PLEASE NOTE TIME CHANGE FOR SUNDAY SERVICES AUGUST-OCTOBER
There will be a single 9am service throughout the months of August - October. This 9am service is a departure from the 8am and 10am services that we all know and love. Please mark your calendars with this important change!
There are several reasons why we made this change in August - October:
August is the first month that St. Paul’s will be without a full-time Rector, as Alan’s last day of employment at St. Paul’s is July 31. We have yet to work out details of supply priests and having a single service will allow us to be more flexible when scheduling supply priests
We will not have an organist for three Sundays in August, as Judy Woods will be on holiday August 11, 18, and 25
It’s the height of summer travel, and we may have fewer people around to help out
Because of the above, your Vestry decided that a single service at 9AM would be the easiest solution for the months of August - October. It’s possible there may be some alternate music on Sundays when we don’t have an organist, but, as of this writing, we do not have anything planned. It’s also possible we just have a “said service” for all of August, but, as of this writing, that decision has not been made either.
One positive is that perhaps the 8AM and 10AM parishioners can share some time together.
Thank you for your patience as we navigate our transition at St. Paul’s.
The Vestry
CONGRATS ARE IN ORDER!
Congratulations to Francis and Judy Woods’ son Andrew, who is graduating from Vergennes Union High School in June. He has enlisted in the U.S. Navy.
Their son, Brett, has joined the U.S. Air Force and is currently working at the Vermont National Guard in South Burlington.
A NOTE FROM THE SENIOR WARDEN
Your Vestry continues to discuss the various duties Fr. Alan has assumed as our priest and how we will continue life at St. Paul’s as we go through our transition.
First and foremost, we need to assure all parishioners that services will continue and that we are gathering lists of ministries, activities and administrative tasks that we have taken for granted because Fr. Alan has just done them. You will read another entry from Bo Price about Sundays in August.
The Vestry voted to only hold one service on Sundays in August at 9:00 AM. This is not a permanent change, so please read future Epistles and Bulletins for future schedules.
So what does Fr. Alan do that we may take for granted? Well, many things. He prepares the weekly bulletins, which provide the guide we all rely upon to keep up with the service: psalms, hymns, readings.... He also retrieves the mail, answers the phone, and even meets with fire protection services to make sure our fire extinguishers are up to code. Did you know he turns on (and off) the heat, he often shovels our walkway, weeds our gardens and even mows our lawn?
Who will do these tasks while we are in transition? It will take “a village” and we would love to hear from you if you have a particular talent, a few free moments or a desire and energy to see that our grounds are well-kempt.
Regarding the journey to find a new priest, we are beginning weekly phone meetings with Canon Lynn Bates to assist us with initial discussions and to guide us as we hone in on our needs, wants and desires for new priestly leadership. I hope to provide more details on our journey in future Epistles.
Vestry members Nan Guilmette, John Stroup, Rebecca Chauvin and I will start these conversations but we expect to then turn this over to a small committee which will and SHOULD include other members of our parish. If this is of particular interest to you, I encourage you to reach out to any of us.
Meanwhile, please join me in expressing our sincere and deep gratitude for the service and friendship we have all enjoyed with Fr. Alan. He will forever be a part of St. Paul’s and for that, Praise the Lord!
In your service,
Sarah Cowan, Senior Warden