The Cornerstone November 2021

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From the Vicar’s Desk While we’re in the season often devoted to Stewardship in the church, I’d like to talk a bit about other ways of looking at it, in particular, our stewardship of those resources that have been entrusted to us by the generations that have gone before us. In this case, I’m talking about our buildings and grounds. Our relationship to the church buildings and the grounds around them are actually a much clearer illustration of what it means to be a “steward” than most anything I could come up with. None of us would be inclined to think of those buildings as “ours.” They are something that’s been passed on to us by earlier members of St. David’s, and we’ll leave them for the folks who come after us. This is also what it looks like to become a “steward” in the rest of our lives, and part of what our giving is intended to help us see. But today my focus in on those buildings and grounds. They are in our care for a time, and what we do to maintain and upgrade them is part of our “stewardship” of them. So also is the way we use them for our benefit and the benefit of our community. And in order for them to benefit us and the community, we take care of them. This also makes sure that we leave something beautiful and useful to the next generation. And make no mistake, what we have at St. David’s is beautiful and useful. Many larger congregations around our church do not have facilities that are as lovely and well-maintained as ours. Really. Lots and lots of them. They’ve been “spruced up” some in the last year or two, which just makes them all the more attractive. And the HVAC and insulation of the church are also being improved. Now it’s our time to keep them in good shape. There are two ways to accomplish this. We can 1) do it ourselves or 2) pay someone to do it. We talked about both those avenues at this month’s vestry meeting. Both have their place. We have work days (and I’d be there if I didn’t live 2 hours away) and other opportunities to care for the buildings. We hope to make it easier to be a part of that in the near future with larger sign-up boards and such. I’ve already noticed that the lion’s share of that work is tending to fall on a very few individuals. We’ll do a better job and prevent burn- out if we all participate. But some of us aren’t physically able, for a variety of reasons to do the work ourselves. We can contribute something extra toward that work by helping to pay for folks to do what we can’t. This isn’t the kind of giving I talk about in sermons. This is giving, not to help God free us from our harmful attachments to our “stuff” and learn to trust God more, but rather, The Cornerstone November 2021 St. David’s Episcopal Church The Rev. Jeff H. Krantz, Vicar Carolyn Beranek, Senior Warden David Adams, Junior Warden P.O. Box 334 Laurinburg, NC 28353 (910) 276-1757 [email protected]

Transcript of The Cornerstone November 2021

From the Vicar’s Desk

While we’re in the season often devoted to Stewardship in the church, I’d like to talk a bit about other ways of looking at it, in particular, our stewardship of those resources that have been entrusted to us by the generations that have gone before us.

In this case, I’m talking about our buildings and grounds.

Our relationship to the church buildings and the grounds around them are actually a much clearer illustration of what it means to be a “steward” than most anything I could come up with. None of us would be inclined to think of those buildings as “ours.” They are something that’s been passed on to us by earlier members of St. David’s, and we’ll leave them for the folks who come after us. This is also what it looks like to become a “steward” in the rest of our lives, and part of what our giving is intended to help us see.

But today my focus in on those buildings and grounds. They are in our care for a time, and what we do to maintain and upgrade them is part of our “stewardship” of them. So also is the way we use them for our benefit and the benefit of our community.

And in order for them to benefit us and the community, we take care of them. This also makes

sure that we leave something beautiful and useful to the next generation. And make no mistake, what we have at St. David’s is beautiful and useful. Many larger congregations around our church do not have facilities that are as lovely and well-maintained as ours. Really. Lots and lots of them.

They’ve been “spruced up” some in the last year or two, which just makes them all the more attractive. And the HVAC and insulation of the church are also being improved.

Now it’s our time to keep them in good shape. There are two ways to accomplish this. We can 1) do it ourselves or 2) pay someone to do it. We talked about both those avenues at this month’s vestry meeting. Both have their place. We have work days (and I’d be there if I didn’t live 2 hours away) and other opportunities to care for the buildings. We hope to make it easier to be a part of that in the near future with larger sign-up boards and such. I’ve already noticed that the lion’s share of that work is tending to fall on a very few individuals. We’ll do a better job and prevent burn-out if we all participate.

