June 2, 2022

Dear Friends in Christ:

After Sunday's services, several people came up to me expressing concern that I was planning to leave the parish or leave the priesthood altogether. Let me assure you, I have no plans to do either any time soon. In fact, a key point of my sermon was exactly the opposite of that:

Lord, to whom can we go? (You can read that sermon HERE, if you like.)

Even when we feel we have lost our faith, or lost all sense of hope, God's still got us, and we've still got each other. When I can't sing, the community sings for me. When I cannot pray, the community prays for me. When I have trouble finding hope, the community hopes for me.

We live in these troubled times together, all of us in the palm of God's hand. My specific personal prayer is simply this: that God will guide the hearts and minds of our politicians, so that all of our children might stay alive longer.

On to the updates . . . 

WORSHIP

St. Timothy's current policy is that face coverings are suggested, though not required inside our building. You can always find the most-current updates on all our services by checking the calendar page of our website. This week's bulletin insert can be found HERE.

Sunday 6/5, Pentecost

8:00am Holy Eucharist, Rite I. In person only. The Rev. Deacon Maureen Major preaches, on her final Sunday among us.

10:00 am Rite II Holy Eucharist. In person and streamed at our website, on youtube and on our Facebook page. This week's bulletin is HERE.  The Rev. Deacon Maureen Major preaches, on her final Sunday among us.

Wednesday 6/8

12:10pm Our mid-week service of Holy Eucharist. In person only.

THE DEACON WILL LEAVE THE BUILDING

As noted above, Pentecost (this Sunday) will be Deacon Mo's last Sunday with us at at St. Timothy's. She has a variety of other responsibilities around the Diocese before beginning as Clergy in Charge at St. James Episcopal Church, in Boardman, OH, on July 1st.

Mo was ordained into the Diaconate this past Saturday along with four others in a lovely service at the Cathedral in Cleveland. Please be sure to thank Mo for all she has done for us and with us these past four years, and to wish her well.

At my suggestion, she and I will be putting together a gift registry for those who want to support her in her new setting. More on that in the future.

God blessed us with Mo's presence in our community, and I do not have the words to express what a joy it has been to watch her learn and to learn from her. 

May God continue to bless Mo's ministry in the Church.

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 4  Church Cleanup Day #2, 9am-12pm

June 5  Fr. George Presides, Trinity Cathedral, 5pm

June 6  Massillon Health Department presentation, 6pm

June 12  Founders' Day Luncheon, 11:30am

June 14  Tuesday Taize', 7pm

June 18 Funeral for Fr. Erv Smuda, St. Paul's Canton, 10am

June 18 Luther: the Rock Opera, Holy Trinity Lutheran, 3pm

June 27  Vestry, 7pm

20s 30s RETREAT

The Diocese is offering a retreat for those in their 20s and 30s at Bellwether Farm, July 8-9. Since I am in my 20s plus my 30s, I will not be going. But this retreat is open to all people in that age group, whether or not they are Episcopalians. You can register and find out more at this LINK. I can definitely vouch for the comfort of the rooms and the deliciousness of the food!

PRAYERS REQUESTED

When you ask for someone to be added to the prayers, they will stay on our list for four weeks unless we hear from you. We will maintain a continuing prayer list for those with ongoing needs. The email list below merges both lists.

Please be sure to let us know if someone should be taken off this list so we can focus on those in need.

Please pray for the people of Ukraine, that they would be kept safe from violence and harm.

Please also pray for the citizens of Russia, as they suffer for what their leaders are doing.

Please remember the families of those killed in Uvalde, Texas, as they lay their children to rest.

