Announcements: Week of Sunday, February 24th 2019
Youth Group
The youth group for teenagers in grades 6-12 will meet this Sunday, Feb. 24, from 4:00 p.m. till 6:00 p.m., with dinner served. Since it will be game night, please bring some board games, card games, or other games (like Twister) that you want to play as a group. (We'll save electronic games for another occasion.) The next weekends for the youth group's evening meetings are March 10 & 24.
Shrove Tuesday
Plan to join our Parish on Shrove Tuesday for a pancake supper served in the Great Hall on March 5th. This traditional meal is the beginning of Lent. We will serve pancakes, fruit, and sausage/bacon beginning at 5:00 pm and continue until 7:00 pm. Tickets will be available to pre purchase on Sunday February 24th, in the Great Hall and at the door on Tuesday. Tickets are $7.00 adults, $4.00 child (under 12) and Family $19.00.
Lent Is Approaching
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6 (the first Wednesday in March), with our Ash Wednesday services at 12:00 noon and 7:00 p.m. So our Shrove Tuesday pancake supper will be held on the evening before, March 5. Our Thursday evening dinner-and-discussion series will run from March 7 through April 11 (that is: throughout March plus the first two Thursdays in April), from 6:30 p.m. till 8:30 p.m., using the book Looking through the Cross by Graham Tomlin. This book will improve your understanding about the meaning of Jesus’ death on the cross and strengthen your faith in its saving power and its impact for our lives. You may purchase this book through the church ($10.00 cash or check payable to Aquia Church, marked “adult education”), or for e-book readers there is a Kindle version available. A sign-up sheet for the meal, the book, and childcare is available at the back of the church. Please make plans to join us for this spiritual journey together.
Attention Visitors and Newcomers: For those who are visiting or those who are new to Aquia Church, we cordially invite you to attend our next Newcomers Luncheon on Sunday, March 17, immediately after the end of the 10:00 a.m. worship service. There will be a brief tour of our historic church building, followed by a meal in the great hall where everything will be provided for you, including childcare for any children with you. This is an excellent opportunity to make some new friends at Aquia Church in a family-friendly atmosphere. If you have any questions, or if you want to reserve a space for yourself and others joining you, then please contact Father Morris (morris@aquiachurch.org or 540-659-4007).
New Directory Available: The 2019 Aquia Church Phone Directory is available for pickup on the table at the back of the church. One copy per household please.
Attention Golfers! Save the date of Friday, May 10 for the next annual Bob Jones Memorial Aquia's Table Golf Tournament. This golf tournament at Augustine Golf Course in Stafford is THE fundraiser for the entire year of ministry at Aquia's Table, and we encourage you to bring your co-workers, friends, and neighbors to join in the fun. Details about registration and sponsorship are coming soon.
Morning Call: Father Morris will continue his Morning Call series about salvation on this Sunday. The theme will be the variety of images the New Testament uses for explaining salvation: how salvation is achieved, when salvation is accomplished, how salvation affects us, and so forth. Morning Call is our forum for adult formation and discussion, held on Sunday mornings from 9:00 a.m. till 9:45 a.m. (during the Sunday school period) in the great hall of the Christian formation and fellowship building, with refreshments typically provided.
Wednesday Bible Studies: Father Rickenbaker will continue his survey of the New Testament (10:30 a.m. till 12:00 noon); the focus for the morning of Feb. 27 will be Discovery Unit #23. For the evening Bible study on Feb. 27 (starting at the special time of 6:30 p.m.), Father Morris will conclude his series on minor prophets of the Old Testament, with attention to Zechariah 9—14, Malachi, Joel, and Jonah. Both series meet in the downstairs conference room. In connection with the evening series, feel free to join in the meal served by Aquia’s Table in the great hall upstairs, starting beforehand at 6:00 p.m. There will be no evening study on Mar. 6 (because of the Ash Wednesday evening service at 7:00 p.m. that night), but a new evening series will begin on Mar. 13.
Lenten Cross: Would the leaders of Ministry Groups please submit your Lenten Cross needs, in writing to Michael Golasz at mb_golas@yahoo.com as soon as possible.
Communion Class: Aquia Church offers a Communion class for children in elementary school during Lent each year. Our class will meet on Sunday 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, and 3/31 at 11:15 am. We will have a celebration dinner on Saturday, 4/6 and then have First Communion Sunday on 4/7 at the 10 am service. For more information about this year's class, please contact Kristen Morgan at christianed@aquiachurch.org
WWJB (What Would Jesus Brew?) will recommence on March 26th at the new time of 6pm. We are making some changes to how we do things, including (but not limited to) the fact that we are now partnering with Church of the Messiah Episcopal Church in Chancellor. Our March meeting will be in Fredericksburg. We’ll announce more as we get closer to the date. Stay tuned for more details.
Outreach Fundraising: Build Your Own Omelet Bar ---- March 31. After the 7:30am service, during Morning Call and after the 10:00am service. $10.00, Omelets (Bacon, Ham, Cheese, Green Onions, Green Peppers Jalapenos, Banana Peppers) Sausage Links, Oven Fried Potatoes and Fruit. Come out and support Outreach and eat some good food.
Save the date...Our annual Vacation Bible School program will take place June 17-21 from 9 am -noon. This summer we will be going In the Wild to have amazing encounters with Jesus. VBS is the largest Christian Ed outreach we do all year. We need volunteers for the following areas: decorating, music/worship rally, arts & crafts, games, snacks, Bible story, and helpers to lead groups of kids from station to station. Please contact Kristen Morgan at christianed@aquiachurch.org if you are available to help with any of these areas.
Email Issues: We are getting reports from some parishioners that the church announcements email is going to their spam or promotions folder. If this is happening to you, there are a few steps you can take.
1. Locate the most current announcements email and unmark it as spam.
2. Interact with the email, follow the links to the church website etc.
3. If you are using Gmail - create a label called "church" and label the latest announcement email.
4. If you are using Gmail, star the email.
You many need to repeat these tactics for a week or more to build up a rapport. If you are using Outlook or another mail provider, try adding our email address to your Safe mailing lists.
Help Our Kitchen! We want to keep our kitchen pest-free and clean, and you can help with that. After your event or class ends, please do not leave any food out; leftovers should be taken home, if at all possible, or (if necessary) perishable food may be labeled and sealed for storage in a refrigerator, with non-perishable food labeled and sealed for appropriate storage. If any food is left behind without being labeled or remains past its prime, those leftovers are subject to being discarded immediately. After your event or class ends, please empty the indoor trash cans and blue recyclables can into the containers outdoors.
The Altar Guild Needs Your Help! The Altar Guild is seeking new members to fortify our ranks. We have four teams so our responsibilities roll around about once a month. Preparations for Sunday services take only an hour on either on Friday or Saturday morning, depending on the team you join. On Sundays, we help after the service we attend. If you are seeking a quiet but critical ministry, please accept this call. No prior experience is needed! For more information, contact Ellen Brandon (edbfsu@comcast.net), Mary Jane Cole, Wendy Osborn, Jean Bittner or Carol Bailey. P.S. Altar Guild is not just for ladies! Did you know we have three men serving on our Altar
Guild?
