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Last Sunday (Pentecost 14, August 30, 2015)
September 6 – 10am, Godly Play (preschool through second grade) Cancelled for Sept. 6 since Callie will be out of town
September 6 – 11am, Holy Eucharist, Rite II
September 6 – 12pm, Coffee Hour
September 9 – 10am, Ecumenical Bible Study
September 11 – 7:30am, ECM at Hornes
This Sunday at St. Peter’s – Servers, Readings
10 months of the Village Harvest
For the 10th Village Harvest on Sept. 16, please bring to the church kleenix, toilet paper or paper towels. These items are often not covered by assistance so we can make up the difference. We need them by Sunday, Sept. 13. Thank you!
The Schedule returns to "normal" this week..
After a summer hiatus, Ecumenical Bible Study returns this Wed. Sept 9 at 10:00. Here’s a picture of Bible Study 14 years ago in 2001:
Christian Education offerings this fall
1. Older – Godly Play…continuing 10am on Sundays
Godly Play for preschool through grade 2 begins and is held each Sunday at 10am
From their website, "Children have an innate sense of the presence of God. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith through story, to gain religious language and to enhance their spiritual experience though wonder and play. Based on Montessori principles and developed using a spiral curriculum, the Godly Play method serves children through early, middle and late childhood and beyond."
Here is an interview with Jerome Berryman, the founder of Godly Play about it.
2. And new – "Weaving God’s Promises"… beginning Sept 13, 10am
This is for "graduates of Godly Play" but also welcomes teenagers and adults to participate at 10am each Sunday. The website is here .
The program is divided into ages 3-11 and then ages 12-14. Here is a youtube video for ages 12-14
The “Mission” of Weaving God’s Promises
1. To help children and youth experience how God’s promises of salvation are woven into our lives.
2. To show children and youth the way of Christ, not only in the church but also in the world as Christ’s ambassadors.
3. To give children and youth a solid grounding for future youth and high-school formation programs, which prepares them for Christian adulthood.
4. To foster the spiritual formation and growth of our children and youth in Christ’s love and mercy and to teach the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation.
The Three Years of Weaving God’s Promises
Year One: Weaving Our Faith
• The story of our salvation—from the fall of humankind to our redemption by Jesus Christ— and how we fit into this story.
• THEME: God loves us and stays with us—no matter what—to bring us back to God’s divine love.
• Focuses on the Gospel of Matthew, emphasizing the Kingdom of God and our Anglican tradition and faith.
Year Two: Weaving Together the Family of God
• How we became God’s people and part of the household of God, the Communion of Saints.
• THEME: Once we were no people, but now we are God’s people.
• Focuses on the Gospel of John, with stories of individuals’ encounters with Jesus and their transformation in his-love, and the saints of the church.
Year Three: Weaving God’s Beloved Community
• How we are called by God to live in loving community with one another and fulfill God’s promises for us in the healing of all creation.
• THEME: We are called by God to live as One Body in Christ, loving our neighbors as ourselves.
• Focuses on the Gospel of Luke, with emphasis on our holy calling to care for others and the gospel values of welcome, inclusion, compassion, mercy, forgiveness, justice, and liberation
We need help advertising our Sept. 15 Flamenco Concert!
How can you help ? By distributing our press release and posters
Here are links you can download, print and distribute to friends, families, businesses,etc
1. Press release – http://www.churchsp.org/flamenco/pressrelease.pdf
2. Full size poster – http://www.churchsp.org/flamenco/poster.pdf
3. Half size poster – http://www.churchsp.org/flamenco/halfsizeposter.pdf
A possible email script you can use with the attachments above:
Subject – "Local Caroline County church hosts flamenco concert, Sept 15"
Text – "St. Peter’s Episcopal, 823 Water Street Port Royal is announcing a special concert on Tuesday, Sept. 15 – an evening of flamenco music from Spain with guitarist Leah Kruszewski and dancer Yolit Yospe-Kachlon.The 7pm concert will be preceded by tapas on the front lawn of the church at 6pm. The concert is free with donations encouraged so that we can continue our annual concerts, this being the 3rd one. It is part of our outreach to the community and a unique opportunity to hear this music .
