Our Christmas Eve Service will begin at 8:30 PM on Tuesday evening, December 24th at St. Luke's Church, 3 Limbo Lane in Amherst, NH, with our traditional Carol Sing and organ preludes. Plan on joining the singing of Christmas Carols prior to the start of the worship service celebrating the birth of Christ at 9:00 PM. If you need a ride to church, please feel free to call Walter Kilian at 673-2688 and we'll make sure that you have a ride to and from the services.
The Altar Guild has made arrangements to purchase red poinsettia plants to help decorate the Church for the Christmas Eve Service. They are $9.00 each and may be taken home with you after the Christmas Eve service. The plants may be ordered by contacting Cynthia Kilian at 673-2688 or by signing up at the Church this Sunday. Please fill in the form located in the rear of the church!
The Annual Meeting of St. Luke's Anglican Church will be held on Sunday, January 26th immediately following our 10:00 AM worship service. Earl Watts has been appointed by the Vestry to serve as Chairman of the Nominating Committee. If you'd like to take a more active part in our church, please let Earl know of your interests. As we start our thirteenth year as a parish family what are your thoughts? The Vestry will present some ideas for consideration. John Leslie, our Secretary, has requested that all reports be submitted to him no later than Sunday January 12th, so that they are included in the Annual Meeting Report.
Barbara and Wayne Richards have been hard at work on their Heaven Sent Cook Book Project. The book is now at the printers and they expect that the cook books will be available by late November. They are planning to kick off sales with a pot luck luncheon right after church on Sunday, December 8th. Make plans to attend and bring your favorite dish. You may advance order your cook books by signing the order form at the rear of the church. Be sure to check out the Cook Book web site at http://st-luke.amherst.nh.us/cookbook/heaven_sent.html.
Every year for fifteen years now, a group of music lovers has organized and performed excerpts from G. F. Handel's oratorio, The Messiah. This year, the performances will be held at 7:00 PM on Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th at the Mont Vernon Congregational Church on Route 13 in the center of Mont Vernon. There is no charge, but donations are gratefully accepted.
Did you know that we have two Bible Study programs? The first is every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM and is conducted by Father Dean. The second is conducted three Wednesday evenings a month. Classes start at 7:00 PM and are conducted by Father Bill McGinnis. The actual Wednesdays that the study group meets changes every month. If you are interested in attending, speak to Father Bill or call him at 625-2441. He'll be glad to give you the exact schedule and have you join in!
Almost a year ago we established our Nursery School program for the very young children in our parish. Many parents feel uncomfortable when their children start to "squirm" and so they dash out of the service to avoid disturbing others. The Vestry has been very pleased with the success of the program. Families with young children are critical to our growth and continued existence. Please pass the word to any young families that you know! They are always welcome to join us.
Deacon Larry LaFleur celebrates the thirteenth anniversary of his ordination as a Deacon on Sunday, December 15th, the Third Sunday in Advent. Father Bill McGinnis celebrated his anniversary of ordination earlier this month. Please extend your congratulations to them!
Have you ever stopped to appreciate the quality of music that we have at each service? I'm sure everyone will agree that each Sunday has been outstanding. We're so fortunate to have both John Leslie and Jill Slocum as organists. Please take a moment and let them know that you too think that they are doing a great job! In addition to our great organists, we now have a great organ for them to use. For a parish our size, we should be proud of everyone that helps with the musical portion of the worship service each Sunday.
Did you know that our old Hammond organ is going to Bishop Roderiguez in Guatemala? While our delegates were at the ACA Synod in Hollywood, California in October, an announcement was made that the organ was available. Bishop Langberg had canvassed the Diocese of the Northeast and there were no takers. A delegate from Guatemala came up and asked if we could get the organ to Los Angeles and they would get it from Los Angeles to Guatemala. The Watt family was pleased to think that the organ they donated would be going to another church, but this time in Guatemala. Does anyone have any contacts with a moving firm that could transport the organ, speakers and organ bench to Los Angeles? If so, please speak to Walter Kilian.
Our parish has been blessed with a number of new families and individuals that have started attending St. Luke's. This column will be an attempt to introduce you to three of them and if it is well received, it will be continued in subsequent issues.
The first family is Steve and Tonya Smith. Steve and Tonya live in Bedford. They met while they were attending Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana. Tonya is originally from Dallas and Steve is from Indiana. They have been married for thirteen years.
After they were married, they moved to Dallas for several years and then back to Indiana where Steve was employed by Group Dekko in North Webster, Indiana. He had several positions including Sales Engineering and Product Manager and is now self-employed as a Sales Representative for Aflac; remember the duck! Tonya has been taking courses toward her undergraduate degree in English Literature with the goal of obtaining her Doctorate and teaching at university level. Please welcome Steve and Tonya to New Hampshire.
The second person is Mary "Pat" Jackson. Pat, as she prefers to be called, is from Connecticut and attended the Episcopal Church as a child. She and her husband lived in Ocala, Florida for many years and attended an Anglican Church there. Pat remained in Florida for thirteen years after her husband died and finally decided it was time to come back and be closer to her family. She has two sons who live here in New Hampshire and we all know her daughter, Emily Courtemanche who lives in Hollis. Emily's home has a separate addition on it and this is where Pat lives. Please welcome Pat to St. Luke's. She's already volunteered to serve on the Altar Guild!
Our third family is Alan and Trang Day and their two daughters, Anabelle who is a year and one-half old and big sister Tamsim who is almost three and one-half years old. Theirs is an interesting story. Trang was attending the University of Denver in the Pre-Med program. A group of the students visited England and contacted some families in England to help show them the sights. They met and as Trang says they were pen pals and somehow it became much more. Just talk to Alan and there is no doubt that he's from England. It was just outside of London, but now as London expands, it's almost in London.
They were married in Denver and moved to Indianapolis where Trang completed her internship in Internal Medicine. Upon completion of the internship they moved to Amherst in August 2001 when Dr. Trang Day accepted a position at Briarwood Primary Care, which is associated with the Elliott Hospital.
Alan completed his undergraduate studies in Physics at the University of London and then some graduate work in Astro-Physics there too. He compares the University of London program to MIT. He enjoys astronomy and is now a Computer Consultant, specializing in Internet services and computer security. Please welcome Dr. Trang, Alan and their two lovely daughters to St. Luke's.