Online Worship for Sunday, April 26, 2020
The Third Sunday of Easter
10 am - Morning Prayer on Zoom
Join us for Morning Prayer on Zoom and we will (once again) attempt to live stream to the St. Bede's YouTube page.
If the live stream does not work,
we will post the recording to our YouTube page later.
8 pm - Compline on Zoom
End your Sunday by joining others from St.Bede's
in the quiet evening prayer form known as Compline.
We usually take a few moments at the end to catch up as well.
Information about how to join
Morning Prayer & Compline on Zoom
will be sent out in a separate email
and will be posted to the St. Bede's website
by Saturday afternoon.
There is always a call-in (from a regular telephone) option for
all worship, fellowship, and meeting opportunities
that are offered on Zoom.
|
Report from
the Community Engagement Committee
The Community Engagement Committee met on Zoom on Sunday afternoon. Below is a report from that meeting:
Disbursement of Community Engagement funds
We are each experiencing so many emotions in response to this pandemic. For those who are privileged to be able to shelter at home, "useless" and "helpless" may be part of the emotional mix. Our "job" is to stay at home. But our hearts are with the detained and imprisoned, the housing insecure, the healthcare providers and underinsured, the hungry, the displaced.
If this has been your experience, we offer this good news! As a member of St. Bede's you are part of a body that IS reaching out and tangibly helping these groups of people. Thanks to faithful pledge fulfillments and other financial support of St. Bede's--even in a time of financial upheaval--the Community Engagement Committee was able to authorize the following dispersal of funds as of Sunday, April 19:
El Refugio (designated, $500)-to purchase phone cards, since detainees can no longer receive visits from their families elrefugiostewart.org
Nicholas House (designated, $500)--to meet the emerging and changing needs of the 50 individuals who reside at the house, including purchasing disinfecting supplies and meals (normally donated by volunteers who are now sheltering at home) nicholashouse.org
Grant Park Health Clinic (designated, $500)--to sustain the clinic's modified services (one client at a time, increased sanitizing, referrals for Covid-19 tests, etc)
grantparkclinic.org
Atlanta Community Food Bank (from undesignated funds, $1000)--to purchase and distribute food efficiently during this time of increased need for community coordination acfb.org
Episcopal Relief and Development--(from undesignated funds, $500) to fund international relief efforts for those affected by the pandemic episcopalrelief.org
We, the Committee, are blessed to partner with you in this way. We urge you to consider adding your own personal contribution to these or other direct relief organizations, according to your personal calling and financial situation. Click on the links above to learn more, to pray, or to donate.
|
Vestry Establishes
Community Emergency Assistance Fund
In addition to all of the wonderful ways that the Community Engagement Team is leading us in supporting community ministry partners (locally, churchwide, and globally) during this critical time, the Vestry has established a Community Emergency Assistance Fund to help people within the greater St. Bede's community with food assistance during the current public health crisis. This fund will be administered confidentially by the clergy in a similar way as their normal discretionary funds, but will be used exclusively to help with food assistance during this crisis.
If you would like to contribute to this fund you may do so through
Realm Giving and selecting "Community Emergency Assistance Fund" from the "Fund" drop-down menu. You may also mail a gift to St. Bede's designated for "Community Emergency Assistance Fund".
If you have questions about this offering to the greater St. Bede's community or if you are in need of food assistance or know someone who is, please contact either the Rev'd Caroline Magee or the Rev'd Fabio Sotelo.
|
Harriett Tubman wins Golden Halo!
This year's Lent Madness Golden Halo winner is Harriet Tubman. To learn more about her or the other Saints in this year's bracket, go to
Lent Madness
Alyssa Sali won (again?!) our St. Bede's "pool" and has designated the pool proceeds to assist parishioners economically impacted by COVID-19. Congratulations to all our Saints and saints.
|
Let's Stay Connected
In the season ahead, we would love for any of our members to share any personal reflections, poetry, or stories of hope that will keep us connected and lift our spirits. You can send them to: connect@stbedes.org and we will offer these in the weekly e-newsletter or on Facebook.
This week we received the following offerings:
|
|
Welcoming Prayer with
The Rev'd Lynnsay Buehler
A 15 minute guided meditation to support you in welcoming and accepting all of your feelings as gifts from God
.
