Announcements: Week of Sunday, October 25th 2020
All Saints' Day
ALL SAINTS’ DAY: If you want to have the name of a loved one who has died since All Saints’ Day 2019 included in our prayer list for worship on this year’s All Saints’ Day (November 1), then please notify Sue Selz in the church office (540-659-4007 or sue.selz@aquiachurch.org). Deadline for notification is Thursday 29 October.
Youth Group
YOUTH GROUP:Our youth group for teens in grades 6-12 will hold its next afternoon/evening meeting on Sunday 1 November, 5:00—6:00 p.m., for s’mores in the back part of our cemetery (weather permitting) or will meet electronically over Zoom (in case of rain). The outdoor event will take place immediately following the afternoon Eucharist, which ends by 5:00 p.m., so that teens can attend worship and youth group on the same trip to church. Stay tuned for details, or contact Father Morris (morris@aquiachurch.org) for more information.
Nut Fundraiser
NUT FUNDRAISER: The Vestry is very pleased to offer the Virginia-grown nut products from Newsoms Peanut Shop again in 2020. As you know, the consequences of the pandemic cancelled Fall Fest, eliminated rental income from the churches which were using the 1960 parish house, and has largely prevented us from offering our great hall for rental events. Accordingly, this fundraiser gives us a chance to offer a premium product at a modest price, just in time for Christmas, and help us raise some much-needed income. They are a very nice, affordable gift for relatives, friends, your newspaper delivery person, postal worker, barber, hair stylist, etc. Newsoms is a third-generation, family-owned, small business in Southampton County, Virginia; Blair and Jenny Bunn are good Methodists. Order forms are available at our outdoor worship services and at the church office; an order form is also included in the Cross Section newsletter, which is available on our church Website <www.AquiaChurch.org>. Your paid orders are due by December 7. For this year, we will deliver your order to your residence. Please request delivery on the attached form. Please consider supporting your church and this Virginia small business. If you have questions, please contact either Dickie Boes or Chris Arey.
Fall Cleanup Day
FALL CLEANUP DAY:Our fall cleanup day for the church grounds and cemetery is scheduled for Saturday 14 November, starting at 8:00 a.m. Bring your gloves, rakes, power blowers, pruning gear, and other tools for sprucing up our property. This is a good occasion for families to have some outdoor fun and a good way for teenagers to accumulate some community service hours. Rain date is the following Saturday 21 November. If you have any questions, please contact junior warden Ron Korth (rakorth@aol.com).
U.T.O. Fall Ingathering
U.T.O. FALL INGATHERING:The United Thank Offering is a long-standing tradition of the Episcopal Church Women, encouraging people to collect coins, dollar bills, and checks in blue boxes and blue envelopes as signs of gratitude to God for his many blessings and then making grants around the nation for various church ministries. If you did not make your donation by 18 October (the date of our fall ingathering), then you may bring it to worship on this coming Sunday, or else mail it or bring it to the church office during this week. Please indicate “UTO” on your envelope or on the memo line of your check for any UTO contributions.
Progress on Matching Challenge Grant
PROGRESS ON MATCHING CHALLENGE GRANT: Can you make a year-end gift toward reducing the construction loan debt on our Christian Formation and Fellowship Building? As of October 19, we have received nearly 77% of the goal for our current matching challenge ($76,618.00)—a recent gift has given us a significant boost!—but we still have more funds yet to raise toward our goal, with the clock still ticking. Thanks to an anonymous pledge, we have a new opportunity to help retire our debt sooner than planned, and for less money overall. Every contribution that we receive for the new building between 21 April 2020 and 31 December 2020 (unless otherwise specified) will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to a total of $100,000.00, with all such contributions being used to pay down the construction loan. Your gift should have “New Building” marked on the check or on the envelope. For information about how to transfer investments in tax-advantageous ways for this purpose, please speak with treasurer Chris Arey (treasurer@aquiachurch.org) or contact Sue Selz in the church office (sue.selz@aquiachurch.org).
