St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
FRIDAY JOURNAL October 16th, 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 Service: October 18th, 2020 |
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Holy Eucharist, Rite II at 10:00am online |
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From the Rector
Dear friends,
Just like everything else this year, our Stewardship season will be different! Each week I will be sharing a reflection that has been offered by TENS (The Episcopal Network for Stewardship). I strongly urge you to read and reflect on each article. Today’s is focused on this Sunday’s gospel reading. Enjoy!
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Sunday Worship
***New update - links to the bulletin and coffee hour are below!***
A separate email with links will no longer be sent out Saturday evening.
(The links will be in your Friday journal and on the front page of our website: www.ssitf.org)
This week Rev. Karen will preside the Holy Eucharist at St. John’s and shared with St. Stephen’s. The service will be posted on both our websites (www.ssitf.org and www.stjohndivinemorganhill.org) at 10:00am but is available any time after that.
I encourage you to set aside a special place, light a candle, and download the bulletin here as you prepare to worship.
Please send any special prayer requests and/or anniversaries and birthdays to Rev. Karen.
Join us for Coffee Hour at 11:00am on Zoom with this link.
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Nov1 is All Saints’ Day and this year it falls on a Sunday. On this principal feast day of the church, we commemorate all the saints, known and unknown. Please send the name of family members or someone you are close to who has died. I will write them in the Necrology Book and they will be named at that service.
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October 18, 2020
Give to God
the things that are God’s
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By The Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce |
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Once again in today’s gospel the Pharisees are trying to trip up Jesus. If Jesus supports the paying of the tax, his Jewish siblings who are rebelling against the Roman occupation will shun him. If Jesus says it’s unlawful to pay the tax, he’ll be in trouble with the Roman authorities. What does Jesus do? He asks them to look at the coin. It is a Roman coin. Pay the tax – meaning give the Emperor back his own coin! Then Jesus adds that wonderful line — give to God the things that are God’s.
What exactly IS God’s? Well, we are! Our Christian faith in God points us always to live a life of gratitude and generosity. God showed us how we are to live and how to give to God the things that are God’s: God gave us God’s son, God’s first fruit, and we are asked to do the same, remembering that everything we have, everything we do, everything we are is a gift from God — and it is a gift that is meant to be shared. When we share from our first fruits, as God shared God’s first fruit with us, we are modeling the same generosity God has shown us.
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Remember, we have two sets of three legged-stools in our Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement: scripture, reason and tradition, and time, talent and treasure. The first shapes our faith; the second is how we use the gifts we have been given to live out our faith.
The Rt. Rev. Diane M. Jardine Bruce is the Bishop Suffragan in the Diocese of Los Angeles. Her ministry focuses heavily on stewardship, financial sustainability and New Community
I am also hoping to have a testimonial from a parishioner each week so stayed tuned and I hope to see you this Sunday in Coffee Hour!
Blessings and peace to you,
Karen+
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WEDNESDAY MORNING PRAYER GROUP
Weekly Wednesday prayer group at 11:00am.
This is an opportunity to offer our prayers of thanksgivings, for healing for ourselves and others, and anything else on our hearts. Even if you don’t have a computer, you can join the Zoom meeting with your phone.
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WEDNESDAY EVENING COMPLINE
Begins at 7pm
Compline, the last Office of the day. End your day with a beautiful and short liturgy. All are welcome and please feel free to share the link with friends!
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Keeping the conversations going . . .
The Rev. Jani Wild and I are facilitating Pastoral Conversations on Racism and yesterday was our 18th week of gathering to learn and talk about a broad spectrum of subjects concerning race in our country.
We follow the same format (a brief introduction followed by a short video, discussion, and prayers ) every week with a different focus. Last week, because we’re in the middle of an election cycle, we learned about Gerrymandering and Voter Suppression throughout history.
Please come join us next Thursday at 4:30. Whether it’s the 1st time or the 18th time you’ve attended, please come to learn, process, and share together in a safe space with a faith community.
Bring a friend or family member – all are welcome – by clicking the Zoom link below.
Meeting ID: 835 7594 8022
Password: 748467
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,83575948022#,,1#,748467# US (San Jose
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Thanks to last week’s liturgy assistants! |
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Your faithful giving. . .
We rely on you to keep us current in paying our bills. If you haven’t yet, 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. We certainly understand if you are experiencing financial hardship at this time. If you are able, we appreciate any small offering you might consider making. Your financial stewardship is greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!
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Gift Cards
St. Stephen's earned $170 in gift card
orders this month!
The next order will be placed on Nov 10th.
This should include any cards you might need
for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Thanks
Janet
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2020 STEWARDSHIP Campaign
They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. 1Timothy 6:18-19 NRSVA
“Faith Filled Generosity” – that’s our theme for this year’s stewardship. Though we’ve had many setbacks this year, we are very stable financially. Part of that is because your dedicated vestry has been watchful of our resources. The other part is that YOU have been faithful and generous in your giving. Thank you! As we look ahead to a new year, please keep in mind that your gifts are essential to St. Stephen’s. With deep faith, please consider pledging again this year.
This has been a difficult year in many ways and for some of you, the difficulty includes financial hardship. We fully understand that!
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Poem from the Garden
I’ve been talking to
a lot of senior
folks in Texas, in
Pennsylvania
in Florida, in
North Carolina
this week and it makes
me grateful for the
garden. The elders
we support with our
$109.75 a month
campus water bill
and our recycled
board beds have a place
to laugh, to grow and
touch living things. They’re
not isolated
like so many are
right now. I’m glad we
can give that place, that
hope to so many
people who need it.
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At times of despair, we must learn to see with new eyes. Inequality in death results from our separating ourselves from one another in life. In war, for example, we keep score of our casualties to see who is winning. . .We become unable to see their dead as we mourn our own. . .Perhaps only when we care about each other’s dead can we truly learn to live in the same world together without our irrational prejudices and hatreds.
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Kudos to:
-Maria for creating our pre-recorded service this week.
-All musicians who give of their gifts in our worship services.
-Community Garden helpers
-Our Vestry
-all who have given generously of their time, talent, and treasure – that’s YOU!
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How to help those impacted by wildfires and COVID-19 |
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The Bishop’s COVID-19 Fund has been expanded in response to the needs of communities impacted by the River, Carmel, Dolan, and Lightning Complex fires in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Santa Clara counties. Gifts made to the "Bishop's COVID-19 and Disaster Relief Fund" will be distributed to those impacted by either the fires or by the COVID-19 virus, based on urgency of need.
To make a gift online, visit the “Donate” page at the diocesan website (click here) and choose "Bishop's COVID-19 and Disaster Relief Fund."
Or mail a check to:
Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real
PO Box 689
Salinas, CA 93902
Please state “Bishop’s COVID-19 and Disaster Relief Fund” in the memo area of checks. Thank you! Bishop Lucinda and diocesan staff are also working with Episcopal Relief & Development to secure financial assistance for those in need.
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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 prayer chain of committed pray-ers (who maintain confidentiality).
* tell people about your answers to prayer! and the miracles you witness, or how prayer changes YOU.
Please submit prayer requests to Rev. Karen.
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Contact information for Rev. Karen: |
Personal phone for emergencies or urgent matters: 408-781-1826
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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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