Lynnsay also offers this beautiful prayer by Anne Farley from the blog RevGalBlogPals:
Blessed One,
I'm taking deep breaths, and closing my eyes, and releasing whatever is loose and ready to depart from my being. Grant me the courage to let go of more.
I am stretching my limbs, and keeping parts moving, tending the aches, and easing the tensions that hold me back. Grant me the ease of movement in all the spaces I occupy.
I am settling into the comfort of what will support me: the pillows, the tea blends, the hugs of children, the loaves of bread, the faith of the ancients. Grant me the freedom to take care of myself.
I am anxious and tender, cautious and trusting, wobbly on the feet of my competence as I navigate tenuous times. Grant me the grace to honor the complexity of my feelings.
I am praying for the health of communities throughout the world, the earth, our vulnerable, our essentials, our beloveds, and the neighbors we don't know. Grant each of us the vision of a world healed by love, rooted in the ultimate love that is you.
Amen.
Anne Fraley is rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in South Windsor, CT. A life-long dog-lover, she escapes the demands of parish life volunteering for animal rescue groups. She occasionally succeeds at reviving her blog at reverent irreverence.
|
|
The Forward Day by Day booklets of daily devotions for May - July 2020 are here!
If you would like Muriel to send one to you, please call her at the parish office or email her at
mdiguette@stbedes.org
If you would like to pick one up at the church, Muriel can leave one taped to the front glass doors in a plastic bag with your name on it. Again, call or email her at the church office.
Please note that you can also find the daily devotions on line at
|
In Our Prayers
Bill Bevacqua,
father of Laura Ribas
Brianna Pressley Lowrey,
student of Pat Callaway
Junior Abraham
Craig Sturken, grandson of Dee Weems
Eliza Hamilton,
friend of Sam Cameron
Peggy Allen
, mother of Lisa Main
Dixie Snider
Ray Lampros
Suzanne Shapiro
Gwen Cordner
Arlene Means,
sister of Larry Bing
Maggie Williams
Jim Sease
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Dixie Snider
Beth Cannon
Margie Klein,
mother of Jody Klein
Ed Bennett
,
brother-in-law of Laura Martin
Anita Maloof
Lynn Edgar,
mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
John Branan
Kerry Penney
Patrick Newberry,
son of David Newberry,
stepson of Gretchen Berggren
Connie Aylor
Mark Ahlfinger,
son of Jean Ahlfinger
Carolyn Branan,
mother of John Branan
Andy Matia and Darryl Schwartz,
friends of Ann Foote
Brooke & Taylor Harty,
granddaughters of Nancy Waring
Jim Ohl
Bill Stegall
,
friend of Jan & Jeff Swoope
Frances Bowen
Max Carpenter
,
grandson of Sarra David
Judy Penney
,
sister-in-law of Kerry Penney
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Helen Abraham
Cameron Maddox
For those who have died
DiAnne Lillie, sister-in-law of Loretta Vail
Maria Taboada, friend of Beth Cannon
Beverly Boldon,
friend of Jerry Simmons
Glenn Peacock, friend of the Mizell Family
Marshall Shaheen,
founding member of St. Bedes
We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week
4/27: Meghan Vesel
4/27: Frances Brown
4/28: Josh Bowers
4/28: Lesly Guadarrama
4/28: Violet Kottke
|
If you are looking for a way to help solve the shortage of masks during this pandemic without having to sew yoursef, St. Bede's friend, Elizabeth Beck, the co-founder of Tandem Quilting Co., is offering a solution through her company.
Elizabeth was a guest speaker in our Just Faith Speaker Series last year, and friend to several of us in the parish.
Can you help us make masks?
Tandem Quilting is doing our part to help our community and crisis responders by making as many masks as we can! Tandem is donating all the materials and fabric. The problem is, our refugee makers are being affected by the financial and personal health crisis and donating their time is very difficult for them.
A small gift of $19.00 will provide the labor to make 10 masks! Not only are you helping curb the spread of the virus by keeping your community healthy, but you are providing a way to help our makers in need of keeping their own families financially safe.
It's a two-for-one win against this ravaging disease. Please visit our
GoFundMe page and help us beat COVID-19 with a small $19 gift.
We love our Tandem community. Thank you for all your business and support of our mission over these past years!