Current Worship Times
CURRENT WORSHIP TIMES: The times for our outdoor worship services have changed due to seasonal changes in temperatures and available daylight. The morning Eucharist now begins at 10:30 a.m. Sundays (weather permitting in each case), and the evening Eucharist now begins at 4:00 p.m. Sundays (weather permitting in each case). Also, virtual Sunday school for all students (pre-K through 12th grade) now begins at 9:00 a.m., in hopes that Sunday school students and teachers and their families will have plenty of time after virtual Sunday school ends by 9:45 a.m. for arriving in time for the morning worship service by 10:30 a.m. The Sunday online service of Morning Prayer remains at 7:30 a.m., and the weekday online service of Morning Prayer remains at 8:00 a.m., with both services available on our Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/AquiaEpiscopalChurch>. Even if you do not have a Facebook account, you can still access the videos archived there for worship and for faith-formation simply by clicking on the video for the given day. Also, you do not have to join the Facebook events live; the videos will be stored there for your viewing at any time convenient for you.
Updates About Aquia's Table and Aquia's Pantry
UPDATES ABOUT AQUIA’S TABLE AND AQUIA’S PANTRY: In the last couple of months, Aquia’s Table and Aquia’s Pantry have seen a rapid rise in the number of guests—probably due largely to the economic consequences of the pandemic. We are now serving around 300 meals each week, which is almost triple the attendance in 2019. Given our necessary capacity limits of work space, storage space, personnel, and increased material costs for takeout service, Aquia’s Table must limit meal service to the first 300 guests effective immediately as a matter of good stewardship. There are ways in which you might help, including volunteering as a dessert baker (do you have time to prepare some desserts such as brownies, cookies, crispy cereal treats, or cake at home on your own schedule and deliver them by Wednesday afternoon?), volunteering to serve and distribute meals on Wednesday evening, helping with kitchen cleanup, and donating funds to Aquia’s Table. Also, Aquia’s Pantry welcomes additional hands to help with picking up donated food from area vendors, bagging groceries on Wednesday afternoons, and distributing bags on Wednesday evenings. All this is being handled with full safety precautions. If you want to assist with either of these remarkable ministries, then please contact Michael Golasz about Aquia’s Pantry (golaszmichael@yahoo.com) or Dina Stanford about Aquia’s Table (jjanddina@comcast.net).
Aquia's Table and Aquia's Pantry
AQUIA’S TABLE AND AQUIA’S PANTRY: Aquia’s Table offers drive-through service for takeout meals on Wednesdays (6:00 p.m. till 7:00 p.m.), with meal service limited to the first 300 guests. We will continue to offer takeout meals on most Wednesdays until we are able to resume table service in the great hall. Aquia’s Pantry offers drive-through delivery of groceries on Wednesdays (6:00—7:30 p.m.) while supplies last.
Shopping Online
SHOPPING ONLINE: Many of us are doing more online shopping during the pandemic. If you use Amazon.com for some of your needs, please consider using Amazon Smile instead and gain contributions to Aquia Church. By designating a charity on Amazon Smile, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the cost of your purchases to Aquia Church. To date, shoppers on Amazon Smile have generated $693 in donations to Aquia Church. In order to get started, go to <smile.amazon.com> and sign up; doing so doesn’t cost anything. If you are a member of Amazon Prime, your membership will be valid on Amazon Smile as well. Be sure to choose Aquia Episcopal Church as your designated charity. Then any time you go shopping, use <smile.amazon.com> instead of <amazon.com>. If you use an Amazon app on your phone, you can change it to Amazon Smile after you have signed up on the website: open your app and go to “Settings,” then scroll down and select Amazon Smile.
