Journey - Newsletter - April 2008

In April, the Outreach Committee will launch a campaign to raise funds for medicated mosquito nets to combat malaria. Our goal would be to raise $600 for enough nets for 50 families. They protect pregnant women and children under 5 from this dreadful disease. Adults can contract malaria and live, but these two groups seldom survive. A child in Africa dies of malaria every thirty seconds. The nets prevent this by covering a family as they sleep to protect them for five years. Each year more than a million people die of malaria around the globe. The enormous tragedy of this is magnified by the fact that this is preventable.

We have received a sample net from the Episcopal Relief and Development to display. Watch for it.

Our Outreach Committee voted in February to match the first $200 that we receive with a grant from our budget. This project will help to fulfill three of the eight Millennium Development Goals:

1. Reduce Child Morality

2. Improve Maternal Health

3. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other Diseases

The Outreach Committee will meet at the church on Thursday, the 27th at 10:00 a.m. You are invited.

ECW Annual Meeting #120 set for Wilmington on May 6th

Traditionally women have enjoyed opportunities within the Episcopal community at every level. All Episcopal Church Women are ECW members and multiple “Chapters” thrive in many churches throughout the Diocese. The East Carolina Diocese ECW Annual Meeting is set for May 6th at St. James in Wilmington.

This year’s guest speaker is Debra Farrington, who is the author of eight books on Christian spirituality. She leads workshops and retreats around the country. Celebrant at Eucharist is our own Bishop Daniels.

Registration forms are at church and the deadline for getting them in is by April 25th. I’m sure that if enough of us want to go, we can get a car together. The cost is $10.00 which includes lunch and the meeting. Registration is underway at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 6th. Kathleen Meyer

April Ministers (Volunteers needed for blank squares – please see Sandy Valentine)

The Picture Directory

The resident parishioner photographer, Denny Murdock, will be manning his mobile studio again on March 30th after 10:00 a.m. services.

Local Author’s second Novel the subject of the Book Group

“A richly textured story of a hardscrabble life in the South at a time when a nickel was a lot of money and cotton mill work was a leap up in life beyond most dreams.” Ken Gruebel, Sun Journal Critic.

Cotton Mill Girl is the book, Flora Ann Scearse from Trent Woods the author, her mother, Selena “Sippy” White, the Cotton Mill Girl. The Industrial Revolution, the exploitation of labor, unions, are all portrayed against a background of country, folk music, Baptist Religion.

The book will be reviewed on Tuesday, the 22nd of April at 10:30 a.m. at the church. As I have noted previously, reading the book is not a prerequisite to attendance. Hearing the discussion could influence your reading. See Sandy Valentine about securing a copy.

Who needs to be appreciated?

One of the undervalued pleasures of this life that we are gifted to live is appreciation, the old “attaboy” that motivators talk about. I personally wallow in it and I suspect that I am not alone. Our monthly visit to Croatan produces oodles.

We are looked forward to, enjoyed, and spiritually rejuvenated by a bunch of beautiful people, many not that much difference in age that we as we present music, some refreshments, a little humor, some reminiscences, but mostly just our presence, evidence of our care, concern, and love. Touch base with Mary Roberts or just show up on the third Thursday in April the 17th at Croatan Assisted Living.

The other night on local television I saw some appeals on behalf of local emergency support services which dramatically demonstrated alarming shortages with respect to nonperishable food supplies. You are reminded that Sybil has graciously volunteered to “truck on down” to RCS with whatever we bring in to the basket we prominently display.

If you have news that you would like to share with people across the Diocese of East Carolina, just forward your articles to newsletter@diocese-eastcarolina.org. Their deadline is the 10th of the month.

It has been suggested that a Prayer List for Peace and friends of Peace be established. Unless renewed names would be published in the Journey for two issues. Your comments are invited.

The Vestry Meeting is set for April 3rd at 6:30 p.m. As always, any and all are invited to attend.