Letter from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe on the U.S. Presidential Election

"Dear People of God in The Episcopal Church,
Early this morning, we learned that President Trump has been elected to another term as president of the United States. I pray that he will govern wisely and justly."

This is the beginning of a wonderful letter written to us by our Bishop.  Here is a link to read it in it's entirety:

    https://mailchi.mp/episcopalchurch/presiding-bishop-sean-rowe-shares-staff-updates-in-letter-to-church-leaders-el-obispo-primado-sean-rowe-comparte-actualizaciones-del-personal-en-13959?e=79c7d6339f

St. Benedict’s Weekly Prayers: Week of November 10, 2024

25th Sunday after Pentecost

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

References below names "LFF" are celebrations from "Lesser Feasts and Fasts", 2021.  Holy Days are from the Book of Common Prayer Holy Day celebrations.  You can find "Lesser Feasts and Fasts" online at https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/21034

Daily Prayers for those in need or trouble:

Prayers for the Parish
Kathleen, Mary, David, Isabel, Gary, Ildiko, Carolyn, Judy, Patricia, Marji, Britney, Matthew, Don, Nile, Bill ,Chris, Ray, Kay, Holly, Pat, Jan, Marge, Andy, John, Mia, Jacob, Carolyn and Elisabeth
 
Prayers for friends of St. Benedict
Nancy Jo, Adam, Mary, Sharon, Tina and Amanda 
__________________________________________
In the case of a pastoral care emergency please call the Rector directly
360-485-7281

Monday - November 11 - For Parish Members

Lucy
Judith
Andrew

LFF:  Martin of Tours, Bishop, 397

Tuesday - November 12 - For Parish Members

Devin & Sam
JoAnn & Jay
Nancy

LFF:  Charles Simeon, Priest, 1836

Wednesday - November 13 - For Parish Members

Alyssa & Blake
Kaye
Tricia

Thursday - November 14 - For Parish Members

Patricia
Andrew
Julian & Janet

LFF:  The Consecration of Samuel Seabury, 1784

Friday - November 15 - For Parish Members

Joe
Jonathan & Aurora
Andrew, Norma & Susan

LFF:  Clive Staples Lewis, Apologist and Spiritual Writer, 1963

Saturday -November 16 - We Pray For:

For our Veterans and Those Still Serving

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

Chaplain Echols

LFF:  Clement of Rome, Bishop, c.100

Sunday - November 17, 2024 -
Twenty Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Holy Eucharist - 8 & 10:30 am

For the members of our parish family that
passed away  this year:

Phillip Rupp
John Libert
Carol Frahm
Fedor Borozna

Give to the departed eternal rest;
Let light perpetual shine upon them.

A Prayer for this Parish

Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for St. Benedict's parish family.  Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent.  Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
      Amen.

Parish Leaders

The Rev. Dr. Beth Echols, Rector
The Rev. Tony Irving, Deacon
Mr. Tim Madden, Senior Warden
Ms. Jan Akin, Junior Warden
Vestry members
Karen Knudson, Nancy Zabel, Kaye Scott,  Mark Caldwell,
Jeff Zahir, Gerry Apple, Karen Fraser, Norman Gregory, Spencer Daniels, clerk

Pear Blossom Place

The 2024-2025 Winter will probably be a cold one. Pear
Blossom Place will be helping the homeless individuals by
providing a warm shelter when the weather outside becomes
very cold.

Pear Blossom Place is located in Olympia behind the Casa Mia.
Homeless families with children live at Pear Blossom Place
throughout the year. Plus, this very accommodating place will
provide room on the first floor for single individuals who are
homeless during times when the weather gets severe. Pear
Blossom Place needs the following items for these homeless
individuals: Pillows, Blankets, Single bed sheets, Bath towels
Each Sunday after the second service, I will deliver these items to
the Pear Blossom Place. The administrative team and staff at
Pear Blossom Place are very grateful of all the items that our
congregation have provided them in the past.

