October 28- November 4, 2007
The Church Offers Nurturing, Experienced, Child Care: For the 8:00 a.m. services, the nursery for infants and children up to 4 years old is available in Room 5 of the Education Building Nursery. At 9 a.m. children below 2 years old are taken to the Nursery located down the hallway on the parking lot side of Huffman Hall. The 2 to 4 year olds remain in Room 5 of the Education Building Nursery. Both Nurseries close at 12:15 p.m. There is also a comfortable, sound proof room in the Sanctuary balcony for adults who wish to keep their babies with them during the services.
3 and 4 year old children have two options on Sunday mornings. ALL children, through age 4, are welcome in the nursery on Sunday morning. Those children who are reliably potty trained and developmentally ready for a more structured environment are invited to attend Sunday School from 9:15 - 10:15 in B16 and Chapel in the Choir Room from 10:30 - 11:00.
Thanks for Faithfully
Wearing Your Nametag each and every Sunday!
If
you need a new nametag, please visit the Welcome Table in the Commons right
after church.
Personal Prayer Teams are available during Communion at Prayer Stations on either side of the sanctuary. One is located on the east side by the windows, and the other one is on the west side in the gallery. Prayers will also be offered immediately after church by the team near the windows. All prayer requests and discussions are completely confidential.
Home Delivery of Holy Communion If you are unable to come to church and would like Holy Communion brought to you on Sunday, please call the church office at 345-8314.
If you attend church but are unable to walk to the Altar for Holy Communion, please notify an usher and the communion elements will be brought to you where you are seated.
The Weekly Word deadline is Noon on Wednesdays. If you have an article for the Weekly Word please email them to Office@StMattsAustin.Org and JeriM@austin.rr.com
Be in the know! Subscribe to the St. Matthew's Email Notification Service. On average, you will receive only one email per week. The parish email keeps you informed about all the important events happening at St. Matthew's. Subscribe yourself by sending a blank email to: StMattsEmail-subscribe@yahoogroups.com You can unsubscribe yourself at any time.
*Items marked with an asterisk (*) are run for the first time today.
Youth News
This evening, beginning at 5:30 pm, the youth will prepare refreshment snacks for the homeless of Austin. After we eat and the snacks are put together we will venture together into downtown Austin and serve those that are less fortunate than us. For this event the youth group asks for parent involvement to drive and serve with us. If you are a parent and would like to assist in this ministry please contact Kevin and let him know. We will arrive back at the church by 7:00 pm for a short worship service and will conclude at 7:30 pm. For any further information regarding the youth program at St. Matthew’s please contact The Rev. Kevin Schubert by phone at 512-345-8314 ext. 232 or through e-mail at kevin@stmattsaustin.org
*Last Chance
This year All Saints’ Day is Thursday, November 1,
and a special service will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
At that time, and again on Sunday November 4th, the annual list of our saints (family members or close friends who have died) will be printed in the service leaflet. In the Commons today you will find a basket containing cards where you may print the names of those in your family you wish to have listed. Just fill out a card and return it to the basket. All names received by 5:00p.m., Tuesday, October 30, will be included. Please write legibly and include your own name so we may call if we can’t read your writing. Or better yet, just email your names to betty@stmattsaustin.org
Reminder: Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on November 4th. Please set your clocks back before going to bed on November 3rd so as not to be early for church on Sunday.
Next Good Faith Sunday Coming Soon!
Next Sunday, November 4, will be Good Faith Sunday. On the first Sunday of every month the loose offerings and designated checks are collected for the Good Faith Fund. Because of your generosity, the Good Faith Committee has been able to distribute over $20,000 to the neediest in the Austin area so far this year. Your donations have kept folks from eviction and loss of electricity. Your donations have kept families together. During this season of Thanksgiving, please consider donating to the Good Faith Fund.
Our next Baptism Sunday will be on Sunday, November 4, at the 10:30 a.m. service. If you or someone you are close to, infant or adult, desires to be baptized, you are urged to contact the Church Office soon. Please email betty@stmattsaustin.org or give her a call at 345-8314 x 215. She will then get in touch with you to gather the information needed for Baptism.
