Announcements – 6/3/18

Announcements: Week of Sunday, June 3rd 2018

Morning Call

Morning Call will resume on June 3 and June 10 with discussion about some possibilities for changing the basic schedule of our worship services, and we hope to hear from you on those occasions. Rest assured that additional opportunities for sharing your perspectives about the days, times, and styles of our worship services will be made available during the months of June and July—in person, in print, and in electronic survey. Morning Call is our Sunday morning forum for adult formation and discussion, held in the great hall starting around 10:20am

Vacation Bible School

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.  Ages 3 (potty trained) through children entering 5th grade in September.  Registration forms are on the website and can be emailed to me at christianed@aquiachurch.org or dropped off in the church office. The deadline for registration is June 15th.  Registration forms must be filled out clearly and completely.

Wednesday Bible Study

The Wednesday morning Bible study will take a one-week break on June 6, with Father Rickenbaker beginning a new short-term series on June 13 about St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  Father Rickenbaker will continue his Wednesday evening Bible study series on the Book of Revelation through June 27; then after a one-week break on the Fourth of July, Father Morris will begin a new six-week Bible study series on July 11 about the Holy Trinity.  The morning series meets 10:30am—12noon and the evening series meets 7:00—8:30pm, both in the downstairs conference room.

Changed Worship Schedule??  We hope to hear from you about what changes (if any) you might wish to see in our current pattern of worship services:  7:30am, 9:00am, 11:15am, and 6:00pm on most Sundays of the year, plus special occasions as appropriate.  Would you like to see your preferred worship service begin a bit earlier or a bit later?  Would you like to see a midweek service offered?  How important do you think it is for us to offer an evening service—and how often (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.)?  Would you like to see the current schedule of worship services changed at all?  Would you like to have something added to a worship service, such as an occasional family meal or fellowship event or Christian formation opportunity?  Father Morris will be available to hear your suggestions at the following times (for starters):
•    June 3, during Morning Call & afterward
•    June 10, during Morning Call & following the 11:15am and the 6:00 pm service
•    June 24, during the breakfast after the 7:30am service & following the 11:15am service
Also, on this matter as on any other, you may let Father Morris know your perspective by e-mailing him at his new e-mail address (morris@aquiachurch.org), by calling him at the church office (540-659-4007), or by making an appointment to see him in person.  Rest assured that there will be additional opportunities to share your views through an upcoming survey (to be available in both printed form and electronic form).

New Church E-mail Addresses:  Please note that every member of the church staff now has a new e-mail address ending in dot-org, instead of ending in dot-com, as follows:
•    The Reverend Jay Morris:  morris@aquiahcurch.org
•    The Reverend James Rickenbaker:  rickenbaker@aquiachurch.org
•    Dennise LaBarre:  office@aquiachurch.org
•    Sue Selz:  sue.selz@aquiachurch.org
•    Trystan Bennett:  musicdirector@aquiachurch.org
•    Kristen Morgan:  christianed@aquiachurch.org
The change in e-mail addresses is partly related to the change in our updated Website (www.AquiaChurch.org).  If you have sent an e-mail message to a staff member in the past couple of weeks (while we were making adjustments in our e-mail system) but have not yet received a response, please re-send your message to the new address, with our apologies for the delayed response.  Please update your list of e-mail contacts as needed.

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, in order to help elderly, disabled, and low-income residents who need to have home repairs completed but cannot perform these repairs on their own. Teenagers who are going into 9th grade or above are eligible to participate, as are adults.  Our adult leaders for this mission trip are mission trip veterans Linda Burghart and Tim Spaulding; there is still room for other adults and teenagers to join us, but we need to know soon about your definite participation.  The standard cost per participant (to defray the costs for materials, transportation, and meals, whether teenager or adult) is $250/person, and scholarships are available.  If you are interested in going or need more information, please contact Father Morris (morris@aquiachurch.org or 540-659-4007) right away, because we need to complete our final registration very soon. More perspective about the trip is available in the May issue of our Cross Section newsletter.

All You Can Eat Crab Feast: Saturday, August 25th - 4pm - 7pm - Live Bluegrass “Reckless Brigade Bluegrass” - Adults = $35.00 - Ages 6 - 16 = $10.00
All you can eat crabs, steamed shrimp, fried cod, corn on the cob, coleslaw and hushpuppies.  Lemonade, iced tea will be provided, BYOC (bring your own cooler or BYOB).  Come to a great fun filled event, enjoy great music, great food and enjoy fellowship with your family and friends.

Historic Church Renovation:  The repair and repainting work by Habalis Construction of Fredericksburg is beginning to wind down, as you can probably tell from all the progress in our historic church building.  Thanks to everyone for your patience throughout this important project.

Cash for Cows & Change for Chickens:  The collection to purchase animals to help a family or community in a struggling country was so well-received last year, Outreach will be doing the same collection this year.  Each Sunday, starting with Mother's Day and ending on Father's Day, cow, elephant, and piggy banks will be on the picnic table in front of the Church (or in case of rain, in the Great Hall).  We are asking for donations of your extra pocket change (cash accepted, too) to fill the banks.  Last year we purchased a cow, a water buffalo, and chickens, geese, and ducks.  Our thought for this campaign is to purchase another cow, a goat or donkey (or maybe both), and more poultry.   We will make the purchases through Episcopal Relief and Development and Heifer International.

Aquia’s Graduating Seniors:  Each year the Episcopal Church Women of Aquia (ECW) award an Anne E. Moncure Scholarship to a graduating senior from our Parish. In support of youth continuing your education in any future endeavor, we encourage you to stop by the office to pick up an application.  Deadline for submission is Monday, June 11th.  We will present the scholarship In June.  If you have questions contact, Briget Kane: bkwings_n_things@yahoo.com

Old Testament Lessons:  With the recent Trinity Sunday (May 27), we began the season of the church year called the season after Pentecost, which will run until the start of Advent (which this year begins on December 2).  This season is also called ‘ordinary time’ because its Sundays are counted in sequence with ordinal numbers (such as the second Sunday after Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, and so forth).  (The phrase ‘ordinary time’ has nothing to do with the time being ‘ordinary’ in the sense of ‘average,’ ‘routine,’ or ‘boring.’)  During the long period from early June through late November, most of our Old Testament lessons will focus on the historical narratives and the poetic wisdom of ancient Israel.  Here we meet figures like Eli and Samuel, David and those around him (including Goliath, Saul, Nathan, Bathsheba, and Solomon), Esther, Job, and Ruth.  These readings will not be linked to the Epistle or Gospel lessons for the given Sunday; instead, the Old Testament lessons will be somewhat linked to each other week after week, as though we shall hear and read something like a semi-continuous story flowing throughout the summer and the autumn.  With these Old Testament lessons, be on the lookout for ways in which they indicate the work of the Lord in the lives of his people, in the history of the world, and in the wisdom of his faithful followers.  Also be on the lookout for ways in which these Old Testament lessons point ultimately toward Jesus.

Graduates!! We will be recognizing our 2018 high school/college graduates on Sunday, June 10th.  We would like each graduate to submit a photo and the following information to the office or email to office@aquiachurch.org

1) Name of Graduate:

2) Graduating from High School/College: (Name of school)

3) Future Plans    ______work?     _______college?
a.  What job do you have or hope to get or what school are you going to attend next?

4) Briefly name your interests/activities or organizations in which graduate participates (please limit this to 3 activities).

The deadline for submission is Tuesday, June 5th