PARISH NOTES
Sunday 13 September 2020
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| Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (1629) by Claude Vignon (1593-1670). Oil on canvas. Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tours, Tours, France. |
THIS SUNDAY’S READINGS
Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 103:8-13
Romans 14:1-12
THIS SUNDAY’S MUSIC
Harold Darke (1888 – 1976)—A Fantasy Plainchant—Missa IX (Cum Jubilo)
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704)—Panis angelicus, H. 243
Herbert Howells (1892 – 1983)—Paean
A WORD OF WELCOME
Welcome to Saint Stephen’s – S. Stephen’s Church is in the midst of Brown University and serves the communities of the East Side of Providence, North Providence, East Providence, and beyond. It is a parish of the Diocese of Rhode Island in the Episcopal Church in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Anglo-Catholic tradition informs and shapes our life together. We are a diverse community uniting all sorts and conditions in the worship of Our Lord Jesus Christ and aim to offer up the best we have in liturgy, music, preaching, teaching, fellowship, and service.
A WORD FROM FATHER BENJAMIN
Dear brothers and sisters,
Our Gospel reading for this Sunday picks up where we left off last week, and continues the theme of sin and forgiveness begun in last week’s Gospel. Peter, who has been playing a prominent role in our readings of late, comes to Jesus and asks, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” To which Jesus replies, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”
It may be Peter asking the question, but it is one that all of us have asked at some point in our hearts. And as we experience the fullness and range of Peter’s faithfulness as well as his fickleness, we realize that Peter really represents each of us in the Gospels. Jesus’s strong words about the dangers of not forgiving are likewise directed at all of us, for he knows what happens when we fail to live into the life of reconciliations that God wills for us.
This brings to mind one of my favorite hymns in The Hymnal 1982, no. 674, “Forgive our sins as we forgive,” written by Rosamond Herklots (1905-1987). She wrote the following words in 1966 after digging out weeds in her garden and thinking about how bitterness, hatred, and resentment are like poisonous weeds growing in the Christian garden of life. So often I find that poetry or music convey truths more effectively than prose, and so I commend these beautifully expressed words for your own devotion: we may not be able to sing hymns in church right now, but we can still pray them.
“Forgive our sins as we forgive,”
you taught us, Lord, to pray;
but you alone can grant us grace
to live the words we say.
How can your pardon reach and bless
the unforgiving heart
that broods on wrongs and will not let
old bitterness depart?
In blazing light your cross reveals
the truth we dimly knew,
how small the debts men owe to us,
how great our debt to you.
Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls,
and bid resentment cease;
then, reconciled to God and man,
our lives will spread your peace.
Yours in the peace of Christ,
Fr. Benjamin+
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Welcome Back! – We’re delighted to be able to see you again this coming Sunday! While we continue to gather again, this privilege brings with it some protocols to keep us all safe. A summary of the safety protocols may be found here.
Virtual Offices and Masses – We offer Virtual Offices and Masses for those who wish to continue to participate safely from home. To access and view the LIVE (and archived) services, please visit the parish Facebook page here (you do not need a FB account to tune in). To access accompanying Daily Office and Low Mass readings and resources (as well as archived services), please visit the parish website sermon page here.
Virtual Coffee Hour – Please join us for Virtual Sunday Coffee Hour this Sunday, 13 September, at 11:30 am. Please click here to join. Note that this is a new link and will remain the link going forward. Further, coffee hour will now be every other Sunday. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Fr. Benjamin Straley at rector@sstephens.necoxmail.com. Thank you!
A Note on E-mail Communications – Our apologies as the email servers for our Cox Business E-mail account have not been working the last few days. If you have tried reaching us, please be patient as we work this out. Thank you!
Holy Cross Day (14 September) – a major feast of the church year, will be kept this coming Monday with Evening Prayer at 5:30 pm, followed by Low Mass at 6 pm.
