St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
  FRIDAY JOURNAL May 29th, 2020
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.
Sunday Services: May 31st, 2020
The 10:00 service will be via video on our website Sunday morning at 10:00
Sunday Worship
“This Sunday is Pentecost! Don’t forget to wear  RED ! Join us for the Liturgy of the Word at 10:00am. The service is posted on the website at 10:00am but is available any time after that.  

We have new readers this week and new music. Kaylyn also offers a special prayer Come, let us worship together! 
I encourage you to set aside a special place, light a candle, download the bulletin, and join us in worship by going to our St. Stephen’s website ( www.ssitf.org ) to view the video and download the bulletin. 
I will also send a separate email with links to the bulletin and our virtual coffee hour in an email Saturday evening.

Special prayer requests to be added to our Sunday worship service can be sent to Rev. Karen or Dcn. Robin.
WEDNESDAY PRAYER SERVICE

Beginning this Wednesday, 5/27, and every Wednesday following, we will have a short prayer service 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. The link will be on our website and in a reminder email Tuesday evening.
An update from Bishop Lucinda Ashby

The Diocese of El Camino Real will continue to work on plans so that we may re-gather in person and/or continue to meet virtually. Our earliest possible date to gather in person is June 21, dependent on the following circumstances:
 
  • The number of cases of COVID-19 shows no significant growth in our counties.
  • Our parishes each have an approved plan for gathering, virtually and/or in-person.
  • All parishes in the deanery have an approved plan prior to any one parish meeting in-person.

  • We remain committed to our plan out of love for each other and for our neighbor. 
 
Bishop Lucinda

Presiding Bishop joins call for national day of mourning on June 1 

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has joined other faith leaders and mayors nationwide in calling for a national day of mourning and lament on June 1, as the United States exceeds 100,000 documented deaths from COVID-19 . He invites Episcopalians to commemorate the victims during worship services this weekend.


“Let this tragic moment not pass without us honoring the many among us who have lost their lives or lost their loved ones,” he said in this video, “and commending them and ourselves to God’s love and peace.” Read the full Episcopal News Service story.  
Happy Nominationtide!
Make your nomination for Lent Madness 2021!!
What's up? On Ascension Day, it's Jesus! And also it's the start of Nominationtide!

For ten full days, the Supreme Executive Committee will be accepting nominations for Lent Madness 2020. The nominating period will remain open through the Day of Pentecost, Sunday, May 31, at which point this brief exercise in Lenten democracy will go up in smoke like the hair of the disciples when the tongues of fire descended upon their heads.

Usually we only allow a week for Nominationtide, but this year we are generously allowing you ten days. We know that conferring on nominations might take longer in a time of social distancing. Please note that the Lent Madness website has been thoroughly disinfected, so there is no risk as you read this post or browse the online Lentorium.* Unfortunately, all Lentorium store locations remained closed at this time.

What’s a LOQUAT? Try them – they’re fresh and free!

Loquats  are a delicious fruit that taste like a combination of  mangos  and  peaches . Their  sour  and  sweet  taste makes them perfect for using in  fruit salsa .
We have an abundance that Jessica has harvested from our Community Garden and are very ready to eat Jessica is doing no-contact deliveries of shoe-boxed sized bunches this Sunday afternoon, so text her your addressat 650-804-9044 after the service. Please keep social distance and wear a mask if others are present.

Click on the picture for a delicious salsa recipe to try with your favorite chips or crackers!


Thanks to our readers last week!
Financial realities and how you can help . . .
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!
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. The link for Coffee Hour will be in a separate mailing with the bulletin! You are welcome to call me (Rev. Karen) before the meeting if you’re having trouble with the link.  
Poem from the Garden

Monday morning there were four of our elder gardeners, they were
laughing and bickering and pruning the peach tree. They asked if I
would bring a hammer to make one of the beds less crooked and
help with finding a non-leaky hose that could reach their raised beds.

They wore masks but their smiles were clear from the bright crinkling of their 
eyes, the open-palmed waving of their hands, and how they all kept 
six full feet apart from each other and your own poet, how they 
swung their loppers high to reach the branches they wanted to cut.

They pruned the peach tree not for fruit -- though she will bear this year, as 
will the apricots -- but for sticks to hold up their summer crops
the beans and onions and garlics and peas that need support to 
grow fresh for their tables, their families, house-bound friends.

