Issue 47, Spring 2008
Issue 47, Spring 2008 |
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Picture, if you can, a camp fire thousands of years ago in what is today Iraq. A group of shepherds have gathered at the end of the day, the meal is over and the stories begin to flow, a young girl says to her uncle, “Tell me again why the world is how it is.” And her uncle responds: “In the beginning God created …” It took a long time before the stories were written down, but when they were the Old and later the New Testament came into being. They are the stories of God’s interaction with his creation, and our growing awareness of God. And far from answering all the questions, the stories often present other questions, and even the old questions still are asked. Tell me again why the world is how it is? Many today feeling that they have no need of God, wouldn’t dream of starting ‘In the beginning …’ We live in a world that is almost entirely dominated by budgets and materialism. World politics are moulded by oil, water, rice, hops, and toilet paper. People die for these things, countries go to war for these things. Whole areas of our globe are destabilized so that a dominant world power can keep their advantage. It’s all done in the name of power, the kind of power Jesus rejected on Palm Sunday, when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He is the King who comes in peace, and for this he died and rose again. Living Jesus’ Way has always been counter cultural, and in the ‘dark ages’ we presently find ourselves, it is even more so. Learning to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land has always been a challenge. Being open to the authentic word of God, especially when most seem to reject it, is not a popular thing to do. Tell me again why the world is how it is? Our Lenten journey may not give us all the answers, but if it helps us to reconnect with the presence of God in our lives, if we can again find Jesus and rededicate our lives to him, we’ll be a lot closer to an answer. Life was short for those ancient shepherds who sat around the fire in what is today Iraq, it may have been more simple, but it probably wasn’t easy. They would not survive in our world, and we probably wouldn’t survive in theirs. They learned to survive by keeping God at the center of their lives, we will survive to eternal life if we keep God at the center of our lives. Have a blessed Easter. Andrew |
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Marriages
John Hugh Harkin & Teresa Beryl Cross Jason Edward Paul Knowles & Natasha Mari Beaton Burials: John Robert Nightingale Vincent Henry Dorothy Elizabeth Park Gordon Eugene Cooper June Esplen Ernest Roy Barnes Stewart Albert Corbett Margaret Maureen Young Ivy May Stone William Noel French Jack Lionel Martin Ida Biers James Williams Lloyd King |
Over 100 people attended the first Recital presented by The Friends of St. Paul’s, Esquimalt.
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St Paul's Housing Society The AGM will be held in March with the same elected Board members. |
SUNDAY SCHOOL The Sunday school children, youth and teachers have taken on a Lenten project to clean out and inventory the supply closet. |
OUTREACH MINISTRY
We had a very successful shoebox pack February 21; we delivered 47 boxes to Streethope. WELL DONE, many thanks to Bill who picks up the empty shoeboxes and delivers them to the church hall, the dedicated packers and all who shop and deliver supplies for the shoeboxes. We will deliver hot cross buns to Grafton Lodge for Easter. Bunny Pool, chair
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ST. PAUL'S LADIES EVENING GROUP BRIDGE LUNCHEON WEDNESDAY APRIL 23rd Cost: $10.00
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ST. PAUL'S CRAFT GROUP
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TREASURER'S REPORT
For those who missed the Annual Meeting, the good news is that the Financial Statements and Budget were approved as presented.
The bad news is that we had a deficit of $4,265 in 2007 on our Operating Account - this is what keeps the doors open, the payroll and utilities paid etc. This was $11,863 worse than we budgeted at this time last year. It was largely due to Giving Revenue being $13,602 below budget, so that Total Revenue was down $8,365, despite another stellar result from the Bazaar (over $10,000 again in 2007!), Hall Rentals up almost 50% ($5,931) and $2,850 in Bequests, Expenditure was $3,498 above budget, mostly due to higher maintenance costs.
The Giving Revenue is the critical number. The GOOD news is that the average envelope donor gave about 7% more than in 2006. The BAD news is we had over 3% fewer regular givers, so givings were only up 3.5% compared with the planned 10% (based on 5% MORE givers, giving 5% more on average).
So adopting a Budget for 2008 is challenging! The adopted Budget assumes a total of 5% increase in regular giving, i.e. 2% more people giving an average of 3% more each. This Budget shows however a $9.000 DEFICIT! To break even in 2008, given expected cost inflation in payroll, utilities and taxes, we need 13.5% more regular giving!
How can we achieve this? Simple - 10% more people as regular givers, giving the same 3% more each. So bring a friend to Church in 2008 - we must GROW to SURVIVE. David Buckman
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Sunday, March 9th & 16th - Lenten Series, Pearcy Room after 10:30 am Service, bring your lunch HOLY WEEK Tuesday, March 8th – Parish Council |
In April we will be collecting snack food for the Esquimalt Neighbourhood House which is a local social agency providing family and counselling services. Clients are often in difficult situations and are very grateful for a “welcoming” nutritious snack (raisins, granola bar, fruit, milk, juice) when they come to the agency. More details coming soon!
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*** END OF ISSUE NUMBER 47 - Spring 2008
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Copyright © 2007 [St. Paul's Esquimalt]. All rights reserved. Revised: April 05, 2008 . |
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