The Abundant Life – October 7, 2022

Welcome Back Sunday – October 9th!

This Sunday, October 9, 2022, is “Welcome Back Sunday,” the unofficial launch of our new church Season.  We always look forward to this time of year when we begin to see the return of our “snowbird” and seasonal worshipers. We will worship together in one fantastic service at 10:30 AM (no 8:00 AM Sunday service this weekend), followed by potluck fellowship, a ministry fair, and the directory photo shoot.  You won’t want to miss this Sunday! Our Strategic Planning Consultant, along with the Co-rectors, will be sharing some exciting news about St. Paul’s future! We hope you can be a part of this special event Sunday.

Parish Directory Project

Please return before Oct. 9th

We are gearing up for our new church directory and making a final call to get your information in it! If we have not received your updated information (even if it has not recently changed), we will miss out on having you in the directory.

SO, please print and fill out the “Updating our Directory” form via this link and either email it directly to  OR drop it by the church before October 9^th.

If you will not be around on October 9^th but would like your photo in the directory, please email a headshot photo taken outside to  (you will receive an email confirmation once received).

If you are not around on October 9^th and do not have an outdoor headshot photo of yourself, please call the church to schedule a time to get your picture taken at the church (760.320.7488). This must be done prior to October 9^th to get in the directory.

Dedication and blessing of The Linda Curea Memorial Rodgers Organ

Sunday, October 16, 3:00 PM

Canon Philip Smith, Organ; Dr. Rik Noyce, Flute.  Reception to follow.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS for the following events at St. Paul’s

• Wednesday, October 12 – 6:30 PM – Stewardship Committee meeting (Library)
• Wednesday, October 19 – 6:00 PM – The Feast of St. Luke (transferred)
• Saturday, October 22 – 9:00 – 10:30 AM – Vestry Interest Meeting
• Saturday, October 22 – 6:00 PM – Movie Night on the Lawn
• Sunday, October 30 – 8:00 and 10:30 AM services – All Saints’ (transferred) – bring photocopies of pictures of your loved ones to be placed on the outdoor altar.

Interested in Confirmation/Reception? – Register now for our preparatory classes at .  The sessions will be taught by a variety of clergy from St. Paul’s and the curriculum promises an interesting learning experience.

St. Paul’s Ridesharing – Several St. Paul’s parishioners need an occasional ride to church. If you would like to be part of a team of rotation rideshare drivers, please email .

Desert AIDS Walk, October 29, 7:30 AM – 1:00 PM, Ruth Hardy Park

Registration starts at 7:30; the Walk will leave the park at 9:00 AM.  Saint Paul’s has supported the Desert AIDS Project for over 30 years, providing donors and board members, and by participating in events. Please join us as part of the Community and register with our team. This year we will also be joined by contingents from St. Margaret’s and St. John’s.  Take Action and walk on Saturday, October 29, 2022. Make an Impact by donating or collecting donations for Desert AIDS Project.  You can also register at desertaidsproject.org or contact George at .  Donations can be made at the information table set up in the Columbarium colonnade outside the church before and after services. Alternatively, you can give online or in the offering plate.  AIDS Walk tee shirts are available for purchase from the Desert AIDS Project for $25.

St. Paul’s Ukrainian Refugee Care Exploration

GOOD NEWS: Our Ukrainian Refugee Care Program is now off and running! After many conversations to gage whether there was enough interest in the parish to consider this ministry, the Social Justice Ministry appointed a Ukrainian Care Team (UCT) this past spring. The UCT’s first step was to assess the resources available to us (e.g. diocesan, other non-profits, and civic) and then to ascertain some possible options for providing Ukrainian refugee care. After careful research, the team made a proposal to the Social Justice Ministry at its monthly meeting on September 7, and that proposal was unanimously adopted.

