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Weekly News & Notes from Incarnation
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News & Notes - Aug 16, 2020
The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
Service Online at 9:30 a.m. (see below for details)
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Reminder: Sunday Service Time Change
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Our Sunday online worship service time is changed to 9:30 a.m. on August 9. This will be in line with the outdoor service time on the first Sunday of the month and will allow us to add a second outdoor service as needed. See "Online Services" below for Zoom and Facebook links.
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From the Director of Spiritual Formation...
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I've been thinking a lot about prayer recently; how, what, when, and why we pray. Who taught you about prayer? Some of us came to it as children so we don't remember the exact day we began. Some of us didn't come to formal prayer until adulthood. As a nation we pray, as a Diocese we pray, as a congregation we pray for each other, and silently or aloud we pray for ourselves and those deepest in our hearts.
Prayer can connect us to those who have gone before us, it can hold us in grace in times when we are called to let go of those we can't bear to part with. Somehow by the grace of the Holy Spirit prayer can get us through the unimaginable. I remember a few years back when I was waiting for a biopsy result and as I was sitting in prayer, my prayers started down the path of please don't let this be me, and then I thought no that's not really where I need God to be. I needed God to be with me in the outcome and to guide me through whatever journey I was about to embark on. Sure enough, God was there with me at every step of my cancer treatment; giving me the assurance that I could endure and even thrive, come out whole, and I did.
The world was a very different place when I was a child. Different than the one our children and youth are growing up in, even more apparent in a time of a pandemic. When I think of the world our children face I pray they each have been empowered by the healing act of prayer. If our children and youth could be wired to know internally that when the world seems to big and their heart is racing, they can pray through their breath, letting the spirit calm their racing hearts with the trust of knowing that God is bigger than everything and right within them.
I wonder if you remember that you have the same power of prayer to pull God as close as you need, to letting the Holy Spirit lift you up when your heart races from the uncertainty around you. The uncertainty is real and palpable, so is God.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
In the coming months we will explore prayer together. Until then here's a prayer activity you can do in a house of one or many.
Home Faith Practices - Prayer Basket
At Incarnation we've encouraged our children and youth to fill out prayer cards and put them in the plate offering. Creating a prayer basket at home helps connect our rituals of prayer offerings at church to our home practices.
Supplies: Basket or bowl, Strips of paper, Pen, Pencil, Markers How to: - Place the basket in a prominent place in the house with the paper and pens by it.
- Label the basket Prayers
- Leave the basket out without any comments for a while. As children and others ask about the basket explain...This is our prayer basket for now and for here on if we like it. Anytime someone has a need they would like others to pray for we can write it down or draw a picture on a piece of paper, then put it in the basket. Anytime someone wants to pray for others they can go to the basket and read what is inside.
What to do with all of those prayers afterwards? Weekly or monthly the prayers can be burned or buried, as a way of releasing them back to the earth and God. This is another way of bringing the sacredness of the church ritual into your everyday living. |
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During this time of pandemic, our worship continues. Using technology, we can gather from wherever we may be and join together in the Word and in prayer.
Sunday Services:
- To dial in: Call (669) 900-9128. Enter meeting ID code: 997 787 434 #.
We are also livestreaming each Zoom service on our Facebook page, so you can also watch the service on Facebook, and it will be archived there for viewing later in case you're not able to join in live. You don't need to be a Facebook member to see the livestream on the Facebook page by clicking the link above. |
Sunday, August 16
Readings:
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
Monday, August 17
Tuesday, August 18
8:00 - 8:30 am: Outdoor Morning Prayer. Register here to attend. We meet in the courtyard, socially distanced, with face coverings. Enter via the 636 Cherry Street parking lot. Prayer Books will be provided or you may bring your own. Hand sanitizer will be available.
Wednesday, August 19
6:00 pm - Alleluia Choir: Zoom
Thursday, August 20
6:00 pm - St. Cecilia Choir: Zoom
Friday, August 21
10 am - 11:30 am - The Order of the Daughters of the King. For Zoom details contact Joan at, 530.906.7347, or jesstafford60@gmail.com. Meets every other Friday. Saturday, August 22
9 am to 11:00 am - Open Table Prep
Sunday, August 23
Readings:
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
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Please join us for outdoor worship services (advance registration required):
(1) Outdoor Morning Prayer, Tuesdays at 8:00 a.m., in the central courtyard (enter via the parking lot at 636 Cherry Street). Limited to 12 people, with advance registration; face coverings required.
(2) Outdoor Sunday Services, first Sunday of the month at 9:30 a.m., limited to 50 people, with additional services to be held if more than 50 people register. Face coverings required. The service will also be available via Zoom and Facebook (use the directions for online services above).