Sunday School Times Have Changed
SUNDAY SCHOOL TIMES HAVE CHANGED: Our virtual Sunday school for all students pre-K through 12th grade is underway. Middle/high school students meet with Father Rickenbaker and/or at least one of our leaders (Linda Burghart, David Morgan, and Dana Van Metre) through Zoom each Sunday morning, starting electronically at 9:00 a.m. (new time). Parents/grandparents of middle/high school students should contact Father Rickenbaker (rickenbaker@aquiachurch.org) in order to receive login instructions. Pre-K through 5th grade students have new Sunday school lessons via weekly, live electronic broadcasts and with materials available for their families at the same new starting time of 9:00 a.m. If you have a pre-K through 5th grade child/grandchild who might participate in virtual Sunday school, then please register him or her with our director of Christian education, Kristen Morgan (christianed@aquiachurch.org). Meanwhile, we encourage children and youth and their families to attend our outdoor worship services with new starting times or to watch our worship broadcasts via Facebook Live, until we can reconvene in the historic church and in our Sunday school classrooms.
Wednesday Bible Studies
WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDIES: Father Rickenbaker leads a morning series on the Old Testament book of Exodus (starting electronically at 10:30 a.m.). On this coming Wednesday 28 October, Father Morris will begin a new series surveying the Old Testament books of Ezra and Nehemiah (starting electronically at 7:00 p.m.). During the pandemic, our Bible study discussions are available online at our church’s Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/AquiaEpiscopalChurch>. Even if you do not have a Facebook account, you can still access the videos simply by clicking on the video for the given day. Also, you do not have to join in the Bible study live; the videos will be stored there for your viewing at any time convenient for you. If you want to be added to the e-mail list for updates about the Wednesday Bible studies, please contact the relevant member of the clergy (morris@aquiachurch.org) or (rickenbaker@aquiachurch.org).
Thursday Evening Online Series About Race
THURSDAY EVENING ONLINE SERIES ABOUT RACE: Father Morris is offering some Bible study and theological perspective on race, ethnicity, and related matters with our Thursday online series, starting electronically at 7:00 p.m. This adult formation series will be available online at our church’s Facebook page <https://www.facebook.com/AquiaEpiscopalChurch>. Even if you do not have a Facebook account, you can still access the videos simply by clicking on the video for the given day. Also, you do not have to join in the series live; the videos will be stored there for your viewing at any time convenient for you. If you have questions or suggestions about this series, then please contact Father Morris directly (morris@aquiachurch.org or 540-659-4007 at the church office).
Note From The Treasurer
NOTE FROM THE TREASURER: Stewardship and Church Finances: We find ourselves in uncharted times, but many aspects of church life continue with little change. Our monthly operations, including salaries and benefits for our employees, administration and utilities and maintenance, without our mortgage payment for the new building, exceeds $30,000—and this amount includes reduced costs for utilities and maintenance. So, if you pledge or give without pledging, your continued support is truly needed. The increased use of electronic giving is helpful, as it avoids the need for or our office and counters to handle mail, which could be contaminated, but we still pick up the mail and your mail-in contribution will be counted. Where possible, if parishioners can absorb the nominal transaction cost, that is also very helpful. Be mindful that you can make an electronic contribution and apportion your gifts between multiple purposes, e.g., pledge, flowers, outreach, etc. You can give electronically through Realm—the link is <https://onrealm.org/AquiaEpiscopalC/Give>, and there is a “GIVE” link on the church website <https://aquiachurch.org>. Also, you can give via text message: text AQUIA to 73256. Making a special trip to drop your contribution off at the office is the least desirable method, as that makes you leave the safety of your home. It is gratifying to see the parish continue to fulfill pledges and make generous contributions to many causes—Thank you. If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Treasurer (treasurer@aquiachurch.org).
E-Mail Distribution List
If you want to be added to our e-mail distribution list for announcements and updates, simply notify Sue Selz in the church office (sue.selz@aquiachurch.org or 540-659-4007).
