EM-WL Schedule

Paul Leberg will make a brief presentation on upcoming plans for improving our buildings on Sunday, May 20. The meeting will be held at noon in Ramsay Hall, and is open to all interested parishioners.  Feedback from the meeting will help inform the building committee and vestry of your thoughts and opinions. The focus of this meeting will be on plans for a new roof, which will potentially change the appearance of some of our buildings.  Also introduced may be some ideas to address issues regarding water intrusion in the sanctuary, the building’s exterior, and the Narthex.  Future meetings will focus on the plans for the kitchen as well at providing more detail about possibilities for our exterior and interior spaces.

Mark Your Calendars Now!  Sunday, June 10 will be a blow-out celebration at St. Barnabas.  On Sunday morning, at 9:00 we will have our only service of the day.  The Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, D.D., Third Bishop of Western Louisiana, will be here for his annual Episcopal Visitation.  This will be Bishop MacPherson’s last visitation with us, as he will be retiring in July.  Our Eucharist service at 9:00a will feature Confirmation and Reception of those who have been preparing by attendance at Inquirers’ classes.  Following our service, we will gather in Ramsay Hall and around the grounds for the celebration of these new adult members of our congregation and to celebrate the feast day of St. Barnabas, our patron.  There will be food, drink and fun for all ages.  Please come out and congratulate our confirmands and reception candidates, wish Bishop and Susan MacPherson well, and generally have a great time.  The nurseries will be open for the service as well as the following festivities.

Mark your calendars for spirit filled fun and learning this June 4-8 for our annual Vacation Bible School. VBS will be held from 9:00a to 12:00p at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church (400 Camellia Blvd.) Wee ones rising to Pre-K4 through 5th grade will travel through the Bible on a journey of wonder and excitement with Moses, Jesus and the Apostle Paul. Registration is $15.00 per child and includes a T-shirt and daily snack. If you register before May 25, the cost is $10.00 per child.

Follow the link below to register:

https://secure.accessacs.com/access/eventlogin.aspx?id=bErpwdAvrUhH8WxPPGyiGQ==&site=99365&ReturnUrl=events%2fwz_people.aspx&ChurchID=4077&EventID=33675&sn=99365

 The Very Rev. Dr. Jacob W. Owensby was elected April 21 as fourth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Louisiana.  The election was held at a special convention at St. James’ Church in Alexandria. Delegates participated in a service of holy Eucharist before balloting began.  Owensby will succeed the Rt. Rev. D. Bruce MacPherson, who will retire in July after 10 years as bishop of the diocese.

 Owensby, 54, dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Shreveport, Louisiana, was elected on the sixth ballot from a field of seven candidates.  Dean Owensby received 78 votes of 143 cast in the lay order and 30 of 58 cast in the clergy order.  The Bishop-elect has served at St. Mark’s for the past three years.  Prior to that he served as rector of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Webster Groves, Missouri.  He has also served as rector at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Huntsville, Alabama, and assistant rector at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Jacksonville, Florida. 

 Before attending seminary, Dean Owensby was an associate professor of philosophy at Jacksonville University in Jacksonville, Florida. Dean Owensby was awarded his BA in psychology, and his MA and PhD degrees in philosophy, from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and received his Master of Divinity from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1997. 

 Shortly after his election, the Bishop-elect said: “I am humbled to be called to be the fourth Bishop of Western Louisiana and filled with affection for the good people who make this part of our state their geographical and spiritual home. Joy, excitement, and anticipation have me a little tongue-tied right now. But I can say that my first and most important job is to love the people of this Diocese and to help them grow in their witness to the extravagant love of God in Jesus Christ. I am especially looking forward to building deep relationships with my fellow clergy, visiting with our congregations and helping them to grow in vitality, and serving our Lord together with these wonderful people.”

