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2. Contact the Rev Catherine Hicks, Rector 5. Latest Newsletter-the Parish Post (May, 2018) 6. Calendar 8. What’s new on the website 10. Latest Day of Pentecost Bulletin (May 20, 2018 11:00am), and Sermon (May 13, 2018) |
Block Print by Mike Newman
Projects
| White | Gold | Easter | Apr 1-22 |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | Apr 23-May 24 |
| White | Gold | Ascension Day | May 10-12 [Sun May 13] |
| White | Gold | Eastertide | May 13-May 19 |
| Red | Pentecost Sunday | May 20-26 | |
| White | Gold | Trinity Sunday | Jun 27-Jun 2 |
3-Minute Retreats invite you to take a short prayer break right at your computer. Spend some quiet time reflecting on a Scripture passage.
Knowing that not everyone prays at the same pace, you have control over the pace of the retreat. After each screen, a Continue button will appear. Click it when you are ready to move on. If you are new to online prayer, the basic timing of the screens will guide you through the experience.
Daily meditations in words and music.
Your daily prayer online, since 1999
"We invite you to make a ‘Sacred Space’ in your day, praying here and now, as you visit our website, with the help of scripture chosen every day and on-screen guidance."
Saints of the Week, May 13 – May 20
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13
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[Frances Perkins, Public Servant and Prophetic Witness, 1965] |
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14
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15
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[Junia and Andronicus] |
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16
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[Martyrs of Sudan] |
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17
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[William Hobart Hare, Bishop of Niobrara, and of South Dakota, 1909] [Thurgood Marshall, Lawyer and Jurist, 1993] |
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18
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19
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Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 988 |
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20
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Alcuin, Deacon, and Abbot of Tours, 804 |
May 13, 2018 Easter 7, Ascension
See the rest of the pictures and description for May 13
The food distribution was lower than other months. We served 112 people compared to 153 in April. The rainy weather which continued for most of the week may have had an effect. For the first 5 months in 2018, we have served 501 people compared to 569 in 2017 and 452 for the comparable period in 2016. We are thus down about 12% so far in 2018 from 2017.
The Week Ahead…
May 15 – Anniversary of St. Peter’s Consecration
May 16 – 10:00am, Ecumenical Bible Study
May 20 – 9:45am, Prayer Walk
May 20- 10:00am, Children with Becky
May 20- 11:00am, Pentecost, Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, May 20 Readings and Servers
The 2018 prayer walk text is here
It is appropriate event for Pentecost
Pentecost is a time of renewal for Christian believers and nature is a perfect place for us to be. Through studying the story of Pentecost, many seek and pray for spiritual gifts for the church during this time of holy celebration. There is a renewed focus on evangelism, empowerment from the Holy Spirit, deeper intimacy with God, and fellowship. For Christians, the celebration of Pentecost imparts faith, hope, a sharing of community, and an awareness of a purpose much greater than ourselves. We are sent out in mission with a new energy.
This is a successor to the 2017 walk which we did with Bishop Shannon. Last year we prayed with the Baptists, fishermen and other towns people. Above all we celebrated the beauty that we found.
UTO Spring Ingathering, May 13- June 3, 2018
The mission of the United Thank Offering is to expand the circle of thankful people.
Over 125 years ago, the United Thank Offering was founded as a women’s ministry to help individuals pay more attention to the spiritual blessings in their lives by making small thank offerings to support innovative ministries in the Church for which the church budget had not yet expanded to fund.
The offering raises over $3 million. Where does the money go? Every penny goes to grants that focus on meeting compelling human needs and to expand the mission and ministry of the church at home and throughout the world.
Young Adult grants were offered for 2018. In Virginia, New Church Community at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church Diocese of Virginia won $2,500 Coming out of a summer of tumult and resistance in Charlottesville, many people in separate corners of the community have begun longing for a worshiping community that gives strength for the journey as activists of faith. The Charis Community hopes to answer that longing by starting a weekly worship service at an underused chapel.
