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St. Nicholas Episcopal Church
The Rev. Ken Howard,
Rector
Contact Us
Location:
15575 Germantown Road
Darnestown, MD 20874
Tel 240-631-2800
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December 31, 2013 |
News
SERVICE TIMES
Sun 10:00am & 5:00pm | Wed 7:00pm
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May 24, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
The Message
What's it like being on Friday furlough?
By The Rev. Ken Howard
A number of you have been asking me what it is like being on Friday furlough (beyond the temporary decrease in pay, which everyone acknowledges must hurt a bit). The questions have been asked in a variety of ways, but they all boil down to this:
"How are you managing to lead our growing church with 20% fewer hours?" More »
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May 19, 2013 |
Features
St. Nicholas Needs You!
To exercise your gifts, skills, and energies to serve God and help our church
Looking for ways to exercise your gifts, skills, and energies to serve God and help St. Nick's? Check out this week's priority ministry opportunities. More »
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April 26, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
Important Update on Furloughs & Finances
By Bob McCartin, Sr. Warden
We've come a long way, restoring our cash balance and eliminating the need for involuntary staff furloughs. But we haven't quite come far enough to bring back Fr. Ken from his voluntary furlough or restore the deep cuts we made in some programs. More »
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April 12, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
Waltons Mountain Theology
By The Rev. Ken Howard
The Waltons have been off the air for a long time now. But for me Walton’s Mountain is still a powerful metaphor for our life together at St. Nick’s. We have learned over and over again, that with Christ’s love holding us together, differences of opinion, even about important beliefs and practices, are not signs of weakness or dysfunction to be avoided. On the contrary, within the bonds of Christ’s love, honest and loving disagreement can not only make us stronger but can help all of us transcend our biases and transform our understandings of what God is calling us to be and become. More »
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April 7, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
On Episcopalians
What Episcopalians believe and how to know if you are one...
By Garrison Keillor
Episcopalians believe in prayer, but would practically die if asked to pray out loud. Episcopalians believe their Rectors will visit them in the hospital, even if they don’t notify them that they are there. Episcopalians believe in miracles, especially during stewardship season. You know you are an Episcopalian if, when you watch a Star Wars movie and they say, “May the Force be with you,” and you respond “and also with you.” More »
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March 8, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
How far we have come in so short a time!
I know you have it in you to go the distance
By The Rev. Ken Howard
How far we have come in so short a time! It’s been just a week since the Vestry sent you their letter describing the serious cash flow and giving estimate crisis that St. Nick’s was experiencing (how it came about, how big it was, and the impact on our staff and programs if solved through cuts alone); just a week since they appealed for your help to close the gap with an immediate additional $20,000 donations and $60,000 in additional 2013 giving estimates. More »
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March 1, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
Pain, Grace, and Prayer
By The Rev. Ken Howard
To transform a group of people into a community, there are two things you need: TIME and INTENSITY. Time spent together, connecting, communicating, and learning how to connect and communicate. And the intensity that comes from facing life’s challenges together. More »
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February 28, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
An Important Message about Our Finances
By The Vestry of St. Nicholas Church
As you may know, we ended the “open enrollment” phase of our 2013 Giving Campaign with a sizable gap (about $100K) between budgeted expenses and estimated income for 2013. Through additional and increased congregational giving, and aggressive budget cutting by our Finance Committee, we have reduced the gap to around $60,000. This is very real progress. However, it is not enough. More »
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February 15, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
Sunday Mornings in Lent
Why Church Exists: A Congregational 'Physical'
By The Rev. Ken Howard, Rector
At our recent Diocesan Convention, several of your St. Nick's delegates attended a workshop led by our bishop, entitled "Removing Obstacles to Congregational Growth." It was a great workshop, not so much because Bishop Marianne taught us a bunch of new facts, but because of the context in which she placed what we already knew. Her operating assumption was simple: "Healthy Churches Grow." In other words, the church is like an organism. In fact, it IS an organism, and is healthiest as a church when it is healthiest as an organism. More »
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February 14, 2013 |
News
Safeway eScrip Program
Shop at Safeway - St. Nick's Gets 4%
By Bp. Nicholas
Want to give $200 more each year to St. Nick's without spending an extra dime? It's as easy as 1-2-3... 1.Sign up for the Safeway eScrip program. 2.Do your grocery shopping at Safeway. 3.Safeway sends us 4% More »
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February 1, 2013 |
From the Desk of...