WHERE TO START: There are currently at least two Ukrainian refugee families in the west valley sponsored by individuals (not currently connected with St. Paul’s). The refugees and sponsors exhibited a tremendous amount of determination as they sought to work through significant red tape. Our research indicated that one of those families (the Darahans), and their sponsor (Brittany) were off to a good start and would appreciate our proposed support. The Darahan family is temporarily living in Brittany’s home in Cathedral City. It consists of Serge (father), Kate (wife) and Diane (12-year-old daughter). Serge is an IT specialist in website design and is still working remotely part time for his old employer in Ukraine. Kate is an accountant. Diane is enrolled in middle school. One might consider them an upper-class professional family. They are nominally proficient in English and are working to expand those capabilities. They funded their own way to the U.S. Should we connect with Brittany and the Darahans, St. Paul’s would have no on-going financial commitment. We could learn a lot about what it takes to sponsor a Ukrainian refugee family by helping them get established here in our community in a tertiary supportive role. In other words, this seems like a good place to start our Ukrainian Care Program.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?:  Serge and Kate are in the  process of getting green cards, and they have good temporary living quarters. Although St. Paul’s has made no financial commitment, we as individuals can help them with related immediate needs, including helping them find jobs in their career fields and affordable permanent housing. Even easier, we can made donations to a GoFundMe account (https://gofund.me/c5631e04) that has been established for their benefit to purchase a car, etc. Other needs are likely to arise, but these are their needs NOW.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

• Please check out the website https://welcome.us for a broad coverage of in-point information. There are hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian families and individuals hoping to find refuge in the U.S. WELCOME.US has an on-going registry of Ukrainians anxious to enter the U.S. This includes people of a wide range of backgrounds and persuasions, including LGBTQ+. You’re invited to check out the website and see if something resonates with you.
• Please reach out to the UTC co-chairs, John Sanders () and Hap Blaisdell (), should you have any further questions.

Prayer Vigil at the Salton Sea October 10th

Book Club

The next Book Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 15, 2022, at 1:00 PM via Zoom. For November, Book Club has selected Never by Ken Follett. Never is an action-packed, globe-spanning novel set in the present day, full of heroines and villains, false prophets, elite warriors, jaded politicians, and opportunistic revolutionaries. It brims with cautionary wisdom for our times, and delivers a visceral, heart-pounding read to the brink of the unimaginable.Meeting information will follow later.

New members are always welcome at Book Club. For more information, please contact Alan Zimmerman at

Daughters of the King

St. Paul’s Chapter of the Daughters of the King (DOK) will be offering preparation for admitting new members starting in October. Our order is open to all women who desire a closer walk with the Lord. If you would like more information about the Daughters of the King, contact Patty Kiker at or 214-497-3034, Bonnie Stroock at , or Karen Nelson at . Requests for prayers to be added to the DOK confidential list can be emailed to .

Ever wonder what serving on Vestry is like?

Come to the Vestry interest meeting to get answers to your questions and see if YOU might be the next new addition to this incredible ministry. (Attendance is encouraged for anyone interested in running for Vestry this year.) Saturday, October 22, 9:00 – 10:30 AM.

Sunday School Craft Supplies Needed

Do you have any craft supplies you’re not using that you’d like to donate to the children’s ministry? Fabric scraps, wooden blocks, pipe cleaners, felt, glue, or anything else that’s in good condition? Please bring what you have to the church on Sunday (or call the church for a drop-off this week). Sunday School teachers will be planning the new year next week and would love to get creative with teaching projects.

Mid-week Services

Come worship with us at Evening Prayer or, for select weeks, a simple spoken Mass (Contemplative Eucharist), one or the other, offered Wednesdays at 6:00 PM.

Prayers of the Church

For the Anglican Communion, and for the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby; for The Church of the Province of Central Africa, The Most Reverend Albert Chama, Archbishop and Primate.

For the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, The Right Reverend Daniel G. P. Gutierrez, Bishop.

For the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, The Right Reverend Dr. Susan Brown Snook, Bishop; for the clergy and people of Grace, San Marcos; for Executive Council, Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry, Diocesan Committees and Ministries.

