Palm Sunday is here! We end our five and a half weeks of Lent and enter into Holy Week. This Sunday we will have Easter crafts following the 10 a.m. service, followed by an Easter Egg Hunt. Please invite your friends, families and neighbors.
Of course, it wouldn’t be St. Mary’s without looking to help our community. We are going grocery shopping on March 30 (Monday) to buy groceries for four families from Dousman Elementary School. Thank you to everyone who has donated so generously – we are hoping to help our neighbors out with some Easter groceries.
Our offering from Easter Sunday is being directed three ways, to:
- Safe Families for Children: Helps parents in crisis who are experiencing issues with homelessness, unemployment, domestic violence or other obstacles. Safe Families for Children helps parents in crisis get back on their feet and keep their families intact.
- Paying off School Lunch Balances: We are working with the local elementary schools, beginning with Dousman, to pay off school lunch balances for low-income families.
- Lake Area Free Clinic: Since the doors opened in July, 2001, they have welcomed individuals and families who lack health insurance and whose income is below 250% of the federal poverty level. Many of these individuals work full-time, but are either not offered health insurance, or cannot afford the premiums.
Please be generous.
I invite you to join us on Thursday (April 2) for our Agape Meal at 5 PM in the Parish Hall. We had a wonderful time last year, and I hope you’ll join us. This simple meal will be preceded by foot washing, will include a reading from John’s Gospel, as well as blessings over the bread, wine and other food. All are welcome, but please sign up so we know to expect you. Our Maundy Thursday service will start at 7 PM in the church as usual.
We have received five columbarium niche reservations as well as two brick orders. My hope is that Father Ryan will be by in the next couple of months to pour our footings for the Columbarium. Do you want to order a brick or reserve a place to be buried? There are forms in the Parish Hall, or you can contact Craig Beckman, Kim Smith, Shawn Armstrong, Mary McCarthy or myself with questions.
Finally, St. Mary’s is hosting a Diocesan training on Mental Health First Aid on May 9. If you have any interest in the training I would recommend that you register now. I went to this training last November and found it really helpful. You can register here: https://www.diowis.org/events/transform-lives-mental-health-first-aid-training-4scfe
Prayers and Blessings,
Mother Pippa