February 15, The Last Sunday after Epiphany

Music with the Angels : 

Saturday, February 14, 4 p.m. -- Sweet Love Doth Now Invite. 

For Valentine’s Day, enjoy this love-themed program exploring the pleasures and hardships of love with the Gifts from Oversea duo (Katina Mitchell, soprano, and Ines Thomé, guitar).

 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd

Sunday February 15 10:00 a.m.

The Level 1 and Level 2 Atriums will be open. 

The Level 3 Atrium will be closed as Tracy is traveling to Texas to visit her ailing mother.

 Catechesis of the Good Shepherd:  “Level 4”

Actually there is no such thing.  However we have young people “aging out” of Level 3 which is for ages 9-12.  So we are beginning a program for them.  Fr. Bob will meet with these young people to continue their Christian formation.  Last week he met with two, Oliver Riker and Adam Woolery.  From that he’s formulated a way to proceed as follows:

 I met with Adam Woolery and Oliver Riker on Sunday for our first get together between the services.  It was a nice chance to get acquainted with them and we had a good discussion. 

 From that experience I have formulated a tentative way to proceed.   I'd like to begin with a key to understanding what is happening in church.  It will be from the idea of a story expanding outward in concentric circles from The Mystery of Faith as in "Let us Proclaim the Mystery of Faith:  Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again, to the Eucharistic Prayer, to the Creed, to the Church Year, to the Bible.  My goal is to give them a framework that will help them remember and understand what they've been given and deepen their connection to it.   

 From there, I'd like to begin working on Bible Content, that is all the stories that make up our literary as well as religious tradition.  I see us using a simplified Bible to get the overview, and then the real one to fill in the details.   

 So, I'm happy to meet with everyone between the services, in the 9-10 a.m. slot.   I understand the issues of schedules and activities etc.  That is not a problem.  I think it is possible to be adaptable.  And it's going to go on for quite awhile so there is always time to pick up what might have been missed. 

 Emmaus Road

Monday, February 16, 7:00 p.m.

Emmaus Road continues reading Thomas Cahill’s Heretics and Heroes.  Below is a description of the book.  For Monday we’ll be reading Chapters 3& 4.

 Shrove Tuesday:  February 17, 6:00 p.m.

Once again we will have our Shrove Tuesday Dinner and we hope everyone will participate. 

 All Catholic and some Protestant countries traditionally call the day before Ash Wednesday Fat Tuesday. The name predated the Reformation and referred to the common Christian tradition of eating special rich foods before the fasting season of Lent.

 Most Christian countries observing Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday celebrated with some form of local pancake or flatbread, made from the remaining lard, oil, butter, eggs, flour, corn meal, oats and sugar.

 Shrove Tuesday at Church of the Angels is a fun, fellowship filled event before we start the Lenten Season. In the spirit of Southern California, Chris Ortiz and Kathy Brumm will be coordinating Church of the Angels’ Mexican Pancake Shrove Tuesday. Chris Ortiz will provide a demonstration on how to make the ultimate Mexican pancake, a yummy, topping-filled tostada!

 Please join us for the fun and festivity before we start our Lenten observations!

 The sign up sheet for Shrove Tuesday will be outside Church on Sunday.

Ash Wednesday

February 18, 2015

Ash Wednesday Liturgy:  7:00 p.m.

Ash Wednesday is one of the most solemn and significant events of the Church Year.  It marks the beginning of Lent which is the period of preparation for Easter.  The Preface for  the Eucharistic Prayer in Lent puts it this way: 

 You bid your faithful people cleanse their hearts and prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast, that fervent in prayers and in works of mercy, and renewed by your Word and Sacraments, they may come to the fullness of grace, which you have prepared for those who truly love you. 

 There is a lot here.  The word “cleanse,” is also used in St. John’s Gospel in Jesus’ discourse on the True Vine where it means “pruning”  “Every branch that does not bear fruit he cleanses, or prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”  So you have the idea of getting rid of things that get in the way of our flourishing, or, “The glory of God is Man and Woman fully alive.”  It is not a pleasant experience, particularly when the cleansing involves things deeply rooted and long standing.  “Prepare with joy for the Paschal Feast,”  that is get ready and anticipate and begin to live from the joy that comes to us at Easter.  We’re getting ready for something wonderful, the most wonderful thing there is.  “Fervent in Prayer and in Works of Mercy,” tells us that Lent is not just about “giving things up,” it’s about taking things on, good things like expressions of love for God in prayer, and love for one another in actions that are kind and compassionate.  “Renewed by Word and Sacraments,”  that is what they are for, and Lent is a time to focus deeply on that and receive all they offer.  Finally, the “Fullness of Grace,” which is we are made ready to share fully all God wishes to bestow, which is his whole self to us. 

 Lent is not an easy season.  We ponder what it is about us that makes it necessary for Jesus to lose his life and to lose it in the way he does.  It’s not so much about listing our faults as acknowledging our afflictions, those we endure and those we perpetrate in what one writer has called, “the hell of self knowledge.  We can do that and believe it or not do it with joy because the Good News is that words of the imposition of ashes, Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return, are not the last word, but only the first and that Ash Wednesday leads us to Easter and our sharing in Christ’s Risen Life. 

 A report from the Outreach Committee on Global Hands of Hope, Uganda

The Outreach Committee extends a special thanks to everyone who offered to sponsor a child at Suubi Children Centre in Bukeka, Uganda.  Your sponsorship makes a tremendous difference in the lives of the children at the school.

As of last Saturday, some sponsorships have been pledged but not received.  We estimate that 12 people have offered to sponsor a child, but some of the forms have not been turned in.  If the form got buried on your desk, we understand. Here are some options:

• ·        Please dig it out and mail the bottom portion with your check to:1210 Hillcrest, Normal, IL 61761

Let Tracy know you’ve done this by emailing her at aj575@lafn.org

• ·       
• ·       

We think that we need eight more sponsors.  Your sponsorship and letters help the children know that someone across the ocean cares for them and is praying for them.  You will also receive a letter from your child. It is a wonderful way to make a huge difference in the life of a child.

Update from Suubi: School started this past week.  The picture below shows a boy at the health center having jiggers removed at Suubi Medical Clinic. Jiggers are a nasty bug that burrow into your skin and just keep burrowing deeper. They are painful and sometimes quite dangerous, depending on where they burrow. All of the children at Suubi Children's Centre are screened and treated at the beginning of each term for this health issue as well as other common problems like malaria and worms.

  Children showed up for school on Monday needing new shoes.  Thanks to the generosity of donors, each student receives a uniform and a new pair of shoes each school year. (Shoes cost $20 a pair.)

 The Suubi staff says: This Monday we got very busy giving all the kiddos at Suubi Children Center a step ahead! To the rest of the world, the perfect pair of shoes completes the outfit. In Bukeka in Uganda, the perfect pair of shoes can be a matter of life and death!Thank you for joining us to put SMILES on their faces!!!!!

And here are those very children in front of Suubi School.  We hope that their smiling faces will bring a smile to your face today!

 For more information you can talk to Kelly Russell at church or contact Tracy Gaestel at aj575@lafn.org

Building and Grounds

We are beginning a project to paint the exteriors of the Parish Hall, the Church, and the Rectory.  We haven’t done this in a while and we want to get to it before the existing paint deteriorate to the extent that it makes it more difficult to do.   The Church will be a particular challenge as the slate roof goes right up to the dormers over the front entrance.  It is not possible to stand on the slate without breaking it.  So there will need to be some scaffolding, or a cherry picker.  Another challenge will be the woodwork at the top of the tower.  It’s not something we can easily see, but we have the same problem with the slate roof.  It’s why we haven’t painted these areas since the centennial.   Also included in the project are painting the walls and trim inside the Parish Hall, and some interior areas of the Rectory. 

 Coffee Hour Sign Up March and April

It is time to sign up for bringing treats and hosting the coffee hour after both the 7:45 and 10:15 liturgies.  It is really not difficult.  Fr. Bob sets up the tables and makes the coffee before the 7:45 service.  All the hosts need to do is bring some snacks and to help take down the arrangement after the 10:15 liturgy.   All Sundays for March and April are open.  You can sign up at Church, or email in your sign up. 

 Food For Thought

On the Food For Thought Table This Sunday an article from current New York Review of Books,  Who is the Pope?  This article, written by Eamon Duffy, an author of several books on Church history, reviews three books: The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope,  A Big Heart Open to God:  A Conversation with Pope Francis,  and Pope Francis: Untying the Knots.  The article gives an overview of Pope Francis, his background, life experience, and where the Church may be heading under his leadership.  It is a well balanced article and very interesting..

