Over 40 Episcopal Youth from around San Antonio participated in the “Equipped” youth lock-in at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church during the last weekend of January. The youth enjoyed a night of worship, a trip to Thin Air Jump House, and some pizza from Pizza Patron. On Saturday, the youth spent the morning serving Daily Bread Ministries by sorting canned goods for needy families. Later that afternoon, the youth headed to Hardberger Park to perform another service project by cleaning up the park. All had a great time and St. George’s Rishan Edussuriya and Sully Wilson were participants.
On January 23rd, St. George hosted the Cursillo “Day of Deepeer Understanding,” with approximately 75 people from various parishes attending. Eleven of those in attendance were from St. George: Steve & Susan Alwais, Stuart & Leigh Saunders, Molly Miller, Margaret White, Meg Grant, Carol Molina, Wes Hiatt, Jane Ahuero, Paul Warner.
Molly Miller notes, “Attending Cursillo is a spiritual high. However, as many past attendees have discovered, maintaining that high can be challenging. Day of Deeper Understanding provides an opportunity for new Cursillistas to join with the body of past Cursillistas and share their experiences. As with all lessons, unless the learning is applied soon and frequently, the learning can be lost. Day of Deeper Understanding helps attendees to refocus on their Christian walk and the principles of Cursillo. Although Christ is always with us, Cursillistas are reminded that so too are their Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Accountability to God and to each other helps us to grow our witness to others.”
Steve Alwais, who served as the lay rector for Cursillo #270, writes, “The ‘Day of Deeper Understanding’ is a day designed to rekindle the fire within all of those who have attended Cursillo. There have been 270 Cursillos with the Diocese of West Texas. It is a weekend experience designed to bring to mind and heart the elements of our daily walk with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
During the event on January 23rd the Cursillistas heard talks from Steve Alwais, the lay rector of Cursillo #270, and Molly Miller, a participant on that weekend. Both truly reflected the spirit of the weekend. As everyone who has ever attended a Cursillo would tell you, it truly is a weekend well worth taking part in it. If you have any questions or would like to attend Cursillo, please contact any of them or Fr. Ram.
Two of the many groups that St. George serves thanked us for recent donations to their organizations. Thank you all for helping us to help others.
Diana Pelaez, Family Specialist at Larkspur Elementary thanked us for our donation, which was made possible by the generosity of the Kahlig Auto Group. With this donation, Larkspur was able to buy school uniforms for families who can’t afford to buy uniforms for their children.
St. George also donated to Magdalena House, a transitional home in San Antonio that serves mothers and children who have fled dangerous and abusive lives by providing transformation through education, nurturing community, and programming.
To learn more about Larkspur Elementary, Magdalena House and other ways to serve, click here.
On Saturday, January 30, 2016, Marilynne Herbster and Pat Whitehouse were invited by The Rev. Brian Cannaday to lead a training session on Prayer Team Ministry at St. Helena’s Episcopal Church in Boerne, Texas. Present were fourteen parishioners along with Brian. The morning was spent sharing about intercessory prayer and how prayer teams worked together during Sunday morning services. In addition to time spent teaching about prayer team ministry, Marilynne and Pat each selected a “prayer partner” from the gathering and then let the trainees experience being prayed for. All in all, a wonderful morning of teaching, fellowship, and praying was experienced by all. Thanks to Brian for the opportunity to share our prayer team ministry here at St. George!
On Saturday, January 16th, twenty-seven St. George School Beta Club members participated in service projects at the two local Ronald McDonald Houses. The Ronald McDonald House crews split into two groups which met at the local houses to donate three hours of our time. Helping at the downtown location were Zac Addkison, Kevin Black, Katherine Book, Jillian Burns, Tim Clary, Cecilia Garcia, Gabriela Garcia, Cardo Gutierrez, Kristen Lannom, Parker Lannom, Kyle Meister, Nico Pacheco, Ty Short, and Erin Stewart. The Medical Center location participants include Jalen Appleby, Ian Bick, Lauren Bick, Bella Church, Ethan Church, Diego Gonzales, Sara Homma, Pierce Kasson, Gabriela Notzon, Nico Pacheco (Yes, he worked both shifts at both locations!), Gia Pisano, Trey Plante, Kelsey Selva, and Jacob Stidham. Each group prepared a meal of homemade chicken noodle soup, salad, bread, and brownies for 40 people and also performed some light house cleaning. We had a great time being chefs in the Ronald McDonald House kitchens as well as putting our cleaning skills to good use. Club sponsors who led the project were Keith Earle and Rebecca Voyles. The Beta Club would like to especially thank Linda Addkison, Mireya Appleby, Nicky Gonzales, Kristene Stewart, and Maria Zamora for being the supervising parents during these special service activities. The St. George Beta Club is proud of our continued service to our community.
The St. George Youth Group took a break from on-campus Youth Group and headed over to University Bowl this past Sunday for some good ol’ fashioned bowling fun. The kiddos enjoyed a couple games of bowling and some pizza, burgers, and fries. Lauren Devlin was our champion bowler so be sure to congratulate her for her win on Sunday. Next week the Youth Group will re-convene on campus @ 9:30 am! Also, quick reminder, please be sure to sign up for one OR both Youth Retreats (click here for information). If you want or need more information please contact Daniel for more information @ dforman@saintgeorgeschool.org.