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From the Task Force on Regathering
It was wonderful to worship together both with those present in person and online for our first outdoor service on Sunday, August 2.
As the next phase in our regathering plan, we are hoping to begin celebrating the Eucharist at these outdoor services on the first Sunday of each month, and to create a plan to distribute Communion to those who cannot be present in person. (Note that for now, Communion will be shared in the form of the Bread alone, in keeping with health guidelines and our bishop's pastoral directive.) We could do one or more of the following:
- Have people come to the church parking lot to pick up a communion kit to take home.
- Have distribution sites in various neighborhoods, so people could pick up a communion kit from a site closer to their own homes.
- Have volunteers deliver communion kits to those who must remain in their homes.
To help us plan, we'd like to know roughly how many people would be able to use each option. Please help us by sharing your responses on this survey:
(Note: by taking this survey, you are NOT signing up to receive communion! You are just helping us get information about roughly how many people would be able to use each option. We will send out an actual sign-up form as we get closer to our first actual Eucharistic service.)
Thank you for helping us plan!
"We who are many are one Body, for we all share in the one Bread." (1 Corinthians 10:17)
- The Task Force on Regathering |
Sacred Ground: A Film-Based Dialogue Series
on Race and Faith
New Groups forming now! Click here to register
Are you interested in gathering with a group to go deeper in your understanding of race and faith? 29 participants recently completed the zoom based program. Learn more about the program here.
Participants say:
"I reflect on what we share in group for days afterwards."
"The material in this program is not easy as we grapple with reading about the historical sufferings..."
"Even on Zoom you can feel the energizing effect as people wrestle, often painfully, with the awful truths of our nation's racism."
"There's not sufficient way to express the impact Sacred Ground has had on me, and which will continue the rest of my life"
Churches across the diocese are now forming Sacred Ground Circles. Another diocesan-wide Zoom based circle will begin meeting on September 10.
To register for the Sacred Ground Circle that begins on September 10,
The deadline for registering is September 3rd.
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Property Development Task Force
What does it mean to be a downtown church? How do we fit into our neighborhood, now and in the future? As Santa Rosa engages in planning for the future of the downtown area, are there ways we can more effectively use our location and property to serve God's mission? In January 2020, the Vestry approved a project charter creating a Property Development Task Force, responsible for exploring the potential for future development of the church property so that the church may preserve the value of its assets, have an adequate understanding of options, and make appropriate strategic plans.
A number of questions prompted this--questions like "how do we best secure the Mendocino Avenue frontage and use it to create a more 'public-facing' orientation of the church vis-à-vis the downtown area;" "how might we take advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity as our property is included in the city's draft Downtown Station Area Specific Plan;" and "what is our responsibility in stewardship of God's Creation and His gifts to us." This task force reports and makes recommendations to the Vestry. The task force currently consists of 4 active members; we plan to recommend that the vestry appoint 3 new members to grow our team into a more robust group with a breadth of experience and perspectives.
If you have an interest in being nominated for appointment to the task force, or if you have questions or would like more information about the planned research into development possibilities for Incarnation's Campus, please contact Kathleen Kane at khkred2@gmail.com or 707-318-1290.
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From Shomrei Torah: Climate Crisis Presentation
Our friends at Congregation Shomrei Torah have passed along an invitation to this event. All are welcome.
 The Climate Crisis with John Mihalik MD - Zoom
Wednesday, August 19: 7 pm - 8 pm
The Climate Crisis: A Call For Moral, Equitable and Just Solutions
"There is no climate justice without racial justice. The poor are hit first and hardest by the climate, race and Covid 19 crises," John Mihalik, MD.
In this presentation, Dr. Mihalik will present the science, the intersection of climate change, public health, opportunity and basic human rights of all people. It is our moral obligation to solve the Climate Crisis in a just and equitable manner. He will address 3 questions:
1. Must we change? (the science of Climate Crisis and state of affairs)
2. Can we Change? (the solutions at hand and being developed).
3. Will we Change?
To Register for this zoom event, please click HERE
If you have any questions regarding zoom, please email zoom@cstsr.org .
John Mihalik, MD, is a physician, ethicist and climate activist. He is a member of the Climate Reality Project founded by former Vice President Al Gore. A former Jesuit, trained as an ethicist, John went on to a career in medicine as a rural family doctor, before becoming a hospital specialist at Kaiser. He has done volunteer medical work since 2006 with Somos Amigos Medical Missions providing care in the remote mountains of the Dominican Republic near the Haitian border.
