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. 

Live Stream links can be found on our CEC Facebook Page and our CEC YouTube Page.

CEC's annual blessing of the pets is coming up Sunday, October 6 at 4:00 PM.

Bring your pets on leashes or contained for safety reasons; or, if you're not able to bring your pet, bring their picture! All pets are welcome! Each pet will receive a treat bag and a Pet Blessing Certificate.

Adoption Fest brings prospective adoptive parents and children currently in foster care together. The event is a fun filled day with a serious objective - providing an opportunity for prospective parents to interact with the children in a relaxed atmosphere which nurtures the formation of bonds and provides emotional context.

Austin Cosmopolitan Rotary Club provides games and activities which help the children and the adults to interact and collaborate with each other. Each child is provided with a backpack and water bottle they can personalize.

The theme of the event is a Carnival of Fun. We offer a variety of games for the children to enjoy. As the children participate, they receive Rotary Bucks for scoring points in the games. At the conclusion of the event, the children can spend their Rotary Bucks in the carnival Prize Store. The games are designed to put the children and adults on an equal footing and foster interaction with each other.

The club collaborates with Child Protective Services (CPS) and a hosting location which allows us the use of their premises. This year’s location is in Cedar Park, TX.

Because of privacy laws we are not able to obtain specific information from CPS regarding the results in adoptions, but we have been informed that 100% of the children receive follow-up information requests and that the incidence of adoption resulting from our Adoption Fest is very high. We are honored that this event is considered one of the most successful of its type in Central Texas.

How You Can Help

Volunteer

We will need many volunteers to set up, conduct and tear down the event. Volunteers are needed for the following activities:

• Event set up – set up games and activities, tents for outdoor activities, tables and chairs for lunch and some activities
• Backpack and water bottle distribution and decorating during event registration
• Lunch service
• Games and other activities -- We need at least one volunteer to run each game or activity. Two is usually better
• Event tear down and clean up -- Pack up event equipment, clean facility to leave it the way we found it
• Event date & time: Saturday, September 28, 8am -- 4pm
• Email hwittenbornrotary@gmail.com if you want to volunteer for the whole day or for a shift during the day, the volunteer coordinator will reach out to you to schedule a time to volunteer

Donations

If you are not able to volunteer but would like to support the event, donations are always appreciated. Below are two donation opportunities.

• Prizes for the Prize Store – visit our wish list on Amazon before September 25 and purchase an item to be automatically shipped to the Adoption Fest event coordinator. You can find the list HERE. Be sure to order in time for Amazon to deliver by September 29. Nowadays shipping isn’t always overnight. Note that if any donation arrives too late to be used for this year's event, it will be stored for next year's prize store.
• Funds for purchasing supplies for the event. Send a check payable to: Cosmopolitan Rotary Club of Austin Foundation. Mail to CRCAF c/o Heidi Wittenborn, 18300 Angel Valley Dr, Leander TX 78641. Memo on the check: For Adoption Fest. PayPal: You can donate to the event HERE.

Intercessors will be at the back of the church in the narthex to pray with anyone who would like special prayers during communion on Sundays. Often people will ask for prayers for healing for themselves or others, but any prayer request is welcomed. If you would like to pray with one of our prayer partners, you are encouraged to come forward for communion and then make your way to the narthex for additional prayers. If you have any questions about this ministry or are interested in becoming a prayer partner to pray with others, please contact Cindy Gravis or Fr. Richard.

Dear Friends in Christ,

Have you ever remembered a time when you were just learning about the Kingdom of God, or God Himself for that matter, and wondered if it were really true? And as someone shared their experience your eyes and heart began to open to the possibility of the risen Christ? In last week's Weekly Reflection entitled 'DoYou All Mean It?, a young camper reluctantly begins to discuss the concepts of the Kingdom and reminds us of the patience and openness that keeps the conversation going. Let's all keep the conversation going, as We Walk in Love....

We hope you enjoy the next Weekly Reflection.



Blessings,

Your Stewardship Ministry

The phrase “Walk in love” is borrowed from a letter Paul wrote to Ephesians in which he discusses the Christian understanding of love: to “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Indeed, walking in love is integral to the Christian tradition; at the same time, essential and secularly connected to each of our hearts. As a young adult, wishing to honestly engage in a reflection of love, my mind projects past the static, screened portrayals that streamed romcoms and pop lyrics are soaked with into something deeper: love as paradox. Paradox as recognizing the relationship between two highly differing experiences which do not negate each other like contradiction does. Instead, when paired together, vastness opens up so wide, we can hold each separate concept in our hands and feel the infiniteness of life swirl within us. Paradox is a flipped coin, currency; a battery, energy. Love must be a paradox.

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In my encounters with paradox, there is a side which is conventionally received within the culture of our society; the other side faces a struggl to accept. I wonder what lies within love – the shadow-side that together completes a whole. Forgiveness blossoms on my lips.

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In the spring of 2020, a friend sent me Pádraig Ó Tuama’s reading of Dilruba Ahmed’s poem, “Phase One.” Forgiveness flowers across stanzas, coating a hurt heart like liniment: “...Ointment reserved/ for healers and prophets. I forgive you./ I forgive you.” (Ahmed, 39-41). As the tears fell across my cheeks, a realization was released: to forgive is to love. And so, as I would forgive, or love, another, I must forgive, and love, myself.

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As a child, I translated our commandment of love to “Love your neighbor as your [honest] self.” In other words, come as you are to the world; with all your ugliness or beauty, love nonetheless. Now, I see it another way: “Love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.” Society says, “Love begets love,” but this is not always true. Forgiveness begets love. So here, as ourselves and towards our neighbors, we must return to love.

Vivian Altopp runs an educational nonprofit, Striving Together Empowering People (STEP), for young people in West Philadelphia out of her home church, Calvary St. Augustine, and is currently working on a novel on the life of the posthumously famous photographer, Vivian Maier.

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Questions for Reflection:

• When is the last time you forgave yourself? How does forgiveness transform love?

If you would like to learn about other ways to financially contribute to the life and work of our parish, please contact our Treasurer, Wright Meyer.

CEC VESTRY MEETINGS

The Vestry usually meets on the third Monday of each month, at 7:00 p.m. Any congregant can attend a Vestry meeting and observe. Only Vestry members have voice and vote. Vestry meetings do become "closed" when discussing personnel issues or staff salaries. Vestry meets via Zoom. If you wish to attend, please notify Fr. Richard, and he will send you the Zoom link.

CEC Finances – Available in the Library

Quarterly financial statements are available on the bulletin board in the library following the vestry meeting.

Discipleship Group - This group meets the first and third Sunday of the month 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 silverbillwes@gmail.com for more information.

The Senior Shepherds is a Service/Social organization at CEC. Anyone over the age of 50 in the church is welcome. We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 11:45 am in the Library for a delicious Potluck meal and lively conversation. A short program normally follows the meal. We do various interesting and creative service projects for the church children and the local community; host exciting outside speakers; visit unusual local places and have occasional seminars for better living. Contact: Betty Prince at bettyprince25@gmail.com for more information. 

The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the 3rd Sunday of every month from 4-6pm in the Library. We knit, crochet and do various other needlework and sewing crafts to meet a known need in the community such as providing pretty and comfortable caps for cancer patients; providing crocheted and knitted prayer shawls for those in need of comfort in our church community. These items are made with prayer and much interesting conversation. They are blessed by Father Richard before being distributed. Learn to knit or crochet at our meetings. Teens are welcome. Contact: CarolMonroe71@gmail.com or bettyprince25@gmail.com.

The Tuesday Book Club is reading Julian of Norwich: The Showings, Uncovering the Face of the Feminine in Revelations of Divine Love by Marabai Starr. We meet from 10:30-12:00 in the Outreach Room. Please join us for lively discussions and diverse insights. It’s a welcoming group for men and women of all ages.  



Questions, please contact Mary Wybenga at EJayW@msn.com or at 303-850-7347.

Choir Practice is held every Wednesday at 2:30 PM in the sanctuary. Anyone who is interested in joining, or getting more information on our choir, is invited to attend a practice. Questions? Contact Dave Gravis.

Ministry to and with Infants/Toddlers and their Families.

We have three spaces available to minister to our youngest members and their families on Sunday mornings.



1. Our church nursery is open from 9:00 am to noon. The nursery is located in the Family Life Center. The nursery serves children through the age of 4 and is open every Sunday morning.
2. A “soft” play space is located in the back of the sanctuary where children will find a small selection of toys and parents will find rocking chairs.
3. A “cry room” is located above the sanctuary and accessed by the stairs in the narthex/lobby of the church. The cry room contains comfortable seats, toys, and a changing table.

Children's Chapel meets Sundays during the 10:30 service in the Family Life Center.

Volunteers are needed! Come help our youngest parishioners grow in Christ! Children's Chapel meets Sundays during the 10:30 service in the Family Life Center. If you can help, please contact Fr. Richard. Lesson plans and supplies will be provided.

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.

Upcoming Third Party Events:

AA Meeting - Wednesdays at 6:30 PM in the Library, Stone Building

ROCK Enrichment Academy - Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, FLC and Grounds; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-12:30 PM, Stone Building

PEACE Homeschool Village - Fridays from 8:00 AM - 4:30, PM, FLC and Grounds