a letter from our rector - saint margaret's episcopal churchgaret’s our hope is to transform...
TRANSCRIPT
-Fr. Todd +
Worship the Lord with Gladness a letter from our Rector
Maggie’s
Where’s FLAT MAGGIE?
Flat Maggie is hidden within the pages of this edition. Can you find her? First to email the church office with her location will win a prize.
Email: [email protected]
LAST MONTH’S WINNER: Sean Pflaging
As I am writing this article, it is the end of a long, fruitful day of ministry at Saint Margaret’s, and in particular this day we marked the celebration of the Ascension of our Lord. On this feast day we cele-brate our Lord’s bodily ascension to God our Fa-ther, and we prepare ourselves to remember the coming of His Holy Spirit that we will commemo-rate on the Feast of Pentecost next week. It also means that summer is quickly approaching, and the pace of many of our lives begins to change with the new rhythm of longer days and less busy sched-ules.
First, my hope for all of you is that these summer months are a time of rest and replenish-ment. It is my hope; indeed it is my prayer for you that the next few months are restful, full of time with family, and will prove to be a time of joy as you and your loved ones spend intentional time togeth-er. If you plan to vacation away from Waxhaw, know that I will be praying for your safety as you travel during these vacation months. This is such a wonderful time of year, and I look forward my-self to finding time to catch my breath, rest for a bit, and reconnect with family and friends.
As you plan your activities this summer, I would ask that you do one thing; do not take a vacation from worship. We, like most churches, see a sig-nificant drop in attendance during the summer months. At Saint Margaret’s, our attendance de-clines by almost thirty percent during this time period! I’d like to challenge our parish to make this summer different. One of the Commandments of God is to Remember the Sabbath and to keep holy. This commandment does not only apply to us for the academic school calendar but is a di-rective from God to keep our lives centered on
Him, today and every day. The psalmist in psalm 100 encourages us to worship the Lord with gladness. As you find joy and gladness with your family, I encourage you to prioritize time with your church family, as we come to-gether to worship the Risen Lord and offer our praise to Him for His presence in our lives. The very essence of sabbath is worship, and I would like to challenge you to make worship with your family a part of your priorities during these up-coming summer months.
There are many ways that one can connect to Jesus, and those connections are not exclusive-ly found it worship. But there is no substitute for worship. Only in worship will you find the Blessed Sacrament offered to you. Only there do we lift our voices together to praise his name. Only in corporate worship do we come together, and being reminded of our Christian calling, are then sent forth into the world to build His kingdom.
As you contemplate these next few months, may it be a time of peace for you. May you find rest and joy with your
family. May you laugh and play and be re-charged as you separate for just a bit from the hecticness of life. And may it be a time of wor-ship and gladness.
I hope to see you in church on Sunday!
Peace and blessings be with you!
Monthly
“As you plan your
activities this
summer, I would
ask that you do
one thing; do not
take a vacation
from worship.”
Our Costa Rica mis-
sion trip is June 29-
July 7th.
Our group of 18 teens and adults will
spend the week in San Jose serving at
the pleasure of Bishop Orlando
Gomez. Please keep the following
team members in your prayers: Olivia,
Regina, Jake, Evan, Griffin, Hannah,
Abby, Erin, Amy, Zack, Alex, Noah,
Sharon, Lauren, Braden, Maggie, Eliz-
abeth and Fr. Todd.
a note from Deacon Susie Bruno
Dear St. Margaret’s Family, One of the gifts you gave me at the “best- ever-retirement celebration” was an icon of St. Margaret, “written” by my dear friend, Christine Schaeffer. It is exquisite both in beauty and depth. There is a humility about her that re-minds me that loving and serving Jesus in others is the daily purpose of our lives. Thank you most sincerely for this beautiful gift and expression of 8 wonderful years with you.
In Christ’s love, Deacon Susie
Fr. Lito’s Letter [email protected]
Jenny Marlier, Assistant to the Rector for Newcomers & Parish Life
CONNECTION
-Fr. Lito +
Finding and enjoying Sabbath this Summer
The arrival of Summer signals lots of possibilities in our per-
sonal lives. We line up fun activities and events for our-
selves, our families and friends. It truly amazes when folks
brandish wall-to-wall summer schedules of trips, visits, activ-
ities and events. For many of us, keeping busy and doing
things mean we have everything lined up so to shield our
families from being bored during the days of summer. Our
Lord offers an alternative to the frenzy of being busy during
summer – REST.
Rest may be foreign to most of us but we all need a healthy dose of rest to fully recoup, recover, and refresh our mind, body and
spirit. Max Lucado in a recent article noted: “The Bible doesn’t see rest as a sign of weakness or laziness, but as a mark of
reverence. To observe a Sabbath day of rest is to announce, “God knows what I need more than I do. If He says to rest,
I will rest.” And, as we do, our bodies and minds are refreshed.” (A Prayer to Catch Your Breath)
This summer take your time and languidly stroll through your days of summer, smell the roses and sip the refreshing nectar of each
day with your family and friends, treasure each moment, take time to reflect, pray and lift your spirit in thankfulness. Let the lan-
guid summer days soak you up with God’s warm and loving presence. I invite you to relax and decide to let go. Trust the willful
presence of God in your summer days. This summer learn to wait on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31) and rest in the Lord (Psalm 37:7-9).
