St. George Episcopal Church will be having our Annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, January 27, at 9:30 AM, in between our worship services. Come hear about all that God is doing and be a part of growing the family of God at St. George in 2019. The church will be providing tacos, coffee, juice, and childcare.
All posts by Keith Earle
Middle school youth group is starting back up this week, Sunday, January 13! We will meet from 5:30-7:00 PM in the Leadership Hall for fun, fellowship, and a meal (meal is provided). Contact Taylor Brown tbrown@saintgeorgechurch.org with any questions. Hope to see your youth there!
Each and every ministry at St. George is vital to the spiritual life that takes place here, and we look forward to your reports about how your ministry has done God’s work in 2018. The reports will be presented at the Annual Parish Meeting in January. The reports are PAST DUE. They are due this week. If they are not sent in, your report will not be in the Annual Report. Please send to Keith as soon as possible. Contact Keith if you have any questions at kearle@saintgeorgechurch.org.
Thank you!
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Join us for our worship offering at 10:45 AM on Sunday, December 16, for our joyous Lessons & Carols Service.
Please note that this is not a Eucharist-based worship. If you would like Communion as part of your worship, please consider attending the 8:30 AM service.
All Worship Ministry Participants (Acolytes, Altar Guild, Lectors, LEM, Prayer Team, Welcome Team) and Worship Ministry Leaders:
Please join us after the 10:45 AM church service this Sunday, December 2, in the Sanctuary for an Advent/Christmas Eve walk through.
We will talk about the many upcoming worship ministry needs required for these seasons. If you are scheduled to serve in a worship ministry during Advent or Christmas Eve we invite you to participate in this informative session as we ready ourselves for the bustle of the seasons and making sure we are covering all the upcoming service and worship needs. There will be a handout with details and a follow-up email to continue to spread the information. Pizza and salad will be provided.
Each and every ministry at St. George is vital to the spiritual life that takes place here, and we look forward to your reports about how your ministry has done God’s work in 2018. The reports will be presented at the Annual Parish Meeting in January. The reports will not be due until December, but we wanted to remind you in plenty of time to let you gather your thoughts and any materials. Contact Keith if you have any questions at kearle@saintgeorgechurch.org. Thank you!
Please join us for our Annual Christmas Luncheon on Saturday, December 8, 2018, at Oak Hills Country Club at 12:00 PM. The cost is $32.00 for the meal, coffee or tea, and dessert.
Call Martha Bastian at 210-341-5286 or Barbara Simon at 210-696-3546 no later than Thursday, December 6, for your reservation. For any other questions, please call Martha Bastian.
Submitted by Stephen Dodwell
For the past ten years, I have worked for Habitat for Humanity, building houses in San Antonio. The experience has enriched me in that I now know how to build a house and can handle many of my own household repairs and help my friends and relatives. More importantly, I have had the experience of seeing people who have never lived in a house move into a Habitat house and become a home owner.
On Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday of each week, I work as part of a week-day crew (4-9 folks) under the supervision of a site manager. The tools and materials are on site when the crew arrives, and we complete tasks, such as framing; putting insulation and siding on the exterior; installing windows and doors; and finishing interior and exterior trim. Habitat has contractors do foundation, plumbing, electrical, sheet rock, and roof work. Job sites are very organized, which means in a single work day much progress is made.
San Antonio has one of the most active Habitat programs in the country (55 houses a year), and we construct entire subdivisions of houses. The one I am working on now will have 125 houses. I have worked in four different subdivisions and have seen many people become homeowners. Through a “sweat equity” program, future homeowners contribute 300 hours of work in Habitat houses, sometimes their future house or other houses. One relative or friend can donate hours to the future homeowner’s sweat equity. Because most of the future homeowners work during the week, I do not see them during my weekday work; however, Habitat hosts events in which homeowners are introduced. I find it very gratifying to hear the stories of the new homeowners, many of whom have lived in apartments and never in a house. To see the smile of a child who will get her first bedroom is very gratifying.
Large groups (as many as 200) work as volunteers on weekends, painting exteriors, cleaning up sites, and putting the finishing touches on houses. If you want to volunteer on a weekend or weekday, phone Habitat for Humanity and register. Then come on out to a site. You don’t need tools, although some volunteers do bring their own tools. No particular skill is needed; you will be assigned tasks and taught how to do them. Before you know it, you will realize you know how to build a house. That’s a great feeling.
Another way you can contribute to Habitat is by donating your cabinets, counter tops, doors, etc. when you are renovating your home. Phone Habitat, and they will send a crew to your home to carefully remove and reclaim your items, which will be sent to a warehouse or a salesroom and sold to the public. Proceeds benefit the Habitat for Humanity program.
I am eager to talk about my work as a Habitat volunteer, so stop me at church, and I will help you connect with the program. https://www.habitatsa.org/
Submitted by Jennie Dietrich
Most of you know me through my parents, Grumpy and Granny Pat. As parents, they made a significant impression on my life, and St. George was a big part of that starting around 1972. In my late teens, my mom and I rarely saw eye to eye. In the mid-1990’s, we found a common love of card making using rubber stamps and the images provided by a company called Stampin’Up!. Believe it or not, this hobby brought us back together and allowed us to start seeing eye to eye again. We found common ground again. Granny Pat often thanked my friend who introduced us to the craft for making our relationship whole again.
Granny Pat then turned this mutual love we had into a gift of giving back to St. George and all its members. She would tell the story something like this. Every year she and Grumpy would get these pre-fab cards with little to no flair in them from the church wishing them a Happy Birthday. Given the beautiful cards we made together for birthdays of our friends and other holidays, the pre-fab cards really did simply end up in the trash. Somewhere along the line, she volunteered to make birthday cards for the church, how hard could that be, right? Then she “voluntold” me that I would be helping her. That first meeting we made a grand total of 10 cards, most of those who joined us made just one. We were so proud. We talked, we laughed, we cared, all together, at once, in the hope that we would bring joy to the lives of others.
The Card Ministry at St. George has grown; everyone gets a card. That can be more than 50 people a month between birthdays and anniversary cards, which are signed and sent out. The ladies who come out and help me make these cards are not expert craftsman or specialists in paper crafting, but just ladies (and occasionally a man here and there) who want to bring joy into the lives of others. All are welcome, and we all hear back from members of the church about how special the handmade card they received was to them. We hear about how we have brightened someone’s special day.
Granny Pat passed away a year ago this October. In the last year, not a single month has been missed, and the ministry continues to grow. The ladies still gather, we still talk, giggle and sometimes complain about the world. But sitting in the St. Mark’s room, making cards, you can hear Granny Pat in your ear telling you to add more layers, every card needs more layers. Please come join us, no experience or talent of any kind required; everything including love is provided.