There is a press release and poster enclosed – please spread the word. Thank you for your help
“Shall We Gather at the River? "Gospel on the River" will take place Sept. 13, 4pm Gospel on the River is a wonderful way to welcome the fall, celebrate a bountiful harvest, remember old hymns and thank God for creation that is the Rappahannock River on a late Sunday afternoon.
A couple of changes this year. It will be at St. Peter’s and we are promoting this as a community, interdenominational event. Invite your friends, bring a beverage and some food and join us on the 13th for another chance to “gather at the river.”
Links
2014 Pictures 2014 Description
2013 Pictures 2013 Description
2012 Pictures 2012 Description
Restoring churches through the "Rebuild the Church Fund"
We covered it here on July 5 toward the end of the weekly email. "Rebuild the Churches Fund was established by Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral in St. Louis to collect donations from all over the world for the rebuilding of black churches that have recently burned. All contributions are tax deductible. Currently they have raised over $85,000!"
Fast forward to the beginning of September, they have raised over $612,000 which will go to 6 churches for rebuilding. This was well beyond their expectations!
Here is an article about their success. This echoes back to the Epistle last week – "Be do’ers of the Word"
You can still give until the end of Sept.
ChurchNext class – A Christian Response to Gun Violence Sept. 14-28
How are Christians to respond to the pervasive firearm violence that roils the United States? Episcopal bishops Eugene Sutton and Ian Douglas offer a challenging and inspiring response that can help Christians think through this difficult issue.
This is a 45 minute free class presented by ChurchNext and can be taken any time in the 2 week period – Sept 14-28. You don’t have to take the class in one sitting. The teachers are two Episcopal bishops – Bishop Eugene Sutton of Maryland and Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut
More information can be found here and also registration
Every 7-8 years, one million Americans are killed or injured by firearms in a country that has nearly more guns than people. There have been 14 mass shootings since 2009 and while 90% of Americans are in favor of gun control measures, state legislatures continue to make guns easier to acquire and carry.
These facts are of grave concern to many Christians, including Episcopal Bishops Eugene Sutton and Ian Douglas who believe Christians can do more. They are founding members of Bishops United Against Gun Violence and have spoken and written extensively on this subject.
In this class, the presenters offer four video presentations that are about 5 minutes in length:
- The Unholy Trinity with Eugene Sutton
- Violence and the Bible with Eugene Sutton
- A Theology for Challenging Gun Violence with Ian Douglas
- Christian Responsibility with Ian Douglas
A video preview is here
Open Unto Me
Lectionary, Sept. 6, 2015
I. Theme – God’s power to heal and restore
Healing the Blindman – El Greco (1570)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm – Psalm 146 Page 803, BCP
Epistle – James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17
Gospel – Mark 7:24-37
Today’s readings celebrate God’s power to heal and restore. Isaiah looks ahead to when God will bring healing to God’s people and to the land. Proverbs reminds us that God rewards just behavior. James speaks of God’s gift of inner, spiritual wholeness, a wholeness that results in outward acts of purity and kindness. In the gospel, away from the clamor of the crowd, Jesus transforms a man’s silent world by healing his deafness and a speech impediment as well as the Syrophoenician woman’s daughter.
There is a saying which Johnny quoted last Sunday, “God has no hands but our hands, no feet but our feet.” In the scriptures today, there is a theme of doing good—speaking out for the poor, standing up against injustice—in all of these things, we act out of faith, and we know that God is working through us. We can do nothing apart from God, and we know that God is present in us individually and collectively when we love others. And we cannot love others if we do not care for their needs, if we do not seek to end their oppression and stop injustice against them. We must live out the calling of God and allow God to work through us, and not be in it for our own gain.
If you have ever been ill, you know the relief that sweeps over you when you suddenly realize you are in competent hands. Although you may not verbalize it, there is an almost palpable sense that everything will be okay.
That experience, though incomplete, offers a slight parallel to how people must have felt in the presence of Jesus. Hearing that voice cry, “Ephphatha!” (Be Open) and feeling that touch on the ears must have brought an overwhelming joy. The restoration of sound must sing like a great gift.
