PARISH NOTES
Sunday 23 December 2018
 |
| The Visitation of Saint Mary to Saint Elizabeth. c. 1460. Kremsmünster Abbey, Kremsmünster, Austria. |
FROM THE RECTOR
THIS SUNDAY’S MUSIC
Robert Parsons (1535-1572)—Ave Maria
THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
Fourth Sunday of Advent, Year C
Psalm 80:1-7
Micah 5:2-5a
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45(46-56)
Welcome to S. Stephen’s – especially to our visitors and guests! We’re glad to have you with us. Please join us for Coffee Hour following the 10 a.m. Mass in the Great Hall upstairs. If you have any questions or special needs, please speak to one of the ushers, who will be glad to assist you.
Schedule of Christmas Services – Christmas Eve: (Monday, 24 December) Christmas Eve Family Mass - 5:30 pm; Solemn Mass of the Nativity - 10:30 pm. Christmas Day: (Tuesday, 25 December) Morning Prayer 9:30 am, Low Mass 10 am. (Please note that on Christmas Eve (Monday) Evening Prayer will not be offered at the usual time.)
Christmas Decorating – This year we hope to engage a group of volunteers to decorate the church after the 10 am Mass for Advent IV (today), in order to have the church decorated for the Blue Heron Concert later that day. If you are interested in joining in this festive tradition, including a pizza lunch, simply stay after the Mass.
Blue Heron Concert: Christmas in 15th-Century France & Burgundy – This afternoon, December 23rd, treat yourself to luxurious sounds of the 15th century. Blue Heron, the 2018 Winners of the Gramophone Classical Music Award for Early Music, bring a captivating mix of mysticism and merriment, from the penitential season of Advent through Christmas rejoicing and the festive celebration of New Year’s Day, with music by the greatest French and Flemish musicians of the fifteenth century—Guillaume Du Fay, Johannes Regis, Josquin Desprez, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Brumel, and others. Doors open at 3:30 pm. For ticket pricing and more information, please visit http://www.blueheron.org/.
Stewardship Program – We are pleased to report that as of Monday, December 17th, we have received 44 pledges for 2019 totaling $94,474 (including seven new individuals / households whose pledges total $13,670). Thank you to all who have pledged so far! If you have not already pledged, you may have received an email and / or a hard-copy letter this week inviting you to do so. Now is the time! We are grateful for all pledges received, no matter how large or small. Please consider prayerfully what you can offer; your parish is counting on your support and generosity.
The Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Issue of The S. Stephen – has been mailed in hard copy and is available online for viewing and downloading here. If you are not on the mailing list for The S. Stephen and would like to be, please let us know!
Rector’s Book Group – Beginning on Sunday 6 January 2019 (the Feast of the Epiphany) at 7 pm, Fr. John Alexander will lead an online discussion of C. S. Lewis's The Great Divorce (1945)— a satiric fantasy novel of a bus ride in the Afterlife. If you would like to participate - or if you'd like to find out more about what's involved – please email Fr. John so he can include you in the distribution of necessary information on how to join the discussion. (For an excellent report on the previous book group that met this past summer and autumn, see the article by J. Jennifer Jones in the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany issue of The S. Stephen.)
Support S. Stephen’s on Smile.Amazon.Com – If you shop on Amazon through its AmazonSmile Program, you can designate 0.5% of your purchases to go to S. Stephen’s! All you need to do is visit https://smile.amazon.com/ch/05-0271657, sign into your Amazon account, and confirm S. Stephen’s Church as your charity of choice (you can always switch back and forth between charities that you would like to support). This is a great opportunity to support your parish as you do your shopping for Christmas and throughout the year. Please be on the lookout for a resource list of additional micro-donation programs to be able to donate to the church and its ministries on a regular basis, typically without even having to lift a finger after set-up.
