Newsroom

This page contains accounts and photos of events around our parish. For a title list of news releases that we have submitted to the public media see the Newsletter page and scroll down to the Media Releases section.

Recipes from St. Paul's Distant Neighbors Fair Trade Festival

In November 2007 St. Paul's inaugurated its Distant Neighbors Fair Trade Festival, a two-day event in which all items for sale were "fair trade." (See the Projects page.) The developing-world refreshments served were in keeping with the educational and consciousness-raising aspect of the Festival. So many asked for the recipes that we are happy to comply: just click here.

To download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader click on this logo:

St. Paul’s at Work in Appalachia

Eight members of St. Paul’s spent the week of July 15, 2007 in southwestern Virginia repairing homes for indigent Appalachians. They were joined in their labors by Episcopalians from parishes in Maryland and Virginia in this annual program sponsored by Episcopal Appalachian Ministries, a broad-spectrum advocacy group. Two weeks of work utilizing different work teams from other parishes followed St. Paul’s week of work camp.

St. Paul’s work campers included Earl Beshears, Chris Bennett, Fred Dean, Corey and Doug Marshall-Steele, Karen Persuhn, Mary Ann Torkelson and Bill Whelen. Work projects included roof repair, siding, painting, insulation, deck construction and window replacement.

St. Paul’s is unique among the parishes sending workers in that it funds travel expenses plus the tuition for each work camper. Individuals from other parishes pay their own way. This is the fourth year of St. Paul’s involvement.

As might be expected, bonds of love and respect are forged between the homeowners and the workers. Said one retired coal-miner, “I love them and I enjoyed talking with them. I will hate to see them go.” Another mountaineer said, “These people get into your heart and stay there, and I know they will keep us in their hearts.”

Turn on your speakers and click for a slide show of St. Paul's 2007 work camp experience.

St. Paul's Episcopal: Evangelizing by Website

St. Paul's has had this expanded, active parish website for two years now as of Feb. 27, 2007 so we recently reviewed our website statistics. This data reports the number of website visitors, their countries of origin, specific queries which brought the visitors to the site, and other interesting information.

In two years there have been over 5,000 visits to the website from as far away as the UK, France, Spain, Germany and even Australia. Thus, St. Paul's message of inclusive welcome to all who would seek God has literally circled the earth.

On the other hand a significant number of Delawareans in the past two years have physically arrived at St. Paul's Church in Georgetown by first finding it on the Internet. They repeatedly have expressed how they enjoyed learning what St. Paul's is all about in the comfort and privacy of their own home.

A popular query that brings web visitors from their search engines to St. Paul's website is "instructional Eucharist." That is, visitors want to know more about the whys and wherefores of liturgical worship. This site has an entire mass complete with explanations at each section of why we Episcopalians worship in just this way.

Parishioners at St. Paul's Church also find it easy to refer those they invite to church to the website, as it includes directions, contact information, service times, youth opportunities, etc. By the time the visitor actually enters the door of the church they have some familiarity with St. Paul's. The site is updated daily, as necessary.

The cost of all this evangelization is less than $100 per year since the webmaster is a parishioner who donates his services. But the benefits? They are incalculable.

Epiphany Comes to St. Paul's

On Epiphany Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007 St. Paul's presented its annual Epiphany Pageant as performed by the ad hoc St. Paul's Epiphany Pageant Players. The parish for a number of years has passed on staging Christmas pageants in favor of the more unusual Epiphany Pageant.

The playwright was Earl Beshears. Directing the ensemble of six actors was parishioner and immediate past president of the Possum Point Players, Fred Dean. The play replaced the sermon for that worship service, and attendance was up, as St. Paul's Epiphany Pageant has become locally well-known and enjoyed.

Epiphany recalls the arrival of the magi to worship the newborn Christ Child. Because the magi were non-Jews and foreigners, Epiphany thus celebrates the universality and inclusiveness of God's saving love for all people.

Rector Beshears stated, "We at St. Paul's take the message of Epiphany especially to heart. Jesus must not be bound by our provincialism or bias, and therefore St. Paul's warmly welcomes everyone without exception and seeks to include them in our parish life."