Updated June, 2010


The people of St. Anskar's invite you to join us for Sunday morning worship at 9:30 a.m.

 

St Anskar's Plant Sale
....... another bloomin' success

 It takes a number of people to make our plant sale run so smoothly.

Thanks to Dan Warren for compiling a great spreadsheet and to Julie Tolboldt for spending time checking names, numbers and totals.

Thanks to Bob and Jennie Lamp, Nancy Conrads, Janet Pavlak, Dan Warren, Julie Tolboldt and Dennis Blunt for their help Friday unloading the flowers and dividing them by order form.

Thanks to Linda McIntyre, Nancy Conrads, and Kathy Rybicki helping on Saturday to distribute the flowers.

And, most of all, thanks to all who ordered flowers and encouraged friends and neighbors to order. Our final proceeds for the sale was $1212.75, which was divided and sent to Shelter Care, MELD, Rock River Pantry and our soup kitchen.

-- Joanne Blunt, chairman

 

CAT Survey

scheduled in September

The CAT Survey (Congregational Assessment Tool) was introduced at the Annual Meeting in February as something we would like to do this year to assess where we are in the life of the parish and to help us to shape our future. 

It goes without saying that the more people who take the time to complete the survey, the better the results and the more helpful the information we get back will be.

We are making preparations to take the survey in September.  The survey will be set up to be taken online; however, a paper copy will be available for those who do not have access to a computer.  It should take about 20 minutes to complete the totally confidential survey.  Specifics of the survey will follow as we approach the end of the summer.

Help review
our worship service

Something that we’ve wanted to do for a while now is to discuss all the activities that come together around worship at St. Anskar. 

We will be doing that over the summer on three Sundays after the worship service using the Mutual Ministry Review process.  Three dates have been set up: June 13, July TBA, and Aug. 8.  Since we have our outdoor worship service with potluck to follow on Sunday July 11 we will have to adjust the July date. 

It is not necessary to attend all the sessions, but we would like everyone who is interested in worship at St. Anskar to participate and share his or her views.

Tri-Parish Task Force formed

The first meeting of Gloria Dei ELCA Church, Spring Creek UCC, and St. Anskar Church held on May 2 was well received and well attended  

The three congregations were all formed at about fifty years ago and have many things in common.  We spent some time telling our stories and getting better acquainted with one another.  Representatives of the three congregations agreed at the meeting to form a task force to meet regularly to discuss more ways the churches might work together.  The task force will consist of three lay members from each congregation as well as their pastors.  The task force will meet on Saturday June 12 from 10 am till noon at Gloria Dei Church.  If anyone has an interest in being a regular member of the task force, please talk to Pastor Andrea.

Youth ministry conference
planned for late August

The “Whose Church is it Anyway?” conference will be held Aug. 27 and 28 at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Il. 

The two-day learning experience is offered in collaboration with the Office of Youth, Campus & Young Adult Ministry.  What began as an event for youth ministers in our diocese has become a gathering of those who work with children, youth and adults not only in our own diocese but in the other dioceses of Province V. 

Themes for the plenary sessions vary.  Learning experiences are interactive and include workshops, hands-on use of resources, experiencing a portion of a specific curriculum or program, brainstorming sessions for exploring questions and exchanging ideas and experiences. 

Coffee hour hostesses
to take summer break

The ladies who have hosted the coffee hour through the past nine months are taking a well-deserved break for the summer.  The last scheduled coffee hour will be May 30.  Through the summer, there will be refreshments on a volunteer basis only.

THANK YOU to Julie Toboldt, Jean Nelson, Carole Newcomer, Linda Dendy, Enrica Reitsch, Cindy Marsden, Judy Letourneau, Judy Schultz, Barb Morris Elaine Schilling, Janet Pavlak, Lorraine Lierman, and Shirley Cherry, Jennie Lamp, You did a superb job!

 

Daughters of the King
celebrate 125th anniversary

 In celebration of DOK's 125th anniversary, the council is giving all new members admitted after May 1st, a dues-free year  (September  2010 - August 2011). 

