Outreach

The Capital Area Food Bank: Hope During the Holiday Season

The list below is a reminder of the many efforts being made by the Food Bank to serve our community.  Please see if you can identify the initiatives that we support by providing non perishable donations and financial support.  Pay special attention to the Brown Bag and Hunger Line Initiatives.   The more we give, the more we  help.

 Current Food Bank Initiatives:

    *Brown Bag - The Capital Area Food Bank provides monthly bags of food to Seniors in our community.

  *Direct Distributions - Every month food is distributed, in collaboration with the USDA, through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

  *From the Ground Up at Claggett Farm  -The CAFB works with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to bring sustainably grown fresh produce to underserved communities.

  *The Grow A Row Program encourages gardeners to donate an extra row of produce from their gardens to CAFB member agencies that serve the community.

  *Hunger Line – This is an emergency food assistance line that connects individuals and families with immediate aid from the CAFB.

  *Kids Cafe  - CAFB partners with after-school programs to provide well-balanced hearty snacks or dinners for over 2,000 children.

Mobile Food Pantry- CAFB quickly delivers fresh produce to 49 community centers and public housing sites for distribution to low income individuals.

 Sister Hook Up- By connecting our partner agencies with local grocery stores, our partners can utilize food that would otherwise be thrown away.

 Ward 8 Farmers Market- The ward 8 Farmers and CAFB have formed a partnership to insure that a source of  local, affordable produce is available to low-income residents east of the Anacostia River.

 Weekend Bag – Children who receive free or reduced breakfast and lunch throughout the week at school can take home these nutritious, kid friendly food bags for the weekend. The bags are packed by volunteers and delivered by CAFB trucks to be distributed each week from community based sites for the children to carry home.

 If you know of a family or an individual who is food insecure and needs help, have them to contact Catherine (at the Capital Area Food Bank) on 202 526 5344, Ext. 307. 

 During this holiday season,  the Outreach Committee is encouraging each of us to contribute as much we can to the Capital Area Food Bank.  Please keep that in mind as you shop and see items on sale at Costco, Sam’s, Giant, Safeway and other stores.

 During the month of November we donated 178 pounds of non perishables to support many of the Food Bank’s  initiatives.   We are feeding hope by enabling our neighbors in need to have access to nutritious food.  Every dollar, can or package of food that we donate is helping someone in our community. We thank you for caring enough to share your blessings with others.

 The Outreach Council is collecting new blankets or donations of $20.00 for the purchase of 1 new blanket to support the annual Winter Blanket Drive. We would like to donate the blankets before Christmas. Contact information: Leanora Caruth or Joan Williams.

What’s New at St. Paul’s

The greening of the church for Christmas will take place on Thursday December 22nd at 10:00 am.  Volunteers are needed to help with the decorating.

Second Tuesday

The Second Tuesday event for December 13 will be a video showing and group discussion of A Christmas Carol (1999) NR. Ebenezer Scrooge (Patrick Stewart) is a miserly old businessman in 1840’s London whose entire life had been a series of many disappointments. He hates Christmas and believes the efforts of others to be humbug (fraudulent gibberish) designed to delude him, each other, and themselves. In this made-for-TV adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday fable, the ghosts of his past help Scrooge to mend his ways. 94 min.

 Second Tuesday is a 10:00 a.m. weekday event of free entertainment and community fellowship scheduled at St. Paul’s Center in the Dining Room on the second Tuesday of each month except August. The event is usually a video presentation, discussion of the contents, and dialogue that encourages reconciliation of related personal and interpersonal difficulties that occur in our daily lives.

 On January 10 the Second Tuesday event will be a video showing of The Moving of Sophia Myles. The wife of an Episcopal priest endures his decline and untimely death and searches for her place in a divided community.

 300^th Anniversary Celebration: An Update!

So appropriate for the season, our celebration is a time of reflection and prayer as we honor our past and move into our future through ministry, outreach, and fellowship.  We remain mindful of our purpose as a community of faithful believers who uphold the mission of “looking to the future as we build upon our historic commitment to being one family in Christ, using our gifts and resources in ministry, outreach, and fellowship.” We welcome your continuing support as our historic Church and Parish moves closer to its 300^th Anniversary in May 2012.

Thank you, Parish Family, for your support of our 300^th Anniversary events.  Most recently, your generosity, along with the support of your friends and guests, made the 300^th Anniversary Luncheon and Silent Auction an overwhelming success.  The dining was spirited and the bidding “wars” were congenial and made the auction fun.  The music performed by a jazz duo and the lovely centerpieces crafted by Delores Martin, added to the festive atmosphere.   It was a joy to have (among our invited guests) our new Rector, the Rev. Allan B. Johnson-Taylor, our former Rector, the Rev. Rosemari G Sullivan, and our Priest Associate, the Rev. Douglas Greenaway.  Likewise, it was an honor to have the son (and his wife) of the Rev. E. Pinkney Wroth join us.

