Dear friends,
This Sunday, April 6, is our annual parish meeting. We will have one service at 10 a.m. The first half of the service will be the meeting; then we will move to the Eucharist. One of the important things we do at the meeting is elect three new vestry members. We have a good slate. Sarah Hancock, who is currently filling a former member’s unexpired term, has agreed to serve a new full term. So has Susie Throop, who is now our senior warden. And Tom Wilson also has agreed to serve. There is an opportunity to nominate candidates from the floor, but that has never happened in my 2+ decades here.
Other parts of the meeting include a financial overview from our treasurer Lee Morris, a look at the events of the past year by senior warden Susie, and comments from me. There is also time for any questions you may have. I hope you will all be able to be there.
Those of you who have been in the kitchen know that we have a very nice coffee, espresso, cappuccino machine that we rarely use. It was a gift from Tommy Hannah, whose plan to teach others how to use it was foiled by the pandemic, and then his death. Tommy and Mary Jane’s nephew and our parishioner Todd Wilson had it cranked up for the bishop’s visit last month. This Sunday during coffee hour Todd and Mary Jane will be offering lessons to anyone who is interested in how to use the machine. If you have an inner barista this is your chance to shine. And it will also make your fellow coffee drinking parishioners happy to have the machine in regular use.
I know part of an evening’s routine for many of us includes watching Jeopardy on NBC at 7:30 p.m. Tomorrow night (Thursday the 3rd) one of the contestants will be Christine Bird’s sister, Mary Murphy Walheim, will be a contestant. Jeopardy is a family affair for Christine. She herself was a contestant years ago. Her mother was a huge fan of current host Ken Jennings when he was a record-setting contestant. As a way to honor that Mary will be wearing their mother’s wedding ring on a chain around her neck. Tune in and cheer her on!
I have a few pastoral notes. Joe Dobbs underwent successful open heart bypass surgery on Monday. He will be in the hospital a few more days, then go to rehab before returning home. Please keep him and Sandra in your prayers.
And our feline friends are also in need of prayers. Beppe apparently was in a fight and was bitten on his back at the base of his tail. It developed an abscess. I took him to the vet yesterday. She sedated him so that she could shave him and clean out the fairly extensive infection. He has to have drains, so he is staying at the hospital for another day or two. We hope he’ll be back for Sunday. He may be a little sensitive about being shaved, so be gentle with him.
And Bella, aka Beppe’s girlfriend, has not been around for the last couple of days. Please say a prayer for her safe return.
See you on Sunday.
With love,
Tricia