If you have been thinking about joining DOK, now is definitely the time.  DOK is open to all St. Anskar women.  Please contact Kathy Rybicki at 815-877-0426 for more information. 

 Attention all current members! Annual dues of $ 35 are due by July 15th.

 

Anointing and prayer
offered on Sunday

Anointing with oil has been used for thousands of years with events including sacred consecrations, healing, blessings, prayers and hospitality (Psalm 23:5 & Luke 7:46). 

Perhaps, we are most familiar with anointing with holy baptism, confirmation and holy orders.  Chrism oil consists of a base of aromatic oil and can only be consecrated by a bishop. 

On March 27, at St. James Cathedral, Pastor Andrea and I attended the Chrism Mass officiated by Bishop Jeffrey D. Lee; we brought back some newly blessed oil for the parish. 

At our Sunday Service during communion and at the baptismal font, I will offer anointing using these words from the Book of Common Prayer, (I will first say your name) "I anoint you  with oil in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen" 

I will also make the sign of the cross on your forehead.  In addition, a member of our Healing Team will also be at the font for prayer requests.  All, of any age, are invited to come and receive anointing and prayer offered in the fullness of God's love. 

Deacon Nancy

 Thank you
for another great Attic Treasures Sale

The vestry of the church would like to give a big round of applause to the Attic Treasures Committee for their year round commitment to making a huge profit for the church.

Members of the committee are Fred and Elaine Schilling, Ed and Thirza Maitzen, Judy Schultz, Don and Cindy Marsden, Enrica Reitsch, Linda Dendy, and Barb Morris.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for a job well done.

And we also thank all the members of the congregation that helped through the year and especially at the weeklong sale. 

Although everyone worked hard, they also seemed to be having a good time (and the food that came in was fabulous!). 

Vestry members
accept ministry oversight

T

The following is a listing of which vestry member is in charge of various ministries in the church for the next year.  Groups are asked to contact the appropriate vestry person if they have a problem of some kind.

Oversight by the vestry person would mean to make sure people are lined up who will take the lead for what ever the event/ministry.  

This may include making some calls and/or talking to people about what is needed and keeping the r rector, senior warden, and vestry informed of any issues/problems.

Linda McIntyre, Elsie Estabrook

Hospitality:  What would fall under this area of oversight are any events that require organizing food/drink.

·        Coffee Hour

·        Special Sundays:  Annual Meeting, Celebration Sunday, Bishop’s Visit, Other special events for example farewell reception for Shirley, also Maundy Thursday Agape Meal

·        Social Events/Activities

·        Receptions:  Weddings, Funerals, Anniversaries

Nancy Conrads     

Christian Education: What falls under this area of oversight is any education program of the church. 

·        Sunday School for children and youth

·        Adult Forum

·        Nursery Care for babies, toddlers

·        Youth Group

Paul Toboldt

Building and Grounds:  What falls under this area of oversight is anything that has to do with our  facilities upkeep and maintenance.

·        Building maintenance

·        Workdays

·        Mowing schedule

·        Snow Plowing/shoveling schedule

·        Church cleaning

·        Equipment purchases

Don Marsden

Mission Outreach:  What falls under this area of oversight is any outreach or mission program or activity that the church is already involved in or would like to get involved.

·        Soup Kitchen

·        MELD collection at Epiphany

·        School Supplies collection for needy children in Aug-Sept.

·        Love, Inc. Baskets of Hope for Thanksgiving, Christmas

·        Mitten Tree (also gloves, scarves, socks) during Advent

Jennie Lamp

Communications:  What falls under this area of oversight is any information and/or correspondence that needs to go out to our members or community.

·        Publicity-articles, press releases for events, services

·        Member Calling Tree

·        St. Anskar Prayer Circle

·        Thank you notes

·        Communicator articles

Dave Smith

Worship: What falls under this area of oversight is anything that relates to our liturgy and worship. 

