Grace Notes: March 2014

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A "Perfect Mirror"

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

27 March 2014

On the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March) we celebrate Mary’s “yes” to God. We celebrate that Jesus received His human nature from His mother. In this context it becomes evident that we too often blur how God’s redemptive grace is at work in our own lives. We are used to the truth that nothing is impossible for God. We are used to the truth that in creation God speaks His will (“let there be ...”) and it is. Consider, however, that while God could certainly have come among us in any number of ways (and clearly was present among the Israelites), He chose to come among us as one of us. Jesus Christ “... emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in human likeness” (Phil. 2.6). Compare this revelation to what we are told about ourselves at Gen. 1.26, that we are each created in the image and likeness of God. In other words, the likeness in which we are created is part of our humanity, and God, in becoming a human being and assuming His human nature from Mary, allows all of us the free will to say “yes” to Him. Our human will is to cooperate with God’s saving grace in order that salvation may be effected. When we do not say “yes” we deny the image and likeness in which we are created.

Denying God’s image and likeness within us is a denial of what it means to be human, and not a plant or animal or inanimate thing. We become more human when we acknowledge the divine spark within. We become more human because we are saved, and this returns our souls from a state of restlessness in which we are alienated from our Creator, to the peace we enjoy when we find our true home in our Creator.

Mary said “yes”. Each of us can and must say “yes”. We can say “yes” when we focus on who God is, and who we are as those created in His image and likeness. Lent, therefore, can be thought of as the mirror that allows us to see beyond outward reflection, to see true image, true likeness. Face how God dwells in you. Welcome Him that He may welcome you home.

Grace Abounds: Please thank:

§ Jessica Ambelang for the Friday night Lenten supper, with clean-up by Bill and Deb Gagin.

§ Bob and Anne Hanlon, and John and Jennifer Keller for the Sunday coffee hours.

§ Mary Snyder and Danie Wilson for leading the Friday meditations at our Lenten supper.

§ All those who provided food for the potluck supper following the Feast of the Annunciation celebration, and Jack Britton, Jennifer Pawlus, and Grace Zangara for clean-up.

Call for Contributions: If you have a spiritual reflection to share, or want to point your fellow worshippers toward a resource, submit your contributions to Fr. Karl (by email) by Wednesday in the week of publication.

A Sunday Morning “Lenten Meditations” Discussion: In our group this past Sunday, the Lord’s Prayer was referenced, ‘your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ “What that might look like?” was the question.

There were two answers expressed; one was the experience of reconciliation which of course is the opposite of the alienation often experienced in this life. As we stand before the throne of God in the Kingdom there will be no room for it. As we become the perfected Body of Christ, fully united in our love for God, there is no room. This alienation is put to rest as we go through the process of forgiveness i.e. confession, contrition, absolution, & reconciliation. To receive in this life the blessings of those, as well as the One, we have sinned against, to be reconciled, is an awesome preview of the Kingdom to come.

The second answer was the experience of transformation. An experience at the recent Happening was related involving three participants, special needs, accepted & fully integrated, not relegated to the sideline, politely ignored. One of the young men active in this integration had been at camp last summer & seen as one of those “It’s all about Me” characters. This transformation in perception, reality, or, more likely both, was cause for joy. “Wow, what a change in xxxxxx!” This transforming from who we are now into our better selves through God’s Grace is cause for great celebration in the now** as well as a wonderful preview of our unimaginable transformation to be. Again, it was a preview of the Kingdom.

Following up, it was asked what an acorn thinks he will be like when he grows up. The suspicious, tentative answer, an oak tree, was rejected for ‘No, just a bigger acorn, he doesn’t know about oak trees.’ What does a caterpillar think she’ll be when she grows up? ‘A bigger caterpillar’ was the obvious answer. The point being we typically think too small about the transformations & the work of Grace that will yet be; however given eyes that see, glimpses & inklings are all about.

Jesus says to Nicodemus in their private meeting, “If I tell you things that are plain as the hand before your face and you don’t believe me, what use is there in telling you of things you can’t see, the things of God?” (John 3:12, The Message).

―Fr. John Ambelang

**The following link give one mother’s well-worth-reading commentary on how her special needs son was accepted on the Happening weekend: http://specialandblessed.wordpress.com/2014/03/19/happening.

