Christmas Smash a Smashing Success (and No One Was Smashed)

Greetings friends,

Thanks to all who were able to make it out to the St. Paul's YAMs Christmas Party (there were twenty-two of us, all told). Lisa and I certainly had a blast! I hope that everyone else did too. If you were out-of-town or otherwise unable to come, we hope that next year you will be able to make it. Thanks to St. Paul’s for providing just about everything. This was truly a great way to celebrate the season!

Yours in Christ,
Bob

The Rev. Robert K. Leopold
Assistant Rector for College and Young Adult Ministries
St. Paul's Church, Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee
leopold@stpaulschatt.org
http://stpaulsyams.blogspot.com/

Ordination Invitation

Greetings friends,

As most of you know, there are three ordained orders in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church: deacon, priest, and bishop. While these ministriest are not hierarchical, nor are they any more important than the ministries of the laity, they are sequential. That is to say, to be ordained a priest, one must have been already ordained a deacon. Similarly, bishops must first be deacons, then priests, then bishops.

At the time of this writing, I am a deacon, though a special kind of deacon called a transitional deacon. This means that the call identified by the community of faith in my life is to the ministry of priesthood. However, in order to be a priest, one must first have been a deacon. The time of my ministry that is limited to deaconal duties is nearly at an end . . .

The Lord willing and the people consenting, the Rt. Rev. Charles G. vonRosenberg (our bishop in the Diocese of East Tennessee) will ordain me to the sacred order of priests on January 10th, at 4:00 PM, at St. Paul's Church in Chattanooga, TN. By means of this note, I am inviting you all. I do hope that you all can come.

Yours sincerely in Christ,
Bob

P.S. There is no real need for an evite for this event. Just come and see and celebrate afterward.

P.P.S. I put some pictures up here.

Christmas Greeting

Friends,

Thank you so much for your prayers and support in the past year. Together we have really begun to shape this ministry into something great. I appreciate each and every one of you. It is in this spirit of thanksgiving for a wonderful year past and in anticipation of a glorious year to come that I wish you a sincere, heart-felt happiest of Christmastide!

Yours jubilantly in Christ,
Bob

Winter, Spring, Summer 2009 Calendar of Events

Greetings friends,

I have tried to causally audit most of you about the shape of the Young Adults Ministry here at St. Paul's. Based upon that input, I agree that doing something about twice a month is a good working model. Similarly, I have tried to vary the dates and times in order to give everyone a chance to participate. Along those lines, I have stuck with the practice of varying the types of events as well - service, community building, fun, etc. So, without further delay . . .

Here is the calendar for the Spring, Summer, and Winter of 2009:

Ordination
Sat. 10th January
St. Paul's Sanctuary
4-7 PM
Free

Prepare & Serve Food
Sat. 31st January
The Community Kitchen
8 AM - 12 PM
Free

Winter Games Party
Fri. 6th February
The Leopolds' House
5-9 PM
Free

Dinner with Speaker
Thurs. 19th February
St. Paul's Parish Hall
6-9 PM
$6

Mission Trip
Fri. 13th - Sat. 14th March
Appalachian Mountains
5-5 PM
$TBD

Anniversary of MLK's Death
Sat. 4th April
Chattanooga African-American Museum
12-4 PM
$4

St. Paul's Helping Weekend
17th - 19th April
Teams at Various Places
8-6 AM-PM (various times within)
Free

After Church Fun - Hunt
Sun. 3rd May
St. Paul's Campus
12-3 PM
Free

Dinner with Speaker
Fri. 22rd May
St. Paul's Parish Hall
6-9 PM
$6

Prepare & Serve Food
Sat. 31st May
The Community Kitchen
8-12 AM-PM
Free

Summer Movie
Sat. 6th June
Regal Hamilton Place
3-6 PM
$3

Summer Games Party
Sat. 4th July
The Leopolds' House
3-6 PM
Free

Summer Dinner
Sat. 1st August
St. Paul's - Parish Hall
6-9 PM
$6

Prepare & Serve Food
29th August
The Community Kitchen
8-6 AM-PM
Free

I have also attached the calendar as a .pdf here.

