The First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-9a
Jesus the Messiah lies these very words on his path to the cross, embodying in his flesh the Word of God given hundreds of years before.
The Psalm: 31:9-16;
page 623, BCP
The Second Lesson: Philippians 2:5-11
The statement of faith is a rallying cry for the call of each disciple of Jesus Christ.
The Gospel:
Luke 22:14-23:56
As each of us do in our daily lives any time we deal in duplicity, enjoy the shame of another, or seek someone's oppression for our gain, those who seek Jesus' condemnation shout loudly and revel in a moment of seeming victory.
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CHILD CARE IS PROVIDED IN THE NURSERY
(Rm. 205)
During the Service
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JOINT SUNDAY SCHOOL: 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Each week, St. John's children join with our Ministry Partners:
Wellspring UCC & Grace Baptist Church
Room 207/208
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St. John's Sunday School
class for ages 2-4, Room 215
Meets the first Sunday of each month from 10:50 - 11:30
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THE ADULT LECTIONARY FORUM
MEETS EACH SUNDAY IN THE LIBRARY, FOLLOWING THE SERVICE
FROM 10:50 - 11:50 AM
This week we highlight the lives of Henry Beard Delaney and Edward Thomas Demby
As vilified as the American South often is for its perceived collective
prejudice against African-Americans, it is interesting to note that our
honored saints for this week were the first and second Black bishops elected
in the Protestant Episcopal of the United States, both appointed in 1918 and
presiding over Southern dioceses. Henry Beard Delaney, born a slave in rural
Georgia, became the first Black prelate in the Episcopal Church when the
North Carolina Diocesan Convention unanimously elected him Suffragan Bishop
of North Carolina. Throughout his ministry, Bishop Delany advocated keeping
African-American Episcopalians united within the Episcopal Church despite
Jim Crow practices that haunted the Church and society during the first half
of the 20th Century. He is probably better known as the father of
centenarians Sadie and Bessy Delany, authors of a popular book, Having Our
Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, which chronicled their own lives
surmounting racial and gender barriers.
Just weeks after Bishop Delaney's elevation, Delaware-born Edward Thomas
Demby V became the Episcopal Church's second Black bishop when he was
elected Suffragan Bishop for Colored Work in Arkansas and the Province of
the Southwest. Demby worked with black hospitals, schools and orphanages,
and advocated for full recognition of African-Americans within the Episcopal
Church. He lived to witness the U.S. Supreme Court's desegregation decision
in Brown vs. Board of Education and its support in Arkansas by Episcopal
bishop (and 13th chancellor of Sewanee) Richard Bland Mitchell, who
successfully reversed years of declining Episcopal membership in the diocese
among all races. Bishop Demby's career is well covered in Michael J. Beary's
book, Black Bishop: Edward T. Demby and the Struggle for Racial Equality in
the Episcopal Church. As a curious side note, the Episcopal Church honors
both men with a feast day on April 14th, the anniversaries of both men's
deaths, albeit 29 years apart!
