City of God: First Fruits Blessing

First Fruits talk

 
On Sunday, June 28th, Deacon Cathy Scott and Charles Forman spoke with congregation members about the biblical tradition of first fruits offerings in relation to our City of God campaign.
 
First Fruits Blessing
 
The Reverend Bruce Boss blessed the ingathering of contributions as well as pledge planning cards at both of our Sunday morning services. More details about our City of God capital campaign can be found HERE.


2015 Mission Trip: Gathering

Meeting
On Saturday June 20, several members of the Holy Family mission trip team met to prepare for their upcoming mission to Philadelphia in July.  The afternoon meeting included fellowship time and discussion about some of the systemic issues of racism and economic oppression as they pertain to those the team will be serving in Philadelphia.
Safety presentation
The second portion of the gathering focused on safety awareness and self defense techniques. Recommended Fourth Dan Black Belt Deanna Dicken from North Indy Taekwondo shared a discussion about general safety principles and ways to avoid danger. It included suggestions on how to escape a variety of dangerous situations.
Defense demo
Mrs. Dicken modeled several physical attacks and simple ways to escape.
Defense practice 2
 Students, adult mentors, and parents were encouraged to practice the escape techniques.
Defense practice   Picnic
As is often the case at Holy Family, we ended the evening with a pitch-in picnic meal. Thank you to all who made the afternoon possible. We are almost ready to go and serve at the Episcopal Mission Center! Our next Mission Trip gathering is planned for July.  jjohnston@hfec.org


Godspeed, Father Mike!

Table
 
Following our City of God outdoor Eucharist, we turned the focus of our picnic to sending Father Mike off on his adventure in style. We set up a Bon Voyage table with decorations that nod in the direction of his sabbatical trip to the British Isles.
 
Table note
 
Congregation members wrote well wishes on small tags that were dropped into a suitcase on the table display. At the end of the evening the tags were bound into a booklet to send with Father Mike on his journey.
 
Suitcase
 
During the picnic we enjoyed catered barbecue with all the fixings and sweet treats made by congregation members. We also enjoyed some karaoke and discovered hidden talents within the congregation. Later in the evening, members of our youth group presented Father Mike with a suitcase of small items that might be helpful on his trip including snacks, puzzle books, a sleep mask and neck pillow, hand sanitizer, and Airborne cold medication.
 
Galvins
 
At the end of the evening, Deacon Cathy read the Traveler’s Prayer for Father Mike from the Book of Common Prayer. She then invited the congregation members to hold up their hands to bless the entire Galvin family who will travel with Father Mike for at least part of his sabbatical. She read The Irish Blessing. Godspeed, Father Mike!


City of God: Celebration Picnic

Liturgy
 
On Saturday, May 16th, Holy Family members gathered for our annual spring outdoor Eucharist and parish picnic. This year the event was the final in a series of special occasions related to our City of God capital campaign.
 
People
 
 
Father Mike and Deacon Cathy led the congregation in a beautiful liturgy under a large tent.
 
Music
 
Music was provided for the service by youth group members led by guitarist Ethan Everett.
 
                       Offertory cards Offertory stones
 
Father Mike invited congregation members to bring forward their City of God pledge cards and mite boxes to be blessed during the Offertory. In addition, congregation members returned their river stones that they had personalized earlier during the campaign. The stones will be added to the foundation of the new building during construction.
 
Blessing
 
Father Mike blessed all of the items as well as the regular offering.
 
Cake
 
Following the service we celebrated with a picnic of grand proportion. Our City of God logo, designed by Holy Family member Stephen Beard, took center stage on a delicious cake. At the picnic’s end, Father Mike announced an updated in-gathering amount of $615,000 toward the building project. More information about our City of God campaign can be found by clicking HERE.
 
 


May 2015 Celebrations

Teachers
 
Sunday, May 10th was a super-sized day at Holy Family. We began our celebrations by blessing all Sunday school teachers and Christian formation leaders and thanking them for their service to the spiritual journeys of others. Father Mike offered a blessing.
 