Fundraising Brain Storming Session! Have an idea for something you'd like to see the parish do? Heard of something that could help us defray costs or add income? Do you miss a fundraiser that used to take place years ago? On Sunday, March 30th, we'll gather to share ideas at 11:50 AM. We are looking for any and all ideas for fundraising and publicity for events. Please join us & share your ideas. No idea is too small; most great ideas come from a small idea that sparked something bigger. Your ideas matter! Hope to see you there. If you are unable to make it, please forward your ideas to any Vestry member.

Music this week:

Prelude Chorale Prelude on ‘St. Columba’ Vintner

Introit Laetare, Jerusalem (Rejoice, Jerusalem) Plainsong

Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei Missa ‘Alme Pater’ Plainsong

Psalm 23 Anglican chant: Davies

Offertory Hymn 645 “The King of love my shepherd is” St. Columba

Communion Motet My spirit longs for thee Dix

Communion Hymn 339 “Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness” Schmuecke dich

Closing Hymn 533 “How wondrous and great” Lyons

Postlude Dialogue sur le Grands Jeux Guilain

Parish Notices

§ lives. Such a testimony will be followed by facilitated small group discussions. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so enough food will be prepared. Thank you.

§ includes space for you to add your own meditation. On Sundays, we’ll explore together the meditations for the week, that together we can walk on our Lenten journey. We can experience our journey together by offering our own insights in small group settings.

§ Fundraising Brain Storming Session! Have an idea for something you'd like to see the parish do? Heard of something that could help us defray costs or add income? Do you miss a fundraiser that used to take place years ago? On Sunday, March 30th, we'll gather to share ideas at 11:50 AM. We are looking for any and all ideas for fundraising and publicity for events. Please join us & share your ideas. No idea is too small; most great ideas come from a small idea that sparked something bigger. Your ideas matter! Hope to see you there. If you are unable to make it, please forward your ideas to any Vestry member.

§ A Seder Dinner: Grace Church is invited to A Seder Dinner hosted by St. Paul's, Plymouth, Wednesday, April 2 at 6pm. Rabbi Noah Chertkoff from Congregation Shalom Temple will be our Leader for this festive meal. Lamb and chicken breasts will be grilled. Appetizers will be served before the event - so come early. Please note: This celebration is especially for children/youth to learn and enjoy this religious festivity. So please encourage them to come as well - to experience this authentic Jewish Seder Tradition. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex so we can let St. Paul’s know how many to expect. Thank you.

§ Metropolitan Opera: The Metropolitan Opera production of Giacomo Puccini’s classic La Boehme will be broadcast live on Saturday, 5 April. We will gather at 11:45 a.m. at the Marcus Cinema, and enjoy a light meal together afterward. Talk to Fr. Karl if you are interested and need more detail, or just show up! La Boehme is one of the most famous and tuneful of all operas, and this new production will feauture the Metropolitan Opera debut of one of today’s most celebrated sopranos, Anita Hartwig. For a sample from rehearsal see http://www.metoperafamily.org/opera/boheme-puccini-tickets.

§ Violin and Organ Concert: On Sunday, 6 April, at 4:00pm we will enjoy a concert of music for violin and organ, performed by The Gough Duo of the United Kingdom, praised in American Record Guide for “spectacular playing” and “wonderful” music. For details of their repertoire see http://www.goughduo.co.uk/ The concert is free. There will be a Gala reception afterward in St. Nicholas Hall. A free will offering will be gratefully accepted.

§ Spring Clean-up! We will gather for Spring clean-up on Saturday, 12 April. This will allow us to get the parish in top shape before the start of Holy Week. Please sign up to work on the indoor crew, which will focus on cleaning and painting, or the outdoor crew, which will focus on garden and grounds clean-up. In the event of bad weather, the outdoor clean-up will be rescheduled, but the indoor crew will meet. The day will begin at 8:30 a.m., to be concluded by 12:30 p.m. Morning snacks will be provided. If you can’t help with clean-up, sign up to provide help with the lunch that will conclude the effort! Contact the office to sign up.

§ All Saints' Chapel Ownership - Sunday services at All Saints' Chapel will continue to be a shared ministry this year which means volunteers will be needed to have ownership of opening and closing the chapel. A sign-up sheet is located in the Narthex. If you have questions regarding responsibilities, please ask any member of the Vestry.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

There is Nothing Egypt can Do

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

20 March 2014

There is nothing Egypt can do (Isaiah 19:15): Egypt is helpless. Helplessness isn't enjoyed, rather we try echoing Henley, “I am the captain of my fate; I am the master of my soul.” Being in control helps us feel secure. To give up control, to place our fate in the hands of another can be difficult. So we live briefly with some power, control, & independence. But always there’s the reality of what’s coming. When death approaches, we can submit to its inevitability or fruitlessly resist; it makes no difference. Resistance sometimes brings additional time, but death will have its triumph. It matters not who we are, rich, poor, brilliant, dull, popular, hated, religious or not.

