With 2010 almost upon us, I wonder if some of you are thinking about resolutions. Well here's G. K. Chesterton on resolutions:

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."
G. K. Chesterton, "January One" from Lunacy and Letters

Of course, you don't HAVE to make resolutions, but I agree with Chesterton that it's a good idea.

If you aren't planning to already, I'd like to encourage you to think about a resolution that would make you more familiar with God's word. And a resolution without a plan is a recipe for failure. There are a number of plans out there (most of them for reading the bible in a year), and I would simply encourage you to pick one of them and give it a shot. See below for links to a number of different plans.

Oh, and if exercise or getting to the gym is a resolution of yours...you can drop in at the Carondelet Rec Plex on January 1st FOR FREE. Their hours tomorrow are 10am-2pm. If you haven't had a chance to visit the Rec Plex I would encourage you to give it a shot, it's a great facility.

Here are the bible reading plans...

Chronological Bible Reading Schedule:

Flexible Weekly Bible Reading Plan:

Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers & Slackers:

ESV Audio Podcast Plans:

Audio Bible in 56 hour long segments:

Even MORE options for Bible Reading Plans:

Service Opportunities for Saturday

Two service opportunities for Saturday Nov 14th. The first one is the South City Work Day which is always the second Saturday of the month. The Work Day meets at New City Fellowship's South location at 8:30am. Let Tom Hanley know if you think you might come to the Work Day. Here's New City South's address:

3502 Grace Ave
St Louis, MO 63116

The second opportunity is a park clean-up at Sister Marie Charles Park in Carondelet. This is the park that we DIDN'T get to see on the tour, because I was unsure the bus would be able to make the turnaround. It's directly below Bellerive Park, which we did see. Here's a picture I took of Sr. Marie Charles park this morning.



If you want to go to the Sr. Marie Charles Park Clean-up then you need to give me a call so I can put you in touch with the right person at the Carondelet Housing Corporation (connected to the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation. Here's one more shot of Sr. Marie Charles Park, notice the park offers a nice view of the arch.

November 8th Tour Notes

I'm very eager and excited for our lunch and tour tomorrow! Be ready to leave right after Sunday School. I know it may take those of us with multiple children a few minutes to gather them up from their Sunday School classes and get them on the bus, but the quicker we can get on the bus and get going, the better.

A couple things I want to call your attention to:

*WEATHER: Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow - high in the low 70's - which is great, because there will be a couple times when we park the bus and get out and walk.

*CAMERAS: I encourage you to bring your camera if you'd like to take pictures.

*SPECIAL GUESTS: I've invited Pastor Liebnau and his wife Linda as well as St. Trinity's Parish Council (similar to a Session) and their spouses to join us for lunch and the tour (if we have any extra seats) -- and I'm so pleased that at least 8, maybe as many of 10 of them will be joining us for lunch!

*DIRECTIONS: I'll have directions to the Riverside Cafe printed up for any of you who need to follow the bus to Carondelet.

*LUNCH COST & RETURN TIME: Reminder that lunch at the Riverside will be $8.50/adult and $3.50/child, but if you can't afford that, it's no problem, just pay what you can afford. Nathan Koller will be collecting the money from you on the bus or at the restaurant. I'll be paying the Riverside with a check (which will include gratuity). We will be back at Providence by 4:15.

See you tomorrow!

November 8th!!

Big news about an event on November 8th...check your e-mail.

The Carondelet Bakery

The Carondelet Bakery, founded in 1875, is the oldest bakery in St. Louis.



Bob Smith began working there as a 13 year old making $1/hr and bought the bakery from the man he worked for seven years later. He and Linda, who he married a year after he bought the bakery have owned it ever since. They live above the bakery and have raised 4 daughters there. You can read the full story of the Carondelet Bakery here.

Carondelet Bakery is said to have the best gooey butter cake in St. Louis, and several of you tried it at our Parish group meeting at our house in September.

If you need a gooey butter cake or any other baked goods (up to and including a wedding cake)



you might want to stop in at the Carondelet Bakery, say "Hello" to Bob & Linda and grab some goodies.

Here are their hours:

Sun & Mon Closed
Tues-Sat 8am-2pm

Saturday Service Opportunities

I'm so pleased that we've already begun serving in Carondelet prior to beginning public worship. God gave us opportunity with the handrails project, and we pray that more of those type of will be made known to us.

Tim Carroll and others installing handrails at the Work Day


As pleased as I am that we've got one project under our belt, I don't want us to rest on our laurels ;-) There will be opportunities to serve on probably three Saturdays each month (some of that depends on weather), on one of a few different projects. Here are the opportunities:

1st Saturday - St. Trinity Food Pantry
2nd Saturday - South City Work Day
3rd Saturday - Bellerive Park Clean-Up
5th Saturday - St. Trinity Food Pantry

I talked with Jean Kuhlman from St. Trinity and she told me that they usually have plenty of help for the 3rd & 4th Saturdays. We've now connected them with what we hope will be consistent help on 2nd Saturdays through the New City Work Day. But she told me that they usually need help on the 1st Saturday of the month, and on 5th Saturdays on months that have 5 Saturdays.

The 2nd Saturday of the month continues to be the New City Work day and I think at least 5 of us have already participated in one of those. I'd like to see that number continue to grow.

The 3rd Saturday which is one that will probably be more weather dependent is the Bellerive Park clean up, sponsored by the Carondelet Community Betterment Federation (CCBF). In fact, if there is a November date, it may be earlier in the month given weather and proximity to Thanksgiving.

I would really like to see some Resurrection folks help out at St. Trinity's food pantry on each 1st & 5th Saturday, and I'd like to have at least one Resurrection representative at each Bellerive Park clean up day as well. Looking at the rest of October & November, here's what will be available:

Sat Oct 31st - St. Trinity Food Pantry
Sat Nov 7 - St. Trinity Food Pantry
Sat Nov 14 - South City Work Day
Sat Nov 21 - Bellerive Park Clean-Up

Think about it. Pray about it. I'll be seeking to fill up a sign up sheet soon.

The Villas and Public Service

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know 11th Ward Alderman Matt Villa over the last several months (Carondelet falls within the 11th Ward). I’ve bumped into him at a few community meetings, but the main way that I’ve gotten to know Matt is by meeting him on Friday mornings at the Foodland Grocery store on South Grand.



There’s a little makeshift “cafe” there and Matt holds “office hours” there each Friday morning from 8:30-9:30 to hear the concerns of his constituents and talk over whatever people would like to talk about.

From all that I’ve seen Matt is a very attentive alderman, tuned in to the 11th ward and its constituents and is responsive to people’s requests. Matt and his wife Laura, live in the 11th ward with their two boys. He has served as the 11th ward alderman for more than a dozen years.

But public service goes back a lot further in Matt’s family. His grandfather “Red” Villa was an alderman in Carondelet for years and held “office hours” himself, at a neighborhood watering hole. Here’s a bust of Alderman “Red” Villa (complete with stogie!) in the middle of the Ivory Triangle, commemorating his years in public service, especially in the 11th ward.



The scriptures say that we are to pay honor and respect to governing authorities to whom honor and respect are due (see below) they are God’s ministers, God's servants, to serve the people over whom they govern.

1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Romans 13.1-7

Pray for Alderman Matt Villa, that he would continue to govern with integrity, serving the cause of justice, rewarding the good and punishing wrongdoers, and exercising his governing authority with wisdom and humility.