This Week's Announcements | |
Our Stewardship Drive for 2025 Sundays in October
This month, we're paying special attention to planning for the coming year, including our annual parish stewardship drive. Each week, we'll focus on how we can make pledges of Treasure, Time, and Talents to God and our church here at St Augustine. Speakers will go over details of each theme, and a mailing went out the week of October 7th with our pledge cards. The cards are a chance to update our directory information, and renew a commitment of time we commit to our church and ministries, talents we feel called to use together this coming year, and financial treasure given in thanks to God and for the work of the church and the outreach partners we help to fund. The mailing will also include a letter from Richard Krueger, our Finance Committee chair, and an FAQ page explaining our pledging. This year, there is also a graph tool that we're asking everyone to use together to help discern our strength to meet our parish's budgeting needs for the year ahead while maintaining our programs and giving to outreach partners. Please join us in praying for our church together and discerning how we can support the mission and ministry of St A's.
This week is talent week! We hope you will join us for fun and prizes as we play "Church Talent Bingo" in between Sunday services.
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Special Collection for October is
Magdalene Omaha
In October, our Special Collection benefits Magdalene Omaha, a community of survivors of sexual violence and allies, originally modelled on Thistle Farms in Nashville, TN. Officially founded in 2016, Omaha Magdalene launched their New Beginnings Campus in 2019. Services were expanded in 2021 with the creation of Tamar’s Pantry, a personal items pantry serving survivors and other nonprofits. The new Magdalene Omaha Community Center (930 S. 48th St.) opened in 2023. Through all this, and with the generous support of individuals and organizations like St. A’s, Magdalene Omaha has offered personalized support for survivors of sex trafficking as they seek freedom from violence, trauma, and addiction.
In September, we raised $780.00 for Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). A big Thank You to everyone!
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Remembering All Saints
Sunday, November 3
On Sunday, November 3rd, we’ll join with Episcopal churches and others throughout the world in celebrating the Feast of All Saints (which is actually November 1st). This is a chance to remember the faithful in every generation. In particular at St Augustine’s, we make a remembrance of loved ones in our own lives, especially those who have modeled faith to us in all the different ways God helps us see grace through one another.
We have taken up a practice of writing the names of loved ones on smooth stones (sharpies and stones will be available at worship that morning), and bringing these tokens forward to place on the altar before the Eucharist, as a part of the celebration of the mystery by which we are gathered together at the communion table with all of God’s children from every time and place. This is a great chance to reflect on who has modeled different aspects of faith to us, and a good opportunity to talk with children before that service about resurrection and memory.
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Church Family Dinner Help Needed
Dinner is Wednesdays at 6 PM
Wednesday, October 23 will be a soup bar
Our Wednesday evening dinners and programming are off to a great start! Thanks to everyone who has pitched-in to help make them a success. We recently updated the sign-ups to include meals through the end of the calendar year. Please use THIS LINK or the paper sheets in the Parish Hall to sign up to help during Wednesday Dinners. There are a variety of ways to volunteer. We love having new people join us to lend a hand! Please let us know if you have any questions about dinner or programming this fall.
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Bible Study for October & November
Tuesdays at Noon
Thanks to everyone who participated in our September Tuesday Bible Study on the Letter of James! Many who attended voiced gratitude that it connected to our Sunday morning lectionary (the schedule of weekly readings), so Mtr Lisa and Fr Ben have decided to continue that connection in October and November.
October: Paul's Letter to the Hebrews. This letter from Paul to early Hebrew communities is important both for how its theology and witness describe Jesus within the vision of previous scriptures as a high priest and messiah, and because it raises lots of questions — from then and now — about how followers of Jesus and the continuing Jewish tradition relate to each other. Mother Lisa will be leading these classes on October 15th, and 29th (skipping the 22nd for the meeting of the Elaine Randall Book Club).
November: the Book of Ruth. The Hebrew Bible ("Old Testament") book of Ruth is the story of a widowed foreigner who cares for her family, and becomes an ancestor of the line of David. We'll discuss this window into both human relationships of its time and how God draws leaders and saviors from among the unexpected. Fr Ben will lead classes on November 5th, 12th, and 19th.
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Fall Garden Clean Up! Saturday, October 26 , 8:00 AM-12:00 PM
Please join us on Saturday morning, October 19th, to help clean up and take care of our beautiful gardens around St Augustine's. You're welcome to come early or join later and work for an hour of the morning with us. Garden Steward Jim Keepers will have jobs for all skill levels and ages, from picking up sticks to weeding and pruning to shoveling, carting, and spreading mulch around our plants. There will be snacks on hand for helpers!
Want to help, but not available that morning? Contact Jim. Youth needing service hours can submit time sheets to Jim or Kate.
