Weekly e-Epistle from St. James' Mill Creek

Weekly e-Epistle

from

St. James' Mill Creek

Wilmington, Delaware

April 17th, 2022

We'd love for you to join us!

We would be pleased if you joined us in person or online from the comfort of your home for church services via Facebook Live at 9:30am.

https://www.facebook.com/StJamesEpiscopalChurchMillCreek/

St. James Mill Creek Facebook page

Here is a PDF of this Sunday's bulletin for you to enjoy.

Sunday bulletin (April 17th)

The next few days in the Church year are the most important for who we are as Christians and how we understand our faith in Christ.

We begin on Thursday evening with Jesus’s mandatum to love one another as he has loved us. It lives into this in that shocking moment when we bends down and washes the feet of each of his disciples at their last meal together. If this unsettles you, that’s okay. I think it’s meant to, in some way. On this same night, we commemorate Jesus also telling us how important it is for us to share in a meal together, to break bread together. This year, Maundy Thursday will be the first time in many, many months that we have the opportunity to share together in both the bread and the wine.

On Good Friday we’ll gather with others from across the Mill Creek Ministerium to hear the Passion Narrative as told in John’s Gospel account, and we’ll hear anthems and sing hymns with combined choirs from the community. This is a traditional of St. James’, and we are so appreciative that we’re able to gather together again. Following the service, we’ll “break bread” with hot cross buns in the Great Hall.

All of this culminates with our proclamation of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. This joyful service celebrates Christ’s victory over death, and I invite you to bring any kind of noisemaker you have as we proclaim this good news.

This week is unlike any other in the life of our Church together. Please make time and space for it as we mark these days ahead.

The parish office will be closed April18th in lieu of Easter. Thank you very much for your kindness and understanding.

Have a safe and Happy Easter!

Holy Week at St. James’ Episcopal Church

Maundy Thursday - April 14 - 7:00 PM

On this night we remember Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Following the service we will strip the altar in preparation for Good Friday.

Good Friday - April 15 - 12:00 PM

We gather with our fellow churches from across the Mill Creek Ministerium to sing hymns, say prayers, and hear meditations on the Seven Last Words of Christ from the Cross.

Easter Sunday - April 17 - 9:30 AM

A festival service of hymns and a celebration of the Holy Eucharist breaks our Lenten fast as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and His victory over the powers of this world.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING

April 24th in the Parish Hall after 9:30am service

Nominations for Vestry:

Val Hall

Ed Burdick

Carolyn Joynt

Dave Niehaus

Chuck Haywood

St. James’ Family Promise Host Week

Thank you to all of the volunteers that helped provide dinner to our Family Promise guests during the week of April 10th ! We are also grateful to everyone that helped and/or donated.

Thank you to our volunteers. You are the reason we are able to do this worthwhile ministry. Every family we support gets us that much closer to ending family homelessness. Thank you for all you do.

Serving those in need with dignity and respect…

We are grateful for your support that enables us to

serve lunch at the Emmanuel Dining Room

and provide clothing, food, and other items

needed by those being served at the Hope Center.

EMMANUEL DINING ROOM

Providing a daily lunch to those in need in Wilmington

Our next date for providing lunch for Emmanuel Dining Room will be Tuesday, May 31, 2022 and we will continue to deliver our lunch items and extra bottles of water. We hope we will be able to serve our guests in the dining room sometime this spring. For now, we offer “take-away” lunches. We will be serving meatball subs, fruit, chips, cookies, and a bottle of water again this year. When possible, we’ll also offer a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a snack/extra meal (for now--made by youth and adults in their homes.)

New Castle County HOPE Center

for Individuals and Families in need of temporary housing and support services.

What started as temporary housing during the cold weather of 2020-2021 has grown into a permanent center that provides housing and support services for individuals and families who are without adequate housing in New Castle County. New Castle County (NCC) purchased the former Sheraton Hotel on Airport Rd (now named the New Castle County HOPE Center) and kept the hotel management staff to keep the facility running. Working together, many non-profit organizations including Family Promise provide various services and support for individuals and families to obtain emergency and more significant housing and medical, psychological, and job skills opportunities as well. The hotel can accommodate 400 and suites and adjoining rooms are given to families and enable households to stay together. Housing is coordinated through the Delaware Housing Alliance.

