Episcopal Church in Snellville, GA
A judged show for all CARS, TRUCKS AND MOTORCYCLES
to be held at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church
Proceeds benefit Place of Seven Springs Ministries, Snellville, GA
Our own John Madajewski, a member of St. Matthew’s since 2016, has exhibited his work here at St. Matthew’s talent show, car shows, and other St. Matthew’s events. Read about his craft here, and the hours and attention to detail that go into his work, in the article below, which appeared in Decaturish.com on August 7, 2018.
Last year John reclaimed cypress wood from trees removed on the St. Matthew’s grounds, and has turned that wood into beautiful bowls and platters.
To read the article about John, click here.
This is the first in a series of occasional articles on parishioners at St. Matthew’s. Watch for more spotlight articles in the coming months.
OTHER THAN SUNDAY OPTIONS
NEW! PARTNERING WITH POLICE
One Parish, One Precinct events to learn more about relevant topics
November 3rd at 10am- Identity Theft —
What is the Dark Web? How do we protect ourselves from Identity Fraud?
Join us on November 3rd to learn the answers to these questions and more about different types of scams, fraud, and how thieves obtain our information. Officer Laura Steele, from the Snellville Police Department, will be teaching us how to keep our information safe and what to do if personal information is compromised.
Saturday, November 3rd, 10-12St. Matthews Episcopal Church
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CAFE THEOLOGY
With a focus on Anglican theology, we will read and discuss the book, Dancing with God, by Jay Emerson Johnson.
Every other Saturday at 10:30am
9/8, 22: 10/6, 13 (off-site): 11/3, 17: 12/1, 15
Mother Liz Hendrick ~ 770-979-4210
WEDNESDAYS WITH THE WORD
We will begin the year with a study of the first book of the bible, Genesis. During Advent, we will be reading and discussing The Book of Joy, by the Dalai Lama and Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu.
Starting September 5th
WED at 11am after Healing Eucharist at 10am
Mother Liz Hendrick ~ 770-979-4210
CENTERING PRAYER
Book study with focus on centering prayer.
TUE at 6:00-7:30pm
Vicki Conway ~ 678-215-9179
10/ 28: 11/ 4, 11: 12/ 2, 9, 16
SCRIPTURE in the library
Unpacking Bible Stories and making sense of Scripture today.
Clay Olbon, Jim Jung & Susan Larson
RELEVANT TRADITION in the parish hall
Sharing holiday traditions that make us closer to God and our people.
various facilitators and presenters
AGES AND STAGES in the York Room
Raising children in the church and sharing in our traditions.
Ward Furman and Mary Louise Richards
To print out a children’s Release Form (Fifth Grade and Under) St Matts Children Release Form 18.
Registration forms will also be available Sunday in the parish hall.
Greetings!
The weekend of October 19th through the 21st we will be celebrating a weekend of “Fun, Food and Fellowship” at Stone Mountain Park. This parish-wide event is for the entire family.
We are planning a weekend full of activities to allow for our church family to build community, have fun and grow spiritually. Activities are in the works that include parishioners of all ages and all our ministries at St. Matthew’s. Please plan to attend the activities for the weekend.
We have secured the “J” camping trail at Stone Mountain. for this event. All parishioners that want to camp will be able to do it. The park also has RV camping available (reservation info below), two hotels on-site (see registration phone numbers for these below) and for those who prefer to go in for the day, they will be able to do that as well. We will have Holy Eucharist at the park on Sunday October 21st.
Details of cost and activities schedule below. Pick up a parish registration card at church to help us plan food quantities and activities.
Peace be with you!
Your Fellowship Committee
Cost: (Early Bird Special–price increase after Sept 1)
Individual – $45
Couple -$80
Family of four – $108. Any additional person over age 5 – $20/each
Attendance Sign Ups — pick up a registration card at St. Matthew’s beginning August 12. Online registration available soon.
Many activities are planned, beginning with set up, dinner and evening service on Friday, Activities, meals and prayer on Saturday, and concluding with Holy Eucharist and breakfast on Sunday. Special activities each day–stay tuned!
**Camp in a reserved section of the park campground, bring your RV, or stay in park facilities at the Inn or Evergreen Marriott. For more information contact Oscar De Leon.
• Month of June – Food Drive
• June 17th to July 15th – School Supply Drive
• July 22th – Pack a Backpack
• July 28th – Delmar Gardens
• July 29th – Prepare Food for Co-op Monday Night Dinner
SCHOOL SUPPLIES DRIVE – Mid-June through July 15th we will be collecting school supplies for the clients of Seven Springs. You will find a list of supplies on the Outreach bulletin board and a link to the Amazon Wish List below. On Sunday, 7/22, after the service we will fill backpacks with the school supplies.