Graduates gifts
 
We honored our 2015 high school graduates and presented them with our traditional gifts – bibles signed by adult mentors and prayer shawls handcrafted by our Prayer Shawl Ministry members. The shawls were made with love and prayers in every stitch.
 
Graduates
 
Father Mike blessed the graduates. Each student shared his or her upcoming college and degree choice.
 
Graduates Cathy
 
We also presented Deacon Cathy Scott with a prayer shawl. Deacon Cathy graduated on Saturday with a Master of Theology degree from St. Meinrad Seminary.
 
Mothers blessing
 
At the end of each service, Father Mike offered a blessing for mothers of all kinds.
 
Mother's Day brunch
 
Our Brotherhood of St. Andrew chapter hosted a lovely Mother’s Day brunch.
 
Cake
 
We also indulged with cake for our teachers and graduates. It was a special day for all who attended.


City of God: Advanced Commitment Dinner

Gathering
 
On Friday, May 8th, members of Holy Family’s congregation gathered at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Carmel for fellowship and the Advanced Commitment dinner for the City of God capital campaign.
 
Mike
 
Father Mike shared a few words about the campaign and his hopes for Holy Family’s future.
 
                                         Charles  Dan
 
Envision Our Future committee members Charles Forman and Dan Chillemi gave updates on the campaign so far.
 
Tom
 
Generis fundraising consultant Tom Melzoni shared stories from his extensive work with other churches and their capital campaigns.
 
Grey
 
The event’s guest speaker was the Reverend Canon Gray Lesesne. Reverend Lesesne was appointed by Bishop Waynick as the Vicar of the new Episcopal community in Brownsburg, Indiana.
 
Candles
 
Following the main address, congregation members were invited to prayerfully discern their campaign pledges and return their pledge cards to a collection basket.
 
Candles lined up
 
Candle solo
 
Church members lit a City of God candle during this special ceremony and were invited to take them home at the end of the evening. Our initial ingathering of pledges yielded $582,000 toward a total project goal of $1 million. More information about our City of God capital campaign can be found by clicking HERE.


City of God: Clypping the Church

Clypping blessing
 
On Sunday, May 3rd, we joined together as a holy family to participate in “clypping the church.” Clypping the church involves the congregation members processing outside to surround the space designated for expansion.
 
Clypping
 
Congregants held hands while surrounding the new space and then turned to face the larger community while a prayer service was held. In this manner, both the church and the community are embraced by the parishioners.
 
Clypping readers
 
Readers were chosen to represent our 8 AM and 10 AM services as well as our youth population. We gathered to celebrate that God is found in our church community and our surrounding community.
 
                     Buns Buns 2 Buns 3
 
Following the liturgy we enjoyed traditional clypping buns (hot cross buns.)
 
Doug Mike
 
Father Mike, Deacon Cathy, and members of Holy Family’s congregation were joined by Aspen Group architect Doug Franklin. Doug has been working closely with our City of God team to design our new building spaces.
 
Clypping township
 
Delaware Township Trustee Debbie Driscoll participated in our event as well. Pictured here with Brotherhood of St. Andrew “senior brother” Joe Spangler, Debbie accepted our most recent donation of items for the township’s food pantry. Debbie also took two trays of hot cross buns to share at the township office. For more information about our City of God campaign, please click HERE.


City of God: Building a Firm Foundation

Blocks
 
On Sunday, April 26th our congregation participated in a variety of activities related to our City of God capital campaign. Deacon Cathy met with all students from preschool through high school. The children were asked to use blocks to build a church and were challenged with questions about where people pray, meet, and learn about Jesus.
 
Blocks 2
 
The children were asked about ways to reach deeper into the community and surrounding areas to share the story of the Good News with others. They were given brick-themed mite boxes and asked to build onto their church building to create new spaces for feeding ministries, bible studies, retreats, and concerts.
 
Mite boxes
 
Children who wanted to take their boxes home were encouraged to do so. Some kids shared ideas for washing cars or dogs, mowing lawns, holding bake sales, or selling unwanted items at garage sales to raise money for our campaign.
 
