ST. LAWRENCE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Church Street News
125 West Church Street Libertyville, Illinois
www.stlawrencechurch.org
January 2010
Worship schedule
Thursday
8:30 am —
Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday
8:00 am —
Holy Eucharist, Rite I
9:30 am —
Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Formation
Parish Office: 847 362-2110
Rector —
The Reverend Patricia W. Snickenberger
Deacon —
The Reverend MJ D. Leewis-Kirk, AJON
Wardens —
Todd Seiler
Bill Keating
LIVING WATER O God, Our Hearts are made for thee, And they shall be restless until
they rest in thee! St. Augustine
Baptism is not an act in isolation but is a way of life to which all Chris-
tians are called, as our hearts seek to rest in God.
On January 10, the first Sunday after Epiphany, which is also known as
―The Baptism of our Lord‖ we commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the
Jordan River by John the Baptist.
On this feast day, at St. Lawrence, we will welcome Emily and Giovanna
to a way of life and nurture them in the community of Christian faith. Par-
ents and godparents will, on behalf of these infants, affirm that they re-
nounce Satan and wickedness, renounce evil powers which corrupt and
destroy, renounce all sinful desires that draw them from the love of God,
and AFFIRM that they turn to Jesus, accept him as Savior, put their trust
in his grace and love and further promise to follow and obey him as Lord.
As a community we will each renew our own Baptismal Covenant and
witness not only these vows but affirm that we will support these persons
in their life in Christ.
And on that same day, just 5 hours later, 13 young people we will begin
their journey to confirmation. They will continue to grow and mature as
they prepare to make a ―public affirmation of their faith, recommit them-
selves to the responsibilities of their baptism and receive the laying on of
hands by a bishop‖. (BCP, p. 412)
The journey that Conner, Tyler, Kacy, Justin, Jennifer, Emma, Aileen,
Hanna, Claire, Katy, Jack, Emily and Lauren will undertake has the same
ultimate goal, that each Christian has undertaken over the millennia of
Christianity.
To be twenty-first century Episcopalians is to be Christ’s hand and heart
in the world and still remain cool! Our path on the journey will be just
slightly different from the ones that others have taken but our destination
remains the same.
I ask your prayers for these Confirmands, and for their
mentors: Jim Brown, Carolyn Brodnicki and myself.
Your servant in Christ, MJ+
CHURCH STREET NEWS
REFLECTIONS FROM OUR DEACON
— 2 —
Issue No. 1 Volume 102
January 2010
WRAPPED IN LOVE On the third Sunday of Advent we
presented a bountiful basket of hand-
made scarves for a blessing. These
scarves were lovingly made by the
St. Lawrence Prayer Shawl Ministry
for the Hospice caregivers through
Advocate Condell Medical Center in
Libertyville.
This prayer was offered by Mother
Patti and Deacon MJ in celebration
for this ministry .
May God’s grace be upon this
scarf…warming, comforting, enfold-
ing and embracing.
May this mantle keep you warm, a
sacred sign of security and well-
being, as a source sustaining and
embracing in good times as well as
difficult ones.
May those who receive these scarves
be cradled in hope, kept in joy,
graced with peace, and wrapped in
love. Blessed Be!
If you would like more information
about the St. Lawrence Prayer Shawl
Ministry please contact Barb Lewis,
847 362-3543 or the office, 847 362-
2110.
St. Lawrence Episcopal Church
is a worshiping community of faith in the Anglican tradition,
called together by Christ to gather as an
extended family open to all, to grow in the knowledge and love of God and to embody
that love in service to the world around us.
Church Street News, January 2010
THE JOURNEY OF THE THREE WISE MEN
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen
upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the
peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over
you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your
dawning.
Isaiah 60:1-3
On January third, Annie Snow along with others dancers, will present a move-
ment interpretation of the journey of the three wise men. They invite you to
witness their exploration of what the wise men may have been feeling as they
approached Bethlehem to bestow gifts on the new born King Jesus. It may
have been that even the wisest of people were unsure as to how great an event
this truly was. Please join us for this celebration.