Nominations Committee – candidates for the following positions need to be elected at the Annual Parish Meeting on January 27, 2019:
· One Vestry Member for a four-year term (expires January 2023)
· One Vestry Member for a two-year term (expires January 2021)
· Junior Warden (three year term; expires January 2022)
· Clerk of the Vestry (one-year term)
· Treasurer (one-year term)
· Two Diocesan Convention Delegates (one-year term)
· Two Diocesan Convention Alternates (one-year term)
The Nominations Committee consists of: Tom Bledsoe (Chair), Phoebe Pettingell, Bobby Rose, Robyn Noble, and Karl Benziger. Please speak to any of them if you have suggestions for nominations, or indeed if you would be interested in offering yourself for one of these offices. (Their deadline to announce a slate of candidates is Sunday 30 December.)
Feast of the Holy Name – On Tuesday 1 January 2019, we shall keep the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus with a Sung Mass at 10 am in conjunction with St. John’s, Newport, whose parishioners have been invited to join us and stay to help out with the New Year’s Day Dinner (see announcement below). Do please plan to begin the New Year by coming to Mass to join in the celebration of this Principal Feast of the Church Year!
New Year’s Day Dinner – Once again we will offer our annual New Year’s Day Dinner for the Hungry, on Tuesday 1 January 2019. If you can help, please contact coordinator Bobby Rose via email, or contact the parish office at 421-6702 ext. 1 or via email. We welcome new scarves, mittens, hats and socks, as well as personal hygiene products such as soaps and toothbrushes. For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you welcomed me… Matthew 25:35
Prayers have been requested for: Elizabeth, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Richard, Norman, John, Shannah, Terri, Sister Carolyn, Lynne, William, Gus, Leonard, Harrington, Joan, Sandy, John, Phebe, Gregory, Jack, Richard, Ann, Colin, Sandy, Kiersten, Beverly, Deborah, Bryan, Angela, Bobby, Beverly, Allora, Carlos, Rhoda, William, Roger, and James.
Birthdays this week: Katherine Rejto (Thursday 12/27).
The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: George Wightman Williams (24 December 2004), Frances S. Sloan (26 December 1993), Mary Gowdey (27 December 1992), Albert E. Godfrey (27 December 1993), John Seville Higgins (Bishop) (28 December 1992), and Detlev Schumann (29 December 1986). Recently Departed: Dorothy Rogers.
Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for the Diocese of Kubwa - ( Abuja, Nigeria): The Rt. Rev’d Duke Akamisoko; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for the people and clergy of S. Stephen's, Providence and of St. John’s, Barrington and of St. John the Evangelist, Newport and of the Chapel of St. John the Divine, Saunderstown.
Acolytes – MC F Pisaturo, SD J Ihnen, Thurifer L Verdelotti, Crucifer D Malo, Torches C Sylvia and R Noble
Lector – E Alexander
Ushers – Tom Oakes and Nancy Gingrich
Ushers for Christmas Eve – 5:30 TBD, 10:30 George Ryan and Phoebe Pettingell
Coffee Hour – No Coffee Hour (decorating church; pizza and soda will be provided for volunteers)
EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S
Sunday 23 December
Blue Heron Concert 4:00 pm (Nave)
Saturday 29 December
Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 pm (Great Hall)
LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE
23 December
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Sarum Blue)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Solemn Mass 10 am
Daily Mass and Office Lectionaries: Week of Advent IV, Year One
Monday 24 December
CHRISTMAS EVE (W)
Christmas Eve Family Mass 5:30 pm
Solemn Mass of the Nativity 10:30 pm
Tuesday 25 December
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (W)
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10 am
Wednesday 26 December
SAINT STEPHEN, DEACON AND PROTOMARTYR (R)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm
Thursday 27 December
SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST (W)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Friday 28 December
THE HOLY INNOCENTS (R)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Saturday 29 December
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1170 (R)
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10 am
30 December
SAINT STEPHEN, DEACON AND PROTOMARTYR (Transferred) (R)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Sung Mass 10 am
SOLEMN MASS OF THE NATIVITY READINGS (24 December, 10:30 pm)
Isaiah 62:6-12
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:8-20
NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (30 December)
Saint Stephen, Deacon and Protomartyr (Transferred)
Psalm 31:1-5
Jeremiah 26:1-9, 12-15 Acts 6:8--7:2a, 51c-60, 8:1-2
Matthew 23:34-39
Psalm 80:1-7
Micah 5:2-5a
Hebrews 10:5-10
Luke 1:39-45(46-56)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome to S. Stephen’s – especially to our visitors and guests! We’re glad to have you with us. Please join us for Coffee Hour following the 10 a.m. Mass in the Great Hall upstairs. If you have any questions or special needs, please speak to one of the ushers, who will be glad to assist you.
