North Raleigh Ministries will be open on Saturday, May 29th and Monday, May 31st (Memorial Day weekend). Can you help by volunteering this weekend in the Thrift Shoppe and Crisis Center? We have so many folks coming in for help and food that we just don’t have the heart to close the doors. We are open on Saturday from 10 to 2 and on Monday from 10 to 4.

The Stewardship Committee is holding a meeting with all of the heads of organizations in the Parish on Sunday, June 13th at 12:30 in the Parlor. The Stewardship Committee wants to discuss how these organizations will be taking part in this fall’s stewardship campaign. The following organizations should be represented by their leaders at this meeting: Choir, Vestry, Youth Group, Men’s Fellowship, Episcopal Church Women, St. Anne’s Chapter, Altar Guild, Ushers, Acolytes, Lay Readers, Lectors, Church School, St. Timothy’s School, Pastoral Care Committee, Adult Bible Study Group, Prayer Group, and North Raleigh Ministries.

“Pentecost” means “fiftieth day”. It is so named because it is a Jewish feast called ‘The Feast of Weeks” which fell fifty days after Passover. If we look in Tobit and Deuteronomy, we find that the first fruit of the corn harvest was presented on this day. In later Jewish practice, a special commemoration of the giving of the Law of Moses was made. For Christians, it is on this feast that the promised Holy Ghost descended on the Apostles (Acts Chapter 2). We consider it the beginning of the Holy Ghost giving life to the Church in this world until Jesus comes again from His heavenly throne. The Holy Ghost drives the Church to preach the Gospel, dispense the Sacraments, heal, forgive and bring us all to everlasting life.

Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2010 from our parochial school! We wish them well and pray that the Holy Ghost will strengthen and guide them throughout their remaining school years.

The last Church School teachers’ meeting of the 2009-2010 school year will be on Saturday, June 5th at 9 AM. This is a very important meeting for all teachers to attend because we will examine the past school year and look at how we can improve things for the 2010-2011 school year. All teachers should attend so we can hear directly from you what things went well and what things did not.

On this Mother’s Day, we give thanks to God for all mothers. The gift of motherhood is a great blessing to the human race. We thank God particularly for the motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary who was the chosen vessel for our Salvation brought into the world.

Heavenly Father, Yyou have been pleased to give to all human beings the joy of having a mother, one who works with You to give them life and bring them to human adulthood. You have given followers of Your Son the added joy of a Christian mother who works with you to give supernatural life to a child and bring up that child to Christian adulthood. We thank You this day for our mothers and for the Mother of Our Lord. Amen.

St. Anne’s Chapter of the ECW will meet on Wednesday, May 12th for our last meeting until the fall. We will meet at the Marriott across from Crabtree Valley Mall. We hope that other women from the church will consider joining us in the fall.

All of us from St. Anne’s want to thank the members of St. Timothy’s for their support of our Bake Sale. We will keep everyone informed as we begin to use these funds. If a group within the church knows of a need, please let us know.

Many thanks to all the men who helped last week with the Chicken Barbeque. Many worked countless hours to make the barbeque possible, and once again, David Elsea and Mike Lewis worked all Thursday night and all day Friday to bring us the delicious chicken dinners. The fundraiser brought in $852.39. This amount will certainly help the Men’s Fellowship in their works of service to the parish and the community.

Is someone you know graduating this spring? Each spring we like to recognize and pray for all those graduating from high school or college or receiving an advance degree. Please give Father James, Father Martin or Father Presler the person’s name, the institution from where the person is graduating, and, for high school graduates, the college or university they will be attending. It is important to recognize these accomplishments and to give God thanks for such blessings. We will have all of the graduates listed in the bulletin on Trinity Sunday, May 30th.

Bishop Keith Ackerman and his wife Joann have led many tours and trips to the Holy Land and Egypt. Bishop Ackerman is the retired Bishop of Quincy. With an extra excursion to Cairo, Egypt, Bishop Ackerman and Joann will lead their tenth tour of the Holy Land this October from the 19th through the 30th. The tour will leave from New York’s JFK Airport and fly Air France, making a short stopover at the Paris Airport and then continuing to Tel Aviv.

Traveling to Israel on pilgrimage encompasses many areas and affects all of our senses. The trip is enjoyable in so many ways; it is a spiritual awakening, it is educational, and it is recreational. Bishop Ackerman, who is well known in Israel, will introduce you to many people, places and things as well as teach and bring the Bible to life for you. The Land of the Holy One is beautiful to the eye, with magnificent aromas and flavors that stimulate. The sounds of the sea and the prayers fill the air, but most especially, one can touch the places where Jesus was born, crucified, rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

The well known tour operator, Economy Travel and Tours agent George Kort, is very conscientious in making arrangements that will give you a life-changing experience. Participants will receive a fourteen-page booklet, “A Guide to Traveling to the Holy Land”, which should answer most questions from “What to wear?” to “Is it safe?”. They will also receive a Pilgrim’s Manual to carry with them each day which includes the liturgies, psalms and music that will be used. The hope is that anyone who may want this life-changing experience will have the opportunity to join.

You can contact Joann Ackerman at dovehaven2@verizon.net or 817-479-6831 to have a brochure mailed to you, or you can print out a brochure from the dovetracts.org website. Please send your deposit to Mr. Kort at Economy Travel and Tours quickly to ensure a place in the 30-member group. You can also call Mr. Kort toll free at 1-800-458-7636 regarding travel, hotels, booking or any other questions you may have.