Hand in Hand…Doing What We Can! Making a Difference in Our World
Our Children's Sunday School program for the month of November will focus on counting the blessings in our lives and thanking God for those blessings. BUT...we aren't stopping there. We will also discover that as we work Hand in Hand, with each person offering whatever they can, WE can make a difference in the world! We will be working throughout the month to find real, meaningful ways to share our gifts with family and friends near and far away, whether we actually "know" them or not. Children who are at least four years old through this year’s fifth graders are invited to join us in the basement of the sanctuary each Sunday morning at 9:15 to learn about ways we can reach out to share God’s love and help our neighbors near and far away...no matter how old we are! Questions? Contact Kathy Dugat (343-7989, kdugat@austin.rr.com).
There is just NOTHING like a good book...especially when you share it with a friend. We need your books to share with children and teachers in AFRICA! During the month of November, the children of our St. Matthew's family will be collecting "gently read" hardback books to donate to Libraries of Love. Libraries of Love builds libraries from the ground up for schools in Africa. We need all kinds of books...fiction and non-fiction, picture books and novels, reference books and funny books! Look for collection boxes in the Commons, Huffman Hall and next to the elevator in the basement of the sanctuary. PLEASE help us as we reach out our hand and do what we can to share God's love and make a difference in the world! Questions? Contact Kathy Dugat (343-7989, kdugat@austin.rr.com)
Children's Communion Classes will begin on November 4th. Pre-K and Kindergarten children will meet in B16 from 5:00 - 5:45. Older children will meet in B17 from 6:00 - 7:00. If you have not registered your child and would like to do so, please contact Kathy Dugat immediately! Questions? Contact Kathy...343-7989, kdugat@austin.rr.com.
*Be the first in your neighborhood to have one (or two or three). What are they? Find out next week. Every family should have at least three. (hint: bag 'em and book 'em, dano.)
Parish
Get Acquainted Luncheon
Sunday, November 4
Have you seen all the new faces at St. Matthew’s? Who are all these new people? Many of them are the newest members of our St. Matthew’s Family. As a community, let’s welcome them into our church family at the Parish Get Acquainted Lunch to be held after church on Sunday, November 4. The Newcomers Council hosts the Parish Get Acquainted Lunch every six months for the entire parish to welcome and honor the newest members of our parish family. If you’ve never attended a Get Acquainted Lunch before, you are in for a treat - - delicious food at an affordable price ($5 per person / $10 per family) and the opportunity to get acquainted with a new member or others in our parish family that you don’t know! You will also receive a free New Member Profile book, giving photos and brief biographies about each new member. Look for the sign up sheets at the Welcome Table after church or email your RSVP to Betty Mitchell (betty@stmattsaustin.org). If you joined St. Matthew’s during the last year and have not yet been honored at a luncheon, we would like to introduce and welcome you to the rest of the parish family at this luncheon. Please contact Betty Mitchell to arrange a time to have your picture taken for the New Member Profile that will be distributed at the luncheon. If you are a new member, you should have received your invitation letter in late September. If you did not receive your luncheon invitation, please contact Betty Mitchell (345-8314, betty@stmattsaustin.org).
SAFEGUARDING GOD'S CHILDREN AT ST. MATTHEW'S
Saturday, November 10, 9:00 a.m.-12 Noon, B-18. Knowledge is the best prevention for child sexual abuse. We can make sure that St. Matthew's and all our church's are safe places for our children if we take the time to learn how to recognize predatory behavior and stop it. This excellent training, created by the Diocese of Texas, is mandatory for all people who work as staff or volunteers with children or youth. Your clergy recommend it for everyone who would like to help make St. Matthew's a safe place. Susan Barnes will lead the training. To register, log on:
http://www.epicenter.org/edot/CF_Safeguarding_Gods_Children.asp?SnID=1117969974.
St.
Matthew's Gratefully Acknowledges Commemorative Gifts to the
St. Matthew's Permanent Endowment Fund received on October 21:
In Loving Memory of Charles Canby by
Rita and Jack Eccles
*Outreach at St. Matthew’s: Hope House is one of the ministries supported by St. Matthew’s. Hope House is a residential facility serving individuals with mental and physical disabilities. Volunteers visit these clients throughout the year and a financial contribution of $1,000 is pledged for 2007. In April, friends from St. Matthew’s celebrated the dedication of the Mike Frucella Therapy Room with the residents and their families at Hope House. Thank you to Mary Nell Frucella for leading this special ministry.