Thoughts for your UTO Blue Box:
Give thanks this day for your own health. Drop a coin in your Blue Box as you give thanks and pray for the continued health and improved health of those you love.
Give thanks this day for friendship with others. Drop a coin in your Blue Box as you give thanks and pray for your friendship with others.
Give thanks this day for the UTO’s work with mission by contributing to their work. Check out the following grants that have been supported by the UTO.
Get a box May 13 or after, write a check to “St. Peter’s- UTO” and continue the work of this vital ministry. We accept them until June 3
May 15, 2018 – 182 years and still going strong
Revisit our 175th anniversary celebration`
Pentecost, May 20, 2018
What is Pentecost?
Pentecost literally means “fiftieth day.” As a religious celebration, it first delineated the fifty days after Passover with a harvest festival. It was also a celebration of the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, still celebrated in the Jewish tradition as Shavuot.
In the Christian tradition, Pentecost marks the end of the 50 Days of Easter. In Acts 2, the apostles and friends are gathered together in Jerusalem. Suddenly there is a great rushing of wind, and tongues of fire rest on each of the apostles. They begin to speak in different languages, and the crowds around them, Jews from across the diaspora, having come to Jerusalem for the Festival of Weeks, understand them, although some disparaged them as drunks. It was at this moment that Peter stood up and preached, revealing the will of God in Jesus Christ, as prophesied by Joel, and affirming a continual outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon repentance and baptism.
Why does Pentecost Matter?
There are at least three reasons to start with:
1. It marks the birthday of the church. Pentecost was a turning point. Before the rushing wind, the flames, and the speaking in tongues, the apostles were a group of followers who listened to Jesus and assisted as he helped those who came to him for healing and grace. Without Jesus, they were aimless and confused. After the Holy Spirit enters that room, after Peter preaches repentance and baptism, they no longer look inward. The end of Acts 2 records that they devoted themselves to the teaching and to fellowship, they performed wonders and signs, they gave to others in need…and the Lord added to their number daily those who were saved.
The Holy Spirit gave the disciples direction and power to form the Christian community, which would become “the church.” So, Pentecost is a birthday, and some churches today celebrate with cake!
2. Pentecost completes the Trinity. Christian theology is grounded in a doctrine of three in one, and Christians often pray in the “name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Pentecost was the first and definitive moment in which we can say that the Father sent the Holy Spirit to make the Son present. No Pentecost, no Trinity.
3. Jesus kept his promise. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus told his followers, “I will be with you always, even until the end of the age.” He promptly ascended and was seen no more. What gives? Well, in John 15:26 he says, “I will send you the Advocate-the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me” (NLT). The point is: Jesus is present through the Holy Spirit. Pentecost marks the fulfillment of Christ’s promised presence.
from buildfaith.org
Pentecost – The quick version
Click here or on the picture above
Pentecost, an ancient festival 
Pentecost was the second of the three great annual festivals of Israel, the others being Passover and the feast of Tabernacles. The festival was often called the feast of Weeks because it took place seven complete weeks, or 50 days, after the Passover. Jews from all over the world came to Jerusalem for this festival, more than for any other. The day was one of solemn convocation when no work was to be done. The people offered the first loaves of fine flour made from the just harvested late grain crops. Other sacrifices were offered in the temple and a meal was prepared with freewill offerings from the people. To this meal the widows, orphans, the poor and the stranger were invited.
By the early New Testament period, it had gradually lost its association with agriculture and became associated with the celebration of God’s creation of His people and their religious history. By the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, the festival focused exclusively on God’s gracious gift of Torah (the "Law") on Mount Sinai. It continues to be celebrated in this manner in modern Judaism.
On this festive day, in the year of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit was bestowed upon the apostles. In Acts, Luke describes the sound of a mighty rushing wind and the sight of tongues of flame resting on the head of each apostle. What a transformation took place in these men and women! They were truly “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:29). Out into the crowd they went, boldly proclaiming the “mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11). One of the gifts of the Spirit— the gift of tongues—enabled the polyglot crowd to hear the apostles speaking, each in his or her own language.
