Dear friends in Christ,

Prayer is something that gets talked about a lot. Yet I wonder if prayer is something that people think "someone else" does "better"? Yes, I'm clergy and so I know how often you all say grace before parish functions! I walk into Wyatt (if someone doesn't come to fetch me first!) and I'll hear, "We've been waiting for you to say grace." I chuckle and throw up my hands and say "The Lord be with you," and off we go, thanking God for our food and fellowship.

This Sunday, the gospel is about prayer, and Jesus' disciples for him to teach them to pray. We will reflect on what prayer is, what it isn't, and how you might learn to pray--not in a "better" way but just as you are, today, in your own life.

Please join us on Sunday for worship. And if anyone would like to bring some cookies, brownies or lemonade or iced tea to share for coffee hour, please do so!

Sunday's Readings Hosea 1:2-10 Psalm 85 Colossians 2:6-15 Luke 11:1-13

Announcements

St. Philip's Nave & Roof Project Goal: $125,000.00 Received as of July 11, 2010:113,253.96 Still Needed: $11,746.04

We are getting closer all the time! If you have not given to this project, we would gratefully receive your contribution now.

Second Quarter Pledge Statements are available in Wyatt hall following both services this Sunday. Please pick up your statement so we don't have to mail it, and if you have any questions about your pledge statement, please contact Doug Hayes. Also, if you are behind in your 2010 pledge, we would be so very grateful if you would catch that up. Due to those awful winter storms, we lost some financial ground and do not want to end the year with a deficit. Every one of you counts.

For the next year, we are going to have an intern among us! (We already have Ginny Wilder, a VTS Seminarian, coming this fall to do Field Ed here.)

In EDOW (Episcopal Diocese of Washington), a person who has been approved to be an Aspirant (just the beginning of ordination process) must spend one year in a parish other than his/her own home parish, as part of continuing discernment. Some folks do the year of internship and then do not move forward in process; others do.

George Wong and his wife Beth have visited St. Philip's several times and were considering us and another parish in the area, and George has prayerfully discerned that our parish would be a good place for him to continue his discernment about ordination.

Two things George and I have agreed he will be part of are Sunday School and Pastoral Care. He is going to co-teach the Rite-13 Class with Shannon Toole, which gives Jennifer Toole an opportunity to do more supervisory work with the Sunday School in general. He will also do some work with the Pastoral Care Team and our goal is that he will develop a short teaching/training series for not only the Pastoral Care Team, but for any of you out there who might be interested in being on this team if you knew what pastoral care does and does NOT involve. In other words, you may find that you do have the gifts needed for some aspects of this ministry. His work among is is non-stipendary, and will involve 12-15 hours/week.

According to diocesan guidelines, I will be putting together a small lay team that will meet monthly with George, led by an EDOW Commission on Ministry member. Meeting times will be determined by the group and the COM's schedule. I will soon be asking some of you if you would be willing to serve in this ministry, which will probably begin meeting in September and meet until next June.

George and Beth's home parish is Christ Church, Rockville, where Beth is an integral part of the Altar Guild. When she is not serving on Altar Guild, or traveling for her work, you will likely see her face in the congregation. George will write a bio to share with you later, but for now, please welcome George and Beth who will be with us for the next year.

Lots of wonderful things are happening here! Thanks be to God!

Note: The small window unit air conditioner in the Little Chapel is not sufficient to take care of this awful summer heat. We're going to put a larger one in--hopefully before this weekend. If you have an extra $300 to donate to St. P's to cover this expense, we would gratefully receive that gift. Please designate in the memo section of your check. Thanks, Sheila+

LARS is grateful to St. P's for generous donations this summer to the food pantry, as summer is a time when supplies run low. The LARS pantry (contrary to appearances if you walked in that room) contains only about two-month's worth of food. Terry Betzer, who re-stocks shelves nearly every week, notes that "supplies are starting to run low. We're out of canned peas and canned corn." So this week, when you do your grocery shopping, please pick up some canned goods (especially peas and corn) or other non-perishables and bring to church this Sunday. The LARS basket is in front of the organ.

