|
Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Hello to All! Thank you all for being so gracious in welcoming me to St. Augustine's. It was a joy to meet so many of you this past Sunday, and I am looking forward to meeting more of you and getting to know everyone as time goes on. I feel an energy here at St. Augustine's that brightens the darkness of this time of uncertainty and restrictive living. Perhaps that energy finds its foundation in Love - Love for God and Love for one another. As most of you already know, I will be with you during this exciting time of searching for your next rector. As Interim-Rector, I will assume the usual roles of being your Priest and Pastor, as well as serve as a resource for the Vestry and Search Committee. If you have pastoral issues, please know I am available to offer whatever assistance I can provide. Thank you, again. I am so very happy to be among you all here at St. Augustine's! Blessings+ Fr. Brad Join us Sunday in person with the same precautions or watch via St Augustine's website or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet 8:00 am Service Bulletin 10:30am Service Bulletin News From the Vestry Now that we have welcomed Fr. Brad St. Romain as our Interim Rector, the Vestry can move forward with the next step: forming a search committee to find our new rector. Therefore, we are asking all members of the congregation to pray and think about whether they are called to be a part of this process. All members of the congregation will be involved in supporting and praying for the committee throughout, but we need 7-9 people to serve on the committee who can see what is best for our future. Members of the search committee must be good listeners and committed to our community. The members will meet with Shannon Manning, Canon to the Ordinary, for training on the process. The search will last at least one year, so a member should be able to commit the time and effort. It may be necessary for one or more members to travel in order to interview or see candidates. If you feel called to this work, please contact Susan Scotton. STAYING CONNECTED It is no secret that many of our friends are experiencing isolation, even loneliness, during the current pandemic. I ask that you take a little time to think about your fellow members whom you have not seen in a while and simply give them a call - or a text - or an email. And I mean that not only for those who are attending church. If you find that you miss your Church and your friends because you are self-isolating, you can reach out, as well. You never know who would love to hear from someone else who shares the same love that you have for your church and the people who have been united through this place of fellowship and worship. It's important that always seek ways to stay connected - and right now it's more important than ever. Go ahead - make a call - the joy you bring someone else will be joy for you as well. ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICES Wednesday February 17th Noon - Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes 5:00 pm - Stations of the Cross 6:00 pm - Holy Eucharist with Imposition of Ashes Key Return We are looking for any keys that are no longer in use. Please return to Fr. Brad or Jamee. If you accidentally set off the alarm, please listen for phone call from alarm company to prevent police from being notified. Please notify Jamee if you will be using facilities. They are however still under Covid restrictions.
0 Comments
5th Sunday after the Epiphany
Please join us this Sunday February 8th as we welcome our interim priest, Fr. Brad St. Romain. Plan to stay after services for a meet and greet. A little sparkling to celebrate his arrival as well as safely packaged refreshments will be on hand. Join us in person with the same precautions or watch via St Augustine's website or Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet 8:00 am Service Bulletin 10:30am Service Bulletin Key Return We are looking for any keys that are no longer in use. Please return to Fr. Brad or Jamee. If you accidentally set off the alarm, please listen for phone call from alarm company to prevent police from being notified. Please notify Jamee if you will be using facilities. They are however still under Covid restrictions. 2021 Giving Envelopes The 2021 Giving Envelopes are available for pick-up in the Church Narthex for those who have made a pledge in the 2021 Stewardship Campaign. If you are an automatic draft Giver you will not have envelopes. Available times for pick-up are Monday- Thursday from 10am-2pm or on Sundays during service hours. If you would like your envelopes mailed to you please contact Jamee Meisner in the Church office @ 504-887-4801. Anyone who has not made a pledge but would still like to receive Giving Envelopes please call Jamee Meisner in the Church Office. 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
