Weekly e-mail

Episcopal Church

of the Resurrection

1433 NW R.D. Mize Road

Blue Springs, Missouri 64015

(816) 228-4220

Important Links Friday, January 27, 2017

Server Schedule

Lectionary Page

Diocesan e-Spirit Newsletter

WEMO Youth Activities and News

Resurrection Website

Diocese of West Missouri

Prayer Request

ANNUAL MEETING HELD JAN. 22

New Vestry members elected

Resurrection conducted its Annual Meeting last Sunday, January 22. Fr. Lynch thanked outgoing Vestry members Bill Carle (Sr. Warden), Randy Goyer (Jr. Warden), Kitty Hampton, Mary Liddle and Janet Woodward for their years of service.

The parish elected Buzz Atkinson, Janeece Buckner, Ken Griechen, Meg Swant and Les Woodward to the Vestry. John Biggs and Jim Gilligan were elected Convention Delegates.

Click here to see the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection's Annual Report.

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FINDING FAITH THROUGH FICTION BOOK CLUB WILL MEET FEB. 6

At 7 pm in the Undercroft

The Finding Faith Through Fiction Book Club will meet next time on Monday, February 6 at 7 pm in the Undercroft to discuss the book The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.

Novelist Ivan Doig revisits the American west in the early twentieth century, bringing to life the eccentric individuals and idiosyncratic institutions that made it thrive.

STAPLES FOUNDATION GRANT AWARDED TO RESURRECTION

$3,500 Grant Received

Thanks to the thoughtfulness and actions of Frances Lingrel, and work from Elaine Gilligan and Bill Carle, our parish has been approved to receive a grant of $3,500 dollars from the Staples

Foundation "2 Million and Change" program that will go towards the "Blessing Bag and Back Snack" ministries.

This grant will help us to increase and continue our work with Blue Springs Community Service League for making and distributing more Blessing Bags, and will help the Blue Springs School District with our commitment to the Back Snack program.

CONFIRMATION CLASSES

Starting February 12

Starting Sunday February 12 and continuing through March 26, Fr. David will provide classes for those seeking to be confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church.

Each session will start shortly after the end of the 10:30 service and will last roughly an hour. Youth confirmation is for age groups 11 years of age and older. Individuals who attended the fall program are already eligible to be confirmed and received and do not need to attend the classes beginning in February.

PLEASE SIGN UP IN THE NARTHEX. If you have questions please contact Fr. David.

EVANGELISM WORKSHOP ON SATURDAY, FEB. 18

9:30 am to 12:30 pm

Register now for an opportunity to respond to the call of our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, to become a part of the "Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement". The Rev. Canon Stephanie Spellers (the Presiding Bishop's Canon for Evangelism) and Evangelist Carrie Headington from the Diocese of Dallas, will be offering Evangelism training in advance of Presiding Bishop Curry's visit to the diocese in May,

This event is free. Please contact Fr. David or Elaine Gilligan to attend and carpool to the Cathedral for the training.

BISHOP FIELD TO VISIT SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19

One Service Only at 9:30 am

Bishop Marty will be with us for one service that will start at 9:30 am on Sunday, February 19, followed by a reception (finger food) and mingling.

Please complete the forms provided in the pews with questions and comments you would like the Bishop to address during the reception time.

GROUP WORKING TO RECORD RESURRECTION HISTORY

Ron McIntire heading team

Have you ever wondered about the story of our parish stained class windows?, ...or where the Baptismal Font came from?, ...or wanted to know the stories about how our church began?

Ron McIntire is heading up a team of folks to collect, preserve and archive our church history. He has created a simple on-line program where any member can post pictures, audio files, stories and other meaningful items that can be preserved for our parish in the years to come

Look for more information to come about how to participate in collecting historical information. If you are interested in helping this team, please contact Fr. David or Ron McIntire.

From Fr. David Fr. David Lynch

This coming Sunday our gospel tells the account of Jesus beginning his Sermon on the Mount where he gave us the Eight Beatitudes, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew. The Gospel of Matthew stressed that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah foretold in our Old Testament, and that the Kingdom of the Lord is the Kingdom of God in Heaven. Jesus offers us a way of life that promises eternity in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The teachings of Jesus were simple but unique and innovative at the time of his life on earth. He began teaching about 30 AD during the ruthless Roman occupation of Palestine. At the time there were four major groups in the Jewish religion, the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and the Zealots, all of whom presented a different viewpoint to the Jewish people. The Pharisees demanded strict observance of the Mosaic law expressed in the Torah, but also accepted the oral tradition of Jewish customs and rituals. The Sadducees were mainly from the priestly families and strictly accepted the Law of Moses but rejected oral tradition. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead. The monastic Essenes awaited a Messiah that would establish a Kingdom on earth and free the Israelites from oppression. The Zealots were a militant Jewish group who wanted freedom for their homeland, and were centered in Galilee; one of the Twelve Apostles was Simon the Zealot.

The Ten Commandments, given to Moses on Mount Sinai in the Old Testament Book of Exodus, related a series of "Thou shalt not" phrases, evils one must avoid in daily life on earth. In contrast, the message of Jesus is one of humility, charity, and brotherly love. He teaches transformation of the inner person. Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately lead to reward. Love becomes the motivation for the Christian. All of the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us salvation - not in this world, but in the next. The Beatitudes initiate one of the main themes of Matthew's Gospel, that the Kingdom so long awaited in the Old Testament is not of this world, but of the next, the Kingdom of Heaven.

While the Beatitudes of Jesus provide a way of life that promises salvation, they also provide peace in the midst of our trials and tribulations on this earth. An early contemplation on the Beatitudes came from St. Gregory of Nyssa, a mystic who lived in Cappadocia in Asia Minor around 380 AD. He described the Beatitudes this way:

"Beatitude is a possession of all things held to be good,
from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want.
Perhaps the meaning of beatitude may become clearer to us
if it is compared with its opposite.
Now the opposite of beatitude is misery.
Misery means being afflicted unwillingly with painful sufferings."

I encourage you to follow this website to read a clear interpretation of what it means to live out the Beatitudes in our lives today. .. blessings to all.