A message from The Rev. Ernie Boyer
 


Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." - John 20: 21-23
 
I just returned from three days at Clergy Conference. Every year someone different leads it, usually an outside speaker. This year it was led by Bishop Mary. In her final homily she gave a fascinating reflection on the above passage from John. I think we can all learn from what she said. In summary, it was this:
 
The resurrected Jesus returned, Bishop Mary said, to tell us that he was leaving us all in the hands of the Holy Spirit as our guide and our source of grace. The Holy Spirit is always with us, but it possible for us to block its influence. We do that when we refuse to forgive. Forgiveness is everything. Bishop Mary learned, she said, that when she wakes up at three in the morning, troubled and unable to sleep, the cause often comes down to one thing: there is something or someone that she needs to forgive. Frequently that someone is herself.
 
This is true for me too, but in my case, it can be others who I need to forgive also. The thing is, it often happens that it is not really what the person has done that I need to forgive. Instead, it generally turns out that I need to forgive them for being who they are. Then I need to forgive myself for expecting them to be who I want them to be rather then who God wants them to be.
 
Here are a few other things I heard from Bishop Mary that struck me during the conference:
  • The churches that will thrive in the years ahead are not actually going to be the ones with great resources. They are going to be the ones who have discovered a way to adjust to their scarcity and have learned to find abundance in who they are.
  • After becoming a widow, Bishop Mary said that she came to see the world differently. She found herself especially drawn to vulnerability. That's because it's just so true, she said. Life is so fragile: we are vulnerable. So get comfortable with vulnerability. It's a reflection of what's real.
  • Church identity is found in who and what a church is apart from their priest. 
  • In the end, the future of the church is in the hands not of its bishops, not of its priests, not of its deacons. It is in the hands of the laity. 
As always, Bishop Mary has given us insightful words to ponder.

Peace and grace,
Ernie +
 
Sunday Services:

Sunday, Feb. 11        8 am   Holy Eucharist - Last Sunday After Epiphany
                                10 am    Holy Eucharist  
      Nursery Care
      Sunday School
 
 
 
 
Server Schedule for Sunday, Feb. 11 & Feb. 18, 2018
(click above to access Server Schedule)
 


Last week at at SMUM . . .

John and Ann Little's, Hannah and her brother Jakob Samson, Monica, Chloie and Chelsie and myself went to serve in the food pantry.
If we had not showed up there would only have been a senior from Bellerime to help.  This is easy work and doesn't take that much time.  Help is needed on the first and third Saturday morning from 8:30 till about noon.
We donated the fleece blankets to SMUM and got to watch a few homeless people ride off on their bikes with some of our blankets. Way cool!!
One of the photos shows our friend Jose Leal with SMUM's new director Kathy.  Jose is helping with making some of the registration process run a lot smoother.
We usually treat ourselves to lunch after at Chick- Fil- a.  Who's going on the 17th .
                                                -- Janet Thorsrud 



  Sr Elaine Coutu from  "Get On The Bus" will be with us on February 18.  Sr Elaine will preach and give a video presentation about the "Get On The Bus" program after the 10am service.  This is a program St Stephen's has contributed to in the past.
"Get on the Bus" brings children and their caregivers from throughout the State of California to visit their mothers and fathers in prison, generally around Mother's and Father's Day.

An annual event, "Get on the Bus" offers free transportation for the children and their caregivers to the prison, provides travel bags for the children, comfort bags for the caregivers, a photo of each child with his or her parent, and meals for the day (breakfast, snacks on the bus, a special lunch at the prison with their parent and dinner on the way home), all at no cost to the children's family. On the bus trip home, following a four hour visit, each child receives a teddy bear with a letter from their parent and post-event counseling."
 

                                               

Village House Volunteers . . .

The Village House comes to Willow Glen United Methodist Church starting February 7th, and we are hoping that you will join us in loving and caring for our guests, and helping us make a home for them in our historic Woodhaven Retreat Center.

We need evening hosts, overnight volunteers, morning shepherds, drivers, linen washers, and breakfast providers. You can get more information about the volunteer duties (and background check requirements), and sign up at   shelter.wgumc.org.

Instead of giving something up for Lent, why not take something up? Be a blessing and make a difference!

