Worship at St. Edward’s: Fifth Sunday of Easter – May 2, 2021

Dear St. Edward’s Family,

I cannot adequately express my sense of deep gratitude for the thoughtfulness and the generosity of our community around the events of last week’s Celebration of a New Ministry.  In addition to the blessing of our bishop and the beautiful liturgy that accompanied the Installation, I was completely blown away by the virtual reception that we enjoyed together this past Sunday.  Without knowing what would be happening or who would be participating, the incredible efforts of our Installation Committee (Julie Hoff, Meredith Westgate, Nancy Mannion, Christina McLaughlin, Herb Johnston, and Mike Freshwater) facilitated a gathering that touched my heart and stirred my spirit.  Please know that Trina, Ricky, Christian, and I have been truly moved by the cards and the well wishes.  I’ve spent time this week breathing in an awareness of gratitude, reading every card, and praying for each of you.

Though we haven’t been able to spend very much time together physically in our first year together, the support and the prayers of our parish family have provided me with a palpable feeling of acceptance and of home here at St. Edward’s.  I am so very excited for what the future holds for us, and it is an honor to be serving as your rector.  With humble appreciation,

Father Rick+


We welcome you to worship with us as we celebrate this Fifth Sunday of Easter.  All essential information and links for our Sunday services are noted below. 

For this Saturday, the first day of a new month, as you enter the evening hours of this gorgeous day, may we reflect on the beauty of this life with:

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.
(BCP, p.124)

Be well.  Stay safe.  Keep the faith.

Michelle

Click here to connect to the Fifth Sunday of Easter service, May 2nd, which will be live streamed at 10:15 AM on Sunday. 

Click here to download our 8:00 AM Rite I service bulletin for Fifth Sunday of Easter

Click here to download our 10:15 AM Rite II service bulletin for Fifth Sunday of Easter

A few friendly reminders for those returning to in-person worship and for those new to our in-person worship:

– We will have ushers/greeters inside the narthex and they will have the service bulletins for you. We will also continue to take your name and contact information.

– Please do not forget to wear your mask.

– Ushers will direct you to pew locations to maintain social distancing and will also guide you during communion.

– As we will not pass the offering plate, it will be located on the pedestal at the back of the church for you to place your Sunday offerings.

– On the shelf in the narthex are materials that you may find of interest to take home with you.

*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! 

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.  If you click on the bulletin links above, you will get a complete list of our weekly announcements on the last page of the bulletin.

We continue to honor the guidance delivered by our bishop, as well as our love for God in Christ, to care for one another, by remaining socially distanced, and refrain from in-person fellowship gathering.  There are many opportunities for us to worship, and perform ministry, in community, in ways that are of comfort to us, during this continued Covidtide. Please see a listing below and stay tuned to our weekly emails, web site posts, and Sunday bulletins for updates on specific details. We invite you to celebrate with us, as a community of faith!

Father Rick Installation

Click here to read a wonderful article from our local newspaper – TownLively – on Father Rick’s+ Installation and  St. Edward’s.


We are providing four links, below, that may be helpful and informative to you as they detail COVID19 vaccination site information and department of health information.

vaccinateLancaster.org

Lancaster County, PA COVID-19 Hub

PA Department of Health

Vaccine Distribution Information PA DOH

The May Scepter is online and in print.  Click here to view the online version.

Leslie Arnold has done amazing ministry keeping our youth engaged in Christian Formation Click here to view the lessons and activities that are posted each week. 

St. Edward’s is forming a team to “walk our way” in the YWCA 2021 Race Against Racism.  For more information on this event and to learn how to join us, please click the links below (they include passwords for registration). It is never to late to register to participate with us on May 15th!  We are so grateful for the support!  We have 22 participants signed up!

St. Edward’s Registration Information Flier

YWCA Race Against Racism brochure

Please continue your support of the Hempfield Area Food Pantry. Current food list:  Canned green beans; canned corn; canned peas; canned applesauce; cereal; pancake mix; pancake syrup; large grape jelly; bagged noodles.

The Faith in Action committee asks for your help collecting some books for prisoners in Lancaster. An Episcopalian prison chaplain, Deacon Stacey Catigano, keeps a library for prisoners, and she could use some Bibles and other devotional or inspirational titles to circulate among prisoners. You can either donate books or money to buy them. Just drop off your donations in the narthex or make out a check to St. Edward’s with “books for prisoners” in the memo line.  To learn more about this project, stop by the bookcase in the narthex and pick up a flyer and browse some of the books we have already collected.  You can also go to this link to see what kinds of books are needed.

Let’s show our love for our human family and strive to fill our bookcase, as we collect books throughout the summer months.

Curious about becoming a prison ministry volunteer?  If you feel God is calling you to prison ministry, please join a Zoom Q&A Meeting on Sunday, June 6th at 1 PM to learn more.  The Rev. Stacey Catigano, Deacon, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Lancaster will be the host.  Please contact Deacon Stacey (717) 799 -9764 or email: [email protected] to sign up. There are information flyers in our narthex, and by clicking here.

St. Edward’s is offering a full complement of Adult Spiritual Formation.  Click here for our Spring information sheet. Please check your weekly emails which will have all the study details & Zoom invitation details.

Sunday Evening Prayer: Each Sunday at 7:00 PM. Anyone interested can send Br. David Rutledge an email to be put on an email distribution list: [email protected] Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/95355083080 Meeting ID: 953 5508 3080

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.