St. Alban’s Episcopal Church

May, 2010

How quickly the time flies by. It was just a month ago that we celebrated Easter with Bishop Russell Jacobus, and next week he will once again celebrate the Eucharist with us on his annual visitation, May 16^th.

Oddly, as I write this, there is snow falling in Marshfield. Thank you, Lord, for the moisture. Our farms and gardens need it… but could we have a little warm weather once again? We were just getting used to Spring-like temperatures! (I think we know who’s in charge in that department, don’t we?)

Seriously, we are blessed in so many ways here at St Albans that I hope we are all remembering to thank The Lord for all he has done on our behalf. We have a loving and generous Parish Family; A strong and guiding Bishop and his aides at the Diocesan Office; And the opportunity to examine how other Episcopal churches in circumstances similar to ours are handling Parish life without full-time clergy.

One blessing that we have received comes to us in the form of Diocesan financial aid. The Diocese is sending us, for ten months, $1,150.00 each month. This is to help offset the severance/retirement package we agreed to provide to Fr. Verne and Ruth to help them make the transition to retirement in California. Once that aid is completed, we hope to remain self-sufficient and use whatever of it may remain as a “reserve” fund in case we need it. Happily, our members are giving generously and even providing additional funds as various maintenance projects pop up. For example, we have received enough to set aside for our eventual furnace replacement, and we have also received donations earmarked to pay for the repair of our front doors and revision of the drain system on the narthex roof that has been long overdue.

It is almost impossible to stress too strongly the importance of your financial commitment to our church. Thank you one and all!

Rev Tom Witzel, our Treasurer, has fashioned a bare-bones budget so that we are well-matched to our regular income. Thank you, everyone, for your support. I pray that it continues and, whenever possible, increases as time goes on.

Since Fr Walter left I have been hard-pressed for the time to get oriented and caught up on our Church Website. Thanks to some help from Steve Koontz, I have now had my orientation and have begun updating the site. We have many plans to make this a stronger vehicle for Parish growth. Please visit us at www.stalbansmarshfield.org. You will find a thorough calendar of events, and also listings of Lay Ministry assignments and more.

And, finally, we will be distributing copies of an interim report prepared by the members of the western diocesan parishes for the purpose of discussion and sharing ideas with respect to steering our flocks through new and different times. Please take time to read the report and provide us with any feedback you might have.

We are few in number here at St Albans, but great of spirit. Let’s go forth confident in the blessings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sr Warden Bill Knudson

 Senior Warden Bill Knudson has been a member of St Alban's since 1992. He is semi-retired with a background in communications, principally Radio Broadcast Management and ownership. He and his wife, Marla Morgan, have two grown daughters and two granddaughters, all living outside Wisconsin.

Bill and Marla are both active on the local and state level of the Wisconsin Veterans of Foreign Wars. (Bill is a Vietnam Veteran and serves as State Judge Advocate. Marla recently completed a stint as State President of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary for Wisconsin.)

 A Senior Warden serves as the elected leader of the Parish Vestry (similar to a church board or council). Since St Alban's presently has no full-time priest, the Sr Warden—as head of the Vestry—is responsible for oversite and management of the "business" operations of the parish, and coordinates local policies and practices with the Bishop of the Diocese of Fond du Lac. Our Deacon, Georgeanne Cusic, is responsible for our worship and pastoral care. "Supply" priests, either retired or from other nearby Parishes, are on call for major events beyond the scope of Diaconate or Lay ministries. 

The Vestry also consists of a Junior Warden (Tim McCollum) who is directly responsible for oversight of the physical property of the church; A Treasurer (also Tim McCollum) who oversees the church budget and finances; And four other members: Dr. Marshall Cusic, Ms. Deb Nyberg-Kraus (who also is Music Director of the Parish), and the Rev. Tom Witzel. The Recording Secretary of the Vestry is Marla Morgan.

Questions or concerns about church business matters? Call Bill at 715.384.2500 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              715.384.2500      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

For Worship or Pastoral matters, call Deacon Georgeanne Cusic at 715.387.3087 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              715.387.3087      end_of_the_skype_highlighting