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St. Paul's on-the-Hill Episcopal Church Our staff includes: The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith, rector; Ms. Heather Ankerbrand, Director of Music; and Mrs. Trudi Schwarting, parish secretary. Thank you for visiting our website. We invite you to visit us in person; we would be delighted to meet you. If you have any questions, give us a call or contact our priest by email at hilary@spoth.org or send an email to our secretary at office@spoth.org. Announcements | Schedule | Newsletters | Home Blessings | Sing-a-Long | Children's Chapel | Book Club | Adult Education | Children | Youth | Outreach | Handicap Accessibility | History
Vacation Bible School We will hold our VBS June 23-27. The theme will be The Oasis of God's Love. We will have desert motif; there will be learning about the environment; Bible passages will be the basis for our teaching; and we will have a project to support clean water for those in need of it in our world. As always, our VBS will be a fun, spirit-filled and faith-filled time of learning for our children. The program is designed for children who have completed kindergarten; younger children are invited to participate with a parent who will stay with them. Older children, youth, and adults are encouraged to come and help lead. Please call the church to register. Holy Communion--a few notes All baptized persons of any denomination are welcome to receive communion in our church. We have gluten-free wafers for those who are allergic to wheat. Please let our priest know if you would like to receive a gluten-free wafer in advance of the service. Reception of the bread is full communion. The wine does not need to be received if one prefers not to for whatever reason. Our priest and trained Lay Eucharistic Ministers are available to bring communion to those who are sick and unable to attend church. Please call the office to schedule a visit if you are not currently being visited. Ascension Day Invitation We are invited to celebrate the feast of the Ascension with the people of Christ Church, Millwood; The Rev. Ann Manson serves as their rector. The service of Holy Eucharist will be at 7:30pm on Thursday May 1. Ascension Day is a major feast day of the Church, and is celebrated forty days after Easter. As Leonel L. Mitchell states: "It shows forth the glory of the risen Christ as he takes his place at the right hand of the Father. This is symbolic language, and the emphasis is on the glorification of Christ in his risen humanity rather than on celestial architecture. The line from the preface, 'that where he is, there we might also be, and reign with him in glory', expresses the heart of what we are celebrating (Lent, Holy Week, Easter, and the Great Fifty Days, Cowley Publications, Cambridge MA, 1996)." We will not hold our usual Wednesday service on April 30 so as to focus on our celebration of the Ascension on May 1. Christ Church is located at 809 Bishop Mead Rd. (Rt. 255) across from Project Hope in Millwood Virginia. Their web address is http://cunninghamchapel.com/ Stewardship of Creation Meeting The Committee on the Stewardship of Creation, Diocese of Virginia, will meet in the Baden Room here at St. Paul's on Saturday, May 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For information about the Committee and meeting, you may want to look at the Committee's web site:http://www.thediocese.net/stewardship_creation.shtml or contact Ms. Evelyn Wheeler, Chair of the Committee, at email: ekwhlr64@verizon.net. Anyone interested is invited and encouraged to attend. Bring a snack or light lunch item to share if you would like. Saturday Service Schedule, a few cancellations Please make note of the following Saturday cancellations and please join us at 8am or 10am on Sunday: May 10, May 31, July 5, 12, 19, 26 Mission Statement St. Paul's on the Hill is a welcoming and diverse community helping people to grow in their relationship with God and each other so that we can serve the world in Christ's Name. Adopted by the vestry August 2007 St. Paul's Table (our outreach to the hungry) Our church has a Food Pantry on the first Sunday of every month from 1 - 3pm. You can help by bringing clean, hole-free plastic grocery bags. If you know of an appropriate bulletin board, or a social service agency, please post flyers about the food pantry. They are available at church. Donations of food can be made for the pantry; contact us for details. If you'd like to more involved, we are having an organizational meeting the second Sunday of every month following the 10:00 service. CCAP Sunday the last Sunday of each month we collect and offering that goes to help the needy of our area through CCAP (Congregational Action Project). Thank you for your generosity, which makes a difference in many lives. Youth Group meets next on Sunday February 10. Time and activity TBA. New youth, ages 12 - 18 are welcome. Contact us for more information. Youth Group meets at least once a month. Choir The St. Paul's on-the-Hill choir is open to all who enjoy praising God through song. We rehearse on Sundays, 9am - 9:45pm. Saturday Evening Service Every Saturday at 5pm. Child care provided upon request. Tell all your friends whose children play soccer on Sunday mornings! This service is also a good option for those who work on Sundays. Parents with small children may find this to be a better time to get everyone out the door. People who have certain medical conditions may also find that this service meets their needs. Everyone is invited! The service will be much like the 10am Holy Eucharist Rite II service but with a blend of music. Casual, Convenient, Cool
The latest newsletters (in PDF format): MayApril March
The St. Paul's on-the-Hill book group meets on the 1st Thursday of every month. Please call Barbara Epperson at 662-5463 if you would like to join us and select a book for the group to read and discuss. 2008 Book Group Reading List
Books of the Bible - Each week we will study a book of the Bible beginning with Genesis. This class is for those who love to study the Bible as well as for those who have felt intimidated by the idea of reading and learning the Bible. We will not go into great depth; we will consider the book as a whole and leave the class with a better sense of the book's meaning for our faith. Adult education meets between the services on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. in the parish hall. Rector's Read ReturnsMay 21- 7:30pm, The Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and practicing resurrection in the forgotten places of our world. - From the back cover June 18 - 7:30pm, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus: What's So Good About the Good News? by Peter J. Gomes Using examples from ancient times as well as from modern pop culture, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus shows us why the good news is every bit as relevant today as when it was first preached.
Dreams begin with God, the giver of all good things, and continue with people like Bishop John A. Baden who "get the vision" of God's dream and are actualized through fellowships like Christ Church who made God's dream and Bishop Baden's vision a reality in the founding of a mission church, Saint Paul's on-the-Hill! In January of 1963, during the ministry of the Rev. John A. Baden, land was purchased to fulfill his dream of founding "mission churches". The commencement of construction of St. Paul's on-the-Hill was in 1966 in Frederick County adjacent to the City of Winchester where the sponsoring Christ Church was located. On February 19, 1967, St. Paul's was consecrated by the Rt. Rev. Robert B. Hall, Bishop Coadjutor, thus making God's dream, Rev. Baden's vision and Christ Church's sponsorship a reality. After the wonderful efforts of many of Christ Church's clergy to assist this "mission church", as well as other part-time clergy, the first full-time vicar, Michael Mohn, was called in 1984. St. Paul's on-the-Hill became an independent church with the blessings of its sponsor, Christ Church, at the Diocesan Council, January 28, 1995. The first vicar became the church's first Rector. In 1998 a search committee was empowered by the vestry to select a new rector. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the labors of two interim Episcopal priests, the vestry and the search committee, the parish's prayers were realized. The Rev. Ed Dunlap began his new ministry as Rector of St. Paul's on-the-Hill on August 1, 2000. Ed served St. Paul's until his retirement in June of 2003. The Rev. Dr. Hilary B. Smith began her ministry at St. Paul's on September 2, 2003 as Priest-in-Charge. In October of 2005, the vestry voted to call Hilary as rector. She accepted the call, and on February 26, 2006 was installed as our third rector by the bishop of Virginia, The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee. |
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