VOLUME 2, ISSUE 4
FEBRUARY 06, 2020
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah 58:1-9a
Psalm 112:1-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20
8:00AM SERVICE
Preacher: Dean Ryan
Celebrant: Dean Ryan
10:00AM SERVICE
Usher: Marshall Johnston & Nick Miller
Lector: Aaron Schuelke
EM: William Patterson
Preacher: Dean Ryan
Celebrant: Dean Ryan
FOOD BANK
2nd-4th Wednesdays @ 2:30PM

THE COTTAGE SHOP
Wednesdays 12:30PM - 4:30PM
1st-3rd Sat. @ 9:00AM-1:00PM

CHOIR REHEARSAL
Thursdays @ 6:30PM

FOOD BANK: TJ FOOD DISTRIBUTION
Sundays after 10AM Service (White Room)
SHINE YOUR LIGHT SUNDAY
Ingathering of Time and Talents
Pledge Cards
SUN. FEB. 09 @ 8AM & 10AM
Chapel/Cathedral

YOUTH MEETING
WED. FEB. 12 @ 6:00PM
Upper Room of Zoe Eden

#FRESNO4ALL MAYORAL FORUM
THURS. FEB. 13 @ 6:00PM
Cathedral

SHROVE TUESDAY
TUES. FEB. 25 @ 6:00PM
Fireside Room

YOUTH ACTIVITY
SAT. FEB. 29 @ 12:30PM
Metalmark Rock Climbing
ST. JAMES LAUNCHES CONGREGATIONAL DATABASE
The day has arrived! We are excited to announce the launch of MYSJ powered by Elexio —home our of Cathedral’s congregational database.

Through a smartphone, tablet, and computer, members of the congregation will be able to securely access the Cathedral’s Directory, get up-to-date giving information, and connect with ministry groups. In the future, we will also be integrating the Cathedral’s Calendar into MYSJ.

If you are a member of the Cathedral Congregation and have filled out a Member Profile, you should have received yesterday an email (from noreply@elexiochms.com ) with your login and password.

To assist with your orientation of MYSJ, we have developed two tutorial videos; MYSJ Web Browser Introduction and MYSJ Mobile App Introduction (see below).

If you have any questions or need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact Dean Ryan ( dean@stjamesfresno.org ). Also, this Sunday, February 9th, from 9:00AM – 9:45AM, the Dean and others will be available in the Fireside Room to assist anyone with the MYSJ Mobile App.

Where do you start?

 MYSJ FOR SMARTPHONE

MYSJ FOR WEB BROWSER (Tablet, Laptop, Desktop)

**We recommend users change their password
after they have logged into MYSJ for the first time.**

For the tech savvy members of the congregation, below is a quick guide:

M YSJ FOR SMARTPHONE

  • Once in the mobile app for the first time, you will need to provide the login credentials.
  • Domain: stjamesfresno.elexiochms.com
  • Refer to the email for your login and password. In most situations, accounts’ usernames are “First.Last” (For example, John.Doe). Please note: your first name is capitalized, and your last name is capitalized.

MYSJ FOR WEB BROWSER

  • Visit the St. James Website and click on the MYSJ icon (located on the menu bar and in the footer of each page).
  • Refer to the email for your login and password. In most situations, accounts’ usernames are “First.Last” (For example, John.Doe). Please note: your first name is capitalized, and your last name is capitalized.
SHINE YOUR LIGHT SUNDAY
Ingathering of "Time" and "Talent" Pledge Cards this Sunday, Feb. 9th
Jesus says, "Let your light shine before others."

We are called to share our light, the gift of our “time” and “talents,” with the community of God. One light dimly flickers in the night; however, a multitude of lights, glowing together, shine brightly within our world. 

On Sunday, as we continue our year-long stewardship campaign, “What Can We Be,” we are asking all of the Cathedral Congregation to offer a “Time” and “Talents” pledge card for 2020. Both of these gifts, can and will make a significant impact upon the continued growth and success of St. James Cathedral.

“Time” and “Talents” pledge card will be available at the entrance of the Chapel and Cathedral and can be downloaded online.

Thank you for your gift . . . thank you for shining your light!
HOLY SPIRIT 1, WALL 0
Last Wednesday, a portion of the newly installed US Border Wall toppled over in high winds landing on trees on the Mexican side of the border. Officials indicated that the concrete supports had not yet properly cured. Ultimately, the border wall was unable to withstand the gusty conditions. Thankfully, there were no injuries or property damage.
 
A little over three years ago, the “building of a border wall” became the signature campaign promise “To Make America Great Again.” Hundreds of millions of dollars are being spent to construct 450 miles of wall separating the United States and Mexico. The project has faced significant opposition and experienced numerous setbacks. Despite the challenges, it was announced earlier this month that the 100-mile mark had been reached.
 
A wall stretching 450 miles throughout the Southwest desert stands (and partially leans at least in one section) as a sad and empty symbol of our nation’s distorted immigration policies and practices. I grew up learning in school that the American “Immigration” Brand was “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” In adulthood, I have learned the American “Immigration” Brand of my childhood is as viable today as Sears, Kodak, and Blockbuster Video.
 
Walls are bad for business. Walls are bad for the brand. Walls are bad for humanity.
 
In Robert Frost’s popular poem Mending Wall , we hear the story of two men, who live next door to one another, and every spring they walk together the stone wall that divides their properties. However, the speaker of the poem wonders aloud the purpose of the wall given that neither man has livestock needing to be contained. Within the speaker’s property is an apple orchard and his neighbor’s property is a pine forest.
 