But some of us aren’t physically able, for a variety of reasons to do the work ourselves. We can contribute something extra toward that work by helping to pay for folks to do what we can’t. This isn’t the kind of giving I talk about in sermons. This is giving, not to help God free us from our harmful attachments to our “stuff” and learn to trust God more, but rather,

The Cornerstone November 2021

St. David’s Episcopal Church

The Rev. Jeff H. Krantz, Vicar

Carolyn Beranek, Senior Warden David Adams, Junior Warden

P.O. Box 334 Laurinburg, NC 28353 (910) 276-1757 [email protected]

it’s raising funds for a very specific purpose, a good purpose. (I like to be clear about the difference between stewardship and fund-raising.)

The vestry is looking into ways that we can help you help our buildings and grounds in that fashion, if that works better for you. But we haven’t do that before, so we have some groundwork to do first. You’ll hear more about that in the future.

God has placed this jewel of a campus in our hands. It can be our joy to keep it for the use of others in this generation and the next.

Jeff+

Words from the Senior Warden

Change is in the wind! In the fall and winter months, things don’t slow down, they change. If you are like me, it’s hard to accept change. Our first reaction if fear, of the unknown, of learning new things, of growth. But since we know that God loves us always, and will accompany us on our journey, we need to quell our fear and turn to God for support for our new habits, new challenges, and new learnings. It only takes 30 days to train ourselves to a new habit…… we will feel more confident of ourselves and what we can to do support God’s change and promote love in the world. What does God call you to change? Carolyn Beranek Senior Warden

Thank You

Noran Sanford for putting the garbage and recycle bins out to the street each week Tapia/Lopes/Beraneks team for doing altar in October Father Jeff for accepting our call to be our vicar

November Birthdays

November 1 Karen Leach November 7 Minor Glenn November 12 Ruth Drymon November 13 Bryn Bethel, Marilyn Petersen November 25 Kessie Love, Martha Tremblay

November Anniversaries

November 3 David and Mary Jo Adams November 9 Bill and Anne Goodwin November 16 Gary and Martha Tremblay Vestry Election in November We have two openings coming up in the rotation. We need two people to volunteer their time to serve on the Vestry. The Vestry is the governing body for our church. They keep things running week to week with the help of the priest. They meet monthly and count the weekly offering. If you have more questions, call Father Jeff, or David Adams, or Carolyn Beranek to fill you in on the details.

Carolyn Beranek

Disclaimer: The views expressed in these

newsletter articles are those of

Contributions for The Cornerstone The Cornerstone deadline is the 19th of each month. All articles are invited. Please email articles to [email protected]. The Cornerstone editor is Bonnie Glenn.

Resumption of Coffee Hour Due to the falling numbers of percentage of positive case in Scotland County and the established protocols of the Diocese we can re-instate coffee hour inside. We still need to have individual packages of food but could have servers putting food on plates. Looks like a Wednesday evening meal is in the near future!

Carolyn Beranek

Altar Volunteers Needed We need additional volunteers to set-up and clean-up the altar for the Sundays we have Eucharist. Please contact John or Carolyn Beranek if you can help. It takes only about an hour total of your time. We will show you what to do and be available for any questions you may have. Thank you. Carolyn Beranek

UTO is Virtual Last year the campaign for UTO (United Thank Offering) went virtual. Groups and churches had walking campaigns and donated money for each mile they walked. You too can put your health giving miles (walked, run, swam, or biked) to a good use. Keep daily track of those miles from the 5th to the 14th of November and make a contribution from the total number. Contact Carolyn Beranek (910-844-5098) with any questions, any competition, or if you need a website.

Carolyn Beranek

Thank You Note I want to express my heart felt thanks to you. Lee Harris put me on your prayer list as I had Lymphoma or cancer of the blood cells.

Thank you so much for including me in your prayer. The doctor says that I am cancer free now after months of chemo therapy. I think it is largely as a result of your prayers and God’s mercy. I am much obliged.

