This Week at St. Mary's-in-Tuxedo
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Upcoming Calendar
Saturday January 12
5:00 p.m. Saturday evening service
 
Sunday, January 13
8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit 
9:50 a.m. Infant/Childcare provided 
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist in the Nave with choir and organ
Followed by the Annual Meeting and a Vestry Meeting
 
Wednesday, January 16
10:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit

Thursday January 17
11:00 a.m. Chapel for Preschool 2s
From the Rector
Dear Parishioners and Friends,

For several months, I have been writing and preaching about the importance of financial stewardship within the life of the church. I've sent out letters, and reminder letters. We are about to wrap it all up, and are getting a good response so far. As I wrote in one letter, the challenge isn't coming from our expenses, which have remained essentially flat for years. Indeed, we have found ways to cut about $20,000 from the 2019 budget over 2018. The challenge we have is changing demographics. As with all churches, we lose donors from time to time due to death or relocation. These are often older, established givers whose level of generosity is hard to match. So, we are hard at work to identify new donors, as well as encouraging current members to be as generous as possible.

Though the financial part of our stewardship appeal may be wrapping up for the time being, the living part lasts all year long. In fact, with the model of our Lord in our hearts and minds, stewardship is for us a life of service. Another area in which we need to cultivate new giving is that of sharing time and talents. Like most churches, we have a core group that usually ends up doing the majority of the work. In our recent vestry retreat, we identified this as a focus point for the new year. To that end, we are forming or re-forming various committees to carry out the good work of the church, and we need your help! Committee work can be fun and rewarding if you find your niche. The four standing committees of the vestry are: Stewardship/Fundraising, Finance, Buildings & Grounds, and Communications. Other committees include: Endowment/Investment, Outreach, Christian Education, Hospitality, and Preschool. Other non-committee ways to serve are through groups like the Altar Guild, Acolytes (youth and grown-ups welcome), Lectors, and Ushers. We literally have something for everyone!

I invite you to attend our upcoming annual meeting this Sunday at which you will hear more about these opportunities. Many hands make not only light work, but also a vibrant and attractive church!

Blessings,
Father Rick
Annual Meeting on January 13
Our Annual Parish Meeting is coming up on Sunday, January 13, immediately following the 10am service. At the meeting, we will conduct the yearly business of the parish and elect Vestry members. We will also review progress of our parish over the past year and goals for the future. Chili and cornbread will be served! Please plan on joining us for this important meeting.
Altar Flowers
From the Director of the Altar Guild, Wendy Favia: Happy 2019 to All!

The sign up board for sponsoring altar flowers is back up in the hallway between the Nave and Bentley Hall. Please note that, due to the Vestry's mandate to reduce costs for 2019, we will only have altar flowers for the weeks in which they are paid for by a donor. So if you have not done so yet for this year, or have not done so ever before, please sponsor the purchasing of the flowers in the name of a loved one by signing up on the board as soon as you can. The cost for sponsoring the flowers is about $70.00. Thank you!!
Saturday Night Service
On Saturday, January 5, we resumed our seasonal evening service. Please join us at 5pm at the St. Mark's altar in the nave of the main church. Come as you are for this vigil service, at which you will hear the scripture readings for the following Sunday morning. You may be interested to learn that the Church reckons time in the manner of Judaism, in that when the sun sets, we consider it to be the next day. Thus vigil masses (such as Christmas Eve midnight Mass) have been a part of our tradition for many centuries.
All are truly welcome at St. Mary's, which is located within the historic gates of Tuxedo Park and serves the entire Tuxedo community. Please tell the gatehouse you're going to St. Mary's, proceed thru the gates and we're on the right (plenty of parking available).
How to contact us...
Website: www.stmtux.org
Office: 845.351.5122
PreSchool: 845.351.2389
Physical Address: 10 Fox Hill Rd, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 637, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987