E-News
January 29, 2021

Welcome to St. Bede's E-News! 

We hope that this weekly offering will keep you up-to-date on the latest information from the parish and from around the diocese

Our e-newsletters are now being archived on our website. 
You can go to www.stbedes.org and look under the Connect With Us tab at the top of the home page to find past newsletters.

 
St. Bede's Announcements



Online Worship
for Sunday, January 31, 2021
The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

  
 
 
10 am - Morning Worship (in English) on Zoom
 
Join us for Morning Worship on Zoom 
also live streamed 



1 pm - Worship (in Spanish) on Facebook

Join us for Sunday Worship in Spanish 

Querida Comunidad de San Beda, Unase a nosotros a orar. 
Nuestro servicio en español es los domingos 
a la 1 p.m. a través de Facebook live. 



8 pm - Compline (in English) 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 
all of our Sunday offerings 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.
 
 
  
 
 







Join us for the Annual Parish Meeting 
this Sunday, January 31st 
following the 10 am worship service
on Zoom.

The Zoom link for attending the meeting 
directly after worship on Sunday 
will be in the Saturday worship E-newsletter.

This will serve as "Part One" of our Annual Meeting 
where we will elect new Vestry members 
and get an update on 
how we faired financially in 2020.

Later in the year, 
we plan to have "Part Two" of the meeting 
where we will present an updated 2021 budget 
and receive reports from parish ministries.

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Vestry Candidates
(we will vote to affirm this following slate 
of four candidates for four positions)


Barbara Helms



Barbara Helms has been a member of St. Bede's for 10 years. She is a cradle Episcopalian and always been a member of an Episcopal Church. She is retired from a 37-year career in bridal retail management and ownership. While at St. Bede's she was the volunteer bookkeeper for 7 years, is active with the Sisters of Bede, co-chair of the Interior Committee, and loves to spend time organizing everything in the church office. She is married to Jim Helms and this past December they celebrated their 46-year anniversary. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. One daughter, Sandy Spires, and her family are also members of St. Bede's. Barbara is looking forward to her time on vestry.


Maggie Kottke



Maggie Kottke has been a member of St Bede's since 2018, having moved from a Catholic Church to experience a more welcoming and affirming community. She is married snd has 5 children. She has been a part of the Godly Play team as well as the women's retreat planning committee. She is a physician and works for Kaiser Permanente as chief of dermatology for the Georgia region. She is currently serving as president of the Johns Creek chapter of PFLAG, a support group for family and friends of LGBTQ+ individuals. She is looking forward to joining her fellow St Bede's members on the vestry as a beautiful example of shared leadership within a community to which she is deeply committed.


Arturo Padron



Arturo Padron was born in Brownsville, Texas. He is married to Martha Padron and they have four children. His key words in life are energy, passion, and faith. He believes that faith is the source of passion and energy. He owns his own construction company and at this moment they have contracts in Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.  In his spare time, Arturo loves to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Arturo and Martha have been members of St. Bede's for over three years, and they love their church (three generations of their family are members!).  Arturo serves as a lector and an usher and served on the Íntegrow Team - seeking to build bridges between the Spanish and English-speaking members of St. Bede's.


Rachel Robb



Rachel Robb has been a member of St. Bede's for 2 years. She has worked in public health most of her career and has worked at the CDC for the last 6 years in communications and public affairs. She is a member of the St. Bede's choir. Rachel is the mother of Lillian (12) and Tait (11) and is married to Carter Robb who is also a member of St. Bede's. Rachel is excited about serving on the vestry because she wants to learn more about St. Bede's and can bring the perspective of another choir member and parent to the team. 








Save The Date

Covid Town Hall presented by St. Bede's Experts

Please join us on Sunday, February 7th
on Zoom at 11:30am
for a Covid Informational Session
presented by our own health care experts.

You will be able to listen to information
about the virus, the vaccine, 
and possible vaccination ability,
and you will be able to ask all your questions
and share your experience.

The Zoom link will be 
in the Saturday worship email for that week.





Do you miss dropping by the office 
to hang out or visit with the staff?

Join us for lunch on Zoom!

Make your sandwich, 
heat up your soup,
zap those leftovers in the microwave 
and the rev up your Zoom machine to
have lunch with the Staff and others on

Next Date:
Thursday, February 4th
at Noon

Please let Muriel know if you would like the Zoom link
to join the lunch bunch!



