At St. Alban's Episcopal Church we seek to be transformed by the Holy Spirit by welcoming the stranger, striving for justice, loving God and neighbor, and promoting peace.

“Good Shepherd Sunday”

In This Issue

New Information:

Worship this Sunday, April 21, two services

Sunday Worship Service Booklets, Bulletin & Hymns

Studying the Scriptures with Link to Readings

Prayers of the People

Altar Flowers

Good Shepherd Sunday & Commissioning of Eucharistic Visitors

Meals Ministry - Month of May

Caring and Sharing Partner: B.R.E.A.D.

Leaders on Retreat with Pan Adams-McCaslin

Recurring Information & Reminders:

Celebration of New Minitsry

Upcoming Meetings

Ministry Scheduler

Visit our Website

Pledge Payments & Donation Links

Worship Services:

8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.: Two Services 

Holy Eucharist - In Person - In the Church

EasterTide Worship Booklet

Sunday Service Bulletin with Eucharistic Visitors Commissioning

Hymns

Studying the Scriptures

Prayers of the People

CLICK here for the Prayers List

One thing we do here at St. Alban’s is pray, which is a good thing. However, our Sunday prayer list is getting rather lengthy. In an effort to stay on top of our prayer list, we will keep folks on our Sunday morning prayer list for a month at a time. We ask that you inform Ernestine Ujah, our pastoral associate, if you wish to keep a person’s name on the list for the next month and we will add their name to the “continued prayers for” section. Please do let us know when healing has occurred so we can give thanks for that! 

Questions? 

Please contact Ernestine at

pastoralassociate@stalbans-bexley.org 

Thank you!

Good Shepherd Sunday

Sunday, April 21 is “Good Shepherd Sunday” and Commissioning of Eucharistic Visitors

Each year, on the fourth Sunday of Easter, we are given one of the oldest, most beloved images for the meaning of the resurrection story. We call this Good Shepherd Sunday. 

We are most familiar with saying that God and Jesus are the shepherd, and we are the sheep. Jesus used common symbols of his day to declare that people’s spiritual needs and human longings are met in him. I am the bread of life, he said. And not only that, but I am the light of the world; I am the door; I am the way, the truth, and the life; I am the true vine… and I am the good shepherd. 

We are not God. We are not the Good Shepherd. But it’s just as important to realize that we aren’t “just sheep”either. We are also shepherds, and as followers of the Good Shepherd we are called to imitate the Shepherd. 

I notice inside the cover of our new church directory, under Other Parish Leaders, a list of people called “Shepherds for Servers” — Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, and Ushers. This Sunday we add to this list as we reclaim St. Alban’s tradition of sending forth Eucharistic Visitors who will bear the consecrated sacraments directly from the altar of our church to people who, for whatever reason, are unable to attend our parish Eucharist. 

A group of faithful folks completed a series of four training sessions with our Lay Pastoral Assistant (Ernestine Ujah) and I. They will become fully licensed by the Diocese of Southern Ohio soon. Together, we will commission and send them forth this Good Shepherd Sunday. 

Please join me in recognizing and thanking these who have stepped forward to serve: Ernestine Ujah, Carolyn Christy, Penny Shyjka, Karen Brown, and Lain Howarth. 

Thanks be to God for shepherding us, and guiding us to shepherd others, too!

Pastor Beth +

The Leaders of St. Alban’s on Retreat

Friday Evening and Saturday, April 26-27

The Vestry and Rector will come together in a weekend retreat to fully onboard new members, to revisit and remember our mission and the resilience of St. Alban’s, and to resume forward movement on our strategic plan now that Pastor Beth is with us. This gathering will be held at the church. 

Our event facilitator is Pan Adams-McCaslin. A lifelong Episcopalian, Pan serves the Church on a national, diocesan, and local level in the roles of congregational and vestry consultant and retreat leader. She holds a BA and MA from Sewanee and the School of Theology, along with degrees in nursing and counseling from the University of Arkansas. As a seven-time deputy to General Convention, Pan has chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance and recently completed a seven-year term as chair of the Episcopal Church Board of Archives. The Episcopal Women’s History Project is a heart-centered project for her; she serves the initiative as a board member. For fun, Pan is a free-lance writer, clergy spouse, mother of three and “GranPan” to four. 

Look for more information about this event from your Wardens and Rector next week.

Meals Ministry - Month of May

A wonderful opportunity to serve others on Wednesday, May 8 with the Meals Ministry.  

You can minister by helping on the Kitchen Crew at 2:00 pm, Transport of meals at 5:20 pm and/or as a Server at 6:00 pm.  Please watch for more details and sign-up sheet. 

 

Rachel M. Barnes

rmbarnes@protonmail.com

or 714-267-4782.

Caring and Sharing

April Partner: B.R.E.A.D. =

Building Responsibility Equality And Dignity

St. Alban’s Social Concerns committee designates a Sunday each month when the loose plate offering is given to support a particular agency. However, contributions can also be made at any time during the month.

What is B.R.EA.D. and what does it do? 

The mission of B.R.E.A.D. is to do justice by building the power of people of faith to solve local community problems. B.R.E.A.D. provides a vehicle for its member congregations to practice justice by joining together large numbers of people. These large numbers of people have power to hold key decision makers accountable for protecting the weak and enable us to "do justice."

For more information visit their website: https://www.breadcolumbus.com/

Recurring Information & Reminders:

Celebration of New Ministry

Wednesday, May 22, 2024, at 5:00 p.m.

Celebration of a New Ministry and

Welcoming of new Rector, the Rev. Beth Turner

We will celebrate the institution of induction of our new priest, the Rev. Beth Turner, as the rector of this parish. The diocesan bishop, The Rt. Rev. Kristin Uffelman White, will officiate at this liturgy.

Your prayers and presence are requested

Reception to follow!

Upcoming Meetings

Ministry Scheduler

If you have trouble with the pledge links, please contact Janet Lewis, our Finance Administrator.