Deacon
 
Deacon Cathy led the children in singing the refrain of “City of God” and reading aloud the kid-friendly version of our City of God corporate prayer.
 
Stones
 
Following our church services on Sunday, Deacon Cathy encouraged congregation members to personalize river stones with their family names. The stones will be returned to church during our Celebration Picnic on May 16th to be collected, blessed, and added to the foundation of our new building addition.
 
Cards
 
Members were invited to take home a card with the City of God corporate prayer as well. More information about our City of God capital campaign can be found by clicking HERE.


My Night in Jail

 by Bob Murrayprison ministry

I’m dead-tired from a long day of work, a workout at the fitness club, and running several errands, but I feel a shot of energy as I head to the Hamilton County Jail. This is the fifth year that some of the Brothers Andrew from Holy Family have joined their brothers and sisters from congregations throughout the area in ministering to inmates at the jail. Tonight’s session is the last of six we will deliver in this series from the Alpha course – a curriculum on the basics of the Christian faith. We’ll repeat the six sessions four times throughout the year.

As I pull into the jail parking lot, I do my self-pat-down: no cell phones, pens, pencils or other potential weapons allowed in the jail. At the jail front desk I surrender my driver’s license and car keys in return for a visitor badge, which I’ll need to produce to get out of jail. I join the other volunteers, in a circle, holding hands and pray us in. It’s a source of great strength to march into the jail as the body of Christ – men and women from different denominations and faith traditions, yet united by our common love of Christ.

Because this is the last session of this series, we bring several pizzas, in addition to cookies, for the officers of the jail. We pray for them because they have a difficult job to do, and also because we really like it when they let us out after our session with the inmates is over.

The women go to a separate classroom to meet with female inmates. There’s a good crowd of male inmates – approximately 23 – in attendance tonight, and eight volunteers. We deliver two talks of approximately 20 minutes and after each talk break into two small groups of volunteers and inmates for a discussion of what we’ve just heard.

We usually don’t discuss the details of each inmate’s offenses, or alleged offenses, but it’s clear that most of them are here on alcohol- or drug-related charges. A good percentage of them are young – early to mid-20s, and unfortunately, some have been in and out of jail multiple times. Am I any better than these men? No. Did I do some things in my earlier years that might have landed me in jail? Yes. Only I didn’t get caught.

Our first talk is “What About the Church?” and is punctuated by the question and response, exclaimed three times – Who is the church? We are the church! The church is more than a building, denominations, Sunday worship. It is the people of God, the body of Christ. During our group discussion several of the inmates describe their childhood experiences in the church, how several of them fell away from the church, and how, for some of them, that was when their troubles began.

The second talk, “What Can I Do With the Rest of My Life?” is delivered by a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for many years. He has a pointed message for volunteers and inmates alike: No matter what you have done, redemption is possible. It is possible to live a life of integrity, one day at a time, but only with Christ at your side.

We leave the jail energized by the experience and filled with the Holy Spirit. But we realize this is only the first part of this jail ministry: getting acquainted with the inmates. The real work will begin when they are released. Many will need transportation, clothing, housing and a job. You see, the goal of this ministry is to make sure that as many as possible never return to jail. If that’s going to happen, these men will need more than the “correction” they receive from the criminal justice system. They’ll need to know that the good news of Christ, the hope for redemption and a life transformed applies to them, too.

This jail ministry may not be for everyone, but it may be for you. If you’d like to get involved:

  • Read Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25, verses 31-46.
  • Talk to Stephen Canter, Scott Wilson, Bob French or myself about our experiences in the jail ministry.
  • Pray for this ministry.
  • Attend the next jail volunteer training session – June 8 or August 3, 7-9 PM at Christ Community Christian Church, 772 North Tenth Street in Noblesville.
  • Learn more about the Alpha course at alphausa.org.
  • Pray for or send a donation to Jehoshua House, a Carmel-based nonprofit under whose auspices we conduct this ministry.
    Visit jehoshuahouse.org.
  • Pray for or send a donation to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Chaplaincy, which coordinates the jail volunteers.
    Visit sheriffchaplain.com.