Category: Serve

Sunday Service Online – First Advent – November 29, 2020

administrator

Dear friends of St. Edward’s,

We welcome you to our online worship this weekend as we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent.

Due to the alarming rise in cases within Lancaster County and here in our own township, as your rector, I prayerfully request that we refrain from gathering with other parishioners in public groups, particularly in restaurants, indoor spaces, or even outdoors without masks.  COVID-19 is not a hoax.  We are all in this together, and honoring our parish community, by complying with the recommendations set forth during this time, conveys our love for God in Christ, the members of our parish family, and the wider community.

Here are two links that may be helpful:

Lancaster County, PA COVID-19 Hub

PA Department of Health

Father Rick +

—
Please note the NEW TIME of 10 AM for our one Sunday Service via our YouTube Channel, which will be followed by a virtual coffee hour (detailed below).

Click here to connect to our YouTube Channel to enjoy the First Sunday of Advent Rite II service, with a Prayer for Spiritual Communion, at 10:00 AM, on Sunday, November 29th.

We offer an opportunity for those viewing our online service to Donate to St. Edward’s via our Paypal link directly from our YouTube Channel.  On the St. Edward’s Channel Home Page, in the lower right corner of the image of our church is a “Donate to St. Edward’s” link.  You can also find it in the “About” section, just scroll down to “links” in that section.  We have installed it, tested it, and it works securely and wonderfully!

Click here to download the First Sunday of Advent Rite II service bulletin, with a Prayer for Spiritual Communion, for Sunday, November 29th.

We also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you important announcements regarding upcoming events, as well as prayer and adult spiritual formation opportunities.

Krist Kindling begins this week!  For those participating, we wish you fun, safe local travels, and good spirit, as you enjoy this fellowship tradition at St. Edward’s!

—
We are nearing the end of our Annual Stewardship Campaign, as we had set our “ingathering” for tomorrow, November 29th.  If you have not returned your pledge commitment, we request your prayerful consideration in helping us to steward the important ministry of St. Edward’s, and the care of our church campus, in 2021, by returning your pledge commitment this week.  We have much to be thankful for, and much to look forward to, but it is with the Grace of God, our love of God and for one another through Jesus Christ our Lord, and the stewardship support from our parish community that makes our ministry possible.  Thank you! 

—
Annual Jesse Tree Project Forms: Due Tomorrow, November 29th
Please let the parish office know if you are mailing or dropping off your forms/checks on Monday, if you have yet to do so.

For many, Thanksgiving and Christmas represents a ‘season of giving’.  Giving to the foster children of COBYs during the holidays has been a long-time favorite of this parish.

This service is known as the Jesse Tree project.  Jesse Tree provides gifts for children in foster care, making Christmas a little brighter.  Through COBYS Family Services we obtain a list of children in foster care, their ages, and their Christmas wishes. We don’t take the place of Santa. Rather, we act as Santa’s helpers by adding another gift or two for a child to open on Christmas morning.

Click here for information and sign up form. 

Join us for our Virtual Coffee Hour, right after the 10 AM service, each Sunday,  from 11:00 AM – 11:40 AM, on Zoom.  It will be hosted by Christina McLaughlin. During these holidays, and because we cannot gather in-person through the end of this calendar year, sharing fellowship with our community is not only a connective thread for the fabric of our parish life, but it is wonderful “social outreach.”  We invite you to join us! Your join code and pass code were in the Saturday email.


Welcome to Congregational Care!  Each Saturday, we will include in our messages any submissions we receive from our parish community, as we invite you to share prayer requests or news about yourselves or your family. We believe this outreach to be incredibly important to keep our spiritual community connected to each other and to Jesus Christ, our Lord, as we walk in love with one another in our daily journeys.  Please submit your “news” to the parish office by Friday of each week and we will feature it in the Saturday email, bringing it to our hearts and minds in our Sunday prayers.

For this week, we pray for all peoples, everywhere, who have helped others, in all the ways we can and do, during this Covidtide Thanksgiving and beyond.  But, most importantly, we keep the poor and neglected in our deepest prayers, as we enter this season of Advent.

