Fellowship - St. David's Episcopal Church -- Spokane, Washington

Fellowship
Coffee Hour
Come to Dinner with a Twist!
Nature Outings
Lenten Soup Suppers
St. Martha's Guild
Crafts & Chat
Steak & Bake Dinner
Library Book Clubs

Coffee hour hospitality - let's keep it simple!

What is Coffee Hour?
This vital weekly event serves many purposes. It is a time to touch base, catch up with friends, give and receive support to/from members of our parish family, meet and greet visitors and newcomers to our church, and to gather and share information about the many activities, ministries, and upcoming events/programs at St. David’s.

St. David’s provides coffee, tea, water, and juice each week. The volunteers bring and set out the snacks, and clean up afterwards. Coffee Hour is our social gathering in our church hall immediately following Eucharist each Sunday.

Coffee Hour Policy
Refreshments for coffee hour each week are provided by sponsors. A sponsor can be an individual or a family that would like to host the coffee hour.

1. Sponsors can sign up to host the coffee hour by putting their name on the coffee hour sign-up sheet at the Communications Center for a particular Sunday.

2. The following are provided by St. David’s: coffee, decaf coffee, tea, sugar, sweetener, cream, juice, and in summer: paper plates, cups; napkins, crockery cups, plates, glasses, silverware. If a sponsor is not comfortable using the dishwasher in the kitchen, disposable plates and cups may be used at any time.

3. If a sponsor would like to host a coffee hour, they are responsible for the following:

a. Providing simple refreshments which would include mixed nuts, and one of the following: store-bought or home-baked cookies, coffee cake, muffins, or bread to serve 25-35 people. To share the ministry among all parishioners, we ask those who sign up for coffee hour to provide simple fare. Let’s keep the coffee hour for small snacks like cookies and nuts. Coffee hour is a time for parishioners to get to know one another better. A cup of coffee is sufficient; a cookie or some nuts enhances the experience.

There may be times during the year that there are leftover snacks from a parish event on a Saturday; this food may be served at Sunday coffee hour and it will be noted that they are from another parish event.

b. Setting up the coffee hour: setting out cups, plates, napkins, glasses, any needed utensils; making the tea; filling the serving carafes.

c. Cleaning up refreshments, coffee and tea pots, and kitchen after the coffee hour.

4. On Sundays when there is not a sponsor, only coffee and tea will be provided for coffee hour. The hospitality coordinator will arrange setup, serving, and cleanup on those weeks.

If you have any questions, please contact Judith Scarborough, hospitality coordinator.

Come to dinner with a twist!
by Judith Scarborough

The parish family of St. David’s is invited to spend social time together over dinner. Last year several groups met in private homes and enjoyed a potluck meal and quality time together. This year after discussion with some of those who participated, we're offering a twist.

This year's dinners take place at St. David’s, in Stretch Hall, with everyone who signs up for Come To Dinner sharing the same meal. The meal is served in three courses: salad, entrée, and dessert. For each course, you will be assigned to sit with a different group of people. Meals will be potluck, so you’ll have to get up and get your food, and it will be easy to move to a different table. During a social time before the meal, you can look at the table cards to see where you’ll be sitting for each course.

Benefits --

the dinner is held on the same day each month (the second Saturday);
each person has opportunity to get to know more fellow parishioners;
if people cannot make it on a particular dinner night, their absence is felt, but the dinner group still has “critical mass” and can carry on;
people can opt to join in for one dinner, or all of them, and newcomers can easily be included;
in the winter months, you don’t have to find a new house in the dark;
you don’t have to worry whether your dining table will seat all your guests – there are lots of tables in Stretch Hall!
potluck assignments are made, and we accommodate people’s dietary needs.

Does this sound like something you’d like to give a try? It's a fun way to get together once a month. There are sign up sheets in the communications center. Give me a call if you have questions.