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Annual Council
Each year, the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska gathers delegations from each parish for common prayer and communion, keynote addresses and speakers, and voting on formal offices and budgets for our diocese. This year, our delegation includes Erin Vest, Pam Wright, Barb Hall, Sandra Squires, Dave Wright, and Fr Ben, Mtr Lisa, and Dn Rebecca as our clergy. Please pray for our Annual Council as they gather from October 24th through 26th in the coming weeks.
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Boo Bash Youth Halloween Party Wednesday, October 30, 5:45 PM
Calling all thrill-seekers and taco lovers! Get ready for a spooktacular night of fun and fright as our youth group transforms the Parish Hall and Sunday School Rooms into the ultimate Halloween extravaganza!
We'll have a Costume Party and Haunted Happenings Activities: Face Painting, Crafts, Games, and more! Feast: Dive into our Taco Bar Delight Bonfire: Toast S'mores and share spooky tales by the fire Special Attraction: Enter the "Scary Story Room" if you dare!
Bring your family, bring your friends, and brace yourselves for a night of ghoulish delight! Costumes are a must, and bravery is optional in the "Scary Story Room." Let the hauntingly good times roll!
See you there, if you dare! ✨
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Wreath Orders
Merry Christmas! What, it’s not that time yet? Maybe not. What it is time for is ordering your Holiday wreaths and/or greenery. Prices are the same as last years and all proceeds will be donated to Beyond Celiac in support of Celiac disease research. Order Forms are available in the Narthex. Please return them to the church office by Sunday, November 3!
If you would like to print at home to bring your order in, you may use THIS LINK
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Save The Date For Christian Outreach Program of Elkhorn(COPE)'s First Ever Little Black Dress Event Thursday, October 24!
Tickets will be available soon for the Little Black Dress Event on October 24 at A Venue on the Ridge (20033 Elkhorn Ridge Dr, Elkhorn, NE 68022) from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. This ladies night includes an evening of appetizers, drinks and basket auction. The Basket auction will be going on the week prior, and will be concluded at the event. (Saint A's has 4 baskets in the auction!!) Only a limited number of tickets will be available beginning October 1, so make your plans now. Contact Rhonda Vest for details. Online auction will be live on October 20. To bid, please CLICK HERE or scan QR code below.
COPE Adopt a Friend tags will be here in November!
Many years we run out of tags, be thinking of how many people you may like to adopt. There are options to adopt an adult by purchasing gift cards, as well as many ages of children to buy for!
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Chills & Thrills: Murder Mystery & Chili Cook Off Sunday, November 10, 5:00 PM
Get ready for a sizzling night of suspense and spice at Chills & Thrills: Murder Mystery and Chili Cook-Off! As the tantalizing aroma of secret chili recipes fills the air, a chilling crime unfolds. Guests will compete to win the coveted title of Best Chili while also piecing together clues to solve a puzzling murder. Was it the competitive chef with a fiery temper, or the charming stranger with a hidden past? Everyone’s a suspect—and the heat’s on in more ways than one. Join us for a night of mystery, delicious chili, and a dash of danger!
Interested in starring in the murder mystery (don't worry - you don't have to memorize your lines!) email Julie.
Feast of All Chilis!
Get Ready to Spice Things Up! Attention chili enthusiasts and foodies alike! It's time to fire up your taste buds and join us for the much-anticipated Chili Cook-Off.
Whether you're a seasoned chef or a kitchen maverick, we want you to showcase your chili prowess. Sign up individually or assemble your dream team for a chance to claim the coveted traveling chili trophy. Themes and costumes are optional but highly encouraged for an extra dose of FUN!
Not a Chef? No Problem!
If you'd rather be a chili connoisseur than a contestant, we need you too! Join us for an evening of Murder Mystery, fellowship, fantastic food, and friendly competition. Desserts and Drinks will be provided by the Parish Life Committee, ensuring a delightful experience for everyone.
Sign Up Now!
Ready to take on the chili challenge? Sign up individually or as a team by contacting Kate. Don't miss out on the gastronomic event of the year!
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Vestry Notes –September
Our Vestry (the parish board) met on September 15th. We reviewed our regular financial reports and minutes from the August meeting. Some notable details: Julie Pendegraft has stepped back as our Outreach Committee Chair as she anticipates a busy fall of family activities, and Gabe Early has stepped in as an interim Chair until our Annual Meeting. Please thank Julie as you see her, for all the work she's helped lead over her time as Outreach Chair! Our treasurer, Maggie Wellman, also reported out that — after Vestry approval in August — we will complete moving our capital campaign financing fund from Security National Bank to an account at AIB (where our other accounts are held) — while it was "best practices" to keep our loan accounts separated from our general accounts while managing a commercial note with SNB, this consolidation will ease admin and accounting for us going forward. The Vestry also reviewed ongoing projects around our website and some welcome materials, and upcoming events and projects for the fall including outreach offerings, our stewardship campaign details, and Wednesday evening programs. We also discussed that we are in a season of many visitors, who we are welcoming to our church family.