The Greeks summed life; we are born, suffer, & die. True, but not at all complete. The temptation is to binge, living out another Greek adage, ‘Eat, drink, & be merry for tomorrow we die.’ However, clinging to such a perspective brings scant comfort.

How are you doing?” Responding, “Better than I deserve.” interjects a needed, unexpected, moral element. For, death isn't the end. Then there’s the judgment. Judgment. At the heart of Judgment is separation. The fishermen separate the fish in the net, clean & unclean in Jesus’ stark parable of the Kingdom. Sounds cold, impersonal, and unfair; can carp by dint of will transform themselves into perch?

Moses: I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death ... We choose either life or death; our choice sets life’s trajectory; our Judgment becomes self-evident. Paul would likely say that at birth the flesh has already made its choice, death. Only God’s grace can enable us to change that choice. But it’s not merely life against death that we choose. It is Life dependent on our relationship with Him. It’s the Life of the four living creatures ceaselessly singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy” to the one seated on the throne. It's the Life of those who see by the light of Life and live by the word of Life. It's the Life which comes from the tree of Life (the Cross), the water of Life (Baptism), and the bread of Life (Communion). It's the Life of those whose names are written in the book of Life.

Choose Life!

―Fr. John Ambelang

Grace Abounds: Please thank:

§ Barb and Bob MacEwen, Jack Britton and Jennifer Pawlus for the Friday night Lenten supper.

§ Deb and Bill Gagin, the MacEwens, and Caleb and Roman Klinzing for the Sunday coffee hours.

§ Jane Hanson and Susan McIntosh for leading the Friday meditations at our Lenten supper.

§ Those who provided for the needs of Happening #67, including: Fr. John Ambelang, Mary Clabots, Mary Gallimore, Jane Hanson, Katy Larson, and Emily Williams.

Is Son of God worth seeing? As posted recently, our youth group thinks so. Here is a another helpful review: http://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/how-good-is-the-son-of-god-movie

Episcopal Youth Community: Stress—Relief—Happy

This week my family went on a hunt to find new furniture for our living room, and we found the experience to be a little stressful. At first is was fun, running with a toddler plopping on the different chairs and couches, but then you have to start deciding on something you would like to keep.With a toddler, nothing is inherently easy it seems, all the fun of jumping into couches fades, and now it's time for some food, or water, or some other distraction, and the stress starts to compound. Finally after probably too much time debating on the imaginary differences, having decided, but apparently unwilling to commit, we chose our furniture.

Bought, paid for, signed, sealed, and delivery scheduled. Relief.

That night was a much better night than the one before it. And now all we have to do is over the course of a week, prepare the room, ourselves, and try to explain to a toddler what the changes are, and why it's okay. We are very happy with our choices, and we look forward to enjoying it in our home soon! This is another check in our "adult things to do list", buy new furniture.

Let me shift gears for a second. Over the past weeks, the youth group and I have been looking at and studying the Stations of the Cross. We have been preparing for our turn to host the Friday night Stations at Grace on April 4th.

The Stations, are a story of stress, leading to relief, and eventually happiness. Maximum stress, and maximum happiness. This Lent I have been reflecting on how my stress is leading to happiness.

In order to inspire happiness, follow the link to see the music video for the Academy Award Winning Song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6Sxv-sUYtM

―Nick

Music this week:

Prelude Chorale Partita on Our Father, thou in heaven above Buxtehude

Introit My eyes are ever looking toward the Lord Plainsong

Offertory Hymn 401 “The God of Abraham praise” Leoni

Communion Motet Like as the hart Willan

Comm. Hymn 684 “O for a closer walk with God” Caithness

Closing Hymn 655 “O Jesus, I have promised” Nyland

Postlude Fantasia in E Flat Pachelbel

Parish Notices

§ The Feast of the Annunciation: We celebrate on 25 March at 6:00 p.m. the Feast of the Annunciation, which commemorates the annunciation by the archangel Gabriel to Mary that she will bear the Messiah (Luke 1.26-38) On this day the liturgical colors change in Lent, i.e., the feast takes precedence over the season. It was, in the West, New Year’s Day until 1582. The Solemn Eucharist will be followed by an All Parish Potluck Dinner. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex and join the festivities.

