Good food and a few words about EfM classes beginning in September will be offered on Sunday, August 1 after the 10:30 a.m. service in the parish hall.  Graduates and current students are encouraged to attend the brunch as well as those who are interested in hearing more about the structure and content of the class.  The class is open to other denominations, so friends are welcome.  Call Cary Kast (293-3022) or send email to Debbie Scott at spivyscott@aol.com for more information or to volunteer to bring a dish to share.

We will be collecting school supplies for our Out­reach children in July. The sign-up board will be available in the back of the church July 18 and July 25 (and the following Sunday if the names are not all gone.) If you would like to help our outreach students, please take a list, sign your name on the sheet, fill a backpack with the items on the list, and return it to the church by August 8 with the student’s name attached. Pa­rishioners may also make monetary donations (marked “for school supplies”) toward this effort.

Thank you for the great response to our call for paper bags, but we have plenty for now!! Also PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DON’T LEAVE USED CLOTHING AND OTHER ITEMS FOR OUTREACH. We do not have the space to store or distribute them at this time.

Beginning July 14 our Wednesday Book Group will discuss J. Philip Newell’s Christ of the Celts at 10:00 AM in the parish hall following the 9:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist.  Newell offers connections with the Celtic tradition that enrich our understanding of the presence of the sacred in nature and all creatures.  As events unfold in our environment today, this book prompts us to discuss how we are called to care for our earth and each other.  Newell invites us to consider how wholeness in relationships is essential to salvation.  Newell is the former Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland.  The book is available in the church office or on the table by the church entrance for $15.

School is just around the corner! Here at St. Paul’s, Ivy on Sunday, August 15th we want to celebrate and bless the beginning of another school year. ALL students, preschool through adult, should bring their backpacks to the 10:30 worship service. The service will lift up children and students of all ages dedicating them to God’s glory as we begin a new school year. In addition to our congregants’ backpacks being blessed, we will include the backpacks provided for our outreach families

Hopefully you’re starting to notice a trend! The fourth Sunday of every month is Youth Sunday. The youth of the church participate in a variety of ways during the 10:30 a.m. service.  They may usher, carry the elements, read the lessons, read the Prayers of the People, or sing a praise song. All our youth in grades 1-12 learn how to serve their church in their education class time, and are asked to make a commitment to serve wherever and whenever suits them best.  And, if  anyone would like to volunteer but wasn’t in in class, simple contact Audi Barlow at sprivybarlow@aol.com or call the church at 979-6354.

New for the Fall, we’re creating a LEGO corner in the Spirit Movers rotation and we’re looking for any used or new LEGO’s to help us get this started. Have your older children outgrown or are no longer using their LEGO’s? Do you bargain shop at yard sales? Would you like to donate a new set of LEGO’s? We’re especially interested in basic sets and ones that might lend themselves to creating Bible story scenes with people and animals. You can make donations for our LEGO project by contacting Audi Barlow at spivybarlow@aol.com or calling 979-6354. Thank you!

Our friends at St. Mary’s, Arlington have asked us to publicize the extra space they have for interested 12- to 18-year-olds on a mission trip to Valle Crucis, North Carolina, August 8–13.  The work is coordinated through the Towel Ministry of the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and focuses on home repairs and improvements for elderly people in need.  More information about the Towel Ministry can be found at www.towelministry.org. The cost, which includes meals and travel, is $425.  Questions about the trip are welcome.  Just call St. Mary’s at 703-527-6800 and ask for Matt Centers, youth minister, or Mary Beth Emerson, outreach coordinator.

The Celtic Eucharist will continue through the summer months on July 13  and August 8 with the support of our Celtic Guild. This lovely service is gently paced, beginning at 5:00 p.m. with the quiet candle-lit church open for silent meditation and prayer. The Celtic music begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes harp and piano and violin, recorder, or hammered dulcimer. The service opens with poetry that invites us to contemplate our relation­ship with our world and with the Lord.  J. Philip Newell, one of today’s foremost experts on Celtic spirituality, ex­plains the symbolism of the Celtic cross: “In the Celtic world, the high-standing crosses that are rooted deep in the ancient landscape express the belief that Christ and creation are inseparably interwoven. Two images combine to make one form in tile Celtic cross. Christ, represented by the cross, and creation, represented by the orb.” (from Celts, p. xvi). He further explains that Celtic spirituality sees Christ leading us further into the unity of life.

We are invited to come together to light candles for those we love, to pray, sing, and receive the Eucharist at the Lord’s table. The service is followed by a simple reception. If you haven’t yet attended a Celtic ser­vice, give yourself the gift of an hour spent in the peace of St. Paul’s, Ivy.

If you would like to be more involved or have questions about our Celtic Guild, please contact the church office.

Beginning on Monday, June 28 at noon, the Centering Prayer time will include 20 minutes of centering and then follow with a DVD from Thomas Keating’s “Heartfulness:  Transformation in Christ.”  There are nine segments of  interviews with Father Keating, of about 20 minutes each.  For 25 years Thomas Keating has been at the center of recovering the contemplative Christian heritage for lay people.  He offers his accumulated wisdom of many years of teaching and practice for our reflection and spiritual growth.  Please bring a bag lunch and meet in the church library.

Experience a Sunday through a child’s eyes by volunteering to lead a class this summer in the area of your choice: story, song, crafts, or games.  Adults, returning college students, and teens are welcome to volunteer for one Sunday or several Sundays as their schedules allow.  Please contact Debbie Scott at spivyscott@aol.com, or Audi Barlow at spivybarlow@aol.com or through the church office at 979-6354 if you would like to help.

At our June meeting, the Vestry voted for our parish to officially become a Carpenter’s Kids Parish. At the same meeting the vestry appointed a steering committee consisting of those who journeyed to Tanzania – Carolyn Achenbach, Debbie and David Scott, Sarah Dandridge, Chris Willms, and Carol and Miller Hunter- to consider the next steps in our partnership with the parish of Nzall and the Diocese of Central Tanganlka.

The steering committee is eager for all inter­ested parishioners to join us in this work. If interested, please contact Carolyn Achenbach or the Rector. Our hope is that our chil­dren, youth, and adults will become involved in this partnership with Nzali.