The church’s healing ministry must take on global proportions, excluding nothing in our quest to be faithful to God’s vision of Shalom. Healing cuts across boundaries and takes many forms. We need to expand rather than contract our vision of healing to embrace the healing of the planet’s atmosphere, endangered species, economic injustice, ethnic exclusion, as well as the healing of bodies, emotions, and spirits. Healing is truly global and indivisible.
Healing in one place contributes to healing in other places. Any healing act contributes to the well-being of the part as well as the whole and reflects our commitment to be God’s global healing partners. We cannot separate injustice from physical distress or racism from infant mortality rates and accessibility to health care and healthy diet.
Our challenge is to recognize the deaf and voiceless among us–noting that difficulties in hearing and speech are not restricted to the physical sphere–then intervene with the healing presence of Christ acting through us.
Read more from the lectionary for Sept. 6
A look at the Gospel Story – The Syrophoenician Woman
From the book "Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" – French (15th century)
This is a Gospel story told in Matthew, Mark and Luke. This story appears in Mark sandwiched between the Feeding of the 5,000 (Jewish people) and the Feeding of the 4,000 (Gentiles). Before this passage Jesus is subverting the food laws. Declaring the food laws invalid removed one of the areas of contention in including Gentiles.
Jesus had moved to Tyre and wanted to remain unrecognized. He was undoubtedly tired and needed a rest. The last thing he needed was a diversion.
However, a woman who was not a Jew approached him, "bowed down at his feet" and said her daughter was tormented by a demon. This could be any number of illnesses. In the Matthew version the disciples advocated sending her away.
There a number of ancient taboos in this story which heightens the tension. What this woman does: coming to Jesus, perhaps touching him as she falls at his feet, speaking to him in public — were all taboos in the ancient society. Men didn’t speak to women in public, especially a jew and gentile.
Jesus told this Gentile woman that he was only sent to the lost sheep of Israel and that it wasn’t’ right to take children’s food and feed it to the dogs.
The woman responded that even the dogs under the table will eat the children’s crumbs. Basically she said "give them to me!" Jesus was moved by her faith and love and healed her daughter.
The story is somewhat unsettling as Jesus initial response to a request to a woman was at best harsh and worst a racial slur. It is unique in that it’s the only time in the Bible that Jesus changes his mind over his response.
Many writers focus on Jesus and his answer that seemed to call this woman a dog, an insult insinuating that she was unclean. Why ?
1. He was testing her faith. Thus the insults are not genuine. However, David Lose writes this weak to knock this interpretation. "The trouble with this interpretation is that a) nothing like it occurs anywhere else in the Gospel of Mark, b) there is no mention of testing in the story (as in Job, for instance), and c) it creates a rather cold-hearted picture of a God who taunts and tests us in our deepest moments of need.
2. He called her a dog. But is a better translation "puppy" ? The distinction is a wild dog vs. a household animal that is endearing. He’s being affectionate, not insolent. You know, like "sorry little puppy, but it’s just not your time yet."
3. Did he stage this as a scene to show the disciples a better way to treat foreigners ? This woman gets the message but the Pharisees and disciples have not. The Syrophoenician woman’s story emphasizes that the good news Jesus brings is plentiful enough for all. All can become beloved children.
4. David Henson in Patheos writes that Jesus response was somewhat natural considering his upbringing "As a good Jew, Jesus would have been reared to give thanks daily that he was born a Jew, not a Gentile, a man and not a woman. Jesus could not help but become entangled by such a sexist and racist snare." The story shows how easy for us to get caught with issues of racism and oppression.
5. David Lose’s answer- "Perhaps, just perhaps, Jesus had not yet realized the full extent of God’s mission or the radical nature of the kingdom he proclaimed. "Is this story a transition where Jesus’ mission is enlarged from just a Jewish perspective to a Gentile? Basically, it is the case of the woman teaching Jesus something he had not realized."
Lose goes further to ask us is there someone we are overlooking in our life of faith. "Who is a part of our fellowship but does not often participate, does not sit at the center, is not enfranchised but might have a great deal to teach us."
The real focus should be on the woman. She risked making a fool out of herself and insisted on help. She was risking all for others – her daughter. Lose writes. "And I think that’s often the case with faith. It shows itself most fully when exercised on behalf of others… we are not created to be isolated beings but rather find our true selves most deeply in community, in relationship, and when we are advocating for another. "
The upshot is an example of evangelism – she left paganism and idolatry and followed God. This becomes the setting for the Feeding of the 4,000 gentiles.