WEDNESDAY EVENING ADULT FORUMS SERIES CONTINUE
Art, the Battle of the Sexes, and the Bible Leisa Corbett, artist, art historian, and member of St. Lawrence Church, will present a series of talks about art
and the Bible on four Wednesday evenings, January 6, 13, 20 and 27. The series, entitled ―Art, the Battle of
the Sexes, and the Bible,‖ is a discussion about how master artists from medieval times to the present day
made the romance, conflict, revenge and redemption of some of the great Old Testament stories come
alive. This art educated and inspired the faithful, giving them a focal point for their prayers and devo-
tion. Among the stories discussed will be Susanna and the Elders, Judith and Holofernes, Samson and Delilah,
Sisera and Jael.
Leisa earned an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College of the Fine Arts in Montpelier. She taught art his-
tory and art appreciation for six years at North Lake College in Irving, Texas before moving to Illinois in
2007. In 2005, Leisa won the Excellence in Teaching Award for Adjunct Faculty. During the twelve years
she lived in Berlin, Germany, Leisa had a business conducting tours of German art museums for English
speakers.
For more information please call the office at 847 362-2110.
Church Street News
January 2010
A MESSAGE FROM THE WARDENS
— 4 —
FROM THE WARDENS: Todd Seiler
Senioritis… Part 2.… as I left you in November I was finishing up my sophomore year here at St. Lawrence.
So a quick recap… As a lot of students can tell you, by the time you get to be a senior you are ready to finish
your four years and move on to the next adventure. You have had four years of learning, teaching, fun and
hard work. I will be turning over the reigns to a new warden after four years of learning, teaching, fun and
hard work.
As I started my junior year I got lucky!! Bill Keating agreed to be the Junior Warden. I thought I knew Bill
through my association with his wife Carol, but I was dead wrong. Did you know that Bill is a lawyer and a
CPA? I didn’t. I have and still am learning so much from Bill. I love his perspective of all things about life
and St. Lawrence. We, as a congregation, are very blessed! So as I started my junior year, the honeymoon
was over and Mother Patti, Bill and I worked to hone in on the mission and purpose of St. Lawrence. We met
with each vestry member to see what they thought was working and not working within their ministry team.
We discussed all the issues and agreed on 4 goals and objectives for St. Lawrence. Those were presented at
the Annual Meeting in January of 2009. So, what else did we do in 2008? Hmmm… (and in no particular
order) oh yeah, we celebrated 100 years of St. Lawrence. What an event that was! We had a parish picnic.
We had former priests of St. Lawrence come back and preach to us. They were Jed Holdorph, Cynthia Hallas
and Tom Rosa. We capped off the 100 year celebration with The Right Reverend Bishop Lee joining us for
service on November 2, 2008. We had our first Open Mic Night. We started the Green Ministry Team. We
started direct deposit of pledges. We hosted The Magnetic Church for the Diocese. Bill Keating (and Carol)
became grandparents for the first time. We added a Youth Vestry Member. Rite 13 started the HOPE Food
Pantry. We had an all Parish Photo. Pastoral Care ministry team did the St. Lawrence Prayer Anthology. We
had Deacon Mary-Jane join us at St. Lawrence as the Pastoral Care Coordinator, and if you want to talk
about the Holy Spirit working in marvelous ways, there’s one example! Talk about a busy year! Learning,
teaching, fun and hard work. So goes my Junior year.
My senior year. With all that was going on and all the work in progress, I happily and joyously agreed to ex-
tend my term for one more year. It was at the start of this year that I had the label of ―the touchy feely guy‖
added to my moniker. It started out at the Annual Meeting, which was unbelievable! Some of the comments
that I received were ―it was the best annual meeting ever.‖ ―It was so transparent, I have never learned so
much about St. Lawrence and the finances.‖ ―I laughed a lot, I cried a little.‖ ―I can’t believe it was almost
two hours… the time just flew by‖ and many more that reflected how impressed, surprised but more impor-
tantly how excited they were about how much St Lawrence means to people outside of the church. We con-
tinued to work on the Goals and Objectives. We had help with that by having a Vestry Retreat hosted by The
Rev. Bonnie Perry from All Saints Church in Chicago. Mother Patti, Bill and I met (and still do) on a weekly
basis to go over things and make sure that we are (trying anyway) to stay on track. We said good-bye to Fa-
ther Marc, as he took on new duties at The Church of the Incarnation in Bloomingdale. As summer started
we turned to two services and changed the times. I love getting that extra ½ hour of sleep on Sunday morn-
ing when I do the early service! At the end of summer we did a St. Lawrence clean-up day and had over 20
people here to help with cleaning the inside and outside. It is amazing how many hands make light work. We
hosted our first Art Auction. What a success that was!
