We are a spiritual oasis, welcoming and striving

to serve all in the hope, JOY and love of Jesus Christ.

We are an open & affirming community.

St. George's

Thursday,

September 19, 2024

Dear St. George-ans:

Bishop Taylor will be our special guest celebrant and preacher on Sunday, Oct. 13, on a very busy and joyous day!

Part of that great time will be the opportunity to participate in several sacraments of the church. As I mentioned in last Sunday's sermon, sacraments and sacramental rites draw us deeper into union with God.

As a priest, I have the authority to baptize, but only Bishop John has the authority to extend the sacramental rites of Confirmation, Reception and Reaffirmation to those who wish to take that step in their faith journey.

What do these rites mean? According to the Catechism, the outline of our faith, on page 860 of the Book of Common Prayer:

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sunday

10AM Service

On-line via YouTube, Facebook, Constant Contact Link

No Zoom Worship

Lay Eucharistic Ministers

Joyce Swaving

Raquel Pettersen

Lectors

Liza Veeneman

David Veeneman

Psalm

Jean Klein

Intercessor

Diane Duray

Ushers

Bob Howe

Bonique Dennis

Shepherds

Liza Veeneman

David Veeneman

She had bravely battled cancer for many years. She is survived by her husband Jim, daughters Chelsea (Jonathan) and Catherine (Justin), and a grandson, Calum, and many adoring family and friends. Arrangements are pending.

Please keep the family in your prayers.

Rest eternal grant to Cynthia,

O Lord.

Let light perpetual shine upon her.

May Cynthia's soul and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

St. George's will celebrate

St. Francis Day

with a blessing of the pets

service

outside on the labyrinth

at 10AM on Sunday,

Oct. 6, 2024

Bring your furry & feathered friends!

CHOIR NEWS

First of all, THANK YOU for your support of the choir. Every new member has commented about how welcoming and supportive our congregation has been to our dedicated singers!

MEMBERSHIP

OUR 2024-2025 Choir Season is here! We invite you to consider joining this amazing worship ministry team of singers whose goal is to support congregational prayer through sacred music of all kinds and styles.

Membership is open to volunteers who

• have some musical background
• Can "carry a tune"
• Can work as a team
• Can commit to regular attendance

REHEARSALS are held every Sunday from 8:30am to 9:45am.

Sunday Eucharist begins at 10am and lasts until

approximately 11:15 am.

(Deadline to join is September 29th)

SUPPORT

There always are "friends of music" who can't be a part of this team,

but would like to support Music Ministry in some way.

As with most parish activities, Music Ministry requires funding.

If you've thought of helping out with some of these expenses, you might consider a donation to help:

• cover a choir anthem;
• with the expense of choir vestments;
• or a larger donation to cover extra musicians for Christmas and Easter, either as a simple gift, or in honor of an event, or in memory of a loved one.

If you're interested in helping support Music Ministry in

this manner, please see me on Sunday after Eucharist. Or, leave a message for me at our

Church Office.

Once again, thank you for your valuable and appreciated support of "Music at St. George's"!

--EMETT LOERA, Director of Music Ministry

A New St. George's Website here!!

www.stgeorgeslaguna.org

Many, many thanks to

David & Liza Veeneman

and the Digital Ministry Team

St. George's Community Preparedness/

Disaster Resilience Team

My Dear St. George-ans:

As part of our Community Preparedness/Disaster Resilience team efforts, we are inviting everyone to, if you have not already done so, join OC Alert, by going to the website.

Click here to joinl

AlertOC is a mass notification system designed to keep Orange County, California residents and businesses informed of emergencies that may require immediate life saving actions.

By registering with AlertOC, time-sensitive voice messages from the County or City in which you live or work may be sent to your home, cell, or business phone. Text messages may also be sent to cell phones.

AlertOC can send out messages to email accounts and TTY devices as well. AlertOC is operated by the County of Orange in collaboration with local cities.

If you would like to join our Community Preparedness/Disaster Resilience Team, please let me know.

Thanks and Blessings,

Rev. Pat

My Dear St. George-ans:

You may remember, at the Annual Meeting, I shared that St. George's is part of an overall diocesan effort to ensure church resiliency in case of unexpected disaster.

