The Changing of the Seasons from Epiphany to
Lent 2017
As you can see above this coming Sunday marks the end of the Epiphany Season. Beginning next week Lent begins. We close out Epiphany with the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and the next evening begin Lent with the Ash Wednesday Liturgy.
Shrove Tuesday, . February 28, 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 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. This year Chris Askew heads up the making of pancakes, bacon and sausage.
Chris has recruited several people to make crepe type pancakes in advance of the Shrove Tuesday Dinner.
To offset the cost we’ll ask a price of $5.00 for adults and $2.00 for children.
We would like to not over buy and make more food than necessary. So we would really like people to sign up so we have a good idea of how many to prepare for.
The sign up sheet will be outside Church on Sunday. But you can also email the office coa@lafn.org and tell us how many adults and children
Why Shrove Tuesday?
So, we hope you will join in.
March 1, 2017
7:00 p.m.
Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Imposition of Ashes
Holy Eucharist
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.
Our Ongoing Life
Altar Guild Meeting: Saturday February 25 9:00 a.m. Parish Hall
We will have a meeting of the Altar Guild on Saturday February 25 to begin to make plans for Holy Week and Easter, but more importantly to welcome some new people who will be joining. It's a great group who do the set up for Sunday morning. The whole thing is designed for busy people so there is no fuss or anything. Usually people are on teams and serve for a month at a time. It usually means twice per year. The time is up them as to when they want to set up. What is really good about it, and they will confirm this, is that you get to be in a beautiful, quiet, contemplative space and that the handling and care of things of the altar is spiritually fulfilling in a wonderful way.
Fr. Bob has reached out to people who he thought might be interested in joining. If you are interested, please join in. Please let Fr. Bob know and come to the meeting on February 25.
Coffee Hour Sign Up March & April 2017
The Sign Up Sheet for Coffee Hour for the next two months will be by the urns of the Coffee Table outside Church on Sunday.
Coffee hour is an important aspect of our parish life. It’s been called “The Eighth Sacrament of the Episcopal Church.” At coffee hour we have the chance to see and talk with our fellow parishioners and welcome new people to our parish.
Doing Coffee Hour is quite simple. All that one needs to do is bring some snacks for people to share. The Coffee is already made in the Church basement. Supplies such as cream, sweetener, stirrers, napkins, and plates are already provided.
For 7:45 a.m. You simply bring a snack of some kind. The congregation is small doesn’t need help in serving. There is also no clean up because the set up will remain for the 10:15 service,
For 10:15 a.m. Again the coffee is already made and the set up is already in place. All that is needed is for the coffee hour host to set up their snack and help people, particularly the children get theirs, ( and leave some for everyone else!) The coffee hour host does help with the clean up which is taking the coffee pots and supplies down to the basement, rising them out and letting them dry. Fr. Bob and other parishioners are there to help take down and store the tables.
Like any organization, the same people tend to volunteer for the same task many times. We’d like more people to help as well. We have a sign up sheet outside that covers a period of two months. Those who’ve signed up are listed in the Church calendar so they can remember their date.
As with everything at Church of the Angels, we try to make volunteer tasks easy and accessible to all. If you’ve not thought of signing up for Coffee hour before, please consider doing so. It adds a lot to our parish life.
You can sign up by emailing into the Parish Office: coa@lafn.org
Secret Handshake Class Saturday, February 25 10:00 a.m. Parish Hall Living Room
This Saturday we will ask the question, “What’s at stake in all this?” or, why be Christian anyway? We’ll look at the idea of Atonement, which is how God and humans connect and relate to each other. Anyone is welcome to join the conversation.
Emmaus Road Monday, February 27, 7:00 p.m.
Emmaus Road now moves on to something new. We will begin reading Teilhard de Chardin and the Mystery of Christ. This is a book that explores the thought, theology, and spirituality of Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, a Jesuit priest of the 20th Century who was also a paleontologist who made major discoveries of early humans. Fr. Teilhard sought to integrate the discoveries of science with the deepest things of the Christian faith. While forbidden to publish while he was alive, after his death, his books were published and found a wide audience. Some have said that his spirit hovered over the renewal of the Second Vatican Council. The book is available on Amazon, but it’s out of print and so while used copies are available, they take a while to get here.
Fr. Bob has made copies of the Foreword and Chapter 1, to tide us over until the books arrive. Copies will be available on Sunday
Church of the Angels Outreach Caring Ministries
The Outreach Committee is soliciting information from the parish about what kind of outreach activities people are already involved in and/or would like to see the parish work with. A survey form was made and put out at the Annual Meeting and several people responded.
We want to give everyone a chance to give their input. From this the Outreach Committee will begin to develop a Vision and Mission statement along with plans as to how to proceed.
The Outreach survey form can be seen below. It is also attached to By Way of Reminder so you can fill it out and email it in. It will also be outside Church on Sunday
Outreach Caring Ministries: Book of the Month for Uganda
The Outreach Committee is pleased to announce a Book of the Month Club to benefit the Suubi Children’s Center in Uganda. Anyone can join the club! All you have to do is buy one hardcover book each month (new or gently used). Bring the book to church and we will donate it to the library at the Suubi Children’s Center.
There will be a theme for the book club each month, and this month (February) we are focusing on biographies. We have created a wish list on Amazon.com. You can see this wish list here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/ref=cm_reg_rd-upd?ie=UTF8&id=C4KG1SD4S6MB&type=wishlist
You can buy directly from Amazon (new or gently used--and we love library binding), or use the Amazon wish list and buy from your favorite local bookstore. In some cases, a book may be available only in paperback, so that is what we would send.
If you have questions, contact Kelly Russell at kellylcr@gmail.com. Thanks for your generosity!
Episcopal Visitation: Sunday March 5
We are privileged to have Bishop Diane Bruce with us on Sunday March 5. Bishop Diane is the Bishop Suffragan (Assisting bishop to our Diocesan Bishop Jon Bruno) Bishop Diane will be here for both the 7:45 and 10:15 Liturgy.
Episcopal Visitation: Parish Potluck and Reception for Bishop Diane Sunday March 5
Following the 10:15 Liturgy we will have a Parish Potluck and Reception for Bishop Diane. We had great fun at the Annual Meeting. Here’ s another chance to show off our parish’s amazing culinary skills. The Sign Up sheet will be outside Church on Sunday. You can also email in what you’d like to bring.