·        Worship Committee

·        Praise Team/Choir

·        Healing Team and Service

·        Special services: for example animal blessing

·        Lectors, lay eucharistic ministers, home communion ministers, acolytes

Paul Toboldt, Tom Severson

Evangelism/Stewardship:  What falls under this area of oversight is anything that relates to welcome/incorporation of potential new members and stewardship activities

Newcomer Ministry

Greeters/Ushers Ministry

Small Group Ministries:  Home-based Bible Study groups

Annual Giving Campaign

Paul Tolboldt

Sr. Warden

·        Meets regularly with Rector and Jr. Warden

·        Consults with Rector and Jr. Warden about issues/concerns of congregation

·        Annual Giving Campaign member 

 

New Group to meet
  in Parish Hall

BAP_S, a branch of the Hindu religion is meeting at St. Anskar once a month usually on the second Wednesday of the month (unless it poses a conflict with our scheduled events).  A representative of the local group approached the church to ask if St. Anskar’s would be willing to rent out the parish hall for their gatherings, and we were able to come to an agreement. The group needed a place for the local community (of about fifty people) to gather for fellowship and religious ceremonies.  Their main temple is located in Bartlett, a suburb of Chicago. Please be mindful of their presence if you happen to come by on a Wednesday when they are meeting.   

Parish history project

 

At a conference that Deacon Nancy and Pastor Andrea attended in March, noted author and American church historian Diana Butler Bass urged us all to begin recording and collecting the stories of our parish life that makes up the history of our congregations.  Many people now and from years past have stories and personal experiences about our church that are not always widely known and will be lost if not intentionally recorded, and the sooner the better.

This is great advice (if we don’t tell our own history from our own perspective and experiences someone else will!),  so I am proposing that we intentionally do this.  So far there are two people who have expressed interest in looking at ways to make this happen (Sue Morris and Dave Smith-who has the equipment to record people’s stories).  If anyone else is interested, please let Pastor Andrea know.  I would like to set a time to meet (hopefully in June) and discuss what steps we need to take.

 

Episcopal Diocese of Haiti
continues work

The Diocese of Haiti will continue to care for all Haitians through its schools, clinics and churches.  The future of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti may well look very much like its past in one very important aspect -- its service to the people of that impoverished nation.

"We have been here before, we are here now and we will be there after," said the Rev. Canon Oge Beauvoir, a Haitian native and one of four Episcopal Church missionaries assigned to work with the diocese in the impoverished country, who spoke to ENS Jan. 27 via telephone from the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. 

The Episcopal Church of Haiti, known locally as L'Eglise Episcopale d'Haiti, will mark its 150th anniversary in 2011. Haitian Episcopalians have preached and practiced a "gospel of wholeness" since its founding in 1861, according to Bishop Jean Zach Duracin. 

A second missionary, the Rev. Lauren Stanley, echoed Beauvoir's promise.  "For 149 years the diocese has taken the lead in caring for the people of Haiti through our schools, through our medical clinics, our feeding programs, our water programs, through our churches, through the music program, through taking care of abandoned handicapped children." 

Stanley said that the diocese is committed to all of the people of Haiti, "not just Episcopalians in our pews," adding that it will rebuild its schools, hospitals and churches and "will continue to care for the people that nobody else cares about because that's what we have always done.”

On Sundays January 17 and January 24, we collected donations at St. Anskar’s to be sent to Episcopal Relief and Development for the Haiti Relief Fund.  More than $300 was collected, which includes the loose offering on Jan. 24.  With some additions from the Rector’s Discretionary Fund, $850 was sent in to ERD for Haiti.

Ministry opportunities
abound for parishioners of all ages

With our young people graduating and going off to college, we are in need of some people who might be interested in serving as acolytes. 

Older children as well as adults are invited to consider this opportunity to serve.  No prior experience necessary -- just an interest.  We will be happy to provide the training.

Please contact Pastor Andrea for more information or if interested in this ministry.