I so appreciate your kindness! Respectfully Yours Tony Thompson

Work Day

Mark your calendar for this important date! A church work day has been scheduled for Saturday, November 13th from 8 am until noon. We have many chores that need attending. Raking, pruning, weeding, moping, dusting, vacuuming, window washing, cleaning, and polishing are just a few that come to mind. God probably expects us to be good stewards of our property and everyone likes a clean and orderly house. Hope to see you there for the work, fellowship and fun. David Adams Junior Warden

Blessing of the Animals

Every year in October St David’s has the honor of hosting a service to commemorate St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of Italy. Although St Francis was born to a wealthy family he devoted himself to a life of poverty and was known for his patronage of animals and the natural environment. According to Wikipedia “he called all creatures his ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ and even preached to the birds. He was a lover of God’s creation.” :)

We had a wonderful time at our annual Blessing of Pets service on Sunday, October 3rd. I didn’t take attendance but felt sure that we had over 20 folks and close to the same number of pets. Dogs and cats were the front and center for blessings. We even had some neighborhood cats who glanced over and got blessed.

The service was led by our own Reverend Jeff Krantz, along with Reverend Linda Nelson from Church of the Living Word, and Reverend Bob Button from Old Laurel Hill Presbyterian

Photo by Bonnie Glenn

Church. There were representatives from the Humane Society of Scotland County, and donations from the service went to support.

Opal and I were grateful for the reminder of our interconnectedness with the world. This service gave me a moment to appreciate what a beautiful, intricate world that God created for us. It also helped me remember what responsibilities we have as stewards of the earth. One of the first things God asked of us in Genesis 2:15.

Thanks to all that made the service possible. It is a wonderful gift to our community.

Kim Lopes

Congratulations Jim Weaver has been made a life member of The Optimist’s Club due to his many decades of membership and service.

Celebration of a New Ministry Update We had lots of positive responses during our Celebration from Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple and the Canon David Sellery. They appreciated the beauty of our worship space, the music of our choir and organist and the fellowship from St. David’s. We had a positive response to our new vicar, Father Jeff and his wife, Sara Louise. Not able to attend? Leave Father Jeff a call at the church office and he will call you to chat. Don’t need to be sick or in trouble to talk to the vicar!

Carolyn Beranek

Ways to Volunteer Your Energy Write an article for the Cornerstone Go into the church and/or parish hall and vacuum, or sweep the floor, or dust. Rake the leaves and pine straw off the grass. Weed the flower beds of nasty thorns that grow profusely. Carolyn Beranek

Thanksgiving Word Search

BLESSINGS PRAYER DRESSING PECAN FAMILY PIE FELLOWSHIP RECREATION FRIENDS THANKSGIVING TURKEY

G R N G U Q F I Z NA Q T N S W K F U XD Q U I T U O R D TR K R V W P G N M FE D K I Y R E O H RS L E G W F H I T IS F Y S W Z G T P EI R L K G V B A E NN E I N Q I Q E Z DG Y M A U W Q R A SC A A H B Q Z C U OB R F T J I I E Q YR P E C A N B R N DF E L L O W S H I PB L E S S I N G S O

November Calendar

The Cornerstone St. David's Episcopal Church P. O. Box 334 Laurinburg, NC 28353

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

2Election Day

3Compline, 7pm

4 5 6Altar Training led

by Father Jeff, 2pm

7FALL BACKDaylight Saving

Time Ends

Christian Formation, 10am

Holy Eucharist/Blessing of the Pledges, 11am

8

9 10Compline, 7pm

11Veterans Day

12 13St. David’s Workday,

8am-12noon

14Christian

Formation, 10am

Morning Prayer, 11am

15 16 17Compline, 7pm

18 19Diocese of NC

Annual Convention

(Virtual)

Full Beaver Moon

Church Newsletter Deadline

20

21Christian

Formation, 10am

Holy Eucharist/Vestry Election,

11am

22 23 24 Compline, 7pm

25 Thanksgiving Service, 11am

26 27

28Advent I

Christian Formation, 10am

Holy Eucharist, 11am

29 30Giving Tuesday

(Hint: St. David’s)