Due to some technical difficulties, we are releasing our summer newsletter here on the blog! Thanks for bearing with us and look for a re-vamped version of our newsletter this coming fall!

St. Paul's Communications Team. 

Two Notes from the Lead Pastor 

I’m going to Israel!  I’ll be gone from May 21^st to May 30^th visiting the Holy Land with a group of pastors.  This is a dream come true for me—to actually walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.  Also this means I’ll be out of communication in that time period.  So please be patient: I’ll respond to phone calls and emails when I get back.

This means I won’t be at St. Paul’s for Pentecost Sunday. But no worries: we’ve got a great service planned.  There won’t be a sermon.  There will be a series of responsive readings and time for corporate prayer as we celebrate and welcome the Holy Spirit.  I’m bummed I’m going to miss it.

See you in June!

Vince 

Prayer Team Update.

We would like to make known all of the exciting things that are happening with our prayer team. In addition to the privilege of praying with you after the services and praying over your written requests, we are also offering morning and evening Restorative Prayer sessions two days per month through the summer.

Restorative prayer is a safe, confidential, loving environment of acceptance, affirmation, and powerful meeting with God. We will post the dates on the bulletin board in the café with our contact information and how to sign up for a session.

If you feel that the Prayer Ministry is where you may be called to serve, there will be a Basic Prayer Servant class offered at Walnut Hill Church in Bethel, CT one Saturday in June. The cost is approximately ten dollars, which is for lunch and materials. We will keep you posted on the details as we learn of them.

Vicki Oldham. & the Prayer Team.

Missions Update.

Recently, I have been spending some time going over the Giving Budget that we will propose to the membership.  It gave me an opportunity to reflect and give thanks for the great things that God is doing missionally at St. Paul’s.

With God’s help we plan on reaching out to our local community by offering friendship and support to those suffering through some of the hardship that life can bring. We plan on uniting with other local churches and increasing our focus on the UCONN community.  We will continue our partnership with MACC in the Manchester and surrounding areas.

Regionally, we will continue to make ourselves available to assist those families that have been devastated by the effects of hurricanes or tornadoes.  We will do this through our partnership with Lutheran’s CARE.

On a global level, we will be traveling to Panama in July or August to continue and to expand our work with the local churches there.  Finally, in January we will be returning to Tuxpan, Mexico to work with the churches that we met during last years trip.

I hope that each of you will continue to heed the command to “Go”.  I look forward to serving with you in the months to come.

Bob Jeram     

Hospitality Update.

Making our church feel warm and welcoming has always been a priority for us at St. Paul’s. Currently, I am looking for more people to serve on our Hospitality Team. Starting in July, I will begin to officially schedule Greeters, Communion Servers, and Bakers. No experience is necessary, except for maybe the baking part (unless you make wise use of Big Y’s bakery section!).  You would be asked to arrive half an hour before the service to help out, and the time commitment will most likely be every six weeks or so, unless you wish to serve more often.  So if you’re interested, please contact me by email (jmmullaney@gmail.com) or by phone (623-258-0873) by June 16th.

Thanks!

Jeanne Mullaney.

Teen Ministry Update.

This fall, I was terrified to begin meeting with the teens.  High schoolers.  Teenagers.  I wasn’t sure what leading a group of them would be like (aside from being horrifyingly certain that they would hold me to a standard of coolness that I simply couldn’t meet), but I couldn’t shake the firm belief that St Paul’s needed a group for our teens.  With much support from Emma and from Vince, this October we began our weekly small group for teens. 

Now, months later, I can tell you that our St Paul’s teens – Kayla Donaldson, Jonathan and Rosie Alumbaugh, and Kaylee Yacono – are amazing.  We currently meet Sunday evenings, after church, although all of us seem interested to keep meeting through the summer.  Together, we discuss the sermon and our questions about life and God and godly living.  As I’ve gotten to know them, our teens’ honesty, openness, and genuine care about each other and others in their lives is an inspiration and an encouragement. 

If you would like to pray for our group, please pray for the strengthening of friendships amongst us and for our summer plans for teaching, fellowship, and outreach.  

Zara Rix

Hi Everyone! Hope all you mothers had a wonderful day yesterday, and I hope the rest of you made your mother's Sunday wonderful! Here's a little cheer for this rainy Monday: St. Paul's Annoucements:

• Missions Month: This past Sunday, Vince preached about what we're doing on a local level at St. Paul's. Check out his sermon here. Exciting things are happening!
• VBS: We're running a VBS program at St. Paul's from July 9-13th. Volunteers will need to be at church from 8:30-12:30. If you're interested in volunteering that week, or would like to help out in some other capacity, contact Bethany Eklund.
• Panama Summer Missions Trip: A group from St. Paul's is heading to Panama this summer. If you are interested in being a part of this trip, contact Bob Jeram.  
• Thai Song Event: The Alumbaughs will be hosting an event with St. Paul's Alum Marisa DeYoung this Friday (May 18th); she will be selling products from Thai Song, and the benefits will go towards helping disadvantaged women in Thailand. More info here. 

And that's all. Remember, if you have anything you'd like to communicate to others at St. Paul's, let us know at communications@stpaulswired.org. Have a blessed week everyone, and we'll see you next Sunday!