Please welcome the Reverend Jane-Allison E. Wiggin-Nettles,as our supply priest again this weekend. We are so grateful to the supply priests who have guided us during these past weeks. Next week we welcome our interim priest Fr. Brad St Romaine!! Join us in person with the same precautions or watch via St Augustine's website or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/staugmet 8:00 am Service Bulletin 10:30am Service Bulletin Please Help Our Honduran Scholar! If you ever wonder whether St. Augustine's outreach activities make a difference, look no further than our Honduran Scholars program. Now in its fifth year, St. Augustine's, along with generous support from St. Martin's Episcopal School and other churches, has sponsored two high school students for their twelfth-grade year in the United States each year. In Honduras, education ends in the eleventh grade, so having the opportunity to learn additional math, science, history and other academic subjects greatly increases the students' opportunities to attend college in the United States or abroad. Also, of great importance, the cultural exchange broadens their worldview and perspective (and ours, too!) Our students come from Holy Spirit Episcopal Bilingual School in Tela, which is associated with our partner in mission, Church of the Holy Spirit. Mother Olga and her team do a great job preparing their children academically and spiritually for this experience. Unfortunately, the pandemic has created new challenges, and St. Martin's is no longer able to provide these generous scholarships. We cannot imagine what St. Augustine's would be like without Genova Bernardez and Jose Contreras, Class of 2017, Noemi Garo and Rocio Fuentes, Class of 2018, Dilcia Rodriguez and Gabriel Diaz, Class of 2019, MariaJose Fernandez and Dariana Bueso, Class of 2020 and our current students Meissy Calix and Valeria Reyes. All of our graduates matriculated with honors from St. Martin's and are now in universities across the country and in Argentina studying challenging majors such as engineering, veterinary medicine, public health and creative entrepreneurship. They are leveraging this opportunity to excel and ultimately help their country. So, in a very real sense, working though God, we have not only changed these young adults' lives; our outreach has changed the world! We have one very special student who was hoping to join us this year, Hillary Barrera, Mother Olga's daughter. Without further funding from St. Martin's, she will probably be our last student. Housing is secured and there is a possibility of some financial aid from St. Martin's. We ask you to prayerfully consider any help you can provide. Checks can be sent to St. Augustine's, attention Jamie Meisner or placed in the collection plate in the back of the church. Please note "Honduran Scholars" in the memo line. No amount is too small, and this donation is tax deductible. 2021 Giving Envelopes The 2021 Giving Envelopes are available for pick-up in the Church Narthex for those who have made a pledge in the 2021 Stewardship Campaign. If you are an automatic draft Giver you will not have envelopes. Available times for pick-up are Monday- Thursday from 10am-2pm or on Sundays during service hours. If you would like your envelopes mailed to you please contact Jamee Meisner in the Church office @ 504-887-4801. Anyone who has not made a pledge but would still like to receive Giving Envelopes please call Jamee Meisner in the Church Office. 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany
Please welcome the Reverend Jane-Allison E. Wiggin-Nettles, Associate Rector for Youth and Families, Trinity New Orleans Diocesan Youth Coordinator as our supply priest this weekend. Join us in person with the same precautions or watch via St Augustine's website or Facebook http://www.facebook.com/staugmet 8:00 am Service Bulletin 10:30am Service Bulletin A Big Congratulations Congratulations to Paula Belanger and Benjamin Sanchez for their exchange of wedding vows on Saturday. We wish them a lifetime of happiness and are so proud to share in their life story. Our prayers for continued blessings for them both. Announcement of Fr. John Lawrence's passing It is with our deepest sadness that we inform you all that Fr. John Lawrence, one of St. Augustine's former Rectors, has passed away. He was surrounded by all his loving daughters. He was preceded in death by his wife of many years, and previous parishioner as well, Waynoka Lawrence. We send our condolences and prayers to a beloved leader and family of our congregation. Calling all Drivers The Outreach Committee is looking for anyone who is interested is driving fellow parishioners to appointments. Please call or email Susan Scotton.  2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