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The Elaine Randall Book Club meets at 11:30 AM on the 4th Tuesday of the month. All Are Welcome! In October we will be reading Joe Starita’s A Warrior of the People about Susan La Flesche, America’s first Native American doctor. La Flesche earned her medical degree in March or 1889, more than three decades before women could vote or Native Americans were recognized as citizens of the United States. She spent the rest of her life caring for and working to improve the lives of indigenous people including the 1,244 who would become her patients. A book bag is available this month (NB: Starita is donating all the royalties earned from purchases of this book to a scholarship fund he created for Native American high school graduates). Our next meeting is Tuesday, October 22 at 11:30 AM. Please contact Nancy Vallone or Rhonda Vest with questions. | |
Friday, October 18
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8:00 AM -Men's Bible Study
Sunday, October 20
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8:30 AM -Service of Holy Eucharist
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9:30 AM -Church Talent Bingo!
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10:20 AM -Sunday School
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10:30 AM -Service of Holy Eucharist
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11:30 AM -Church Talent Bingo!
Tuesday, October 22
Wednesday, October 23
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6:00 PM -Church Family Dinner & Youth Group
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October 26 -Garden Clean Up
October 27 -Ingathering
October 30 -Boo Bash
November 10 -Veteran's Bench Dedication
November 10 -Murder Mystery, Chili Cook Off
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A Stack of Letters
Earlier this week, on Monday, our staff gathered to help Richard Krueger prepare the mailing materials for our annual stewardship campaign. Those materials (which may well have arrived at your home by now!) have plenty to say for themselves, and I hope they do a great job of encouraging our giving in faith and our practical care for our church home! … but for this reflection, I want to set aside those practical matters and simply reflect on what it was like to pack them up.
Anyone who has helped with this sort of mailing knows that there’s a layer of it that is simply going through the steps. Everything is printed; stacks are organized; you sit down and get into a brief habit of bundling things together and checking each set as you put them in their envelopes. You sort of move into a different kind of rhythm and time. There are moments of companionable silence, or quiet chatter. Occasionally someone will notice some detail that needs addressing or fixing – a label with the wrong format, etc.
But one of the gifts in this sort of necessary and repetitive task is that, while it occupies a certain amount of attention, that very focus itself pushes away a lot of the distractions and busyness of everyday life and work. Our minds were given over to checking names and preparing letters, person by person and family by family in our church.
Now, what was really beautiful about this time and experience was that as the names of our community traveled before us, I found myself full of hope and cheer. Some letters are going out to folks we haven’t seen in the last few years; others travel to people who are in the church so often, there’s a good chance we’ll be handing them their letter before we get the box to the post office! But there’s something about the process of preparing something that will go forth from our church to our homes that really sets my heart to praying for all of the pieces of our everyday lives.
I suppose I was imagining people opening their church letters, maybe at the end of a workday or as a pleasant surprise of actual mail in the midst of mass-produced junk mailers. I was picturing families setting this down to consider in those rare “free moments” between scheduled sports and whirlwind activities. I was thinking of those who live alone and have trouble making it to church regularly, and how this is one little physical sending from our church, connecting us together in this way, too.
Mostly, however, I was struck by a particular “mode” or “kind” of praying. It’s a difficult thing to describe, but there are moments when I’m simply very aware that God is both with me and with each other person I’m thinking of. Spending a quiet hour or two with so many names from our church community woke that up within me: the understanding that I know in my mind – but can also feel in my heart at moments like this – that God is the one who connects us all to each other, across many times and places and chapters of daily living. God is the one with those experiencing great joy, and God is the one present in the comforts for those facing hardship. God is the one who travels with each person who is part of our St Augustine’s family, and beyond that, the family of every church or community, or even those who feel alone, whether they’re content or lonely in those moments that are (apart from God) solitary.
I’m not sure if the sense of how this feels will come across in writing. But it comes with an experience of deep gratitude for me. There are layers to that gratitude. One is gratitude for our community; there really are so many incredible people to meet and know that are part of our church, and such a wonderful invitation to fellowship whenever we meet up, here or anywhere else. Another layer (to return for just a moment to the mundane) truly is gratitude for the project’s practical point; our giving supports our church’s community, ministries, staff work, and outreach. But the deepest gratitude really is for the experience of God’s presence, and the sense that when I am at these particular places, balanced between paying attention and being carried along by the flow of something outside myself, that God is with us all, in our church and beyond.
Please know my prayer this week that you feel the connecting love of God that joins you to so many others, known and unknown, throughout our world and ages.
Ben +
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St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church
285 S 208th Street
Elkhorn, NE 68022
402-289-4058
Church Communication and Announcements
Those of you who need to share information with the parish, please be sure to send it to parish@sainta.net as well as ministries@sainta.net Jay and Kate will need to have this information by Wednesday at 10:00 am to be included in that week's communication for bulletin and newsletter. We appreciate your support.
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