Tag: St. Edward’s

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 8, 2020

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Dear friends,

We hope you enjoyed the service this past Sunday and that you took some time, in this weekend where stay-at-home orders were lifted in Lancaster County, to connect with God and nature.

If you missed the service, we have included the link button below for you to enjoy.

As we continue to plan and prepare for re-opening St. Edward’s to Sunday in-person worship, following the guidelines detailed to us by the Governor’s office and our Diocesan office, please know that we are very mindful of those who will continue to look forward to our online worship and ministry connections.  As you saw in our tour a couple weeks ago, we have made significant improvements to enable us to offer online and live streaming services so that we not only reach our parish family, but the wider community.

We will make certain that even though you cannot be here, physically, at St. Edward’s, you are important to us and you are participating in our community! You are in our hearts, minds, and prayers and we look forward to the day when we can all worship together, in-person, at St. Edward’s.  Also, if you are on social media and participate in Facebook, “like” and share our posts with your friends and family.  Ask them to share with their friends!  Spreading “the good news” keeps us as one family and fulfills our never-ending ministry as disciples.  “We believe that God loves you – no exceptions.”

We thank you for your words of support, your ministry, and your gifts.  Know that we are here for you!

Today, we leave you with a mediation (and readings) below, as well as a virtual tour to Experience the Magic of Redwood National Park (click the link below) for quiet contemplation and peaceful enjoyment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MglBOaOnzqM

Be well. Be safe. Keep the faith.

Michelle

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Mediation from Forward Day by Day for MONDAY, June 8     

Melania the Elder

Psalm 57:8 Wake up, my spirit; awake, lute and harp; I myself will waken the dawn.

Years ago, I was in Alaska during the summertime. There was about an hour or so of “mostly dark” each night, but in the peak of summer, the light shines almost twenty-four hours a day there. Blackout curtains allowed me to sleep, but on my third night there, something woke me at 3 a.m.

I climbed warily out of bed and peeked out the window. The whole expanse of sky was ablaze in red and orange and purple. I grabbed my prayer book and stepped onto the balcony. I opened to Psalm 57. “Exalt yourself above the heavens, O God, and your glory over all the earth.” Indeed, God had.

On the balcony that early morning, for a brief moment everything was in perfect perspective. My soul was refreshed. I knew the power and majesty and love of God. And I sat in silence and watched in wonder as the colors faded back to blue.

MOVING FORWARD: Find something truly beautiful in the world today and thank God for it.

PRAY for the Dioceses of Long Island (The Episcopal Church), and Guadalcanal (Melanesia)

Ps 56, 57, [58] * 64, 65 | Ecclesiastes 7:1-14 | Galatians 4:12-20 | Matthew 15:21-28

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Missed our Trinity Sunday Service?  Click here to watch.

Would you like to read a copy of our current June Scepter?  Come by St. Edward’s and pick up a full color copy.  They are on a table outside the front red doors.  It is a great issue!

Sunday Service Online: The First Sunday after Pentecost – Trinity Sunday June 7, 2020

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Click here to download or open in a new tab the Trinity Sunday service bulletin.

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.

Consider joining the virtual coffee hour, hosted by Joe and Christina McLaughlin.  Please note:  We are going back to the OLD join code and pass code protocol via Christina’s account.  It appears there may be too much “traffic” on the paid-for subscription platform, and as with all technology, please bear with us as we work through a little trial and error to make sure we are bringing to you the ministries you love to participate in as we navigate the technology component, along with the millions of users who login each Sunday on Zoom for worship and fellowship.

Click here for step-by-step instructions to set up Zoom, that Christina put together.

And, if you have any questions, Christina has offered to please give her a call and she can help!  Her number is 717-415-7043.

DATE:  SUNDAY, JUNE 7th

TIME:  10 – 10:45 am

PLACE:  Wherever you are comfortable with your computer in your home environment!

WHAT TO BRING:  Your coffee and something interesting to share with others!

** The join code and passcode will not be posted on the public website or Facebook but are in the Saturday email you would have received.