§ lives. Such a testimony will be followed by facilitated small group discussions. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so enough food will be prepared. Thank you.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Servanthood

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

13 March 2014

Servus servorum Dei (Servant of the servants of God) is one of the titles of the pope. It is used as the opening of each papal bull (proclamation). The title was adopted by Pope St. Gregory the Great (d. 604), the same Gregory we associate with Gregorian chant, and the same Gregory who dispatched St. Augustine of Canterbury to England in 587, to take the Roman way of Christianity to Britain.

Gregory’s feast day was yesterday, and the collect prayer in our Anglican liturgy for the feast makes a neat play on his title, referring to God raising Gregory as “a servant of the servants of God”. This nod to this papal dignity is testimony to the catholic (that is, universal) outlook in Anglicanism, but also serves to remind us about what real Christian leadership is comprised of—servanthood.

To serve God and others—this is to lead. When you see others in the parish who serve you are seeing those who model Christian behavior. They are leading, and they are calling all of us to serve with them. In serving God and each other, we are making changes in how the Vestry meets. It has been our practice to meet once a month, and to include in meetings a detailed review of parish financial status, action items and concerns. This has involved discussion of the financial reports, and reports made by the wardens and rector. We are now moving past this model, which was adopted intentionally to allow for maximum transparency and trust-building.

What will change? We will continue to meet, but we will not review reports. They will be distributed well-enough in advance that each member of Vestry can review them and determine if he or she needs to raise a question. The actual meeting time will be devoted to how the Vestry functions in spiritual leadership, thinking and praying about who we are and who we are called to be, and how we will become the Church we are called to be, both within the parish and the wider community.

Remember: Vestry meetings are open. Any parishioner may attend. (The meeting for March will be on the 23^rd, at 11:45 a.m.) Any parishioner may request copies of all reports and financial information. Most importantly, as you lead by serving, as you discern who we are called to be, raise your insights with any member of Vestry, or just come to Vestry yourself, that through each other’s voices we may better learn who God is calling us to be.

Grace Abounds: Please thank:

§ Jane Hanson and Mary Massey for the Sunday coffee hour, with Jack Britton for clean-up.

§ Bill and Deb Gagin for the Friday Lenten supper.

All:

Wednesday you received an email request for assistance for this weekend's Happening #67. The request for food donations was responded to in FULL!! Once again, Grace has shown its willingness to bless the youth of our Diocese and provided in abundance. What a wonderful way to keep the cost down and offer a ministry that wouldn't otherwise be available!!!

Thank you for blessing us!!

Yours,

Happening #67 candidates and staff

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. I Cor 10:31

Music this week:

Prelude From Seven Sketches on Verses from the Psalms Percy Whitlock

Introit Plainsong

Antiphon: Call to remembrance thy tender compassion and mercy, O Lord, and thy loving-kindnesses towards us, which have been ever of old: neither suffer our enemies to triumph against us; deliver us, O God of Israel, out of all our troubles.

Psalm: Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul: my God, in thee have I trusted; let me not be

confounded.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost: as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Antiphon: Call to remembrance…

Kyrie Missa ‘Alme Pater’ Plainsong, adapt. Wayne Wildman

Psalm 121 (choir) Anglican Chant: Walford Davies

Tract (choir) Psalm 106:1-5

Offertory Hymn 448 “O love, how deep, how broad, how high” Deus tuorum militum

Communion Motet Dear Lord and Father of Mankind C. Hubert H. Parry

Closing Hymn 142 “Lord, who throughout these forty days” St. Flavian

Postlude Fantasia in C Minor (a 5 voci) J. S. Bach

Parish Notices

§ Metropolitan Opera: On Saturday, 15 March, we will gather at 11:45 a.m. for the live broadcast of Jules Massenet’s masterpiece Werther, in a new production starring Jonas Kauffman and Sophie Koch. A review of this found here:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304275304579392972109500510?KEYWORDS=werther&mg=reno64-wsj

§ Adult Formation: on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m. will allow us to journey together through the Lenten meditations prepared in the parish. For each day in Lent or parish devotional booklet includes the collect prayer, the gospel lesson, and a meditation prepared by one of your fellow disciples in this parish. The booklet also includes space for you to add your own meditation. On Sundays, we’ll explore together the meditations for the week, that together we can walk on our Lenten journey. We can experience our journey together by offering our own insights in small group settings.

§ lives. Such a testimony will be followed by facilitated small group discussions. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so enough food will be prepared. Thank you.

