Brendan Browning Lafferty, son of Sharon Browning: It is with great sadness of heart that we share the news of Brendan Browning Lafferty’s sudden death at the age of 33 on Saturday, August 4, 2018. His obituary is on the right side of this page.

Note from Fr. Gene: “My 50th anniversary has ended and I have returned to my two parishes in Baltimore. I thank you for the reunion, your hospitality, well-wishes and happy memories. May the Lord bless you all”.

Christine Eberle has written a book, Finding God in Ordinary Time. Check out the flyer announcing the publication at a special event at St. Vincent’s.

CONFIRMATION
We will be having a mandatory retreat to begin the confirmation
journey in August. There are two dates for the retreat, Saturday, August 11, from 11-4 and Friday, August 24 from 5-10. Please RSVP with which retreat works better for you and with any dietary restrictions by August 5th to Delia Landers at dlanders@brynmawr.edu
or 215-431-8542.

Upcoming meetings: Pastoral Council, Thursday, Aug 9, at 7pm             Liturgy Council, Mon., Aug. 13 at 7pm          Finance Council, Tues., Aug 14 at 7pm

CAPITAL CAMPAIGN & ROOF PROGRESS
While the roof is being done, they are working on the interior of the church and handicap accessibility. Thanks for all who gave so generously to the capital campaign. If you have not given, but would like to help, please feel free to make a pledge for a year or a onetime donation. See Kevin and Mary Murray or John and Terry Trudeau, for more information. You may notice that there are lots of flakes from the ceiling on the pews and church floor. This flaking is a good sign. It means the roof is working and our church ceiling is drying out, causing the flaking. We will begin the final phase of our roofing project…the dome, apse and back roofs. Actual work on this has begun, and we are hopeful that all will be finished by the end of October.

Seeking Volunteers for Nov. 2019 Retreat: Good news! St. Vincent’s is planning a weekend retreat at the Malvern Retreat House, Nov 8-10, 2019. Those who were able to attend our 2016 retreat in Harvey Cedars remember what wonderful opportunities for faith sharing and community building a parish retreat provides. We will share more news in the coming months; right now, retreat co-chairs, Wiley Redding and Christine Eberle are seeking dedicated volunteers to form the Cor Team (Cor= heart!) This is a 15 month commitment to the planning process, including monthly meetings (generally on Saturdays) and committee work. We are seeking volunteers with passion and skill in the areas of Publicity, Logistics, Art, Hospitality, Program Design and Fundraising. Intrigued? Contact Wiley at wiredding21@gmail.com or Christine at christine0707@me.com with your name, phone number, and area(s) of interest. Please note: the Cor Team will kick-off our work together with a half-day retreat on Saturday, September 8 from noon to 4!

Under the Same Moon save the date: Sale coming to St. Vincent’s on November 3-4, 2018.

Check out our flyer.

Pew Conversations: On the last Sunday of every month, during the homily time, we are all invited to share our thoughts on the day’s readings. this is a way of getting to know each other better through talking about our faith and our lives. The Reconciliation and Unity Ministry is putting together a Pew Conversations team. Members will reflect on the readings and provide feedback on suggested faith sharing questions and will rotate responsibility for writing a faith sharing question based on the reading and getting it publicized in the bulletin. If you are interested in participating please contact Sharon Browning at 215-840-4772 or sbrowning@justlistening.net.

Parish Pastoral Council: The Parish Pastoral Council has adopted a set of by-laws. You can read them here.

One neighbor at a time, or maybe four, six or eight! We want to have dinners together because we really want to become a community of friends. We want to get to know each other better, and the best way to do that is to sit at the table just to enjoy each other’s company around good food and conversation. We propose to have dinners where members of the parish sign up for a meal without knowing who their hosts are, or even who the other guests will be, except for one other person if you want to go as a pair. We will start in June , and we hope by the fall everybody will  be signing up enthusiastically as hosts or guests. The mechanics of how this will work will be explained next week. Meanwhile, if you are willing to host a blind dinner, please place a card with your name, some possible dates, and how many people you can host, but do it secretly! You will call your mystery guests and give them details. Perhaps ask them to contribute a simple dish, bread, or an appetizer for the meal. Perhaps just bring their appetites and their good will. It is very likely that we will all make new friends, and that our Parish will be come stronger, a true people in community.

Lector Notes. Do you feel called to share your love of God’s Word and your gift of proclaiming it with the parish community? In this Easter season of new life – and year-round! – we are always open to prospective lectors emerging in our midst. We are especially eager to invite more men, more young people who have been confirmed, to consider this ministry. We will plan a 1-hour training on a Saturday in June. Watch the bulletin for details!

Drivers needed. Please sign up at the back of the church if you can drive people to the 9 or the 11.