St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
FRIDAY JOURNAL April 24th, 2020
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We the people of Saint Stephen's in-the Field
Seek to know Christ, to share Christ, and to serve Christ,
recognizing his presence in all people, and reaching out in love
to each other and to the world around us.
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Sunday Services: April 26, 2020
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The 10:00 service will be via video on our website Sunday morning at 10:00
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Sunday Worship
I hope that you are worshiping at the 10:00 service virtually! I’ve been leading different services. Last week we did Morning Prayer from my home and Maria, Susan, and Robin did their readings from their home or location of choice. This Sunday we will do Holy Eucharist from my home and our readers will be Joseph, Rowena, and Margo. Come join us!
I encourage you to set aside a special place, light a candle, and participate in the liturgy with the bulletin.
It’s simple. All you have to do is go to our St. Stephen’s website (
www.ssitf.org
) and scroll down to see the video. I will send an email with a link to the bulletin and our virtual coffee hour.
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Message from Bishop Lucinda
Bishop Lucinda has been posting weekly video messages. Her messages have been encouraging, especially in this time! In case you don’t read the weekly news from the diocese, here’s her message this week.
"We are an Easter People."
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Dear people of the diocese,
First, thank you for your responses to our
Virtual Easter Sunday Service
. It was good to see people in many, varied contexts, with different languages and a variety of uses of technology. The latter made it challenging for our Communications Director, Elrond Lawrence, to piece together, which he did masterfully. Thank you for a wonderful shelter-in-place experience of resurrection!
We remain shelter-in-place (also known as “Phase I”) for the foreseeable future. Moving away from that order is determined by our state officials and county health departments, based on the following: our ability to detect and trace infection, our protection of our most vulnerable people, the capacity of our hospitals, the development of ways for hospitals and businesses to socially distance, and the assurance that we can re-impose stricter limits should the need arise.
We aren’t there yet, clearly. Our clergy leaders and vestries are working hard to keep our congregants safe and healthy by following the guidelines and mandates of our diocese, our state, and our counties and cities.
I know that people are disappointed that this wasn’t over by Easter Sunday. Yet, we know that Easter is not only a Sunday-- it is also a Season, and for us, it is a way of life. We look for joy amidst despair; we find hope in the middle of distress; we recognize life in the face of death. We are an Easter people. We connect with virtual gatherings for worship, coffee hour, Bible Study, pastoral care, meetings, and so on. We continue to have no more than three persons gathered to produce worship, while maintaining physical distancing protocols. And no matter what, Jesus is with us, moving between that physical distance and surrounding us all with love and care.
As we move forward, we will need a plan for re-entry. To that end, I have appointed a “Phase II Task Force” to work on the details of what that will entail. This will be a slow, steady process of enlarging gatherings a bit at a time, which means that it is likely that virtual worship will continue in some parishes for several months. It is not unlikely that we will all experience the effects of periodic upswings in COVID contamination that would again reduce our ability to gather at some point in the future.
Please continue to pray for those who are on the front lines of response, especially our health care workers. Pray for those who are keeping grocery stores open, and people who are working to ensure that supplies are re-stocked and shipped. Let us show our gratitude for those who deliver groceries and supplies to our doors. Be thoughtful of parents who are working from home and homeschooling their children at the same time, meeting the challenge with humor and grace.
Our call to “love our neighbor” is a COVID-19 reminder to be sure that each person does nothing to put another at risk. So, please stay safe and stay at home. Call each other. Write notes. Hold virtual social gatherings. While physically distancing, continue to be beloved community.
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COVID-19 Fund established
In response to questions of how to give to the diocese following the Virtual Easter Service, a special Easter Offering has been established to support people in our diocese whose livelihoods have been impacted by shelter-at-home requirements. Donations can be made to the “Donate” web page at realepiscopal.org (
click here
). Choose "Bishop’s COVID-19 Fund" when making your online gift.
Or, mail checks to the diocesan offices at the address below. Please state “Bishop’s COVID-19 Fund” in the memo area of checks.
Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real
PO Box 689
Salinas, CA 93902
Thank you for your support of those in need!
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Your pictures – New Life and Fun!
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Financial realities and how you can help . . .
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Having virtual services means that your generous offerings cannot be put in the offering plates on Sunday. We do have to continue to pay our bills. Please mail your pledge checks or any other donations to the church office, or you can use the ‘Donate’ button on our website and pay with a credit card. Thank you very much!
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Virtual Coffee Hour!