#bettertogether #goodbyecovid19
With much love,
Elizabeth Beck
Co-founder
Tandem Quilting Co.
www.tandemquiltingco.com
|
Blessed To Be A Blessing Pledge Campaign
Thank you to all who have so generously responded by returning your Blessed To Be A Blessing pledge card. If you haven't yet returned your completed pledge card, additional pledge cards are available in the Connect Center.
|
Join with others from St. Bede's to visit detainees at the
Stewart Immigration Detention Center
St. Bede's congregation has the opportunity to visit detainees at the
Stewart Immigration Detention Center in Lumpkin Georgia on the following Saturday dates; we hope to visit three times this year. If you are interested in joining in this ministry for one or more visits, please sign up on the sheet in the commons or email Junior Abraham
July 11, 2020
November 7, 2020
We will leave St. Bede's at about 7:00 am and return in the afternoon. Orientation is required for first time visitors and will be provided at St. Bede's. English, Spanish, and French languages are spoken, as well as others. Visits are a maximum of one hour. This has been a blessing for those who have visited and we hope you will consider joining us.
|
|
Welcome to St. Bede's Episcopal Church
Welcome! We're delighted to have you here. You are invited to visit our Commons Area for coffee and conversation after the 10:00 service. There you will find parish life materials to the right as you exit from the church.
Here are some other ways to get better acquainted with St. Bede's.
- Visit stbedes.org and sign up for the church's weekly email and learn more about the active life of St. Bede's. Also visit St. Bede's Facebook page, another way to check out the activities.
- Fill out a visitor information form located on the Visitor's table located in the commons area. Let us know more about you so we can be in touch.
- Contact the church office, 770-939-9797, to be placed on the mailing list or learn more about the life of St. Bede's.
The Invite Welcome Connect Committee has dinners for our newcomers with some of our "seasoned" parishioners. These dinners help you connect with the activities and life of St. Bede's. If you are a newcomer watch for an invitation to an "Invite Welcome Connect" dinner.
|
Several St. Bede's regulars subscribe to-
and like! - these e-publications. To stay up to date on activities throughout the
Diocese of Atlanta, sign up for the e-newsletter, Connecting.
You can also
sign up to receive For Faith, which is a weekly devotional message from Bishop Rob Wright sent by email on Fridays. To sign up for either or both,
click here
|
For People with Bishop Rob Wright
Welcome to For People, a conversation with Bishop Rob Wright, spiritual leader to the more than 50,000 people in the 117 worshipping communities of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. In this podcast, Bishop Wright meets listeners at the crossroads of faith and life to explore the challenges of an ever-changing world. Listen in to find out how he expands on his For Faith devotional, draws inspiration from the life of Jesus to answer 21st-century questions.
Click on the link below to hear Bishop Wright's podcast
|
EMMAUSE HOUSE IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
Responding to the Needs
of our Neighbors |
|
|
Part 1 * Housing
New Challenges
Amber Middlebrooks found herself in need of help in the wake of a job loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. She was furloughed from her position with an insurance company and couldn't pay the rent on her apartment.
Emmaus House has been there for decades for people like Amber who need help. The Episcopal mission has worked on the southside of Atlanta since the 1960s, serving residents of Peoplestown and surrounding areas. One of its missions is to help people stay in their homes through assistance with rent, mortgage payments, property taxes, and utilities. For now, during the virus threat, utility cut-offs and evictions are suspended, but if people don't keep up with their bills, they will be far behind and at immediate risk when the ban is lifted, said Emmaus House executive director Greg Cole. "We're helping people not to get so far behind that they can't dig themselves out."
Nia Miller, a single mother with two children, was unemployed last year, not knowing where to turn. A friend took her to Emmaus House, where she was connected with a job-training program and job-search network. Soon she was working for a cosmetic store.
But with the threat of the coronavirus keeping people home-bound, women were no longer shopping for lipstick and eyeshadow. In March, Miller was laid off. She had been living paycheck-to-paycheck, and "I was really struggling," she said.
This time she knew where to go. Emmaus House helped her pay the power bill, and, she got food from the mission's food pantry.
"I'd been doing for myself for so long, it took me a while not to feel guilty," Miller said. "But things were kind of falling down around my head. I thought about my two children. Sometimes you do need help to get where you're trying to go."