If you know of anyone who needs this housing, please ask them to call 1-833-FIND-BED (1-833-3463-233) and leave a message.

How can you help?

Review the list below and see where you might be able to help.

Current items needed:

• Hygiene items such as deodorant, shampoo, and soap (regular and travel size)

• Non-alcohol hand sanitizer

• Tide pods or other laundry pods

• NEW Underwear, and socks - all sizes, children through adult

• New or gently used t-shirts and light jacket

· New books for adults and children

· Gift cards - Target, Acme, Wawa

Please drop the items off:

· Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the parish hall porch

Please place your donations in the bin labeled Donations for HOPE Center on the porch of the parish hall. Liz will bring in the bin and any donated items at 12:30 p.m.

· On Sunday, there is a container in the foyer of the church.

We take the donations to Friendship House about every two weeks.

Thank you,

St. James' Outreach Ministry

Prayer Team

One Sunday of every month, the members of the prayer team hold a “virtual” ZOOM prayer service (focusing on the prayer requests shared by parishioners through calls or emails to the church office 994-1584 or to individual members of the prayer team.) We lift up these prayer requests and other concerns of the parish, community, and world.

Also, weekly we share the prayers and petitions that have been given to us and they are lifted in the daily prayers of the team members. All are welcome to provide their prayer requests and participate in these services.

For those who have an immediate prayer need or would like to receive the ZOOM codes and join the prayer team service, we invite you to email your prayer needs/requests to Carolyn Mack at cdmack37@gmail.com or call 302-565-8675

NOTE: Our next ZOOM prayer team will be Sunday, May 1st at 5 p.m.

St. James' Pastoral Care Team

St. James' Pastoral Care Team continues to support our parish family and our community.

If you or someone you know is in need, we:

· send cards, make phone calls, and pray with you and/or for you.

· For now, in an abundance of caution, our home, hospital, and Eucharistic visits are on hold.

Please call the office (302-994-1584) and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Messages are retrieved daily, seven days a week.

Please let us know if you need us or someone you know needs us. We will not know if you do not tell us.

“Blessful” Meditations

We all know that life can be a little stressful and hectic sometimes. We hope that by reading this short bible passage and watching a relaxing video will help you take a moment and reflect on God’s gifts.

John 11:25-26

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Prayer for Wednesday in Holy Week

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Find more Morning Psalm and prayers please visit

https://delaware.church/psalms-and-prayers/

COVID-19 Taskforce Update

The COVID-19 Taskforce continues to watch pandemic metrics and monitor the latest public health guidance to ensure we are making the best decisions we can to keep our St. James’ parishioners and visitors safe. After careful consideration and agreement with Public Health guidance, we will be easing restrictions starting with the Maundy Thursday service. However, anyone exhibiting symptoms, having a positive COVID-19 test, or that has been recently exposed to someone with COVID-19 should refrain from attending services in person until the situation is resolved.

Beginning April 14^th use of face masks will be preferred but optional for all who are in attendance.

Choir members will be asked to continue wearing KN95 masks. Our historic church does not have the same ventilation and air exchanges that some of the more modern church sanctuaries have. Therefore, our HVAC system is not as effective at reducing the dispersal of airborne particles/respiratory droplets, thus increasing the potential risk of transmitting respiratory viruses. In support of Public Health guidelines, it is recommended that people be up-to-date with their vaccinations, as this is the best means of preventing serious illness/complications if infected by the COVID-19 virus.

Furthermore, proper hand hygiene, social distancing, and the cleaning of commonly touched surfaces are additional ways to prevent infection. We will continue to follow cleaning protocols and provide alcohol hand sanitizer at the entrances to the sanctuary. Please sanitize your hands before entering and exiting the sanctuary.

We will continue to monitor the community situation and adjust precautionary measures if there is an increase in the COVID-19 metrics.

As always, our hope and intention is to make worship at St. James’ Mill Creek a safe and worshipful experience for all.

For Access to the News of the Diocesan Publications

The Net

COVID-19 RESPONSE

April Calendar

Visit our website

St. James' Mill Creek

2106 St. James Church Road

Wilmington, DE 19808

302.994.1584