S u n d a y S c h e d u l e:

9 a.m. — Worship
10 – Celebration Sunday
11 — Worship

Christmas giving at St. Nicholas.

There are three important ways you can give at Christmas.

1. Christmas presents for children served by the Northwest Community Family Health Center – and also by our own Second Family program (see announcements below).
2. Cash gifts to the church at Christmas and Easter are an important source of revenue that help fund our ministry.
3. Christmas Eve flowers. We encourage you at both Christmas and Easter to bring flowers to decorate the church. Poinsettias are, of course, especially appropriate for Christmas, but flowers of all varieties help us celebrate the Incarnation of God as human flesh. Index cards to indicate in whose memory or thanksgiving the flowers are given are available at church.

From the Generosity Team…

Our heartfelt thanks to all who have turned in pledge forms for 2008. We are humbled by the generosity shown. To date, we have 7 brand new pledges and the average increase for repeat pledges is just over 20%! If you have not yet turned in your pledge form, please do so as soon as possible. There are extra forms on the table at the entrance to the church. If you are new to St. Nick’s or to the Episcopal Church and have questions about pledging, feel free to speak to any of the Generosity Team members: Cyndi Beck, Mary Beth Jarvis, Bob Kalicki, Mary Anne O’Rourke, Douglas VanHouten or Heather Voss. Thanks again!

Schedule for the 10 a.m. hour

Our new schedule for the 10 a.m. hour is:
First Sunday of the month – Celebration Sunday; the 10 a.m. hour will be devoted to connecting.
Second Sunday – The Celebrating our Anglican Heritage series will now meet on this Sunday.
Third Sunday – Ministry Teams will meet on this day instead of on the Fourth Sunday.
Fourth Sunday – The series on major figures of the Hebrew Scriptures will meet one Sunday per month instead of two.

The BVM is moving (and you can help surround her with a few friends)

One challenge of blending our two parish families has been finding an appropriate home for the wonderful statue of Mary which comes from Holy Innocents. Her present location in the southeast corner of the church was chosen for its proximity to the font, probably the premier focal point in our worship space. But the location has posed two problems. One is that she seems too far away from most of us. The other is that the kneeler that goes with her crowds up against a row of chairs, making it difficult for those who wish to pray to Mary.

Not to worry. During Advent, she will move to her new home on the west brick wall near the entrance to the worship space. And to keep her company – and help us honor the role of women in the church – numerous women saints will be joining her after Christmas, when we place their icons on the wall behind her.

We’ve chosen icons that will represent something of the diversity of women saints within the church. There are some old standbys – Mary Magdalene, Julian of Norwich, Perpetua and Felicity (early martyrs), Teresa of Avila. And there are some surprises – Brigid and Darlughlach, Edith Stein, Dorothy Day.

Here’s where you can help. This is going to be close to a $1500 project – 10 larger icons at $145 apiece. Rather than take it from our budget, we are hoping folks will donate an icon – or portion of one. Checks can be placed in the collection basket, with “icon” noted on the memo line. Thanks!

Information about the saints chosen will be available in church.

Advent in our parish.

As most of us know, we rearrange the worship space according to liturgical seasons, and Advent brings a shift from our familiar theatrical staging of the space to a more ancient “choir-stall” arrangement that evokes centuries of nuns and monks at prayer. We also will see a lot of Advent blue appear this week, easing our entry into Advent’s mood of patient, expectant waiting.

Last year’s Advent wreath is back, along with a tradition of “constructing” it ourselves, by placing pine boughs in it on the First Sunday of Advent. Mary and the choir also have been hard at work on Advent and Christmas music, and this year promises wonderful musical fare.

December of course also brings the feasts of Nicholas and the Holy Innocents. We’ll celebrate Nicholas on December 9 and the Holy Innocents on December 30.

“Bagging” collection for Christmas presents December 2 and 9.

We’ll repeat our bagging efforts in a different neighborhood – on the first two Sundays in December as we collect Christmas presents for the children served by the Northwest Community Family Health Center. This is a change from our original plan. We had been planning to bag this Sunday, with collection on December 2, but decided to give folks a week’s rest.

Your Christmas presents also help

– part 1. While we are relying on our neighbors to make this Christmas effort a smashing success again this year, we also are hoping our parishioners will respond generously by bring an unwrapped toy on December 2 or 9.

