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Father Rick and all of us at St. Edward’s welcome you to our Sunday, January 1, 2023 worship – The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We welcome Father Tim Small as our guest Celebrant and Preacher. Whether you will be joining us in-person, or via our live stream on our St. Edward’s YouTube Channel, please know that we are glad to be worshipping with you!  All of the important links you need to our YouTube channel and our service bulletin are listed below.

Our service schedule for this Sunday is as follows:

Rite II service at 10 AM.

Please join us for coffee hour at 9 AM as we ring in the New Year together, in fellowship, and in thanks for the grace of God in our lives.

As we are on the cusp of a new year, I must admit, I am not a “resolutions” person.  And, so, I offer, in reflection, wisdom from two of my favorite spiritual resources that I am taking with me into 2023, pairing their thoughts with the awe-inspiring nature of our ever-expanding universe.

With peace and prayers for the New Year,

Michelle

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JANUARY 1ST SERVICE WORSHIP LINKS   

Click here to connect to the service for January 1st

Click here to download our January 1st 10 AM Rite II service bulletin

PARISH NEWS AND LINKS   

There is a lot going on right out of the gate in 2023.  Our Monday email will have all of the details, but here are some reminders to put on your calendar:

The parish office is closed on Monday, January 2nd.

The Needle Arts Group will meet on Tuesday, January 3^rd at 1 PM in the lounge area.

The Widow’s Group will meet on Thursday, January 5^th at 10 AM in the lounge area.

Contemplative Eucharist, Mediation, and Healing Prayer is Wednesday, January 4^th at 12 Noon in the Parish Hall Chapel.

Beginning Wednesday January 4, 2023: Bible Study: 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM: For questions, please contact Bob Mosebach at [email protected] or Leslie Arnold at [email protected]         Conversations with Scripture: The Parables by William Brosend

Friday Lunch & Learn, beginning Friday, January 6th at 12 Noon.  Abba’s Child – The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging by Brennan Manning

The Women’s Spirituality Group will meet on Saturday, January 7^th at 10 AM in the Parish Hall. Join us for Morning Prayer, reflections, conversation, and light refreshments.

If you indicated on your pledge form you would like giving envelopes for 2023, they will be in your mailboxes during the 3^rd or 4^th week of January. Beginning in 2023, you may receive a different envelope number than your past number as we have adjusted the quantity of boxes we order each year.

Krist Kindling reveal dinner will be Sunday, January 15^th at 5:30 pm in the Parish Hall. There is a sign-up sheet in the parish hall for folks to indicate if they will be bringing a main dish, salad, or dessert to share.  Drinks will be provided.  Please prepare a dish to serve six people.

Pokémon Club begins Wednesday, January 18^th at 6:30 PM. Activities include: card battles, trading, crafts, games, giveaways, and much more!

The January Scepter is online and in print!  Another great issue to start 2023! CLICK HERE FOR THE NEW ISSUE.

If you participate in our Grocery Card program, your cards are in your parish mailboxes.  If you would like to learn about how purchasing grocery cards through St. Edward’s for Stauffer Kissel Hill and Giant helps us to add to our yearly fundraising, please contact the parish office.

Altar Flowers 2023:  A new chart is in the narthex!  By signing up for weekly flowers in memory of a loved one, or in thanks for a special event in your life, beautifies our altar in every season!  Flowers are $100/week.  We are so appreciative of the many ways our parish community supports this important ministry.

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*If you enjoy the St. Edward’s Episcopal Church, Lancaster, PA YouTube channel, and you have a Gmail or YouTube account, the next time you tune in, please click the red SUBSCRIBE button on the home page to be included as a subscriber to St. Edward’s!  We would welcome the support and we will not generate any unwanted notifications to you.  Become a part of our St. Edward’s community!   Thank you to those who have subscribed!

Click here to access our Worship page on our sainteds.org web site

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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 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!

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.

Join us for Sunday Worship!

Click here to download bulletin for the Third Sunday of Easter

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. Even though we must keep our doors closed for a period of time, we also must continue to pay our fixed expenses such as electricity, insurance, and salaries. We will continue to pick up our mail, so you can easily mail your contributions to the office and we will see that they are properly credited.  We have also been blessed to discover that 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.

Dear parishioners,

Well, it was kind of a rainy day, but with the showers we get flowers and that can’t be a “bad thing,” right?!?

People have been sharing some pretty funny viral postings giving us all a few laughs and twists of irony on what we are all experiencing in these “new normal” times.  Nice to know we have not lost our sense of humor.