 Food For Thought:  Reprise

 People grabbed on to last week’s articles so we pretty well ran out before the 10:15 Liturgy.  More copies will be available Sunday for those who missed.   Below are the articles and descriptions.

 1.  From The New York Times: Building Better Secularists.  This is an article by columnist David Brooks reflecting on the rising number of people who are simply a-religious or secular.  What are their concerns, values, sense of meaning?   They are very nice people, but as Brooks points out at the end, the secular conception of what it means to be human which emerged out of the 17^th Century Enlightenment doesn’t match what we know about humanity today.  If the premises are wrong, then what? 

 2.  From The Anglican Theological Review:  The Alethes Logos of Celcus and the Historicity of Christ.  Well, that’s a mouthful!  Actually it’s not that bad.  It is a very short article about how serious intellectuals challenged Christian claims in the very early Church.  And we thought we were the first to ask such questions!  

 Spirituality Education Opportunity

Anglican Rosary Workshop:  Led by Suzanne Edwards-Acton

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Hollywood

Saturday, February 21 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

 Lent is a great time to pick up a new prayer practice, renew an old one or continue moving deeper into a practice that you are already using :: maybe Anglican Prayer Beads/Anglican Rosary!

I hope you will join me at the Lenten Anglican Rosary Quiet Day I am leading on Saturday, February 21st from 10am-2pm at St Stephen's Episcopal Church in Hollywood.  Learn about the history, structure, and development of the Anglican Rosary  as well as several ways to use this set of prayer beads as a tool for organizing time of prayer and as a means for entering into contemplative prayer and initiating silence in meditation.

Learn to make your own Anglican Rosary and meet new friends and fellow
travelers on the journey.

*The cost is $25 which includes LUNCH and the MATERIALS  to make
an Anglican Rosary that you will use for the sessions and keep at the end
of the workshop. * 

*Please register in advance **(click on the donate button below) **so we
have food and materials ready for YOU!*  http://ststephenshollywood.org/donate/>

 The Anglican Rosary:  What in the world is that?

I’m glad you asked that question:  See below

Major religions have for centuries advocated the use of prayer beads as an aid to prayer. A modern twist on this ancient tradition is the development of the Anglican Rosary, also known as "Episcopal Prayer Beads" or "Christian Rosary". Known and used as "Rosary beads" by Roman Catholics, "Mala beads" in the Hindu religion and "Chotki" in the Greek Orthodox tradition, the earliest prayer beads were most probably loose stones carried in the pocket, used to number one's prayers at set times of day. Eventually they were strung together so as not to be so easily lost.

While the Catholic Rosary has 59 beads and the Hindu mala 108, the number of beads in the Anglican rosary has been set at 33, the number of years in Christ's life. A set of Anglican beads is comprised of four sets of 7 beads called "weeks". The number 7 represents wholeness and completion, and reminds us of the 7 days of creation, the 7 days of the temporal week, the 7 seasons of the church year, and the 7 sacraments. Four "cruciform" beads separate the "weeks". They represent the 4 points of the cross and its centrality in our lives and faith, the 4 seasons of the temporal year, and the 4 points on a compass. Anglican prayer beads use a cross rather than a crucifix. Near the cross is the "invitatory bead". The beads may be of wood, glass or stone and the cross of wood or metal.

The Anglican Rosary is more than a simple recitation of prayers. The beads offer a focal point to help keep the mind still while praying, thus allowing the prayer to become physical as well as mental. The purpose of praying with beads is to allow the repetition of words (a Bible verse, mantra or portion of a psalm, for instance) to quiet the mind and bring us into stillness. At the end of the rosary we are invited to sit in silent communion with God.

The Anglican Rosary is limited only by one's imagination. Portions of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, such as the daily devotionals or Prayers of the People, are easily adapted to rosary praying. The daily collects and lectionary readings are another possibility. One might use a favorite canticle or psalm, or the Nicene Creed, or even the verses and refrain of a favorite hymn. The Jesus Prayer, Lord's Prayer or Serenity Prayer also lend themselves well to the rosary, as do adages such as "this, too, shall pass" or "let go and let God". All of these methods are simply a means to the Way, a vehicle to deep, still silence in God's presence, the ultimate form of prayer.