What's Happening With St. Paul's

But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.
Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.

Luke 1:13

  • Upcoming St Paul's Events

    Sunday, July 12, 2020

    Worship Service, 9:30 a.m. (NEW TIME)


    We hope you can join us for worship! This week Pastor Ryan will be preaching on Rest for the Weary (Matthew 11:28-30).


    During service, you can now follow along with the lyrics of our worship music. Each Sunday, shortly before service begins, you can go to our Sunday Worship Music page to download and print or follow along on your mobile devices.


    This Sunday, and throughout the rest of the summer, we will be meeting for worship at 9:30am. We have decided to return to the North Parking Lot, located behind the mural, to the left of The Mills. We're making the change because there is more shade in the upper lot, especially during the new earlier service time. The best places to park are directly across the street from the entrance to the north lot in the overflow lot or in the main parking lot.


    All of the previous guidelines and procedures that we put in place last Sunday will be the same this Sunday - please bring a chair, wear a mask while transitioning to your seat, and we will continue to refrain from physical touch at this time.


    For those of you who are still not comfortable with meeting in person quite yet, we completely understand. If you had trouble viewing or hearing our livestream last Sunday, please know we are making some changes this week to help improve the video and audio quality.


    This Week's Children's Resources:

    If you missed last week's message, Unlearning the Scarcity Mindset, you can watch it on our YouTube page or listen and share it through our our podcast.

  • Other Events

    Wednesday, July 15 2020

    Preachers' College Live Webinar

    Are you called to preach the Word of God but have not had a chance to learn how? Ever thought about attending Preachers' College, but wasn't able to due to travel, time, money, etc.? If so, maybe this is the year for you to attend.

    Preachers' College is designed to give training in basic homiletic principles in an intensive seminar to lay members who occasionally preach in their churches. The purpose is to provide men and women who have been called to preach with the essential tools needed to compose and present biblical, relevant, and effective sermons.


    If you're interested in Preachers' College be encouraged to register, and feel free to contact Pastor Ryan and/or Keith for more info and/or scholarship opportunities (ryan@stpaulswired.org | keith@stpaulswired.org).


    Saturday, July 18, 8:30am
    Move for Amirah - Hike for Hope


    Amirah, Inc is so excited about a long-term safe home coming to our state! Recovering from the trauma of sex trafficking is like swimming the English Channel or climbing a mountain. It requires a significant amount of time and energy - as well as support and resources from the  community. Join the Amirah crew on July 18th, as we move for Amirah and bring awareness to the fact that every year, hundreds of thousands of women are bought and sold against their will in the United States. The hike is a 6.08 mile loop on Case Mountain in Manchester. The money raised will go to help Amirah in creating a safe house for women escaping human trafficking.

    Here's how it works:
    (1) Go to Move for Amirah and hit the "join" button (preferably by the end of the week).
    (2) Once you join, you raise a minimum of $100 from people willing to sponsor you (or you can just donate the $100 yourself - whatever you prefer!)
    (3) Meet at Case Mountain at 8:30am on Saturday, July 18th for a (socially distanced!) 6.08 mile hike.

    Mike Distefano, who works with Amirah, gave a guest sermon on our livestream a couple weeks ago. You might remember that he encouraged us to "move with God" - well, this is an opportunity to "get moving"!

    Friday, July 24th, 7pm
    In Pursuit of Racial Righteousness

    Join us for an Evening of Teaching and Q&A with Bishop Hodge. Over the last few months, the issue of race in America has risen to the forefront of public consciousness. In the hopes of promoting greater understanding and unity across racial lines in the Church, we've invited Bishop Stephen Hodge, the senior pastor of Grace Worship Center Church in Hartford, to offer his wisdom and perspective. Bishop Hodge will be teaching on our livestream. His teaching will be followed by an interview with Pastor Ryan and an opportunity for Q&A.


    Saturday, August 1, 5:00-6:00pm
    Prayer on the Willington Green for Justice, Peace, and Unity

    Join us on the Willington Town Green for a time of organized prayer as we come together to intercede for our nation and the world. Masks are required.

    July and August
    Purpose in life?

    Would you like to learn more about finding purpose in your life? Last year, UConn Professor and long time friend of St. Paul's Bradley Wright started a research project that studies how people find purpose in their lives—their careers, relationships, spiritual lives, and elsewhere. To share what he's been learning, he created a mini-class that presents effective strategies for finding one’s purpose in life. The next two offerings will be in July and August. It’s by Zoom.

    The class is free. At this point, it’s by invitation only, and he's offering to people who signed up for his mailing list. If you’re interested, or know someone else who might be, let him know. You can email him at bradleywrightphd@gmail.com, and he will send you more information.

  • Community

    Baby Caranfa Coming Soon
    SPC members Jonathan and Christine Caranfa's baby is due in just a couple of weeks. Under normal circumstances, we would encourage you to attend their baby shower, but given COVID, we'd like to encourage you to pray for the family and bless them with a gift from their baby registry - babylist.com/baby-christine-caranfa.

    Update on CoVid/Crisis Fund:
    Thank you so much for the overwhelming generosity that the St. Paul's community has shown over the past few months. Thanks to the gifts we have received to our Outreach Fund, we have been able to bless a number of families by providing financial support to people who have experienced loss of income due to COVID, as well as sending monetary donations to our local food pantry partners in our local area.

    At this time, we have decided to close giving to the Outreach Account. We will continue to give to those who have been affected, as we anticipate the ripple effects of this pandemic will be wide. We know that since this pandemic began, people are reporting higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. We are exploring ways to support people in the area of mental health. If you have any ideas, or if this is a particular challenge for you, please let us know. Finally, please keep each of our small business owners in prayer, and if you or someone you know is in financial need, don't hesitate to contact Pastor Ryan or Keith.

    St. Paul's Virtual Small Groups

    During these unusual circumstances, we want to do what we can to maintain and strengthen our fellowship. If you haven't received an invitation to participate in a St. Paul's virtual small group, or are unable to participate in the group you were invited to, please email Pastor Ryan so we can find a group that works for you.

    Need prayer?

    If you would like to receive prayer for something going on in your life, but would rather it not be read aloud during service, contact our prayer team at prayer@stpaulswired.org. 

    AmazonSmile

    Did you know that when you shop on Amazon at smile.amazon.com/ch/20-1325660, AmazonSmile donates to St. Paul's? If you have been doing more shopping on Amazon during this time of quarantine, please consider supporting St. Paul's with your purchases. 

    St. Paul's - The Core

    Do you want to invite our church to an event you are hosting or think others would be interested in? Or have a prayer request you would like our community to be praying for? Do you have a need that you think others can help with? If so, join our Facebook community group - The Core. If you're not on Facebook, but would like to have something posted, email keith@stpaulswired.org. Let us know if you have a prayer request or a personal need, or check in to see how you can be a blessing to someone in our immediate community.  

  • CoVid-19 Resources/outreach opportunities

    The Outreach Team has been developing resources to assist those in our community during this time. We set up a CoVid-19 Resources page on our website with info for what to expect when returning to in-person worship,  our Sunday virtual service and small groups, our small business owners, and a page with info on our local soup kitchens and food pantries. If you have a moment check it out and spread the word.


  • The Board's Table

    There is a public folder of files that provides access to minutes, policies, and other documents from the board and membership meetings. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to the board - board@stpaulswired.org.