The daytime Warming Center for the next month will be at 2 churches.  To find the schedules and sign up links, visit the Village House website,  https://www.villagehousesccca.com/volunteer.html



FIELD TRIPS
Please join me on Friday Feb 23rd  for a visit to the Legion of Honor to view the Casanova exhibit.  The cost is $15 if you are under the age of 65.  If over that age you pay only $12.  We leave the church parking lot at 9 am.  If the weather permits you might want to bring a bag lunch to eat on the lawn with a beautiful view of the bay.  Also if weather permits we will walk down to Land's End to walk on the labyrinth, so wear walking shoes.  School is out this week so if you are in town bring the whole family.
Wednesday March 14th we will travel to the de Young museum to enjoy the Bouquets to art exhibit.  Same meeting place and time.
And last but not least in April we will drive down to Carmel to Gallery 21 to see the Eyvind Earle exhibit.  Edy, Wanda and myself saw some of his works at the Disney Museum.  We want to see more!!
Let me know if you can join me to make sure how many people need to drive.   
                                                                                      - Janet Thorsrud




Bible Study Resumes at St. Stephen's
by Edy Unthank

Our ongoing bible study meets again this
 
This will continue until we begin the Lenten study on Mark 25.  Deacon Robin has the books for this study.  If you would like to join in the Lenten study, please pick up a book before the first meeting so that you can begin the short daily readings which on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 14.   
 
The Lenten study will meet on Sundays after church and on Tuesday mornings, whichever is convenient for you.   
 
The first session will be on Sunday February 18.
 
 
Search Committee Annual Report 2018 
 
The Search Committee was formed in May 2017 with the mission of finding a new Rector, and has been hard at work creating a Church Profile and working with the Diocese to bring that to fruition.  
 
We thank the members of the committee for their dedication and hard work they have put into this endeavor.  They are Marie Bianco, Anthony Francis, Susie Good, Chris Hall, Ann Little, Ruth Leif, Björn Samson, Eric Samson, Janet Thorsrud, and Julie Zintsmaster.  We thank Edy Unthank for her many hours at the computer to give the Profile form and beauty. Thank you also to The Rev. Edward Wilson for spiritual guidance and prayers. 
 
Our first task was to take information from the Appreciative Inquiry on June 11, to start forming our Profile.  In our meetings over the next two months we met with Joanna Shreve, our Search Consultant, who helped us turn the information into a document that reflected who we are as a congregation, and is a helpful resource for our search.  
 
In August we sent the Profile to the Vestry for their comments and directions.  We continued to work on the Profile and sent it to Canon Brian Nordwick and Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves.  In September Bishop Mary met with the Search Committee and the Vestry to help us expand our vision of our spiritual identity to help us in our search for in a Rector.  After further work on the profile we re-submitted the profile to Canon Brian on October 26. 
 
In November, Canon Brian shared the concerns over some details that needed further discussion by our committee. We have been meeting with Joanna and The Rev. Ernie Boyer to discuss the list of questions we need to address to move forward in the search. 
 
One of the concerns is the cost of living in the area.  Providing feedback, the Diocese suggests our budget will not support a full-time priest at this time. To help us on our journey Rev. Dr. Ernie has been engaged to assist us with the transition of a part-time to full-time rector. We feel blessed to have Rev. Dr. Ernie to guide us. We are inspired by him and are confident in his leadership. He will direct us with Joanna's help to continue the work on the process to bring us closer to our goal of calling the best Rector for St. Stephens. 
 
Gratefully yours,
Ann Little and Janet Thorsrud 

What can you teach?
There is an effort to reach out to the St. Stephen's community by offering a summer camp this year. The plan is to offer enrichment sessions to children from the ages of 5 to 12.  Please tell us if you have a passion to teach any art or crafts, sing, music, sports, building, or helping kinders to improve their reading, cooking, stand on your head and rub your tummy.....ok maybe not that one, but you get the idea.
We are looking for teachers and helpers.  Let Ann Little, Monica Moniz or Janet Thorsrud know if you are interested.  We are in the plansning stage now and need to wrap it up soon.  Reach out to us and let us know. 

The Good Book Club:  Reading the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles 
               
  A wide range of resources, from prayers to videos to study guides, are now available from the more than 25 partners presenting the Good Book Club, a church-wide program that invites the reading of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles during the liturgical seasons of Lent and Easter. Led by  Forward Movement,   the Good Book Club readings begin the Sunday prior to Ash Wednesday (February 11), and finish on Pentecost (May 20).
               
 Presiding Bishop Michael Curry described The Good Book Club as an opportunity to "read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the Holy Scriptures." He noted that "The Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus" while "the Acts of the Apostles tells the story of those who followed in the footsteps of Jesus."
               
 Many resources for the Good Book Club, including daily readings, are available  here  including daily readings.
                
 Read the full announcement online   with links to resources, Bishop Curry's video message, and more.



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St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
7269 Santa Teresa Blvd; San Jose, CA 95139
www.ssitf.org    office@ssitf.org 
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