Blessings,
Reminder that Father Lito holds office hours M-Th, His Bible Study on Tuesdays at 12:30 pm in the Parish Hall will resume in the fall.
Membership and Visitor Update for 2019 During the 9:00 service on June 2, we recognized the new members of our parish family who have joined since January 2019. In
all, we have 20 new families who have committed to regularly receiving the Blessed Sacrament (through regular attendance at
worship) and financially supporting the ministries and work of the church. Anyone is welcome to join St. Margaret’s for worship
or church activities, however, we believe that active and regular engagement in the sacramental life of the parish is vital for all
who follow Jesus. To become a member is to be in pursuit of the life of a disciple, and through active membership at St. Mar-
garet’s our hope is to transform lives and send disciples into the world to build the Kingdom of God. If you feel ready to commit
to active membership at St. Margaret’s, consider attending a new member class (St. Margaret’s 101 or 101 Express) to learn more
about life at St. Margaret’s and/or contact Jenny Marlier
in the church office.
For those that have been attending St. Margaret’s for a
few years, you have surely noticed a lot of new faces! A
look at the numbers shows that for the time period of Jan-
uary through mid-May we received 20 visitor cards in
2017; 28 visitor cards in 2018; and 42 visitor cards in
2019. Between January 2018 and June 2018, 7 families
made the commitment of membership at St. Mar-
garet’s. As mentioned above, we have 20 families for the
same time period in 2019. If you are a long-time mem-
ber, please join me in welcoming our newer members by
introducing yourself, striking up a conversation, and ex-
tending hospitality. It's an exciting time to be working at
St. Margaret’s to help welcome visitors and new members
and bring more people into our church family.
by The Reverend Father Lito Santos+, Assistant to the Rector for Pastoral Care
Six days do your work, but
on the seventh day do not work,
so that your ox and your donkey may rest,
and so that the slave born in your household
and the foreigner living among
you may be refreshed” Exodus 23:12
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19
Spotlight
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY Catherine Chintala, Assistant to the Rector for Children’s Ministry
Elizabeth Pfeifer, Assistant to the Rector for Youth Ministries
YOUTH MINISTRY
Questions on our Youth Program? Call Elizabeth at 704-243-3523 (ext 444).
Just in time for summer….
Flat Maggie is here! This fun summer tradition is back at St. Margaret’s and everyone is in-
vited to participate. Please visit the Sunday School bulletin board outside of the church office
and pick up your very own Flat Maggie, and take her on all of your summer adventures! Make
sure to take a picture with Flat Maggie and send it to Catherine at childrensminis-
[email protected] It will be printed out and displayed on the bulletin board. This is a
great way to stay connected with your church family, and to see everyone’s travels over the
summer!
Flat Maggie has already been spotted at our
church….helping celebrate the last day of
Sunday School in the Camels class! (see
photo to the right.)
With the warmer weather comes our summer
worship schedule, and opportunities to serve
the church through our Nursery Ministry!
During summer months our nursery is
staffed for the 10:00am worship service each
Sunday with volunteers. This is a wonderful
way to connect with families and show hos-
pitality to visitors and newcomers! And it is
a lot of fun! We must have 2 unrelated adults
present in the nursery to care for the young-
est members of our church family. We are in
need of several more volunteers for the sum-
mer! If you are able to help, please click here to sign up. If you have any questions, please
contact Catherine Chintala at [email protected] Thank you so much for
your support of the Nursery!
Sunday School is currently on summer break….we look forward to seeing you back on
August 25th!
VESTRY
• April was a great month. $34k favorable to budget. YTD favor-able by $50k.
• Reserve study review needed. HVAC unit repair needed . Deci-sions on when better to replace vs. repair? Roof debate with insurance.
• Two major functions of the Ves-try are noted as being Financial Oversight of the parish and Building oversight.
• Three sub group to form from Vestry: 1. Church Growth 2. Church Safety & Emergencies 3. Building Lay members to be identified to serve on these sub groups as well.
• Need for Buildings Facilities Manager reviewed.
• Adult VBS volunteers still need-ed. VBS on June 17-21.
• Ordination of Eric Grubb in Greensboro on 6/8.
• Next meeting scheduled for 6/18. Will review sub-group’s findings and discuss solutions and plans.
This column has been requested by parishioners to inform the parish on discussions and votes taken at recent Vestry Business meetings.
Vestry Business meetings are held in the Choir Room on the 3rd Tuesday of each
month at 7:00 pm. *Business meeting minutes are kept in the church office
and are accessible to anyone interested in reading more about the motions and
votes discussed at recent meetings.
EYC finished up a wonderful year with our final meeting on May 5th and
our annual beach retreat May 17th-19th. We had a great EYC year with lots
of learning, laughter, spiritual growth, and hopefully some new friend-
ships. Our youth community is filled with incredible teens who like to
laugh and have fun but also care deeply for each other. They are always helpful and typically go
above and beyond to serve the group. I am so thankful to know each one of them and be allowed to
walk with them in this spiritual journey we called life.