Schedule of Christmas Services – Christmas Eve: (Monday, 24 December) Christmas Eve Family Mass - 5:30 pm; Solemn Mass of the Nativity - 10:30 pm. Christmas Day: (Tuesday, 25 December) Morning Prayer 9:30 am, Low Mass 10 am. (Please note that on Christmas Eve (Monday) Evening Prayer will not be offered at the usual time.)
Christmas Decorating – This year we hope to engage a group of volunteers to decorate the church after the 10 am Mass for Advent IV (today), in order to have the church decorated for the Blue Heron Concert later that day. If you are interested in joining in this festive tradition, including a pizza lunch, simply stay after the Mass.
Blue Heron Concert: Christmas in 15th-Century France & Burgundy – This afternoon, December 23rd, treat yourself to luxurious sounds of the 15th century. Blue Heron, the 2018 Winners of the Gramophone Classical Music Award for Early Music, bring a captivating mix of mysticism and merriment, from the penitential season of Advent through Christmas rejoicing and the festive celebration of New Year’s Day, with music by the greatest French and Flemish musicians of the fifteenth century—Guillaume Du Fay, Johannes Regis, Josquin Desprez, Jacob Obrecht, Antoine Brumel, and others. Doors open at 3:30 pm. For ticket pricing and more information, please visit http://www.blueheron.org/.
Stewardship Program – We are pleased to report that as of Monday, December 17th, we have received 44 pledges for 2019 totaling $94,474 (including seven new individuals / households whose pledges total $13,670). Thank you to all who have pledged so far! If you have not already pledged, you may have received an email and / or a hard-copy letter this week inviting you to do so. Now is the time! We are grateful for all pledges received, no matter how large or small. Please consider prayerfully what you can offer; your parish is counting on your support and generosity.
The Advent-Christmas-Epiphany Issue of The S. Stephen – has been mailed in hard copy and is available online for viewing and downloading here. If you are not on the mailing list for The S. Stephen and would like to be, please let us know!
Rector’s Book Group – Beginning on Sunday 6 January 2019 (the Feast of the Epiphany) at 7 pm, Fr. John Alexander will lead an online discussion of C. S. Lewis's The Great Divorce (1945)— a satiric fantasy novel of a bus ride in the Afterlife. If you would like to participate - or if you'd like to find out more about what's involved – please email Fr. John so he can include you in the distribution of necessary information on how to join the discussion. (For an excellent report on the previous book group that met this past summer and autumn, see the article by J. Jennifer Jones in the Advent-Christmas-Epiphany issue of The S. Stephen.)
Support S. Stephen’s on Smile.Amazon.Com – If you shop on Amazon through its AmazonSmile Program, you can designate 0.5% of your purchases to go to S. Stephen’s! All you need to do is visit https://smile.amazon.com/ch/05-0271657, sign into your Amazon account, and confirm S. Stephen’s Church as your charity of choice (you can always switch back and forth between charities that you would like to support). This is a great opportunity to support your parish as you do your shopping for Christmas and throughout the year. Please be on the lookout for a resource list of additional micro-donation programs to be able to donate to the church and its ministries on a regular basis, typically without even having to lift a finger after set-up.
Nominations Committee – candidates for the following positions need to be elected at the Annual Parish Meeting on January 27, 2019:
· One Vestry Member for a four-year term (expires January 2023)
· One Vestry Member for a two-year term (expires January 2021)
· Junior Warden (three year term; expires January 2022)
· Clerk of the Vestry (one-year term)
· Treasurer (one-year term)
· Two Diocesan Convention Delegates (one-year term)
· Two Diocesan Convention Alternates (one-year term)
The Nominations Committee consists of: Tom Bledsoe (Chair), Phoebe Pettingell, Bobby Rose, Robyn Noble, and Karl Benziger. Please speak to any of them if you have suggestions for nominations, or indeed if you would be interested in offering yourself for one of these offices. (Their deadline to announce a slate of candidates is Sunday 30 December.)