Bill Hartman, the People's Warden, is leading our team, which has included Raquel Pettersen, Joyce Swaving, our facilities director, Chuck Day, an administrative assistant volunteer, and myself.

We enthusiastically welcome new members to help us in this effort. Please contact Bill if you are able to join us. We have been meeting via Zoom once a month.

As part of this work, we will be asking each member of the church to fill out a survey for our records. Among other things, the form will ask for information about:

* Emergency contacts, should the need arise to contact loved ones;

* Medical conditions and current medications, if a medical emergency occurs during a worship service, this will enable us to provide more complete info to paramedics/health care professionals. Such information will be strictly confidential, updated as necessary, and shared only as much as you are comfortable;

* Certifications -- who among us is certified in CPR and/or First Aid and who might have professional health care skills;

* Current and past professional/work experience; a list of gifts and skills of members of the community to enable us to better serve one another.

We also plan to:

* obtain a defibrillator for the church and to offer training for its use;

* consult with local authorities to help us assess campus safety and disaster plans;

* coordinate disaster plans with the schools and other campus occupants;

* join the local emergency alert system;

* offer training;

* obtain a list of and begin to stock standard emergency supplies.

You will receive the survey form very soon. Please make every effort to fill out the form completely so we may be better able to serve you and our community.

We invite your participation!

If you would like to join us, please let me know.

Thanks and Blessings,

Rev. Pat

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



UPDATE: The Church Member Questionnaire form may be found in Breeze at the following link:

https://stgeorges.breezechms.com/form/a991d0

Helping Hands and Hearts

seeking volunteers

Helping Hands and Hearts ministry is seeking volunteers for this ministry, which provides short-term meal service, transportation for local medical appointments, and light food shopping.  

Parishioners or family and friends of parishioners can initiate a request for service by calling or texting, 

Muriel Witham at (805) 302-1834.Or by sending an email to murielwitham@gmail.com."

"Stepping Into Our Future" is this year's theme.

We invite you to prayerfully discern how you might share your time, talent and treasure.

For more info contact Mark Szen at:

mpszen200@gmail.com

Pledges may be made at:

https://stgeorges.breezechms.com/form/ffcde8.

or QR code below

Blessings as we move forward building upon the success

of St. George's!

Wafers will be offered at the altar rail. The ushers will guide you.

Please consume the wafer once you receive it. LEMs will then be offering wine in small pre-filled cups.

Simply take a cup, consume the wine, and discard the cup in the basket indicated on a side table. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to consider the health of our parishioners. Thank you.

Vicar's Bible Study

is now scheduled for MONDAYS at 1PM

via Zoom.

Where does the Gospel touch our lives today?

for Zoom link, contact Rev Pat at: revpatmccaughan@aol.com

Wednesdays

12PM, Online Healing Service

led by the Daughters of the King

& the Order of St. Luke

Link available via the office.

Talk of Ages Is Back

Wednesdays at 1PM

Talk of Ages

conversations about the experiences of maturing.

In-person on campus

The Hospitality Room

Laundry Love

outreach to our community

1st Wednesdays

of each month

at 5PM

Sparklean Laundromat

23532 El Toro Road

Lake Forest

Contact: Kathie Killen

HANDS OF GRACE

outreach to our community

4th Wednesday

of each month

at

Faith Episcopal Church

27802 El Lazo

Laguna Niguel

Contact: Kathie Killen

South County Outreach Food barrels in the Narthex

(preferred foods below)

also needed:

Pantry volunteers

Volunteer drivers for food 'rescue'

 Contact Xitlaly Luna (Laly), 

Volunteer Manager at 

xluna@sco-oc.org or 949-687-2408. 

The Book Club meets the second Tuesday of every month (October 08, November 12, January 14) at 1:30PM in the Hospitality Room.

October's selection is "The Ride of Her Life" by Elizabeth Letts.

November's selection will be "This Other Eden".

January's selection will be "James" by Percival Everett.

All books are available on Amazon.

There will be no meeting in December.

All are welcome and bring a friend.

For information regarding the book club contact Barbara Boberg at

bobergbarbara0 (that is a zero)@gmail.com.

