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St. Paul's
at Midweek
May 11, 2022
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Whoever you are,
and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith,
we welcome you to our inclusive faith community.
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The Coming Week
at St. Paul's
May 15, 2022
The Fifth Sunday
of Easter
The 10am service will also be live-streamed via our Facebook page.
Monday, May 16
Tuesday, May 17
Wednesday, May 18
May 22, 2022
The Sixth Sunday
of Easter
8am Morning Prayer
10am Morning Prayer
The 10am service will also be live-streamed via our Facebook page.
Next Bishop's
Committee Meeting:
May 29, 2022
at 11.30am
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Finding the
Sunday Readings
Did you know you can always find the readings for Sunday by following this link?
Did you find two sets of readings for the Sunday? If there are two "tracks",
at St. Paul's we are using "Track 2".
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The Order of the Daughters of the King is an order for women whose mission is the extension of Christ’s Kingdom through prayer, service and evangelism. At the St. Paul's the order serves our community through their prayers and acts of service.
Do you have a special concern you'd like the Daughters to pray for? Contact Cathy Henry who heads our parish chapter. You can also contact her for further information on the DOK, or you can visit the Order's website here. The Daughters of the King are also at the front of church during the distribution of communion to pray with you for your needs and concerns.
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St. Paul's
Food Pantry
St. Paul's Food Pantry is up and running, and serving those in need on regular basis. Its doors are open on the 1st, 3rd and 5th (if there is one) Monday of every month. If you have any questions are want to find out how you can help contact either Jan Dunlap or Dcn Cathy Kline.
Currently our Food Pantry is need of juice packs, powdered milk, small packages of cookies, and Ritz crackers.
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This Week
by The Rev'd Cathy Kline,
Parish Deacon
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We are once again approaching the month we are asked to remember the hardships and struggles of all the refugees around the world, all those who had the courage, strength and determination to flee their homes in fear of persecution, conflict and violence. To leave their country in order to keep themselves and their family safe, in hopes to be welcomed at the boarders and have an opportunity for a better life. This year we are beginning this reflection in the last weeks of May and continue through the first weeks of June.
We have seen the fleeing of people from their homes for safety for thousands of years. Just in our last year, 2021 we had 12,500 refugees resettled to the U.S. However, refugees do not always choose the country in which they would like to live. UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency identifies the most vulnerable refugees for resettlement and then makes recommendations to select countries.
The process of refugee resettlement to the U.S. is a lengthy and thorough process that takes approximately two years and involves numerous U.S. governmental agencies. They undergo screening by eight federal agencies including the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. Six security database checks and biometric security checks screened against U.S. federal databases as well as medical screening. Since 1975, the U.S. has welcomed more than three million refugees from all over the world, and these refugees have built new lives for their families in all 50 states.
Refugees and their families have woven themselves into the fabric of American society. They are our neighbors, our friends and our colleagues. They are teachers, business owners and contribute positively to communities across the country. However, many of them never get past the detention centers as well as deportation, not to mention the separation of families.
At the end of this month I will be participating in a pilgrimage organized by Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity starting on the 27th of May at San Quentin State Prison and ending on June 1st at Adelanto Detention Center. The pilgrimage will be a group of about 35 participants, comprised of community members who have been detained, faith leaders, and leaders in the movement to transform the incarceration of refugees. We will stop to gather in reflection, prayer and action at seven ICE detention centers in the state and other significant sites along the way. These facilities detain thousands of immigrants in California each year, separating families and loved ones from their communities.
I recently came across this following poem written by Rev. Jack Amick on April 21, 2021. I would like to share this as a depiction of how we should view refugees as members of the human race who are in need vs. outsiders to be feared.
Refugee
My mother used to invite everyone into the house;
“Strays,” my Dad called them: People stuck on the road out front;
Exchange students with nowhere to go for the holidays;
Friends of friends of friends, who shared our address;
And old, lonely people who just needed a break from the retirement home.
We learned about the world that way.
We learned to share:
That we could always squeeze in one more chair at the table,
And pour one more bowl of soup.
The failure of fear is that rules and walls
intended to keep others out
end up preventing us from welcoming all that we might become.
Without refuge, there is no healing, no growth,
and love becomes limited and legalistic.
Without a welcoming table, there is no grace.
Our parents would be shocked
to see we’ve forgotten our table manners.
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Getting in Touch
Although mail will be regularly collected, the parish office will be closed until further notice.
However, if you have questions or concerns, you can reach
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Sunday Morning Contemplation Group on Summer Hiatus
The Sunday morning contemplation group is un summer break until September. Watch Midweek for the day it will resume. If you have any questions, contact
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Observing Immigration Month |
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Listening to Immigrant Voices
SJRAISE, the Diocesan Immigration Commission, will again be sponsoring Immigration Month this spring focused on immigrant and refugee voices in our midst. On four successive Wednesdays (6:30 - 8:00 PM) members of some of the diverse immigrant communities in our midst will be sharing their experience of being immigrants in the San Joaquin Valley.