St. Paul's Alum Marisa DeYoung will be selling items made by Thai Song; empower disadvantaged women in Thailand by purchasing items that will be available at this event!

Click here to download:

Willimantic_Invite.pdf (511 KB)

(download)

Click here to download:

Willimantic_Invite.pdf (511 KB)

Hello All! Here's what's up at St. Paul's this week, in case you missed announcements yesterday:

• Missions Month: May is Mission's Month! For the next couple week's, we'll be continuing this series by learning more about our church's local outreach and future plans. 
• Summer Missions Trip: Bob Jeram is taking a team to Panama this summer! If you're interested in coming along and serving, please contact him. Remember Vince's challenge: consider an international mission's trip! Contact Bob. 
• Worship Seminar Parts 1 and 2: A few weeks ago, Nick held a worship seminar at St. Paul's. To hear more about his thoughts on worship, you should check out our sermon page and have a listen! 

Have a great week, everyone!

From Vicki Oldham:

Our community is only as strong as our individual walk with Christ. In the spirit of continuing to acknowledge people who have strengthened our body at SPC, I just want to say thank you to someone who has faithfully prayed over the prayer cards without any thought of time restraint or cost of emotional investment. She continues to pray for them throughout the week whenever they are brought to her mind.

She has embarked on her own faith journey that would have made most of us throw in the towel and head for less rough terrain. She has bravely confronted ghosts of the past and looked directly at personal weaknesses and past regrets with courage and honesty and transparency that few of us could summon.

She has honored those of us on the prayer team by sharing this rugged road through writing and verbal testimony to the working and tilling of The Spirit of Christ. She has recognized lies and called them what they are and taken a stand for Christ amidst doubt, fear and staggering odds against her in the natural. She has put her hand in Jesus’ and asked Him lead her through forgiveness, trust, faith and strength with the discipline of daily scripture reading, meditation and prayer. And, she continues the journey.

Thank you, Elaine. You continue to be an inspiration and a testimony. We are stronger in our body because of you. I pray that you never give up and that you  press even deeper in to the heart of Jesus, until you cannot press any further and that He keeps His fire burning with in you.

This scripture makes me think of you: ”My God, I want to do what you want. Your teachings are in my heart.”  (Psalm 40:8)

Way to Go, Elaine! Thanks for serving! We couldn't have done it without you!

From Bob Jeram.

Every community has them and we, St. Paul’s, are no exception.  They are the people who operate behind the scenes, quietly, efficiently, effectively.  They are the people without whom our mission would not be accomplished.  They are the unsung heroes.

My unsung hero is my wife, Pat Jeram.  By extension, all of the spouses and families of those recently recognized at St. Paul’s are also my unsung heroes.  Like Pat, they work in the background, lending support, encouragement and wisdom to their more visible family members.   

Let me tell you about Pat.  She is the strongest person that I know.  Last year after being diagnosed with cancer, she had surgery in mid-December and three weeks later she was on mission with us in Panama.  I have seen her on mission when she has been so dizzy (she suffers from vertigo) that she could not walk.  I have seen her continue to muck out rooms and hang sheetrock when I have been spent.  I have seen her endure meals that she didn’t care for, sleep in homes of people that she didn’t know all for the sake of mission.  I have seen her labor quietly so that hundreds of kids could have puppets that they celebrated and praised the Lord with.  I have seen her give up vacations year after year in order to allow us time in Panama or in Mexico.  She is the voice of reason to my voice of passion.  She is the person who reminds me of who I am and of who I am not.  She is my rock and my unsung hero.

So to her and all of the rest of the unsung heroes at St. Paul’s, I say, Way to go.  Thanks for serving.  We couldn’t do it without you!  

Sunday was Celebration Sunday.  We celebrated and honored one another.  In this blog I’d like to celebrate Zara Rix. 

Zara thought it was important to have a high school small group.  And so Zara started a small group for high school students.  I’ve been part of the group this spring.  We’re not a large group but we’re a good one.  I’ve really enjoyed getting to know these students and Zara.  And the reason the group exists is because of Zara.

Zara Rix.  Way to go!  Thanks for serving.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

This Sunday was Celebration Sunday.  We celebrated one another and honored people’s contributions to our church. 

This is fun to do.  More importantly this is a biblical thing to do.  The apostle Paul writes:  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever been celebrated and honored by the church?  How did it make you feel?
2. Have you ever celebrated and honored another in the church?  How did it make you feel?

1. Who will you celebrate and honor this week? (And tell them how much you appreciate what they do!)

Hi Everyone! So a few things are happening at St. Paul's this week: Check it out!

• Membership Meeting: This Wednesday (May 2nd) we are having our next Membership Meeting in the chapel at 7PM. We'll be voting on our bylaws, and we'll also be discussing our upcoming budget. All are welcome!
• Panama Trip this Summer: If you're interested in going on a Missions Trip this summer to Panama, contact Bob Jeram.
• Paul and Karen Hernandez's Graduation Party: Paul and Karen are going to be in town for their PhD graduation, and they will be having a graduation party in the St. Paul's cafe this Friday (May 4th) at 6PM. Come celebrate!

That's that! Hope you all have a great week, and we'll see you on Sunday!