More than One Way to Skin a Gap
Think about it, pray about it, then act on it. We’d like to hear from everyone.
By The Rev. Ken Howard
Once we set aside the world’s fixed-pie, cut-the-slices-thinner paradigm of scarcity and begin to look at the world through God’s all-things-are-possible, loaves-and-fishes, always-enough-to-go-around eyes, we begin to realize that there are 101 ways to skin this gap. More »
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January 18, 2013 |
News
Giving Campaign Close-Out
We have reached the time when we need to complete our 2013 Giving Campaign.
By Ken Howard, Bob McCartin, David Maglott
We are thankful to all of you, whether or not you are able to make a financial commitment. But whether you can contribute or not we would be thankful to receive a Giving Estimate from you indicating your intentions. We need money, of course, but we also need clarity, so we can be the best stewards possible of the resources we do have: and not just with our money, but with our people. More »
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December 19, 2012 |
Ministries & Programs
Some Ideas for Responding to the Tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut
Reflect. Pray. Act. Do Something Positive.
By The Rev. Ken Howard, et al
Since last Friday, several people have asked us for ideas of what they can do in response to the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut. Some wanted suggestion about how they can show their solidarity with the victims and their families. Others wanted suggestions about things they can do to make a difference. Still others wanted to share an idea they had for responding. In this article you will find a few suggestions that we have collected. Feel free to share them with your friends. Feel free to share your friends' suggestions with us. More »
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December 14, 2012 |
From the Desk of...
Contemplating the Tragic Mass-Shooting in Connecticut
By The Rev. Ken Howard, Rector
"A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." - Matthew 2:18, cf. Jeremiah 31:15 More »
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November 21, 2012 |
From the Desk of...
Counting the Cost…and the Promise
Exploring Your 2013 Giving Estimate Decision
By The Rev. Ken Howard
In just about three weeks from now, on December 9, 2012, we will be celebrating St. Nicholas Sunday, the feast day of Bishop Nicholas of Myra, the saint after which our church is named. It is a fun day because it is a day of special celebration: for the children among us and for the child within each of us. It is a serious day because it is the day we will be “tying the bow” on Giving Campaign for the upcoming year by gathering together all of the 2013 Giving Estimates we have collected and asking God’s blessing upon the gifts we hope to give next year and the ministries we hope those gifts will make possible. More »
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November 9, 2012 |
Ministries & Programs
2013 Giving Campaign Newsletter
The Week of November 4
By David Maglott
Our goal for our 2013 Giving Campaign is to increase the number of Estimates of Giving from the 67 we had in 2012 to 95 for 2013. This would greatly decrease the proportion of our total income that is unknown while greatly increasing the vestry's ability to make clear choices when it comes to financial decisions. More »
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November 4, 2012 |
News
2012 Annual Parish Meeting Report
Many came despite the weather...
By The Vestry
The 2012 Annual Parish Meeting Report contains important information congregation members need to know: the results of the Vestry Elections (your new Vestry members); the achievements, goals, and dreams of our various Ministries; our 2012 YTD Financial Report; and our 2013 Target Budget and Giving Campaign. (And Keep Bringing Those St. Nick's Pics!) More »
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November 18, 2011 |
News
DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR GIVING ESTIMATE... before reading this
Stewardship & Giving in 2012
By Bob McCartin & David Maglott
We want to share with you now an expanded understanding that we are developing about the nature of the vestry’s stewardship responsibility.
More »
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November 17, 2011 |
Features
SIX EASY STEPS
to Consider the Amount of Your 2012 Giving Estimate
By Bob McCartin & David Maglott
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October 31, 2011 |
Events
Annual Congregational Meeting Report
Theme: Telling Our Stories - Engaging Our Future
In this article you will find a copy of the Annual Meeting Agenda with links from each item to any handouts or report outs. We have started with the Table Talk/Big Ideas report outs and Ministry Area Reports. others will be added as completed. More »
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September 28, 2011 |
News
A Growing List of BIG IDEAS...
Keep those cards and letters soming!
By Heidi Gant
At noon on Sunday, September 18, 2011, more than three dozen people gather for the BIG IDEAS Summit, to break bread and brainstorm together about ideas to strengthen our parish spiritually and financially. There were a lot of very creative ideas generated, and as you can see by the parenthetical numbers to the right of each idea, some of them seemed to generate a great deal of interest. And we were gratified by the increasing number of community-building events which came to the fore over time. More »
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