§ Service of Reconciliation: Please join Grace Church, Sheboygan, St. Peter’s, Sheboygan Falls and St. Paul’s, Plymouth on Wednesday, March 19^th at 6:00pm. The evening will include scripture reading and hymns; prayer and self-examination. There will also be opportunity for both corporate and private confession. Please come for an evening of hope and forgiveness. The service will take place at St. Paul’s, 312 Main St. Plymouth.

§ Knit Together: Since 1898 (yes, EIGHTEEN ninety-eight), Christmas at Sea has provided commercial mariners with hand knit hats, scarves, vests, and socks each winter as our way of saying “thank you” for making our lives more comfortable. Indeed, international seafarers and inland river mariners deliver the goods that make our own gift-giving celebrations possible. (http://www.seamenschurch.org/christmas-at-sea ) On Saturday, March 22nd we will gather together from 2:00-4:00 PM to hear more about this organization and the ways we could possibly help. We will have the 1898 Hat pattern on hand and some supplies available. Whether you’re a new knitter or an experienced one, whether you want to bring a project you’re working on or try this new one, whether you don’t even knit but want to bring a project to work on while in fellowship…please join us. And if you’d like to find out what supplies to bring to make an 1898 Hat, contact Deacon Michele or Bobbi Kraft for more details.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

A Lively Faith

Grace Episcopal Church

Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Grace Notes

6 March 2014

I am sometimes asked by fellow clergy about my opinion of the spiritual state of the parish. Whatever words I may have used in making an answer, they have been inadequate. All I need to do is to point to the booklet Parish Lenten Devotions, which we distributed beginning on Ash Wednesday. (The devotions project is the front page story in the March edition of the diocesan newspaper, The Clarion, found here: http://diofdl.org/clarion/2014-03.pdf ).

In the devotional booklet there are collected forty prayerful responses, forty statements of faith in response to the Gospel. These forty statements speak to a developed awareness of and response to our Lord’s presence in our midst. The spiritual state of the parish is that the parish is filled with Holy Spirit!

The responses to the Gospel found the devotional booklet vary in perspective and expression, but each speaks to a lively faith. Just as we have shared faith with each other in writing, so will we share faith with each other in discussion and prayer, as we come together in Adult Education on Sunday mornings in Lent to journey together using the devotional booklet as our template. This journey will be augmented by Friday evening simple suppers, following Stations of the Cross, in which we will relate the way of the Cross using the words and experiences of fellow parishioners. On both Sunday mornings and Friday evenings we will use small group discussion formats to explore our faith together. For example, a parishioner might start a discussion of the station in which a woman in the crowd wipes Jesus’ face by relating how he/she once witnessed an unexpected act of kindness undertaken at risk to the person providing the kindness, and how this made him or her experience God’s presence.

Join us in a lively faith! Join us as the Spirit uses each of us to help this Body to grow!

Grace Abounds: Please thank:

§ Tasha Crouse for collating and preparing the devotional submissions for our Lenten Devotions booklet.

§ Bernie Markevitch and Mary Ann Nueses for preparing the brat fry for our Shrove Tuesday supper, and Mary Snyder for clean-up.

Messages and Meaning: This past Sunday was my “flower” day. You may have wondered what was meant by the dedication included in the mass booklet: “Flowers in the church are given to the greater glory of God by Bobbi Kraft in anticipation and thanksgiving for Psalm 27:5.”

I often include passages with my memorials or thanksgivings. It’s great fun to engage in conversation with those who have looked the passages up and shared with me. This past Sunday was no different…especially since it became apparent quickly that Psalm 27:5 is not the same in all versions of the Bible. In fact, in many versions, the passage that I meant is actually found in verse 4 not verse 5! You’d really be left to wonder what I meant if you read from a bible that included my verse in the wrong order.

What a wonderful illustration for life! Often times, we know EXACTLY what message we’re trying to convey. Often times, our message is misunderstood because we lack a common frame of reference. In those moments, we can choose to get embarrassed, frustrated or angry. OR, we can choose to identify the discrepancy, provide clarity, and move on from there. What a relief to know God has given us the choice! All we must do is choose wisely.

In the meantime, it is my hope that we can all embrace Psalm 27:5 as it is stated in the Book of Common Prayer: “One thing have I asked of the Lord; one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” I will…with anticipation and thanksgiving! Hope to see you there! ―Bobbi Kraft

Episcopal Youth Community: Son of God

This past weekend the movie Son of God was released in theaters. The youth group went to see it and by the end of it were just as silent as the rest of the people in the crowd (in a good way). The movie is the story of Jesus from the perspective of St. John's account of the Gospel, starts with the famous opening of "In the beginning was the word" and carries through Jesus' ascension. The storyline follows three groups: Jesus and his followers, Pilate, and the religious leaders including Caiaphas the high priest.