Shawls will be available after the healing service on Sept. 29. Shawls, having already been blessed by Rev. Pat, will be available in the narthex. They are available to church members, family or friends going through difficult times that need the comfort, warmth and peace that a shawl may bring.

Please welcome back the St. George's Choir!

Opportunities for Ministry:

• Altar Guild: An opportunity to learn about the inner workings of the Eucharist, liturgical seasons, care of the sacred vessels, weekly set-up for worship. Contact Kathie Killen.
• Book Group: meets monthly for discussion of current books. For info, contact Barb Boberg at bobergbarbara0@yahoo.com
• Bridge Builders: join in connecting St. George's with our local community.
• Caring Visitors: Offers a confidential, comforting presence for those facing challenges. For info, contact Rev. Pat.
• Communications - volunteer needed to help with e-news and/or bulletins. For info, contact Rev. Pat.
• Community Connections - ways to connect our ministries together. Contact: Sue Stewart at susanshawstewart@gmail.com.
• Digital Ministry - volunteer needed to help adjust the sound system during worship. Contact Sue at: susanshawstewart@gmail.com.
• Daughters of the King (DOK) - dedicated to prayer and to serve our community. Contact Amy Givan at AmyGivan1@gmail.com
• Financial Ministry - Helping to Review Monthly statements for the Finance Committee: Contact Mark Szen.
• Flower Ministry - learn how to make beautiful arrangements to adorn our altar. Contact: Christy Kellner at: christy.kellner@cox.net
• Flowers 4 Friends - repurpose altar flowers and deliver to our ailing and homebound members. Contact: murielwitham@gmail.com
• Green Thumb: join the team of water-bearers who help keep our campus looking refreshed. Contact: murielwitham@gmail.com
• Hands of Grace Soup Kitchen 4th Wednesdays, 5PM, at Faith, Laguna Niguel, contact Kathie Killen at: lagunakak@comline.com
• Helping Hands and Hearts. Short-term meal service, transport to local medical visits & light shopping for homebound. Contact Muriel at: murielwitham@gmail.com
• Laundry Love Lake Forest, 1st Wednesday, 7-10PM, Sparklean Laundromat, 23532 El Toro Road, Lake Forest. Contact Kathie Killen at: lagunakak@comline.com
• Loving our Neighbor Ministry - Put faith to action as we learn about and celebrate our diversity. Contact: Colin Stewart at: colin48stewart@gmail.com
• Men's Ministry - the Men's Ministry gathers for breakfasts, hosts Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and other events. Contact Allan at allanwilliams1953@gmail.com
• Music Ministry - Join our growing choir! Contact: Emett Loera at emett.loera30@gmail.com
• Newcomers/Hospitality - Be a welcome and friendly face to those who visit us and want to know more about us. Contact Muriel Witham: murielwitham@gmail.com
• Outreach. Contact Sue at: susanshawstewart@gmail.com
• Prayer Shawl Ministry - meets 9 a.m. third Sundays. Contact Libby Meyer.
• Seeds of Hope Farm Ministry: Volunteers needed to help prepare, plant and cultivate the gardens. Contact Muriel Witham
• South County Outreach Food Pantry. Donations taken weekly. Financial contributions welcome. Visit website at: sco.org
• Talk of Ages: an ongoing conversation about the joys and challenges of maturing. Contact Chuck Day: mickoday@yahool.com
• Transportation Ministry: Parishioners needed to assist with rides to and from church; and to donate funds to help others reach church via public transportation. Checks may be made out to St. George's, with "transportation" in the memo line.
• Worship Team - volunteers to read the Lessons, Ushers to help parishioners during the service and Lay Eucharist Ministers to assist the Priest. Contact Amy Givan at Amy Givan1@gmail.com

Episcopal Relief & Development is in contact with Episcopal and Anglican partners throughout the world in response to natural disasters like Maui wildfires, the flooding in Libya and communities affected by hurricanes as well as human violence like the war in Ukraine and ..

Please pray for everyone impacted by storms and violence. You may donate at: episcopalrelief.org

For over 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for close to 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.

St. George's Episcopal Church

949-215-6155

admin@stgeorgesparish.org

www.stgeorgesparish.org