Please welcome the Reverend Kit Sharp McLean from Trinity Church, New Orleans as our supply priest this weekend. Join us in person with the same precautions or watch via St Augustine's website or Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/staugmet 8:00 am Service Bulletin 10:30am Service Bulletin Welcome Fr. Brad St. Romain The Vestry of St. Augustine's is pleased to announce that the Reverend Brad St. Romain will be joining us beginning in February 2021 as our Interim Rector. Fr. Brad's first Sunday with us will be February 7, 2021 and we are looking forward to the opportunity to meet and get to know him. We do have an outdoor welcoming party being planned between the 8:00 and 10:30 services on that date. Our Vestry was quite impressed by Fr. St. Romain upon our meeting him. He is a well experienced, personable, kind, and good-humored person who is eager to get to know us as a parish and lead us through our time of transition. He understands how dear Fr. A.J. was to us and honors that. Fr. Brad grew up in River Ridge and attended Jesuit High School before earning his undergraduate degree at LSU. After managing small businesses in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Fr. Brad was hired by Raytheon Marine Company as Regional Sales Manager and later became National Sales Manager. From 1989 to 1994, Fr. Brad and his family lived in South and Central Florida and relocated to Mandeville in 1994 where his call to ordained ministry became apparent. In the fall of 2000, Fr. Brad entered Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX, where he received a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained as a Deacon by Bishop Charles Jenkins in December 2002 and ordained as a Priest in November of 2003 in Texas where he served several parishes as Priest in Charge, Associate Rector, and Rector. Fr. Brad returned to the area in late 2017 and has served as Supply Priest in the Diocese of Louisiana and in the Diocese of Mississippi while working as a Hospice Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator. His experience in Hospice work began in 2002 and remains an important part of his pastoral care ministry. Fr. Brad has three adult daughters and two grandchildren, all who remain his greatest love and reside out of state. His father, brothers, and numerous nieces and nephews, and other family members live in the area, and he enjoys getting together with them as often as possible. Living on the water in Slidell, boating, fishing, and just about any water-related activities are Fr. Brad's main hobbies. Calling all Drivers The Outreach Committee is looking for anyone who is interested is driving fellow parishioners to appointments. Please call or email Susan Scotton. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0c45a5a82faafa7-kri This Sunday, December 20th!
St Nicholas Bishop of Myra is Coming to St. Augustine's! This Sunday Br. Todd Aquinas van Alstyne will join us and lead us in Morning Prayer for both the 8:00am and 10:30am services (there will be no Eucharist at these services). Both of these services will be streamed live on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet St. Nicolas Bishop of Myra will be in the courtyard for the 9:15am Christian Education hour. He will tell stories and be taking socially distant selfies for all who feel safe to come. Please remember to wear your mask! Christmas Services This year, our Christmas Eve services will take a little extra planning. Please take a moment to register and let us know if you plan to attend one of our services in person. (The 5:00 PM service will also be streamed on Facebook; if you plan to attend virtually, no registration is needed.) 5:00pm RSVP: https://forms.gle/EWX4nqK8U6fuBJe68 7:00pm RSVP: https://forms.gle/UZbD1GTqVmZrXyoa9 The vestry is also trying to gauge interest for a 9:00 AM Christmas Day Service. They'd love to hear what you think! If you'd like to offer your thoughts, 9:00am Christmas Day Survey: https://forms.gle/i2TqAbLLMeE7mzue9 Christmas Flower Offering You can help support the decoration of the church and honor a loved one by making a donation for "Christmas Flowers." Please mail a check to the office, drop it in the plate at any service, or use the link below. Thank you for honoring a loved one AND helping make our church even more beautiful for Christmas! Give Now (onrealm.org) Funeral Services for Chris Nick
