Dearest Faith Community Near and Far-

It’s almost September! And we (your session) pray all is well with you.  Here’s what’s happening this week at Wintergarden! 

1. Worship update:
   • Pastor Syl of First Presbyterian Church will be preaching for the remainder of Pastor Devon’s sabbatical. 
   • To accommodate both church’s schedules, we will be starting 30 minutes later with breakfast at 10 am and worship beginning at about 10:30 am.
   • This week breakfast will be a light continental breakfast with coffee, orange juice, pastries, muffins, and fruit. 
     Let’s welcome them both well!
2. Disaster relief update:
   • Our SBP grant is coming to an end. So far we’ve helped 19 homes become safer. We have a small amount (~$7,500) to use up by the 31st, but we can all be proud of all the help this grant has been to our community. 
   • We’ve added another work group to October. This means one group comes 9/30 and the next 10/8. September remains quiet in this regard
3. Building and grounds updates:
   • We have contracted for the the pantry awning and it should be scheduled soon. 
   • We also have contracted to remove the trees in back. We should see that happen in the coming weeks. 
   • The last of the new doors are being hung as this is being written. 
   • The kitchen is coming along. Once it’s in, some organizing will be needed. 
4. Christmas cantata!
   • Practices will begin September 28 at 6:30 ea Thurs
   • Will perform Dec 17 Sunday morning at First Presbyterian and Dec 17 Sun afternoon at Wintergarden.  More details about times to follow. 
   • Music scores and CD’s will be available to anyone who would like to participate.  
   • If anyone wants to sing but doesn’t like to drive after dark we can arrange transportation. 
   • Please know this is open to “anyone.”  You do not need to read music or have a perfect voice to sing. Just a desire to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. Should be fun!!!
   • Contact Heather DeGroot for music. We are excited about this opportunity and need you to help make this happen!
5. Please know that your church elders are all working through whatever comes during Devon’s sabbatical. In addition to the Wintergarden family members listed below are able to help in the specific areas listed. If you have a need, please reach out! Also the pastor@wintergarden email will go to Pastor Syl while Pastor Devon is gone. He will be covering for much of Devon’s time away.
   • Office number: 941-743-5335
   • Julie- Bookkeeper and Office Admin- office@wintergardenpres.org
   • Wendy- Disaster Relief – disasterrelief@wintergardenpres.org 
   • Kymmie- Food Pantry and Community Garden- foodpantry@wintergardenpres.org 
   • Eric- Project Manager for building and construction- meister6ho@gmail.com 
   • Heather- other congregational needs such as hospital visits – aamazing49@yahoo.com

Much love, 
Wintergarden Presbyterian Church 

Worship with Wintergarden
Sunday, August 27, 2023
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Breakfast Church @ 10:00am
Worship following about 10:30am
IN THE SANCTUARY and on Facebook Live
*Please bring a dish to share. 
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How to access the bulletin:
Bulletin HERE
How to Access Services Online:
Join us on Facebook for Worship Services
https://www.facebook.com/wintergardenpres
Remember, you don’t need a Facebook Account
to join us for worship. 

You can also click HEREfor the Facebook link.

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICE

Sunday, August 27, 2023 Breakfast Church @ 10:00am followed by Worship @ 10:30 amSermon: A Closed Mouth Catches No Flies James 3:1-12 Join us IN THE SANCTUARY at 10:00 am for a time of Food, Fellowship, and Worship. Please bring a dish to share.

Every Monday Lectio Divina Every Wednesday Food delivery Every Thursday Food Pantry 12-4pm Sept. 6 The Chosen Watch Party & Bible Study Sept. 8 Coffee, Conversation, Gardeners Gather, and Workday Sept. 13 The Chosen Watch Party & Bible Study

Sept. 19 Homeless Coalition meal (Every 3rd Tues.) Sept. 20 The Chosen Watch Party & Bible Study Sept. 27 The Chosen Watch Party & Bible Study Sept. 28 CNS Care N Share (Every 4th Thurs.) Sept. 29 Family Fun Night (Last Friday of every month)

Beginning Sunday, September 10 after Worship Follow Me Biblical Practices for Faithful Living

