St. Ambrose members began our campaign to become more visible in the community this past month. Some of our members volunteered to staff the Eco-cycle sites at the Louisville July 4 Event.

Also, several members of the 8am and the 10:30am choirs joined very early on a holiday morning to ride on a flatbed truck pulled by an antique John Deere tractor during the Superior July 4th Festival last month. The combined choir, adroitly accompanied by guitar and drums, was a big hit with the crowd as they sang both religious and secular tunes during the 1 ½ mile parade route. Several St. Ambrose youth handed out candy and waved to the onlookers from a 1947 Jeep, to make the occasion even more festive. Special thanks go to Herb Wright and Jim Zeigler for providing the Jeep and the tractor, respectively; William Eliason for his guitar playing; Jeff Gregorius for coordinating our participation in the Louisville and the Superior events; and to all who volunteered their time and talents to show the Louisville/Superior community what a vibrant and concerned congregation we are.

The first item on the agenda for the July Vestry Meeting involved updating the vestry on the status of the holy orders discernment process for Julie Overland. Four members of the discernment committee attended the meeting and described the process and how they benefitted from it.

They also told the vestry of their strong support for Julie. After hearing from them, the vestry unanimously signed a letter entitled, “Recommendation for Candidacy for Ordination to the Priesthood”. The vestry will send this letter to the bishop to endorse Julie’s candidacy.

The vestry recently voted to update our financial policies in an effort to ensure greater fiscal responsibility and separation of duties. We think that these new policies will help Jill Jenkins, the church bookkeeper, continue to perform her duties in an exemplary fashion while adding a greater degree of transparency to the process.

(Trivia: The word “bookkeeper” has 3 sets of double letters in a row. Do you know the only English word with 4 sets of double letters in a row? Hint: If Jill had an assistant she could help you find the answer. See the end of this column for the answer.

St. Ambrose has a series of end of summer events planned for our youth during Youth Week, August 1-8. The events include trips to Water World and to Six Flags/Elitch Gardens, a service project, vacation bible school and more. Please pick up a flyer or call the church office for more information.

Trivia answer: “subbookkeeper”

Included are pictures from the 4th of July Parade in Superior!