Church Street News
January 2010
A MESSAGE FORM THE WARDENS AND ANNUAL MEETING UPDATE
— 5 —
THE ANNUAL MEETING
JANUARY 24, 2010 The Annual Meeting of St. Law-
rence Church will be held on
Sunday, January 24, 2010, at
10:45 am in the sanctuary. The
Holy Eucharist will precede the
meeting at 9:30 am and will be
the only worship service that day.
Activities for the children will
take place during the meeting,
which is expected to conclude
around 12:30 pm.
All parishioners and interested
parties are encouraged to attend
the meeting as we reflect on the
year past and look ahead with ea-
ger anticipation and hope to the
year ahead. We will be discussing
new directions and initiatives for
2010, so you won’t want to miss
this opportunity to hear more
about where St. Lawrence is
heading.
Feedback from last year’s meet-
ing was very positive, so we an-
ticipate following a similar format
for the meeting this year, with
perhaps a surprise or two. We be-
lieve this approach illuminates
and animates the ministry and
mission of St. Lawrence
Church. You will find additional
information about Warden and
Vestry nominations and the An-
nual Meeting elsewhere in this
newsletter and in upcoming
weekly bulletins.
GIVING REPORT:
For November For the Year
Gifts given $43,190 $374,153
Giving goal $38,208 $413,292
Thank you for your generous gifts this month.
Wardens Report (cont.)
We hosted the most awesome Animal Pet Blessing Sunday. We honored
the Veterans with a Military Service. Thank you to Mike Sampson, Rob
Baldwin, Keith and Owen Leewis for sharing. We had Vicki Garvey,
from the diocese, come and share with us during Advent. Sue Cromer,
from the diocese, came to talk to the kids and the adults about the kids
and the church. We should all feel proud that St. Lawrence is so re-
spected at the Chicago Diocese and we have Mother Patti to thank for
that honor. That respect is reflected by the fact that they want to come
and visit us to see what makes St. Lawrence so special and they will do
anything and everything in their power to help us! And of course we
know the answer to what makes St. Lawrence so special… all of you!
Learning, teaching, fun and hard work. So goes my Senior year.
Time does fly when you are having fun. It has been a hoot and a half. I
am tired. I am older. I am looking forward to turning my blue name
badge back to a white name badge. But more importantly, I am excited
to be here at St. Lawrence. So as I ride off into the sunset, I say with all
my heart… Thank you all for four wonderful years!
God’s Peace,
Todd Seiler – Sr. Warden
Bill Keating – Jr. Warden
Dear friends,
It is said that many hands make light the work, and
that is certainly true at St. Lawrence as we prepared
for the arrival of our Savior Jesus Christ. With ap-
preciation for everything you did and always do, I
extend a heartfelt thanks to all who made our
Christmas celebration so festive and welcoming.
With love and gratitude, Mother Patti
OUTREACH NEEDS ALL THE HELP IT CAN GET Don Craig
PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter) is our responsibility on the
fourth Tuesday of the month from October through April and we pro-
vide the hot meal for up to fifty people. This year has been exceptionally
hard on the lower income population and the numbers are staggering as
landlords are foreclosed on and people are evicted in the dead of winter.
For the first time I can recall, in the last ten years, we had to call outside
the parish to staff the night shift.
We are always in need of a woman on each of the three shifts, 6:30 pm
—11:00 pm, 11:00 pm —3:00 am and 3:00 am—7:00 am. It would be
wonderful if anyone could carve out that time. I know these shifts are
difficult but if you don’t mind the late hour, bring a book to read or a
craft project.