It is with heartfelt sadness and Resurrection-based hope that we share the news of the death of Chris Nick. A celebration praising God for the life of Chris and the promise of the Resurrection will take place at St. Augustine's today, August 12th, at 1:00 PM. Unfortunately, safety protocols requires this to be a private service for family members. You are encouraged to offer your prayerful presence by watching live at www.facebook.com/staugmet This Sunday, December 13, 2020 This Sunday we will offer all three celebrations of the Holy Eucharist: 8:00 am Rite 1, 10:30 am Rite 2, and the Spanish Prayer Service (Virtual Only) at 12:00 pm. All of the previous precautions for in-person worship will continue: mask wearing, social distancing, contact tracing sign-in, hand sanitizing, etc. All of these services will also be available live (and later recorded) on the St. Augustine's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet You can also dial in and listen to the live broadcast by dialing (888)958-7272 and then entering these codes: 8:00 - 543414894 10:30 - 926096811 8:00am Service Bulletin 10:30 am Service Bulletin A Message from Our Vestry What Happens Next? The Vestry has heard from many of you in the congregation who want to know what will happen now that we have bid farewell to Father A.J. We are very blessed to have The Rev. Canon Shannon Manning, a good friend of St. Augustine's, leading us through this process. The Vestry has already met with her to discuss what happens next. For our worship services, we will continue at 8:00 am and 10:30 am, in person and on Facebook, for at least the next two weeks with substitute priests. Canon Manning will be the celebrant for both services on Sunday, December 13th. Brother Todd Van Alstyne will be will us for both services on Sunday, December 20th for Morning Prayer (no eucharist). Canon Manning has agreed to serve at both the 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm services scheduled for Christmas Eve. Benjamin Sanchez, our seminarian, will conduct the Spanish service online at 12:00 noon for each of those Sundays. The Vestry met with Canon Manning via Zoom on Tuesday, December 8th. She recommends as a first step finding an interim rector and recommended three candidates. We are making plans to meet with candidates, in person or via Zoom, to discuss what we need from an interim rector and what each candidate can offer. It is our hope that a decision can be made by the end of the year. Once the interim rector is in place, the Vestry and a Search Committee will begin the discernment process of finding a new permanent rector. Canon Manning told us to expect the process to take at least one year. We will update you soon as to details. In the meantime, all of us on the Vestry are here for all of you, helping each of us through this. As we are so often reminded during this pandemic, we are stronger together! Please feel free to contact anyone on the Vestry to share concerns and ideas: Susan Scotton, Susan Walpole, Susan Tramontana, Rachel Whitley, Dotty Suthon, Paula Belanger, Kathy Chiles, Dan Daly, and William Genemaras. Click Here to View This Month's TORCH Click Here to View this Month's Ministry Schedule This Sunday, December 6, 2020 Services This Sunday we will offer all three celebrations of the Holy Eucharist: 8:00 am Rite 1, 10:30 am Rite 2, and the Spanish Mass at 12:30 pm. All of the previous precautions for in-person worship will continue: mask wearing, social distancing, contact tracing sign-in, hand sanitizing, etc. All of these services will also be available live (and later recorded) on the St. Augustine's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet Please make the choice that is best for you and your family's health and safety.  You can also dial in and listen to the live broadcast by dialing (888)958-7272 and then entering these codes:
8:00 - 673137583 10:30 - 129288072 12:30 - 915218858 8:00am Service Bulletin 10:30 am Service Bulletin Abundant Love in Scarce Times - An Update on our Annual Giving Campaign As of Friday, November 20, 2020, we have 80 pledges for a total of $183,758.00 If you have not submitted your Estimate of Giving for 2021 yet, please prayerfully ask yourself, "What portion of my income is God calling me to give in gratitude for all that God has done for me?" The Vestry is beginning to build the budget for 2021 and your generous commitment is helpful and appreciated. Helpful, because that's how the Vestry can prepare our programs and ministries. Appreciated, because the Vestry will have to make phone calls if you haven't replied by Friday, Nov. 20th, and