“My apple trees will never get across and eat the cones under his pines” says the speaker. His neighbor retorts, “Good fences make good neighbors.”
 
The craft of building walls is as old as humankind. Walls allow us to create chasms, separating those of us on the inside from those who are on the outside. Behind the wall, we are not forced to see the suffering, the pain, the disparity, and the need. Behind the wall, we are not obligated to love our neighbor as ourselves, because we don’t see our neighbor. Behind the wall, we are not required to respect the dignity of every human being, because we live in a world made for one. Behind the wall, we only see what we want to see. Behind the wall, we don’t see what God sees.
 
Good fences don’t make good neighbors. And good neighbors don’t make fences.
 
Let us pray that the concrete supports never properly cure on the walls we build and that the Holy Spirit continues to blow mighty gusts throughout humanity.
This article was originally published in the SJ Raise Monthly E-Newsletter (February). To learn more about the Diocese's Immigration Commission, SJ Raise, click here .
YEAR-END STATEMENTS MAILED
2019 Year-end Giving Statements were mailed this week. If you have any questions and/or if there are any errors or omissions, or you did not receive a statement, please do not hesitate to contact Dean Ryan either by email or by phone (559) 439-5011.
Abram and Sarai were called by God and so are each of us! Come out and hear the story of their call and learn more about your own!!

Ages 13-18 are welcome to come enjoy pizza, fellowship, and fun!

When: Wednesday, February 12th at 6:00PM
Where: Upper Room of Zoe Eden
The St. James Episcopal Youth Group has a lot of exciting things coming up this year!

Looking ahead:
Wednesday February 12th- Bible Study 6:00PM Dinner Provided


Saturday February 29th- Metalmark Rock climbing 12:30PM lunch provided. Meet at St. James Youth Room at 12:00PM.

Download the calendar to stay connected and up to date.
UNPLUG SOCKETS FROM THE WALL OR POWER STRIP
When appliances are not in use they should be unplugged. The socket draws electricity even when it is off. Some items that are often plugged in when not in use are blow-dryers, phone chargers, electric kettles, and coffee pots. Look around your house and find what can be unplugged.
SHROVE TUESDAY: FEBRUARY 25
St. James will host a Shrove Tuesday Family Pancake Supper on Tuesday, February 25th at 6:00PM-7:30PM at the Cathedral. All are invited to a delicious supper of pancakes.

There will be loads of bacon, egg dishes, fruits, desserts, and much more. Attendees are encouraged to bring a “breakfast" side dish.” A sign-up list is available now at the entrance.
ASH WEDNESDAY: FEBRUARY 26
BIBLE STUDY- THE BOOK OF REVELATION
The mid-week Bible Study has returned. The study is led by Emily Niblick and meets weekly on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, 10:00AM to 11:00AM, in the Fireside Room.
MEN'S GROUP
The next breakfast gathering is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th, 7:30AM at Yosemite Falls Cafe (across from the Cathedral).
MEN'S GROUP
The next breakfast gathering is scheduled for Saturday, March 7th, 7:30AM at Yosemite Falls Cafe (across from the Cathedral).
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS COMMITTEE
The next meeting will be Saturday, March 7th, at 9:00AM in the Conference Room.
PRESERVATION COMMITTEE
The next meeting will be Sunday, March 1st, at 11:30AM in the Conference Room.
Annual St. Anne's Public House. The event will be held on Friday, February 21st, and Saturday, February 22nd, from 6:00PM- 8:30PM

On Friday, SAPH will host a special "After Hours" session from 8:30PM - 10:00PM with live "British-themed" music and dancing with The Steven Menconi Band. SAPH will have great food, drink, Pub songs, raffle and silent auction and much more. Contact Episcopal Church of St. Anne for tickets.
When members of the Church of the Redeemer and Bethel AME Church, both in Morristown, New Jersey, are out on the lawn sharing dinner, the Rev. Cynthia Black thinks to herself, “This is what heaven is like.”
As an Episcopalian, Brian Ide has been fixated recently on the passage in the New Testament that describes the brief period – estimated to have been about 10 days – between Jesus’ ascension and the Pentecost, during which the apostles were alone and uncertain about their path forward, praying together in “a room upstairs” in Jerusalem.
The Rev. Martha Goodwill doesn’t consider herself a master gardener, and though she serves as a deacon at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in St. Petersburg, Florida, her full-time job is as an accountant for the Diocese of Southwest Florida. But for the past year or so, she has been the driving force behind a lively farming partnership between her mostly white congregation and the historically black congregation of St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church.
Trinity Episcopal Church in St. Louis’ Central West End is the first site in Missouri to be named to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) for its significance in LGBTQ history. It is the first and only such site in Missouri and the only Episcopal parish in the country so honored. Trinity is recognized in particular for the years 1969 to 1993, which include its early support of gay rights, its embrace of LGBTQ parishioners and community members, and its compassionate response to the first AIDS patients in the 1980s.
The Rev. Susan Bunton Haynes was ordained and consecrated as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Southern Virginia on Feb. 1 at Williamsburg Community Chapel in Williamsburg, Virginia. Approximately 1,300 people attended the historic service, and over 1,000 watched the live stream, as Haynes became the first woman bishop in the diocese’s 128-year history.
If you have any feedback, comments, or questions for the Midweek Missive Editors, please email us . Submissions to the Midweek Missive are welcomed and must be submitted to midweek@stjamesfresno.org by Tuesday at noon.