Vestry Transition: Elvice McAlpine has retired early from the Vestry due to vision problems that made it difficult to participate fully. We are pleased to announce that Eric Brown has agreed to join the Vestry and complete Elvice’s term, ending in January of 2023. Eric moved to Indiana last year but has continued to be a regular member of the Zoom congregation. We hope that his presence on the Vestry at this time will help represent our Zoom congregation as we discern what it looks like to continue as a hybrid church. Thank you, Elvice, and welcome, Eric!
Weekly Scripture Reflections Available: Father John Rasmus writes weekly reflections on the Sunday lectionary texts and sends them out to those who would like to receive them. If you’d like to join his email list, contact him and he’d be glad to add you! If you would like to receive the reflections by postal mail, or know someone else who might appreciate them, contact the office at or 608-238-2781. We have sent them out by mail in the past and would be happy to return to that practice if it would be helpful to anyone.
At-home Rogation prayers available: Rogation Days are special days for praying for crops, farming, and the health and fruitfulness of the land in general. Rev. Miranda has a lovely set of Rogation Day poems and prayers for individual or household use, developed in 2020 as a pandemic resource by a parish in Connecticut. If you would like this document emailed to you, to use at your leisure, let Rev. Miranda know .
Vaccination Clinic at MOM: Do you need your vaccine or your vaccine booster/s? or Do you know someone who has not been able to get vaccine or boosters because of lack of insurance or other methods of payment or having difficulty with timing for being seen?There will be 2 Covid vaccine sites at Middleton Outreach Ministry on Monday May 16 from 1-3 PM – No appointment needed, no insurance needed – all 3 types of vaccine available and also boosters are available. The clinic will be held in the warehouse behind the MOM office building and there is good signage. The location is 3502 Parmenter St. (behind the Kwik trip on corner of Airport Rd. and Parmenter)
NEW GROUP: Aging Together, 10AM, Friday, May 6, Zoom: Aging is hard – logistically, emotionally, physically. We are exploring gathering a group to meet regularly to share ideas, resources, and most importantly, mutual support. If this sounds interesting or helpful to you, join us on Zoom for an initial conversation about how this group would like to gather – times, topics, frequency of meeting, etc. All 70+ friends and members welcome! Join with this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84280344235?pwd=K2pLZlduU3MxOFl6TkxXNjVlb2Vudz09
Spring Diaper Drive, May 8 – June 19: Imagine having to choose whether to pay rent, pay utilities, buy food, or buy diapers for your baby or toddler. Nearly 1 in 3 American families struggle to afford enough diapers, which cannot be purchased with food stamps. For several years St. Dunstan’s has done a spring Diaper Drive from Mother’s Day through Father’s Day to help provide diapers to local food pantries. Sizes 4, 5, and 6 are always especially in demand! Volunteer diaper shoppers in the parish buy and deliver diapers to organizations who can get them out into the community, such as Middleton Outreach Ministry, the Allied Drive Pantry, Karen’s Essential Center, Healing House, and others. This year’s Diaper Drive will run from Mother’s Day through Father’s Day. Please write a check to St. Dunstan’s with “Diapers” in the memo line, or make a gift through our donation website at this link: donate.stdunstans.com . Thank you for your support! New volunteers to help with shopping and/or delivery are also welcome – contact Mary Rowe.
Planning Meeting for Summer In-Person Worship, Wednesday, May 11, 7:15PM: Join Rev. Miranda for some brainstorming and planning about our in-person worship this summer (and beyond). Where should we take the next step back towards pre-pandemic normal? Where can we take the next step into the “new normal” we’re creating now? What’s the next step in our intergenerational worship work? We will meet in person (masked) so we can see and walk around our Nave as we talk. All interested folks (including kids and youth) are welcome!
Celebration of New Ministry, Good Shepherd, Sun Prairie, Saturday, May 14, 3PM: The people of Good Shepherd–Buen Pastor, Sun Prairie and St Luke’s, Madison invite you to a joint celebration of new ministry. The Rt. Rev. Bishop Lee will preside and the Rev. Canon Scott Leannah will preach at a liturgy to mark the beginning of a shared ministry covenant between the two parishes. The Rev. Don Fleischman has been called to oversee both parishes. The liturgy will take place at 3 pm and will be followed by a reception. This celebration will take place at St Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4011 Major Avenue, Madison WI 53716. All are invited. The festal color for the day for clergy is white.