"Tea" Planning Meeting: The Women of St. Philip's will host a "Tea" on Sat., Oct. 16. A planning meeting will be held on Tues., Aug. 3 at 7:00 p.m. in Wyatt Hall. Women or men interested in supporting the planning of this event, please attend! Questions? Contact Kama Hamilton or Betsy Brothers. Note: Proceeds from the Tea will benefit the Nave & Roof Fund.

DECLUTTERING: The St. Philip's Vestry will be investigating all building spaces during the Aug. 17 Vestry meeting so an action plan to deal with surplus items can be developed. You can help by: 1. Taking any items home that you may have in storage at St. Philip's. 2. Attaching a note to any items left at St. Philip's, with your name, the intended use of the items and whether you consider it to be a loan or donation. 3. Please consider discarding objects for which you are responsible if they have not been used in a year or more.

If you have information on these items, please offer that info by August 15. If you would like to donate items to St Philip's for any purpose, please ask the Senior Warden prior to bringing them to church. Thanks.

LARS/Laurel Elementary School Supplies Drive: School starts on August 30, which means l-o-n-g shopping lists of school supplies for parents. To help families that can't afford all the supplies the schools request, St Philip's is collecting supplies. LARS requests donations of school bags filled with supplies, so we will try our best to fulfill their request. Any leftover supplies will be donated to Laurel Elementary School. For a complete list of school supplies, check the bulletin board in Wyatt Ministry Center. Here are just a few suggestions: boxes of tissues, rolls of paper towels, bottles of antibacterial hand soap, boxes of crayons, yellow pencils, 2 large pink erasers, "black marble" composition books. Teachers request that backpacks have no wheels. DEADLINE: August 23rd. Place supplies in "LARS" basket in front of the organ.

Prayers

Please remember in your prayers the following, for healing, strength and comfort: Carol Bracht, Jane Burke, Lisa Chichester, Guthrie Collins, Judy Cramer, David Daniels, Nella DiBattista, Jack Dunn, Amy Elmquist, Gus Eustis, David Fales, Pat Bentley-Fisher, Albert Fons, Paul Forster, David Graham, Knox Howerton, Darlene Jensen, Brenda Johnson, Katie Kane, Jim Kirby, Annie and Larry Lewis, Cecelia Moseley, James Nordberg, Wes Neff, Shirley Nevitt, Elly Pim, Geraldine Pinkston, Mary Scout, Becky Shearin, Audrey Shumway, Barbara Smith, Mitchell and John Taylor, Anthony Temple, Becky and Larry Thomas, Lois Tyler, Stephen Wheeler, Peter and Margaret Willett, Judy Williams, and Stephanie Wright.

Pray for Donna Crary, who grieves the death of her father, for Mike Herbert, who grieves the death of his mother, and for Betsy Burke, who is grieving the death of her grandmother. May these loved ones of our parishioners rest in peace and rise in glory with the saints on the last day.

Pray for the men and women who serve our country, both on these shores and beyond, especially for those in Special Forces. Just to keep things in perspective, it's supposed to be 102 degrees today in both Baghdad, Iraq and Kandahar, Afghanistan today.

Speaking of hot weather, pray for any person who must work in the outdoors in this terrible heat: people working on construction sites, those working on roads and highways, those doing roof work, our folks who pick up garbage, etc. Say a special prayer for them.

We have some St. Philippians who have found new jobs in the past several months, and we have some who face layoffs this fall. Please pray they will find new work--even before they have to leave their current job.

If you have shelter this day, or food, or water, or a shower or bath, or someone who loves you (or whom you love), say thank you to God. An attitude of gratitude, as the prophet Oprah says. . .

Give thanks for this parish, for your Vestry members who work so faithfully on behalf of it, and for all lay leaders. As your priest and pastor, I could not do the ministry I do without your ministry. We are all important and each of you has a gift to offer St. Philip's. I know, you may think you don't, but you do. Ask God today what you might give to St. Philip's (and I don't mean money) that might help "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Faithfully, Sheila+

NOTE: If you are getting St. Philip's weekly e-mails and you do not want to receive them any longer, please send an e-mail to Doug Hayes, who manages the list.

For sermons and spiritual reflections,check out: http://preacher1.wordpress.com

---

Receive the weekly newsletter by email.