Worship
† We will celebrate the Epiphany of Our Lord on January 6th with a Eucharist that will include the blessing of the chalk. Come and learn about what means, and get your very own piece of chalk with which to bless your home!
† Are you friendly? We need you! Our greeter ministry is one of the key ministries of our church. Greeters welcome visitors, make people comfortable, hand out service leaflets and take up offering. They make sure the service runs smoothly. Starting in October, we will be organizing a monthly Greeters breakfast with the Rector, probably at a local restaurant. If you’re interested in serving God in this way, talk to Jim Jervis or Fr. James.
† Morning Prayer is offered at 8:30AM on Sunday mornings and at 9:15AM Tuesdays through Fridays. Anyone can pray the service privately using the Book of Common Prayer or one of a number of smartphone apps! See the last section of the digital edition of the “Acts of the Apostles” for details.
Outreach
† Connect by Night Sheltering Program. We are over halfway through the December Connect by Night Shelter program and things are going well. The schedule is full and a link and the instructions are below. We are also creating a few other opportunities for our guests for the week of Christmas:
-Books: The Woestmanns started a box of books for our guests to take, feel free to add to that
-We will create a box of toiletries and soaps; feel free to add to that as well.
-Christmas Day gifts: We have purchased socks and chocolates and the Sunday School is making cards
† Lunch-making involves coming to church in the evening at a time of your choice and preparing 50 bag lunches for the guests. If you are able to greet them when they arrive at around 9:30, that is also wonderful, but optional. If you would like to bring a donation, the best item is to bring individual juice boxes to put in the lunches (50 per night), or donations to the Outreach committee. The program asks not to provide snacks for the guests while they are staying with us, but we put out water for them and will be organizing some Christmas presents from the congregation and cards from the Sunday School. The lunch-making items are being stored in the kitchen and on the shelves and upright freezer in the storage room in the church basement to the right at the bottom of the stairs. Instructions are in the kitchen.
† If you have questions or need to get into the church and don’t have a key, contact Joe Zorc at zorc@email.chop.edu or 215-776-4285.
† The sign-up sheet is available in the church hall and at this Google docs link: https://bit.ly/2WbmPn3
† There are lots of opportunities to participate in Holy Apostles Outreach through our various programs:
– Delivering items to a food pantry in Northeast Philadelphia
– Meals at Darby Mission (3/17). Other ideas are welcome.
Children and Youth
† Nursery childcare is available during the 10:00AM Sunday service for children ages 3 and younger in the Godly Play Room.
† The Holy Apostles Choir School is off and running. If you have a potential student, apply today. More information is available at holyapostlespa.org/choir-school/. Please forward this information to friends and neighbors who may be interested. Contact Deb Stambaugh if you have any questions.
Parish Life
† On Sunday, January 19, we are headed to Holy Apostles and the Mediator (51st and Spruce Streets, Phil’s) for a shared 10am Eucharist. We are exploring the option of renting a charter bus to make it easier to get there and find parking. It’s going to be a lot of fun! That Sunday, our parish hall, kitchen, and upstairs bathrooms will all be unusable due to our parish hall reflooring project.
† Our annual parish meeting will be Sunday, February 2, after the 10AM service. At this meeting we will elect new members of the vestry, and approve a budget. Normally this meeting is held the 3rd Sunday of January, but necessary parish hall renovations have caused us to push the annual meeting back.
† In January 2020 we will see some exciting improvements to our building. The office hallway is being refreshed, and along with the parish hall, it will receive a badly needed new floor. Stay tuned for more information!
† If you have an announcement to be included in Acts of the Apostles, please send it to holyapostlescomm@gmail.com before Thursday at noon of each week.
† Don’t forget to enter the church through the Parish office door and grab a “Church Member” badge from the office during Daycare hours (7:00AM – 6:00PM Mon-Fri)!
† The Cash for Causes Program at Giant Supermarket:
· Purchase through JT Wertz
· 5% of card value is given to Holy Apostles operating fund.
· Can be used in store or when ordering Giant groceries through Peapod online delivery service.
Education
† Join us for BASICS class, every 3rd Sunday at 9AM.
† Bible Study on Deuteronomy, Thursdays at 11AM. All are welcome.
† FacePsalm online study of the Psalms: bit.ly/2ndKq9o
Church of the Holy Apostles 