Today, Glen and I drove up to Newark, NJ, where our son, Ian lives, to deliver supplies as it is very challenging to get items of quality up there now and because it is such a “hot spot” it is just better to not venture out unless absolutely necessary.  I must admit it was a little strange to leave the bags in his apartment building lobby, not be able to go upstairs to his apartment and just wave goodbye from the car.  But, we are all taking this very seriously and as his job entails him to potentially go into the city some days (believe it or not you need to carry a letter from your company deeming you “essential” in case someone asks) it is always a bit worrisome.  But, he has the gear and heeds the warnings.  Just thought I would share a story from another region as we all pray for one another’s safety and wellness.

Also, the parish office has received several suggestions this week about setting up virtual “meet-ups” of different types and we will be working with Father David and vestry to sort through how we can enact some of these great ideas.  They have not fallen on deaf ears ?  Once I get word from Father David et al, I will be back in touch by mid-week, at the latest.  Thank you so much for all who have suggested new ways for us to connect!

Take care.  Sunday is a day of prayer and meditation so I look forward to reconnecting from the St. Edward’s parish office with everyone on Monday!  Be well and safe.

Michelle

 

LENTEN MEDITATION – SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2020

Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

• Psalm 95:7b

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Many of us are familiar with the term lectio divina which means holy reading. It is a spiritual practice of listening deeply to God, usually through meditation on a biblical text; however, we hinder our listening if we limit it only to the written words of scripture.

One day, my children and I were talking about God when my eight-year-old son said, “Dad, people have seen God in rays of light.” I’m sure he did not mean it as profoundly as it hit me, but it stayed with me, like a little note, folded up and put into my pocket, walking around with me wherever I went.

It reminded me of something Thomas Merton wrote concerning his revelation of union with all of humanity, as he stood on the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in Louisville, Kentucky. He saw people as they really were, in all of their luminous God-given glory, each person “walking around shining like the sun.”

It could have been easy to miss, but in a passing phrase, the unassuming voice of my young son helped me hear what God was saying. “People have seen God in rays of light.” And God shines in my son. In me. And in everyone I see, walking around shining like the sun.

• Jamie Osborne serves as a priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Montgomery, Alabama, where he lives with his wife, Lauren, and their two elementary-age children.

 

March 29, 2020 Cycle of Prayer

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

Season of Prayer and Repentance

Today, the fifth Sunday in Lent, is the focus of the Primates’ Task Group’s call for a period of prayer and repentance in the Anglican Communion. The Bishop of West Malaysia, Moon Hing, is a member of the Task Group and has written this prayer, which the Task Group offers to the Anglican Communion for use today.

Almighty God,

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Sovereign Lord of the universe, Creator of humankind,

We, your unfaithful children, are truly sorry for our sins and the lives that we have lived.

We sincerely believe and confess in our hearts that only through the precious blood

Of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary, can we obtain Your forgiveness.

We repent that:

In thought, word or deed, we have committed serious offences against You and our neighbors;

In laziness, despair and lust for power, we have provoked hatred, division and hurt within our communities;

In greed, deceit and indifference, we have caused serious damage, unnecessary conflict and aggravated destruction to our refugee and migrant brothers and sisters;

In selfishness, insensitivity and bias, we have encouraged and emboldened those who inflict hurt, pain and sorrow on our loved ones and families;

In the name of religion, doctrine and even of Christ himself, we have wounded believers and pursuers of holiness and faith;

In stubbornness, pride and arrogance, we have caused division and strife within

Your church and among Your children;

Mercifully send Your Holy Spirit – the Spirit of order and comfort – and cleanse us from all unrighteousness; restore in us true faith in Christ which brings truth, peace and harmony; and help us to walk together with our brothers and sisters in the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of Your name.

Amen.

Diocesan Cycle of Prayer

St. Luke’s, Mechanicsburg

We pray for Christians, Muslims, and Jews and all people of faith throughout the world who are suffering persecution for their beliefs.

Parish Cycle of Prayer: Bill and Yvonne Gasperetti; Karen Grant and Shawn Irons; Dottie Gschwend; Jerry, Beth, and Seth Hake

Praying for those we love and who are important in our lives is an essential component of our worship, but many of the names listed and read out in the Prayers of the People are known only to those who have requested them, and the list grows each week.  So, when we come to the Prayers of the people in the service, the names for those “You are asked to pray for” and those “for our military personnel” will not be read aloud; rather we invite you to lift those names up to God in Christ silently in your heart as we pray the Prayers of the People, adding any others you wish to pray for.