Save The Dates 
for Shrove Tuesday
and Ash Wednesday


Shrove Tuesday
Tuesday, February 16th
7 pm on Zoom

 

Make your own pancakes and then join us on Zoom 
as we celebrate the cleaning out of the cupboards 
before Lent begins.
More information will be available soon.

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Ash Wednesday
Wednesday, February 17th
7pm on Zoom
We will offer the Liturgy of Ash Wednesday on Zoom.
Details of how ashes will be made available will follow.





Epiphany fun at home!


Swing by the church front doors starting today (January 1st) to pick up your supplies for two meaningful and fun ways to celebrate the revelation of God in Jesus. 

Supplies include:

--Spiritual reflections to guide your fun and prayers
--Two recipes for a "King Cake"
--Baby for your king cake (insert after baking!)
--Chalk and instructions for Chalking of the doors (aka Holy Graffiti!)



Formation at Home Resource



During the season of Epiphany, we will be joining other Episcopalians around the world learning together --at home!-- with the Faith at Home resources. Each Sunday, find your new resource with special sections for small children, elementary age, middle and high school, and adults. Click Here for Resources







Zoom Together at St. Bede's
Sunday, February 7th
11:15am


Mark your calendars for our next Together Zooom -- Sunday, February 7, 11:15am-noon. This is our monthly all-ages formation offering. 

All-ages means YOUR age! If you aren't there, is it really all ages? I've got 44 covered, so if that's your age, you get a pass

Don't worry--you won't just be sitting in front of a screen for another zoom meeting! We'll offer opportunities to engage our hands, feet, and hearts as we sing, share, and create together.
--Alyssa Sali and the All-Ages Formation team








ESOL Classes Resume on Zoom at St. Bede's

The ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teachers and students are eagerly beginning classes via Zoom starting this next week.  Zoom ESOL classes are not easy, and many of our students do not have computers or wifi in their homes.  We will work on conversational English skills as we eagerly await our return to our beautiful mission wing classrooms, perhaps this fall, si Dios quiere (God willing), as our 5:00 congregants would say.





 




THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU!

Thank you to all who have already 
prayerfully considered and returned 
your 2021 pledge of financial support to St. Bede's.

As of January 28, we have received pledges 
from seventy-eight folks/families totaling $406,000.

If you have not already made a financial pledge 
to support St. Bede's in 2021, 
we hope that you will prayerfully consider
your pledge to St. Bede's
and return your pledge card
or use the link below to pledge online.

If your pledge packet never arrived in the mail, 
please contact Muriel Diguette (mdiguette@stbedes.org) 
and we will send out another packet to you.




A Grateful Day with Brother David Steindl-Rast - Gratefulness.org
A Grateful Day with
Brother David Steindl-Rast
(from www.gratefulness.org)



 
 THANK YOU!





Healing Our Racism Book Discussion Group
Meeting Time - 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm 
on ZOOM

Monday, February 22nd at 2:00 pm

 
Please join Muriel Diguette and other members/friends of St. Bede's to discuss current books pertaining to the issues of racism and white privilege.
 
We will meet the 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm.

For our February meeting on February 22nd we will be reading  Between The World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates

In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?




If you want to go ahead and order books for future discussions:
 
March 22: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
April 26: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
May 24: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
June 28: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho 
 


Mostly Mysteries Book Group on Zoom
 

The Mostly Mysteries Book Group is continuing to meet on Zoom. If you would like to take part, please contact Connie Coralli and she will send you the link.


For our February 22nd meeting at 7:00pm we will be reading  A Time For Mercy by John Grisham.

This is book 3 of the Jake Brigance series.  
Bursting with all the courthouse scheming, small-town intrigue, and stunning plot twists that have become the hallmarks of the master of the legal thriller, A Time for Mercy is John Grisham's most powerful courtroom drama yet.
 
There is a time to kill and a time for justice. Now comes A Time for Mercy.




