Frontpage, June 2, 2019

June 2, 2019 – Seventh Sunday of Easter

Caption for the photo – Anticipating Pot luck luncheon, Communion with church magnolia, Day lilies from the banks of the river, children helping distribute UTO boxes, The Peace

Pictures and text from this Sunday, June 2, 2019

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The Week Ahead…

June 2 – UTO Spring ingathering begins (until June 16)

June 5 – 10:00am-12pm – Ecumenical Bible Study

June 7 – 11:am – 12pm -“Thy Kingdom Come” – Tea, Prayer and Harp at Cookie’s home

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June 9 – 10am – Children’s Education Living the Good News

June 9 – 10am – Creating a Scene in Corinth

June 9 – 11:00am – Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Pentecost

June 9 – 12pm – Cake in celebration of Pentecost

Sunday, June 9, Day of Pentecost Readings and Servers

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Thy Kingdom Come – Prayer, Harp and Tea, June 7

Thy Kingdom Come began as an invitation from the Most Rev. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to the Church of England in 2016. It has since become global and ecumenical; last year, Christians from 65 denominations in 114 countries prayed together for the whole world to come to know Jesus Christ. This year it starts on May 30 and lasts until Pentecost, June 9.

You can sign up for the daily messages here. Here is their video page which has the videos released.

Host a prayer service at your house or the Parish House during the Thy Kingdom Come We have one scheduled for Friday July 7. A Cup of Tea and an Hour of Prayer with Cookie and Catherine,11Am until noon. Marilyn Newman will lead us in a prayerful meditation accompanied by harp music. Come to Cookie’s house (8123 Camden Rd) and we’ll spend an hour praying together during this Thy Kingdom Come season.

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UTO Spring Ingathering, June 2-16, Give Generously

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 United Thank Offering (UTO) Ingathering is set to award $1,535,740.55 in 2019, thanks to increased giving by people from across the church in 2018. UTO funds are granted on an annual basis to support mission across The Episcopal Church and throughout the Anglican Communion. The UTO 2018 Ingathering reflects an increase in giving of $15,495.15 over the 2017 thank offerings. Fifty-three Episcopal dioceses increased their giving.

There were two grants in Va.

1. $2,500 -New Church Community at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
2. $30,000 – Charis Hospitality Expansion Project: Charis is an intentional community of young adults living at McIlhany Parish, seeking to follow Jesus through prayer and social action. Our church is intending to declare public sanctuary for people facing deportation, and this grant would allow us to add three bedrooms, a bathroom, and make our home more hospitable to welcoming the stranger.

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.  

Bring your boxes back by June 16 , write a check to “St. Peter’s- UTO” and continue the work of this vital ministry.

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Take the Ladies Night Out survey so the ECM can determine the best date to help them schedule the evening at the Riverside Theatre.

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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

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Pentecost – The quick version

Click here or on the picture above

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Lectionary, June 9, 2016

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 – Genesis 11:1-9
Psalm – Psalm 104:25-35, 37 Page 736, BCP
Epistle –Romans 8:14-17
Gospel – John 14:8-17 (25-27) 

Pentecost is the Greek name for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, celebrated fifty days after Passover.  The literal meaning of Pentecost is “50 days”; it is now fifty days since Easter. The first fruits of the wheat harvest were presented, and the covenant with God was remembered and renewed.

Pentecost power and possibility pulsate through today’s readings on the Holy Spirit. 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. That 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. 

The alternate reading form Genesis tells the story of God’s confusing the languages and scattering those building the tower of Babel.

The second reading describes how the Spirit works uniquely in each of us as children of God in the Body of Christ. Paul recognized the Spirit in the diverse gifts, ministries and members of the Corinthian community. The same Spirit nourishes, prods and emerges in multiple ways. In the realm of human activity, the transforming Spirit moves through the discovery of each other, the strength of fidelity, the give and take of loving relationships, the insight of artistic and scientific creation, the stubborn hope, or in its absence, “the sheer grit to go on.”  

The Gospel reveals the intimate connection between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 

There is a need for an educator, a helper, teacher who remains constantly with those who would follow Jesus.Thus Jesus introduces the Advocate, the Spirit. We do not have to fear, because we know God is present with us, always. That is the entity that will remain and continue to instruct the disciples and the followers to come.It is then that Jesus can offer a sense of Peace or satisfaction.Troubled hearts, and fear will be taken away by the gentle comforts of the Spirit. God’s gift of the Holy Spirit is for the final transformation of our world.

For us we recognize that creation is not a one-time event, but an ongoing activity. God’s energizing power is evident here: vivifying, knitting together, upholding and transforming all life.

God has entered our lives in a new way, but yet it is an old, old story. The wind from God swept over the waters in the very beginning of time, in our own Creation story in Genesis 1. But this wind from God—the Spirit (and the word Spirit, wind and breath is the same in Hebrew, ruach, and in Greek, pneuma) continues to move among us and the world and do new things. We are called to break down the dividing walls and to build up one another in Christ. We are called to turn away from the things that separate us from one another and turn instead to the love of God, who calls us to share this love with our brothers and sisters in the world. And God is continuing to do a new thing in us, if we are open to receive and recognize the Spirit’s movement among us.

Read more from the lectionary 

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