For those commended to our prayers: Emma Brown, Dirk Beach-Barrow, Ruth Wylie, Carolyn & Zachary Scott, Roy Cody, Myriam, Liliana, Nuan Pan, Lisa Furlong, Jessie Rodriguez, Joel Watson, Lyn Morgan, Paul &  Elaine Martinkovic, Marge Horstman, Teresa Ball, Pastor Donaldson & family, Mr. & Mrs. Geeson, Richard Jones, Charles Koser, William Kennedy, Terry Moran, The Rev. Dale Carr & Ken Ballard, Jane Huerter, Josh Brown,  Tom O’Mara, Karl, Megan, Tom Lutgen, Brian Nealy; pray for all those affected by the devastation of hurricanes Fiona and Ian; pray for all those for whom no prayers have been said.

For those who have died: Octavious Russell, Alice Sleight, Debbie Morgan Alam, Eric Edgington, Harold Benjamin, James Booty, Stella Patti Grossman, Jim McCrae, Werner Futterer. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

For those with birthdays: October 9: Michelle Brown; October 10: Doug Hairgrove, Cynthia Jenson-Elliott; October 13: Rick Tinsley, Summer Schoch; October 15: Rex Comer.

For those celebrating anniversaries: October 10: Jan & John Wacker; October 12: Billy McJunkins & Dale Winters, Jeffrey Coates & Steven Holm.

For those for whom flowers have been donated: Today’s Altar Flowers are sponsored by Mark Berry and Daniel Schmidt, in loving memory of their mothers, Jean Hill Berry and Katie Schmidt.

Send us your Prayer Requests via email — You may request prayers, “For those commended to our prayers” or “For those who have died,” by sending requests to Weekly print deadline is Wednesday noon.

For next Sunday’s Lectionary readings, go to www.stpaulsps.org, and click on “This Week’s Scriptures” in the Worship Services box. From the calendar, select October 16, The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

Coffee/Social Hour Hospitality

For those wishing to sponsor refreshments for a specific Sunday Coffee Hour, please call or stop by the Parish Office to sign up. All our hospitality procedures and protocols are subject to any CDC guidelines and mandates that Bishop Susan may put into place, depending on prevailing COVID conditions.

The Abundant Life E-List

If you are not a current subscriber to our weekly electronic newsletter, it’s easy to sign up.  Just go to www.stpaulsps.org, scroll down to find “Join Our E-Mail List,” enter your email address – and you’re all set.  You will receive the newsletter each week, usually on Fridays.

If the newsletter ends up in your spam/junk folder, simply add to your email address book.

Sunday Service Livestreaming

We are livestreaming our 10:30 AM Sunday Eucharist every week. The livestream project was made possible through a generous gift from a “snowbird” member from Philadelphia who wintered in Palm Springs for many years and worshiped at St. Paul’s every Sunday. You can view the livestream on our Home Page, YouTube Channel, and Facebook Page.

Missed a service?  Or want to rewatch a liturgy? All our past services are available to watch either on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StPaulintheDesert or on our Facebook timeline: https://www.facebook.com/stpaulinthedesert

Episcopal Relief & Development

Episcopal Relief & Development is mobilizing with Anglican agencies and other partners to provide humanitarian assistance to people fleeing the violence in Ukraine. Working through the Action by Churches Together Alliance (ACT Alliance), Episcopal Relief & Development will provide cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needed assistance. Please pray for all those affected. To donate directly to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund, visit  (https://support.episcopalrelief.org/).  If you prefer, you can donate through St. Paul’s Parish.  Be sure to designate “ERD Ukraine” on your check or cash envelope.  To date, donations processed through our church have totaled $1,918.

Sunday 8:00 AM Service Vaccination/Masking Update

St. Paul’s Vestry recently revised the vaccination/masking requirements for Sunday 8:00 AM Worship and dispensed with the pre-service check-in requirement.  Masks and Vaccines are strongly recommended, but no longer required. Altar ministers, clergy and ushers will continue masking.

Episcopal News Services

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego – The EDSD News is full of event announcements, church news, death notices, clergy changes, bishop-related notes, and current opportunities for service. Go to https://edsd.org/communications/ and scroll to the bottom of the page where you’ll find space to add your name and email address.  Then click on SIGN UP TODAY. You’ll receive the EDSD News on Wednesday, every week.

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