You are invited to join St. Clarians of all ages for our annual parish retreat! We’ll head to Camp Storer (near Jackson) on Friday, September 24th, for dinner and an evening of worship, games, and songs together around the campfire.

Adults

On Saturday the 25th, our retreat speaker will be the Rev. Matthew Bode, of Spirit of Hope in Detroit. Spirit of Hope is a small, urban congregation working to spread God’s love in the City of Detroit, through various ministries, including an urban farm, food pantry, coffeehouse, and health program. Pastor Bode will lead us through three sessions in which we consider how we put our faith into action and how our spiritual lives intertwine with our callings in the world.

Teens

Our speaker this year is excited to include teens in his program, so we’ll participate in some of that, but we’ll also have time to do fun camp stuff and to hang out and play games as a youth group. And while we encourage whole families to come, 7th-12th graders can come even if the rest of your family doesn’t. If you’re interested or have questions, contact Christine Modey (chrismodey@yahoo.com) or Beth (beth@st-clares.org).

Children

Our Children’s Choir continues a separate track this year as we work as an ensemble throughout the day on Saturday (with some singing Friday night). No musical experience is necessary to participate! Enjoy games (the return of Musical Baseball!), rhythmic challenges, new anthems and more as we enjoy and explore music together. Contact John (john@st-clares.org) with questions.

All members of our parish are welcome–couples, singles, families, teens, and children. The cost is $60 per person, or $180 for families of four or more, which includes three meals (Friday dinner, Saturday breakfast and lunch) and overnight accommodations in the dorms at Camp Storer. Childcare will be provided for infants through kindergarteners.

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On this page, which functions like a blog, you can access all materials for the course, including daily readings and devotions.  The materials for the coming week will be posted on Wednesday evenings.  Because this is a blog, you can also post your comments and reflections on the week’s readings and read comments from other class members.

Our Parish has a diversity of members and friends, all involved in our various ministries and outreach. Some parishioners have asked for a way to make their St. Clare’s pledge payments or donations online. In response, we have established an account for donating to St. Clare’s by electronic transfer.

Just go to www.e-giving.org and follow the instructions to set up an account (or login to your existing account). You can set up one draft or a recurring transaction. It is more cost effective if you donate monthly rather than weekly, but if weekly is better, go for it!

A few of the major features are:

• Full control online by each donor
• Secured environment [128 bit encryption]
• Electronic Fund Transfers [EFT]
• Ability to schedule recurring transactions online
• Access transaction history online
• Contribute online while away from home
• Express appreciation, recognition, condolences, etc via Parish Web Site

If you have any questions, please direct them to our Stewardship Commission’s attention.

• Scrip is “substitute money”.
• When consumers purchase scrip, they receive negotiable certificates or cards that can be used like cash to purchase products or services from merchants who have issued them.
• Scrip can be used to purchase anything from groceries, fuel, clothing, toys, and cosmetics to entertainment, electronics, home improvement, or household services.

Click here for a complete list of merchants.

To purchase Scrip cards, see Scrip table after each coffee hour on Sundays.

Our program for 7th – 12th grades at St. Clare’s is built on a trinity; curriculum, activities and outreach.

The first part of the program is curriculum based – using the Journey to Adulthood program. This uses Bible study, prayer, rites of passage, outreach ministries and both serious and playful activities to underscore its core principles:

1. Manhood and womanhood are free gifts from God.
2. Adulthood must be earned.

This program divides our youth up into 3 groups, 7th – 8th graders, 9th-10th graders and 11th-12th graders. Every other year, through this program, 9th-12th graders are given the opportunity to go on a pilgrimage. Click here to see pictures from the last pilgrimage. In general, youth groups meet Sunday afternoon, from 3:45-5:45.

The second part of our program is based on good old fashioned fun! As we all know, a strong community is built on work AND play! Activities are often planned with multiple age groups combined. This allows a cohesiveness based on faith, rather than limiting friendships by age groups. Whether it’s Whirly ball or a canoe trip, everyone will find something that floats their boat!

The third area available to the youth groups are our service projects. Service is our faith in action. We are all called to serve the Christ we see in others…we are all disciples. Some examples of our past projects that our youth have been involved in are: Group Camps, 30-hour Famine, CROP Walk, and volunteering at IHN’s Alpha House, but our involvement is limited only by the imagination of our youth and the endurance of our youth leaders!

We are all children of God! Our journey may differ according to age, but each part of the path produces insights to be shared. It’s important to realize that adults don’t have all of God’s answers! Our Christian journeys are intertwined and enhanced when we listen to our Creator together and share God’s love with each other. Our goal at St. Clare’s is to provide a loving, nurturing and joyful program in which each individual, regardless of age, can grow in God’s love and serve their neighbors in Christ. Won’t you come join us?