Parable of the Mustard Seed stained glass window from Washington National Cathedral.
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Holy Eucharist Rite II, Sunday, July 26
Live-streamed at 10 a.m.
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Holy Eucharist Rite I, Sunday, July 26
In person worship at 8 a.m.
Open to thirty-five Parishioners
(no registration required)
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Worship Notes
- July 26, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Fr. Ben Hankinson, officiating
Kevin Babb, Eucharistic Minister
Henry H. Evans, Organist
- Communion will be distributed on the back lawn of the church following the 10 a.m. service.
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Worship Information: Eighth Sunday of Pentecost
- 1 Kings 3:5-12
- Psalm 119:129-136
- Romans 8:26-39
- Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
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The Holy Gospel |
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
Jesus put before the crowds another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
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Weekday Schedule
for the week of July 26
- Register now for the summer book sale, August 6-7-8!
- Zoom chat with the Rector, Thursday, 10 a.m. (Watch for email.)
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Columbarium Update
St. Andrew's began construction of the columbarium in the church garden in 2004. Each niche in the columbarium will accommodate up to two human cremains. Any baptized or confirmed member of St. Andrew's may purchase a niche. At the July 23 vestry meeting, an updated columbarium document was approved. Click
here
to view that document. If you have questions regarding burial in the columbarium, contact Fr. Ben, the church office, or Marian Smithson. Questions can be sent to info@standrew-edwardsville.
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Seminaries and Skeletons
Found recently in St. Andrew’s library was the Winter 2020 issue of
Virginia Theological Seminary
, the magazine published by that institution for its alumni and friends. In light of the current societal focus on racial injustice, my attention was drawn to an article entitled, “VTS Announces Historic Reparations Initiative.”
Virginia Theological Seminary was founded in 1823 in Alexandria, Virginia, and became a 19
th
century center of Low Church Episcopalianism and a counterweight to the High Church General Theological Seminary established in New York City seven years earlier. Although on opposite sides of the Mason-Dixon Line, both were tainted by the institution of slavery.
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Samuel Seabury, the grandson of the first bishop of the Episcopal Church, was a priest and professor at GTS. In 1861, as the Civil War was beginning, he published a book entitled
American Slavery…Justified by the Law of Nature.
In this, he was emulating his revered grandfather, who had himself spoken in support of slavery and had owned several slaves.
The antebellum VTS was permeated by slavery. Several of its founders, one of whom was Francis Scott Key, owned slaves as did at least five faculty members. Most of the slaves who labored building and maintaining the campus, however, were rented from nearby plantations, including Mount Vernon.
While recognizing that “No amount of money could ever compensate for the massive injustice that was perpetrated,” Virginia Theological Seminary announced in September 2019 the establishment of a modest endowment of $1.7 million dollars as a largely symbolic gesture of atonement for its exploitation of Black slaves early in its history.
An army of skeletons seems to be emerging from a forest of closets, and the Episcopal Church has not escaped them. St. Andrew’s quite innocently holds the most tenuous of links with these events, but it’s an interesting one. Fr. Michael Becker, a graduate of Nashotah House and St. Andrew’s priest before resigning for service in 1942 as a naval chaplain in World War II, later became rector of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. In 1861 Fr. Joseph Wilmer, St. Mark’s first rector and a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, also resigned from his parish. He returned to his native Virginia and, according to St. Mark’s website, served during the Civil War as General Robert E. Lee’s spiritual adviser. After the war, he became Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana.
A conversation between Wilmer and Becker might be worth overhearing!
-Jim Weingartner
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UTO Ingathering August 9 to 16
The United Thank Offering fall ingathering will take place from August 9 to August 16.
The United Thank Offering Mission Statement calls us to action: “Put gifts into the Blue Box with thanksgiving, prayer and generosity. Take Blessings out of the Box for grants serving the church’s mission.”
Blue Boxes are available now in the narthex. You may also load the UTO app on your cell phone by going to
utoblueboxapp.org
.
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The St. Andrew's Week-End Update
, a weekly emailed newsletter, is designed to update parishioners on church activities. Please send news items to Jane Weingartner
by 11 a.m. on Tuesday to have them appear in the following Friday's newsletter.
Newsletter Editor Jane Weingartner
Newsletter Editor, Marianne Cavanaugh
Newsletter Editor and Designer, Marian Smithson
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