Sunday nights won’t be the same without our gatherings over the summer but we hope you
have a fun, restful summer and we’ll see you on August 25th for our fall kick off!
Over the summer there will be periodic activities for the youth of St. Margaret’s:
volunteer opportunities, grabbing food together, Carowinds, and more. Keep an eye on the
bulletin, weekly parish e-mail announcements, and Facebook as information will be com-
municated through those outlets. Unless otherwise stated, rising 6th graders
are welcome to join for all summer events. You can also sign up for EYC
text updates by texting “stmyouth” to 94033 and reply “yes” to opt in.
www.saintmargarets.net
Love Jesus. Love your neighbor.
Bless the world.
Rector The Reverend Fr. Todd R. Dill
Assistant to the Rector
for pastoral care & Christian Formation The Reverend Fr. Lito Santos
Priest Associate
The Reverend Fr. Paul S. Winton [email protected]
Director of Music Mara DeLuca
Executive Assistant to the Rector Joanie Cameron
Assistant to the Rector for Youth Ministries
Elizabeth Pfeifer [email protected]
Assistant to the Rector for Preschool Ministries
Dana Plate’ [email protected]
Assistant to the Rector for Finance & Accounting
Denise Kiliniski [email protected]
Assistant to the Rector for
Newcomers & Parish Life
Jenny Marlier [email protected]
Assistant to the Rector for
Children’s Ministry
Catherine Chintala [email protected]
2019 Vestry
Janet Mills, Senior Warden Amy Gorman, Junior Warden
Phil Hejl Linda Jensen
Chris Cox Julie Jenkins
Terry Anderson Mike Murphy Densel White
Warren McDonald, Treasurer
Bishop’s Ball, February 2019
What is Pastoral Care? “I tried to find a definition for pastoral care and found none,
yet hundreds of suppositions. I know pastoral care when I see it or experience it. I say that because the acts of pastoral care are vibrant, evident and visible at St. Margaret’s.” -Linda Jensen, Vestry
Pastoral Care is practiced in many ways at St. M. under the clerical leadership of Father Lito.
The Order of the Daughters of the King is group of women who have committed them-
selves to a life of prayer, study, service and evangelism.
Knots of Love is a group of dedicated women who put their hearts and souls into every stitch as they create prayer shawls, prayer squares, senior school scarves, and pocket crosses as an expression of God’s love, mercy and grace. Co-leaders are Deidre Aust & Linda Jensen.
A card writing ministry lead by Mary Rushing sends words of comfort, encouragement,
support and love to parishioners.
The Guild of St. Gabriel is made up of parishioners who visit our shut-ins providing a rela-tional connection to St. Margaret’s, under the leadership of Barbara Mahoney.
Prayer Intercessors are our prayer warriors under the leadership of Kathy Cornell. They avail themselves every Sunday worship service at the side prayer rail to anyone seeking indi-vidual, confidential prayer during communion.
Last but, definitely, not least is the Meals Ministry led by Jill Hazel. Meals are prepared by
dedicated individuals and brought to the church for safe keeping until a situation arises where a parishioner needs short term assistance with meals at home.
If interested in or seeking more information about Pastoral Care at St, Margaret’s, please contact Linda Jensen, Vestry Liaison for Pastoral Care ([email protected]) or the individual Pastoral Care leaders.
EYC Spring Retreat, Holden Beach, NC
May 2019
JUNE Calendar 6/1 Troop 101 Annual BBQ Sale Fundraiser 6/2 New Member Recognition (9:00 service) 6/2 2019 Graduate Recognition (11:15 service) 6/3 VBS Adult Volunteer Training, 11:00 am 6/4 Centering Prayer, 1:45 in the Prayer Room 6/8 DOK Study Sessions 6/8 Eric Grubb Deaconate Ordination 6/9 Pentecost Sunday 6/11 VBS Adult Volunteer Training, 7:00 pm 6/13-14 VBS Volunteer Workday 6/16 VBS decorate/set up 6/17-6/21 VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL WEEK 6/18 Centering Prayer, 1:45 in the Prayer Room 6/18 Vestry Business Meeting, 7:00 pm 6/18 Centering Prayer, 1:45 in the Prayer Room 6/22 DOK Study Session 6/29-7/7 Costa Rica Mission Trip
HIGH SCHOOL:
Donald Buswell Cuthbertson Jake Cameron Marvin Ridge Maggie Dodge Union Academy Jack Hicks Marvin Ridge Ben Joyner Providence Day Robert Moore Weddington Darby Murdock Ardrey Kell Owen Murdock Ardrey Kell Isabella Ochsner Marvin Ridge Annie Perry Marvin Ridge Jackson Rudy Cuthbertson Megan Santos Christ the King Ben Scott Carmel Christian Will Smith Marvin Ridge Maggie Young Marvin Ridge
COLLEGE:
Emily Anderson Seton Hall
David Burns UNC Chapel Hill
Clare Washington High Point
EYC Beach Retreat, Holden Beach, NC
May 2019