I hope that you will be able to participate in a great many of our events in the coming year!

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Carol Singing and Cookie Baking a Huge Success

Greetings friends,

The most recent YAMs event, the late, great, cookie-baking, carol-singing, homebound-visiting YAMathon was a huge success. I cannot fully relate to you the thanks that I have received on behalf of those whom we visited. They loved it and they now love us. By virtue of this event, we have endeared ourselves into the oldest generation at St. Paul's. Way to go!

I must admit, on Saturday, I was worried. I know how to lead a music rehearsal (from my bass-playin' days) and I know how to behaive in a pastoral way. I don't know how to do both at the same time. I certainly erred on the side of pastoring, which I think is okay. the music sounded fine, but things were a wee bit out-of-control. That's okay, though, because Sunday afternoon, by about the second stop, everyone realized why we were there. There were no pep-talks needed. We knew why we were there.

That being said, we really spread some joy that day! Thank you all for your work - if you baked, if you sang, or if you just thought about us - thank you.

As thanks, here are some pictures.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

P.S. check out that joy on Christyna’s face!!!

The Rev. Robert K. Leopold
Assistant Rector for College and Young Adult Ministries
St. Paul's Church, Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee
leopold@stpaulschatt.org
http://stpaulsyams.blogspot.com/

YAMs Christmas Party

Greetings friends,

As may of you know by the evite, Lisa and I are hosting a Christmas party. If you did not get the evite, please email me at leopold@stpaulschatt.org to RSVP and for directions. The party will be at our house on the evening of December 28th at six o'clock. Please come out for this fun time. The only thing that you need bring is yourself.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

P.S. I have posted pictures of the event here.

Updated Calendar - Those Events that Made the Cut

Greetings friends,

As mentioned in the last post, in the interest of getting more YAMs involved at the same events and not overwhelming those who have not yet participated, here is the new calendar with only two events or so per month.

Calendar of Events:

10th Jan. Sat. 4:00 PM – The Ordination of Robert K. Leopold to the Sacred Order of Priests (Lord & the Bishop willing and the People Consenting) Followed by an Educational Event and Party at St. Paul's

I do hope that you all will have some opportunity to participate in many of these events. Further details will be forthcoming. This will perhaps relieve some of the pressure on all of us to try to make it to all of the events.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Past Events:

4th Sept. Tues. – Young Adults’ Dinner Welcoming the Leopolds with Speaker The Rev. Matilda Dunn

27th Sept. Sat. – Culture Fest in Coolidge Park

4th Oct. Sat. 9:30 AM thru 12:00 PM - Breakfast Preparation at St. Paul's

5th Oct. Sun. 8:00 AM thru 10:00 AM - Breakfast Service at St. Paul's

10th Oct. Fri. 7:00 PM thru 9:00 PM – Dessert at the Eichenbergers’ House

18th Oct. Sat. 8:00 AM - Habitat for Humanity Work Day

26th Oct. Sun. 12:00 PM – Luncheon Speaker after Church, at the Church

31st Oct. Fri. 6:00 PM thru 1st Nov. Sat. 4:00 PM – All Hallows’ Eve/All Saints' Day Retreat to Sewanee

8th Nov. Sat. 3:00 PM - Let's Go Bowling!!!

