News

Church Street News (see Past Issues)
The Newsletter of St. Lawrence Episcopal Church
Issue No. 9, Volume 98
September, 2006

Dear Friends,
The season for leaf-peeping, pumpkins, and apples is upon us.  We now ‘fall back’ into the regular routines that summer vacations interrupted.  Attendance at worship, Christian formation and fellowship here at St. Lawrence establishes a rhythm and pulse to your life which places God in the midst of everything you care about.  Kickoff Sunday (September 10th) should be standing room only as members, visitors and seekers register for our ministries, classes and events.

Participation in these activities increases an awareness of where faith meets the challenges of daily living. People need  help learning how to care, pray, serve and live. I believe that Faith formation is an ongoing, lifelong relationship with Christ and it makes us into new people formed best when in community.  Children develop a compass for ethical and moral living when adults and parents are involved. The children will be guided by a new curriculum and will meet in modules to explore each lesson through four different expressions.  

As a community of God’s people rooted in Word and Sacrament, worship gathers all our experiences in to a chorus of thanksgiving and praise.  The choir is under the direction of a new music director, Alan Whaley. You can well imagine that a lot of time and talent has been expended during the summer evaluating, planning and implementing these opportunities to help each other along a journey of life with faith at the center.  

One of the oldest images of the Christian life is that of a journey or pilgrimage.  As early as the Book of Acts, followers of Jesus were called “people of the Way” (Act 9:2). My journey with you will soon take a different direction.  The countdown has begun for the arrival of a new rector and it is expected that by the end of the month the call will be made. Meanwhile we wait in anticipation keeping our best ever before us.

The Strategic Plan of the Diocese of Chicago says our first goal is to “Change more lives by reaching people with the love of God through our ministry.”  I know that I have been changed in this time with you and the exciting life of St. Lawrence Church. Onward and Upward my friends!
Tom+

DEANERY AND DIOCESAN GATHERINGS
The Deanery will gather for a Chapter meeting on Sunday, September 24, 5:30-9:00 pm at Annunciation Church, in Gurnee with a dinner and program following. We need 3 persons to attend as delegates from St. Lawrence, but all parishioners are welcome. Cost is $12.00. There is a special invitation for the youth of the deanery parishes to attend. They will have an alternate program.

The Diocese will gather on November 10 and 11 for a convention at the brand new Westin Hotel in Wheeling. We need three delegates from St. Lawrence to attend. All members are invited to attend the seminar and workshops held between legislative sessions. There is a Convention Eucharist on Saturday at 10:45 am and a Banquet/ tribute to presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and Phoebe Griswold on Friday, Reception at 5:30 dinner at 6:30. Check out the display in the Narthex and join Fr. Tom, Sue Montgomery, Deacon MJ and the 1000+ others who will attend.

FROM THE WARDENS
A new program year is upon us!! The excitement is building at St. Lawrence as we launch the 2006-2007 program year. We fully expect to call a new Rector to St. Lawrence this fall, as we say our farewells and give our thanks to Father Tom for leading us through this time of change in of our parish. We have made it through this time of transition and are building momentum towards a bright future. The Search Committee has been reviewing resumes, arranging interviews and visiting potential candidates. Many thanks the Committee for all of their hard work and dedication discerning the right person to lead St. Lawrence into this new era.

Other notable events for the early part of this fall include our Kick-Off Sunday on September 10, the beginning of Sunday School on September 17, the Annual Golf Outing on September 17, and our Lobster Boil on October 7. Please pay particular attention to Kick-off Sunday during which our many ministries will provide information to the parish on their activities and seek your involvement in making those ministries a success. In addition to the many benefits our ministries provide those in our community, they are also a great way to meet other parishioners. Please prayerfully consider joining one or more of our ministry teams.

In late September and October we will also be unrolling our Stewardship campaign for 2007 with a goal of completing the campaign prior to the arrival of our new Rector. We hope this year’s program will be both informative and challenging. While St. Lawrence receives some income from groups using our space, the bulk of our operating and capital funding comes from our parishioners. We need your financial assistance to continue providing dynamic worship opportunities and to continue our outreach into our communities and to help maintain and pay for our wonderful new space.