You are asked to pray for:  The St. Edward’s Vestry, The Rev. David Bateman, The Rev. Rick Bauer and family; The residents of The Episcopal Home, Joe Holwager, Rose Dixon, Arch Cross, Mary Walker, Liz Yeager, Patricia Stout, Marge Sieghardt, Harry West, Sandy Patrone, Mimi Stauffer, Robert Hubbard, Kate Peterson, Donna J. Mott, Charlotte Jakiel, Stephanie Patrone, Nicholas Patrone, Dakota Patrone, DJ Dixon, Robert, The Rev. Jay Croft, Robert Carter, Dorothy Diehl, Barbara Bradfield, Fran Davis, Cody Campbell, Heather, Cheryl Shearer, Myra Taylor, Sally Mears, Barry Leed, Father Sud, Dr. Randy Cohen and Family, Aaron Rowe, Sr., Dorothy Rowe, Dr. Karl and Carolyn Moyer, James Pentland Moore, Joseph Holena, Rick Welk, Max Lown, Aiden Guillory

You are asked to pray for our military personnel who are being deployed or serving in the military:  Rev. David J. Sparks, Evan Westgate, Adam and Christina Grim, David Peck, David Sternberg, John Lewis, Gordon Frankenfield, Allison Tomich, Mike Spurr, Seamas Whitesel, Capt. Andrew Pfeiffer, 1st Lt. Thomas Whitesel, Brandon Fox, Alex Kube, Richard Mutari, Dustin Burleson, Anthony Koser, Jack Hawk, Christina Dragon, Justin Carnahan, Clayton Tennies, Benjamin Jenkins, Andy Lopez

Dear Members of the Episcopal Church in Central PA,

Bishop Scanlan has a message regarding these difficult times, Holy Week and Easter Services. To watch, click on the video below.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the Way of Love,

The Rt. Rev. Audrey C. Scanlan

XI Bishop

Dear parishioners,

Besides our weekly Eucharist services on Sundays, the great bedrock of the Episcopal/Anglican tradition is the daily round of Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer services known as the Daily Office. Though originally designed to be used in churches, millions of us have also used them at home. Each one makes a very good personal devotion, or a lay person can lead a small group of people in a household.

In light of our enforced temporary isolation due to COVID-19, the services of the Daily Office are a great way to spiritually connect with other Episcopalians as well as with God.

If you have copy of the Book of Common Prayer at home, you can easily use that, although you will also need a Bible so you can look up the lessons for the day. An easier choice is to go online where helpful folks have already assembled the prayers, psalm and scripture readings for that morning or evening. There are a number of sites available but I recommend two in particular.

The most famous site is put up by the Mission of St. Clare at https://www.missionstclare.com/english/

Besides having the full texts for each Morning and Evening Prayer that day, each service also includes three or four optional audio for you to click if you would like to hear a hymn or sung piece of service music.

The other site I recommend is https://dailyoffice.app/

This site looks a little better on a cell phone screen and has the advantage of also offering the option of a Noonday service and an end-of-the-day service known as Compline.

When you pray a service of the Daily Office you are not only immersing yourself in our deep Episcopal traditions, you are also joining collectively with thousands of others who are praying the same words.

David +

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Also, on our web site we have links to the Lectionary Page, the Book of Common Prayer, and our Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for you to refer to:

https://sainteds.org/links/

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We would also like to provide some online links to St. Thomas Church in New York City and the Washington Cathedral, so if you chose to worship on Sunday, March 22nd via technology, you will be able to do so.

Sunday, March 22^nd | 11:00 AM High Altar Webcast

St. Thomas Church – NYC Festal Eucharist

https://www.saintthomaschurch.org/events/festal-eucharist-13/

 

Washington National Cathedral

Sunday, March 22, 2020 | 11:15am

This event will be broadcast online due to concerns related to the coronavirus. The Cathedral will be closed through May 16.

Join us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist on the Fourth Sunday in Lent.

https://cathedral.org/event/holy-eucharist-4-2018-03-04-2018-05-06-2018-06-10-2018-09-09-2018-10-07-2018-11-18-2018-12-16-2018-12-30-2019-01-20-2019-04-28-2019-05-05-2019-09-08-2019-09-29-2019-11-03-2020-01-05-2020-03-22/

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LENTEN MEDITATION, MARCH 18^TH

And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply, he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise.”

–Luke 3:10-11

Have you ever heard of the bag challenge for Lent? Each day during Lent, you fill a bag with items from any area of your home that you no longer need. This daily practice allows kids to practice generosity in a way that can become a natural routine by the end of Lent.

Even in our materialistic, consumer-driven culture, we seek to know Jesus and understand his teachings.  Jesus tells us that if we have two coats, we share one.  What if we went into our closets and got rid of half of what we had? What if we opened our cabinets and refrigerators and practiced the radical generosity that Jesus preaches? It might mean giving something away that we really like and still want. Often, what we want is what someone else needs.

One morning on the way to school, my daughter Jaiya brought a small bag of clothing. When I asked her who it was for, she said, ‘There’s someone I know who needs these.”

-Miriam Willard McKenney

Development Director for Forward Movement

We hope these resources will help guide you in your journey through Advent.

Advent Calendar

Advent Devotions – to say as you light your Advent wreath each week

Advent 1 – Saying “Yes” to the Journey

Advent 2 – Journeying with Family & Friends

Advent 3 – Journeying with Community

Advent 4 – Journeying in the World