Join us this Sunday at 10:15AM in person or online
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Dear friends in Christ,
Of your charity, pray for the repose of the souls of the men and women, boys and girls who have been killed in tragic and needless shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Buffalo, New York.
One of the greatest challenges to Christian faith for many people is the persistence of human cruelty and violence. “How could a good and loving God permit such suffering?” goes the question.
It’s a good question. It’s a question that humanity has wrestled with since the very beginning of its recorded history. There’s a reason why in the book of Genesis, no sooner is the story of creation finished than do we read the story of Adam, Eve, the serpent, and the tree. That story is followed by books upon books containing exaltation and victory, but also suffering, death, much of it senseless. The question asked by Scripture is not only, “Who is God?” but also, “Who are we?”
The great gift God has given humanity (other than his Son) is to be made in the “image” of God, after God’s “likeness” (Genesis 1:26). What that means is not that we look a particular way, that we have two arms and two legs. To bear the image and likeness of God is to be free as God is free, to have the freedom of our wills. We make countless choices, large and small, every day, and the choices that we make are not predetermined. We take this utterly for granted, and it is tempting to wish for a worse gift, to say that it would be better to be unfree but safe, to wish that God were a kind of beneficent tyrant. (If you have not seen the 1998 film The Truman Show, I recommend it; it is an extended meditation on the sterility of a world in which a human being is unfree but safe.)
The human tragedy is not, however, that God is not good, but that, unlike God, humans have imperfect knowledge. As St. Paul puts it, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) The senseless tragedy and death that we can see in the world comes from the deadly corruption of our free wills, of their misuse towards evil purposes which drive humanity away from God, which is our destruction. The manifestation of this is not only the evil actions of sad and lonely individuals with guns; it is also apathy as such individuals slip through the cracks of our human society, and then blaming God for the predictable outcomes.
The response of the Christian to human tragedy is neither nihilism nor hopelessness, but faith. The Cross is the symbol of both the ultimate perversion of the human will and of God’s response to that perversion. The whole machinery of the human political and economic system put Jesus Christ to death… and God raised him from the dead. That’s God’s response. And not only that. God has sent us his Holy Spirit, to empower us to live faithfully in a world that is passing away and to make known the kingdom of God in that same world.
There is nothing braver, nothing more faithful, nothing more Christian, than waking up each day and praying and working for the kingdom of God in this world. It is the kind of courage that can only come from continuing to love God and to love our neighbor and the world. The faithful Christian is no fool; he or she does not see the world for something it’s not; the faithful Christian sees the world the way that God sees it, with love and mercy… and deserving of the redemption that Christ has inaugurated through his resurrection.
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Yours faithfully in Christ,
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Election of the XVI Bishop of Connecticut
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Last Saturday, the Rev. Jeffrey Mello, rector of St. Paul’s Church in Brookline, Massachusetts, was elected on the sixth ballot. Fr. Mello is an experienced, highly pastoral clergyman, and we pray for him, his family, and the people of St. Paul’s in Brookline during this period of transition. For more information, please see the diocesan announcement.
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This past Saturday, May 21, the Outreach Committee’s garden group – consisting of adult parishioners and youth from the Christian Education program – built an enclosure to its raised beds and planted a variety of vegetables, which will benefit the Food Bank of Lower Fairfield County. Thanks to the group and to Dante Ibanez for a job well done.
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If you have taken a UTO Blue Box or giving envelope, we hope that you are embracing and deepening a personal daily spiritual discipline of gratitude, giving thanks to God for daily blessings and making an offering of spare change or cash each day. We will plan to collect all Blue Boxes by THIS Sunday, May 29. 100% of what is collected supports innovative mission and ministry throughout the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.
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Tuesday Afternoon Bible Study
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SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: On Tuesday, May 31, at 2:00 pm on Zoom, our very own Dr. Chris Shepard will be giving a presentation, with music, on the libretti of Johann Sebastian Bach’s cantatas. Bach was the subject of Chris’ PhD thesis, and he is both a scholar and expert performer of Bach’s music. Please mark your calendars and join the Bible Study group as we wander from Scripture to sacred music. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
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Pentecost Picnic: Sunday, June 5
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Mark your calendars! Following the 10:15 am service on the Day of Pentecost, we will gather for an all-parish picnic in the garden. The parish will provide hamburgers, hotdogs, and buns; sides and desserts will be pot-luck. If you would contribute a dish to the picnic, see or contact Olive Grant to confirm.
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Save the date: A Garden Party, Saturday, July 23 ~ 3-6 pm
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The St. John’s Women’s Group will be hosting a Garden Party on the great lawn this year, in lieu of their annual High Tea. Please mark your calendars, and don’t miss this fantastic event. Tickets are $30 general admission and $20 for seniors. Please see Olive Grant on Sunday morning, or contact the Parish Office during the week to purchase.
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Prayers and Financial Support for Ukraine
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The crisis in Ukraine continues, and our prayers are with not only those on the front lines and in the peace talks, but also if not especially with the millions who have been displaced. Episcopal Relief & Development will provide cash, blankets, hygiene supplies, and other needed assistance to Ukrainian refugees. If you feel moved to contribute to these humanitarian relief efforts, please do give via ERD’s website: https://support.episcopalrelief.org/ukraineresponse.
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A funeral liturgy for the late Dianne Bedingfield Saunders will take place Friday, June 17, at 11:00 a.m., in the church. Your prayers and presence are requested.
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Open Thursdays and Saturdays: 10:00 am - 3:00 pm
The Community Thrift Shop welcomes new, almost new, and gently used clothing, home goods, and jewelry donations. All proceeds from the Thrift Shop are donated to nonprofit charities serving those in need. Please note: Starting in June, the Thrift Shop will be open every Thursday 10:00-3:00 and the first and third Saturday of each month from 10:00-3:00.
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Recent Prayer Requests for Healing of Body, Mind and Spirit.
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Please keep these persons in your daily prayers:
Ben, Carol, Daniel, Ed, Kedley, Lloyd, Marc, Terrence, Jon, Ann, Henri, Sharon, Erin, Dante, Anthony, Marie-Anne, Martha, Nessa, Angela, Gweneth, Toni, Jordan, Gabriella, Cindi, Barbara, Andrew, Jeffrey, Theadeen, Latoya, Christine, Murdena, Aidee, Anthony, Mitch, Jacob, Roslyn, Collin, McKenna, Andy, Errol, Emman, Bill and Verna. Please send all prayer list requests for the bulletin to the Parish Administrator, Kathy McBride, at kmcbride@stjohns-stamford.org.
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To give to St. John's Episcopal Church, you can make your donations electronically or you can simply mail in your check to the church office if you would rather not use the online giving tool. Our Parish Administrator, Kathy McBride, is receiving doing the banking.
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Forward Day By Day is the Episcopal Church's own discipleship publication! As disciples, followers of Christ, daily prayer and reflection grounds us in God's love and gives us strength and clarity to confront our weaknesses, put our trust in God and listen to where God is calling us to serve. Available online for-free!
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