Second Family Ministry update and Christmas presents

– part 2. This year we are helping two families that were referred to us by the social worker at Clearmont School. The clothing we collected for five children has been delivered to them. We have also purchased winter coats and jeans for two children in another family with donations to our Second Family Ministry. Both families are very grateful for our assistance and send a big “Thank You” to all of you. One of the families that uses our food pantry has requested help with Christmas gifts this year. The children are a boy, age 13; a boy, age 7; and a girl, age 5. If you would like to donate a gift for these children, please mark it Second Family and bring it to church by Sunday, December 16.

One of our families also has requested additional jeans or pants for two boys, sizes 10 regular and 8 husky.

New film reconciles the Bible and homosexuality

A new film examines Scripture and the experience of gay and lesbian people through the insights of five American Christian families, including one family who are friends of our own Anna Stefaniak and Denise Butera. The film also includes interviews with noted figures including Bishops Desmond Tutu and Gene Robinson.

For the Bible Tells Me So is currently being screened through Thursday December 6 at the Music Box Theatre, 3733 N. Southport Avenue, two blocks south of Irving Park Road. For show times call the theatre at ((773) 871-6604. Bishop Persell attended a screening of the film and highly recommends it to members of the diocese.

Christmas Schedule.

We will worship at 4 and 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Can you help Pat get to church?

Pat Sikora, a former parishioner, has moved into Elk Grove Village and would like to resume attending St. Nicholas. However, Pat had a leg amputated several years back and does not drive. If you can help, let Steve know at 630.476.6425 or onebreadonebody@sbcglobal.net

Food Pantry.

Help replenish the food pantry by bringing one or more non-perishable items each Sunday.

Bishop’s committee report.

Meeting of November 28, 2007
Present: Borg, Brouillette, O’Rourke, Martin, Kalicki, Taylor, Martz
Absent: Jewett

One official action was taken, as we approved unanimously a 3.5 per cent increase in our diocesan pledge during 2008.

Other items discussed were:

The youth/young adults outing to Nashotah House has been reschedule to February 9.

The visit of a United Thank Offering representative to St. Nicholas on December 16.

Going ahead with the purchase of book racks for some of the chairs, so they can be used for the choir in place of the present pews.

We agreed by consensus to begin an observance of a special liturgical celebration of people of color. This will be on a Sunday near Martin Luther King’s birthday and is part of our observance of several special Sundays during the year. This began with our celebration of Recovery Sunday in September and will also include an LGBT celebration later in 2008. Special celebrations of women, men, and children also will be added during the 2008-09 program year.

We scheduled a bishop’s committee mini-retreat for Sunday, January 27.

We spoke of setting up several retreats for preachers during 2008 and 2009.

We scheduled our next “baggings” for April 6-13 and May 4-11. (Yes, we know the 11th is Mothers’ Day.)

The selection of icons for the wall behind our Mary statue was agreed upon by consensus.

The preaching and liturgical ministry schedule for upcoming months was distributed, and there were some minor adjustments.

There was a lengthy and quite positive discussion of the difficult developments with Bishop & Trustees regarding the building addition. We concluded that we must plan as if the building will not be completed in time for the beginning of the 2008-09 program year. From there we concluded we could not enter another program year without sufficient program space and agreed the vicarage represented the best available option. Hence, we will request it be taken off the market for the time being and, beginning in September 2008, we will plan to use it for programming until such time as the addition is completed. We also agreed that we will actively seek builders to bid on the construction project, and are confident we can locate one who will construct it for less than the present builder.

Sunday homilies are available at http://www.onebreadonebody.org/homilies.htm

Help with Yummy Hour.

The Welcoming Team is seeking volunteers to help provide snacks for the social gatherings after both the 9 and 11 a.m. liturgies. We ask that the same person(s) cover both the 10 a.m. and noon gatherings. Set up snacks, regular and decaf coffee, and a pot of hot water for tea. Sugar, creamer, cups, napkins, and stirs are in the cabinets in the Gathering Space while coffee and coffee pots are in the kitchen. Let’s all get involved!

There is a sign up sheet in the church – AND you can sign up online by picking one of the available dates and emailing your choice to Manny: vanborg@sbcglobal.net

Here’s the schedule to choose from:

December 9 – St. Nicholas Sunday

December 16 – volunteer in place

December 23 – volunteer in place

December 30

One bread, one body reflections: A building update.

From Father Steve:

At its November meeting, Bishop & Trustees reversed their Spring decision to pursue a “design-build” approach to our addition and, while retaining the architect, voted to seek bids from other builders. They apparently concluded – as we have said all along — that the builder’s projected cost was too high.

