9:15 - Adults - Morning Prayer & conversation in Pearson Hall

10 a.m. service in person & streamed via Facebook Live.

Coffee hour following the 10 a.m. service.

During this interim period, we are fortunate that Deacon Mark Klamer will continue his ministry among us. Deacon Mark is skilled in pastoral care, liturgy, and administration, and his presence will greatly enhance the life of our parish. One aspect of his ministry that I would particularly call to your attention are daily Morning and Evening Prayer. Deacon Mark has coordinated those services, which just concluded their second week. I commend them to your attention. The services are held daily in the Chapel adjacent to the Nave. Please consider volunteering to lead the office one (or more) mornings and/or afternoon a week. Saying the daily offices is a good way to focus your spiritual life. The entire time commitment is 30-40 minutes, and it can be a way to start or end your day with a focus on God. If you are interested, please contact Deacon Mark.

The Vestry will meet tomorrow and will discuss the process by which we will seek to call a Rector, and the tentative timeline for doing that. The interim period before we call a Rector will require a great deal of grace, forbearance, and good humor on the part of us all. A parish priest takes care of hundreds of little details in a parish, and when attention to those details falls to the laity, there are bound to be some missed connections and disappointed expectations, especially in the early days of the transition period. From the time that Father Ben announced his resignation, I have promised transparency during the interim, particularly regarding the search process, as much as possible. I would request the same from the congregation--if you have any questions or concerns, please share them with the Wardens and other Vestry members. This interim time probably offers the most flexibility possible for an established congregation to discern its priorities and mission. Please be a part of the process as we walk this path together.

Kevin Babb, Senior Warden

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the United States’ 32^nd president and its longest serving. He was also a cradle Episcopalian. Born in 1882 in the wealthy enclave of Hyde Park on the Hudson River north of New York City, he was baptized less than two months later in the town’s St. James’ Episcopal Church of which he would remain a member for the rest of his life. During the 1930s, by which time he had become the nation’s president, Hyde Park residents enjoyed joking that St. James’ was Roosevelt’s church but that it used to be God’s!

His membership in St. James’ was more than nominal. He was elected to its vestry in 1906 and served as senior warden from 1928 until his death in 1945. That meant that the operation of a small-town Episcopal parish shared President Roosevelt’s attention with the shepherding of the United States through the Great Depression and World War II.

Although his church was an important part of his life, it does not appear that Roosevelt was particularly devoted to Episcopal theology. When asked by his wife, Eleanor, to define his faith, he replied, “I never really thought about it. I think it is just as well not to think about things like that too much.” He remarked on another occasion that “I am a Christian and a Democrat - that’s all.”

Roosevelt’s devotion to St. James’ was no doubt due in part to the roots the Roosevelt family had sunk in the parish, reflected in the number of Roosevelt graves in its churchyard, including those of his father, his father’s two wives, the second of whom was Franklin’s mother, and his half-brother. More would follow his own demise. But President Roosevelt himself was not buried there. At his request, his body was interred in the garden of the family’s Hyde Park estate some two miles away.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and Robert E. Lee may have had little in common, but both men died as senior wardens of small Episcopal parishes. With a little imagination, that fact might constitute the raw material for a hot seller in the Episcopal Bookstore. As a title, how about Two Senior Wardens Who Made History?

 -Jim Weingartner

Our annual school supply collection for the Glen-Ed Pantry will take place from July 17 until July 29. Look for the basket in the Parish Hall. Consider the items below, including Target gift cards for older students to buy supplies. Gift cards can be purchased after Sunday services at the Scrip table. Needed items per the Glen-Ed Pantry: