The Vestry reviewed and voted on 2022 Parish Budget to be presented at the Annual Meeting on 1/30/22.

With a “thank you” cake, Fr. John and the Vestry expressed their gratitude for the service of Andrea Pugh who retires this month as Treasurer after 8 years of valued service. Her “calculator” will be passed to our new parish treasurer, Barb England, at our Annual Meeting.

They also thanked retiring vestry members, Senior Warden Bruce England and Jr. Warden Ron Himmel for their contributions to the parish during their tenure.

Fr. John recapped the Christmas services, and thanked all who helped to make the worship services joyful. Unfortunately, attendance numbers were down by 50%. The Omicron variant necessitated us closing to in-person services for the past two Sundays, but in-person services will resume this coming Sunday, January 23. Masks are required for a time until this spike diminishes.

Dawn Rodenbaugh, Garden Market Co-chair, gave an overview of plans for the upcoming Garden Market on April 29-30, 2022.

Nominating Committee Report given on new Vestry and Convention candidates for election.

George Balog briefed the group on repairs to the church and Vestry House roofs. He provided proposals for more extensive work needed in 2022 on church gutters, Bell tower, gutters and leaders on Vestry House.

Next Vestry meeting: Feb. 16, 2022

We will have a Combined Service at 9:00AM on Sunday, January 30th. Following the service, we will gather in the Parish Center for our Annual Church Meeting.

We encourage all parishioners to attend this important meeting. At that time, we will vote for Vestry members and Convention delegates, review our 2021 Annual Report, review and vote for the Mission Committee budget, and present our budget for the new year.

For those not attending in person, a Zoom option will be available.

Help is needed on Saturday, January 22 at 10AM to remove and dispose the old wreaths from our veteran’s graves and any remaining decorations.

To maintain the historic integrity of our churchyard, we respectfully remind everyone that artificial flowers and decorations, other than flags or fresh flowers, are not allowed.

Due to a decrease in the number of clients coming to our Outreach Office over the last year, its budgeted funds have been accumulating and have gone unused. The Mission Committee met with parish treasurer, Andrea Pugh, Father John, and us to discuss the possibility of reassigning the unused funds for a portion of 2021.

With the approval of all, the Mission Committee researched the needs of local, national, and international organizations, and submitted suggested organizations and amounts to the Vestry for its consideration.

The Vestry approved the reassignment of Outreach funds to the following organizations, some of which

were already part of our 2021 budget and some that were new recipients:

Community Services Foundation, Deep Roots, Voices of Hope, Water Mission, Partners in Health, American Red Cross, Christmas in April, Habitat for Humanity – Susquehanna, Dexter House, Doctors Without Borders, Episcopal Migration Ministries, El Hogar, Our Little Roses, and the Children’s Medical Mission of Haiti.

More information will be available at the 2022 Annual Meeting.

Donne Lewis

Rick Waterhouse

Dear Loved Ones,

I want to take this opportunity to extend my deep appreciation to the parishioners who worked behind the scenes to help with our glorious Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services.

Even though our pews were not jammed packed as in previous years, due to this pandemic, your effort remained to make our annual Christmas celebration magical for those in attendance.

Where do I begin? The music. Wow! Joel Alarcon, Alex Bi, and our choir, both live and virtual, filled our beautiful worship space with joyful, exquisite music.

The flowers. Gorgeous. The Flower Committee created lovely seasonal topiaries for each window out of boxwood, berries and dried flowers. Three beautiful arrangements adorned the altar area, too.

The worship participants. Acolytes, Lectors, Ushers and Technical Acolytes all did their parts to help make my job a little easier.

The Altar Guild. Lovingly cleaned and prepared the altar and the elements for our worship. As always.

We are blessed so many parishioners cherish our worship and sanctuary, and contribute to make it meaningful and beautiful year round.

Finally, I am also greatly appreciative to the parish for the generous Christmas gift you gave to Karen and me. Thank you from both of us.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Blessings,

Fr. John