We have some good stories to share. Last month one of our PADS
guests was called back to work after having been laid off for the past six
months. He and his wife had been in the shelter since March.
Another woman came up to me last month and threw her arms around
me and told me she was not going to see this place again, as she had ob-
tained her own apartment in Waukegan. She was overjoyed at having
been a PADS resident for several years. She is in need of some pots and
pans, so have a look around and see what you haven’t used in a while
and leave them next to the nursery. I will make sure she gets them.
The Beach Park twins are home and doing well. Antonio (15 lbs.) and
Destiny (10 lbs.) are with Mom and doing well. We would like to thank
the Mothers of Multiple Children who so generously donated a double
stroller, play pens, bathing units, highchairs and toys galore. Thanks to
Sarah Mullen and Lisa Parker for assisting with those donations.
ST. LAWRENCE
REPONDS Diocese of Chicago Cathedral
Shelter Christmas Boxes
St. Lawrence participated in the
Cathedral Shelter of Chicago’s
Christmas Basket Program. Al-
though this has long been an an-
nual event for the holiday season,
we look to this every year with
renewed excitement and enthusi-
asm. The response was over-
whelming. All the sponsored
families assigned to our parish
were filled to the brim.
A special thanks to Mary Qued-
nau and Mary Gedney and all of
the volunteers for organizing our
participation in this year’s pro-
gram once again.
The Giving Tree
We have ―planted‖ a giving tree
in the narthex for mittens, hats
and scarves. All of the donations
will be given to local school dis-
trict for children in need.
We see this not only as an oppor-
tunity but also as a challenge to
expand our giving. And in these
difficult times the need has
reached further than ever.
Thank you
to everyone
who
shopped
and shared
their bless-
ings to help
others.
Church Street News
January 2010
ST. LAWRENCE OUTREACH MINISRTY
— 6 —
DONATIONS
NEEDED
YEAR
ROUND!
Don’t throw away those
old glasses! They go to the Lions
Club.
Did you get a new cell phone?
Please donate your old one and the
charger to the Red Cross.
Church Street News
January 2010
PARISH NEWS AND OPPORTUNITES
— 7 —
KEEPING YOU INFORMED Liz Halbert
St. Lawrence will debut a new website soon
We are keeping the same web address (www.stlawrencechurch.org), but
soon we’ll have a whole new look. If you have information about any
church activity that you would like posted on the website, be sure to e-mail
the details to Liz Halbert ([email protected]). We would like our web-
site to be a great source of information for our parishioners as well as those
looking for a new place of worship. Check it out!
St. Lawrence Facebook page
For all you facebookers, don’t forget to use the St. Lawrence page to communicate with each other about
church activities. Anyone can make comments and post pictures of activities. If you are planning an event, get
me the details and I can post the event and invite all members. It’s also another way to invite your friends to
one of our events!
NEWS FOR THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN ECW Annual Meeting
The ECW annual meeting is being postponed until Spring 2010. Please check future updates in the Church
Street News for a definite date.
The St. Nicholas Room & Sweet Shoppe
Thank you for the many delicious and beautifully made donations. We had a steady stream of customers for
both Saturdays and Sundays. Our profit for the two weekends equaled over $2,000.00. The distribution of
these profits will be donated to many charitable causes. ECW profits are divided as follows: 1/3 in-reach to
St. Lawrence, 1/3 outreach to the Diocese of Chicago and 1/3 into general outreach.
Thank you to all the volunteers who staffed the room and arranged the merchandise so artistically. The ECW
cannot survive without the help of all of our wonderful family at St. Lawrence.
ARE YOU
UPGRADING? If you have an
Apple computer
ready for donation
please consider the
Masonic Learning
Center in Milwau-
kee.
Contact Don Craig
for further details,
847 623-3901.
ST. LAWRENCE
BOOK GROUP Please join us for a rous-
ing discussion of the
Rug Merchant by Meg Mullins, on Mon-
day, February 8 at 7:30
pm in the Fireside room.
