Saint Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church
March 2010 Newsletter
St Mary Magdalene to Host World
Day of Prayer Service – March 5th
Church Women United will host the ecumenical
World Day of Prayer worship service in our
church on Friday, March 5, 10:00 a.m. A light
lunch will follow. Women of many faith
traditions will come together to observe a
common day of prayer. This is an annual event
on the first Friday in March. This year’s theme:
“Let everything that has breath praise God.”
At this time, millions of God’s people are
suffering from violence, exploitation and
poverty. We are encouraged to begin thinking
about actions we can take to alleviate world
suffering. Join us for this World Day of Prayer.
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION CONTINUES
St. Mary Magdalene is celebrating its 30th
Anniversary with a series of events throughout
2010. The first event was the creation of a
banner to go on the front of the church, a cake
for the congregation and a standing photo
history.
Next on the agenda is a community “Festival of
Celebration” which will take place on April 24
with a rain date of April 25. The anniversary
committee made up of Mercedes Herdrich,
Mandy Goodman, Barbara Keiffer, Bette
Hanham, Paula Hill and Skip Ragland, have
recommended expanding the yearly yard sale
into a celebration to include raffle prizes,
balloons, face painting, food and beverages,
popcorn, and more.
St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church Newsletter
MARCH CALENDAR OF EVENTS
March 4, 11, 18, & 25 – Lenten Supper/Service
- 6:00 p.m.
March 5 – World Day of Prayer worship
service 10:00 a.m.
March 13, 10:00 a.m., and March 25, 1:00 p.m.
Choir rehearsal
Tuesdays – Healing & Intercessory Prayer,
11:00 a.m.
MANNA – First Wednesday of each month
(See Mercedes Herdrich for info on how you
can help)
March 15 -Vestry Meeting – (Third Monday of
each month) All are welcome
March 26 –Deadline for newsletter articles –
send to polson6@nc.rr.com
The committee is hoping that as many
members of the church as possible will take part
in the celebration, so start thinking of items you
might contribute to the yard sale soon. Also if
you know merchants or service providers in the
community, the committee would love for you to
approach them and ask for an item or service
which we can raffle off. Please let Mercedes
Herdrich know who you are willing to talk to so
that we don’t duplicate efforts.
Many volunteers will be needed to help out
during the actual event with sorting of sale items,
pricing, helping with the food and beverages,
etc.
And most of all, the committee is asking for any
suggestions you have which will help make the
“Festival of Celebration” a huge success for our
church.
Skip Ragland
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SUNDAY CLERGY SCHEDULE
March 7 – Lent 3 - Fr. Thompson/Deacon
Burgess
March 14 - Lent 4 - Fr. Thompson
March 21 – Lent 5 – Fr. Brown
March 28 - Passion Sunday – Fr. Thompson
The Choir is happy to welcome Andrea Schmidt
as a new member. If you love to sing, we have a
spot for you in the choir.
LOOK WHAT YOUR DOLLARS HAVE DONE!!
by Mercedes Herdrich
Excerpts, Society of St. Andrews newsletter:
“In 2009, with your help, we were able to save
and distribute more food, host more gleaning
events, and engage more volunteers than the
previous year."
“From January-December of 2009, Gleaned
Produce (fresh food salvaged and donated to feed
the hungry) was up by 30%. Total pounds
salvaged were over 26 million, up 12% from 2008
and total servings were over 79 million, up
12.5%"
The Society of St. Andrews leads many Harvest
of Hope events throughout the year where people
come together to save and distribute hundreds of
thousands of pounds of food to those in need.
Please check the Communication Board at SMM
for the schedule of upcoming events. See me, or
contact SOS if you are interested in participating.
FYI:
If anyone has a college aged child/grandchild/niece or
nephew who may be interested in the Summer
Internship Program, offered by SOS, contact Mercedes
Herdrich for details.
St. Mary Magdalene is also willing to sponsor a young
adult interested in participating in the SOS Spring
St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church Newsletter
Break 2010-held in Winter Park, FL. See Mercedes for
details.
Our Lord God Made Them All
Jan Standing
I am a volunteer with Animal Advocates of
Moore County. My main involvement is
cleaning and feeding the cats at the office, and
during several months I also work, along with
Petsmart of Aberdeen, to get our cats adopted.
At first, it was overwhelming to see so many
beautiful cats living in cages, needing loving
homes. I deal with it better now, but every now
and then one of the cats captures my heart. Mary
was such a cat; she developed a virus which left
her blind. Eventually she found a wonderful
home with a lady who was herself legally blind.
Currently, we have a beautiful cat called Scarlet,
who has a slightly difficult disposition (Who
wouldn’t, living in a cage?), and every time I see
her it breaks my heart. It is the unfriendly ones,
the black ones, or those with minor medical
problems that I worry about. This is the reason
we have gone from our original two, to now
having six cats of our own.
My greatest joy is seeing cats adopted to loving
homes. It really makes all the work so
worthwhile. Our organization relies solely on
donations and volunteers, not just to help with
the animals, but also with various fundraisers.
Currently we are in desperate need of someone
to do our quarterly newsletter.
As I write this, I have our newest addition, Leila,
asleep on my lap. Having these beautiful
creatures in our lives is truly a blessing.
Page 2 of 5
 Presently, she is director of all health, wellness
and supportive services programs at First Health.