Lectionary, May 20, Pentecost
I. Theme – The coming of the Holy Spirit
Window from St Aloysius’ church in Somers Town, London
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
First Reading – Acts 2:1-21
Old Testament – Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm – Psalm 104:25-35, 37 Page 736, BCP
Epistle –Romans 8:22-27
Gospel – John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
Pentecost is a milestone in the story of salvation. It was on that day that the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the believers in an upper room in Jerusalem as they awaited the baptism Jesus told them they would receive. Jesus had promised this event just before He ascended into heaven.
"And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
The symbol of fire is important for Pentecost.Fire has long represented God and the presence of his Holy Spirit. Fire consumes but is its own energy force. hat energy is around action and for the church, mission. Acts is about mission, about speaking, proclaiming, the good news to people everywhere, in languages (and language) they can understand. This is the day in which the mission of the church was given birth.
Commentary by Rev. Mindi
The familiar passage of Ezekiel prophesying to the dry bones reminds us that breath, wind and Spirit are all connected. They are the same words in Hebrew, the same words in Greek. The wind from God comes over the waters and breathes life into creation. The breath of God breathes into the human being and the human being becomes alive in Genesis 2. And the Spirit gives new life, eternal life, beginning in Ezekiel and echoed in John 20 and Acts 2 and elsewhere in Scripture. The celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit is the recognition that the breath that gives us life also gives us eternal life, for breath, wind, and Spirit are from God. Ezekiel is given a task that seems impossible, but God is showing Ezekiel that even out of death new life can rise through the power of the Spirit.
The Psalm is a hymn of praise, offered in the course of Temple worship, probably at the Autumnal harvest festival, given its theme of creation. It is a poem praising God and celebrating the order, the balance and majesty of creation reflecting upon God’s mighty power. Psalm 104 speaks to the breath of creation and God’s wondrous work of breathing life into the world and all of creation. Not only do all things live and die, but God renews the face of the ground (vs. 30), breathing new life into the earth. We see this in the turning of the seasons year after year, but we also see this work in the re-creation after disaster. We see the waves reshape the beach after a hurricane; we see the forests regrow after fires and volcanic eruptions–life returns, new life is begun.
Acts 2:1-21 is the familiar Pentecost story by the author of Luke, where the disciples are gathered in Jerusalem, and the wind from God blows through the house they are gathered in. We all know the story. We use the color red to represent fire, the image of flames above their heads. But we really don’t know what the heck happened there. Why this happened in this place, at the spring harvest festival? What we do know is that this story opens the door for ministry outside of the disciples own people–God’s message is for all. And the vision of Joel is renewed–all people, young and old, slave or free, male or female–and as Paul will add, Jew or Gentile–have the opportunity to be filled with God’s spirit and participate in God’s reign and vision for new life.
Romans 8:22-27 reminds us that the Spirit helps us in the waiting time. Through our Lectionary cycle we relive the history of faith, and as we go into the season after Pentecost, we are in a great period of waiting. There are no more major church holidays until Advent. We have a long time of waiting, and in our lives and in the world, we are still waiting for Christ to return, for Christ to enter our lives in a new way. Through the presence of the Spirit–through the witness of God’s love by our love for one another, our work for God’s justice, and our work for peace–we live into God’s hope through the power of the Spirit. The Spirit helps us in this time of waiting, and continues to remind us God is not through with us, or the world, yet. God is continuing to do something new
John 15:26-16:15 explains the writer of John’s view that the Spirit’s work is not only to bring eternal life, but a newness of life now. We are called to testify to the light, as John shares in chapter 1, and our lives are to be that testimony, that living witness. How we live our lives shows whether we live with the Spirit within us. We are called to love one another, as Christ first loved us, and the witness of this love is our lives, which is full of the Spirit. If we do not love one another, we do not love God, and we do not live with the Spirit in our lives.
Read more about the lectionary…
Coming up next week…
