
Outreach Meeting, August 29, 8-10:30am: All are welcome to join our conversations about how St. Dunstan’s can best serve the world with our resources and our hands. Optional potluck breakfast, 8am.
Lammastide Festival of Bread, Sunday, September 6: Lammastide is an ancient harvest festival that became a church festival in our mother church, the Church of England. It’s an opportunity to offer the fruits of the growing season thankfully to God. The word means “loaf mass”; it was originally held at the time of year when the first grain ripened enough to be made into fresh loaves of bread. We will celebrate the end of summer together with a Lammastide procession; themes of bread, food, welcome, and justice in our music, Scriptures, and sermon; and a festive bread-themed Coffee Hour. If you are a baker, you are invited to bring a loaf of bread – any kind! If you are a gardener or a farmer’s market shopper, you are invited to bring something beautiful from God’s Creation to contribute to our decorations – a handsome squash, an ear of decorative corn, flowers, colorful chard. You are welcome to reclaim your produce after worship.
Men’s Book Club, Saturday, September 12, 10am at St. Dunstan’s: This month the book is a mystery, The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig. The action takes place in a bar called the Medicine Lodge in northern Montana, run by Tom Harry and his son, Rusty. Enter a woman from the past and her daughter and things begin to happen.
PARISH & COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITIES…
Lotsa Loot Rummage & Bake Sale, Friday, August 28 and Saturday, August 29, 8am – 3pm both days at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4011 Major Ave., Madison: Come enjoy reasonably priced goods in a broad selection of donated items and also two large book collections, one of mysteries and one of politics. Proceeds go to support such efforts as: Porchlight, Salvation ARMY, St. Stephen’s Food Pantry, a motorcycle for a Tanzanian priest, and a donation for rebuilding black churches burned by arson. Thanks so much for your support of St. Luke’s.
Diocesan Convention, Saturday, October 17: This year’s Diocesan Convention will be held at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, WI. A number of resolutions inviting our Diocese into engagement with some of the big issues of our General Convention this summer will be addressed. Mark your calendar if you would like to attend.
Mark your calendar! Crop Walk 2015, Sunday, October 18: More information will be coming. CROP Walk 2014 funds have been distributed to 36 pantries across Dane County through Second Harvest. About $40,000 was raised, $10,000 of that stayed in our communities and the remaining helped to alleviate hunger world-wide.
This year’s Parish Talent Show will be Sunday, October 25! What will you share? A poem, a song, a dramatic monologue, a dance? A sample of art, craft, tinkering, building, study or science? Group acts are encouraged. Chat with your friends this summer and begin to plan and practice!