For myself, personally, I found the movie to be overall a really great way to share the gospel and bring it to life in a meaningful way. I had a couple of aha moments throughout the movie, where watching the scenario play out with real people in a real space made the gospel make more sense. The only parts that distracted me from the story at first was the fact that all of the actors speak really great English, with almost no regional accents at all, and there was a moment in the first couple of scenes with adult Jesus where I worried that the movie was going to get cheesy. In the end, I was able to accept the accents as they were, and the cheesy-ness disappeared as the greatest story ever told was brought to life and the miracles that Jesus did seemed no less miraculous on the silver screen than they do between the covers of the Bible.

When I asked the youth group for their thoughts about the movie, all were very positive. In fact when we were leaving the theater, one of the first things that was said (and repeated) was "That was good." They felt that this was a good way to break the barrier of telling the story of Jesus and the difficulty some people have with reading the bible, whether it is the verbiage, the style, or a lack of guidance, we all felt that this could be a good way to start off discussions with our friends who weren't Christian, or even amongst ourselves.

I myself and the youth group as a whole give this movie a thumbs up. And I know that I want to watch it again

―Grace and peace, Nick

A Lenten Discipline: Lent is fast approaching now and one can only hope spring is not far off! Do you have a Lenten discipline in place? I do and I would like to share it with you. Remember all those beautiful Christmas cards and letters you received? And what do you do with them? I gather them up into a basket and starting on Ash Wednesday I randomly pick one out, read it and the accompanying letter at leisure as well as enjoy thoughts of that person and family and then I take a moment to pray for them. Sometimes I even write them a note or email them to let them know they are in my thoughts and prayers. This is my card ministry and it doesn't have to stop at Easter! All year long I collect correspondence (birthday cards, thank you , get well, announcement cards, etc. and put in another basket and then during Ordinary Time (after Pentecost) I begin the process again. After all, we all can use prayers from others to lift us up.

―Barb MacEwen

Music this week:

Prelude I call to thee, Lord Jesus Christ Pachelbel & Bach

Great Litany (sung in procession)

Psalm 32:1-8 Anglican chant: Dobey

Sanctus & Agnus Dei Gregorian Mass X (Alme Pater) Plainsong, adapt. Wildman

Offertory Hymn 143 “The glory of these forty days” Erhalt uns, Herr

Communion Motet Bread of the world Hodges

Communion Hymn 343 “Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless” St. Agnes

Closing Hymn 150 “Forty days and forty nights” Aus der Tiefe

Postlude Lord, keep us steadfast by thy Word Pachelbel

Parish Notices

§ Metropolitan Opera: On Saturday, 15 March, we will gather at 11:45 a.m. for the live broadcast of Jules Massenet’s masterpeice Werther, in a new production starring Jonas Kauffman and Sophie Koch. A review of this found here:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304275304579392972109500510?KEYWORDS=werther&mg=reno64-wsj

§ Soup and Cinema: The movie series continues on Wednesday, 12 March at 6 p.m. with the 1977 feature The Duellists (Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel). Based on the Joseph Conrad short story The Duel, the film follows the history of a personal enmity, of an unjust search for vengeance, and of the need for forgiveness.

§ Stations of the Cross, Simple Suppers and Teaching: Every Friday in Lent we will meet each Friday at 5:30 p.m. for Stations of the Cross, followed by a simple supper and Christian program. The program will consist of facilitated discussion which will focus on particular stations of the cross in the context of our own spiritual lives. For example, a parishioner might offer a testimony relating his/ her life to the eighth station (when Simon of Cyrene is given Jesus’ cross to bear), by relating how in his/her life he/she was “blind sided” by the burden of somebody else, and how in bearing this person’s burden with them, he/she participated in Jesus’ life in the world. Such a testimony will be followed by facilitated small group discussions. Please sign up to attend on the sheets in the Narthex so enough food will be prepared. Thank you.

§ Cooking on Friday Evenings in lent: If you are interested in cooking and hosting a dinner on the Fridays during Lent, please sign-up on sheets in the Narthex. Most of the Fridays are open. Thank you for your willingness to serve in this manner.

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

A "Perfect Mirror"

Thursday, March 20, 2014

There is Nothing Egypt can Do

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Servanthood

Thursday, March 6, 2014

A Lively Faith