While our Stewardship program will focus on generating pledges to meet our immediate financial needs to continue to grow our ministries, our planned giving team has been active as well attempting to generate gifts of a more enduring nature. While there are a variety of ways to participate in planned giving, it can be a simple as naming St. Lawrence as a co-beneficiary under an insurance policy or naming it as a recipient in your will.

Finally, we pray that everyone had a wonderful summer and are re-energized for a great new program year at St. Lawrence.

Senior Warden Jeanne Murphy can be reached at
valentinejam@sbcglobal.net

Junior Warden Frank Top can be reached at
thetops@comcast.net

SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE
By the time this newsletter goes to print, we will have completed all personal interviews of our top candidates. It has been a fantastic experience and the committee is learning a lot about the candidates and what they can bring to St. Lawrence. We are blessed to have some very talented people in our pool of candidates. We have now narrowed the field to two candidates who will now come and visit St. Lawrence. This visit helps the candidate decide if he or she feels called to come here as well as giving us another look at them. We are happy to report that we are doing great with our timeline and feel pretty confident we will have made a decision by October. Once again, thank you for all your prayers and support.

THE DEKOVEN CENTER’S FALL CONFERENCE
Timothy Ts’o, M.D., PhD., ABPN, by popular demand returns to the DeKoven Center in Racine Wisconsin for a special fall conference.

Developing Wisdom and Compassion
Through the Union of Being and Doing

Friday, Sept. 29 — Sunday Oct. 1

We are so blessed to have Timothy as one of our parishioners. This weekend retreat will be an enlightening event. More information is located outside the office or on-line at, www.dekovencenter.pari.com.

2006-2007 YOUTH GROUP PROGRAM
Another exciting year of the Journey to Adulthood Youth Program is beginning at St. Lawrence in September. The Journey to Adulthood program is comprised of three groups that run in two-year cycles. This year is the first year of a new two-year cycle. This year, the Rite-13 group includes 6 and 7 graders, the J2A group is for 8 and 9 graders, and the YAC group consists of 10 through 12 graders. We’ve got a good number of volunteers to lead the youth groups, but we still need a few more. We especially have a need for YAC leaders. An early note of gratitude goes out to the following leaders for the coming year:

Rite-13: Mari MacDonald, B.J. Jones, and Hans Karnstedt
J2A: Ann Marr and John Cate
YAC: Chance Olesak

SUNDAY SUPPERS STARTING IN OCTOBER
Here is a great opportunity to get to know each other. On the 3rd Sunday of every month, October through April adults, singles and couples can get together for supper. The supper can be hosted at a person’s house (host provides entrée) and guests provide sides or the dinner can be at a restaurant (Dutch Treat.) If you are interested sign-up on Kick Off Sunday, September 10th.

KICK OFF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
COME PRAY WITH US AND WISH UPON THAT PRAYER
We would like to invite everyone – and we mean everyone – children, youth, and adults - to participate in this year’s Kick-Off Sunday event “Wish Upon A Prayer”. We promise a fun-filled day to begin our program year!

This is your opportunity to have input into our parish life and community. We welcome your ideas and prayers for our church – what events, activities, and groups do you like at St. Lawrence? What would you like to see changed or added?

Please visit the ministry team booths located in the narthex. We ask that your prayers (or suggestions) be written on an index card (we will provide) and placed in the basket of the Ministry Team most closely associated with that suggestion. This is also the opportunity to register for Sunday School and Youth Groups, and information about our exciting new Sunday School program will be available.

Ministry team leaders will display posters the following Sunday, September 17, with all the prayers and ideas listed. Parishioners will then be asked to sign up for a particular event or activity. Everyone will have an opportunity to get involved in making St. Lawrence our church, so please come “Wish Upon A Prayer” and prayerfully consider how you would like to get involved in St. Lawrence this year.

