Reading the Bible in a year!
Resources
Block Print by Mike Newman
Continuing Projects
Don’t see your pet ? Upload a picture
2. Prayer requests – Add a name to the prayer list here.
3. St. Peter’s Directory
We are trying to complete the picture taking in February Sundays, Feb. 10 and 18, after Church for the 2013 Directory. You can "schedule yourself" by just appearing on the second floor of the Parish House in Catherine’s study for the photo.
3.What is this Epiphany thing all about ? Here is an explanation.
4 Epiphany , February 3, 2013
Christ centered, Biblically based, spirit filled and a place of simple hospitality, we have shared our communal life with our church,our community, and those in need. Your presence enriches us.
Feb. 10 -9:45am – "Emergence Christianity" in Adult Education
Feb. 10 -11:00am- Holy Eucharist Rite II
World Mission Sunday, Feb. 10
The last Sunday in Epiphany is recognized each year by the Episcopal Church as World Mission Sunday
From a sermon by the Rev David Copley, the Episcopal Church’s officer for Mission Personnel and team leader for the Global Partnerships Office,
“The word ‘mission’ comes from the Latin verb mittere ‘to be sent out’; mission is about being sent out. But what are we being sent out to do, and where are we expected to go? The mission that we are all called into as Christians is the mission of God. This mission is most succinctly articulated in our Baptismal Covenant and in particular the last two questions of the covenant:
“‘Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?’ “‘Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?’ “To which we declare, ‘I will, with God’s help.’
"…Whether we are helping in a food pantry in our local community, participating in mission trips across the world, or living amongst another culture for many years, it is the love for the other that is at the very core of mission. "
Copley concludes by explaining the call of mission "We are called to share the physical gifts that we have with others, and the disparity of wealth in this country and around the world is a tragedy that we should be addressing unceasingly. " We are interconnected through the love of God. "But when we sense a connection, when we realize that the person who is suffering is part of who we are, flesh of our own flesh, bone of our own bone, then the visceral desire to respond is much greater."
We can express this call through the mission of Larry Duffee in South Sudan just below
Larry Duffee – Why "Tools for the Sudan" is important !
Larry has offered to write this week why this project is important – an exclusive for Region One.
" The genesis of the project was the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people from Sudan to South Sudan around the time of the referendum and independence in 2011. An estimated one and a half-million people with historic familial ties to the South were living in Sudan. Most had moved there during the decades of war to escape the violence in the South. Some people were second and third generation living in the north. But the government of Sudan promised to revoke all the rights of citizenship of southerners living in the north after independence and so most people who could return south did so.
"The people who returned to the South were often simply dumped on vacant ground with all of their belongings and told to make a new life. In Unity State, one of the states of South Sudan, over seventy-thousand returnees arrived in the early months of 2011. Most were resettled where possible near to where their families came from originally. But these were people who had lived mainly in and around Khartoum, a huge metropolitan city. The returnees were now expected to make their own shelter and grow their own food. Imagine being ripped from your life, transported hundreds of miles away to a strange country and told you were now responsible for your own survival!
- The overall project is described here.
- You can donate funds to help new refugees coming into Sudan through this shopping cart. Print it out and send your card and check to the address listed.
- OR you can pay online saving printing and a stamp.
Either way we thank you for your gift of a new beginning for those coming to our newest world country.
Lent Begins Feb. 13
Lent is a 40 day Christian festival beginning Ash Wednesday and concluding on Easter (Sundays are not counted). The word "Lent" comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word lengten, which means "springtime," named so for the time of the year in which it occurs. What we now call Lent was originally a period of fasting and study for catechumens who were to be baptized on the Saturday before Easter. The 40 day fast was said by Athanasius in 339 AD to be celebrated the world over. The 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness was responsible for the number 40 being chosen.The purpose of this extended fast was to practice self-denial and humility. This was to prepare oneself for receiving God’s grace and forgiveness in baptism, given on Easter Saturday or Easter Sunday.