 We hope you kept the lovely program booklet which includes a list of those who contributed ($75 & above) or donated auction items and door prizes to the luncheon and silent auction.  Thank you for all that you did to make the event a resounding success.  We also thank Joyce Pascal-Kilgore, 300^th Anniversary event coordinator, for her tireless work in presenting such an elegant and fun event.  Kudos to the 300^th Anniversary Steering Committee and volunteers!  There’s more to come.

 Our 300^th Anniversary Pledge Goal of $30,000 is in reach.

 We hope the proceeds of the luncheon and silent auction will get us near the $20,000 mark, but we still have a way to go to reach our goal.  Thank you for your tremendous efforts and support so far.  If more of us commit to the recommended $300 pledge and then complete our pledge contribution within the next few months, we can assure the unforgettable 300th celebration our church deserves. Please send your pledges and contributions to the attention of Lynn Hutcheson, St. Paul’s Congregational Life and Events coordinator.  Please indicate that your contribution is for the St. Paul’s Church 300^th Anniversary Celebration.  Checks should be payable to St. Paul’s Church.

 At least 10% of total contributions will fund Outreach Goals, as follows: Two or more $1,000 scholarships to outstanding local high school students and a contribution to the rebuilding of the Cathedral Church in Haiti.

 300^th Anniversary Lectures and Events (noon- 2p.m.) continue to enlighten.

 On January, 12, 2012, we will have a lecture, the “Story of Our Church in Stained Glass” and Reception.  It will give a glimpse into our past as depicted in the beautiful stained glass windows that adorn our church.  This fall, we dedicated our newest stained glass window, donated by the family of Beatrice (Bea) Mair.  This gift continues the legacy of beauty and history that makes St. Paul’s such a special place to worship.

 On February 12, 2012, we will host our “Forum on Outreach and Ministry” and Reception and we welcome your participation.  The forum will give us an opportunity to review our current endeavors, reflect on past activities, and help us understand our way forward in the critical tasks of outreach and ministry. 

 Our 300^th Anniversary Cemetery Tour and Reception is scheduled for April 22, 2012.  It will provide a wonderful opportunity to learn about various notable people who are buried at St. Paul’s, the role of the church and its grounds throughout its history, and the many monuments, memorials, and famous statues that are part of the landscape of our worship space. Plans for the 300^th Anniversary Youth Program are still under development.  We look forward to your support of our youth as they prepare for and present their program.

 The 300^th Anniversary “Sundays at 4:00 pm” (changed from 5 pm) programs are a time of repose and reflection.

 Our “Sundays at 4” program, designated as a “Tercentenary Celebration:  300^th Anniversary Artists,”   has become a remarkable instrument of outreach and evangelism.  We have been richly blessed by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm from churches throughout the greater Washington area that are providing “Sunday at 4” evensongs, recitals, and other musical events on a regular basis as part of our Celebration.  Arthur Roach, our Interim Director of Music, has done an amazing job of putting together these fabulous programs. Visitors and parishioners have expressed joy and gratitude for the opportunity to worship in quiet reflection through music and prayer; and the fellowship afterwards has given parishioners an opportunity to formally welcome new people to our church. 

 The next "Sundays at 4" liturgy, on December 11, will be the much-loved service of Advent Lessons & Carols. Our guest musicians will be the choir of Christ (Episcopal) Church, Kensington MD. A reception follows the service, so please join us and help us welcome our guests.  We continue to need volunteers to help with receptions and greeting activities for these programs.  If you can help, please be in touch with Arthur Roach through the church music office (phone: 202-726-2080).

 300^th Anniversary Events Information is available online and in print.

 You can view the full Schedule of Events at www.stpaulsrockcreek.org.  We are thankful for the work of Lynn Hutcheson and Carin Ruff who manage the online information about the 300^th Anniversary. We are also on: Facebook,  http://www.facebook.com/rockcreekparish  and  Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/RockCreekParish. 

 Printed copies of 300^th Anniversary event information are displayed in the narthex of the church, both on the wall rack and the entryway table.    If you have questions, please contact the 300^th Anniversary Steering Committee co-chairs, Paula Marshall at 202-362-4969, psfmarshall@verizon.net or Alfred J. Chiplin, Jr. at 202-537-3171, ext. 101, achiplin@aol.com.