And please also keep these friends and parishioners in your prayers:

✥Bob Meyer ✥Chris Lane ✥Priya Kurian ✥Mike Ziegelhofer ✥Chuck Tilley

✥Michael Flamm  ✥Liz Frank ✥Bobbie Muhlbach ✥John Muhlbach ✥Mike Requa

✥Toni Contini ✥Brian Dorosch ✥Beth Conley ✥Nancy Brooks ✥Bob Daane

✥Chuck Coleman ✥Patty Ann ✥Noble Carpenter  ✥Roger Walters  ✥Colleen Major

✥Gail Moss ✥Stephen Huba  ✥Roy Schoenfeld ✥Fred Gibbs  ✥Sheila Gwatkin  

✥Betsy Lloyd ✥Greg Rush  ✥Eamonn Hunter  ✥Tony Donahue ✥Carla McCartney

✥David Sparkes  ✥Linda Boyer  ✥Savanna Dissette  ✥Ruth Lash  ✥Roberta Ott

✥Steve Deuble  ✥Cody Lambach  ✥Jenny Lambach

BIRTHDAYS and ANNIVERSARIES

Celebrating birthdays in the next week are Leonard Baum (6/8), Jordyn Miller (6/9), Megan Drumm (6/10), and Madeline Schroeder (6/10).

John and Bobbie Muhlbach will celebrate their anniversary on June 8th.

Be sure to send good wishes and thoughts to all who celebrate this week!

GREAT GROOMING OF THE GROUNDS part 2

If you've got a green thumb (like my wife), or like to assist those who do (like me), come on over for our second church gardening day this Saturday, June 4th, from 9am to noonish. We will have donuts, coffee, and bottled water. Please bring whatever gardening tools you think might be helpful for weeding, planting, and trimming.

HYGIENE PRODUCTS FOR KIDS

We are partnering with Massillon City Schools and their Care Team Project, which provides support for children and their families. Among the basic needs they strive to meet are hygiene products. So, for the next couple months, we are collecting new toiletries and hygiene products for local children. If you'd like to pitch in, we're in need of toilet paper, facial tissues, soap, deodorant, feminine products, shampoo, toothpaste, and so forth. You can bring your contributions to the church any time, and we will pass them along toward the end of summer. (Or sooner, if we get a lot!)

LUTHER: the Rock Opera

My former band, Lost And Found will be bringing our musical version of the life of Martin Luther back to Massillon next month. Interestingly, the last time we played music together was when we performed this musical set right here in Massillon. It seems only fitting that we emerge from this hiatus doing the same thing at the same place.

So, Saturday June 18th, at 3pm, we'll be performing Luther: the Rock Opera at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, over on the west side. Tickets are $10, with a family maximum of $20.

PERIODIC PUZZLE

The flowers we've planted in previous years are beginning to show forth their beauty around the church.  And, when viewed from this particular vantage point, I'm reminded that when we are willing to try a new way, we can bring hope and beauty into this world.

You will find the puzzle by clicking HERE. You can choose your background color, number of puzzle pieces, and even set it to display just the edge pieces. Plus, you get a very affirming crowd reaction once you have completed it!

Also, if you want to take a trip down puzzle memory lane, you can go back and find the whole collection on our website at this LINK.

At our Vestry meeting Monday night, we talked about the ongoing challenges to carrying out our Capital Campaign projects.  It seems as though every time we're about to start work on repairs in the sanctuary, we discover there's another repair that has to take place first.  (Those of you with older houses know exactly how this goes.)

For example, we get a plasterer ready to begin work on the north wall, and the contractor sees there's water running down the inside of the wall behind the plaster.  So we call in the gutter guy, and he needs to order a protective material that's somehow stuck on a truck in Texas, which means the flooring people certainly don't need to be called in until well after that truck leaves Texas, so the gutter can be repaired, so the plaster can be repaired, so the new floor can be laid down.  (Sometimes it all reminds me of the children's rhyme, "There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.")

Anyway, at our meeting on Monday we realized we need to do some kind of update for you all, and in the next couple of weeks we'll be sending something out in the mail to your house (if you're on our mailing list).  Meanwhile, thanks for your patience, and your financial support of these projects.  Having been handed down such a beautiful building comes with the responsibility to do things right, even though--sometimes--we'd rather just cover things up with a fresh coat of paint and leave it to someone else.

Faithfully,

Fr. George