For 10 weeks, younger gardeners have left their own beds dry and bare
to ensure elders would each stay safe, and could live their lives there.
Food for thought:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to  justice  everywhere.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kudos to:
-Our worship service musicians
-Trig for office tech help
-Joseph for cutting the grass
-Kaylyn for praying at coffee hour
A COVD-19 update from Bishop Lucinda:



Dear people of the Diocese of El Camino Real,

I write to express to you my amazement at your leadership during COVID-19. As “Easter People,” you are walking with faith during uncertain times, seeking new opportunities, and “being church” in your homes and through use of technology. Thank you for sitting in this uncomfortable place and finding Easter joy. 


While we are all still on shelter-in-place, there is a palpable push, really a rush, to return to a sense of “normal life.” Really it is a desire to go back to the way things were before March, yet we know that is not going to happen. COVID-19, while a biological virus, has impacted many parts of our lives—economically, socially, spiritually—and going back isn’t an option. Instead, like Jesus’ followers, we face forward to a new way of being, open to possibility and discovery. But the culture around us has a different view; the almost desperate push to physically re-engage, and soon, drives some risky behaviors.
 
The Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real will remain shelter-in-place, practicing non-risky behaviors and tending to our worship and pastoral care virtually. As your Bishop, I am committed to our well-being and the well-being of those we serve. Heeding the guidance and mandates of our State Government, and our respective County Health Departments, we will not alter our policies until such time as health and science tell us that is safe to do so—and then we will proceed with caution.
 
I have appointed a Phase III Task Force to evaluate documents and information that will serve to guide us into re-gathering, when the time comes. This document will be available to you in mid-May. Until then, the following will help you to begin to plan ahead:
 
Phase I: Shelter-in-Place. This is where we are now: 

  • Hold only Virtual Worship Services
  • Allow for no more than 3 persons to film and produce Virtual Worship services
  • Maintain physical distance, at least 6 feet between persons
  • Wear masks as guided by the County Health Department
 

Phase II: Preparation. Following Diocesan, County Health, and Statewide orders and guidelines, we plan to: 

  • Clean the entire facility
  • Organize a team to clean before and after each worship service
  • Coordinate with those who share the plant to follow mandates and guidelines
  • Establish guidelines for church staff, rotating presence on-site
  • Discuss what-if scenarios, including how to roll-back when needed



Phase III: Gradual Re-entry. This is the next part of the plan once we have met the requirements of the State and Local officials for religious organizations. For the Diocese of El Camino Real, this will include: 

  • A completed re-entry plan, with approval from the Bishop
  • Gather in groups of 10, 25, 50, 100 in a gradual roll-out, with 14 days of no new cases in-between each incremental step; we will roll out by deanery
  • Use only the Daily Office or Liturgy of the Word for in-person worship
  • Wear masks (required), maintain physical distancing protocols
  • Maintain virtual worship and education for those unable to attend
  • Be prepared to roll-back, when cases increase
 

Phase IV: Being New Church. In this phase, we would have successfully navigated the requirements of Phase III and show that we can all safely gather and resume activities. 

  • Establish and maintain safe practices for in-person Eucharist
  • Maintain virtual worship opportunities for those unable to attend
  • Resume in-person education programs
  • Resume weddings, baptisms, funerals
  • Resume and increase outreach programs
  • Explore new learnings, new opportunities for ministry and mission



We will walk through these phases together, with care for each other and for our communities.

In his Pastoral Letter to the Episcopal Church , this is what our Presiding Bishop refers to as “sacrificial love”—putting common good before individual desire. I would add that the word “sacrifice” means a holy offering. Your adherence to these policies and procedures in the months ahead is your holy offering to our diocese, our towns and cities, and all of God’s people.

With a grateful heart for your leadership, sacrificial love, and patience, 


The Right Rev. Lucinda Ashby
Bishop of the Diocese of El Camino Real  
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!
It's free to anyone who wants it. First come first serve. Pick up at the church. Call me so I can let them in. (408) 629-1836
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).  Contact Robin, our Deacon, who will initiate that for you
 
*   tell people about your answers to prayer! and the miracles you witness, or how prayer changes YOU.
Contact information for Rev. Karen: 
Personal phone for emergencies or urgent matters: 408-781-1826

Contact information for Deacon Robin: 
Email her at Dcn. Robin,  deacon@ssitf.org ; Phone: 650-450-0656.
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
St. Stephen's in-the-Field Episcopal Church
7269 Santa Teresa Blvd; San Jose, CA 95139