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December

2016 Journal

Psalm 112 speaks eloquently about the theme of “Living Gener-

ously.” It defines generous living as being gracious, merciful and

righteous. To live in such a way, we are to conduct our lives with

justice.

By this time our seasonal stewardship campaign is over. We

have received the pledges and have blessed them before Thanks-

giving. I just wanted to take a moment and in gratitude thank you

all for your generosity not only for your sharing of your treasure,

but also in generosity of the time and talents you give to St. Fran-

cis. In giving to St. Francis you allow our mission of being “A loving

community, serving God’s people” to come to fruition.

As one of the stewardship speakers said you are the church. Not

the building and not the priest, but you. You are this great gather-

ing of witnesses to the love of God, for God’s people, to all people.

At the end of the day the buildings may change, the priests may

change, and yes both of those will influence St. Francis and be a

part of the identity of St. Francis, yet it is you as a body that repre-

sents the overall identity and ministry of St. Francis to the world.

That is the face of Jesus people see when they visit St. Francis.

And I believe it is beautiful!

The stewardship season may be over, but stewardship itself is a

year-round endeavor. Let’s continue to be mindful who put us in

charge of such a wonderful place and allows us to continue to care

for it.

God’s Peace,

Mitch+

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Christmas Services 2016

Hello St. Francis Family! This year we are going to have two services, as we have

had in years past, on Christmas Eve and one service on Christmas Day.

Christmas Eve:

The first service will begin at 6:00pm and is traditionally a service for families. With

that in mind we are going to have a pageant with baby Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Angels

and so forth. We will read scripture and sing hymns (mostly Christmas Carols) fol-

lowed by a Eucharist. It will be fun for all ages!

The second service: Right before the second service will be a hymn sing at 10:00pm.

This is for those that can sing as well as those who make a joyful noise! (Which

means everyone.) Then at 10:30pm we will have a very similar service to the first

without the actors and with a simple narrative with scripture and hymns (mostly Christ-

mas Carols) followed by a Eucharist.

It will be a wonderful evening to welcome baby Jesus into the world! See you there.

Christmas Day:

With Christmas Day falling on Sunday we are going to have one service at 10:00am. It

will be a contemporary language, simple, said service with a full Eucharist. (I suspect

a few of you may show up in pajamas and that would be just fine.)

See you there! God’s Peace, Fr. Mitch

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Ministry Team meetings are underway!

At the meetings in November, we began categorizing the ministries, events and pro-

grams that we have here at Saint Francis by first placing them under Invite, Welcome, or

Connect, and then by sub-categories (or groups) to allow us to place similar ministries,

events and programs together.

As I mentioned in a previous e-mail, I would be asking for folks to become the coordina-

tor of one of those groups. We had a few people step forward and volunteer as a coor-

dinator and we hope to have all of them filled by the end of the month. The coordinators

and I will then begin identifying and asking members of Saint Francis to help be a part of

that group.

Our hope is by doing this we will provide more effective communication with the congre-

gation about these ministries/programs/events and offer more detailed information such

as:

what is this ministry/program/event? can I participate? who do I talk to if I am interested?

It will also help prevent things for "falling through the cracks" by eliminating the thought

that "someone" will do this or that. We will now know who that "someone" will be :)

If you are able and willing to help in this capacity, or would like to find out more infor-

mation about it, please join us at the upcoming meetings:

The Invite Ministry team will be meeting on Thursday December 1st @ 1:00 p.m.

The Welcome Ministry team will be meeting on Monday December 5th @ 5:30 p.m.

The Connect Ministry team will be meeting on Wednesday December 7th @ 3:00 p.m.

These meetings will be held in the parish hall and last about one hour.

Thanks,

Bob Gray, Newcomer Minister

P.S. By the time you read this article we will have already put our first idea into practice with our weekly “Ministry Talks”. Each Sunday, you will hear a 2-3-minute talk about a specific ministry from a member of Saint Francis who is involved in that ministry. Rob Jerger has agreed to be the coordinator for this and has begun scheduling folks to give their talks.

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The Rum Cakes Are Coming!

Those tasty and easy to follow recipe creations are coming soon! So get ready to order for the holidays. They make wonderful gifts that are already wrapped!

Only $10!!!!!

At the time of this writing there were still some left. I hope there will be when you read this. If there are, get one before they are gone and you must wait for next year!

Be sure to pick one up for the Christmas season!

If you have any questions, please contact Bitsy Wright: 903-352-8806

Box Tops for Kids

The Daughters of the King, of our diocese, has adopted the Box Tops for Education

program as one of their projects. The St. Clare Chapter of DOK, here at St. Francis,

will be participating in this project. In return for your box tops, you will receive cou-

pons. These will be at the website, www.Boxtops4education.com along with complete

information on the project. There is a poster in the Parish Hall along with gold boxes in

which to deposit your box tops. Any box top with the ”Box Tops for Education” symbol

is eligible. Please Help us to have a successful program.