Purchase from the Amazon Wish List
SING-ALONG / BIRTHDAY NURSING HOME MINISTRY AT DELMAR GARDENS
4-5 PM SATURDAY JULY 28
Come join musicians from St Matthew’s to sing Christian songs or help serve cake, ice cream and punch and mingle with the clients at the nursing home in Lawrenceville. For more information please contact Heather Pratt, Mindy Barringer or Chuck Marsh.
FOOD PREPARATION FOR MONDAY NIGHT DINNER AT THE CO-OP
After the service on 7/29 we will prepare sandwiches, cut and package watermelon, and package cookies that will be served at the co-op on Monday evening, 7/30.
JUNE FOOD DRIVE – The Semi-Annual drive in June is the month in which St. Matthew’s focuses on collecting additional items for the Southeast Gwinnett Cooperative Ministries. In addition to collecting our usual items of dried beans, jelly, and shampoo, the coop is asking for donations of canned pineapple. The pineapple is always in high demand and just seems to fly off the shelves.
Refugee family: Zeba P. and her three children, Judith , age 13, Arron, age 10, and Jason, age 7, are from Pakistan, and arrived here June 7.
Their apartment is fully furnished (Thanks to all who donated!) They could use a washer and dryer, so if you have a working used one or know someone who does, let Mark DiGiovanni know: 678 227-8142.
If you want to help Zeba and her family, you can offer to take her and the children to parks, museums, shopping, etc. as they don’t have a car (or a driver’s license) yet. And dropping a gift card in the mail will always be helpful – and greatly appreciated. For information on contacting or visiting Zeba and the family please contact the church office, or see this Sunday’s bulletin announcements.
Using a little horse sense, Stephen Ministers from First United Methodist Church (Lawrenceville) and St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (Snellville) came to Winning Strides for a unique continuing education experience.
In equine assisted learning, we often use metaphors to reach our objective. Each Stephen Minister was asked to choose an item in the arena that represented a spiritual gift or strength they use in their care giving as a Stephen Minister. Some examples included being a good listener, having compassion, being trustworthy, skilled, and full of faith. Then, with the horse representing a care receiver, the group had to move the horse from one end of the arena to the other without touching it.
This was a harder task than they thought, since care receivers (and horses) often have a “mind of their own.” But in the end, they learned:
· sometimes you have to lead and sometimes you have to gently push
· care receivers get “stuck” on their journey
· patience is always required
· you never give up and always stick with your care receiver.
Even with torrential rains, an earlier tornado warning, and cool weather, spirits were high and laughter abundant.
Stephen Ministers are trained care givers, who are sometimes called the After People.
They are ready to come alongside anyone who has suffered a crises in their life and provide comfort and support for as long after as needed.
Stephen Ministry was started 40+ years ago and is active in 13,000 congregations.
For more information, visit their website at www.stephenministry.org.
Update:
Many, many thanks to all of you who supported our 6th Reading Camp through your volunteer time, your donations and your prayers.
We had a fantastic week with 17 really personable campers. Of those, over 60 percent of them demonstrated an improvement in their reading skills.
Without all of you, none of this would have been possible.
God’s Peace,
Your Reading Camp at St. Matthew’s Team
Reading Camp at Snellville, held annually since 2013, will be up and running again this year from June 18-22. It is modeled after the Reading Camp program begun by the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky.
A non- religious, no-fee camp, the camp focuses on campers who are rising 3rd, 4th and 5th graders and who demonstrate a deficit in reading skills. Campers participate in morning learning centers and afternoon traditional camping experiences. Nutritious meals- breakfast, lunch and two snacks are provided.
The 2018 camp, whose theme is “Alone and Brave”, is an all day camp Monday to Friday, June 18th- 22nd. The morning focus will revolve around “The Island of the Blue Dolphins”. The afternoon programing will include a guest children’s author and book signing, gardening, crafts, soda straw rocket making, yoga, cabin reading and a program presented by the Gwinnett Co. Public Library.
Our campers come primarily from the greater metro area, including public, parochial, and home schools. Although the campers are English speakers, many languages are spoken in their homes including Korean, Chinese, Amharic, French, and Creole. Many qualify for free and reduced meal programs.
For the 2018 camp we have an adult volunteer staff of 30+ and 6 teen counselors, five of whom are former campers. We are fired up and ready to enjoy a fun week with our 20 campers!
