St. Stephen's Episcopal Church
This Week
March 8-15, 2018 
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Holy Week & Easter Sunday Service Schedule
Palm Sunday - March 24 & 25, 2018
Saturday, March 24th @ 5pm - Holy Eucharist and Healing
Sunday, March 25th @ 9:30am - Holy Eucharist
Maundy Thursday - March 29, 2018
7:00pm Holy Eucharist & Foot Washing
Good Friday - March 30, 2018
12:00pm Good Friday Liturgy & Veneration of the Cross
7:00pm  Tenebrae
Holy Saturday - March 31, 2018
7:30pm Easter Vigil 
Reception to follow
Easter Sunday - April 1, 2018
6:00am  Sunrise Easter Eucharist
8:00am  Easter Eucharist with Choir
9:30am  Easter Eucharist with Choir
In this Issue
Parish Workday
Game Night
Mary Lou Clark
S.A.G.E.S.
Palm Cross Making
Lenten Series
African Team Ministries
Heretics Weekly
Habitat Dedication
Lenten Habitat Calendar
Easter Flowers
We pray for...
  • the victims of mass shootings;
  • civil discourse grounded in respect;
  • refugees, immigrants and those without a home.
  • The search for a new bishop and rector: Merciful God giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese and a rector for this parish, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  
Service Schedule
Saturday
   5:00 PM - Holy Eucharist and Healing 

Sunday
  8:00am Rectors Bible Study & Coffee
9:30am Holy Eucharist
Following worship, Fellowship, Coffee and Refreshments 
11:00am Adult Formation & Education 

Wednesday  
12:15pm Mid-Week Eucharist
Office Hours
Monday-Thursday
10:00AM-12:00PM & 1:30PM-4:30PM and other times by appointment .  
St. Stephen's Vestry
Christina Priddy
-Rector's Warden
Vic Grace
-People's Warden
Jack Colaric
-Treasurer
Mary Heldenbrand
-Clerk
Vestry
Lyle Skillen
Vicki Bradshaw
Ronnie Sunderman
Bruce Brannan
Kristin McCartor
Paul Basha
Ken Carleno
Helpful Links



Parish Workday - This Saturday
Everyone is invited to our parish workday on Saturday the 10 th . We will meet at 8 AM to perform a variety of tasks around our property. Coffee and refreshments will be provided.  Let's all make St. Stephen's as beautiful as we know that it is.
Game Night Tomorrow!!
Mexican Train will be played Friday, March 9th at 6:30 p.m. in the Dining Room. Bring a snack or just come and enjoy this fun group.
Mary Lou Clark
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Mary Lou Clark's memorial service will be on March 24th at 11am with a reception to follow. Please keep her family and friends in your prayers.


March S.A.G.E.S.
S.A.G.E.S. will meet Thursday, March 15 at noon for their monthly potluck.  Bring a bread, casserole, salad or dessert to serve 6.  All are welcome.  Our guest speaker, Joyce Seide, from Southwest Medicare Specialists  will be discussing the basics of Medicare. She will also be talking about a federal program that is in place for individuals that have Medicare A&B and can help with the cost of prescription drugs as well as the different levels of state assistance that are available.  
Palm Cross making!
Are you interested in helping to make palm crosses for our Palm Sunday celebration?! If so, please contact Marge @ 480-946-1556.
 
Lenten Study Series
 
Join us for the Lenten Soup & Study series on Wednesday nights during Lent from 5:45-7:30pm. We'll be studying and discussing videos from a series titled - A Celebration of Disciple: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster. 
African Team Ministries
This weekend & next we have the opportunity to participate in a different outreach project. On the 11th and 18th we will host a display of crafts from several African countries (and Israel).  These crafts are for sale and the proceeds of the sales will be returned trough African Team Ministries to the villages of their origin. This gives us the opportunity to support a growing cottage-style industry in some of the poorest areas of the world. It also gives us the opportunity to purchase some rather unique gifts for our families and friends. You could actually finish your Christmas shopping this year in one short week.
Heretics Weekly's next book
Heretics Weekly Book Group is taking on a timely subject in our next reading selection: Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill by Dave Grossman.
 
Here is part of what Amazon has to say about this selection:
 
Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill supplies the statistics, interprets the copious research that exists on the subject, and suggests the many ways to make a difference in your home, at school, in your community, in the courts, and in the larger world. In using this book, parents, educators, social-service workers, youth advocates, and anyone interested in the welfare of our children will have a solid foundation for effective action and prevention of future Columbines, Jonesboros, and Newtowns.
 
Heretics Weekly meets most Saturdays from noon to 1:30 pm at Jim's Coney Island, a few blocks north of the 202 on Scottsdale Road.  Everyone is welcome-even if you can't make it every week!
 
Please call Leah Batty (480-423-0991) or Kristin McCartor (602-421-6954) for more information.  
The Asress house is ready to dedicate!
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Thanks to the St. Stephen's volunteers, along with other parishes in the Episcopal Habitat Coalition of Central Arizona, Genet will have her new house dedicated at 9:00 AM on Saturday, 10 March. 10 V olunteers worked over two Saturdays to frame and paint this house. Anyone from St. Stephen's who wishes to bless this new home and to be blessed by it in return is welcome to attend this joyful meeting.
 
The house we have built is at 1937 E. Don Carlos in Tempe, near McClintock and Apache, click here for a map.
Still Counting our Blessings
Our 2018 Habitat Lenten Calendars  continue to remind us to give thanks for the comfort of our homes.  As we do so, we also give thanks to the generosity of St. Stephen's and the other communities supporting Habitat for Humanity.  We are making homes affordable for deserving families, who will pay us back by improving our community

If you have not done so, please pick up you 2018 Habitat Lenten Calendars and their accompanying house banks this weekend.  They are a daily reminder to "feed" the house banks during our Lenten fund drive.  Each day allows you to count a new blessing and to help others receive such blessings in the future.  IOU's work as well as coins, so long as they turn into cash or checks by Easter.  Your generosity during Lent will help the Episcopal Coalition of Central Arizona put two new families into good, affordable houses this year.  You will also help the coalition support Habitat projects elsewhere in the country and around the world through its annual tithe.

St. Stephen's was wonderfully generous to Habitat for Humanity last year, raising over $3,800.  Let's make 2018 even better.
Easter Flowers
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We are collecting orders for Easter lilies and other flowers that will adorn our altar on Easter. If you'd like to order a lily in thanksgiving for or loving memory of someone for Easter services, please order online here, place the order form into the offering plate or bring your request into the office by the weekend of March 18th.  

We aspire to be an accepting community in which people will know Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, spiritual formation and fellowship. We hope our community will encourage all to use their God given gifts to serve others in the name of Christ.

Faithfully,

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church