Do you like to read aloud?  Do you like visiting with people?  As well as putting out a call for acolytes, we are also looking for people to serve as greeters, lectors and home cmmunion ministers.  Presently we are visiting four different facilities to take communion to shut-ins on the third Sunday of the month.  To get an idea of what being a home communion minister entails, volunteer to go along with any of the persons taking communion to our shut-ins.  We will provide the necessary training and mentoring to anyone who might be interested in helping out in any of these ministries.  Contact Pastor Andrea or Deacon Nancy with questions.

 

  Church members
invited to post video testimonies

A communications initiative to tell the Episcopal Church's story was launched on Ash Wednesday at www.episcopalchurch.org where visitors will find a new interactive feature called "I Am Episcopalian."

The so-called "microsite" contains short videos of people "sharing their deep, personal connections to the big, wide, vibrant church that we are," said Anne Rudig, who joined the Episcopal Church Center in New York as communications director on January 5.

Users will be allowed to upload their own videos, which should be no longer than 90 seconds. Communication staff will monitor the clips before posting on the "I am Episcopalian" webpage, which will be active throughout Lent.

Visitors to Episcopalchurch.org will be greeted with the I am Episcopalian page which includes a short description, a banner display of photo links to contributors' videos, and two navigation links, one to upload videos and the other to continue to the episcopalchurch.org home page. The microsite can be reached at http://www.iamepiscopalian.org/.

Campbell's offers
labels for education program

Campbell's Labels For Education is a program that helps schools obtain free educational  merchandise such as computers, software, physical education equipment, musical instruments, library books or even a minivan. Either cut out the small label or send along the complete label and we can have someone cut it out later.

Other products that do have this label on them include Swanson's, Pepperidge Farm, Prego, V-8 beverages, and Pace sauces. Please save your labels for our schools; a collection box can be found in parish hall.

 Check out St. Anskar's
new and improved library

St. Anskar's Library has been cleaned out, sorted and organized by Judy Schultz. Books are now shelved by category/subject. There is not a check-out system, just return them when you are finished. Please stop by the Hearth Room and see what we have.

If you have religious books, study guides, etc., that you no longer need, we could use them. Please
leave those books in the box on the top shelf. and we will file them away later. Maybe you will find some great reading for these cold winter nights!

Save your box tops
for education

Ahhh------"If only the schools had all the money they needed and the Air Force had to have bake sales to purchase their bombers....." as the saying goes! But we do have a couple ways we can help our schools in our own personal way.

One way is to save Box Tops For Education labels. Box Tops celebrated the $250 million mark in 2008 and it has been around for 12 years. More companies join in this wonderful cause each year.

It started out with only General Mills products and now you can find this label on other products such as: Betty Crocker, Nestle, Frozen Green Giant Vegetables, Juicy Juice, Yoplait yogurt, snack items, Kleenex, Huggies, personal care products, Ziploc, Cottenelle, Scott and Hefty products.

Every Box Top coupon is worth a dime. Schools can redeem these "little" coupons twice a year and individual schools could earn up to $60,000 if enough coupons were turned in.

Wow! The money can be used for anything the school needs. However, these coupons DO EXPIRE! so only save those from 2009  on. A collection jar has been placed in parish hall.

Help keep God’s world green:
Recycle those cell phones

Did you know that more than 130 million cell phones and PDAs will be retired this year in the U.S. but fewer than 10 percent of them are likely to be recycled.

Donate your old cell phones to help women build job skills and climb out of poverty.

The old cell phones can be refurbished and reporgramed as 911 phones for use by survivors of domestic violence, the elderly and others at risk. Materials from broken and obsolete phones and accessories can be reclaimed and used to manufacture other goods.

St. Anskar’s has two collection boxes for phones and PDAs. One is upstairs in the parish hall, and the other is downstairs.  Won’t you please donate you old phones to this good cause. Thanks. 

Study groups offer different ways
to learn about the Bible

As many of you all ready know, St. Anskar’s several Bible study groups offering three distinctly different ways of studying the Bible.

