3 CHURCH VBS SCHEDULED-  “All the Ways We Pray” is the theme for Vacation Bible School for Hickory Neck, Bruton Parish, and St. Martin’s churches.  HNC will host VBS from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday, August 6-10.Registration forms are available in the narthex, in the May CLOAK

and on the HNC website and should be returned to HNC.  Youth and adults interested in volunteering should contact Paula Simmons (564-7998). 

Materials being collected for VBS include: parchment paper for baking, any size white or pastel flat sheets, paints, markers, colored pencils, beads and charms, elastic cord, small cord, large popsicle sticks/tongue depressors.  A collection bin labeled “VBS Supplies” is located in the narthex.

Gospel Study Invitation:  Our local "Triangle Chapter" of the Order of St. Luke is offering an opportunity to study the 26 Gospel accounts of Jesus' healings. This will start with two parallel sessions, afternoon and evening of May 22nd at the Wmbg. United Methodist Church. The full course of monthly meetings will be completed by December, taking July and August off. It requires the purchase of a study book, which provides the self-study outline needed for the group discussions that follow each month. For more info, contact David Benedict, OSL Chaplain at 258-5893 or dsbenedict@cox.net

Do you have items to donate for the upcoming yard sale? J2A is most grateful. Please begin bringing those items on or after Monday, April 30. Please deposit them in Miles Hall--in front of the stage, to the right side.
 
We will take just about anything except adult clothing (just too hard to display). 

Save the Date & Time - Saturday, April 28th - 9 am till noon.   The Building and Grounds Committee has planned the Spring clean up day for St. Martin's that includes a light lunch. 

We have items that need to be done indoors  - changing lights, changing ceiling tiles, touch up painting, ... and outdoors  - cleaning up flower beds, trimming bushes, weeding, blowing leaves, spreading mulch. 

The church has tools which can be used but if you have your favorite pruning sheers, trimmers, mulch rake,  spading forks,wheel barrow, ... please don't hesitate to bring them.  

If you are working outside please consider dressing for the weather and if it's sunny you might consider wearing sunglasses, a hat and sunscreen.  

If you have a conflict with day and time but would still like to help or maybe you have some additional time that you would like to help me get a jumpstart on the clean up activities please call me.  I like have a few of the beds done in advance so the on clean up day we can start moving mulch first thing.  Gina Clayton 757-345-9311 

The Building and Grounds Committee looks forward to seeing you and your family on the 28th to enjoy good fellowship and awesome results from our labors!

J2A Metal Recycling Project During the Yard Sale on Saturday, May 5, the J2A youth will also be accepting metals that they will then recycle for money.  What is meant by “metals,” you say?  Here are just a few of the types of things that can be recycled: Aluminum Cans & Bakeware (aluminum anything), Copper Pipe and Fittings (look under your work bench in the garage for those pieces you saved “in case you might need them”), Small Kitchen Appliances (toasters, blenders, hand mixers, deep fryers), Cookware (pots, pans, skillets, etc.), Steel Tools (carpentry, garden, etc.), Old Cutlery (knives, forks, spoons, tongs, etc.), Metal Hangers & Shoe Stretchers, Car Parts (bumpers, hubcaps, carburetor, etc.), Lighting Fixtures (indoor or outdoor), Stoves and Cooktops (yes if they are not in good working order and Habitat for Humanity won’t take them, we will).  With that said, there are a few things we won’t take because it would be unsafe for the J2A kids to dismantle them.  They are:  NO electronics (computers, printers, etc.), NO batteries, No Microwaves NO Sharp Objects (razor blades, etc.)  HAPPY HUNTING!!!!!

SPECIAL GUEST PREACHER- In recognition of St. Martin’s annual collection for Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD), The Reverend Lauren Stanley will preach at all three services on Sunday, April 22nd.  The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley is an Episcopal priest of the Diocese of Virginia who serves as a preacher, celebrant, retreat leader and consultant. She was an Appointed Missionary of The Episcopal Church for five years, serving most recently in the Diocese of Haiti, the largest diocese in the Church. Before serving in Haiti, she spent four years (2005-2009) as the Episcopal Church's only full-time missionary in Sudan, where she taught and was chaplain at the Renk Theological College in South Sudan. A graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary (1997), she served in numerous parishes in the Dioceses of Virginia and Bethlehem Pa., specializing in mission work both domestic and foreign before becoming a full-time missionary. She is the author of the Diocese of Virginia’s Short-Term Mission Handbook; the January 2010 Forward Day by Day meditations; a contributor to Walking with God Day by Day and Wisdom Found: Stories of Women Transfigured by Faith, and is a national newspaper columnist writing about God's presence in our lives. Her web site is www.gointheworld.net. Before ordination, Stanley was a journalist for 20-plus years, as well as a Peace Corps volunteer serving in Kenya in the mid-1980s.

ERD INGATHERING COLLECTION TODAY-Nets for Life Prevents Malaria - This past Sunday, April 15, envelopes were included in the bulletin for the annual in-gathering for Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) which will occur today- Sunday, April 22nd. Our collection is  dedicated to ERD's NetsforLife which works to save lives by delivering insecticide-treated mosquito nets and training in malaria prevention to communities in 17 African countries. By making your check payable to St. Martin’s Church and designating “ERD – NetsforLife” on the check memo line, we will send one check from our parish designated for this malaria prevention initiative. If you won’t be in attendance on ERD Sunday, you may submit your check to St. Martin’s prior to the collection date using the same notation on the check memo line. A $12 contribution  not only a net but also an integrated approach to malaria prevention. Please consider helping our Outreach Commission support this life-saving work.

SCANDAL OF THE CROSS- Kevin (VIP) Vipavetz, a NASA physicist, parishioner, and active member of the Adult Formation Committee, will present his second program during the 10am hour between services this Sunday in Miles Hall.  On April 22nd he will explore the "Scandal of the Cross."  Get your coffee in the hallway outside the kitchen, settle in Miles Hall and get prepared to be riveted by Vip's thoughts on this subject.

BISHOP’S VISITATION- April 29th, 11am service

The congregation is encouraged to participate in a community conversation with Bishop Holly in Miles Hall at 10a.m. and toast our confirmands and Eve Gee, our ministry intern!

SMEC SPRING WORK DAY-WE NEED YOUR HELP -  Don’t forget! A Spring Work Day for Grounds Clean Up is scheduled from 9-12 on Saturday, April, 28. Come dressed in your work clothes and help us get all spiffed-up for the Bishop’s visit the following day. See you there!