WORKSHOPCYCLES — MAKING SUNDAY SCHOOL IRRESISTIBLE!
Sunday School will embark on an all new curriculum, which we have researched and hand-selected. The format will offer both our volunteers and students a fresh look at our religious education.

The Workshop Rotation Model is changing everything about children’s Sunday School and we are proud to offer a rotation curriculum that includes sacraments and coordinates with the seasons of the liturgical year.

WorkshopCycles is a new way of experiencing Sunday School. It takes seriously the spiritual development of children while providing creative, hands-on activities to help children learn the stories of God and God’s people. Children work on the same story or concept for several weeks, using different learning approaches each week.

We are so excited about this coming year. We have a wonderful group of dedicated teachers to make this new venture a success.

We will see you at Kick-Off Sunday. Come to our booth and register your children for a wonderful year of learning and sharing in God’s love.

Join us
September 17th
For the
first day of Sunday School

“Our teachers share their gifts—loving hearts, listening ears, friendly faces and caring hands.”

THE FRIDAY MORNING WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY
We will resume on Friday, September 8th, beginning our fall study with food, fun and fellowship while we discuss our upcoming study, The Frazzled Female, by Cindi Wood. The study reaches out to busy ladies everywhere, guiding them to sanity, peace, and a deeper, more vibrant relationship with the Lord.

Our plans are to start at 9:30 a.m. Friday, September 8th with the new study and brunch. If you would like to join the group in our study, just bring the book and a brunch dish to share on the 8th and we'll get started learning more about leading a life inspired by God.

The group meets Friday mornings from 9:30-10:30 in the St. Lawrence Fireside Room.

CHOIR CORNER
Last month, you read a biography of what I have done. This month, I present to you some of my thoughts on church music.

Congregational song: This is the backbone of our entire musical offering to God. I truly love hymns and enjoy those moments when an entire congregation boldly sings a song of praise and prayer. I encourage everyone to join in with the congregation no matter your ability. If you have difficulty in “singing,” feel free to “speak with expression.” You will find this seems very close to singing.

Choirs: Early on, I sensed that St. Lawrence is eager to strengthen the offerings of the choir. I look forward to that task as I greatly enjoy choral music. My approach differs though from some other church choirs, as I believe that we should work to not only sing correct notes, but with good vocal technique and musicianship. This should not keep people who are concerned with their ability from joining the choir. I am eager in helping all interested in strengthening their singing ability so they may too be part of the choral offerings.

Musical selection: Many of you will soon notice that I have a great love for the Anglican style of music. I also have a great love of balance in the selection of music. There is a great wealth of music for the church from every time and place and so I strive to select music that has a balance of styles. As an example, we may see the choral music selections that range from Renaissance and Baroque motets to late Romantic anthems, early American music to spirituals, gospel music, and much more.

Now here comes the recruiting plug – JOIN CHOIR. Not only is it a satisfying way to express our love to God through song, but it is also GREAT FUN. With more people in the choir, we will be able to expand the types of music that we sing. Don’t wait to be asked. Please consider this your invitation to join.

I am looking forward to a very fruitful time of music making with St. Lawrence. And so, remembering the words of the Psalmist:

“Come let us sing unto the Lord
Let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.”
Psalm 95:1

Alan Whaley
Music Director

2006-7 Choir Schedule

Rehearsals:
¨ 7:30 to 9:00 pm most Thursdays
¨ 8:15 to 8:50 am every Sunday before the service

Services: The choir will sing at the 9:00 am service each week

Social events for choir members:
¨ Sunday, October 1 – brunch party after church at Donna Roman’s house
¨ Christmas season (date to be announced) – caroling party

EVERYONE IS OUT SWINGING
Come be a part of the St. Lawrence Annual Golf Outing Sunday, September 17th. All golfing levels welcome. This is a 9-hole scramble. In a scramble, a foursome plays as a team, taking advantage of the best ball on each shot, so don’t be afraid to come out and play!