we certainly would like to avoid that! : ) Here are some links to both submit your Estimate of Giving and/or set up automatic payment: https://www.staugustinesmet.com/pledge-cards.html https://www.staugustinesmet.com/eft.html Food Distribution St. Augustine's is joining with other local Episcopal Churches to provide food to members of our community in particular need due to the combined impact of both the pandemic and the hurricane. Together we can help offset some of these losses. The food has been received and divided up into 80 boxes. The distribution will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21st at 10:00 am on a first come, first served basis. Please help spread the news and/or come and help distribute the boxes. Volunteers are needed at 9:30 am on this Saturday. This Sunday, November 22, 2020 This Sunday we will offer all three celebrations of the Holy Eucharist: 8:00 am Rite 1, 10:30 am Rite 2, and the Spanish Mass at 12:30 pm. All of the previous precautions for in-person worship will continue: mask wearing, social distancing, contact tracing sign-in, hand sanitizing, etc. All of these services will also be available live (and later recorded) on the St. Augustine's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet Please make the choice that is best for you and your family's health and safety. You can also dial in and listen to the live broadcast by dialing (888)958-7272 and then entering these codes: 8:00 - 540715945; 10:30 - 738718020; 12:30 - 916960910
8:00am Service Bulletin 10:30 am Service Bulletin Coffee Hour Has Returned (sort of)! We'll have Coffee Hour in the Courtyard immediately following the 8:00 Eucharist. We'll provide individual servings of juice and snacks. Please bring your own coffee. Adult Formation Class - Rising Strong The Adult Formation class will begin at 9:15 am. You can attend either in person or on Zoom. The Zoom link is below. We'll be discussing the book by Brene Brown, Rising Strong: How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. Brown's unique way of distilling lessons from hundreds of stories provides us with a blueprint for how to fall, get up, and try again. It's the path to wholehearted living. Topic: Formation 45: Rising Strong by Brene Brown Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85457883260 Meeting ID: 854 5788 3260 One tap mobile +13126266799,,85457883260# US (Chicago) +19294362866,,85457883260# US (New York) Morning Prayer on Thanksgiving Day Fr. AJ will lead a service of Morning Prayer on Thanksgiving Day at 9:00 am on our Facebook page. To watch, go to: http://www.facebook.com/staugmet Advent Resources Now Available Advent begins on Sunday, November 29th Living Well Through Advent 2020 booklets are now available both in the Narthex and in the Welcome and Resource Center. Published by Living Compass, the theme of this year's reflections is: "Practicing Hope with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind." The booklets are free and available in both English and Spanish. Angel Tree The Angel Tree will be returning this year. Please be on the lookout for additional details in the weeks ahead. Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
It has been a privilege and a joy to serve as Rector of St. Augustine's since July of 2006. Looking back, I don't know what I expected would happen in the ensuing years, but I am certain that you have given me more than I could ask or imagine. I am grateful for it all. It is this deep and abiding affection and appreciation that makes this letter difficult to write. I have accepted a call to serve as Rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton, Virginia. My ministry there will begin on January 1, 2021. My last Sunday at St. Augustine's will be December 6, 2020. I am comforted by the knowledge that Canon Shannon Manning, in her role as Canon to the Ordinary, will shepherd you through this period of transition. In fact, in the perfection of God's timing, Canon Manning was already scheduled to be here on Sunday, December 13th . You are in good, loving, and experienced hands. And, as always, we are all in God's hands. A friend recently reminded me that the same God that called me to St. Augustine's will also call someone else to St. Augustine's. God is faithful and trustworthy. God is always making things new and moving things towards his purposes. So brothers and sisters, have no fear for tomorrow. The same God who has cared for us and blessed our shared ministry for all these years, will continue to care for us tomorrow. And my fondness and appreciation for all you have done for me, my family, and my priesthood will last forever. Peace, AJ Heine Rector |
RSS Feed