If you have any questions concerning this project you may text ,
call or email me.   360-480-5330; geraldappl@yahoo.com.
For more information, please check out their website:
https://fscss.org/services/pear-blossom-place/

Christmas Faire 2024

It has been proposed that we have an "in house" Christmas faire for our church members. We would like to have 5 or 6 artisans to sell their wares at the church on Sunday, November 24th from 9:00 am to 1:30 p.m.
 
If you are willing to be a vendor at the faire, please contact Carol Vaness at  360-878-1583 or Caroline Madden at 360-490-4965. We are asking each vendor to contribute 15% of their sales to go to Outreach. Then our parishioners will choose which organization will receive the donation. 
 
We would also like to have a book sale with 'slightly used" donated books, a bake sale, and a soup lunch available for purchase.
 
If you are willing to volunteer to help at the faire, or donate books or bake goods, we will certainly appreciate it. 
 
Let's start out the Christmas season with some fun at church. 

Calendars for the Mission to the Seafarers

—Ralph Provencal

I am collecting 2025 calendars for the Mission to Seafarers in Seattle.  They are proviced to seafarers as a means of keeping track of the calendar days, events and to brighten up the on-board quarters.  All types of calendars are useful except extra large wall calendars, desk calendars and loose leaf calendars.
I will be collecting through February 15, 2025.
There is a collection box on the counter in the entry hallway.  
Please ask your neighbors, friends and any businesses you normally patronize if they would like to donate a calendar.
If you have any questions you can contact me at 360-701-1898 or rdprovencal@mail.com

The Eucharist at Panorama: Wednesdays at 4:00 p.m.

We are reinstituting the weekly Eucharist at Panorama.  The Service will be led primarily by The Rev. Kathy Prehm on Wednesdays at 4 pm.
 
It has always been the custom of the Church to gather to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in Community.  There are times when we find our ability to travel in the usual ways to be restricted.  It is our hope that this Wednesday afternoon gathering will allow folks who might not otherwise be able to join in the Body of Christ that is St. Benedict Episcopal Church in the Parish of Lacey.
 
We are grateful for this opportunity to worship and hope that you will spread the word and join us.

Feast of St. Francis: Blessing of the Animals

Parish Run off to Woodard Creek -The Season of Creation

The Woodland Creek basin contributes more than half of the water from our parish that enters Henderson Inlet. 
 
This sub-basin has several urban parks like the Woodard Creek community center and Longs Pond (seen in the photograph) all easily accessible for a visit.
 
Because this is the sub-basin within the watershed of our parish that is home to our church, it holds special significance to us.  Bringing it into focus during the Season of Creation not only builds familiarity but gives concrete meaning to the reason for this season.

From the Desk of the SBEC Treasurer

Tim Madden

2025 Budget Process
St Benedict Budget year is January 1st through December 31st
 

In October the budget process for 2025 will begin. The Vestry will approve the 2025 budget in December and it will be presented at the annual meeting in 2025.
 
The following are the steps that will be used:
In October giving statements will be given to each pledging family showing all donations from January 1st through September 30th. Included in the envelope will be a 2025 giving card and a letter from our Rector Dr. Beth Echols and Senior Warden, Bob Zych. Giving cards and letters will also be available for those who did not pledge in 2024
 
The treasurer will present to the vestry the income through September 30, 2024 through pledges (giving cards) and non-pledge givers, also income from building use and other resources.
 
The vestry and ministry leaders will be given an overview of their spending from October 1, 2023 through September 30, 2024. Ministry leaders will then submit their budget for spending proposals to the treasurer, for the 2025 budget year.
 
I will gather all this information and present a 2025 budget draft to the vestry at the November vestry meeting.
 
As treasurer, I feel it is important that the church’s finances are available for all members of St. Benedict. If you have a concern or question about where the money is, please ask me. If you have a question as to why we are spending in a certain way, please ask a vestry member.
 
