 |
|
Weekly News & Notes from Incarnation
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
News & Notes - August 23, 2020
The Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
Service Online at 9:30 a.m. (see below for details)
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
From the Rector: Responding to Wildfires
|
 Dear friends,
As multiple fires burn here in Sonoma County, in Napa, Lake, and Solano counties, and across our whole state, I ask your prayers for all who are in need.
Let us pray for first responders; for those in danger, and those who are afraid; for those suffering loss; for those for whom past trauma is being reawakened. Let us pray for those we love and for all our neighbors, especially those who are most vulnerable.
Our friends at St. Stephen's, Sebastopol, recently sent out this helpful list of resources that I want to pass along:
Shows evacuation zones, zone numbers, and road closures
Sign up for updates, shows evacuation updates
She shares detailed, informative, and up to date information
Shows incidents across the state (does not currently include Walbridge Fire)
Sign up for alerts if you have not already. When you receive a text, make sure to click on the link to read more details.
If you are evacuated, or in any other way in need, please let me hear from you. You can call the church at (707) 579-2604 at any time, and if Alison is not able to answer, you can follow instructions to reach the priest-on-call line.
These times can feel overwhelming. One thing that is always true is that God's love will never leave us. Jesus said to his disciples: "I am always with you, even to the end of the age." Jesus is in our midst today too to offer healing, comfort, and strength. As St. Paul wrote to the Romans:
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Let's keep praying for one another and supporting one another, and our neighbors, in the days to come. Here's a prayer written last night by our diocesan Canon to the Ordinary, the Rev. Andrea McMillin:
Holy and Loving God,
As this night unfolds, we ask you to protect those who anxiously prepare for evacuation. We pray for those who are making lists, packing pets in crates, soothing children, and gathering essentials.
We pray for those who struggle with the panic of smoky air and falling ash as memories and trauma rise up.
We thank you for officials who discern the right time to call an evacuation: knowing it might be too soon, or too late.
Bless those who are driving into the fire to extinguish the flames and protect our communities.
We pray for the land and trees and animals. For farms and grapes; livestock and goats and horses. For Bishop's Ranch and other beloved places of prayer and sanctuary.
In Christ's love, 
|
|
Town Hall this Sunday
After the 9:30 am service, during our Zoom coffee hour, we will have some time for conversation about where we are as a congregation, the pandemic, and what our ministries will look like in the 2020-21 program year. Please join us!
|
| |
From the Director of Spiritual Formation...
|
|
Faith Formation 2020 Kick Off
We are so excited to bring you a variety of offerings for Adults,Children, and Youth
 Inwardly Digest Book Study - Join Pastor Stephen on Zoom
Sunday, September 13, 27
Sunday, October 11,25
11:00-11:50am
Daily spiritual practice takes dedication and discipline, and we often wonder where to start and how to keep it from feeling like yet another task on our to-do list. In this grounded, practical book, author Derek Olsen uses The Book of Common Prayer as a template for a deeper spiritual life. Olsen explains the purpose and intention of the prayer book with fresh insight, offering practical applications for daily living.
You can get a book from Incarnation Book Store.
To order, contact Linda Sevier here.
Lectionary Lunch
Join Pastor Stephen
Tuesdays, starting September 8,
12-12:50 pm on zoom
A time to study and discuss the
readings for the upcoming Sunday.
Incarnation Children's Ministries: Preschool-6th Grade
Celebrate Wonder is the curriculum for this time.
We are excited to share a faith at home practice that is fun, and you can do them whenever it works for you. If your child is between the ages of 3-10, Celebrate Wonder is going to provide some great family fun. Each month your family will be given a Faith Box full of all kinds of stories, activities, and even some surprises.To sign up click here
Incarnation Youth Group: 7th-10th Grade
This year we will be working with Live Curriculum starting with Jesus life, all is not decided you get input as well. We will have a faith Box as well and zoom gatherings. To sign up click here
|
|
|
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 23
Readings:
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
Monday, August 24
Tuesday, August 25
8:00 - 8:30 am: Outdoor Morning Prayer. 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 26
6:00 pm - Alleluia Choir: Zoom
Thursday, August 27
6:00 pm - St. Cecilia Choir: Zoom
Friday, August 28
Saturday, August 29
9 am to 11:00 am - Open Table Prep
Sunday, August 30
Readings:
7 am - 8:30 am - Open Table's Breakfast
|
|
Please join us for outdoor worship services (advance registration required):
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.
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). |
|
|
Sunday Open Table August Update
 Our Sunday morning ministry continues with lunch bags and a hot cup of coffee made to order. We have greatly streamlined the program with reasonable safety protocols in place for our guests and our volunteers. We are now able to welcome volunteers from all age groups. You can learn more by talking to Mark Neumann at (707)292-6710 or opentable@incarnationsantarosa.org. Sign up at incarnation.ivolunteer.com. Extra volunteers allow us to hand out some hygiene items and to distribute clothing donations. We encourage you to make the best choice for you and those you live with during these times.
Our group greatly misses Marilyn Payne who recently died. She was with the program from the beginning and was a wonderful representative of what the program means to our parish. She arrived (very early) on Sunday mornings with a cheerful smile and most often with some home made casseroles or soups. She had genuine compassion for the people we served and made us all better people by her example. We appreciate that the family has listed Sunday Open Table for donations in her memory. We're sure she's dancing in heaven with George and her beloved dogs and, perhaps, sharing a favorite soup recipe with the angels.
|
Begins September 10 - Sacred Ground:
A Film-Based Dialogue Series on Race and Faith
Our Diocesan Groups are full: register here for the waiting list as we create more groups.
Interest in Sacred Ground is so strong that the Zoom-based Sacred Ground Circle announced in last week's E-news filled to capacity in less than a week. While Sacred Ground Circles are in formation at several churches in the diocese, clearly, more are needed!
The good news is that The Episcopal Church has a webpage with all the information you need to form a Sacred Ground Circle here.
To provide even more help, the Commission for Intercultural Ministries in our diocese has collected resource materials from circles held here in the diocese AND we can connect you with previous facilitators to give you help and encouragement! The CIM Sacred Ground contact is Linda Jensen, lmjensen.rio@gmail.com.
If you want to join the waiting list to become a participant in a Sacred Ground Circle, if you want help in forming a circle with your church OR if you can serve as a volunteer facilitator for a diocese-wide Zoom Sacred Ground Circle, click here.
|
|
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.
|
|
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.
|
| |
New Groups at Incarnation
|
|
New Incarnation Community Group
 Announcing a new group for parents and caregivers of a young child. Please join us on Wednesday nights at 8:30 pm for a brief time of check-in and prayer with your fellow Incarnation families. The purpose of this group is to share the joys and challenges of raising our young children in the midst of the pandemic, connect with one another, and to bless the day.
|
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.
|
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, and Nancy Hanke.
...for those who have died: Wallace Look, 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.
|
|
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.
|
| |
Diocesan Newsletter Signup
|
 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!
|
|
Church of the Incarnation
550 Mendocino Avenue
Santa Rosa, CA 95401
707-579-2604
Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
