Dearest Faith Community Near and Far-

Labor Day Weekend is here. We pray it’s safe, relaxing and filled with time with loved ones for all of you. Remember to spend time considering the history and reason behind this holiday. 

1. Worship update:
   • Sunday will be the first Sunday of the month. On the first Sunday of the month, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and gather for a full breakfast, with breakfast at 10 and worship at about 10:30 am. Everyone is invited to bring a dish to share for this meal together. 
   • Pastor Syl of First Presbyterian Church will be preaching for the remainder of Pastor Devon’s sabbatical. We’re making some adjustments to worship to accommodate, so you’ll note some changes as we work things out. Please be patient. 
2. Disaster relief update:
   • Our SBP grant has come to an end. We spent over 48 thousand dollars to help 22 of our neighbor’s homes become safer. We can all be proud of all the help this grant has been to our community. 
   • We have two groups coming this fall, one 9/30 and the next 10/8. 
3. Building and grounds updates:
   • We have contracted for both the pantry awning and tree removal. Both should be completed soon. 
   • Dates haven’t been picked, but with the work in the church and tree removal both coming soon, we’ll need to get some work days on the books to finish the organizing inside and the clean up of the garden. Stay tuned for details. 
4. Christmas cantata!
   • Practices will begin September 28 at 6:30 each 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. If you have a need, please reach out! 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, September 3, 2023
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Breakfast Church @ 10:00 am
Worship following about 10:30 am
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, September 3, 2023 Breakfast Church @ 10:00 am followed by Worship @ 10:30 amSermon: Peter Gets an A+ Matthew 16:13-20

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 StudySept 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.

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, September 4, 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 16:21-28 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)