…and the Deaf Man
In this story he returns from Tyre and the Syrophoenician woman and went "towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis."
As taboos against racial, gender, and perhaps moral boundaries are exploded in the first story, prejudices against persons with handicaps are part of this story.
There are similarities with the Syrophoenician woman. Both healings take place in private. In the case of the Syrophoenician woman, the conversation takes place in a house and the healing is achieved from a distance. The deaf man is taken to a private location, away from the crowd, and is urged to keep silent about what has happened.
Both of these passages seem to reference Mark’s “messianic secret,” Jesus’s urging that his true identity be kept quiet.
There are differences. Unlike the Gentile woman whose daughter is healed "for saying that," this man is brought to Jesus by others and Jesus must work hard – do all the work – to accomplish his healing. The Syrophoenician confronts Jesus herself.
In contrast to the preceding story, where Jesus heals from a distance by announcing the exorcism of the demon, this healing required touch and spit and a command.
The results however are immediately obvious to the public, who are suitably awed. In this way, Jesus accomplishes two good things: the healing, and increased public honor.
To the modern ear the linkage of the man’s deafness and a speech impediment is redundant. We all know that if your cannot hear properly, or at all, there is no way you could learn to pronounce and sound words correctly. In Jesus day the causal link was not that clear.
Jesus touched the man in two places: on his ears and his tongue. That is, Jesus touched the man’s hearing and talking. It is as if Jesus’ healings had symbolic overtones e.g. he wanted to heal the man’s physical and spiritual hearing and the man’s physical and spiritual talking. “The healed man began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and all men marveled.” This is similar to Luke 8:39 has Jesus telling the healed man to “return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.”
These stories can be seen as instruction for the disciples. Here Jesus heals with spittle. He will do so again in 8:22-26, healing a blind man. The two stories are thus linked. The blind see; the deaf and dumb hear and speak. They are also images used by Mark to address spiritual deafness and blindness. In the passage we referred to in the introduction, 8:14-21, Jesus challenges the disciples because they fail to see and hear (8:16-18), just as in 4:10-12 outsiders failed to see and hear. Mark places these stories strategically so that they show up the disciples’ failure to understand.
We should note that Jesus comes back to his own people. He returned from Tyre. It is his own people who are to be healed to hear.
There are a little details that spotlight Mark. Mark can be terse and brief but he can also make you feel that you are brought into the story. Using the simple remark "He sighed" we feel like we are reading a first hand account. This healing also involves Jesus’ identification with the suffering and distress of this man.
What’s the point of these stories for us ?
1. Be inclusive – be it Jew or Gentile Jesus is there for them. Jesus used the word "Ephphatha", that is, "Be opened". We need to be opened to people for all races and creeds and all types of physical conditions.
2. We need the same miracle as the deaf man – heal our hearing and talking. We need to listen more to others, understand more, hear what they are really sayng and think before we respond. How can we say it better rather than insult the other person, escalating tensions ?
3. Proclaim the Good news. The deaf man is brought to Jesus. In this same way we need to bring more people to worship
4. Don’t use your gifts over other people to take advantage of them. Jesus has tremendous power. He does not use that power over them.
5. There are stewardship overtones. What we do with what we have been given, is our response to God, rather than our duty — e.g., honoring God with not only our lips, but also our hearts and entire lives (Mark 7:6-7). Even more important than managing our money, biblical stewardship is about managing "the manifold grace of God" (1 Pet 4:10) or "God’s mysteries" (1 Cor 4:1).
6. Geographically Jesus travels a circular route. We need to also. One writer notes how Jesus "travels widely" in Gentile territory. "Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis." This was a circuitous route. Gentiles are no longer people to be avoided. We shouldn’t avoid those who could use our gifts and talents.
7. These passages ring with the echo of Isaiah’s promise: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped….” Isaiah 35:5-6. In one sense, it’s the deaf man’s ears that are opened. In other sense, it’s the Gentile woman who is opened to the ministry of Jesus. Viewed in another light, it’s about Jesus being open to the pain of the world- all of the world and not just that experienced by the Jews.