A few more people joined in our virtual coffee hour and it was great to see familiar faces. It would be so nice to see many more of you! There is no limit to the number of people. All you have to do is click on the link below. It might take a minute for the link to fully open, but be patient. You might get a prompt that says click here if the meeting doesn’t open. If you do, just click on the link and click ‘join now’. Be sure to have both audio and visual open, though if you do not have a camera on your computer, you can still join with audio only. I’ll have a few other introductory instructions to help us hold the conversation without distraction. You are welcome to call me (Rev. Karen) before the meeting if you’re having trouble. The link for Coffee Hour will be in a separate mailing with the bulletin!
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Lent Madness Winner
For those of you who kept up with Lent Madness, and for those of you who lost track when we were interrupted by a COVID-19 shelter in place.
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The Supreme Executive Committee of Lent Madness congratulates Harriet Tubman for winning the 2020 Golden Halo. Harriet became the 11th saint to wear the highly coveted crown by defeating the always-inspiring and statuesque runner up, St. Joseph. She joins previous Golden Halo winners George Herbert (2010), C.S. Lewis (2011), Mary Magdalene (2012), Frances Perkins (2013), Charles Wesley (2014), Francis of Assisi (2015), Dietrich Bonhoeffer (2016), Florence Nightingale (2017), Anna Alexander (2018), and Martha of Bethany (2019).
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The peas are ripe for the picking, still climbing up the home-made
lattice we built from the pruned-off branches of the apricot tree
under whose spreading canopy of cloud-white flowers the new
native douglas perse irises are stretching their blade-like leaves
over the bark-mulch donated by a tree trimmer who gave
back a hundred years of life to the ancient curve-armed oak that
overlooks the church whose side is wrapped on one side by bright sprays
of confetti verbena where a family of blue-belly fence
lizards skitter and munch on the non-native snails who have been
snacking on the sole snapdragon one of the gardeners laid
in the same dirt another box gardener planted a dozen types of
beans and corn and sunflowers and squashes from the Southwest whose
tender new leaves are now just uncurling from the rain-soaked soil,
under the twining vines of the peas as they sunwards uncoil.
For after the shelter-in-place is lifted: members of the vestry were able to secure a grant last month to buy dirt for the community garden beds, so there will be lots of community garden beds available. If you know of a gardener who would like one, please ask them to email Jane (
office@ssitf.org
).
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Food for thought:
LET YOURSELF REST
If you’re exhausted, rest.
If you don’t feel like staring a new project, don’t.
If you don’t feel the urge to make something new,
just rest in the beauty of the old, the familiar, the known.
If you don’t feel like talking, stay silent.
If you’re fed up with the news, turn it off.
If you want to postpone something until tomorrow, do it.
If you want to do nothing, let yourself do nothing today.
Feel the fullness of the emptiness, the vastness of the silence,
the sheer life in your unproductive moments.
Time does not always need to be filled.
You are enough, simply in your being.
-Jeff Foster
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Kudos to:
-Jessica, Susan, Maria, and Robin for their help with last Sunday’s service.
-Trig and Joseph for mowing the lawn. Maria and Janet for sprucing up the garden bed at the front of the church. Jessica for continued work in the community garden.
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NEEDING PRAYER SUPPORT?
Prayer is one of those things we often think about, might feel inadequate about, believe in but might be unsure how to proceed. How we pray is sometimes unique to each of us. The Church provides help in many ways. If you find yourself in need, of any kind (emotional, physical, spiritual, guidance, etc) consider how St. Stephen's can support you:
* there is a Biddings book at the back of the sanctuary where you can write in things before the service starts
* there is a prayer chain of committed pray-ers (who maintain confidentiality). Contact Robin, our Deacon, who will initiate that for you
* there is prayer at the altar every Sunday, where we all join you in the privacy of your need with the Priest
* there is a kneeling prayer station at the side of the church with candles, prayer book, all available anytime, not just Sundays
* turn to your neighbors and friends in church to share what's on your heart, ask for support in speaking to God about your needs (and tell them the updates next week!)
* tell people about your answers to prayer! and the miracles you witness, or how prayer changes YOU.
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Contact information for Rev. Karen:
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Personal phone for emergencies or urgent matters: 408-781-1826
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Contact information for Deacon Robin:
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Editor's Note
Please send any announcements or articles you want to have included, to:
evan.bryan1@gmail.com
, by Thursday, 10am each week.
Evan Bryan
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St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
7269 Santa Teresa Blvd; San Jose, CA 95139
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