In the “design—build” approach, an architect and builder agree to build the project for a set sum, and the contract for our addition was awarded on that basis. It is confusing that the builder now claims to be unable to meet that figure, after having been awarded a contract for claiming he would do so, and it is difficult to know fully what to make of this reversal.

We are disappointed at the further delay inherent in it. At the same time, a builder who will work more efficiently and economically is in our best interest. We already have spoken with one builder who is interested in bidding on the project, and we have other possibilities, too.

We are not confident, given this latest development, that we will have a building by the beginning of the 2008-09 program year. The failure to have adequate program space for a second consecutive program year would be a very serious obstacle to our continued growth. It is all the more disappointing because in 2007 we have done exactly what we told the bishop, the Congregations Commission, and B & T we would do: grow in attendance, finances, and most importantly, spiritual depth and mission outreach.

The bishop’s committee will ask B & T to take the vicarage off the market, so we can use it for critically needed program space until such time as an adequate addition is complete. Our goal remains to double our size in five to seven years after the addition is complete. This is a bold goal, and we know that we can achieve it only in true partnership with B & T and the Congregations Commission.

We are grateful to Bishop Persell, the Congregations Commission, and diocesan staff members for their strong support. We hope B & T will be able to live more fully into a similar commitment, a commitment they have voiced.

All of us in this congregation’s leadership are frustrated by the delay, which in our view was not necessary. We know that the human dimension of the church sometimes makes things more complicated than they should be. Yet we also trust the divine dimension of the church and believe God will bring us good news as we bring others the Good News.

Lots of love,

Steve

Our schedule this week

Sunday, December 2

Worship at 9 & 11 a.m.
Today is our monthly Celebration Sunday
Bagging for Christmas gifts after each liturgy – we need your help
Formation for all ages at 10
AA meets at 7:30 p.m.

Monday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Tuesday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Wednesday

AA meets at noon
Choir meets at 7 p.m.

Thursday

AA meets at noon
GA meets at 7 p.m.

Friday

AA meets at noon

Saturday

AA meets at 1 p.m.
AA meets at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 9

CELEBRATION OF THE FEAST OF ST. NICHOLAS
Worship at 9 & 11
Celebration Sunday – 10 a.m. hour is a time to connect and build community
“Bagging” collection – please help

The Living Church Foundation

With the election of a new diocesan bishop on the agenda tomorrow (Nov. 10), clergy and lay delegates to Diocese of Chicago’s two-day convention in Wheeling decisively approved a resolution calling on General Convention 2009 to overturn the moratorium on the consecration of partnered homosexual candidates to the episcopacy.

News from St. Nicholas

11.11.07

The greatest thing a soul ever does…is to see something and tell what it saw in a plain way.
— John Ruskin

S u n d a y S c h e d u l e:

9 a.m. — Worship
10 — Church school for all ages
11 — Worship – Children’s Sunday!

Church school today at 10

Children. Meet today with Tess Setchell.

Youth and adults attend either the contemporary issues group – check out their we page at http://www.swhi.net/~steveg/StNick/ –as it continues its exploration of the varieties of Christianity
OR
The second and third Sunday the month program Figures of the Hebrew Scriptures – although today we will have a special focus (see next announcement).

Special topic for today’s adult ed at 10.

In place of our scheduled series on David, we’ll be holding a discussion of our Diocesan Convention – taking place Friday and Saturday, November 9 and 10. We’ll talk about the new bishop and other highlights of the Convention.

“Bagging” after church for the needy.

We will be dropping grocery bags in one of our neighborhoods asking for donations of food to assist our Second Family program. We need lots of help with this project, and hope you can help today and next Sunday when we pick up the bags. We also need your help doing the same thing on Sunday, November 25 (pickup December 2) as we go to a different neighborhood to solicit Christmas presents for the needy clients of the Community Family Health Center. Please support these important ministries of our church.

Help out at the soup kitchen Saturday, November 10.

We will be serving dinner to the homeless and the poor at the Franciscan Outreach Soup Kitchen, 1645 West LeMoyne in Chicago. This ministry is run by our own Manny Borg. We are planning to car pool from church, leaving around 3:30 p.m. There is a sign-up sheet on the table when you enter the worship space. If you would like to participate or have questions, contact Manny – vanborg@sbcglobal.net — or Mary Anne O’Rourke – mor1313@yahoo.com

Paperback books for the military.