Nature outings
Parishioner Pete Wyman organizes and leads a variety of nature outings once a month suitable for families and people of all ages. Activities could range from a couple of hours after the Sunday 10:00 AM service to all-day Saturday outings.

Pete wants to share the often little known natural and historical sites that are in close proximity of our community, to enjoy family fellowship, and to give people a chance to know one another better. Walking would be for all ages with occasional, optional longer walks. Each family would bring a lunch and may bring friends.

Past outings have taken us to Waikiki Springs and to Manito Park. Details about the next nature outing(s) will be posted here as they are scheduled.

If you are interested, please sign up at the Communications Center or give Pete a call for more Information.

Lenten soup suppers
On some Wednesday evenings during Lent (the several weeks between Ash Wednesday and Easter) St. David's offers soup suppers. The menu is simple -- just soup, salad and bread -- as a reminder of those who have less than we do. Before supper there is opportunity to attend Eucharist. After supper there is a program, with topics varying from year to year.

St. Martha's Guild
St. Martha’s Guild was organized in 1998 to provide a variety of activities for the women of St. David’s. The group meets from noon to 2:00 PM on the 2nd Monday of each month from September through June. During July and August other activities are planned such as social gatherings at members' homes or at other sites in the community.

Each year the group selects worthy recipients to benefit from their volunteer efforts and fund-raising events. Examples include:

December bake sale
Scholarships for St. David’s children to attend Camp Cross
Clothing, food and financial aid to Hope House, a refuge for homeless women of Spokane
Cooking and serving a Lenten Soup Supper for St. David’s
Volunteering quarterly with Interfaith Hospitality to cook and serve dinner for the homeless
Bunco game night and dinner at St. David’s each spring as a major fund raiser
Preparing and serving a meal for workers at the Habitat for Humanity-Spokane Blitz Build

The guild also provides gifts for St. David’s graduating high school seniors, helps weed shrub beds, cleans the kitchen and has planted more than 500 daffodil bulbs around the church as a memorial.

In addition to working toward the benefit of others, St. Martha’s members enjoy fellowship, educational events such as tours, special events and trips to points of interest. We welcome all women of St. David’s!

Crafts & Chat
Crafts & Chat is an informal group that gathers on the second Saturday of each month, 10:30 a.m. to noon, to work on individual crafts projects of all kinds while enjoying each other's company. Bring your needlework, your scrapbooking, your quilting, your whittling -- whatever! When our supply of prayer shawls or quilts to be given to newly baptized babies runs low, some in this group may work on those, too.

Come when you can, and stay as long as works for you. Stuck on a hard part, or wondering how to do that crochet stitch? Probably someone in the group can help. We might decide to go to lunch together afterward once in a while, too. If you have questions, contact Jeanne Mitchell or Barbara Gronberg.

Steak & Bake dinner
This annual event raises money to fund Camp Cross scholarships for St. David's children, and for other worthy projects. The guys fire up the gas grill and crank out dozens of juicy steaks, while diners fill the parish hall and spill out onto the grassy lawn (weather permitting, of course). Headed by Ed McCoy, it's a fun evening for a good cause.

Library book clubs
The Library Committee hosts two book clubs for those who want to get together and discuss books they enjoy. Both groups meet in the Travis library, at different times:

The daytime group, led by Ann Kauppi, meets on the fourth Friday of each month at 12 noon.
The evening group, led by Theresa Brim, meets on the fourth Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m.

Newcomers are always welcome, as are suggestions for good books you'd like to read and discuss with others. Please sign up by contacting Ann or Theresa, or the church office. Some selections read so far:

"The Help," by Kathryn Stockett.
"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society," by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
"Sarah's Key," by Tatiana de Rosnay.
"Three Men in a Boat to Say Nothing about the Dog," by Jerome K. Jerome.
"The Cape Ann," by Faith Sullivan.
"Major Pettigrew's Last Stand," by Helen Simonson.