eSpirit News & Announcements August 11, 2022

Masks are now required everywhere inside the building due to the high rate of Covid infections in Jefferson County.

Ministry Fair Set-up, Saturday, 3-5. Saints Hall will be open this Saturday, August 13, from 3-5p for ministry leaders to come and set up for Sunday's Ministry Fair. Please reach out to Julie Mushkin with questions.

Welcome back the choir!

Sunday! The Ministry Fair is Sunday, after the 10a service in Saints Hall. Head downstairs to explore all the ministries at St. Matthew’s – there are many rewarding ways to serve the church or the community. While you’re looking into the ministries, enjoy a serving of inspirational gelato, as the gelato cart is back with multiple flavors!

Make your own St. Matt’s T-shirt with Benjamin during the Ministry Fair. Last week’s screen printing was a hit, so we are having an encore performance. Bring your own shirt or item to be printed. No previous screen print experience is needed.

An invitation to introduce yourself. Our church is just big enough that we don’t always recognize who is new and who has been coming for a long time. In an effort to be a more intentionally welcoming community, we are deciding to give up our fears of introducing ourselves to someone we don’t know! The Welcoming Task force would like to invite you to introduce yourself with the question, “Have we met before?” We want our community to be a safe place to ask this question, whether this is your first visit or you have been coming for 70+ years! Small things like this make such a difference for newcomers in our church.

Sunday Education returns to St. Matthew’s on August 21. Join us next Sunday as we kick-off a new season of classes and programming for adults, youth and children.

Start your own Homegrown National Park. You don’t have to have hundreds of acres of land or an agronomist’s warehouse of seeds for a Homegrown National Park. A patio, a small garden or a backyard area will do. In fact, anywhere you can plant just one plant works. Yes, just one plant. Douglas Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park concept is simple: if one person at a time plants one native species of flora, the biodiversity and the ecosystem will be enriched. In the days ahead, St. Matthew’s new Environmental Task Force will be providing more information about Tallamy’s Homegrown National Park as we to look for ways to safeguard and preserve our environment, and prepare to welcome Douglas Tallamy as a featured Dimensions of Faith speaker on October 22, 2023. If you’d like to read more about Mr. Tallamy and the Homegrown National Park effort, click here: homegrownnationalpark.org/

Baking Bread with Justin Klassen Skill Sharing Class, Saturday, August 27. Parishioner Justin Klassen is once again sharing his love of baking bread on Saturday, August 27, from 9a - noon at church. This year he will demonstrate how to bake a multigrain sandwich loaf. Twelve places are available in the church kitchen for the opportunity to have an in-person experience baking the bread. The class will also offer a Zoom webinar so you can participate from home. All proceeds of our Skill Sharing classes support the AMPED Russell Technology Business Incubator, an organization dedicated to helping Black businesses succeed in Louisville. Registration will close Thursday, August 25.

To make a $10 reservation for the in-person class, or to make a $5 reservation for the Zoom option, please go to the skill sharing page on our website: https://www.stmatthewsepiscopallouisville.org/skill-sharing

Newcomer's Class: August 28, September 4, 11 and 18. The St. Matt's Class is for anyone new to the parish or anyone who wants to learn more about the Episcopal Church and how to get involved in mission and/or ministry here at St. Matthew's. Each class is completely independent, so you can attend all four, one or two, or miss one without worry. We’ll meet outside of Myll Chapel after the 10a service. If you have any questions or are interested in the class, please contact Benjamin.

Save the date and tickets for John Philip Newell. John Philip Newell brings his teachings and Celtic wisdom to St. Matthew’s as a Dimensions of Faith speaker on Sunday October 23. He will preach at the 8a and 10a services and lecture at 6p. Tickets are free, but required. Go here for tickets: https://johnphilipnewell.eventbrite.com

John Philip Newell (born 1953) is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being.
Canadian by birth, and a citizen also of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2016 he began the School of Earth and Soul (originally called the School of Celtic Consciousness) and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.
His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books, including A New Ancient Harmony, Sounds of the Eternal, The Rebirthing of God, and his latest award-winning publication Sacred Earth Sacred Soul.

Newell speaks of himself as ‘a wandering teacher’ following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic world, ‘wandering Scots’ (or scotus vagans as they were called) seeking the wellbeing of the world. He has been described as having ‘the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar’, combining in his teachings the poetic and the intellectual, the head as well as the heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern. His writings have been translated into seven languages. In 2020 he relinquished his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland as no longer reflecting the heart of his belief in the sacredness of Earth and every human being. He continues, however, to see himself as ‘a grateful son of the Christian household’ seeking to be in relationship with the wisdom of humanity’s other great spiritual traditions.

In 2011, John Philip was awarded the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC for his prophetic work in the field of spirituality and compassion. In 2022 he received the Sacred Universe Award from the Well Center for Spirituality in Chicago, IL in recognition of his significant work in furthering humanity's relationship with the sacredness of Earth. His new book, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, was named the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and the Religious Thought of the West.

The 2nd Annual Rummage Sale is coming Friday and Saturday, October 14 & 15.

OUTREACH

Clothing is still needed for the refugee family. Please place gently used or new clothing you wish to donate in the cart in the Narthex. Besides summer clothing, they will definitely need winter items such as jackets and coats. Here are the sizes: men’s medium; women’s size XL (16); men’s small to medium; women’s (14-16); women’s medium (10-12-16); women’s small (4-6-8); youth large (girl’s 14-16). If you have any questions, please contact Phil Poore philpoore1@gmail.com or Susan Prater sneaque@twc.com.

NOTICES

Summer parish office hours. Office hours are Monday – Thursday, 9a – 3p; Fridays 9a – noon.

To subscribe to the eSpirit, follow this link: stmatthewsepiscopallouisville.org/espirit/.

10a Wednesday Healing Eucharist. The Healing Eucharist is open to all of those who wish to worship in-person. The service will also be streamed on Facebook and our YouTube channel.

Service bulletins are available online to download. Go to our website homepage: stmatthewsepiscopallouisville.org

The Parish Directory Is Online. You can access the entire parish directory online, through our app (St. Matthew’s Episcopal – found on Android Play Store and Apple Store).

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