We have a dedicated Lenten part of the website – Lent at St. Peter’s 2013 which has the events listed. Highlights include:
- Introduction to Lent
- Our own Lenten Calendar
- Pre-Lent festival – Shrove Tuesday, Feb 12 – 5:30pm-7pm
- Ash Wednesday– Feb 13, 7pm
- From Repentance to Hope: A Service of Remembrance, Celebration and Witness – Service at St. George’s Feb 16, 10am St. George’s
- Christian Ed on Forgiveness – 9:45 Sundays, beginning Feb 17
- Lent 1 – Great Litany 11am, Feb. 17
- Feasting with Jesus – Food of the early Christians, Thursday nights beginning Feb 21, 6pm for the next 5 weeks
- Lenten Quiet Day , ECW at Roslyn March 21
- Holy Week, March 25-30
If this is not enough, we have other links to various Lenten resources
Box Tops for Education, fundraiser for local schools
This is a project of the children of the church.Take one of the colorful collection cans from back of church and fill them up with box tops from participating products. By the end of February, bring them back to the church and give them to Tierra.
Here is a list of participating products.
Box Tops for Education has helped America’s schools earn over $475 million since 1996. You can earn cash for your child’s school by clipping Box Tops coupons from hundreds of participating products. Box Tops also offers easy ways to earn even more cash for your school online.
Here is a video introduction
Emergence Christianity in Adult Ed, features Spiritual Practices on Feb. 10, 9:45am
We conclude our study of Emergence Christianity with a study of spiritual practices. Each of the preceding 3 authors covered – Phyllis Tickle, Diana Butler Bass and Brian McLaren place emphasis on them. Tickle and McLaren have written books on them. In essence, we have been taught doctrine and theology but have missed practice. What do we mean ? A good working definition of spiritual disciplines are those activities that we do that help us practice God’s presence and built relationships. Paul, in his letter to the Christians at Colossae wrote: “And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Colossians 3:17).
This class will present examples of a number of them, appropriate since Lent is coming up that places emphasis on practice. They include the Seven Ancient Practices, Centering Prayer, Benedictine Spirituality, Prayer Beeds, and the Daily Office. Some are not learned over night as you might consider them crafts. As Diana Butler Bass writes "Practices weave together a way of life, they shape character, create connections between people, order our choices, to encounter God and deepen our wisdom about living in the world… By practicing Jesus’s teaching, followers of the way discovered that their lives were made better on a practical spiritual path. Indeed, early Christianity was not called "Christianity" at all. Rather, it was called "the Way," and its followers were called "the People of the Way."
- Here is one of the developers of Centering Prayer, Thomas Keating providing an an 8 minute introduction.
- Notes from the earlier sessions are here – including the introduction, Tickle, Bass and McLaren
Region One Meeting, Feb 6, 2013, 7pm
Region One kicks off the program year this week at Christ Church. (Light supper 6:30pm, Meeting 7:00pm ).
Our goal will be to organize programs and events for the year.
We try to align ourselves Bishop Shannon’s 5 priorities of mission and ministry:
- Youth and Young Adult Formation
- Strengthening Our Congregations
- Evangelism & Proclamation
- Multiculturalism and Ethnic Ministries
- Mission Beyond Ourselves
We also speak to the needs of the 19 churches under Region One and highlight the ministries within the churches. This meeting, a week before Lent, we will talk about spiritual practice which would come under "strenthening our congregations." We will have the Rev. Thomas Hughes at St. George’s who has led numerous spiritual retreats and has a degree in centering prayer. Catherine will be with us to talk about her specialty – spiritual direction.
The content of future meeting meetings has yet to be decided but hopefully we will look at mission work within the churches, a look at congregational development and understanding the Diocese’s plans to renovate Shrine Mont.
We also want to plan at least one outing with the churches of the region.
Bill Wick is St. Peter’s representatives but anyone is free to attend the meetings. Remember Region One is the meeting place of the Diocese and the 19 churches.