Announcements: Week of Sunday, April 29th 2018
Register for Golf Tournament!
The Aquia's Table Golf Tournament will be held on the morning of Friday, May 11, at Augustine Golf Club in Stafford. Golfers are encouraged to start gathering groups of friends to play and support this major fundraiser for this life-giving ministry. This is an excellent opportunity to invite golfing friends from outside our membership to join us for a day of fun that supports a major service for our community. Opportunities for individual sponsorships and corporate sponsorships are available for showing your support. You will find several flyers about the golf tournament—one flyer for basic information, another flyer for registration details, another flyer for sponsorship levels—in the tract rack on the tall table in the back of the church, or you may obtain them by contacting the church office (540-659-4007 or office@aquiachurch.com). Please share this information with your friends who play golf, so that they will learn about this vital ministry and about their chances to support it.
Mission Trip
MISSION TRIP: The parish-wide mission trip led by the youth group will travel this summer to Erie, Pennsylvania, during the week of July 15-21. Teenagers who are going into 9th grade or above are eligible to participate, as are adults. In fact, our biggest single need right now is to have another adult leader (preferably a male) joining adult leader Linda Burghart. If you are interested in going or need more information, please contact Father Morris (morris@aquiachurch.com or 540-659-4007). More perspective about the trip is available in the upcoming May issue of our Cross Section newsletter.
Ascension Day
ASCENSION DAY, THURSDAY 10 MAY: This year the Feast of the Ascension falls on Thursday 10 May, with our worship service that day beginning at 7:00pm. Please join us for the occasion, with music chosen especially for this day.
Morning Call: On this Sunday, Apr. 29, our Sunday morning forum for adult formation and discussion will offer some opportunity for conversation about our parish life together. Morning Call meets in the great hall of the new building, starting around 10:20am, with light refreshments provided to enhance our fellowship together. Consider signing up to break some refreshments for an upcoming Sunday.
Wednesday Bible Studies: On this Wednesday morning (10:30am--12:00noon), both of our clergy will lead together a new Wednesday morning series on "The Ten Commandments for Today." On this Wednesday evening (7:00pm--8:30pm), Father Rickenbaker will continue a new Wednesday evening series on the Book of Revelation. Both of these new Bible study series will meet in the downstairs conference room of the new building.
Capital Campaign Final Results: The final results are in for our “Generation to Generation” capital campaign to reduce our construction debt for the Christian formation and fellowship building. During the three-year period of this campaign, which ended on 14 April 2018, we received $1,002,143.54 in donations from a variety of sources, including individuals, couples, households with children, and organizations; from people inside our membership and from others beyond our membership; from some people who made pledges and others who made unpledged gifts; from people who made gifts on a regular basis and from people who gave occasionally. All these gifts are very deeply appreciated. We thank everyone who had any part to play in this campaign, including those who have worked or prayed for its success, those who have contributed financially or otherwise, those who served on the campaign steering committee, and our campaign co-chairs, John Sondermann and Mary Jane Cole. We also give thanks to God for the blessings that our Christian formation and fellowship building is already bringing for our parish.
Youth Group: The youth group for students in grades 6-12 is scheduled to have its next evening meetings on May 6 and May 20 (typically from 4pm till 6pm). Since no parents have signed up to provide any of the evening meeting meals for the rest of this semester on our every-other-week schedule, it is important for parents who have not yet signed up to provide a meal during this semester to contact Father Morris right away (morris@aquiachurch.com or 540-659-4007) in order to schedule their turn.
Fellowship Events: On Saturday, May 5th there will be a family movie night held here at Aquia Church. Watch for upcoming details
UTO: United Thank Offering (UTO) Spring Ingathering is Sunday, May 6th. Look for the blue and white boxes or the envelopes in the pews. UTO is a ministry of the Episcopal Church Women of the Diocese of Virginia for the mission of the whole church. Your loose change, cash and checks are used in missionary work, training, pension funds, building loans, scholarships and overseas development. UTO is based on the theological premise that it is good to give thanks to God.
Save the Date: The Pig Roast/Craft Show/Rummage Sale will be held on Saturday, May 12th. Invitations have gone out to vendors. and we asked each vendor to donate an item for a raffle. Come to shop and have a meal. Proceeds from food sales go to the Historic Church and Craft Show/Rummage Sale proceeds go to Outreach. Please tell your friends and neighbors to join us for a fun day. We need volunteers to help in the kitchen and with setting up the spaces, parking, selling raffle tickets, covering the rummage sale, clean-up , etc. We will have a sign-up sheet available on the picnic table in front of the Church.
Crafters Wanted: Spaces are still available for the Craft Show on May 12th., The inside spaces are 10'x10' and outside spaces are 12'x17'. The cost of a space is $25 and table rental is $5. In addition we ask each vendor to provide a sample of their work and these items are raffled off during the day. The deadline to reserve a space is May 5, 2018. The registration form can be found at the Church's web site or at the Church office.
Flowers for Mother's Day: At the back of the church, there is a sign-up sheet for offering to decorate a window of the church with a floral arrangement of your own design on Mothers Day, May 13. You could bring fresh-cut flowers from your yard or garden, or bring a store-bought arrangement, or bring some other flowers that you arranged yourself. On that sign-up sheet, you can even specify which window you are choosing to decorate. This could be a project for an individual, a family, some friends, a Sunday school class, or a ministry group to honor the mothers in your life. There is a completely separate sign-up sheet back there if you want to donate in the usual way for the flowers that the flower guild will arrange for a particular Sunday in the months ahead.
Parish Picnic: Our annual parish picnic will be held on Sunday 27 May (the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend) at Patawomeck Park (25 Chopawamsic Pkwy, Stafford, in the Widewater region), with the worship service beginning at 10:00am and the potluck meal following immediately afterward. The vestry is providing fresh-grilled chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, vegan burgers, and drinks; parishioners are asked to bring some side dishes and desserts to share. We can enjoy the covered shelter, regular restrooms, playground equipment, and playing field for the entire day, so please bring some Frisbees or other game equipment.
Historic Church Renovation: As you may have noticed already, the Vestry has recently voted to contract with Habalis Construction of Fredericksburg, a highly regarded firm with impressive credentials and extensive experience for work with historic properties, to begin a major renovation project in our historic church building. The box pews, pulpit, sounding board above the pulpit, and most other woodwork that you see will be repaired as needed and repainted. They plan to work with as little disruption to our worship as possible; but on occasion, you may find that your favorite area is not available for sitting. Please pardon that temporary inconvenience. The total project, which began on Monday, April 9, is expected to take around six weeks for completion.
VBS: It may not feel like summer but we are very busy planning this year's Vacation Bible School program, Shipwrecked...Rescued by Jesus! VBS will take place June 18-22 from 9 am - noon. We need adult and teen volunteers to help with our Bible story, music, games, and crafts. If you are available to assist with this year's VBS program, please contact Kristen Morgan at christianed@aquiachurch.com
In Search Of: Sts. Mary and Martha Guild is in need of a few specific items to make some crafts for the Fall Fest Craft Room. Please see if you have, and can spare, any keyhole- shaped cement paving stones as shown below. We will be making a few snowman door- stops with them. We also need small terra cotta clay plant pots, from 2 to 4 inches in height These gifts can be left on the picnic table in front of the church. Finally, we are seeking a craft-man or -woman willing to cut some wood pieces for us. If you can help, please contact Mary Jane Cole (maryjane@cfsw.biz) or Denise Thornton (neisthornton@gmail.com).
