📄Newsletter📄

Imagine for a moment that Christ will return in your lifetime. How would that transform your day-to-day living?

Sunday's Gospel: John 10:1-10

“I am the gate,” Jesus said. He tells us that anyone who enters the sheepfold – which has only one entryway – by any means other than through the gate is a bandit. Sheepfolds are designed for protection. Sheep may safely rest within their walls, finding sanctuary behind the gate, which is guarded by the gatekeeper: God. This metaphor would have been very relatable to the earliest Christians as shepherding was an integral part of their culture. Protecting the sheep meant that there was food to eat and fiber for clothing. It meant survival.

The gate offers life, and likewise, Christ offers life. Through Christ, “the guardian [or gate] of our souls,” we find the promise of sanctuary and everlasting life. In this earthly life, we are faced with innumerable things vying for our attention, distracting us, and leading us astray. All the while, Christ-the-Gate stands open, welcoming us into his sheepfold. There is no shortcut; only through Christ-the-Gate may we enter God’s kingdom, and it won’t be easy getting there. But there is hope: “Though [we] walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” we are not alone. Following the still, small voice of our Creator and Redeemer, we will make our way to the Gate of Salvation and we will find sanctuary.

The Rev. Angela Furlong’s call to ordained ministry follows a lifetime of secular profession as a teacher, a neurobehavioral specialist, and a linguist. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Communication, a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She will earn her Master’s of Divinity Degree in May 2023. She is also a wartime veteran. Angela is a passionate advocate for the marginalized and the oppressed, and tirelessly professes God’s unconditional love for all and above all else. She enjoys spending time in nature, writing icons, and listening to people’s stories.

Help us collect all the photos from the celebrations for Father Willoughby’s retirement. Use this UR code to upload your photos to the Google photo folder.

Moon River Opera,
based at St. Paul's,
presents the following programs.
Come out and support local singers and artists!

The Vestry would like to thank the parishioners of St. Paul's for their continued prayers and words of support during this time of transition and change in our church community. We are praying, discerning, and meeting together regularly to select and call our interim rector as soon as possible. Until that time, the Vestry has made arrangements for the conduct of public worship and for pastoral care, including restarting our calls to everyone on our directory list beginning in the next couple of weeks to ensure that everyone's needs are being met. The Senior Warden (Simona Perry) will serve as the administrative authority of St. Paul's in supporting and managing the programs and administration of the church, including staff oversight, until the interim arrives. If there are questions, concerns, or any issues that arise during this time, please do not hesitate to contact us via the office phone (912-232-0274).

When the interim rector does arrive, they will be clergy who have experience with the ministry of transition and who are willing and able to lead the conduct of public worship in our Anglo-Catholic tradition, to continue our existing pastoral ministries, to support current and emerging programs of St. Paul's, provide oversight of staff and administration, and (very importantly) facilitate the entire parish in evaluation of our mission and ministries and assist us in the search for and arrival of a new rector. It is important to remember at the very beginning that the interim rector will not be someone who we will consider for the new rector, but rather they are someone who is here to walk with and minister to us as we live in a period of change and into a new life with a future new rector. All of this transitional work will be done in close collaboration and consultation with the wardens, vestry, part-time and assistant clergy, and other parish leaders.

**THANK YOU**
A big thank you to everyone who volunteered, manned the booths, donated baked goods, plants and books and came by to shop! We received the following moneys:

Plant Sale: $655 (Building Fund)
Bake Sale: $371 (Youth Scholarship Fund)
Book Sale: $124 (event costs/setup and general fund)

**ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE CLASSES**
ESL every Saturday at 5 pm in the Parish Hall! Anyone is welcome with an interest in learning a new language, teaching English, participating in conversation with those who speak a different language, and building Beloved Community with our non-English speaking parishioners and neighbors.

**DIOCESAN YOUTH EVENTS**
Registration for summer camp at Honey Creek is now open! Three sessions will be held in June. One for high schoolers (grades 9-12), one for middle schoolers (grades 6-8), and one for children who have completed 3rd grade through 5th graders. This is a fantastic way for youth to meet friends across the area and in nearby parishes but they are also welcome to bring friends. Find out more and register here: http://honeycreek.org/camps/

For questions contact Rev. Canon Joshua Varner at JVarner@gaepiscopal.org

SUNDAY MUSIC

Entrance:
Sprinkling Rite: Vidi aquam
(I saw water flowing from the temple)
H175 Hail thee, festival day

Gradual Hymn
H518 Christ is made the sure foundation

Offertory Hymn:
H645 The King of love my shepherd is

Processional Music:
H182 Christ is alive!

Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei: William Mathias
Organ Prelude: Prelude in Eflat Major (J.S. Bach)
Organ Postlude: Fugue in E Flat Major (The St. Anne Fugue, J.S. Bach)

Music Notes: “The King of Love My Shepherd Is”

Sir Henry Baker (1821-1877), who paraphrased Psalm 23 for this hymn, is said to have spoken the third verse as he lay dying:

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love He sought me,
And on His shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me.

He was vicar of Monkland, a country parish on the poor edges of Queen Victoria's England. His greatest passion was leading a committee of hymn writers and composers for the monumental production of Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). Many of these contributors were members of the Oxford movement, which maintained a deep regard for the rituals and sacraments of the church. A notable feature of this hymnal was the printing of text and tune on the same page. Each setting was intended to enhance the poetry of the text, making the emotion of the hymn clear. When the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams sought to use this hymn in The English Hymnal (1906), he arranged the tune (called St. Columba) from an old Irish Air.

CE425
Mosaic
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy

Good Shepherd