 Pending necessary consents, the consecration is due to take place at 10 a.m. on July 21 at St. Mark’s Cathedral

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/04/21/western-louisiana-diocese-elects-jacob-w-owensby-as-bishop/

Would you (or someone in your household) like to be a confirmed member of the church?  The rite of Confirmation is the adult affirmation of the promises that were made for us if we were baptized as infants.  Any baptized member of the church who is prepared to make a “mature and public affirmation of faith and commitment to the responsibilities of Baptism in the Episcopal Church,” can be confirmed through the Bishop laying hands upon her or him.  If you were previously confirmed in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian or Methodist tradition, you would be received into the Episcopal Church instead of confirmed into it, similarly by laying on of hands.

In order to prepare for Confirmation/Reception, or just to brush up on your faith, Confirmation Classes  began on Sunday May 6th at 1:00pm.  The classes will run for six weeks and each class will end promptly at 2:30pm.  There will be a make-up day scheduled in case you have to miss a day.  Please email Fr. Bedingfield (rector@saintbarnabas.us) or Amy Guidry (amy@saintbarnabas.us) if you are interested in attending, or if you have questions.

Members of the Beacon Society meet for tea at 2:30p on the last Thursday of the month. Over a hot cup of Earl Grey and something sweet provided by our wonderful host, Parish Administrator, Ms. Connie Turner, the Society folds our monthly newsletter, The Beacon.  What many hands can do in such a short time! 

     If you would like to participate in this fun ministry, simply join us on the last Thursday. For more information, please email the parish administrator, at office@saintbarnabas.us, or call at (337) 984-3848.

St. Barnabas is now offering access to STBARNACCESS—this is an online access to your St. Barnabas’ member profile, the parish membership directory, ministry or committee membership directory, and online pledge and other gift giving and your giving history. It is easy to sign up, just go to the St. Barnabas website, www.saintbarnabas.us, click on the STBARNACCESS link to register and establish your confidential password. In order to register, you will need the email address and your first and last name that is on the St. Barnabas’ people data base. Then follow the online directions. If you have any trouble, call or email Connie Turner, Parish Administrator at 984-3848 or connie@saintbarnabas.us. Several of the Vestry members have already signed up and updated their member profile and started giving online. Paul Leberg said, “That was easy enough.”

Member Profile and Parish Membership Directory—you will be able to view and print a directory by individuals or families. As you know, as soon as a directory is printed, it is out of date. Or if you are not at home where your printed directory is, you can access the parish membership directory where ever you have internet access. On your member profile, you choose the contact information that you want other members to have. You can select a primary phone number, whether you accept texting, update your home address, upload an individual photo.  If you have a family portrait in the printed parish directory, the picture is on the online directory now.

Ministry and Committee Membership Directory—you will be able to view a directory of members of the ministries or committees where you are a member. You can send a mass email everyone, print labels, or print a directory. If you are no longer a member of a ministry or committee, please let the ministry head or Connie Turner know. And we will remove you for that list.

Online Pledge and Other Gift Giving and Individual Pledge History—Now, you will be able to give online by credit card or debiting your checking account. It is easy to do, just click on the fund you wish to direct the gift. For example, you can select pledge or non-pledged gift. Have you ever been at church and wanted to give to one of the monthly outreach projects but didn’t have your check book? Now, all you have to do is go online and click on General Outreach. Some of the other options are altar flowers, Christmas or Easter flowers. If you want to see how much you have gave by year, you may go to your individual giving history. This is strictly confidential, you are the only one who can access your account by the password that you choose when you set up an account with STBARNACCESS.

Numerous parishioners have been asking for online giving for several years now. Today, many of us do not carry our check books any longer. Some people pay all their bills online now, and they wanted St. Barnabas to offer the convenience to give online. If you choose not to give online, the church hopes that you use the online parish directory and ministry and committee membership directory and that you keep your member profile updated. If you do not wish to update your member profile online, just call or email Connie Turner, and she is happy to update. Other churches have installed an online access system, and it has been welled received by the parishioners.

STBARNACCESS has many other features that will be implemented in 2012—online registration for programs like EYC retreats, vacation bible school. If you have any questions, please call or email Connie Turner at 984-3848 or connie@saintbarnabas.us.

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