15th Nov. Sat. 8:00 AM thru 12:00 PM - Deliver Collected Goods to Community Kitchen and Work at Community Kitchen

27th Nov. Thur. 8:00 AM thru 12:00 PM - Thanksgiving Day Grateful Gobbler Walk Followed by Service at St. Paul's

13th Dec. Sat. 3:00 PM - Baking Goodies for the Hearers of Carols on Sunday the 14th at St. Paul's Kitchen

14th Dec. Sun. 12:00 PM - “Advent” Caroling to Residets of St. Barnabas and Others

28th Dec. Sun. 6:00 PM thru 9:00 PM - Christmas Party at the Leopolds' House (after 5:00 PM Church)

YAMs Bake-N-Sing

Greetings friends,

Many of you who have had your eye on the bulletin or website are now ready for this evite and email combo. The YAMs (and anyone else who considers themselves such) is invited to come bake, sing, and sing. By this I mean: this Saturday, the 13th, at St. Paul's, at 3:00 PM, the YAMs (and friends) will gather to bake goodies to give out on the following day to folks at St. Barnabas after the 10:30 service. While we give out these baked goodies, we will also sing advent carols (maybe some Christmas ones will sneak in too). So, while we bake the day before, we will also practice singing. All you need bring is yourself and something to make/bake to give away. You don't have to bring a lot, because we will only see a few folks at a time and you don't have to worry that you are bringing something that someone else has bought for the very same reason.

Here is a link to the evite, if you did not get it.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

P.S. The reports I have from folks about what they are bringing range from break-n-bake-tube-cookies to made-from-scratch . . . All are welcome.

P.P.S. I have added a report and some pictures here.

Thanks to All Who Attended the Grateful Gobbler

Greetings friends,
Thank you all so much for your support in walking in and sponsoring walkers for the Grateful Gobbler Walk to benefit the Chattanooga Homeless Coalition. I saw many folks from St. Paul's - lots of them young adults and tweeners!! Unfortunately, most of us were separated from one another. Whoever had the flag was way out front and was a very fast walker. There was no way that I was even going to keep up, much less catch up. Oh well. Maybe next year we can get better coordinated about where to meet and how sponsorships might work better. Regardless, thank you all for your help and hard work. This was, I believe a great statement to the wider community and it did some good work in its own right.
Yours in Christ, Bob

Advent I Sermon

Friends,

Well, it happened again . . . I preached at St. Paul's. I am happy to say that four souls were brought to Jesus because of this . . . Oh wait . . . That is not us. Anyway, for those of you who weren't able to hear it, here it is in all its glory.

The lectionary texts are:

Isaiah 64:1-9
Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
1 Corinthians 1:3-9
Mark 13:24-37

Here is the Gospel as read.
Here is the Sermon.

Enjoy.

Yours humbly in Christ,
Bob

Grateful Gobbler Forms

Greetings friends,

I neglected to post the relevant forms for the Grateful Gobbler Walk in my last post.

The event flyer is here.

The St. Paul's informational flyer is here.

Thanks,
Bob

The Grateful Gobbler Walk

Greetings Grateful Gobbler Gobblers,

That time of year is nigh upon us. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and with it come the Grateful Gobbler Walk, Roll, or Stroll to Benefit the Homeless in our area. This walk takes place on Thursday morning, November 27th - Thanksgiving Day - at 8:30 AM. This year, I have been asked to help get volunteers to walk, roll, or stroll from St. Paul's. This is not just limited to YAMs. Adam Webb, our youth minister, and Lori Govan will also help out. If you are interested in walking, please pick up one of the blue flyers peppered throughout the church, see me for more information, or respond to this evite. The cost is $20 per walker. Please do not let this be the reason that you do not walk, however. Please email me if you would like to be sponsored.

We plan on meeting before the walk at the carousel in Coolidge Park under the Episcopal Flag. After the walk, we will make our way to St. Paul's for the Thanksgiving Day Service, which begins at 10:30 AM. This service is shorter than your average Sunday morning service, so you will be home in plenty of time for Turkey preparations or football viewing. Please consider coming out for this great event.

If you cannot attend, please consider sponsoring a walker. If you are interested in sponsoring a walker for the Grateful Gobbler, please email me or make out a check payable to "The Chattanooga Homeless Coalition" in the amount of $20.00 per sponsor. Checks can be given to me or to any other member of St. Paul's ministry team (including Adam and Lori). Thank you so much for your ministries.