Bob and Pat Kalicki are collecting paperback books to send to our military troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If you have any paperback books you’d like to contribute to this worthwhile cause, please bring them to St. Nicholas and Bob and Pat will see that they get sent on their journey and, hopefully, make the time away from home just a little bit easier for our troops.

Youth and young adult program begins Saturday, November 10.

Our lack of space has prevented us from offering a Sunday morning program for youth. However, we are beginning a year long program focused on Community and Spirituality. This will involve visits to a variety of sites. First up is Bonaventure House, a home established by the Alexian Brothers religious community at the height of the AIDS epidemic. It once was a place where people, particularly those with nowhere else to turn, went to die. Today, with the advent of effective drug cocktails for AIDS, the residence is no longer a hospice, but has evolved into a transitional center for people with AIDS or other life-threatening illnesses as they get back on their feet and move on to homes of their own. Adults are most welcome to join this trip. Contact Manny Borg for more info, vanborg@sbcglobal.net

We need acolytes!

Would you like to serve as an acolyte at the 9 am liturgy, but are a little leery or afraid you won’t know what to do? If so, please contact anyone on the Bishop’s Committee and we will see that you get the necessary training.

St. Nicholas co-sponsors Convention resolution.

We are one of numerous co-sponsors of a resolution that our Diocesan Convention will consider on Friday, November 9. That resolution calls on our national church at its next General Convention to repeal Resolution B033. That was the resolution passed at the last General Convention effectively calling on dioceses to refrain from consenting to the election of gay or lesbian bishops.

A plea from Father Steve

Please do me (Steve) a big favor. When Verizon “updated” software on my cell phone recently, they deleted most of my contacts, including nearly all my church contacts. Many of you have kindly responded to my request that you phone me at 630.476.6425 with your phone number(s)? If you have not yet done so, I’d be grateful. It is helpful to me to have the phone numbers of all parishioners in my cell directory. If I don’t pick up when you call, just leave me a brief message. Thanks.

November 18 is Generosity Sunday.

On November 18, we will bring our pledges of time, talent and treasure to the altar as an offering of ourselves to the mission and ministries of St. Nicholas.

A letter with pledge forms for time, talent, and treasure were mailed by the Generosity Team in mid-October. Now that we’ve had time to prayerfully consider the ways in which we might be even more generous in the coming year with what God has given us, we ask that everyone bring their completed forms to church on November 18. This will be a very special opportunity to offer, as a community, our gifts and talents to the strengthening of our life-changing ministries.

Your Generosity Team is very excited about the possibilities an increase in generosity can bring to fruition. We ask that we all continue to prayerfully reflect upon the ways in which we might respond.

If you did not receive the letter and forms in the mail, you’ll also find them on the table at the entrance to the church.

Fannie May fundraiser must be completed by 11.18.

Fannie May catalogs and order forms are now available. This is a wonderful opportunity to make money for our outreach programs and in the process save 20% on store prices. Please distribute the catalogs and order forms to family, friends, and work mates. Orders are to be returned to St. Nicholas by November 18, and orders will be available for pick up on Sunday, December 9. If you have any questions, please contact Pat Kalicki at patkrangely@comcast.net.
Canned fruit needed for Food Pantry. Help replenish the food pantry by bringing one or more non-perishable items each Sunday. At present, we are out of canned fruit, so that would be especially appreciated.

Retirement home healing liturgy.

On Saturday, November 17th, St. Nicholas will be offering an Ecumenical Service of Healing for all residents of Asbury Court at 10:30 am . This worship service will take place in the chapel area at Asbury Court , 1750 South Elmhurst Road (corner of Oakton and Elmhurst) in Des Plaines .

Whether you plan to have a leadership role in the service or just be with us, please join our Nurturing Team as we gather to worship God in song, hear God’s saving word, pray for those in need, and receive the Sacrament of Anointing. St. Nicholas plans to offer this and similar forms of worship at Asbury Court on a monthly basis.

Bishop’s committee report for the November 7, 2007 meeting.

Present: David Taylor, Pat Kalicki, Steve Martz, Manny Borg, Ethan Jewett, Mary Anne O’Rourke, Paul Brouillette
Absent: Karen Martin

There were no official votes. The following items were discussed:

Adding new personal stories to the web site.

A book collection for soldiers serving in the Middle East.

Contact made with another family for our Second Family program and how we would meet their needs.

The replacement of most light bulbs in the church with compact fluorescents. Thanks Marty!

The messy Gathering Space. David Taylor will clean the clutter this week. Thanks David!