I would also like to remind you that the Daughters of the King is open to ALL women of

St. Francis. You do not have to wait to be invited. Ask any member of DOK for more

information, or go to their website at http://www.doknational.org. I will try to write in

more detail in the next Journal.

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BLUE SANTA PANCAKE FEAST!

Please join the Youth Group for a pancake and sausage breakfast at 9:30 a.m. on

Sunday, December 4th. Donations will be collected to benefit the “Blue Santa” pro-

gram run by the East Texas Regional Fraternal Order of Police. Betty Waters, a re-

porter for the Tyler Morning Telegraph, wrote the following about the 2013 Blue Santa

event.

“An officer walked around with each child as the children picked anything they

wanted or needed up to $100 worth of goods.

The children are from the Children’s Advocacy Center of Smith County,

where children who have suffered physical abuse, sexual abuse and emo-

tional abuse or seen a violent crime are forensically interviewed and receive

various services and therapy.

‘We are trying to help parents or grandparents or foster parents raising these

kids who can’t afford to do much for Christmas to help relieve some of that

stress,’ Detective Brown said. ‘Some of these kids wouldn’t have Christmas if

it wasn’t for being able to go out and do this.’

Also, the shopping trip provided positive interaction for the children with po-

lice.”

Waters, B. (2013, December 10). 'Blue Santas' shop with abused children. Tyler

Morning Telegraph.

The hand bell choir has decided to move our weekly practice from every Tuesday to

every Thursday 5:30 - 7:00 starting with practice November 10th. Please adjust your

weekly schedule. Practices are now located in the music room as we have moved all

our stuff (except for one filing cabinet) to the music room.

We are also looking for new ringers as we begin to practice for Advent and Christmas.

We will teach any new ringers to play and read music. Just show up for practice.

Everyone age 10 and older is welcome.

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Read the Bible in a Year There is no summary for this journal, but do not despair. You can start today. You do

not have to catch up. You can start reading now, or you can catch up by following the

schedule from the beginning, or you can read brief summaries provided in part in past

Journals or as a whole in a binder in the volunteer office. (Still under construction.)

Come and see what the Bible has to say to you and join us as we journey through the

Bible together.

There is a reading schedule posted outside of my office, and one on the front page of

our website: http://www.stfrancistyler.org/

May God bless you in your reading.

Peace,

Fr. Mitch+

December Birthdays

Penny Streufert 12/2

Carole Barnes 12/6

Julie Miller 12/10

Talitha White 12/12

Paul Streufert 12/13

Connie Wilson 12/14

Jane Morrison 12/15

Margaret Taylor 12/22

Barbie Haynes 12/26

Suzanne Tubbs 12/26

Norma Gagliano 12/27

Hayden Wilcox 12/31

December Anniversaries

Randy and Shelley Rocha 12/5

Rick and Dorothy Clutter 12/8

Fenton and Judy Kovic 12/16

Marty and Mairi Krausse 12/22

Steve and Kathleen Davis 12/27

Gerry and Polly Kuklewicz 12/28

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Other News and Happenings Since the Last Journal:

Wednesdays: (All are invited) Noonday Bible Study Healing Services Choir Practice Adult Lectionary Study

Fr. Bob DeWolfe’s Bible classes! Fall Cleaning:

Inside and out Men’s Breakfast (Special)! Fr. Mitch at Clergy Conference. Fall Planting Rum Cake Prep Spooky Serendipity (Groovy man…) Bible Study at the Hamptons OTLB (Out to lunch bunch) All are invited! (First Tuesday of the month, check an-

nouncements for time and place) Hand bell Practice! Anglican Rosary: a great way to pray, come and see (First Wednesday of the month

5:45p in the Sanctuary.) Connect Team Meeting (First Wednesdays at 3pm) Invite Team Meetings (First Thursdays at 1pm) Men’s Breakfast! Church Under a Bridge Prep (All are welcome! 10-11a Saturdays before the first

Sundays of the month) Welcome Team Meeting (First Mondays at 5:30p) Discovery Series one day make up! AND the gardens look so nice! (Thanks gardening angels!) Plus much, much more!

Thanks go out to the many volunteers and donors that make these things happen!

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St. Francis Episcopal Church

3232 Jan Avenue

Tyler, TX 75701

Telephone: 903-593-8459

Fax: 903-526-7756

Email: office@stfrancistyler.org

Web site: www.stfrancistyler.org

www.facebook.com/StFrancisTyler