Feast of the Holy Name – On Tuesday 1 January 2019, we shall keep the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus with a Sung Mass at 10 am in conjunction with St. John’s, Newport, whose parishioners have been invited to join us and stay to help out with the New Year’s Day Dinner (see announcement below). Do please plan to begin the New Year by coming to Mass to join in the celebration of this Principal Feast of the Church Year!
New Year’s Day Dinner – Once again we will offer our annual New Year’s Day Dinner for the Hungry, on Tuesday 1 January 2019. If you can help, please contact coordinator Bobby Rose via email, or contact the parish office at 421-6702 ext. 1 or via email. We welcome new scarves, mittens, hats and socks, as well as personal hygiene products such as soaps and toothbrushes. For I was hungry, and you gave me food: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you welcomed me… Matthew 25:35
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Prayers have been requested for: Elizabeth, Hannah, Kaitlyn, Mary, Richard, Norman, John, Shannah, Terri, Sister Carolyn, Lynne, William, Gus, Leonard, Harrington, Joan, Sandy, John, Phebe, Gregory, Jack, Richard, Ann, Colin, Sandy, Kiersten, Beverly, Deborah, Bryan, Angela, Bobby, Beverly, Allora, Carlos, Rhoda, William, Roger, and James.
Birthdays this week: Katherine Rejto (Thursday 12/27).
The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: George Wightman Williams (24 December 2004), Frances S. Sloan (26 December 1993), Mary Gowdey (27 December 1992), Albert E. Godfrey (27 December 1993), John Seville Higgins (Bishop) (28 December 1992), and Detlev Schumann (29 December 1986). Recently Departed: Dorothy Rogers.
Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for the Diocese of Kubwa - ( Abuja, Nigeria): The Rt. Rev’d Duke Akamisoko; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for the people and clergy of S. Stephen's, Providence and of St. John’s, Barrington and of St. John the Evangelist, Newport and of the Chapel of St. John the Divine, Saunderstown.
THE SUNDAY ROTA
Acolytes – MC F Pisaturo, SD J Ihnen, Thurifer L Verdelotti, Crucifer D Malo, Torches C Sylvia and R Noble
Lector – E Alexander
Ushers – Tom Oakes and Nancy Gingrich
Ushers for Christmas Eve – 5:30 TBD, 10:30 George Ryan and Phoebe Pettingell
Coffee Hour – No Coffee Hour (decorating church; pizza and soda will be provided for volunteers)
THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S
EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S
Sunday 23 December
Blue Heron Concert 4:00 pm (Nave)
Saturday 29 December
Epiphany Soup Kitchen 2:30 pm (Great Hall)
LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE
23 December
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Sarum Blue)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Solemn Mass 10 am
Daily Mass and Office Lectionaries: Week of Advent IV, Year One
Monday 24 December
CHRISTMAS EVE (W)
Christmas Eve Family Mass 5:30 pm
Solemn Mass of the Nativity 10:30 pm
Tuesday 25 December
THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (W)
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10 am
Wednesday 26 December
SAINT STEPHEN, DEACON AND PROTOMARTYR (R)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm
Thursday 27 December
SAINT JOHN, APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST (W)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Friday 28 December
THE HOLY INNOCENTS (R)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Saturday 29 December
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Martyr, 1170 (R)
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Mass 10 am
30 December
SAINT STEPHEN, DEACON AND PROTOMARTYR (Transferred) (R)
Morning Prayer 8 am
Low Mass 8:10 am
Sung Mass 10 am
SOLEMN MASS OF THE NATIVITY READINGS (24 December, 10:30 pm)
Isaiah 62:6-12
Titus 3:4-7
Luke 2:8-20
NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (30 December)
Saint Stephen, Deacon and Protomartyr (Transferred)
Psalm 31:1-5
Jeremiah 26:1-9, 12-15 Acts 6:8--7:2a, 51c-60, 8:1-2
Matthew 23:34-39
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| The Visitation of Saint Mary to Saint Elizabeth (Detail). c. 1460. Kremsmünster Abbey, Kremsmünster, Austria. |
