News from the Red Doors - July 30, 2021

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker


Greetings. This News from the Red Doors is rather "newsy", so please bear with me as I share several bits of information.

Marriage Policy - On Tuesday 7/20 our vestry voted to approve the proposed marriage policy. If you'd like a refresher on the process we used to draft our marriage policy, please refer to this article from our June 4th News from the Red Doors. The policy is linked here and will also be available on our website shortly.

Red Doors - I'm excited to announce that we will once again be opening our Red Doors on Michigan Avenue for entry and exit. While I know it doesn't matter as much to us since we've become used to the Harrison Street entrance, it is a sign of hospitality to our guests to have our church doors unlocked for entry. Beginning this Sunday there will be a second sign-in sheet at that entrance. If you choose to come in that way, PLEASE sign-in. We need to maintain contact tracing until this COVID pandemic is history.

Tom Lewis - Tom informed me that due to his declining health he was moving to Alabama to live with his son. He was both relieved to be going and sad to be leaving. Tom wanted to be sure to let everyone know how much he has loved and appreciated his St. Paul's family over the many years, decades, he has attended. He sends us his love and prayers, and I offered the same to him from us. His cellphone number remains the same if you'd like to reach out to him. Please keep him, and his family, in your prayers.

Communion in Both Kinds - Beginning this Sunday we will again offer communion in both kinds. It has been nearly 16 months since most of you have had the privilege of the Blood of Christ and we are thrilled to incorporate it into our Worship in a safe manner. The Worship Committee reviewed the approach and this is our pilot process. After you’ve received the Body of Christ, while seated in your pew, if you desire the Cup of Salvation then please:

  • put your mask on,

  • enter the aisle,

  • maintain social distancing,

  • approach the communion station,

  • wait for your turn,

  • pull your mask down,

  • receive the individual cup from the LEM (Lay Eucharistic Minister),

  • consume the contents,

  • place your cup on the tray of used vessels

  • reposition your mask,

  • return to your seat.

We are excited to try out the process and welcome your feedback afterwards. We deeply desire to offer the Communion Cup in the safest possible way. By way of appreciation, I offer extra thanks to Sandra Provan who shopped the vessels, gathered the necessary items, helped me walk through the process, and agreed to be the LEM for the first few Sundays. Once we have the process down, we'll gladly train any other LEMs that would like to serve in this capacity.

Bible Study - Our Thursday Morning Prayer and Bible Study group will reconvene IN-PERSON the Thursday after Labor Day 9/9. We will be studying Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter. We are looking for a way to also include people who might like to participate but don't find 9am on Thursday a good fit for their schedule. We are considering an evening offering (weekly) or perhaps a once a month offering either on Sunday mornings after church (I hear this has been done in the past) or otherwise. I have two requests of you at this time:

  1. If you'd like a copy of the book, please let me know. I've been able to purchase several used copies of them on Amazon for around $10, about half price. I'll be happy to order you one.

  2. If you'd like to attend a non-Thursday gathering, what fits with your schedule OR is your preference?

As always friends, I'm hear if you need me for prayer, counsel, or simply to sit together and be present to the Holy You are in my prayers, as I know you are in mine. Be safe and see you soon.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)

News from the Red Doors - July 23, 2021

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker


Dear St. Paul’s Family,

THANK YOU for your prayers and support as my family vacationed last week. We had a lovely time including; swims in the pool, diving for the girls, snorkeling for Joe and I, nightly family meals, and many hours (for me) of reading books just for fun. It is SO good to go on vacation and it is just as wonderful to return home. Thank you for welcoming me back to church on Sunday!

In case you haven't heard, our Mutual Ministry Review (MMR) with Susan Czolgosz was a wonderful time spent together as clergy and vestry. She listened to us intently and offered a few good suggestions. The first one we are diving into is a vestry book study on Part-Time is Plenty: Thriving without Full-Time Clergy. The priest's discretionary account was used to purchase copies of this book for each of our vestry members. Beginning in August we will study together one chapter per month, for six months. We hope to learn some exciting tips about thriving with part-time clergy. Stay tuned for updates!

