Who Broke the Law? A Father’s Story of his Son’s Wrongful Conviction
On January 18 at 6pm, St. Vincent’s Peace and Justice Committee will host and Art for Justice will present Chester Hollman, Jr. telling about his son, Chester Hollman III’s wrongful conviction to life without parole in Pennsylvania.

The public is invited to witness Mr. Chester Hollman Jr’s truth telling of a family’s tragedy and struggle for justice. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and view Art for Justice artworks after the talk.

A documentary crew will be filming the event for an upcoming series about wrongful convictions.

See the flyer for more details

INTERFAITH COMMUNITY BUILDING GROUP
A group from St Vincent de Paul Church and Mishkon
Shalom Synagogue is going to San Juan, Puerto Rico from February 14-21, 2019 to help rebuild three houses. Skilled and unskilled volunteers are needed. Meals and housing will be provided by a United Methodist Church in San Juan. Approximate cost of trip is $470 plus airfare. If you have any interest, call or email Joe Clay at 215-266-7256 or jvfc3@msn.com for additional information.

HELP NEEDED
Melvin Sparks, recent resident at My Place Germantown, has moved to an apartment in Germantown. He wants to
supplement his Social Security by providing handyman services. If you need painting, or need an extra pair of hands with projects, please give Melvin a call at 267-745-9919.

Second Collection: The second collection will be taken up for the Parish Retreat on the following dates:  Jan 5-6; Feb 9-10; Mar 2-3; Apr 6-7; May 11-12; June 1-2; July 13-14; Aug 3-4; Sept 14-15; Oct. 5-6.

POWER UPDATE:  Thank you & Merry Christmas! In this season of celebrating the amazing gift of God becoming “one of us,” what better time to thank you for “incarnating” God’s love in all you in our parish, the Germantown community and beyond! We weren’t there to open our doors to Mary and Joseph as they searched for a place for Jesus to be born, but we ARE here to work and pray for policies that make our Germantown neighborhood-and our city and state-more family-friendly places! Thanks be to God! If you’d like to participate in our POWER-St Vincent’s effort to reach out to other Germantown congregations, please come to our Germantown Interfaith Voter engagement meeting on Sat Dec 29, 10am to 12 noon at Faith Chapel, 108 E Price St (directly across the street from our rectory). We’re building on the connections we made during election season, with other congregations and local voters. We’re considering forming a partnership to keep local legislators accountable to serving the Germantown community year-round—not only when they’re asking for our votes. RSVP to Terri Burgin (215-651-0100) or Mary Laver (610-324-9388), so we can brief you in case of any weather-delay—or to get a ride! Save the date: Mon Jan 21, 2019, 1 to 3 PM (location TBD): City-wide MLK Day event  recommitting ourselves to working for just public policies! Sponsored by POWER and ally-organizations. Watch upcoming bulletins for details.

WATCHNIGHT SERVICE:  Monday, December 3 1 ^ we will have Mass at 9pm. Afterwards, we will join Faith Chapel Church, across the street, at 108 East Price Street. Their service starts at 10 pm and will end shortly after midnight.

PARISH RETREAT: Save the Date! Mark your calendars! One year from now (November 8-10, 2019), we will hold our next Parish Retreat at the  beautiful Malvern Retreat Center. Open to all  parishioners 18 and over, this special weekend will help us deepen our faith journey and strengthen our community as together we focus on our common call: Weaving God’s Tapestry
of Love. A Saturday-only option will he available, as well as transportation for those who need it. We anticipate that the retreat cost will he heavily subsidized by parish fundraising efforts in the year to come, including a monthly second collection beginning December 8/9. (You can buy a $10 mug anytime to benefit the retreat fund.) Please hold the date, and watch for
announcements as details unfold and as retreat sub-committees in need of volunteers are formed. Above all, please pray for the work of the Core Team, that we may open ourselves to God’s deepest desires for our faith community.

“Please Pray for Sick” section in Bulletin: All friends of Vincent will be eliminated, since many have been in for two to five years. We will start a new list immediately. If you want someone on the prayer list, please contact the office with the names.

Ministry Meetings after 6pm: If your ministry meets in the evening, please make sure your meeting is scheduled and the ministry head has a key or that someone will be in the rectory to open the door.

Parenting classes: Every Friday from 11 to 1 for twelve weeks, starting October 19th.

Scholarship: Scholarships are available to all active members, who are sending children to Catholic schools (from Kindergarten to 12th).

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!

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.