Sandra is an advocate for animals. She is a coin

collector, world traveler, and admittedly an avid
shopper. Kids and animals make her happy.

Sandra has offered her many talents and her

abundant energy and enthusiasm for service to
our congregation as she serves on your vestry
Jan, Huckleberry, Arnen, and Patches and assists at the altar.

MEET A PARISHIONER
by Carol Burgess
This is the first in a series dedicated to getting to know our The Bible in 50 Words
fellow parishioners at St. Mary Magdalene. We have all
come from someplace else, and have stories to tell. God made, Adam bit, Noah
arked, Abraham split, Joseph
ruled, Jacob fooled, bush talked, Moses
balked, Pharaoh plagued,
people walked, sea divided,
tablets guided, promise landed,
Saul freaked, David peeked,
prophets warned, Jesus born,
God walked, love talked, anger
Sandra Aylward Wright Morris found St. Mary crucified, hope died, Love rose,
Magdalene on Christmas Eve, 2007, and hasn’t Spirit flamed, Word spread, God
looked back. remained
She was born in Pawtucket, RI, and is a “cradle COALITION OUTREACH
Episcopalian.” In addition to a degree from For the month of March, the Coalition
North Eastern University, Boston, she also holds is requesting that our church donate
a B.A. in nursing from St. Joseph University, boxes of
Wyndham, Maine. She specialized in the “ER” instant mashed potatoes only.
and ICU departments at the Rhode Island
Hospital in Providence, a field she continued in
In recent times, more that 40 persons
North Carolina
per day have been requesting food at
the Coalition Office. The need is great.
In 1980, the Morris Family moved to Reidsville,
Be assured that recipients are carefully
North Carolina. Sandra has a daughter Tracy,
screened, to avoid abuse of the
and a son Todd. She also has six cats and two
service.
dogs.
Please be generous.
For a time, Sandra worked as manager of the
medical department of an insurance company.
When that position disappeared, she moved to
Pinehurst as an employee of First Health of the
Carolinas. In 2007, she moved to Seven Lakes.

St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church Newsletter Page 3 of 5

 Alice Hollingsworth checks out our photo history
which is on display in the narthex

When you were born, you cried and

the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice.
--White Elk, Cherokee

LENTEN SERIES DELAY

The Mary Magdalene Church Lenten Program, which includes weekly suppers at the church, will begin
this Thursday, March 4 at 6 p.m. The delay was caused by a conflict with the Literacy Council Spelling
Bee that we were involved in. (See separate article) This series and the Advent series are the two
opportunities in the year we have for serious, prolonged study of Holy Scriptures and matters of the
church. We urge you strongly to plan to attend each of the four nights beginning March 4th.

SPELLING BEE STING

Last Thursday night at the Sandhills Community College, the Moore County Literacy Council sponsored
a Spelling Bee in which the Episcopal Churches of the Sandhills collaborated. The coalition formed a
team of three English students with a combined total of at least six University degrees. They were
challenged in the first round to come up with the correct spelling of the word TRINITY. The team,
consisting of our own Fr. Bob Brown, John Tampa, Rector of Emmanuel Church, Southern Pines and
Marty Stebbins, Missioner of three congregations in Moore and Richmond Counties, successfully met the
challenges through several rounds but succumbed to an obscure Latin derivative that none of them could
even pronounce let alone spell.

Mary Magdalene was well represented in the audience as twenty plus well wishers rooted noisily for the
team. The two hour contest was concluded when the Moore County Chorus (Barbershop Singers)
correctly spelled their word after the O’Neal School team failed in their attempt. Mary Mag rooters also
made a noise with their donations in support of the Literacy Council. The team known as The God Squad
was complete with black suits, collars and shades (sun glasses) and was supported by Episcopalians of the
area with the largest collected donations for the cause of literacy. The team was awarded a trophy on
stage. Hopefully it will be on display next week after services as it makes the rounds of the churches.
Ed. Note: Illiteracy in Moore County is stated to be 20% of the population of the county. This ministry of
improvement is sponsored and supported by you and your vestry as an outreach of our congregation.
Well done, people of the faith!

CLERGY (et al.) RETURN: ESCAPE

Fr. Bob Brown and Jean returned safely from the Middle East having sojourned in the Land of the
Pharaohs for two weeks, visiting the Red Sea, the Nile, Aswan Dam and environs as well as Cairo.
Temperatures were in the 50s at night and up to 90+ during the day. The great escape was realized after

St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church Newsletter Page 4 of 5

they had returned and heard the horror stories of the harsh weather you have had in the Sandhills during
their vacation. They thank you for your prayers of concern during their absence.

Send newsletter articles to Phyllis Olson - polson6@nc.rr.com

Deadline for April newsletter – March 26

St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church Newsletter Page 5 of 5