If you missed viewing Bishop Scanlan’s Weekly Message, please click here to view.

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 5, 2020

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A MESSAGE FROM OUR RECTOR

This afternoon, I invite you to take in a good, deep breath.  Hold it for a second or two and then, really, let it go.  Breathe in deeply…hold…exhale fully…Breathe in deeply, feeling your lungs expand…hold it in for a few seconds…then: feel the air leaving your body, lighter in weight and in spirit, as you let go of the breath.  Breathe in God…breathe out Love.  Let go of fear…make room for hope.  Breathe in God…breathe out Love.

In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, our Lord calls us to rest with patience and faith in uneasy times.  Jesus tells his first disciples: “Beware that no one leads you astray.  For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah!’ and they will lead many astray.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs. (Mat 24:3-8)

When we dig in our heels and our emotions take over, our perceptions of the world can telescope in on us and tempt us to forget who we are…whose we are.  Whether we cry out for change or long for a return to ‘the way that it used to be’, our discipleship calls us to remember that we are, first and foremost, followers of Jesus Christ.  And our teacher asks us to ever-lean into our senses of faith, to take a long view when we’re anxious about the world around us.  In truth, we live in a universe that is still expanding, a Creation that is still evolving, and we each play a role in Christ’s own becoming by what we do and by what we leave undone in our lives each and every day.

It seems as if, in all things, our Lord blesses us with increased difficulty throughout our life-long programs of study as His disciples.  Particularly when we face forces (or persons) that strike us in our heart spaces as antithetical to what we stand for, just at the point where our senses of righteous indignation start to feel good, Jesus interjects: “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Mat 5:44-45)  Whether we feel called to march in protests, fervently seek to preserve the order of our status quo, or find ourselves in-between on the spectrum in our thoughts and feelings about the present state of social unrest in this country, we are called as Christ’s own to place our love for God and our neighbor at the center of our will.  This is not a political statement for the Right or for the Left…it is a reminder that we belong to Christ…and that the world shall know us by our LOVE.

So dear sisters and brothers, may be breathe this weekend, and may we find rest in the assurances of our Lord.  As we each seek, in our own ways, to do justice: may we each walk in love, humbly before our ever-merciful God.

Peace be with each of you,

Father Rick+

 

St. Edward’s Episcopal Church is inviting you to Evening Prayer – Friday. June 5, 2020
Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82328056258

Join Code:  823 2805 6258

We will be showing the text on screen to make it easy to follow along. If you have a Book of Common Prayer, you may start on page 115.

Make certain you check your DAILY MESSAGE ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON BY 4 PM for our link and information to our online Sunday Service of Trinity Sunday, as well as the link to join our Virtual Coffee Hour!

Also, we will be placing a basket with the June Scepter outside the front red doors tomorrow by noon.  If you would like to view it online, click here.

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 4, 2020

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Dear parishioners and friends,

More wonderful grace notes of ministry happening at St. Edward’s this week.

Many parishioners, coming to tend to our garden spaces with weeding and pruning.  Thank you to Ginny Kloepping for organizing this ministry and to Mike Freshwater, Barb Jakiel, Kiki Daivs-Brugmann, Barbara Schultz, and Dottie Gschwend (my apologies if I missed anyone, but know that your work is so very much appreciated).

In our sanctuary, so many thanks to Patrick Ishler, Karen Waddill, and Father Rick for re-imagining the choir/organist area with a spruced-up space and our wonderful banners.

We continue to pray for peace for all humanity.

Be well.  Be safe.  Keep the faith.

Michelle

St. Edward’s Episcopal Church is inviting you to Evening Prayer – Friday. June 5, 2020

Time: 7:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82328056258

Join Code:  823 2805 6258

We will be showing the text on screen to make it easy to follow along. If you have a Book of Common Prayer, you may start on page 115.

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 3, 2020

administrator

Dear parishioners and friends,

In light of the Renewal of our Baptismal Covenant in this past week’s service, we invite you to click the link below to an article from the House of Deputies of The Episcopal Church, from the perspective of an African-American Episcopalian, Reuben K. Varghese MD, MPH, who is a member of the Task Force of the Theology of Social Justice Advocacy, created by General Convention Resolution 2018-A056, and a member of St. John’s, Georgetown in the Diocese of Washington.