Please let us know if you are planning on coming or sponsoring here. You can have your checks in the amount of $20 per walker made out to the "Chattanooga Homeless Coalition" on the morning of the walk - registration begins at 7:30, though I probably will not be around until 8:00 AM. Also, please let me know if you would like to walk, but need a sponsorship.

Yours in Christ,
Bob (leopold@stpaulschatt.org)

P.S. I put the forms up here.
P.P.S. I put a report and some pictures up here.

Community Kitchen Event a Great Success!

Greetings friends,

Thanks so much to those of you who were able to come help out at the community kitchen event! Whether you were able to come out or were able to donate to the cause - thank you.

Just look at all that stuff in the van – we nearly filled it completely!

I spoke with Greg, one of the Community Kitchen employees, who told me that our cleaning and organization of cans really helped them to get ready for the big influx of donations that they expect to receive during the holiday season.

I also booked two more dates in the coming year for us to help out - this time perhaps serving food as they are able to accomodate us.

Here are some pictures from the event - they are by no means exhaustive of those who came out to help.

In addition to our regular folks from St. Paul's who came to help out, I also invited the St. Peter's "College and Career Group" and two of them came - thanks for your help Colin and Robert!

Yours in Christ,
Bob

P.S. I had mentioned to some of the folks who came that I was wearing the one pair of blue jean denim pant slacks that I own. I also mentioned that these said trousers belonged to my Gram-Gram. These statements are both true. What I neglected to mention to this group is that these are men’s jeans, despite the fact that my grandmother wore them. The blue jean denim pant slacks in question are pointed to in one of the pictures. Or, at least that is one side of the story. Perhaps my “Spirit Shoes” were being pointed out . . .

The Pressures of this Missing Generation

Greetings friends,

As many of you know, I was hired at St. Paul's to help out in many respects, among those, with Young Adults (20s to 30s as we have had it defined for us - though there is some wiggle room).

When I arrived here, there were essentially in place monthly events for this age group. The feedback which I received from those of you who had been involved with this group is that more events were wanted. So, I planned essentially an event a week. What I have come to realize through the course of this Fall is that this is too many. So, if four times per month is too many and one time is too few, how about we split the difference?

What I am proposing is that we limit ourselves to two events per month. Hopefully, this will allow more people to be involved with those events. I will still try to program different types of events on different days at different times. This move has the approval of the ministry team here at St. Paul's and is done so that the YAMs might actually do more, not less.

An updated calendar for the remaining year will be posted shortly.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Pictures from the Trick or (Re)Treat

Greetings friends,

I thought that those of you who went on the retreat might enjoy seeing pictures of yourselves or that those of you who could not attend might enjoy seeing pictures of those who did. Either way, here are some pictures . . .

We had an absolutely fantastic time and I really feel closer to everyone that attended. Some real community was built.

Friday evening, we gathered together and shared pizza and party food - thanks again to everyone for bringing something to share. After it got dark, we went outside to participate in the All Hallows' Eve service from the Episcopal Book of Occasional Services via candle-light. Afterwards, we came back inside and changed into our Halloween Costumes (if there were a contest, Justin would have won) and consumed more party food - and listened to me boringly outline the St. Paul's alcohol policy and Don't-go-too-close-to-the-edge policy. The rest of the evening went smoothly with everyone obeying the above policies - at least as far as I know . . . and some time roasting marshmallows over the fire pit and a fun game of Beyond Balderdash.

Saturday morning, we awakened to have some free time, followed by biscuit-like pancakes, which everyone assured me were great. After breakfast, we all walked to the Natural Bridge which was beautiful. After that, there was a boxed lunch - thanks Lawson. After lunch, we adjourned ourselves outside again for some community building games - Giants/Wizards/Elves (sort of a group paper/rock/scissors) and The Helium Stick. Our guest celebrant, Rev. Talbird, arrived as we were playing Giants/Wizards/Elves and was very amused. After the games, we came inside for our closing All Saints' Day Eucharist. During the space for the sermon, we shared our own thoughts about All Saints' Day and what it means to us. I read one of my favorite passages from the Dix book, "The Shape of the Liturgy." By far, the closing Eucharist was my favorite part and I really felt close to everyone.