Everyone is welcome!
Church Street News,
January 2010
ST. LAWRENCE YOUTH GROUP NEWS
— 8 —
ST. LAWRENCE RITE 13 AND TEN CHILDREN Dave Jones
On Sunday, December 6, members of the Rite 13 youth group volunteered to support the ―Save My Starving
Children‖ event at the Lake County Fairgrounds, working with approximately 300 other volunteers, organized
into ―cells‖ where meals of rice, soy and other nutritional ingredients were carefully prepared and sorted. A
total of 87,696 meals were packaged in 90 minutes! This is the equivalent of providing 240 children meals for
one full year. These meals will ultimately end up in the stomachs of starving children, mostly in Haiti and
Nicaragua, via the speedy and effective distribution channels of local missions and religious organizations.
Some quick math suggests that our Rite 13 group alone accounted for approximately 3,600 meals, feeding ap-
proximately 10 children for a full year. This was an extremely educational and rewarding experience for our
kids who, in September, identified hunger as one of the top three social issues they would most like to focus on
during the year. Ask Ben and Max, for example, what it is like to scoop and carry 5 tons of rice in 90 minutes!
The three-day ―Feed My Starving Children‖ event, sponsored by Holy Cross Lutheran Church, resulted in the
preparation of 1,005,064 meals, equivalent to feeding 2,753 children for a year. We were blessed to have been
able to participate. Ask any of the following people who volunteered for more details!
Meg Barnett
Peter Feely
Ben Montgomery
David Parker
Lizzie Parker
Max Sampson
Lily Simpson
Melissa Williams
Christian Womack
and our Rite 13 Leaders
JAKE'S PIZZA &
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
FUNDRAISER
When ordering pizza this winter for your family,
friends or sports team, please call Jake's Pizza at
847 816-8626 and don't forget to mention St.
Lawrence Church!
Jake's will donate $3.00 from any order of 16" or
18" pizza to the St. Lawrence Habitat for Hu-
manity project. $5.00 will be donated on orders
of $30 or more! (No coupons will be allowed.)
What an easy way to help our youth groups raise
money for this worthy cause!
St. Lawrence Rite 13 Youth Group
OPERATING AND BUILDING FUND FINANCIALS — NOVEMBER 2009 Please review these figures carefully. This report was approved by the Vestry at the December meeting. As you can see, our church
needs our continued financial support. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the vestry members or the finan-
cial committee: Ann Marr, 847 362-2110, or your Wardens: Todd Seiler, 847 775-0770 and Bill Keating, 847 816-1596.
As of November 30, 2009
For November For 2009
Operating Account Actual Budget Actual Budget
Amounts received (1) $ 45,447 $ 40,229 $411,020 $448,821
Amounts expended (2) $ 40,839 $ 46,592 $473,155 $549,990
Difference (3) $ 4,608 $ ( 6,363) $(62,135) $(101,169)
Notations
(1) This is the money received by the Church from the generous giving of the parish and all other sources. This is the
income of the Church.
(2) This is the money that has been expended to operate the Church. These are the expenses of the Church.
(3) When this is a positive number, there are excess funds to be invested by the Church. When this is a negative number, the
Church has to liquidate its investments to fund the shortfall.
Church Street News
January 2010
ST. LAWRNCE YOUTH GROUP NEWS
— 9 —
HOPE FOOD PANTRY
EAGLE PROJECT Eric Seiler, who is a member of Boy Scout
Troop 671, sponsored by the Wildwood
Park District, chose as his Eagle Project to
rebuild the HOPE Food Pantry. The food
pantry is located in the Library of the
church. (End of the hall opposite the Drama
Room). In conjunction with this project he
did a food drive where he had over 500 fli-
ers distributed to homes in the area around
the church on one Saturday. The following
Saturday they went back and picked up over
1300 items to stock the food pantry!
In the process of rebuilding the HOPE Food
Pantry Eric had over 30 people helping.
They spent over 241 man hours in all as-
pects of this project.
He transformed the old pantry from six
shelving units to 16 pull-out shelves with
three oversized areas for paper products and
additional storage underneath. It is now able to hold two to three times as much product as it did before.