Registration began Oct. 7th
for the ECW 2008 Annual Women’s Spiritual Retreat This year’s retreat
will be held again at Camp Allen on Feb 15-17, 2008. This is a great time
after the holidays to rejuvenate body and soul and to prepare for the Lenten
season. Our guest speaker, Kathleen Whitten lives in San Antonio and has been
sharing God’s Word and presenting His Son, Jesus Christ for 15 years. Her
topic is DEEP DOWN CHANGE. Registration deadline is December 21, 2007. Look
for the registration table in the Commons after the Sunday worship services or
contact Debbie Marshall
(ph: 926-5424) or Kathy Morris (ph: 918-9373).
This Little Light of Mine:
Raising Up Children in the Light of God’s Love
There is a prayer in the Book of Common Prayer written especially for children. It begins, “God, our Father, you see your children growing up in an unsteady and confusing world…” Raising children who love God and know that God loves them is no simple task. Almost from the day they are born, our children are bombarded with confusing messages from this world that we live in. Our children are faced with hard choices at a very early age. Are there things we can do to help our children handle the pressures, stresses and confusing messages they hear? Are there things we can do to equip our children to make good choices? ABSOLUTELY!!! Parents, grandparents and god parents are invited to join us on Monday, November 12th at 6:30 in the sanctuary as Kathy Dugat shares simple things you can incorporate into your everyday lives to prepare our children to face the world with confidence, knowing that we love them, and more importantly, that God loves them! Kathy will bring a list of ideas to share with you, and will leave plenty of time for your questions. Child care provided by reservation…contact Marilyn Wright… mjwright@austin.rr.com or 401-8382. For more information, contact Kathy Dugat (343-7989 or kdugat@austin.rr.com).
Boy Scout Troop 511 Presents: Holiday Greenery Sunday morning November 4thLook for our table between the Sanctuary and Huffman Hall.
Any questions, please call Karen 250-2923 or kmflanagan@sbcglobal.
Reuse and Recycling
Center Opens Today
in Huffman Hall
At breakfast today the Environmental Stewardship Council will debut their Reuse and Recycling center.
* Reuse is better than recycling because the item does not need reprocessing before it can be used again. The Center takes eyeglasses, working cell phones and digital devices, laptops, and prescription containers for reuse.
* Recycling helps to minimize our landfill needs, saves energy and conserves raw material. The Center provides a convenient drop off for batteries, CDs, and ink jet cartridges. Paper recycling is available in the parking lot bin.
* A Ride Share program will be introduced to provide a mechanism to connect people interested in carpooling to church, thus Reducing the cars driven, gas burned, and pollution generated. It also provides fellowship opportunity.
* For more details, visit the Center or the Environmental Stewardship Council web page under Parish Community.
Please contribute to the El Buen
Samaritano
Turkey Basket Drive October 28-November 9
EBS will give 1000 baskets and turkeys to low-income families. Our parish, youth and neighbors are leading a collection drive for the following items to fill 75-100 roasting pan “baskets.” For each basket we need:
•1 $10.00 grocery gift cards• 1 box of stuffing
• 1 box of mashed potatoes or cans of yams
• 3 cans of vegetables- green beans, carrots, corn, etc. (Low Salt)
• 1 can of cranberry sauce
• 1 6-pack of applesauce
• 1 packet of gravy mix
• 1 box of biscuit mix or corn tortillas
• 1 box of piecrust mix and 1 can of pumpkin pie filling
• 1 aluminum-roasting pan
• Colored tissue paper to line pan
• 1clear plastic 33 gallon garbage bag
(to hold pan of food) or cellophane
• Ribbon to tie up the basket
Please bring the items you can contribute to the collection area near B-18-19. Questions? Please contact Sharon Lowe at 345-1990 or sharonylowe@hotmail.com or Esther Garcia at ogarcia@austin.rr.com.
On Monday, November 12, our youth and area high school students will meet with Kevin Schubert 9:30 to 3pm to prepare and deliver baskets and share fellowship. For more information on this day of youth –led service, contact Kevin at Kevin@stmattsaustin.org.
