WARDENS

Senior Warden

          Happy New Year!  I cannot believe the year we have had at St. Alban’s.  I will save the end of year summary for my report at the Annual Meeting (January 29th), instead I want to comment about what 2012 holds for us. 
          As you already know, the Vestry has begun to investigate merging with another parish.  We feel that this is the best option to keep our family together and continue with the mission God has called our parish to follow. 
          This month at the Annual Meeting, the Vestry will present to the parish, the Church that we will feel will be the best fit for us as a merger partner.  At that point, this process will be far from over.  There are many steps we will need to take to complete this process.
 If you would like to know more about the merging process, I strongly encourage you to look at the Diocesan Merger Policies.  They can be found on the Diocese’s website (I will make some available in the Church in mid-January).  I hope reading through these policies will ease your mind about this process and show you that all of our interests (and those of the merging  partner) will be taken into account as we move forward. 
          In the meantime, as always, if you have concerns or
questions, please do not hesitate to contact me (phone, mail, email).  I know this has come as upsetting news to many of you.  Let me
assure you that this has not been an easy decision for anyone.   I wish you, your family, and our family the best of luck in this
coming year. 

Dave

Junior Warden

Blessings!!! Blessings!!  Blessings!!!  To all or parish family.  For all that we have and all that we will be in 2012, we are blessed.  Please keep
praying that God leads us to where we all need to be.  While we walk down this path please remember we will be worshipping here at St. Alban’s every Sunday TOGETHER!!!!

          The visits are going well, it has been an interesting look into our religion and how people worship.  Some are very much like us and some are totally opposite.  Not necessarily bad, but different.  The single thread that I have found is that the Episcopal people are a warm, welcoming bunch of people who know that they have many blessings.

          As we finish this year I would like to remember a few people we have lost in our family.  Kenneth Tyas, George Sutcliffe, Evelyn Isles, and Roland
Mergener.  May light perpetual shine upon them.  Our prayers go out to their families.

          I still ask your prayers for my student Julia as she has shown some improvement at RI Hospital.  I truly believe she is doing better because of the prayers she has received. 

          In the end of 2011, I realize that although my heart is heavy with the decisions we must make as a parish, my mind is clear knowing it is the right thing to do.  Please consider attending the Annual Meeting on January 29th and help make the one decision that will change all our lives, together as a family.

Health & Happiness,

Jill

EVENTS

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Parish of St. Alban’s in North Providence will be held on January 29th at 11:30 am. 
· This year’s Annual Meeting will not only include the approval of the budget and the review of the past year, it will include the Vestry’s proposal for a merging partner.  Please do your best to attend this meeting. 

-If you have a report to include in the Annual Report for the Annual Meeting, please submit that report before January 15th.  Reports can be given in writing to one of the Wardens or emailed to the parish email address (stalbans@episcopal.necoxmail.com) or directly to the Senior Warden (dc_schmitter@yahoo.com).  

· If there is something you would like on the agenda for the Annual Meeting, please contact the Senior Warden. 

· If you are interested in being a delegate to the Diocesan Convention (or an alternate), please contact the Senior Warden. 

MINISTRIES

ECW

Hello to Everyone……………
 
By the time the Cloak arrives Christmas will be past; still I hope your Christmas was filled with faith, family and friends. To paraphrase a friend, Donna Martel…for those with babies and grandbabies, getting to experience the wonder through their eyes makes Christmas so special! So I hope there was something special that touched your heart.

Happy New Year!  Hopes that it brings new opportunities for change, for sharing love, for strengthening your faith, for sharing with friends old and new, for improved health, for being a more thoughtful and kinder Christian.

A reminder that the ECW Christmas dinner will be held on Thursday, January 12th, at Johna’s. There are signup sheets both upstairs and down.

The ECW would like to say thank you to all for a wonderful year, without our extended church family our successes would not be possible. We would also like to say hello to Carole, we miss you and hope you are healing well!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sincerely

Debbie Connors

Men's Group

The Men’s Group of St. Alban’s has been on a temporary hiatus for the last few months.  We will reconvene in February.  As always, all men of the parish are welcome at Men’s Group meetings. 

Outreach Committee                                                 

Outreach would like to thank the ECW, the North Providence Lions Club and the members of the parish who shared their treasure so that we could provided Christmas dinner and gifts for the children of 78 families in our community. 

In Christ
Linda Strocky

Christian Education

Don't forget Sunday School will be in session for the month of January and beyond. Please come as we will be learning about Jesus' early years and some of his teachings. We will also be reading some stories of the Kingdom of Heaven. The more children we have the better our stories can be played out, so please consider making Sunday School a part of your Sunday schedule.

NEWS AND NOTES

ECW Cookbook On Sale Now

Favorites from Our Table

St. Alban’s ECW Cookbook Are in!!!

Limited Supply, so get your’s quick!!!

Great gift idea!!

$15-See any ECW member or after 10am Mass

Acolytes

Acolytes are always needed for Sunday services. To be an acolyte you must be in 5th grade or higher. If you are interested, please see Linda Maynard to set up a training session.

Coffee Hour

Please make sure to bake something if you are a member of the following
Ministry group.  We would love to see more people bake different things for Coffee Hour…..more hands make less work for all….and you know how
Episcopalians LOVE to eat!!!

First Sunday of Month– ECW

2nd Sunday of Month– Choir/Ushers

3rd Sunday of Month– Outreach

4th Sunday of Month– Vestry

5th Sunday– Parish Life & Growth