Thanks again to everyone who was able to attend and to Keri for use of her family's home and for cooking the pancake mix that I bought.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Community Kitchen Event

Greetings friends,

As many of you know, we have been asking for donations to the Community Kitchen for the past few weeks now.

Well, the time has come for us to deliver those donations to the Community Kitchen Thrift Store. On Saturday morning, Nov. 15th, at 8:00 AM, we will gather in St. Paul's parking lot to load the cargo van for the trip. We will then drive over to the Community Kitchen - hopefully we can make the carpool thing happen. After we unload the cargo van full of stuff, we will prepare and serve the lunch meal for that day.

The Community Kitchen [(423) 756-4222] is located at 727 East 11th Street. Here is a map. If you would like to know more about the Community Kitchen and what Brother Ron and his friends do, here is a link the official website.

Once again, we are using evite to handle the RSVPs. Here is a link to the evite invitation. If you are not on the evite list, please send me an email and let me know.

I do hope that everyone will be able to make it. This is one event that will work a lot better if we have high numbers of people. Also, this is an event that is open to YAMs and Tweeners. I hope that this might be a time that both groups would be able to work together for the church and see that - in matters of ministry - the two groups have much in common.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

The Rev. Robert K. Leopold
Assistant Rector for College and Young Adult Ministries
St. Paul's Church, Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee
leopold@stpaulschatt.org
http://stpaulsyams.blogspot.com/

Calendar of Events

Calendar of Events:

15th Nov. Sat. 8:00 AM thru 12:00 PM - Deliver Collected Goods to Community Kitchen and Work at Community Kitchen

22nd Nov. Sat. 8:00 AM - Habitat for Humanity Work Day

27th Nov. Thur. 8:00 AM thru 12:00 PM - Thanksgiving Day Grateful Gobbler Walk Followed by Service at St. Paul's

6th Dec. Sat. 8:00 AM – Habitat for Humanity Work Day

13th Dec. Sat. 3:00 PM - Baking Goodies for the Hearers of Carols on Sunday the 12th at St. Paul's Kitchen

14th Dec. Sun. 12:00 PM - “Advent” Caroling to Residets of St. Barnabas and Others

20th Dec. Sat. 3:00 PM – Let's Catch a Movie

28th Dec. Sun. 6:00 PM thru 9:00 PM - Christmas Party at the Leopolds' House (after Church)

10th Jan. Sat. 4:00 PM – The Ordination of Robert K. Leopold to the Sacred Order of Priests (tentative) Followed by an Educational Event and Party at St. Paul's

I do hope that you all will have some opportunity to participate in many of these events. Further details will be forthcoming.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Past Events:

4th Sept. Tues. – Young Adults’ Dinner Welcoming the Leopolds with Speaker The Rev. Matilda Dunn

27th Sept. Sat. – Culture Fest in Coolidge Park

4th Oct. Sat. 9:30 AM thru 12:00 PM - Breakfast Preparation at St. Paul's

5th Oct. Sun. 8:00 AM thru 10:00 AM - Breakfast Service at St. Paul's

10th Oct. Fri. 7:00 PM thru 9:00 PM – Dessert at the Eichenbergers’ House

18th Oct. Sat. 8:00 AM - Habitat for Humanity Work Day

26th Oct. Sun. 12:00 PM – Luncheon Speaker after Church, at the Church

31st Oct. Fri. 6:00 PM thru 1st Nov. Sat. 4:00 PM – All Hallows’ Eve/All Saints' Day Retreat to Sewanee

8th Nov. Sat. 3:00 PM - Let's Go Bowling!!!