Book racks ordered for come of the chairs which will soon be converted for choir use.

Bids on the rebuilding of the Holy Innocents altar.

The Asbury Court healing liturgy on Saturday, November 17.

The November meeting schedule – there will be no Bishop’s Committee on November 21.

We returned to the subject of differentiating the two liturgies, focusing on the need for education and greater involvement.

There was a long discussion on the 10 a.m. hour and the competing priorities of that hour – especially the need for strong adult education and fellowship. We will continue this discussion next week.

Steve noted that the Lilly Endowment is now beginning to solicit sabbatical proposals for funding in 2009. Noting he had yet to take a sabbatical during his 12 years at St. Nicholas, he indicated he would like for us to submit a proposal. We will discuss this further.

Sunday homilies are available at http://www.onebreadonebody.org/homilies.htm

Help with Yummy Hour.

The Welcoming Team is seeking volunteers to help provide snacks for the social gatherings after both the 9 and 11 am Liturgies. We ask that the same person(s) cover both the 10 a.m. and noon gatherings. Set up snacks, regular and decaf coffee, and a pot of hot water for tea. Sugar, creamer, cups, napkins, and stirs are in the cabinets in the Gathering Space while coffee and coffee pots are in the kitchen. Let’s all get involved!

There is a sign up sheet in the church – AND you can sign up online by picking one of the available dates and emailing your choice to Manny: vanborg@sbcglobal.net

Here’s the schedule to choose from:

November 18 — volunteer in place

November 25 – volunteer in place

December 2
Celebration Sunday….cake provided

December 9 – St. Nicholas Sunday

December 16 – volunteer in place

December 23 – volunteer in place

December 30

One bread, one body reflections: Almost home

The period from the Sunday after Labor Day through Diocesan Convention is always for me the most tiring of the year. It seems like there is just so much to get done, and it seems to keep coming week after week. I will be glad when we get past Convention this weekend. This year has been more intense, with the election of the new bishop and, for me, this past weekend spent at the Jung Institute.

Fortunately, the Institute time, though long and tiring, was rejuvenating. One of my former analysts, who now lives in Zurich, was back to present a “training weekend” for analytic candidates. Analysts take part in some of the lectures and also have their own meeting. This was the first time I’ve been on the analyst side of things. Seeing a budget and watching the dynamics gave me a much better grasp of the organization.

I was really happy to see and listen to my former analyst, Murray Stein. Murray is a superb teacher, with a thorough and nuanced grasp of Jung. He’s also a wonderful human being, and I was reminded of how blessed I’ve been in my encounters with Jungian analysts. I’ve worked for reasonably long stretches with three great human beings in work that completely changed my life – and continues to do so, albeit it in less outwardly visible ways. I shudder to think what I would be like today had I not, seemingly by accident, begun Jungian analysis 23 years ago next month.

* * *

Our All Saints’ celebration was, quite simply, incredible. As I said during the homily, it is one of my favorite feasts, and I’ve been to some glorious celebrations of it. But none was as delightful as this one. The music was great. I loved seeing the smiles at the 9 a.m. liturgy as Mary let loose on the final verse of “For All the Saints.” And the choir was superb on the offertory anthem in particular. I know many of us are completely thrilled at what is happening in our music program. The baptism of Jon Kessler at the 11 was a watery joy. I think the three best things I’ve done at St. Nicholas have been: 1) bringing the two churches together, 2) saying Yes when the AA Nooners asked if they could meet here, and 3) pushing for our large font. What a difference it makes to be able to baptize as we did Sunday. What we did Sunday was in one sense deeply solemn and in another, enormously playful. I am certain we need both and I’m grateful to this congregation for being able to go there. You are a quite remarkable bunch Jon.

I’d also be remiss if I did not mention our excellent attendance on Sunday, including numerous visitors. How much more joyous our celebrations are when many or most of us are able to be present.
Lots of love,

Steve

Our schedule this week

Sunday, November 11

Worship at 9 & 11 a.m.
Formation for all ages at 10
“Bagging” after each liturgy
AA meets at 7:30 p.m.

Monday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Tuesday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Wednesday

Bishop’s committee meets at 11 a.m.
AA meets at noon
Choir meets at 7 p.m.

Thursday

AA meets at noon
GA meets at 7 p.m.

Friday

AA meets at noon

Saturday

AA meets at 1 p.m.
AA meets at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, November 18

Worship at 9 & 11
Formation for all ages at 10
“Bagging” can occur any time today – please help