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Greetings to all knitters and crocheters!
 Get out your needles and hooks. We need your help! Every year we give out handmade gloves, hats, and scarves to those in need who come to our Sunday Open Table. This year we hope to have all items blessed in October so that they can be given out in early December. So please, get those fingers working and create gifts for our homeless friends. The mitt pattern is so simple, children can be taught to knit them as well. We can use fingerless mitts, hats, and scarfs. If lack of yarn is an issue, please contact Julie, at 707-755-3515, and wearing masks and gloves we can meet at church and you can pick up yarn for your projects. All three items we are creating can be made with fun multiple colors. These are hard times, so let's put a smile on folks faces this late Autumn with a handmade gift of warmth.
Please feel free free to call Julie if you have any questions. Thank you all for your participation. May God bless each and every one of you.
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Church Campus Update
In accordance with both state and county orders, our campus remains closed for most activities. At present the only in-person gatherings permitted are the following:
- Minimum church business needed to maintain our basic operations (this includes staff, vestry, and approved office volunteers doing tasks that can't be done from home)
- Sunday Open Table programs and preparation (permitted under the provision for charitable feeding programs)
- Limited in-person worship gatherings (permitted under a special provision for worship services)
We do not currently have permission for any other groups to meet. Please contact Alison Cole or Stephen Shaver with questions about activities on the church campus.
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New Church Book Group forming starting in September  A new online book group is forming at Incarnation. The focus of the group will be the works of Nadia Bolz-Weber, and will start with one of her earlier works, Pastrix and will be lead by Paul Mallatt.
New York Times bestseller, Nadia Bolz-Weber takes no prisoners as she reclaims the term "pastrix"(pronounced "pas-triks," a term used by some Christians who refuse to recognize female pastors) in her messy, beautiful, prayer-and-profanity laden narrative about an unconventional life of faith.
Wildly entertaining and deeply resonant, this is the book for people who hunger for a bit of hope that doesn't come from vapid consumerism or navel-gazing; for women who talk too loud, and guys who love chick flicks; for the gay man who loves Jesus, and won't allow himself to be shunned by the church. In short, this book is for every thinking misfit suspicious of institutionalized religion, but who is still seeking transcendence and mystery.
The book group will meet via Zoom starting Wednesday, September 9th, at 6:30 pm. Please contact Paul Mallatt if interested. paulyfa@me.com / 707-312-3870
Pastrix is available on Audible click here.
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Prayer requests will stay on our list for 3 weeks. After that, if you would like long-term which is for 3 months, please notify the office. Prayers for those who have died will remain on for 6 months.
Your prayers are requested...
...for members and friends of the parish who are sick, sorrowful, or in any kind of trouble, including George, Lauren W., Amy C., Aimee K., Edie, Megan, Monique & Kirk, Dicksie, Alice D. , Carolyn, Mary Jo, Amanda Cortese, Nancy Hanke, and Wallace Look.
...for those who have died: Marilyn Payne, Gary Lindsey, David Ratner, Frank Gavaller, John Ziaja, Hollie Agesen, Tom Beckett, Bill Cordtz, Dan Wagenet, Rebecca Gbasha, James Harrod, Richard McGinniss, Susan Hornung, Dale Siela.
for the victims of COVID-19: especially we pray for those affected by the COVID-19 virus, and for all who are in danger.
for our city, county, and community; the city council, the board of supervisors, for those who serve the common good in law enforcement and the courts.
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Talk with Stephen
Could you use a prayer or a listening ear? Do you have ideas you'd like to share? Although our offices are closed, Pastor Stephen is available to talk by phone or via Zoom. If you'd like to find a time to talk with Stephen, you can call Alison at 707-579-2604 or email Stephen directly at sshaver@incarnationsantarosa.org. |
Need Support?
If you know of anyone, including yourself, who could use a communion visit or a prayer, please call the church office (707-579-2604) or email
If you have a pastoral emergency after hours or on weekends, please call the church office (number above) and follow the prompts for the Priest-on-Call.
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Diocesan Newsletter Signup
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 An easy way to keep abreast of the news around the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, especially during this challenging time, is to subscribe to its newsletter, the Diocesan e-News, which is delivered to your inbox on most Tuesday afternoons. Click here to be directed to their signup page.They take your privacy seriously and do not share their lists with anyone; if you ask to be unsubscribed, by simply clicking on the unsubscribe link that is at the end of each newsletter, you will be taken off the list immediately. If you access your email by phone, you can text EDNC to 28828 and sign up by replying with your email. Subscribe today!
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Church of the Incarnation
550 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
707-579-2604
Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved.
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