Updated Calendar as a .PDF

Greetings friends,

Lost your YAMs Calendar of Events? New to the whole YAMs experience? Want to put a calendar on your fridge? Well, have one in .pdf format, right here.

This calendar also fixes a few goofs of mine on the original calendar and adds the YAMs contact info - complete with hotlinks.

Yours in Chirst,
Bob

Let's Go Bowling!!!

Greetings friends,

I have just spoken with the nice folks at AMF Tri Bowling Centers and they have reserved for us two lanes for this coming Saturday. This may be enough, or it may be too many - your letting me know will give me a clue. As you may know, we ar egoing bowling. On Saturday, November 8th, at 3:00 PM, the YAMs will meet at the AMF Tri Bowling Center at 3636 Ringgold Road in Chattanooga (423)867-2281. Here is a map. Please RSVP to me through evite (or at leopold@stpaulschatt.org) by Nov. 6th, so that we can have to proper number of lanes. The charge for bowling will be $3 for shoes, $4 per game. Bowling will give the YAMs an opportunity to spend some quality time “recharging the batteries” after the retreat and before the month of service that follows. If you do not get an evite, please email me.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Trick or (Re)Treat Update

Greetings friends,

As of now, we have several new pieces of information as they relate to the upcoming retreat.

First, the Creed home (with directions forthcoming) will be able to comfortably sleep 21 people, so there is still plenty of "Room at the Inn." Also, parking will not be a problem. I am afraid, however, that I must ask everyone who is coming to RSVP by Sunday, Oct. 26th, so that I can have the right amount of food and stuff.

Second, I will be driving up to the house on Friday afternoon around 4:00 PM Eastern Time, which puts me there at around 4:00 PM Central Time. The retreat will begin sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 PM Central Time - this means that you can leave work or school and drive up the mountain and still get there on time.

Third, child care will be provided. I hope that anyone with children will feel as welcome to attend as anyone without children. The children will not really be a part of any events and will remain apart from the activities and their parents until mealtimes and bedtime.

Fourth, I hope that everyone who can come has a great time! What follows is a tentative agenda:

Friday:
5:30 - 6:30 PM - Gathering Time and Ice Breakers
6:30 - 7:30 PM - All Hallows' Eve Service
8:00 - 11:00 PM - Halloween Party with Costumes and Party Food

Saturday:
9:00 - 10:00 AM - Breakfast
10:00 - 11:59 AM - Games
12:00 - 1:00 PM - Lunch
1:00 - 3:00 PM - Community Building Exercises
3:00 - 4:00 PM - Eucharist
4:00 PM - Say Goodbye (or tool around the mountain, but this will be on your own)

Thank you all so much,
Bob

Habitat Chatt

Greetings friends,

As many of you may be aware, by reading the Chimes, Bulletin, my emails, the printed calendar, or this webpage, we have a Habitat Work Day coming up this Saturday, Oct. 18th. I decided to post an article about this work here, as I send out the email reminder as an additional reminder.

This Saturday, we will meet at the Habitat for Humanity for Chattanooga location at:

1201 E Main St
Chattanooga, TN 37408
(423) 756-0507

Here is a map.

As many of you may also know, there is a required form to be filled out in order to work. I am making that form available here. Just print out the form and bring it with you on Saturday. If you forget, I will try to have some forms with me at 8:15 AM, which is when I will be getting there. Our official work time is the morning shift of 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

We will be working at the store, not at a house. So, just drive to the store (carpooling is always encouraged) and stay parked there for the whole shift - easy as pie. I was also told to relay to the group, that we should all wear clothes suitable for painting . . .

Now, for the bad news. I will only be able to be at this event for the first 30 minutes or so, while we gather. I have to have a "Safeguarding God's Children" booster shot and training at St. Martin's Episcopal Church from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM. Believe me, I would much rather be painting the Habitat Store than attending an anti-sexual-misconduct training seminar for six hours. But, this is something that I have to do and it is not offered very often. I apologize. I do hope that everyone will still be able to attend and be on their best behavior.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

P.S. I would like to also ask of any of you that will be there - please consider bringing a camera in order that we might share the pictures on the website after the event.