By now I imagine you've heard about our Celebration Sunday on September 12th. We hope you will invite your friends and family so that we can fill the church in a way it hasn't been filled since before the pandemic. Start thinking now about who you might want to be with you to this special service. Suggestions are welcomed by Jean Burns, who is organizing the various aspects of the day.

I pray you are all doing well and hope to see you soon. Be blessed on this summer days my friends. Be blessed.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)

News from the Red Doors - July 9, 2021

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

Stewardship. All too often that word causes people to grasp their wallets reflexively as they are certain the next thing coming is a request for money. Admittedly, that does happen. Stewardship, however, doesn't always require money. Some times, it requires a person's time and their knowledge or talent of how to care for the item, organization, or property entrusted to them.

As life would have it, our rectory needed a good deal of stewardship this Spring. After about 2 years of being empty and untended, it required some TLC (tender loving care). From the sewer line exploration, digging, and repair to the cleaning of the inside to the replacement of the garbage disposal to the "spiffing up" of the rectory grounds - a good deal of time and talent has gone into caring for this property we've cherished for so many decades. We are wonderfully blessed with tenants January-June '21 and then more tenants June '21 - March '22 that allow us a little extra income to care for some of these needs. And as you read previously, we were also blessed to discover our insurance covered all but about $200 of the excavation related to the sewer. Blessed, we are blessed indeed.

The pictures I've included in this edition of our News from the Red Doors show before and after pictures of the rectory back and side yards. Thanks to our parishioner Jessica Crass, her son Carson, and my dear clergy spouse Joe, the rectory grounds are looking infinitely better than before. Thank you to Jessica and Joe for their many volunteer hours. Thank you to Carson for his hard and excellent work at a reasonable rate. Thank you to Sue Cummings for digging and donating hostas and for Sally Glynn for offering plantings of her beautiful irises. As stewards of this property we can be proud of the improvements made, as frugally and sustainably as possible. On a related note, our new tenants are thrilled with their rectory home (while their fire damaged home is being repaired) and are even helping with keeping the grass seed watered so it will grow beautifully.

By the time you receive this email I will be officially on vacation, although we don't fly until Sunday. I can't help but think about stewardship of ourselves ... our minds, souls, and bodies as well. Time for work, prayer, exercise, fun, and relaxation are all part of how we are also good stewards of ourselves. And this coming week my stewardship will include sitting by either the pool or the beach, in the shade and covered in sunscreen, with a cold beverage and an entertaining book. My stewardship for this next week is rest, enjoyment, and rejuvenation ... all of which are important aspects of a well-rounded life. I'm thankful for the time away and for the prayers for our safe travels. I'm thankful to Fr. Rob for supplying on Sunday, and to everyone who has to do a little more in my absence. Thank you!

Should any pastoral emergencies arise in the next week, please reach out to Senior Warden Jean Burns or Junior Warden Tom Konieczny. And until next Sunday (7/18), stay safe, pray regularly, and consider what good stewardship in ALL aspects of your life means to you.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)

News from the Red Doors - July 2, 2021

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

On Wednesday night, as a handful of us gathered (between raindrops) for our Chair and Church event at Fox Park, I reflected upon how much I appreciated Mike Konieczny's initiative to put together these gatherings. While I will never diminish the power and importance of gathering for the Eucharist, I also realize that what makes us community is the conversations we have while enjoying a concert, serving a community meal, or cleaning up the church property during Spring clean-up. It is in the joking, the praying, the crying, and the working together that we learn about each other and become more faithful followers of Christ.

I've heard people who don't attend church remark that "they wouldn't mind going to church if it weren't for the people". If I'm honest, I've felt that way myself at different times in my life (definitely not NOW though!). What I've realized in this sentiment is that people find their own peaceful solitude comfortable. I find no blame there. And yet, I know that some of the most important lessons I've learned about myself and my faith have happened when my personality bumps up against that of the people around me. I've seen the light of Christ in the eyes of people that have hurt me ... as well as in the eyes of those people I have hurt. I've learned lessons in forgiveness given and received, and forgiveness of myself for the many ways I am imperfect. I've been enlightened to perspectives I might not have considered. I've learned life lessons from others that inform my daily actions. I have been formed by the people around me. We are all formed, to some extent, by the people around us.

