Dear
Sisters and Brothers in Christ ~
You
are receiving this issue of Chapter
& Verse a few
days late because I did not want to write this until after our Annual
Meeting on Sunday, January 29th.
First,
I’d like to thank those
whose terms of service have ended:
Senior
Warden: George
Elliman
Chapter
members: Criss Bean,
Debra Hackbarth, and
Robyn Modjeska
And I’d like to introduce the 2012 Wardens
and Chapter to you, as affirmed by those present at the meeting:
Senior
Warden: Heidi Brokel
Junior
Warden: Mary Nick
2012-2015: Terry
Becker, Mike
Russell, Melanie
Woodward
2011-2014: (1)
George Elliman,
(2) Linda Pierce,
Kathy Schreiber
2010-2013: Helen
Carew, Claire
Hutter, (3) Brian
Koehler
Nominations
for Wardens and Chapter are always open from Memorial Day through
Thanksgiving. We thank nominators and nominees. All nominees became
candidates after a Chapter discernment/orientation meeting.
As
often happens, some folks are not able to complete their three year
terms, so we thank:
(1)
George Elliman,
who after his term as Senior Warden, will continue this year for
Cathy Stratz.
(2)
Linda Pierce
returns to the chapter and will continue this year for Heidi Brokl
as Heidi becomes our Senior Warden.
(3)
Brian Koehler
will finish the remaining year of Cathy McArthur’s term.
Second,
I’d like to introduce the Lay
Diocesan Convention Delegates
elected at the meeting for the October 19-20 convention to be held in
Manitowoc:
Carey
Woodward, Heidi
Brokl, and Melanie
Woodward will serve
as lay delegates.
Kim
Lade, Terry
Hansen-Beno, and
Debra Hackbarth
will serve as alternates.
Congratulations
to these folks, those who discerned their nominations but did not
run, nominators, and all who attended the Annual Meeting.
Third, the budget was crafted by our Finance
Committee – based on the pledges we made this past fall. The
budget was tweaked by the Chapter, and approved at their meeting on
December 13th. That budget was presented and explained to all
interested parishioners on Sunday, January 22nd, and it was presented
by our treasurer, Carey Woodward, at the Annual Meeting.
Fourth, in preparing the February calendar, there
are several things I’d like to call to your attention:
Perhaps
the single most important gathering you could attend this month is
the Diocesan “Discerning our Future” meeting on Saturday,
February 25th from
10am-12noon. All thirty-five of our congregations are asked to
gather at one of four geographic locations, and the Cathedral is one
of those locations. Questions we will consider include:
What
do we value about the diocese?
What
are our hopes for the diocese?
When
we consider where we would like our congregation to be in the
future (5 years), what challenges / barriers / obstacles do we see?
What
gifts does our congregation have that we can share with other
congregations?
Our
Cathedral
Chapter
will
host
this
gathering
(&
meet
afterwards).
We
hope
to
see
you
on
the
25th!
We
begin the holy season of Lent on Wednesday,
February 22nd – we
hope you can join us for worship that day at either 12noon or 6pm.
Our Chapter is asking that we focus on our call to evangelize during
Lent, so our focus during the Lent and Easter seasons will be “From
Ashes to Pentecost – Open to the Guidance of the Holy Spirit!”
I look forward not only to the 40 days of Lent, but also the 50 days
of Easter – 90 days for us to be encouraged to “proclaim by word
and example the Good news of God in Christ” (BCP 305).
Broken
Bread, the Fondy Food Pantry, the Food for Thought Program, the
Warming Shelter, Share, and Care I.N.C., and our support groups all
continue at their usual times this month. Of special note is the
Fondy Food Pantry, our Sunday Primary Religious Education children,
and some of our adult members joining forces to provide a special
“Valentine’s Day Dinner” for the Warming Shelter’s guests on
Tuesday, February
14th. For
information, contact Terry. This should be a very special outreach
evening.
2
/ 2: ELCA / TEC lunch meeting at St. Agnes Hospital.
2
/ 2: Dean Michael Green’s Installation at Christ Church
Cathedral, Eau Claire.
2
/ 4: Meeting with the “Pledge Review Committee” at St.
Mark’s, Waupaca.
2
/ 9: Diocesan Clergy Day at St. Anne’s, De Pere.
2
/ 9-13: On-call for death notifications for the City of Fond du
Lac Police Dept.
2
/ 13-15: Diocesan Clergy Retreat at St. Anthony Spirituality
Center, Marathon.
2
/ 16: FAMA – here at St. Paul’s.
2
/ 23: Care I.N.C. – here at St. Paul’s.
2
/ 25: “Discerning Our Future” gathering – here at St.
Paul’s.
Please keep me, our congregation, and our
diocese in your prayers!
Fifth, I
encourage you
to use
the prayer
we prayed
last weekend
in preparation
for our
Annual Meeting:
Lord,
this is our Church. It’s composed of people like us. We make it
what it is:
We
confess that it will be a friendly Church ~ if we are friends to
others.
Its
pews will be filled ~ if we help to fill them.
It
will do great work ~ if we work.
It
will make generous gifts to many causes ~ if we are generous givers.
It
will bring other people into its worship and fellowship ~ if we bring
them.
It
will be a church of love and noble spirit ~ if we, who make it what
it is, are filled with your Spirit.
With
your help, O God, we dedicate ourselves to being all the things we
want our church to be.
~ Fr. Brian
