February 17, Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

The Holy Eucharist, 8 a.m., Rite I
Inquirer's Class with Fr. Joel, 9 a.m.
The Holy Eucharist, 10 a.m., Rite II

Church School 10 a.m. | Child Care 9:45 a.m.
Worship Notes

The Collect:
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. A men.

This week’s lessons: Jeremiah 17:5-10; Psalm 1; 1 Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 6:17-26

Epistle
“If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.” 1 Corinthians 15:19

The Gospel | Luke 6: 17-26

Jesus came down with the twelve apostles and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.

Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets."
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
"Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry.
"Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.
"Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets."
Schedule for the week of February 17

Monday, 1:00 p.m., Book Group
Monday, 6:30 p.m., Girl Scout Troop 816
Tuesday, 10:00 a.m., Julian of Norwich Prayer Group
Tuesday, 1:00 p.m., Bible Study
Tuesday, 7:00 p.m., Bible Study
Wednesday, 8 a.m., Holy Eucharist, Rite II; service changes 12 noon on Tuesdays beginning February 26.

Rector’s office hours, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 11 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

See online calendar at standrews-edwardsville.com/events !
Celebrate Fr. Joel’s New Ministry Saturday, February 16!

An exciting event will take place in our parish this Saturday at 11 a.m. It’s been more than 20 years since St. Andrew’s last hosted anything like it. Bishop Daniel Martins will oversee the installation of The Rev. Joel J. Morsch as the 33rd Rector of St. Andrew’s.  

Click here to view the service bulletin for Saturday. It is a combined service to install Fr. Joel as Rector and celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Past and current Wardens Kevin Babb and Liz Edwards will have a special role in the service, as well as MLT members Walt Bohn, Andy Mills, Bill Schaefer, and Velma Schmidt who will present symbolic gifts to Fr. Joel on behalf of the congregation.

Priests from throughout the Diocese will be here along with Barbara Morsch from sunny Florida. Our favorite trumpet soloist, Dallas Blair, will share his musical talent as will Organist Henry Evans and St. Andrew’s choir.

At Fr. Joel's request, the offering for this service will be directed to the Rector's Discretionary Fund for the needy in our area. A potluck luncheon hosted by ECW will follow the service.
Inquirers’ Class Continues February 17

This Sunday, Inquirers’ Class will focus on baptism. The class meets in the Parish Hall immediately following the early service and ending before the 10 a.m. service. It is offered for candidates for confirmation, reception and reaffirmation. Parishioners looking for a refresher on Christianity and adult formation are also welcome. Handouts are available for those who missed the first week of Inquirers’ Class because of the ice storm.

Bible Study Begins Tuesday, February 19

The Rector’s Bible study will begin on Tuesday, February 19. There will be two sessions on that day: a 1 p.m. class ending at 1:45 p.m. promptly and an evening class from 7 to 7:45 p.m. covering the same material.

We will be studying Paul’s Letter to the Galatians and using the English Standard Version (ESV) Bible. If you don’t have that version it can be purchased from  Christian Book Distributors  online for $3.99 plus shipping. Or, you can find the text online at  Bible Gateway  at no cost.

The ESV is a Formal Equivalence translation. This translation philosophy places a premium on word-for-word translation -- preserving as much syntactical structure from the original languages as possible. Parishioners are asked to read Galatians between now and the 19 th .
Highlights of the Mission Leadership Team Meeting, February 23

Fr. Joel presided over the MLT meeting Wednesday, the first meeting with the newly elected members. Key decisions made at the meeting include the following:
  • Liz Edwards was appointed Senior Warden and Walter Bohn elected as Parish Warden;
  • Riley Atwood was appointed Treasurer for the 2019 year;
  • Velma Schmidt was appointed Clerk;
  • Summer services at 9 a.m. will be discontinued. 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. services will be held all year.
  • Wednesday Eucharist at 8 a.m. will be moved to Tuesdays at 12 noon effective February 26.
An Episcopal Giant

At 6’3” and 300 pounds with a booming voice, Bishop Philander Chase was a bear of a man with a personality to match. He was born in New Hampshire in 1775 to a Congregational family, but an encounter with The Book of Common Prayer while a student at Dartmouth College called him to a life as an Episcopal priest.

Ordination in 1799 was followed by ministry in several parishes in the Northeast and the founding of the first Episcopal Church in the recently acquired and overwhelmingly Roman Catholic Louisiana. But it was as an ecclesiastical pioneer in the “West” as it was then understood that Chase should be chiefly recalled. Missionary zeal propelled him to a new state where in 1818 he was elected first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio.

The new diocese was in desperate need of trained clergy, but the Eastern-centered national church offered little support to its boondock-based coreligionists. In 1823, supplied with a letter of introduction from Speaker of the House and fellow Westerner (and future Episcopalian) Henry Clay, Chase set sail on a fund-raising expedition to England, where he succeeded in securing money from prominent and wealthy Anglicans. With those resources, he established Kenyon College, which he named in honor of the 2 nd Lord Kenyon, one of his English benefactors. Bexley Hall, named for another British supporter, was for many years Kenyon’s associated seminary, and the college retains its Episcopal affiliation to this day.

The combined roles of bishop and college president proved to be problematic, and in 1831 Chase resigned from both positions. His retirement ended in 1835, when several Episcopal parishes in Illinois joined to form the Diocese of Illinois and elected Chase its first bishop. General Convention meeting in Philadelphia ratified the election, but refused to supply assistance either in the form of money or clergy. As earlier in Ohio, Chase was on his own.

He attempted to repeat his earlier success by traveling again to England for financial aid to establish a school for the training of clergy in the new diocese. The Ohio success was not to be repeated. “Jubilee College” west of Peoria survives now only as a State Historic Site.

Another effort had a more lasting result. In 1839, Bishop Chase visited tiny Edwardsville (population then about 600) where, he reported, he “preached and confirmed” and elevated a young deacon, Joseph Darrow, to the priesthood. On Ascension Day, 1848, as the 6 th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, he belatedly consecrated the first St. Andrew’s. Four years later, he died at the age of 76 following a fall from his buggy while on a visit to his ill-starred Jubilee College. There he was buried. He deserves our reverent remembrance. -Jim Weingartner
Announcements

Volunteers Needed for the 2019 Quilt Show
Volunteers are still needed to work two-hour shifts at the Quilt Show Friday, March 1; Saturday, March 2; and Sunday, March 3. See Elizabeth Edwards or LaVernn Wilson if you have questions or would like to sign up for a shift.

Order Your St. Louis Cardinals Tickets for Relay for Life
Relay for Life will once again be selling Cardinals tickets to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The Relay Day at the Ballpark will be Sunday, Aug. 25, as the Cardinals face the Colorado Rockies. Tickets are $20 each and should be ordered through Elizabeth Donald. Your ticket includes a voucher for a free hot dog and soda, as well as admission to pre-game activities such as dugout tours and player autographs. Please do NOT go to the ACS website to order; you will get a ticket, but St. Andrew’s won’t get credit towards our goal! Contact Elizabeth at elizabethdonald@yahoo.com or find her at Coffee Hour to reserve your ticket. Go Cards!
 The St. Andrew's Week-End Updat e , a weekly emailed newsletter, is designed to keep parishioners up to date on church activities. Please send news items to Editors Marianne Cavanaugh and Jane Weingartner by 11 a.m. on Tuesday to have them appear in the following Friday's newsletter.