And so I'm thankful for our Chair and Church events. It affords me an opportunity to sit with people that I might not have opportunity to converse with otherwise. It pulls me out of my regular Wednesday evening routine. And with our red shirts, it demonstrates our commitment to each other and to Christ in a subtle but inescapable way to the people around us in the larger community. We have fun together. It is precious time, for sure

This week we have a second chance for Chair and Church - Saturday at 6pm at the corner of Michigan and Indiana. If you want to learn about old cars, come and sit near to Steve Armstrong. (I think maybe he knows every car ever made!) If you simply want to be around people who love the Lord, love each other, and want to share with and learn from each other - then bring a chair and just hang out. It's wonderful to be faith community together!

Have a wonderful and safe 4th of July weekend, no matter how you may choose to celebrate.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)

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News from the Red Doors - June 25, 2021

A Note from Your Senior Warden
Jean Burns

How busy the last weeks have been and how blessed we are that Mother Michelle very capably rose to the challenge, despite being a part time priest. A funeral, grave side services, a quick turnover on rectory renters, a backed up and blocked sewer, all of this and more required attention and, in some cases, prompted anxiety and stress. Regardless, all is well. I found our church insurance company adjuster extremely accommodating and rejoiced to learn that under our policy we are eligible for up to $2,500 toward our sewer excavation expenses, which left us with an outstanding balance of $162, surely a reason to rejoice.

How wonderful that we were able to find new residents for the rectory so quickly. Thanks to Joe, Mother Michelle, Abi, and Elizabeth Walker and Gloria Armstrong, the house was thoroughly cleaned for a quick turnover and in the process saved St. Paul’s a $350 professional cleaning fee. The entire faith family is grateful.

I continue to attend, via Zoom, the Diocesan Leadership meetings in order to stay current with both COVID policies and the activities, policies, programs, and issues of the Diocese of Northern Indiana and those of individual parishes. On June 7 I joined a Zoom meeting of Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnership, a groundbreaking partnership of our diocese with that of the Diocese of Indianapolis. In this introductory meeting we learned the value each of our churches brings to the community and the potential we have for making better use of our space. As the program continues, I anticipate learning more about how we, at St. Paul’s, can make additional use of a building that has so much potential and how it might become an even more effective asset to our community.

As we emerge from the accommodations we made during the COVID crisis, we have much to anticipate, among them our participation in the Sunflower Festival and the special events of our September 12 Celebration Sunday. Susie Richter, chair of the former, and I, of the latter, look forward to your sharing of  suggestions, as well as your volunteering and participation. We are all eager to return to the best of the past and to incorporate the best of the changes of the past months. To succeed, we need you.

On Tuesday evening, June 22, the vestry and priest met with facilitator, Susan Czolgosz, to conduct a Mutual Ministry Review (MMR). Both vestry members and the priest, through carefully designed questions, were encouraged to assess the roles they play, their strengths and/or weaknesses, and the challenges ahead. Through her guidance we were able to have an open, honest discussion of our successes during the past year, ways in which we fell short, and our goals for the coming year and how they might be attained. I left the meeting filled with hope and optimism for our future, one that asks each of you to contribute your individual gifts.  With God’s guidance, we can do this together.

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

This week has been full of many wonderful activities related to parish ministry and I feel so blessed to be your priest amongst them all. From prayers and anointing, to calls and cards, to graveside committal services, to helping a volunteer scamper onto our roof to try to figure out why the ceiling is wet in the hallway by the sacristy, and to our first meal together as vestry before our Mutual Ministry Review on Tuesday - it has been a blessed week.

Please know that you each are in my regular prayers, as are fervent prayers that our ministry to share Jesus with the community of LaPorte will be blessed. Thank you for your love, support, prayers, and commitment to our precious faith community.

Have a blessed day.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)