Prayer For the Poor and Neglected

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—

Join us, at St. Edward’s, and with our convocation churches, for wonderful offerings, each week, of prayer and adult spiritual formation, via Zoom. Join in, anytime!  Click here to learn more.

Besides prayers, calls, cards and emails, there is one more thing you can do to support St. Edward’s. Please keep up-to-date with your pledge or regular contribution.  Pledges/giving can be mailed to the church, and we also have an easy-to-use “Give to St. Edward’s” button on our website that links to our secure Paypal page, as well as a “Donate” button on our YouTube Channel home page.

To assist parishes, the diocese has set up online giving for each parish.  If you feel comfortable making your weekly giving or pledge donation in this manner (it is a secure giving tool), simply go to the diocesan web site, click on the tab up top and it will take you to a page where you can scroll down, find St. Edward’s, and continue with making your contribution!  Thank you for maintaining your faithfulness through your financial stewardship!

Click here if you would like to donate online through the diocesan portal. You will scroll down to find St. Edward’s under Lancaster. The portal is a secure giving site.

To learn more about St. Edward’s, please click our website, YouTube, or Facebook icons at the bottom of this email.

Be well. Stay safe. Keep the faith.

– Michelle

Sunday Service Online – Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 27 – Sunday, November 8, 2020

administrator

Dear friends of St. Edward’s,

We welcome you to online worship this weekend.

For those who feel comfortable with coming to church, we are fortunate to be able to hold in-person worship on Sundays at 8 AM – Rite I and 10:15 AM – Rite II. We hope that you will join us!  We continue to follow healthy practices for your comfort and safety and we are mindfully complying with mitigation efforts through the governor’s office, as well as our diocesan office.

Please know that we extend our warm invitation of worship to those in the wider community and those parishioners who are still at home, via YouTube Live, with our live streaming service each Sunday. We are one community of faith and we are worshipping together!

Click here to connect to our YouTube Channel to enjoy our Sunday service of Holy Eucharist Rite II LIVE at 10:15 AM on Sunday, November 8th.

We offer an opportunity for those viewing our online service to Donate to St. Edward’s via our Paypal link directly from our YouTube Channel.  On the St. Edward’s Channel Home Page, in the lower right corner of the image of our church is a “Donate to St. Edward’s” link.  You can also find it in the “About” section, just scroll down to “links” in that section.  We have installed it, tested it, and it works securely and wonderfully!

Click here to download the Sunday Service 10:15 AM bulletin – Rite II

If you prefer the said service of Rite I, we have provided our service bulletin for you to download and enjoy the service.

Click here to download the Sunday Service 8 AM bulletin – Rite I

We also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you important announcements that are in our paper bulletin on Sundays, that may be of interest to you, at home, regarding upcoming events, as well as prayer and adult spiritual formation opportunities.

The weather is predicted to be warm for the next week and we have kept our garden fountain running and we have completed 2 additional meditative spaces with benches and statuary.  Please stop by to see!  If you feel you would like a quiet space to pray, the memorial garden is always “open.”

Krist Kindling sign up is in full swing!  Please contact the parish office or click here to download the pdf information and sign-up form.

—
Our Annual Stewardship Campaign kicks off this Sunday.  You will have received a pledge packet in the mail and for the next three Sundays, we will hear testimonies from our Stewardship ministry leaders. This is a very important component to the continuing ministry of St. Edward’s.  If you have any questions, would like more information about stewardship, or did not receive a packet, please contact the parish office.  We thank you for your prayerful consideration.

—
Annual Jesse Tree Project Set to Begin
For many, Thanksgiving and Christmas represents a ‘season of giving’.  Giving to the foster children of COBYs during the holidays has been a long-time favorite of this parish.

This service is known as the Jesse Tree project.  Jesse Tree provides gifts for children in foster care, making Christmas a little brighter.  Through COBYS Family Services we obtain a list of children in foster care, their ages, and their Christmas wishes. We don’t take the place of Santa. Rather, we act as Santa’s helpers by adding another gift or two for a child to open on Christmas morning.

Click here for information and sign up form. 