Join others like you who are on a special journey – searching for and discovering a special connection with Jesus.

Choose from the list below to join the group that fits your needs.

Oral Tradition Bible Study (Two groups)

Originating in South America where Bibles and lay readers are in short supply, this method of study has proven that the Bible is alive and holds meaning for each one of us in our daily lives the world over.

A reading from the Bible is chosen each week usually corresponding with the upcoming Sunday lessons. The passage is read three times as it leads the members to discover how the passage can be applied to their lives.

Contact Information:

Nancy Conrads (group leader) 877-4737

Meets 10:00 a.m. at various locations.

Tuesday Night Bible Study

This group is studying Genesis – with the help of a study guide – beginning with the story of the flood. Each week two chapters are read out loud by the members. The study guide asks appropriate, and at times probing, questions that often lead the members to a deeper understanding of the passage. The study guide is based on the New International Version and supplies many helpful historical facts. Study materials are provided.

Contact Information:

Cindy Marsden (group leader) 218-1874

Meets 7 p.m. Tuesdays in her home.

Automatic transfer can simplify
keeping up with pledge

Tired of playing catch up with your pledge after going on vacation or out of town for a long weekend?

It's quite easy to set up an automatic transfer from your checking or savings account. All you have to do is:

  • Go to your bank.
  • Tell them you want to transfer funds from your account to that of St. Anskar’s.
  • Tell them how much you want to transfer.
  • Tell them how often you want to transfer.
  • The bank will provide the forms necessary for the transfer to take place.
  • The routing/transit number for the church’s Alpine Bank account is # 0719 23307.
  • The account number at Alpine Bank is # 000-0208000.

Inform Gail Shaner and Chuck Reitsch that you will be paying by automatic transfer. This will help them balance the checking account and give proper credit for pledges fulfilled.

Memorial gifts beautify church,
empower ministries

Many people name St. Anskar’s Church as the recipient of gifts in memory of a loved one. Through the years, many items (such as our beautiful wall hangings) have been purchased with these memorial funds.

Here are the ways some memorial funds have been spent in the past year:

Celtic prayer books were purchased with part of the Mark Estabrook Memorial Fund.

New tract rack for the parish hall was purchased with the James and Louise Orbison Memorial Fund.

A new white funeral pall, brass followers for our candelabra, and a travel communion set were purchased from the Dorothy Dorgan Memorial Fund.

The remainder of the William Staats Memorial Fund was used to purchase new serving trays and bowls for the kitchen.

Nancy and Edward Conrads paid for new rosebushes to be put in the circle garden, which is in memory of their parents.

Small bequests paid for a vacuum for the Altar Guild’s use and a new coffee pot for the kitchen.

Our new Praise hymnbooks were paid for by the Eleanor Stanlis Memorial Fund and the Suzanne Grahn Memorial Fund.

The Grahn fund was also used to purchase music, pay for an Easter soloist, tune a piano, and buy some new music stands.

And two new stained glass windows are being designed for our sanctuary and will be installed soon. The windows are a gift from Don Fox.

If you would like to make a memorial gift to St. Anskar's contact our parish administrator, Dan Warren, or our warden, Paul Toboldt.

Send Flower Fund gifts
to right place

To ensure you receive credit for your gifts to the flower fund, be sure to make them out to St. Anskar’s Flower Fund and mail them to:

Jennie Lamp
6047 Carriage Green Way
Rockford, IL 61108.

If you have any questions concerning your gifts, please call Jennie at 398-4704. Thanks.

In need of prayer?
Let Prayer Circle know

All names on the St. Anskar's Prayer Circle will remain on the list for two weeks unless otherwise requested. If the person is still in need of prayer, please contact Judy Schultz (chairwoman), Janet Pavlak, John Pavlak, Chris Eaton, Barbara Morris, Elsie Estabrook, Julie Morehouse, Don Marsden, or Becky Bradford.

This page prepared by St. Anskar's, Rockford

For comments on this page, address e-mail to: generaldelivery@stanskars.org