This is Pastor Syl and his wife Betania. Syl is the new pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Port Charlotte. Since he is part-time, we have been able to work it out for Syl to lead us during Devon’s sabbatical. This is Syl’s first Sunday with us. We are excited and blessed that Syl will be with us during this time. Below is a bit more about Pastor Syl.  The Reverend Silvio Esteves or just Pastor Syl (like the first part of Silver) is a native of Brazil, although, he holds two citizenships. One from Brazil and another one from Spain, since his family came to Brazil from that country. Because of that, he can speak fluently Portuguese and Spanish.Pastor Syl began his studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia, passing through the prestigious McGill University (considered to be the Harvard of Canada), and graduating with a Master of Divinity from the Presbyterian College in Montreal. He also holds a Master of Theology from Tyndale University in Toronto Syl was then ordained by the Presbyterian Church in Canada.He is married to Betania. Add an “a” to the end of “Bethany” and that is how you can say her name. Betania is also from Brazil and they have two sons, Gabriel (25) and Pedro (21). Syl and his family lived for almost six years on Canada’s French-speaking side. Nonetheless, they are not strangers to the US, having lived here for many years, more specifically in Atlanta, the towns of Crested Butte in Colorado, and Sun Valley, Idaho.Syl and Betania love to take long walks and meet new people. They are both delighted they can be part of Wintergarden during Pastor Devon’s sabbatical and are looking forward to meeting the people in our church.You can see more of Pastor Syl at Facebook.com/SylEstevez or Instagram.com/SylEstevez/.

Back to School Blessings! Are you looking for ideas on how to bless backpacks, students, teachers and more? The Office of Christian Formation PCUSA has prepared them for you! Find them here: https://hubs.ly/Q01-hjZc0 #PCUSA #BackToSchool #Blessings

Facebook for Wintergarden Presbyterian ChurchFacebook for the Garden of Eatin’ at Wintergarden Presbyterian Church

Do you have a facebook account? If you do, I want to encourage you to like “Wintergarden Presbyterian Church” and “Garden of Eatin’.” Click on the blue circle with the “f” in it to access our two facebook pages. 

Why check out Wintergarden on Facebook? Well, a few months ago, Wendy started doing our Facebook marketing for social media. She spends a great deal of time creating posts, sharing our story, taking pictures, and telling folks about the exciting things happening at Wintergarden. For this, Pastor Devon is incredibly grateful!

One of the things we would love is YOUR help. Every day, Wendy puts up a new post. Then she shares it to her page and the Garden of Eatin facebook page. We would love to grow our audience even more, but it will take YOUR help. When something is posted on facebook, we would love for you to share it with your friends and family. This helps build our online presence and broadens our outreach to share about the amazing ministries and mission at Wintergarden. Oh, and you can share our worship services with others if you would like too. 

Truly, we need your help to connect with the wider community to build more and more excitement about “feeding people physically, spiritually, mentally, and emotionally in our community.”

FOOD PANTRY VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDPlease contact the church office at 941-743-5335 or email at foodpantry@wintergardenpres.orgIt is starting to warm up, which means we need to be able to rotate volunteers more frequently while outdoors. If you can come and give an hour or more, please talk with Kymmie and come join us.

Interested in joining our Garden? Garden of Eatin’ – Food Forest For more information click HERE.

At Wintergarden Presbyterian Church we’re eager to pray with you!   Please let us know how we can pray by submitting a Prayer Request online (link below). The prayer requests are emailed to Pastor Devon once submitted.

Prayer Request

Lectio Divina for Monday, August 28, 2023All are welcome to join us as we continue to engage in the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina together as a community.  This Week’s Scripture: Matthew 16:13-20 We will gather via Zoom for an intentional time of listening, reflecting, responding, and resting in the Word of God. We will meet on Mondays from 8-9 am.  Here are some details about Lectio Divina.  Lectio Divina, literally meaning “divine reading,” is an ancient practice of praying the Scriptures. During Lectio Divina, the person listens to the text of the Bible with the “ear of the heart,” as if he or she is in conversation with God, and God is suggesting the topics for discussion. There are four movements for Lectio Divina:  1. Lectio: (Listening to the Word of God or Reading God’s Word) 2. Meditation: (Reflecting on the Word of God) 3. Oratio: (Responding to the Word of God) 4. Contemplatio: (Resting in the Word of God) Here is the Zoom Link:  Join Zoom Meeting: Click HERE https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87832080869?pwd=TUxCRThUcEdRbTNTWmJ6emZRamUyZz09  Meeting ID: 878 3208 0869 Passcode: 396015 +16465588656,,87832080869#,,,,*396015# US (New York)