As you can see. the garden is well underway!  The permanent roof is on the Cajun Cottage shed and the cypress tops are on the beds. The plumbing has been installed and the trench is covered (THANKS to all of you who worked Sat. Jan 28.)  The beds are now ready for the soil!!  We will have another work party on Saturday, February 4 at 8:00.  We will provide water, coffee and donuts; you provide the warm bodies willing to work.  You will need to bring work gloves, shovels, wheelbarrows, and a bag lunch.  This is a community garden and what better way to build community than to work with your fellow church members!   The more volunteers we have, the quicker we’ll be finished.

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 As you know, as soon as a directory is printed, it is out of date.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.

The February Outreach Project is a food
collection for FoodNet of Lafayette, Louisiana, Inc., the non-profit food bank
that serves our community.  This United
Way agency partners with Second Harvest Food Bank of New Orleans and Acadiana
to serve Lafayette parish.  Your generous
donations toward this food collection will feed those in our area who may
otherwise go without food.  To make your
shopping easier, grocery bags, with a list of needed items attached, are
located in the Narthex.  All items may be
left in the FoodNet box in the Narthex.

http://alohaiti.blogspot.com/

2012 February Beacon

2012 February Calendar

2012 January Beacon

2012 January Calendar

Fr. John was called as Rector (known in other traditions as “senior pastor”) of St. Barnabas on March 1st of 2011.  He was born in Texas and has lived many places.  Fr. John graduated cum laude from The University of Texas at Dallas in 1984, with a B.A. in American Studies.  He then received his law degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 1988.  He practiced law in and around Austin, Texas for seventeen years, until he entered The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest (now known as “Southwest”) where he earned his Masters of Divinity in 2005.  Before becoming the sixth rector of St. Barnabas, Fr. John was the Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Silsbee, Texas.  Before that he served as Curate at The Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit in Houston, Texas, and as an intern at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Austin.

Fr. John and Donna have two grown children and five wonderful grandchildren.  But what keeps them busy now is their youngest daughter, Taylor, who has Down Syndrome and is always looking for an adventure.

Send Fr. John a message.
rector@saintbarnabas.us
(337) 849-4298

The Rev. Annie Bates has served as Priest for Youth & Family Ministry at Saint Barnabas since January, 2007, after serving as Chaplain of the Episcopal School of Acadiana and Curate at the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, also in Lafayette.

Called “Madre” (Spanish for “Mother”) by parishioners, she is a 2005 graduate of the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, and 1986 graduate of Louisiana State University.

At Saint Barnabas, Annie shares, “It’s my joy to welcome young members of the church into exploration of their faith. These are crucial years in faith development and the Church should be a welcoming and comfortable place for children and youth to come and question, to celebrate and serve, and to worship and wonder. We explore our relationship with God through liturgy and service, but also through fellowship and fun, because, after all, God is with us in all things – we just have to welcome God in!”

Send a message to Annie by emailing: annie@saintbarnabas.us

Priest for Youth & Family
(337)278-3166

Fr. John Clark is a native of Roswell, New Mexico and received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from New Mexico State University. He worked for Cabot Corporation as an engineer for 25 years in Texas, West Virginia, and Louisiana prior to heading for seminary at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. John graduated from seminary in 2000 and joined St. Barnabas in 2008 while also serving Trinity, Crowley prior to serving as Interim Priest at St. Barnabas until they called a new Rector. Today he also serves at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Jennings, Louisiana.

John and his wife Phyllis live in Crowley, Louisiana and have three grown sons and six wonderful grandchildren. John is also an avid gardener, which he reports “mends the heart.”

Send John a message by e-mailing him at john@saintbarnabas.us

The Tuesday Morning Prayer Group and Bible Study is a small group that nurtures the knowledge and love of God through prayer and Bible study. Our mission is to offer prayer support to our group members and to those in need, as well as to carefully examine Scripture, in order to become mature disciples of Christ Jesus in both word and deed.

More than a dozen individuals offer their diverse gifts and talents to the group, but the most useful gift is each individual’s time: time to pray, time to listen, and time to learn how the Spirit of God is guiding each person into serving the Body of Christ. Participants are also active in other ministries within Saint Barnabas and the Lafayette community.

The Tuesday Morning Prayer Group meets every Tuesday at 10:00a in the Christian Education Room at Saint Barnabas, and a Nursery for children four and under is provided upon request.

The Parish Life Committee helps organize and host fellowship events in the life of the Saint Barnabas congregation, including our parish picnics and receptions held before and after church.

Last year, the Committee hosted a wonderful supper for our Confirmands and their families, and this year will again host the Post-Thanksgiving, Pre-Christmas, Italian Supper and Fellowship Fun Event; as well as the Cinco de Mayo party in the spring.

For more information about serving on this fun committee, please contact the Committee Chair, Eva Guillot: guillote@bellsouth.net.