—
Please prayerfully consider donating a turkey to St. Edward’s, so that we can make Thanksgiving comforting for those who benefit from the Hempfield Area Food Bank.  We are accepting turkey donations through November 18th, and they can be brought in on Sundays or any weekday between 11 AM-3 PM.  Our goal is to have each parish family donate a turkey so that our community families in need can have a fulfilling Thanksgiving.

Coffee Hour is Back!

Join us for our Virtual Sunday Social from 4:00 PM – 4:40 PM Sunday afternoon on Zoom.  It will be hosted by Christina McLaughlin. It’s a great time to get together and say “hello” to your fellow parishioners.  The meeting join code and pass code are in your Thursday and Saturday emails.


Welcome to Congregational Care!  Each Saturday, we will include in our messages any submissions we receive from our parish community, as we invite you to share prayer requests or news about yourselves or your family. We believe this outreach to be incredibly important to keep our spiritual community connected to each other and to Jesus Christ, our Lord, as we walk in love with one another in our daily journeys.  Please submit your “news” to the parish office by Friday of each week and we will feature it in the Saturday email, bringing it to our hearts and minds in our Sunday prayers.

For this week, we ask for you to pray for, and with, each other in our congregation and for our wider world.  Let us strive for our walk to always be filled with grace and compassion for all God’s creation.

A Collect for the Presence of Christ

Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.
—

Join us, at St. Edward’s, and with our convocation churches, for wonderful offerings, each week, of prayer and adult spiritual formation, via Zoom. Join in, anytime!  Click here to learn more.

Besides prayers, calls, cards and emails, there is one more thing you can do to support St. Edward’s during this time. Please keep up-to-date with your pledge or regular contribution.  Pledges/giving can be mailed to the church, and we also have an easy-to-use “Give to St. Edward’s” button on our website that links to our secure Paypal page.  We have had several people engage with this newly installed Paypal giving button with great success, so please consider that as an easy way to support St. Edward’s.

To assist parishes, the diocese has set up online giving for each parish.  If you feel comfortable making your weekly giving or pledge donation in this manner (it is a secure giving tool), simply go to the diocesan web site, click on the tab up top and it will take you to a page where you can scroll down, find St. Edward’s, and continue with making your contribution!  Thank you for maintaining your faithfulness through your financial stewardship!

Click here if you would like to donate online through the diocesan portal. You will scroll down to find St. Edward’s under Lancaster. The portal is a secure giving site.

To learn more about St. Edward’s, please click our website, YouTube, or Facebook icons at the bottom of this email.

Be well. Stay safe. Keep the faith.

– Michelle

 

Sunday Service Online – Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 23 – October 11, 2020

administrator

Dear friends of St. Edward’s,

We welcome you to online worship this weekend.

For those who feel comfortable with coming to church, we are fortunate to be able to hold in-person worship on Sundays at 8 AM – Rite I and 10:15 AM – Rite II. We hope that you will join us!  We continue to follow healthy practices for your comfort and safety and we are mindfully complying with mitigation efforts through the governor’s office, as well as our diocesan office.

Please know that we extend our warm invitation of worship to those in the wider community and those parishioners who are still at home, via YouTube Live, with our live streaming service each Sunday. We are one community of faith and we are worshipping together!

Click here to connect to our YouTube Channel to enjoy our Sunday service of Holy Eucharist Rite II LIVE at 10:15 AM on Sunday, October 11th.

We offer an opportunity for those viewing our online service to Donate to St. Edward’s via our Paypal link directly from our YouTube Channel.  On the St. Edward’s Channel Home Page, in the lower right corner of the image of our church is a “Donate to St. Edward’s” link.  You can also find it in the “About” section, just scroll down to “links” in that section.  We have installed it, tested it, and it works securely and wonderfully!

Click here to download the Sunday Service 10:15 AM bulletin – Rite II

If you prefer the said service of Rite I, we have provided our service bulletin for you to download and enjoy the service.

Click here to download the Sunday Service 8 AM bulletin – Rite I

We also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you important announcements that are in our paper bulletin on Sundays, that may be of interest to you, at home, regarding upcoming events, as well as prayer and adult spiritual formation opportunities.