Many people seeking help these days work in the service industry, such as restaurants and stores, said Emmaus House case manager Tanisha Corporal.
A demographic study of the residents around Emmaus House shows that 16 percent work in retail and another 15 percent in "accommodation," such as hotels. Those businesses have been hard-hit by the orders to shelter-in-place. The same study shows that even before the virus hit, unemployment in the Peoplestown-Mechanicsville area around Emmaus House was almost ten percent, three times the national average, and that median household income was only $23,711, compared to $60,293 nationally. The community - with many people already stretched financially - was being disproportionately affected by the economic implications of COVID-19.
Things Looking Up
There is some good news, however.
Emmaus House's funding for housing and utilities will get a big boost soon when a $157,000 grant from the Stadium Neighborhoods Community Trust Fund hits the bank account. The fund was established to help the neighborhoods around the old Turner Field baseball stadium, sold to Georgia State University for $30 million in 2017. Some $5 million was designated to support projects to benefit the neighborhoods around the stadium, including those served by Emmaus House.
The sale brought with it the promise of new mixed-use developments, but many long-time residents of the Emmaus House service area regard the plans with skepticism. Upscale coffee shops and micro-breweries will do little, they say, to benefit people struggling to hold onto their homes and pay utilities. Squeezed between burgeoning businesses around the stadium and the popular BeltLine, a $4.8 billion, 22-mile project to convert old railway rights of way into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly trail, residents are finding their once-dormant community a popular place for higher-income families and singles who relish the new amenities and the brief commute to downtown. With each fancy apartment complex and cul-de-sac of new houses to appeal to the influx of new residents comes the danger of rising property taxes for people who have spent their lives in their homes.
Emmaus House staff and volunteers are working out a process to maximize use of the stadium trust funds, said Corporal. At the same time, for the foreseeable future, they have to give people the housing and utilities assistance they need without putting applicants and staff at risk through in-person contact.
"We've come up with an online form that clients can access," she said.
Using the information on the online application, the Emmaus House staff verifies the applicants' residences, the amount they owe, and to whom, then follows up with a telephone interview and an appointment to drop off documentation.
Everything seems more complicated under the COVID-19 threat. But the help is more crucial than ever.
Help from Emmaus House "means everything to me," said Amber Middlebrooks. "If it weren't for them, I would probably get an eviction notice."
PART 2 * FOOD
COMING SOON
|
|
| Your support means the world to us.We depend on the generosity of individuals, parishes, foundations, and corporations to fulfill our collective mission. Please consider making a gift today. |
|
|
Help us be there for communities impacted by COVID-19
Last week the deadly spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus 2019) was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
Please know that all of us at Episcopal Relief & Development are praying for you and your loved ones in these difficult and frightening times.
While the full extent of the virus's impact is still not clear, and knowing what actions to take may feel uncertain, one thing we can always do is prepare. Now is a time to hold fast to our faith and continue on with hope. Or, as Luke 12:35-38 says, "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit."
That is why Episcopal Relief & Development will continue to be that light for our neighbors in need right now. I hope you will join us
by making a donation to our COVID-19 Pandemic Response efforts today.
COVID-19 is having wide-ranging effects - in our own church communities here at home and in communities around the world.
Your support
today, will help us:
- Provide our partners with critical resources to help local communities both immediately and in the long run
- Ensure the most up-to-date and accurate knowledge about the disease is continuously shared, including training on personal and community preparedness
- Help partners support high-risk communities who are most vulnerable to COVID-19
- Adapt and act to meet the changing needs of those we serve as the emergency evolves
As you know, our preparedness and response work are devoted to helping communities recover and emerge stronger from COVID-19 and its devastating impact. Your support is critical in this, so please make a donation to our COVID-19 Pandemic Response efforts today.
Stay healthy and safe, and thank you again for keeping your lamp lit for your neighbors both here at home and around the world.
Yours faithfully,
Robert W. Radtke
President & CEO
|
More St. Bede's Information
|
Wi-Fi is available throughout St. Bede's building!
Password is: 0011223344
|
|
|
|
Quick Links
To schedule events,
please contact our
Muriel Diguette
For the weekly
lectionary readings
visit:
|
|