May 25: Afghan Voices
June 1: DACA Voices
June 8: Asian Voices
June 15: Voices of African descent
SJRAISE has also produced a resource for daily reflection on the struggles of immigrants and refugees. See Friday Reflections for the link to download.
Finally, at the conclusion of the month’s activities we will be inviting people to contribute to the work of SJRAISE and our partners: Faith in the Valley, Episcopal Migration Ministries, and Episcopal Relief and Development. Funds gathered will be divided equally between them. Thanks in advance for your generous support.
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In the United States May is the month in which especially remember all departed service men and women. The poppy is an outward sign of this remembrance, and has its origin the John McCrea's poem In Flanders Fields. In the narthex you will find poppies provided by the VFW. Please feel free to take and wear one throughout this month in memory of all those who gave, as President Lincoln said, "the last full measure of devotion." For further information on the poppy and its history as a sign of remembrance, click here. You can also make a donation to the work of the VFW by clicking here.
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Memorial Day Requiem Eucharist |
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On Memorial Day (May 30) at 4pm there will be a Requiem Eucharist at St. Paul's for the repose of the souls of all departed service men and women. At the service will be read the names of those who have died in the service of our nation and also those who died as veterans. Special invitation is being made to veterans' organizations and other groups in our city and wider area. This is the first year St. Paul's will be hosting this service, but the hope is it will become an annual event. If you would like anyone remembered by name click here.
Also, please share this information with anyone in our community who might be interested. You can download a flyer here to share with others, or to post on social media. If you have have any questions contact Fr. Luis.
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Book Signing:
Jesus Died for All Spiders
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The author (and St. Paul's parishioner), John Davies is hosting a book signing featuring his new book Jesus Died for All Spiders: A Memoir of Faith, Excess, Weirdness, and Redemption. This, his first publication "draws on Beat poetry and surrealism to create a visceral and emotional experience, [as John]" shares his memoirs reconciling his spirituality and sexuality."
All are welcome to this event on Saturday, May 21, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. If you have any questions, contact John via email: jdavies@laverne.edu.
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Sauntering Through Yosemite
May 20-22
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I don’t like either the word [hike]
or the thing.People ought to saunter in the mountains – not “hike!”
- John Muir
From the 17th century to saunter has meant to “walk with a leisurely gait”, but the word’s etymology quite possibly lies in an earlier medieval meaning: “to muse, be in reverie, wonder.” John Muir knew this when he associated sauntering with pilgrimage and likened the mountains to the Holy Land, recommending that “we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.” Join us at ECCO for a physical and spiritual saunter through Yosemite. Engage with the healing and centering power of wonder and reverie, and explore how nature can be not only a place to encounter the divine, but also a place that teaches us to live more fully our humanity. The weekend will includes addresses, communal worship, and times for fellowship and conversation, but also a time for sauntering in Yosemite National Park, as well as periods for quiet reflection.
Fr. Luis is leading this weekend retreat.
To register and for more detailed information visit the ECCO website here.
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Mark Your Calendar
Diocesan Diaconal Ordinations:
June 11, 2022
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God Willing and the People Consenting
The Right Reverend David Cappel Rice
Bishop of San Joaquin
Will Ordain
José Antonio Álvarez
Luke Aaron Martínez
To the Sacred Order of Deacons in Christ’s One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church on
Saturday, the Eleventh of June Two Thousand Twenty-Two at
Ten O’clock in the Morning.
St. James Cathedral
4147 E. Dakota Ave.
Fresno, CA 93726
Your prayers and presence are requested
Reception to follow Clergy: Red Stoles
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Most Recent COVID Guidelines
from the Diocese
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Bishop David, at the recommendation of the Diocesan COVID Task Force, has issued new guidelines to go into effect Easter. The most salient points of these are:
- Masks will now be optional.
- The Peace may now be shared physically, but only with one's immediate neighbors in the pews.
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Communion will remain in one kind for the time being and clergy must wear masks during its distribution.
Here you can find a video with a more expansive delineation of the new policies. These will go into effect at the Easter Vigil.
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O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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In Our Prayers
Remember in your prayers Louis, Carey, Ray, Louis, Lisa, all those living with the effects of COVID-19, and all who are in sorrow, sickness, or any kind of need.
Remember all the recently departed, among them, Jean Pigott, Morgan Suycott; also all those whose year's mind falls at this time.
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Monthly Prayer Diary
You can access the
Prayer Diary for May here.
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Ruthann Reed
Greg Glenn
Martin Brown
Jason Sliger
William Cooper
Warren Green
Pam Bailey
Penny Shepphard
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May 5
May 15
May 17
May 17
May 25
May 26
May 28
May 31
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Connecting with St. Paul's
and The Episcopal Church
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Church Office
(661) 869-1630
Priest-in-Charge
The Rev'd Luis Rodriguez
Parish Deacon
The Rev'd Cathy Kline
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Bishop's Warden
Martin Brown
Junior Warden
Jan Dunlap
Midweek
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