If you would like to reserve your tickets for our October 24th fundraiser, in person, at church, TOMORROW, we will have a table in the library area, after each service, to enable people to reserve ticket bundles for the raffle as well as reserve their boxed dinner.  Once you leave church, you can re-enter through the office wing door, and please have your checks made out in advance so that we can keep social distancing in place.  The fundraiser details can be found by clicking the link below. Here is a quick rundown of pricing:
$75/55 tickets
$55/40 tickets
$25/15 tickets
Boxed dinners $10/each
Checks made payable to St. Edward’s with memo line “October 24th fundraiser.” We will note this on a sheet to give to you to complete at home (after you review catalog selections) and then you can email your ticket selections, we will fill them out for you, and place them in the boxes of your choosing.  We have surpassed our 50% goal and are looking to raise an additional $1,850 to reach 100%.  Help us make this ONLY FUNDRAISER, for 2020, at St. Edward’s a success!

LINK TO INFORMATION ABOUT THE ST. EDWARD’S FALL FUNDRAISER BY CLICKING HERE


Welcome to our new feature, Congregational Care!  Each Saturday, we will include in our messages any submissions we receive from our parish community, in your willingness to share prayer requests or news about yourselves or your family.  At the wonderful suggestion of Libby Sternberg, we believe this outreach to be incredibly important to keep our spiritual connections to our Lord, and to each other, alive!  Please submit your “news” to the parish office by Friday of each week and we will feature it in the Saturday email, bringing it to our hearts and minds in our Sunday prayers.

“Dear Father of all, make me a human channel through which, as far as I am able, your divine love and pity may reach the hearts and lives of some of those who are nearest to me.  Amen.”

– A Diary of Private Prayer, John Baillie

 

For this week, Matthew & Libby Sternberg share the following news:  The Sternbergs are happy to report that their one-year-old granddaughter had successful cleft palate surgery recently and is now home with her parents and siblings in Spokane, WA doing well.  She can eat baby food and has said “Daddy” for the first time, due to the repair.

Thought for today, and every day:


—
If you would like to take a survey to help us determine how we may move forward with our Jesse Tree initiative this year, please click here.

Join us, at St. Edward’s, and with our convocation churches, for wonderful offerings, each week, of prayer and adult spiritual formation, via Zoom. Join in, anytime!  Click here to learn more.

We have an additional course offering from our friends at St. Luke’s, Mount Joy that may be of interest to people.  The details are below.  Please email [email protected] if you are interested in attending.

What if you could defuse tension and create accord in even the most volatile situations—just by changing the way you spoke?

Course details:  Wed October 14, 21, 28  @ 12 noon.
There are four sessions of  60-90 minutes each, via Zoom:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87241283345

The session will be recorded, in case you cannot attend live. Please contact the office for the link to the recording.

Course objectives:

  • Identify the four steps of the Nonviolent Communication process
  • Employ the four-step process in every dialogue you engage in
  • Utilize empathy to safely confront anger, fear, and other powerful emotions
  • Discover how to overcome the blocks to compassion and open to our natural desire to enrich the lives of those around us
  • Observations, feelings, needs, and requests—how to apply the four-step process of Nonviolent Communication to every dialogue we engage in
  • Overcoming the blocks to compassion—and opening to our natural desire to enrich the lives of those around us
  • How to use empathy to safely confront anger, fear, and other powerful emotions

Besides prayers, calls, cards and emails, there is one more thing you can do to support St. Edward’s during this time. Please keep up-to-date with your pledge or regular contribution.  Pledges/giving can be mailed to the church, and we also have an easy-to-use “Give to St. Edward’s” button on our website that links to our secure Paypal page.  We have had several people engage with this newly installed Paypal giving button with great success, so please consider that as an easy way to support St. Edward’s.

To assist parishes, the diocese has set up online giving for each parish.  If you feel comfortable making your weekly giving or pledge donation in this manner (it is a secure giving tool), simply go to the diocesan web site, click on the tab up top and it will take you to a page where you can scroll down, find St. Edward’s, and continue with making your contribution!  Thank you for maintaining your faithfulness through your financial stewardship!

Click here if you would like to donate online through the diocesan portal. You will scroll down to find St. Edward’s under Lancaster. The portal is a secure giving site.

To learn more about St. Edward’s, please click our website, YouTube, or Facebook icons at the bottom of this email.

