January 27, Third Sunday after the Epiphany

The Holy Eucharist, 8 a.m., Rite I
The Holy Eucharist, 10 a.m., Rite II
Fr. Morsch officiating

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

The Collect:
Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. A men.

This week’s lessons: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

Epistle
“But as it is, God arranges the members in the body, each one of them as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body.” 1 Corinthians 12: 18-20
The Gospel | Luke 4:14-21

Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone.

When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, " Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
The Week of January 27

Tuesday, 10 a.m., Julian of Norwich Prayer Group
Wednesday, 8 a.m., Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, February 3, 1 p.m., Funeral for Ron Yelverton
Friday, 4 p.m.to 8 p.m.
Saturday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Bible Study with the Rector—Choosing a Day and Time

Would you like to study St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians? Fr. Joel will be offering a class on that short but important New Testament book and would like your help in setting the time.
Please send a text or email to Fr. Morsch indicating your preference for a time—morning, afternoon or evening—and day of the week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. If more than one day and time works for you, add that information.
Text or voice: (941) 773-6018. Email: joelmorsch@icloud.com .

Inquirers’ Class Begins February 10

Fr. Joel will be hosting an Inquirers’ Class beginning on Sunday, February 10, in the Parish Hall immediately following the early service and ending before the 10 a.m. service. This class will be for candidates for confirmation, reception and for reaffirmation. The class might also be a fun refresher on Christianity in general for those who would welcome adult formation on Sundays. The timing of the Inquirers’ Class is made to coincide with the annual Episcopal visitation. This year the Bishop will make his visitation on the Sunday after Easter, April 28. If you are interested in attending please contact Fr. Joel via text or voice at (941) 773-6018 or via email at j oelmorsch@icloud.com .
On Sunday, January 20, following a delicious potluck brunch, the parish Annual Meeting was called to order by Kevin Babb, Senior Warden. Appreciation was expressed to Kevin Babb, Mary Caspers, and Jane Weingartner for serving four-year terms on the MLT, as well as to Duane Douglas, Nichole DeWall, and Frank Sauermann who completed three-year terms. Bob Hulme, who was elected to a three-year term in 2017 resigned. Kevin thanked him for his service as Parish Warden.

Seven new members of the MLT were elected to fill the vacancies: Walt Bohn, Marty Cavanaugh, and Bill Schafer to three-year terms; Sharon Hoffman, Andy Mills, and Marian Smithson to two-year terms; and Velma Schmidt to a one-year term. Pictures of the new MLT members are on the parish website. Click here to view them.

Following the elections, parish ministry leaders reported on their work in 2018. The complete annual report is available on the parish website. Click here to view it.

Highlights of the meeting:
  • Treasurer Riley Atwood reported that the parish mortgage was paid off in December, reducing annual expenses by $9,600; 54 parishioners pledged over $175,00 for 2019; and 2019 will be his last year as Treasurer.

  • Cindy (and Mike) Reinhardt reported that the 2018 book sales total was $14,157, including online sales, about $1000 higher than 2017. Also, the Reinhardts will be retiring from coordination of the book sales as of June 1, 2020.

  • Sue Buckley reported on behalf of herself and Lance Greve on the 2018 Building and Grounds projects, including the $15,000 HVAC improvement in the parish addition.

  • Nichole DeWall was unable to be present, but her report indicated that six teachers coordinated Sunday Church School classes for eight children across the year. Also, she thanked Liz McKenney for her leadership of the Christmas Pageant in which 11 children participated.

  • The church office now has coverage Tuesday – Friday by six parish volunteers whose work is coordinated by Jane Weingartner.

  • Mary Bohn “retired” from 15 years of coordinating Outreach Committee projects at the end of 2018 but her January 2019 report let the parish know that the committee’s work continues due to the leaders of the individual outreach projects. Fredna Scroggins asked parish members to consider volunteering to become Chair of the Outreach Committee.

  • Marian Smithson expressed her happiness that both major goals for Parish Communications were accomplished in 2018: a widely read parish newsletter is now published weekly with the help of Marianne Cavanaugh and Jane Weingartner and a cutting edge website powered by Membership Vision went online in early December at standrews-edwardsville.com. 

  • Elizabeth Donald’s Relay for Life report indicated $3,363 was raised for the American Cancer Society in 2018, for a total of $38,700 since 2005.

The Saga of “Deef Bill”

Itinerant preachers, those who have no fixed base of operations but travel from place to place carrying the Word of God as they believe it to be, are a prominent element in Christian history going back to John the Baptist. They include, among many others, such luminaries as St. Paul, St. Francis of Assisi, George Whitefield, John Wesley and, more recently, Billy Graham. Of course, there are rotten apples in this barrel as in most others, as Geoffrey Chaucer and Sinclair Lewis call to our attention in The Canterbury Tales and Elmer Gantry . And then there was “Deef Bill.”

Believed to have been born in 1863 in Portage des Sioux, Missouri, William Lee became a man of the river and made his living as a tobacco-chewing fisherman on the Mississippi. As hard of hearing as he was hard-drinking, he was generally known as “Deaf Bill,” with “deaf” commonly pronounced “deef” by his associates. But Bill achieved notoriety for reasons other than his piscatorial occupation or bibulous nature. He was a self-anointed preacher, and was given to delivering fire and brimstone “sermons” on both banks of the Mississippi in a voice allegedly loud enough to be heard on the opposite side. Cynical contemporaries believed that Bill’s preaching was inspired by a spirit more alcoholic than holy.

Not content with the river’s shore as a podium, he was reputed to visit churches both in St. Louis and Illinois on Sunday mornings, where he would sometimes physically remove clergymen from their pulpits and bellow his version of the faith to cowering congregations. Parishioners who fidgeted in their pews were likely to be showered with curses and, if they attempted to escape, with blows. Bill was no stranger to local lock-ups.  

In 1915 in poor health and no longer able to ply his trade, Bill was sent to the Madison County Poor Farm, undoubtedly to the relief of local clergy and their flocks. There he soon died, but he remained a local celebrity long after his death. An Alton undertaking establishment mummified Bill’s unclaimed body and retained it for 80 years, making “The Alton Mummy” available for viewing to the morbidly curious. Finally, in 1996, Bill was buried in a Portage des Sioux cemetery, following a service conducted by Father Michael Sandweg, the Roman Catholic “river priest.”

Had Bill ever paid St. Andrew’s a visit? Who knows? Too bad we can’t query Margaret Tuxhorn on that point. The presence in our archives of an article on this bizarre figure indicates nothing more than awareness of his existence. Too bad, too, that no one saw fit to record the content of his “sermons.” After all, doesn’t God sometimes choose unlikely messengers? -Jim Weingartner
Announcements

Soup er Bowl Sundays: January 27 and February 3
The Outreach Committee is kicking off the annual Soup er Bowl collection. We will collect ramen noodles and canned soup, pasta, chili, tuna, tamales, chicken and dumplings, and stew for the next three Sundays, January 20 and 27 and February 3 for delivery to the Glen Ed Pantry. Many retailers have these items on sale at this time. Meat is expensive and is not given by the Pantry. Please be generous. Hunger has no season. –JoAnn Nabe

Coffee Hour Update
To all who signed up for Coffee Hour during the Annual Meeting, thank you so much! All Sundays now through June except for February 17, March 3, and March 10, are accounted for. Those dates are still available as are Sundays in the latter half of the year. My email address is silverlining6@charter.net . –Pat Rudloff

Book Club to Read Innocents Abroad
Our book selection for February is Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain. There are many copies in the Edwardville Library system. –Pat Rudloff
 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.