Monthly Commemoration of the Departed – whose year’s mind falls during September will be offered virtually and in person this coming Saturday, 19 September, at 10 am (preceded by Morning Prayer at 9:30 am). If you have any names to add to those to be remembered, please let Nancy Gingrich know. This Mass is sponsored by the Guild of All Souls, St. Stephen Protomartyr Branch: all are welcome and invited to attend!
Meet the Rector! – Please join us for an upcoming small group Zoom meeting with Father Benjamin! The next meeting is scheduled for Monday 9/14 at 7 pm. Contact Alison Huff at 401-465-8029 or alisonhuff12@gmail.com to join this event or to host one of your own!
College Ministry – Welcome to all new and returning students! We hope your first week of classes went well! The Episcopal Ministry at Brown and RISD (EMBR) is still preparing for this Fall and will kick off soon. Once we resume our programming, all undergraduate and graduate students will be most welcome and invited to attend.
Concerning Pledges and the Sunday Offering – Thank you to all who have been so faithful in maintaining your financial support of S. Stephen’s during this pandemic. As some are able to return to in-person worship while others understandably need to stay home, there are three ways to continue your giving to S. Stephen’s:
- There is an offering plate in the back of the church where you may leave your offering.
- Offerings can be sent to the church office through the mail.
- You can give online by clicking here. Please contact us if you need assistance.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Prayers have been requested for: Charles, Sandra, Lola, Ruby, Norman, Diana, Sarah, Harrington, Joan, Jay, Ann, Beverly, Tom, Angela, Bobby, Beverly, and Rhoda.
Anniversary of Ordination to the Sacred Diaconate: Fr. Michael A. Pearson (Monday 9/14/77).
Birthday this week: Amanda Malone-Drew (Sunday 9/13).
Wedding Anniversary: Richard and Robyn Noble (Tuesday 9/15/84).
The faithful departed: Year’s Mind: James F. Littlefield (13 September 1986), Margaret Chase (13 September 1998), and George R. Finch (13 September 2009). Recently Departed: Steven Peay, Priest.
Anglican and Diocesan Cycles of Prayer – In the Anglican Cycle of Prayer, we are asked to pray for the Anglican Church of South America: The Most Rev’d Gregory James Venables, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of South America & Bishop of Argentina; in the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, for the people and clergy of The Church of the Holy Cross, Middletown, and The Church of the Redeemer, Providence.
THIS WEEK AT S. STEPHEN’S
PARISH PROGRAMS, EVENTS & MEETINGS
Monday 14 September
Meet the Rector Small Group Meeting 7 pm
Saturday 19 September
Guild of All Souls 10 am (Lady Chapel)
EXTRA-PAROCHIAL EVENTS HOSTED AT S. STEPHEN’S
Saturday 19 September
Epiphany Soup Kitchen (Meal Pickup Only) 2:30-4:30 pm
LITURGICAL CALENDAR & SERVICE SCHEDULE
* REGATHERING HAS RESUMED FOR IN-PERSON SERVICES ON SUNDAYS (80 PEOPLE TOTAL) AND WEEKDAYS (14 PEOPLE TOTAL)
* ALL ATTENDEES MUST ADHERE TO WRITTEN AND VERBAL PROTOCOLS TO ATTEND
Sunday 13 September
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Sung Mass 10 am
Daily Office and Mass Lectionary: Proper 19, Year Two
Monday 14 September
HOLY CROSS DAY (W)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm
Tuesday 15 September
FERIA (G)
Our Lady of Sorrows (Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Wednesday 16 September
Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle of the Picts, c. 432 (W)
Evening Prayer 5:30 pm
Low Mass 6 pm
Thursday 17 September
Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 (W)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Friday 18 September
Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, Tractarian, 1882 (W)
Noonday Prayer 12 noon
Low Mass 12:10 pm
Saturday 19 September
Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690
Morning Prayer 9:30 am
Low Requiem Mass 10 am (Black)
Sunday 20 September
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (G)
Sung Mass 10 am
NEXT SUNDAY'S READINGS (20 September)
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Year A)
Jonah 3:10—4:11
Psalm 145:1-8
Philippians 1:21-30