The response from the people who use the HOPE Food Pantry has been very positive. They are amazed and pleased with not only
how nice it looks, but that someone cared enough about people who were less fortunate to do something this nice for them.
Eric is a member of St. Lawrence, a junior at Warren Township High School and is 16 years old. Please stop by and take a look!
Thank you, Eric, for a job well done and well received.
Church Street News
January 2010
ST. LAWRENCE SPOTLIGHT
— 10 —
ST. LAWRENCE SPOTLIGHT Paige Sampson
―St. Lawrence Spotlight‖ is a new addition to the Church Street
News. In an effort to get to know each other better, each month
we will feature a different person/family of St. Lawrence. If
you would like to be in the "Spotlight" in the future, please con-
tact Paige Sampson at [email protected]
1) Name: Erin Armstrong Devin, Olivia Devin – Age 9 and
Sam Devin – Age 7.
2) Where do you live? In Libertyville.
3) Members of St. Lawrence for how long? OR How long have you been attending St. Lawrence? I think it’s been
about 4 years now!
4) Profession? Direct Marketing / Database Marketing Consultant for MeritDirect, LLC.
5) Special interests/hobbies? Lots which I haven’t enough time for! I love to read and to do yoga. I’ve only been
doing yoga for about 2 years but I love it and it does seem to make me a more (ahem) patient parent. I also love to
ski (cross-country and downhill) but I don’t get to do either enough. Sam and Liv enjoy snow sports too. They’ve
both been on downhill skis but it might be time to try cross-country with them this year.
6) Favorite vacation spot? Sunriver, Oregon. It is in central Oregon and is just beautiful. I love the mountains and
this area of Oregon is in the high desert and has beautiful mountains; some of which are really old volcanoes. We
had a wonderful vacation there last August and climbed a cinder cone. It was a great hike and gave us some won-
derful views of the area. We also went underground and explored the lava tubes in the area.
7) If I/we had a million dollars...I really wouldn’t change my life that much ( ha! ) I’d move back to Oregon and
have a place in Portland and in Sunriver. I’d quit my job and work at a non-profit somewhere doing something
more meaningful than database work.
8) Favorite time of year… I think perhaps Fall. I love the temperature and to see the leaves change.
9) Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving! I love to cook and to eat with none of the ―gift-buying‖ pressure. Plus, through
yoga I’ve begun to see how having more gratitude in your life really does make it richer.
10) Music we most often listen to? We listen to a lot of alternative music. My tastes are kind of all over. But, re-
cently we’ve had The Avett Brothers ( bluegrass) and Michael Frente on the player. I also like Bob Dylan but can
sing along to Colbe Caillet in my car, at any time. Or, John Mayer for that matter. As I said, we’re all over the map
with music.
11) Favorite book? I have many but two that come to mind are Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner and The
Help by Kathryn Stockett.
12) Favorite dessert? Crème Brule is mine and my kids love anything chocolate.
RESERVED
FOR
ADS
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID PRESORT STANDARD
PERMIT NO. 120
LIBERTYVILLE, IL 60048
Address service requested
ST. LAWRENCE
YOUTH GROUPS
TEAM UP WITH
JAKE'S PIZZA
When ordering pizza this
winter for your family,
friends or sports team,
please call Jake's Pizza at
847 816-8626 and don't
forget to mention St.
Lawrence Church!
Funds raised will go towards
the Habitat for Humanity
Mission Trip.
ST. LAWRENCE
EPISCOPAL CHURCH
125 West Church Street
Libertyville, Illinois 60048
Upcoming events at
St. Lawrence Episcopal Church
Please join us for the
ST. LAWRENCE
ANNUAL
MEETING
Sunday, January 24, 2010
10:45 am
Holy Eucharist will proceed
the meeting at 9:30 am
Children’s activities will be
provided during the meeting
in the Parish Hall.
ST. LAWRENCE
WEDNESDAY
EVENING
ADULT FORUMS
SERIES
CONTINUES IN
JANUARY
�
Art, the Battle of the
Sexes, and the Bible