St Dunstan’s Day & Rogation Day, May 22: St. Dunstan’s Day, the feast day of our patron saint, is May 19; we will celebrate it on Sunday, May 22. Rogation Days are special days for praying for crops, farming, and the health and fruitfulness of the land in general. We will observe Rogation Day with a brief (optional!) procession around the grounds, punctuated by prayer, at the end of our 10AM in-person service.
Spring Grounds Work Day, Sunday, May 15, 11:30 – 1PM: Come help tend St. Dunstan’s grounds! Most work is outdoors, though we have some potential indoor tasks too. Please wear a mask when indoors, and outdoors when close to people from other households. We will have a task list to direct folks to things that need doing. There are tasks for people of all ages and abilities. We’ll also be starting to line up volunteers who’d like to tend particular garden beds now and then, over the summer. We plan to offer some hearty snacks, and end with a treat at 1PM. If you’d enjoy helping out on the grounds sometime but can’t make it that day, contact Krissy Mayer, Adam McCluskey or Rev. Miranda and we’ll loop you in on other plans!
Funeral for Sue Lloyd, Saturday, June 11, 1PM: The funeral for Sue Lloyd will be held on Saturday, June 11, at St. Dunstan’s. All friends of Sue are invited to attend. A light reception will follow; contact Connie Ott to contribute to the reception or help with setup or cleanup.
Evening Church Camp for Kids and Youth: Save the Dates – July 19 – 23! Plans are taking shape for an Evening Church Camp focused on theater and drama. Acting out Scripture stories has become a regular practice at St. Dunstan’s; we will use this camp to lean into that and build some skills that may not only expand what we can do here, but give kids who participate a boost if they want to get involved with theater at school or elsewhere! Kids are very welcome to invite friends. We’d love to offer options for kids who prefer not to act, such as music and sound effects, costume, makeup, set design – we’ll see how our team takes shape. We plan to meet 5:30 – 7:30 (dinner included) on Tuesday, July 19 through Saturday, July 23; we may start earlier on Saturday, and end with a performance open to the congregation. Sound like fun, but you’re not a kid? There’s lots of scope for adults in the parish to join in and help out with this camp, on one night or many. If you’re interested, reach out to Rev. Miranda and she’ll loop you in as we plan. Questions and ideas welcome too!
Creation Care at St. Dunstan’s: Our commitment to creation care ranges from tending our grounds, to planning parish or community studies or learning opportunities, to seeking out and promoting ways to reduce our church’s and our members’ environmental impact. We are an informal network that gathers a couple of times a year to work on plans and priorities, then gathers (online and/or in person) for particular interests or projects at other times. Would you like to learn more or get involved? Contact Rev. Miranda.
Seeking Adult Helpers for High School Youth Trip!
We are planning a mission trip for our high school youth group this summer, from Thursday, July 28 through Sunday, July 31. We’re really excited to finally be planning a trip for these kids. And we’re looking for 2 – 3 more adults to join our team!
- We’ll be doing service work (TBD) during the days, with fellowship and reflection time in the mornings and evenings.
- Adults should be available for the full four days (with the possible exception of someone doing meal prep, which could be helpful for one or two days at a time).
- If coming on the trip would represent a financial burden for you (losing paid work time; child or pet care; etc.) we can provide compensation. Let’s talk!
- We’ll probably travel (by car) to somewhere within a 3 – 4 hour radius of Madison. You should be able to provide your own vehicle, and ideally be willing to drive kids around.
- We are required to do a background check for all adult volunteers (at the church’s expense).
- Covid rates will likely rise and fall in unpredictable ways in the coming months. As we begin planning sites and activities, and recruiting our team, we will be trying to plan the trip to be as “Covid-proof” as possible, with mitigations and alternatives built into the plan.
- No previous experience with the youth group or youth ministry is required; just an enthusiasm for getting to know these young people and being part of a team doing good in the world and deepening our fellowship and faith together.
This is an opportunity to work, play, learn, and grow with a pretty neat group of youth! To learn more, talk with Rev. Miranda.