Tee times start at 1:30 at Vernon Hills Golf Course. Cost is $25 which includes golf and prizes (cart will be extra). See the sign up sheet in the narthex. See you on the tee!!!!

EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN (ECW) FALL EVENTS
Coffee-In-The Park
Greet your friends and visit with our church members while selling donuts, coffee, lemonade and bottled water at Coffee in the Park each Thursday morning during the Libertyville Farmers Market. Openings are available, from 7:00-9:00 am or 9:00-11:00 am now through October 12. Please sign up on the calendar in the Narthex. Donations of powdered lemonade are needed. Proceeds go into the outreach funds distributed annually by the Episcopal Church Women.

The St. Nicholas Room Christmas Countdown has begun!
Come check out the Christmas craft basket and news on our September craft days at the ECW table during Kick Off Sunday on September 10. Planned projects and materials will be available for assembly or bring your own from home during our craft days. New idea sheets will also be available at every craft day for the at-home crafter. Watch for our September Craft Days listed in the Sunday bulletin and Narthex. Please join us as we get ready for this wonderful holiday event.

Calling All Cooks!
The ECW needs all of your wonderful recipes to create the 2006 "Spice of St. Lawrence" Cookbook. The categories are: Appetizers & More; Breads; Cakes, Cookies & Candies; Desserts; Main Dishes; Vegetable & Sides; and Soups & Salads. Please email your recipes to Lisa Perrone @ ljwperrone@cs.com or drop them off at the church just outside the church office.

ECW Fall Forum
Pre-civil War Quilts: Their Hidden Codes to the Freedom of Slaves Through the Underground Railroad. This program is presented by Dr. Clarice Boswell on Saturday, September 23, 9:00 am -1:00 pm, at St. Charles Episcopal Church. The church is located in St. Charles at 994 North Fifth Ave. A donation of $10.00 includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Morning Prayer at 9:30 with the program starting at 10:00. If you are interested in attending please RSVP to Susan O’Brien, 708 535-3156 by Tuesday, September 19.

Potluck Dinner
ECW will host a volunteer thank you and welcome Potluck on Sunday, October 22 at 5:00 pm in the Parish Hall. We will welcome new members as well as thank all those who have volunteered for Coffee in the Park.

Fall Bake Sale
ECW will hold their Fall Bake Sale on Sunday October 29 in the Narthex. This would be a great time to test out those recipes for the St. Lawrence Cookbook. Mark you calendar and sort through those favorite recipes.

LOBSTER DINNER ANYONE?
St. Lawrence will be having our first Lobster Boil on October 7, 2006! The event will take place right here in our courtyard. Lobsters may be ordered and picked up here, live or cooked, depending on your preference. Live lobsters will be $16 each and cooked lobsters will be $19 each. Look for more information and order forms to come.

CROP WALK

“For I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was hungry and you gave me food, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, and was sick and you took care of me…Lord when was it that we saw you thirsty and gave you a drink, hungry and gave you food?...Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”

It is time for our annual CROP Walk.  CROP Walk is a walk for those in need, those who are hungry and sick.  CROP is sponsored by Church World Service which was founded in 1946 and stands with impoverished peoples in 80 countries as they envision and fashion a better future.  Last years CROP Walks raised over $16 million to support the hunger-fighting work around the world.  Providing emergency medical supplies for hurricane victims in the Gulf States, tents, and blankets for Pakistani families devastated by an earthquake, and vocational training for Latin American street children. These are only a few of the ways you could make a difference through your CROP walk.  The Libertyville Area CROP walk is held on Sunday, October 15th.

Being a CROP walker is fun and fulfilling. After you get your sponsor envelope, ask everyone you know to sponsor you.  It is often a beautiful fall afternoon, just the kind of day for a walk with your family. The walk is 10K (6.2 miles).  It is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon....knowing you are helping to give food and drink to those in need.  See the Outreach booth at Kick-off Sunday for more information. 

SEEKING SOPHIA GROUP
The Seeking Sophia group at St. Lawrence will kick off the program year by reading The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease. It is a historical novel about an artist who creates illuminated manuscripts, set in England in the late 14th century. They will discuss the book, and other topics, at their meeting on Saturday, September 16, 7 to 9 am, in the Fireside Room at St. Lawrence.

Seeking Sophia (the Greek word for “wisdom”) is a program dedicated to examining spirituality from a feminine perspective. It is open to all women in the parish. The group reads a variety of literature about feminine spirituality, women in scripture and women in the church, including some fiction with spiritual themes. In addition to discussing the readings, this group shares the joys and concerns of daily life and offers its members a network of support.

The “Sophias” meet for an informal breakfast and discussion in the Fireside Room at church from 7:00 am to 9:00 am every first and third Saturday during the school year. They also enjoy social outings together, such as a summer evening at Ravinia and an annual Christmas dinner. Typically in February or March, the members spend a weekend of fellowship and reflection together in Wisconsin. Some of the members also participate in occasional weekend retreats at the Benedictine Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

NEWCOMER NEWS
What is Invitational Ministry? Welcoming newcomers is assisting in God’s work. It is embracing someone God has brought to us and becoming the guide in that person’s continuing faith journey. People come to St. Lawrence for a variety of reasons; however, one big reason that they stay is how they feel welcomed and included in the life of the congregation. Members of the Invitational Ministry team, along with each member of St. Lawrence, are guides on the journey.

The Invitational Ministry Committee is all geared up for the coming program year. One of our goals is to increase the number of coffee hour hosts so that we can reduce the number of times per year that we host. Currently we are at about 4 times per year. If we can double our ranks, that drops the commitment down to twice a year. Sounds good doesn’t it? If you haven’t already been asked to host, please consider this invitation and contact Mary Ann Seagrist to sign up.

We have also set the dates for all of our, now becoming famous, brunches for the program year. Our first Newcomer Brunch is scheduled for Sunday September 17, between the 9:00 and 11:00 services. Meet others who are new to the parish and learn more about what makes St. Lawrence great! Please RSVP on our sign up sheet in the Narthex.

ST. LAWRENCE BOOK GROUP
All you readers out there! Summer is almost over and the St. Lawrence Book Group will meet the second Monday of September, the 11th, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm, in the Fireside Room to discuss our first book of the new season. We will discuss, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The book is available in paperback for about $15.00. It is a mystery that takes place in postwar Barcelona. Reading Group Guides.com states that this “is a coming-of-age tale of a young boy who, through the magic of a single book, finds a purpose greater than himself and a hero in a man he’s never met.” We look forward to having you join us. Even if you haven’t read the book, but just want to “check us out”, do come and listen to our discussion.

PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
Knitting can be a relaxing, peaceful activity. Many of us lead hectic lives filled with multiple responsibilities. Finding time to knit can be wonderfully rejuvenating and claming.

That said, knitting also connects. Author, Susan Gordon Lyndon of Knitting Heaven and Earth, says that “It connects us to one another. It connects us to our deeper selves...I connects us to the elemental forces of the universe...Humble though it is, I believe knitting has within it the power to connect heaven with earth and what happens is a profound and enduring peace”

The St. Lawrence Prayer Shawl Ministry crafts shawls to five others at times of sorrow, times of illness, times of transition, as well as times of joy. The giving of something created by our hearts and hands allows others to know God and encounter God’s love in a tangible way.

We will gather again Monday, September 18 for the St. Lawrence Prayer Shawl Ministry. Meet in the Sanctuary where we will begin with prayer, share stories of our summer and reconnect with each other and our ministry. Knitters of all levels are welcome, beginners to lifelong parishioners are welcome—especially those who would like to try something new.

Summer Schedule
Sunday Services:
7:30am - Holy Eucharist Rite I Liturgy
10 :00am - Holy Eucharist Rite II Liturgy
Thursday Service:
8:30am - Holy Eucharist