Soup-er Bowl Saturday, Feb 1 2020

Before Kansas City and San Francisco get their game on in the Super Bowl, come to Guardian to get your soup on at our annual Soup-er Bowl! Saturday, Feb 1, doors open at 11 for this free community event. We'll have games and friends and neighbors. Then at noon, soup, sandwiches, other food! Come one come all, mourn the season that was looking so good till it suddenly wasn't, work together to get hyped up for the game on Sunday. And shoot, who knows, make a new friend in Remington.

Big thanks to our tri-parish partner churches, St. Andrew's Glenwood and St. Mark's Highland, who come in to join us and make this event happen.

Farewell reception for Pastor Benita this Sunday at 11am

Our interim priest, Pastor Benita, will be moving on soon. Her last Sunday will be this coming Sunday, January 19th. Please join us after the 10am service this week for a reception (with coffee and pastries) and help us say "thank you!"

Though Pastor Benita's time with us has been short, we are very grateful for her contributions. The work is ongoing, but she has helped us cope, emotionally, spiritually, and logistically, with the loss of Alice. She led a major decluttering effort that made great improvements to the safety, usability, cleanliness, and appearance of our spaces. She stepped into a leadership gap in the Food Pantry and helped us think about how to sustain that ministry. She's helped the church's leadership improve our communication and processes. She has clarified the questions we need to be asking as we and the diocese make decisions about a long-term or permanent clergy appointment. She coordinated with our tri-parish and community partners to plan and execute the Christmas toy giveaway and Back-to-School backpack day. And of course she has led our worship services, celebrating at the altar and edifying us with her excellent preaching.

Please join us this Sunday at 11am as we thank Pastor Benita and wish her the best on her journey in the service of Christ.

Christmas schedule

Christmas is coming!
Thursday December 19: soup 5pm, caroling 6pm
Saturday December 21: gift giveaway 10am
Sunday December 22: services 8 and 10am
Tuesday December 24: *special date this week!* food pantry 9am, Christmas Eve service 6pm
Sunday December 29: services 8 and 10am
Wednesday January 1: no food pantry this week

Christmas caroling Dec 19th

We will be caroling around Remington on Thursday, December 19th. Please join us! We will start with soup in Kromer Hall (335 W 27th St) at 5pm, and then we will leave from Kromer to sing around the neighborhood at 6. We will provide music booklets. Religion not required- we will sing traditional Christian carols and secular holiday tunes as well. Children welcome! We will finish back at the church with mulled cider and cookies for all.

Christmas Gift Giveaway Dec 21st

Guardian Angel's annual Christmas gift giveaway will be held on Saturday, December 21st! You must be a resident of Remington, and advance registration is required. You can get a registration form at Kromer Hall, 335 W 27th St, or you can email the name and age of each child to guardianangelremington@gmail.com with the subject line "Christmas toys". Registration closes December 17th!

The giveaway will be 10 am to noon on Saturday, December 21st. We hope to see you there!

Also: coming soon, Christmas caroling around Remington! Mark your calendars for Thursday, December 19th, in the evening, exact time TBA. A holly jolly time for all, whether or not you attend church!

Advent!

The season of Advent is here. What?! I though it was Christmas! Nope, in the church calendar Christmas is a short season that starts on December 25th and goes until Epiphany or Three Kings' Day on January 6th. That's where the 12 days of Christmas comes from! And this season of the four Sundays before Christmas - this year December 1st-24th - is a slow, quiet, contemplative time to prepare for the coming, or Advent, of God into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. So light a candle, take a deep breath, and come listen to a sermon on Sunday at 8 or 10 am!

It is also the beginning of the new church year, and our time for asking for your pledge to support our work during 2020. Whether you give of your time or your money, you are helping to support the food pantry, the community meals, the neighborhood workshops, and everything else that goes on here in the heart of Remington. Specific pledges from you help us to plan our budget as we know how much money we can rely on! They are confidential and tax-deductible. Pledge forms can be found at the back of the church or you can fill out a form at https://forms.gle/tbpAJBJRmbUFy3ej7.

Happy New Year!

Giving Tuesday

At this year's Thanksgiving day community meal

If you're participating in Giving Tuesday today, please consider making a contribution to the work here at Guardian Angel. We are a Christian community, dedicated to justice, stewardship and peace, and grounded in scripture, prayer and worship in the Episcopal tradition. We are a welcoming, respectful and safe place for everyone, and we are committed, active neighbors in Remington.

Our biggest outreach ministry is the Food Pantry, which provides 2-3 full bags of groceries to around 70 people per week. It also provides a hot breakfast before the distribution on Wednesday mornings. We also have community meals, host festivals, do a yearly backpack giveaway and a Christmas toy distribution, and host or run many other programs.

The vestry, clergy, and volunteers at the Church of the Guardian Angel would like to express our thanks to Nancy Reed & Barb Fisher for the generous donation they arranged to support the ongoing expenses at the Food Pantry. Their gift will pay for nearly four months of food purchases. We are also grateful for the generous donation given in memory of Annie Gardner, who helped found the Food Pantry, by Long & Foster's Timonium group.

At this point, along with some anonymous donors, we have received around $6,000 toward the 2020 food purchases for the Food Pantry. We'd like to raise at least $6,000 more, which would cover the costs for the entire year.

About $6 pays for one person's Food Pantry bags for a week. $30 could buy a big supply of warm socks to distribute to the homeless this winter. $150 could buy a new, energy efficient window for the Parish house to replace the beaten-up, leaky aluminum ones; another $150 would pay for a professional installation (22 are ready for replacement). $1,200 pays for an entire month of Food Pantry food purchases. $3,100 could replace the courtyard door to the Thrift Shop. $8,000 could pay for the installation of efficient and modern heating and air conditioning in the Thrift Shop. $10,000 could pay for efficient air conditioning and supplemental heating in the Sanctuary. You may have other ideas; we'd love to hear them.

We have special funds for the food pantry ongoing costs (https://paypal.me/pools/c/804oHo0BPI) and for recovery/restoration from our recent sewage flood (https://paypal.me/pools/c/8jXr3OeJRx). You can also make a donation to the general fund here (paypal.me/CGABaltimore), feel free to specify what project or effort you'd like the funds to go toward.

If you'd like to help by volunteering, please contact us or come by on a Tuesday morning between 9am and noon to speak with the leaders there. Tuesday is when we do setup for the Wednesday morning distribution.

We aspire to Be a place where God is found; Be people transformed by God; Be God’s people transforming the world. We'd love to see you at Sunday services, 8am and 10am. Shoot, we're pleased to see you just about any time.