A Pentecost Lamentation

Father Rick is so grateful that parishioners are reaching out to him with their thoughts and feelings on the current statements made by the National Church and would encourage all of us to keep our hearts and minds open, as well as the conversations.  Please know that his lines of communication are open and confidential.

Let us pray for both justice AND peace and that no one feels left out in the life of the Church.  We are all in this together and with God’s love we are being called to be understanding and transformative in our daily lives to make our world, for all of humanity, a better place.

—
We also leave you with a video link to “We All are One In Mission” from
First-Plymouth Church Lincoln Nebraska

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0AmVKrX6xg&list=RDw0AmVKrX6xg&start_radio=1&t=51

Have a peaceful evening.  Be well. Be Safe.  Keep the faith.

Michelle

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 2, 2020

administrator

Dear Parishioners and friends,

As we continue to take in and try to make sense of the unfolding unrest in our country, we want to keep you attuned to the most recent statement from our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry from last evening.

Please click here to read Presiding Bishop Curry’s current statement.

In speaking with Father Rick this morning about these nationwide events, which are unsettling, jarring, and profoundly sad, I found his ability to listen and counsel very mindful and introspective.  To that end, Father Rick would like to convey that his lines of communication are always open and confidential.  If anyone, at any time, would like to speak with him about any thoughts and feelings you may have, please feel at ease and confident that he is there for you, with an open mind and heart, to listen.  You can reach out to him on his direct cell phone line or via his email:  [email protected].

Please also keep in mind all those who are suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and remember those who have lost their lives.  It is far from “over” and we must not forget to be mindful of people’s feelings and anxiety navigating the re-opening of our way of life we were so accustomed to.

We leave you today with a meditation (very apropos for today) and a virtual tour and hope both bring a little peace to your evening.

Forward Day by Day for Tuesday, June 2                           The Martyrs of Lyons
Matthew 13:54 [Jesus] came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power?”

How often do our expectations lead to our downfall? When the people of Jesus’ hometown see him, they expect the carpenter’s son. And even when confronted with the evidence of his wisdom and power, they still refuse to believe. They have already made up their minds before he ever opens his mouth.

Our own preconceived notions of others and the world regularly blind us to the actual reality God is creating. A quick glance through the Bible illustrates just how often God upends our expectations—humbling the proud and exalting the meek.

But perhaps the least helpful expectations are the ones we place on ourselves. When we expect too little of ourselves, we limit what God will do with us. When we expect too much, we rely too much on ourselves. Keep an open mind and an open heart, and God will shatter your expectations.

MOVING FORWARD: Make appropriate amends to someone for a wrong assumption you made.

PRAY for the Diocese of St. David’s (Wales)
Ps 45 * 47, 48 | Ecclesiastes 2:16-26 | Galatians 1:18—2:10 | Matthew 13:53-58

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Visit beautiful Mallorca, Spain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNlGBkHM3vw

Be well.  Be Safe.  Keep the Faith.

Michelle

Daily Message from St. Edward’s – June 1, 2020

administrator

Dear Parishioners and friends,

We hope that you enjoyed our service of Pentecost, yesterday, as well as our tour!

If you missed it, please click this link to view!

We are working on finishing up the June Scepter this week which is chick full of great content! It should be posted online and available to pick up before the end of the week.

Look for messages regarding Bible Study and Evening Prayer for later this week.

As we continue to look outward, and reflect inward, on all of the recent events happening to our humanity, we thought you may like to read this article from Episcopal News Service from our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry. So important and gives us more perspective to contemplate.

Click here to read.

You will also see at the bottom of the article page there are articles/links to Presiding Bishop Curry’s Pentecost sermon, as well as his Habitats of Grace series: Pray for the entire human family.

Have a lovely evening. . enjoy the cooler weather for today!

Be well. Be Safe. Keep the Faith.

Michelle