SUNDAY…
Last Sunday Worship & Blessing of Backpacks, 10am: Our last Sunday worship is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. This Sunday we’ll explore a word that is both big and small: Love. Bring your backpack (or, for older students, your briefcase or laptop or …) and we will bless them as we begin a new academic year. Note: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.
Coffee Hour hosts needed for the weeks ahead! Please consider being a coffee host. Sign-up sheets for upcoming months can be found in the Gathering Area. Thanks for lending a hand!
We are mapping our congregation! Knowing who else from the St. Dunstan’s community lives or works nearby might make it easier to: 1) provide care when someone’s going through a hard time, 2) meet up for fellowship or study, 3) engage together with issues in our neighborhoods. We hope everyone will participate, even if you’re new or don’t attend regularly. “And the Word of God became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.” John 1:14
THE WEEKS AHEAD…
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.
Birthdays & Anniversaries will be honored next Sunday, September 6, as is our custom on the first Sunday of every month. Come forward after the Announcements to receive a blessing and the community’s prayers.
Healing Prayer, Sunday, September 6: Next Sunday, one of our ministers will offer healing prayers for those who wish to receive prayers for themselves or on behalf of others.
MOM Special Offering, Sunday, September 6: Next Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Groceries are welcome gifts too. Here are the current top ten items needed: sugar, cooking oil, fruit cocktail, canned peaches, canned turkey or chicken, cereal, jelly, diapers sizes 4, 5 and 6, laundry detergent, toothbrushes/toothpaste. They are always in need of quality bedding items such as comforters, sheets, blankets and towels, too. Thank you for your generosity.
Evening Eucharist, Sunday, September 6, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins.
Madison-Area Julian Gathering, Wednesday, September 9, 7:15-9:00pm: Julian of Norwich: 14th Century feminist? 14th Century heretic? No, although a reader might at first think so. 14th Century psychologist? Sort of . . . she understood the human heart and, through her sixteen revelations of Jesus, she understood the heart of God. Thomas Merton called her “the greatest theologian for our time.” Come to one of our monthly meetings and find out why — and learn about contemplative prayer. We meet the second Wednesday of each month. We’d love to see you.
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.
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.
“What Am I Doing Here?” A Class For Those New to the Episcopal Church, Sundays at 9am, Sept. 13, 20, and 27. Join us for an exploration of the parts and purpose of our pattern of worship. Please pick up a copy of the book (“What Am I Doing Here?” – it’s small and blue) in the Gathering Area, and if possible, read Chapters 1 & 2 before our first session on Sept. 13. It’s an easy read and it has cartoons! Questions? Talk with Rev. Miranda or email her at .
LOOKING AHEAD….
Diocesan Convention, Saturday, October 17, 8am – 4:30pm at St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin: All are welcome to attend all or part of the convention! The morning will be devoted to worship and a presentation focused on taking our Church into the wider community. The afternoon session will be the ‘business’ session. Visitors are asked to register but there is no charge unless you want to have meals at the convention. To register, fill out and mail in the form located in the Gathering Area or you can register at the convention between 8 and 9am. Also of note, travel-size personal hygiene items will be collected at Convention, to be given out through hospitality ministries around the diocese. For more information on the convention, go to http://www.diomil.org/about-us/diocesan-convention/.
Mark your calendar! Crop Walk 2015, Sunday, October 18: St. Dunstan’s will send a team of walkers; watch for a signup soon. 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.