Weekly Newsletter 7.28.22

July 28, 2022

SUNDAY SERVICE INFORMATION

Our current worship schedule is as follows:

8:00 AM Rite I Holy Eucharist Service

10:30 AM Rite II Holy Eucharist Service. This service will also be live streamed.

Service bulletins can be found on our website here. The 10:30 AM service will be live streamed through our CEC Facebook Page and our CEC Youtube Page.

SUNDAY ADULT FORUM

THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS - JULY 31

"The Screwtape Letters" Adult Forum will begin this Sunday, July 31.

The Sunday morning Adult Forum / Sunday School will study C.S. Lewis' book, "The Screwtape Letters". "The Screwtape Letters" is a fictional satire that addresses various theological issues, the most prominent one is temptation. The letters are short enough that we'll read them together, but you may also acquire your own book. No "homework"/prior reading will be necessary. All are welcome to come and discuss the book as your summer schedule allows.

Adult Forum classes are held on Sundays at 9:00 a.m., in the Library.

EVENT UPDATES

OUTREACH / MISSION IN ACTION

LACES FOR LEANDER!

Once again, Hill Country Community Ministries is holding Laces for Leander. This event, held August 13th, will provide a new pair of shoes for school to any child in the HCCM service area.

Many kids are unable to participate in P.E. because they do not have proper shoes and you can help fix this problem.

July is a 5 Sunday month, so for our 5th Sunday service on July 31st, we will be collecting shoes for Laces. Please purchase a new pair of athletic shoes (no sandals, no flip-flops, no dress shoes), any size, any style. Bring them to church on Sunday, July 31st to be blessed.

If you are able, volunteers are needed for the event itself. Laces will be held at Life Church on Saturday, August 13th from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. If you would like to participate, please see Carol Monroe.

BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS AND ICE CREAM SOCIAL - AUGUST 14

We will be having our annual Blessing of the Backpacks at both services on Sunday, August 14. If you are a student, teacher, or staff member at any school level, you are invited to come up during the announcements to receive a special blessing for the beginning of the school year. All are invited to an ice-cream social after the 10:30 service to celebrate the beginning of the new school year.

Dear CEC parishioners, on Sunday, August 14th, after the Ice Cream Social, we will need several volunteers to assist in removing everything off of the walls in the Sanctuary and Narthex in preparation for the painting of the Church the following Monday.

If you plan to volunteer please bring a ladder or step ladder and small tools, such as cordless drills, pliers, hammers with nail removing capability, screwdrivers, and perhaps gloves. More about the painting of the church can be found in this week's Voice of the Vestry article.

VESTRY NEWS

JULY 2022

As July ends, we hope you had a wonderful and safe 4th of July, and the happiest of summers so far. As we all get ready for school to start in mid-August, we wish you peace.

Peace. That’s what we all seem to need right now. Peace, after 2 years of fear and dread. Peace in the current economic climate. Peace for our nation, divided, with liberty being something we never thought we had to temper. I miss those words: ‘… One Nation Under God, Indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for All’, don’t you?

So, what can we control? Not much. Ourselves, our words, our thoughts. What can we do? We can pray. Like Fr. Richard asked, ‘How’s your prayer life?’.

We can also be thankful. Gratitude is a great de-stressor. And we, the Vestry, are very grateful. We are grateful for the little things and the big things, but most of all we are grateful for you, our parish family. We are grateful that not one, but two anonymous donations have been made to remodel and refurbish our restroom facilities in the Sanctuary Building. We are also extremely thankful that our Episcopal Diocese of Texas has awarded us an $8,000 grant to repaint and refresh our Sanctuary. You may have heard about this when Fr. Richard announced it earlier in the summer. But if you missed the news, we thought we’d use this month to let you know a bit more about the grant and the reason CEC was selected to receive it.

In 2019, Bishop Doyle created the Strategic Welcome Grant Program and CEC was granted to receive $8,000 from the Diocese. We have the Rev. Canon Joann Saylors, at the Diocesan level, and our own Fr. Richard to thank for their guidance in our application process. How did we get awarded the funds? The process was a bit more rigorous than expected, but one of the requirements was to describe our current Greeting and Welcome and Connecting practices. The great news is that we, CEC, are already doing so many welcoming things on any given Sunday, that all we had to do was list them in the application: The Vestry Persons of the Day, the Ushers and Greeter Ministry, the Connections Ministry, the Hospitality Ministry, and last but not at all the least under Hospitality, our beloved Community, Conversation and Cookie Ministry. ALL of our ministries are important, and the Diocese has taken notice, and we are again grateful. You are making a difference in your service.

CEC will use the grant funds to repaint the interior of the church building Sanctuary, Narthex and Cry Room, where we have relocated the Technology equipment for live streaming. It has been a few years since the interior of the church was painted and although our Sanctuary is beautiful, we thought just a coat or two of fresh paint might be a refreshment to our souls. We are also going to clean the exterior of the church building and plant a few new low maintenance plants along the side and front of the building. It is a first step, and with the additional donations to repaint and refresh the restrooms, we believe all of it will serve the intent to improve the physical appearance and attractiveness to make the space a bit more inviting. We hope you do, too. We’ve chosen colors good for today’s technology where livestreaming backgrounds are important, with a lighter color for the walls and matching color for the ceiling to give the church a brighter appearance during our broadcast. Our project will hopefully begin August the 15th, and we will need volunteers on August 14th to take everything off the walls in preparation for painting to begin August 15th. More to come on that.

So, for now, breathe and give thanks. God is Good. Peace be with you.

NEW VESTRY MEMBERS!

Per our congregation's bylaws, the Vestry voted in the July meeting to welcome Cynthia Mudd and John Wilbanks to fill two vacancies we had on the Vestry. Join us in giving thanks for their willingness to serve and share their gifts with us. Their selection will be ratified by the congregation at the annual meeting in January. Welcome Cynthia and John!

STEWARDSHIP

You can give online at www.cectx.org OR you can mail your check to 3520 W. Whitestone Blvd., Cedar Park, TX 78613.

“Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above…” – James 1:17

PRAYERS

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Discipleship Group - This group meets Sundays at 6:00 pm in the library. It includes study of the Sunday service gospel readings and is open to anyone wishing to participate. Please contact Bill Sterling at [email protected] for more information.

The Tuesday Book Club is now reading Spiritual Classics: Selected Readings on the Twelve Spiritual Disciplines by Richard Foster. This book includes the writings of some of the brightest lights of the Christian Tradition including: St. Augustine, Thomas Merton, Fredrick Buechner, Thomas More, Martin Luther King, Jr., and more. . . Please join us from 10:30-12:00 in the library for lively discussions and lots of laughs. Men and women of all ages are welcome. Questions, please contact Mary Wybenga at [email protected] or at 303-850-7347.

SUNDAYS @ CECTX

Please join us for Sunday Worship:

8:00 AM Rite I Holy Eucharist Service

9:00 AM Adult Forum Class (Library)

10:30 AM Rite II Holy Eucharist Service

Please visit our website (cectx.org) for more information.

CHURCH NURSERY HOURS

Our church nursery is open from 9:00 am to noon. The nursery is located in the stone building. The nursery serves children through the age of 4 and is open every Sunday morning.

THIRD PARTY EVENTS

All third party events held at the church are listed here. For parents, if at the church campus while the event(s) is taking place, children should be supervised by a trusted individual, as Safeguarded personnel / volunteers will not be present.