Tim Madden
sbetreasurer@gmail.com

From the Desk of the Senior Warden

Bob Zych

Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds us to always trust in the Lord. Our individual and community trust ultimately is in God, not our savings. While financial saving is prudent, our ultimate security comes from our relationship with God.
The Vestry is responsible to adequately appropriate SBEC operational funds, as well as maintain a place for future generations to gather as a worshiping community and to celebrate Holy Eucharist. Toward those ends, Vestry began undertaking several projects that go beyond our regular operating budget utilizing our abundant savings, when necessary. Vestry discerned project investments in our building maintenance and infrastructure that reflect stewardship of the treasures received for our Church. We continue looking for ways forward that enhance the ability of SBEC to serve the local community, make responsible environmental choices, and be prepared to assist in emergency scenarios in time of need. Vestry also continues honoring our Church commitment to practice a full tithe as well as an adequate level of reserve funds for future unexpected needs.
Prior Vestry leadership over many years wisely provided for us to now fund deferred maintenance and responsible investment in our aging church building infrastructure. By the Grace of God and the faithful giving of current and past parishioners, Vestry can responsibly assign funds for needed projects.
So, as the Parish sees projects to replace our HVAC system, sanctuary flooring, failing windows, and refrigerator replacements, pipe organ installation, and still other projects to come, rest assured that Vestry is committed to discerning the appropriate use of the generous gifts received by SBEC. Vestry remains committed to operating from a perspective of trusting in God’s abundance.
All things come from you Lord, and of your own have we given you: “Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church…” and “Give us grace to do your will in all we undertake, that our works may find favor in your sight.”

We Have Some New Windows!

The windows that were installed on our church building 37+ years ago have well outlived their expected life.  It was clearly time to replace the southern facing windows as most of them had moisture between the pairs of glass panes (AKA: failed seals).  The vestry set aside monies to attend to a number of deferred maintenance items for the building and the south facing windows were high on the list.
Replacement windows which were installed on September 23rd are “low-e” *glass* which should improve our overall energy efficiency noticeably beyond the performance of the original windows.  The vestry also chose to have the glass tempered so it is four to five times stronger and if it does break it is much less likely to cut and injure people hit by flying pieces.

When the glass installers removed the original windows they discovered that the glass came out very easily, in fact much too easily, as the original double sided tape that held the glass in place had deteriorated badly with the southern exposure.  The glass installers checked the north facing windows, which the vestry had planned to leave in place for now, and found that the tape is not as badly deteriorated though it is clearly failing.  The vestry will need to consider this new information as it moves forward with building maintenance plans.

In the meantime please enjoy the much clearer view out of the parish hall and classroom windows and our heating / cooling budget should notice an improvement as well.

Our New Floor Is In!

Thank you to all the wonderful people who emptied pews, unbolted pews then rebolted them, moved furniture, moved the organ back and forth, gave good advice, were on site while the workers were there, put everything back in its place, and supported this major renovation. Someday we will do the rest of the carpeted area, but not soon.  

Sacred Ground Offering

Sacred Ground is an 11-part series built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.  The films and readings are meant to be a dialogue on race – grounded in faith.  With a facilitator each small groups is invited to walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity.
 
This series is open to all.  It is designed to help participants peel away the layers that have contributed to the challenges and divides of the present day – all while grounded in our call to faith, hope and love.  It is also designed give us the tools to talk with one another about difficult topics.  This program is part of Becoming Beloved Community – to commit to racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our personal lives, our ministries and our society. 
 
Want to know more?  You are invited to an informational Zoom on Monday, October 7, 2024 at 7:00pm.  Please send your RSVP to Deacon Gen at gen@stjohnsoly.org by no later than Friday, October 4, 2024.

Adult Education Update

—Rev. Dr. Beth Echols

Come join us for the return of Adult Education on Sundays between the 8 o’clock and 10:30 Eucharist. 
 
If we are not Roman Catholic and not Protestant what are we?  Some might say we are Protestant-whisper, others Catholic light.  Come decide for yourself.