Be well. Stay safe. Keep the faith.

– Michelle

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – May 20, 2020

administrator

Dear parishioners,

Well. . . I heard that several people did not receive the Daily Message yesterday, much to my dismay!  I am thinking it was a Comcast glitch of sorts as I have done a little tracing and it seems some people did receive and with some experimenting today, it was received by some test emails.  So, my apologies!  If you missed it, please remember I post all of the Daily Messages on our web site under “News & Posts” so if you want to go back and read one, they are all there.  Here is the link to yesterday’s post:

https://sainteds.org/daily-message-from-st-edwards-may-19-2020/

For today’s message we have important news about a survey, will relay our various ministry meetings you can attend and a fun link to share.  First, the survey:

We have formed a quick 8 question survey from Survey Monkey (the same company we used for the Search process survey).   It will arrive at the email we have on file for you and it is separate from our Daily Message.  You should have it in your inbox tonight.  If not, please check your spam folder.  We would very much appreciate it if you could complete it as soon as possible as it will help to guide us in how we can best serve the parish community as we re-open St. Edward’s.  If, you do not get the survey at all, please contact the parish office and we can go over it on the phone, I can ask you the questions and complete it for you.

 

Upcoming Ministry News:

Bible Study:

Tonight is the start of the new Bible Study session, led by Bill and Yvonne Gasperetti.  The sessions will be every other Wednesday at 6:30 PM.  If you are interested in joining this group, please contact Bill at [email protected] or Yvonne at [email protected]

 

St. Edward’s Friday Evening Prayer Readers:

We are looking for readers for our weekly Friday Evening Prayer service.  If anyone is interested in reading for this Evening Prayer service, please contact Patrick Ishler, [email protected] to schedule a week(s).  Thank you!

 

St. Edward’s Friday Evening Prayer:

Please join us for our virtual service of Evening Prayer on Friday, May 22nd, on Zoom, at 7:00 PM and every Friday at that time, led by our choir director, Patrick Ishler.

Ever wonder, what is Evening Prayer in the Episcopal Church?  Here is a little history from episcopalchurch.org library:

One of the principal Daily Offices. Evening Prayer has been the title for the Evening Office in Anglican worship since the 1552 revision of the Prayer Book. Evening Prayer may begin with an opening sentence of scripture and with the confession of sin. The Invitatory may include the canticle Phos Hilaron, an ancient hymn praising Christ at the lighting of lamps at sunset. The office continues with a selection from the Psalter, readings from scripture followed by canticles (typically the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis), the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, a set of suffrages, one or more collects, and the dismissal.  Evening Prayer may also include an office hymn or anthem, the General Thanksgiving, a Prayer of St. Chrysostom, and a concluding sentence of scripture.

We will be showing the text on screen to make it easy to follow along. We will also provide a simple pdf to follow (which will be in Thursday’s Daily Message).   And, if you have a Book of Common Prayer, you may start on page 115.

We invite you to end your week with the experience of Evening Prayer.  By simply clicking on the link below and adding the join code, you will be engaged in the service with ease.

Welcome to Evening Prayer!

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87496043790

Join code:  874 9604 3790

—

If you would like to join Brother David Rutledge in worship for Ascension Day Evening Prayer, tomorrow, here are the details:

Below is the Zoom info for Ascension Day Evening Prayer on May 21 @ 7:00pm.  We will be using Evening Prayer from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.  The readings will be from the Eucharistic Lectionary for the day:

We will be lighting a candle at the beginning of the service, so those attending may want to have a candle ready for that.  I will be online about 15 minutes before the service to help with any technical issues with Zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83783455362?pwd=c3ZyTEFwQXV1K29zU3VLUTBadzRQQT09

Meeting ID: 837 8345 5362
Password: 803673

—

Fun Link to explore:  So, in anticipation of the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial start of summer and picnics, here is a link to Food Network Chefs Favorite Picnic recipes.  Enjoy!!

https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/channels/picnic-favorites-from-food-network-chefs

 

 

Now. . .you are at the end of the Daily Message. . .so, as a reminder:  LOOK FOR OUR SURVEY!!

 

Have a good evening!

 

Be well. Stay Safe. Keep the faith.

 

Michelle