Thanks to All Who Attended the Dessert and to Our Gracious Hosts!

Greetings friends,

I want to extend to everyone who came to the Desert on Oct. 10th, a warm thank you. It was nice to see so many Young Adults paricipate in this event. I also would publically like to say thank you to our fantastic hosts - Troy, Laura, and Seth - thanks.

I, for one, had a great time as there were several gluten-free desserts which I could and did enjoy. Lisa Leopold was a great help in taking pictures, but I believe that some people escaped her lens - Lisa Hightower is one or sure. We'll be sure to capture you on "film" next time. This was, obviously a social event, but I still feel that good ministry took place. Certainly, our YAMs sense of community was strengthened by this event. I look forward to our hosting the Christmas Party, later this year.

Yours in Christ, Bob

Trick or (Re)Treat

Freinds,

I have recently sent out e-invitations to the upcoming retreat. If you have not recieved an invitation, I assure you that this was unintentional. The reason for this may be:

a) I do not have your email address/contact information
b) The invitation went straight into your "junk" folder

In either event, you were meant to be invited and you are welcome to attend. Here is the evite webpage full of information. If you did not get an invitation, please send me your email at leopold@stpaulschatt.org to get on our list.

I hope to see everyone there.

Yours in Christ,
Bob

Sunday Luncheons at Greenlife Grocery

Greetings friends,

As many of you may know, there have been for the past few weeks, a group of YAMs who go out to lunch after the 10:30 service. If you have not been or have not been invited to this outing, this was not done intentionally on my part.

By way of remedying that potential oversight, I am hereby officially inviting everyone, so . . .

Every Sunday, after the 10:30 Church Service, a group of Young Adults will go have lunch together at Greenlife Grocery in North Chattanooga.

Greenlife is a good choice for this type of thing, as the portion/price/dietary-need factors are all easily controlable. Also, the food is pretty good and there is space in the upper deck for many of us. We had tried other restaraunts with the idea of jumping around, but I think that this will be our home - at least for a while.

Car-pooling is encouraged and if you do not have a way to get there, you will. We will meet after the service at the coffee hour in the Key-Andrews Hall at St. Paul's.

Yours in Christ,

Bob

P.S. Of course, if there is another YAMs event on Sundays at this time, that event will trump the luncheon outing.

Update to Christian Education Schedule

Greetings friends,

We are in the midst of a change for this Sunday's meeting of the Young Adults' Sunday School Class.

First of all, Clay and Sarah, our faithful facilitators will be unavoidably out of town.


Secondly, there is an Outreach Fair going on at the same time in the courtyard - right out of our meeting room's window. All of the other Adult Christian Education offerings have cancelled to be a part of this Outreach Fair. While I certainly think that the YAMs are already a part of Outreach, I do not want to be seen as being elitist.


So, I propose that we just meet on Sunday for a little while and then journey together to the Outreach Fair. During this brief meeting, we will have some of the usual check-in time, I will be sure that everyone has the readings for next week and we will pick up where we left off. Perhaps we could even read both stories (Raymond Carver's "A Small Good Thing" and Annie Dillard's "The Deer at Providencia" and "A Field of Silence") and be prepared to talk about them both on Oct. 19th. I will have all of these readings to hand out on Sunday, at the usually scheduled time. I would post them on this page, but that would put me in violation of copyright laws.


I am sorry about this decision and the tardiness of it, but I fear that all of these factors necessitated it. But, perhaps this would be a good way for those who have not ventured into the realm of this course to join us for a new beginning on Oct. 19th. If this describes you, please find me on Sunday for a copy of the readings and know that you are welcome on the 19th.


Yours humbly in Christ,
Bob