The Shell Newsletter – July 1, 2021

From the Rector

Introducing Our New Treasurer

I am pleased to share that Natalie DelRegno has accepted the call to become our next Treasurer. With a background in accounting as a former CPA, Natalie has the skills needed in this role, and with her deep faith and commitment to St. James’, I feel confident in her leadership. Natalie currently works as an Instructional Assistant for Carroll County Public Schools at Century High School. Most recently at St. James’ she has served as a Sunday School teacher and reader during Sunday worship. She has also served on the hospitality team as a coffee hour host, as a part of the Meal Train team, and is a former Nursery Board Chair. Additionally Natalie has participated in several audits for the church, Thrift Shop, and Nursery School. Thank you for saying yes Natalie, and welcome to this new leadership role!

This is the final piece of a spring of transitions at St. James’, with the retirement of Nursery School Business Manager Sharon Hansen, the upcoming retirement of Nursery School Director Pat Castle, and the imminent retirement of longtime Treasurer Jane Barger. Last winter, as the Vestry addressed these changes, we created a new Business Manager position to manage the administrative business of the church, Nursery School, and Thrift Shop. We are fortunate that Mechelle Cascardo, our bookkeeper of nine years, has been hired to fill this role. Many of the responsibilities that Jane has taken on over the years, where she essentially served as the Business Manager for the church and shop, will be moved into this new unified position. This enables us to reduce the scope of the Treasurer position back to the more normal role of financial oversight.

I am thankful to Jane for the years of service that she has given in this role, going above and beyond – through the transition between Rectors, helping get me oriented at St. James’, and of course through the Covid roller coaster of the last fifteen months. Over the next month Jane will work with Natalie to transition out as Treasurer and to set Natalie up for success going forward. Stay tuned for plans for recognizing her during a Sunday service later this summer!

Yours in God’s peace,
Kristin+

• July 4 – Dave and Kathy Rak
• July 11 – Annie Horrigan
• July 18 – Blix Winston
• July 25 – Peter Sabonis

Formation

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS

Sunday School classes have ended and families are now getting into the summer mode.  It feels good after our long winter of many changes and challenges.  Now that we are back to two worship services at the church (8:30 a.m. indoors with masks and limited seating – and 10:30 outdoors in the Memorial Garden), we can look forward to seeing each other.

On June 13^th  during 10:30 worship, we were pleased to present our Lenten Mite Box outreach donation for A is for Africa to Rick and Mary Anne Smith.  The donation amounted to $1,090.00 ($545.00 from our Mite Boxes plus matching funds from St. James’ Outreach), which was presented by Sunday School students and teachers in attendance.  Thank you all for your support to the Matim School children in Tanzania who are so appreciative of our continued assistance.  Yvette Allen, who made a trip to Tanzania with the Smith family, can relate many interesting stories about her visit with the children.

Happy July to everyone……stay cool!

Sunday School Teaching Team
Yvette Allen, Betsy Davis
Natalie DelRegno, Joan Fader

A Summer of Scripture & Spiritual Growth

Who’s ready for a low-key summer after all of the energy we’ve expended over the last fifteen months? In order to pause and catch our breath we’re taking a break from Thursday Bible Study, book discussions, and other group formation programs over the summer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still grow deeper spiritually over the next few months. Sabbath is an important part of spiritual health, but sometimes it’s just as important to have a touchstone we can reach for without the expectation of committing to a specific time or place.

That’s why for the summer we’re offering a self-directed experience of reading and reflecting on well-known scripture passages. Called Words to Build On, you can engage with it in two different ways. First, you can pick up a booklet from church on Sundays or during weekday office hours. You can then read through the selected scripture and corresponding reflection questions at your own pace. Alternatively, we will be posting images of the scripture and reflections to our Facebook page every few days throughout July and August.

I hope this simple formation opportunity hits a sweet spot for you this summer, and I look forward to hopefully stepping back into fuller programs in the fall!

Peace, Kristin+

Sunday Worship Information

INDOOR MORNING PRAYER

Attend Indoor In Person or watch the service livestreamed on Facebook

• Masks are required at this service
• We will begin increasing seating capacity by adding chairs and introducing rows on one side of the sanctuary while keeping pods of chairs separated on the other side for those who still desire social distancing
• You no longer need to sign up online for this service

We plan to begin streaming to Facebook at 8:30 am.  If you arrive at Facebook and you don’t see the video, please refresh your screen.  There is a delay.  A printable bulletin is available here.

OUTOOR MORNING PRAYER WITH MUSIC

Join us this Sunday for Morning Prayer with music
in the Memorial Garden at 10:30 am

• This is a mask-optional service
• If this service moves indoors due to inclement weather, it will be still be mask-optional except during singing – anyone who chooses to sing will be required to mask up for the hymns
• There is no sign up for attending the 10:30 am outdoor worship

Inclement Weather Announcements
This summer, our 10:30 service will be celebrated outdoors if the weather cooperates.  If the weather looks threatening, the 10:30 service will be held indoors.  when we decide to celebrate the 10:30 service indoors, we’ll post an announcement to our Facebook page by 8:00 am Sunday morning.  (In the past we sent an email on Saturday afternoon.  This new streamlined approach gets us out of the weather forecasting business – a little, anyways.)

ANNOUNCEMENTS