For more information, please contact Connie at conniecoralli@gmail.com

 



In Our Prayers

Deena Holcomb, granddaughter of Sarah Ohl
Rhonda Tingle, friend of Sarah Ohl
James Cottrell, Meghan Boyd Cottrell's father-in-law 
George Carter, brother-in-law of Connie Aylor
Tom and Loretta Vail
Fran Snider
Charlie & Debbie Tanksley, step-brother & wife of Larry Bing
Dollee Cooper & family, step-sister of Larry Bing
The Akinbiyi Family
The Cannon Family
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Hilda Bell
Willie Diaz
Tim Waring
Peggy Allen, mother of Lisa Main
Ray Lampros
Gwen Cordner
Arlene Means, sister of Larry Bing
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Anita Maloof
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
John Branan
Kerry Penney
Patrick Newberry, stepson of Gretchen Berggren
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Brooke & Taylor Harty, granddaughters of Nancy Waring
Jim Ohl
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:

Lorraine V. Warlick, grandmother of Mae Marshall
Betty Jett, mother of sister-in-law of Larry Bing
William Cannon, father of Terry Cannon
Emily Parker, friend of Lynnsay Buehler
Arlen Gray, friend of Suzanne Shapiro







We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week 
 
      
       
         2/1:      Manuel Rodriquez
         2/2:      Barb Pettitt
         2/2:      JR Branch
         2/3:      Alexa Olea-Najera
         2/3:      Jelani Valdez
         2/5:      Victor Mejia
         2/5:      Alondra Bartolon Gerardo
         2/6:      Melvin Hernandez-Martinez
        
   
         
        
       
       
      


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".

UPDATE of January 13: We have collected around $8,700 and distributed over $6,000 in assistance though food and utility support for individuals and families so far during the current public health crisis. The current balance of the fund stands at around $2,700 and new needs continue to present themselves. A dedicated group of members work with Fabio to help identify need and deliver food.  Thank you to all who have contributed!

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.




Your Amazon purchases can support St. Bede's 
through Amazon Smile
 
If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through 
and designating St. Bede's as your charitable beneficiary.

To find St. Bede's in the beneficiary list,
you must search for "St Bedes Episcopal Church" 
(without the apostrophe) 
and choose the one located in Atlanta.


Around the Diocese





Support the Cathedral Book Store.



Episcopal Relief & Development Focuses on Lament in 2021 Lenten Meditations

In response to the unprecedented events of the past year, Episcopal Relief & Development's 2021 Lenten Meditations share deeply personal reflections on the theme of lament from a diverse group of writers. Many of the authors share experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty.
"2020 was a deeply challenging year for many, filled with losses," said Sean McConnell, Senior Director, Engagement, Episcopal Relief & Development. "We hope our supporters will use the 2021 Lenten Meditations to guide them through the four steps of lament and to help them heal and grow."
The meditations follow the "Four Steps of Lament" outlined by author and speaker Heidi Weaver:
  • Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation
  • Reflect on that which has been lost
  • Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked
  • make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another
The authors of the meditations are all leaders in The Episcopal Church and represent diverse perspectives, ministries and backgrounds.
"Editing the collection was powerful to me on a personal level," said Sandra Montes, Editor of the 2021 Lenten Meditations. "Reading each reflection by Episcopal leaders of color who invited me into this season of Lent by opening up their hearts and using their voices to help me lament, while giving me hope, was incredibly moving."
The 2021 meditations are available online to download.  Supporters are also invited to sign up to receive the daily meditations in English and Spanish by email. Unlike previous years, the meditations are only available online, not as printed booklets.
"As many churches have moved their services online, we felt it was important to create a Lenten experience that would continue to be useful for our supporters," continued McConnell.
Episcopal Relief & Development also invites churches and supporters to observe Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday this year on Sunday, February 21 or another Sunday in Lent. Lent was officially designated at the 2009 General Convention of The Episcopal Church as a time for dioceses, congregations and individuals to remember and support the work of Episcopal Relief & Development. Although the first Sunday in Lent is the official day of observance, churches may hold a special service on any Sunday. Liturgical resources to help congregations observe Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday are available at episcopalrelief.org/sunday.
"The expressions of lament in the 2021 Lenten Meditations share sorrow, but they also come from a place of deep love," said the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church. "Because God loves us we know that God joins us in lamenting the loss of any living being."
Download the Lenten Meditations and learn more about planning an Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday at episcopalrelief.org/Lent.
For 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for more than 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus' words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.


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.









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

Quick Links


To schedule events, please contact our 
Muriel Diguette

For the weekly lectionary readings visit: