St. Pete's Weekly

 The flowers on the altar this morning are given to the glory of God

by Debby Caulfield in celebration of

the tenth anniversary of her Holy Baptism

·          In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, pray for people and clergy of Rwanda

·          In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, pray for St. Philip’s, Richmond.; Calvary, Hanover; St. Paul’s, West Point and Grace, Millers Tavern; St. John’s, West Point

·          For Bartholomew, Ecumenical Patriarch and Benedict, Bishop of Rome; Rowan, Archbishop of Canterbury; and Katharine, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

·          For Shannon and David, our own Bishops in the Diocese of Virginia

·          In our Parish Cycle of Prayer, we pray for our Mt. Calvary Guild

·          For Persecuted Christians in  Afghanistan and Uzbekistan

·          For U. S. troops throughout the world; John Collins, Charles Collins, Cady Andrews, Andrew Smith, Kevin Lowell,  Josh Connor, Caleb Bohon, Keith Ablard

·          For the men and women of the Loudoun Valley Fire and Rescue Departments

·          For our Federal, State, and Local Police Officers

·          For Rebecca Snyder, George Frost, Jane Navarro, Ted & Marion Bulger, June Caulfield & the Caulfield Family, Karin Diamond, the Fleming family

·          For the homebound in our parish: Julien Schrenk, Jacqueline Vaughn, Charlie Fishback

Need Prayer? You may send prayer requests in an e-mail to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Assisting at this Morning’s Service

NOTICE

In an effort to reduce expenses, we will be printing fewer copies of the

St. Pete’s Weekly newsletter, and rather than including them in

every service bulletin, they will be available three ways:

1)             Sent by email (Sign up at www.stpetes.net to receive the Weekly by email)

2)           Posted on our website at www.stpetes.net

3)           Two printed copies will be available per pew

*Contact Information is located in the Church Directory available in the entryway

LEARNING

Adult Formation                                                                                           Sundays, 9:30am

Ø Summer class: a study of Peter Kreeft's book, Christianity for Modern Pagans, (Pascal's Pensees) meets in the Library, led by Monica Gill and Dell Nunaley. Pascal, the, seventeenth-century Catholic Christian, philosopher, and scientist, was a contemporary of Descartes, but unlike Descartes, Pascal was the first post medieval Christian apologist. He is "for today" because he speaks to modern pagans, not to medieval Christians, as if we still lived in a Christian culture, a society that reinforced the Gospel. He was and is the first to realize and address the new dechristianized and desacramentalized world. This highly readable book makes for good study of Pascal's Pensees, and Peter Kreeft says you are in effect entering into his college classroom and taking the course he delivers to college students. Please join us any Sunday morning this summer. Each session will be a treat in and of itself, even if you miss some Sundays. We look forward to welcoming you. 

Ø Basic Training for Christians: meets in McCray Hall-A, led by Bill Geiger* will continue through the summer.

Gospel Transformation: Wednesday evenings, 7pm, at Mike & Maggie Snyder’s home, an ongoing inductive Bible study focusing on what matters most --- our need for the transforming power of the gospel. Contact: Bob Loker*.

Sunday Night Bible Study:   Will resume after summer break on September 5, with N.T. Wright's study of the book of Romans. We hope you can join us. Contact: The Stoutenburghs*

Announcements

THANK YOU VBS TEAM! You did a phenomenal job, as usual! VBS was a huge success reaching children with the good news of Jesus Christ. Join us in thanking: Renee Geiger – VBS Director Extraordinaire!      Traci Eddinger, Keri Holdorf, Pat Pearson, Deana Czaban, Shiloh Field, Kathy Tillman, Barbara Verdile, Gail Hunt, Sophiann Nunaley, Lori Clark, Tricia Smith, Beth Gibson, Justine Phelan, Erica Wanis, Marjorie Bucknor, Jennifer Huffman, Emily Snyder, Chrystal Ramirez, Kristin English, Jon Coate, Christopher Hunt, Rachel Craig, Lauren Hunt, Virginia Theerman, Katya Clavelli, Telah Schroeder, Morgan Bucknor, Roman Clavelli, Briana Tyler, Katie Haynes, Melissa Novak, Samantha Pearson.

St. Peter's Fourth Annual Chorister Camp is set for 9am-12pm, Tuesday, August 31^st, through Thursday, September 2^nd.  This annual camp features music from the Royal School of Church Music Young Voices Festival and is an opportunity for young people from schools and churches to join together in song. It offers an inspiring musical and spiritual experience for all participants, and a chance to develop vocal and musical skills under experienced musical direction. Designed to allow your child to sample St. Peter’s Chorister program, it ends with a Festival Service “All God’s People” on September 2nd at 7pm. The camp is an outreach event of the Voice for Life program, which exists to encourage, support and promote singing in schools, churches and the wider community. Please encourage your children to bring a friend – kids from age 8 to 12 are welcome and invited, regardless of religious affiliation. Contact: Barbara Verdile*.

“Ministry Opportunity–Acolytes: Any rising sixth grader or older student who is interested in serving as an Acolyte in the fall is welcome to sign up this summer. Contact Rebecca Snyder* for more information.”

Altar Flowers needed for several Sundays in August, September & October. If you would like to honor a loved one in this way, please complete a Flower Donation Form located in the literature racks in the entryway and return with your check to the church office or  Becky Harris*.

St. Peter’s Finances – A letter from the Vestry to the Congregation

Financially, these are tough times for all of us. You know that as well as I do. This means tight times for our parish as well. Your parish leadership—your vestry—adopted a spending plan for 2010 that trusted in God’s providence. We lowered our income expectations. We cut many things. But we still couldn’t find the funds to match what we expected to spend. So, as we did for many years, we hoped and prayed that income would rise. In previous years, it has, and every year we’ve spanned the gap between what we’ve spent and what we’ve brought in.

But this year, in this matter, God has said “not yet.”

This year, our income has not closed that gap. In fact, it’s gone the other way. Halfway through the year, the parish has received almost $180,000. But we ought to have brought in $192,000, just to keep to our budget—not to mention closing the gap. That is, our income is down by 6%, where we’d hoped it would be up by 6%.

Our parish has been careful in spending: we’ve actually spent 4% less than what we had budgeted. But that spending still amounts to $196,000—and there you see the problem!

So what has your parish leadership done in response? We’ve gone through the budget line-by-line and instituted a spending freeze on most items. We’ve continued to look for ways to save money on utilities and supplies. In some areas, we’re asking for more in-kind contributions from parishioners. We’re asking everyone to update their pledges, and we’re asking those who have not pledged to make that commitment to God and to our common life. We’re monitoring the situation, day-by-day and week-by-week. And we’re praying!

These past few years, under Father Tom’s leadership, St. Peter’s has built on the foundation of the past and moved into future. What we do is truly amazing, and at our ministry fair you will see the good efforts of our caring community. But to maintain our ministries and to have them grow, we’re all going to have to give a bit more.

A few examples: if each family could increase its giving by a total of $60/per person, between now and the end of the year, our immediate shortfall goes away. If each family could increase its giving by $200 per person by the end of the year, then our ministries would be fully funded for this year. We know that many families here need to save every penny, and that giving more to the church could be a strain on finances. So we’re asking you to give what you feel called to give—every bit counts. And we’re asking those that can give more, to do so.

A wise man once said, “The good news is that we have all the resources we need to do what we need to do; the not-so-good news is those resources are still in your pocket, and not in the plate.”

Thank you.

St. Peter’s Vestry: Buddy Andrews, Tom Coate, Tracie Eddinger (Register), Bill Gibson, Tim Hall, Dell Nunaley (Junior Warden), Bob Orbacz (Treasurer), Fr. Tom Simmons, Paul Theerman (Senior Warden), Rick Tyler, and Randy Wanis

Stewardship Reflection

“If you share a good idea long enough, it will eventually fall on good people.” Jim Rohn

Assisting NEXT WEEK (August 1^st )

Church Events Happening This Week:

For complete calendar of events, visit www.stpetes.net

Deadline for submissions for the St. Pete’s Weekly is:   5pm on WEDNESDAYS