John the Baptist baptizes Jesus.
Sunday, January 10
The Second Sunday after Christmas
Masks and social distancing required for all services.
Holy Eucharist Rite I, 8 a.m.
In-person attendance for up to 10 worshippers
Please sign up in advance here.
Facebook Live audio also available.
Holy Eucharist Rite II, 10 a.m.
In-person attendance for up to 10 worshippers
Please sign up in advance here.
Also live-streamed at 10 a.m.
Worship Notes, Sunday, January 10, 10 a.m.
Fr. Ben Hankinson, officiating, Henry H. Evans, Organist

Coffee Hour via Zoom, following the 10 a.m. service.

Communion station at 12 p.m. on the rear church lawn.
Readings for January 10
  • Old Testament- Genesis 1:1-5
  • Psalm 29
  • The Epistle - Acts 19:1-7
  • The Holy Gospel - Mark 1:4-11
The Holy Gospel | Mark 1:4-11

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Make Your Offering!
Schedule for the Week of January 10

  • Evening Prayer, Sunday, 7 p.m.+
  • Compline, Monday, 7 p.m. +
  • Noonday Prayer, Tuesday, 12:05 p.m.+
  • Noonday Prayer, Wednesday, 12:05 p.m.+
  • Noonday Prayer, Thursday, 12:05 p.m.+
  • Morning Prayer, Friday, 9: a.m. +
  • Week-End Update Newsletter, Saturday, delivered midday
  • Compline, Saturday, 7 p.m. +
+ Designates a Facebook Livestream service

Looking Ahead
  • Vestry meeting, Thursday, January 21, 6:30 p.m. via Zoom
  • Deadline for submission of 2020 Parish Reports, Sunday, January 31
  • Annual Meeting, first or second Sunday in May (tbd)



I write to you today to inform you that we, the Rector and Vestry of St. Andrew’s, have elected to postpone the 2021 Annual Meeting that would normally occur in the month of January. Given current restrictions on in-person gatherings as well as limitations with respect to conducting a meeting of this scale electronically, we felt it best to delay in favor of better conditions. It is our hope that our tentative timeframe of early May will provide time for local case numbers to decrease, vaccinations to expand, and weather to warm so that we might at the very least be able to hold a gathering outside at that time.

One of the immediate ramifications of this decision is that there will be a delay in electing a new class of Vestry members. Those scheduled to end their terms in 2021 will continue in their duties until such time as we are able to gather and elect a new slate of representatives from the parish. This is also a good time to remind you that if you feel called to consider serving on the Vestry you convey that information to the Wardens or another Vestry member.

In the coming weeks, we will be receiving reports from the ministries of St. Andrew’s electronically for 2020. If you are currently leading one or more of our ministries, please take a look at the instructions below on how and when to submit your report.

I invite you to join with me in praying for St. Andrew’s, that those who lead and serve in our various ministries may continue to be faithful stewards of the Gospel as we seek to love God and love our neighbor in 2021 and beyond. 

-Fr. Ben
Submit 2020 Annual Reports by January 31!

Parish ministry leaders and vestry officers should submit their annual reports by Sunday, January 31, to info@standrews-edwardsville.com. If the ministry you lead was not active during the past year, send an email indicating that there will be no report. It will be important to record how the pandemic affected your ministry (e.g. adjustments made to carry out your ministry). The reports will be distributed via email in early February but printed booklets will be available at our annual meeting in May.

In preparing your report, please follow these guidelines:
  • list the members of your committee;
  • provide detail that will be of value for later reference;
  • prepare and send your report as an MS Word document (.docx) in portrait layout on 8.5 x 11 paper;
  • do not send your report in pdf format;
  • limit the length to one page but some exceptions may be acceptable;
  • use Times Roman 12 point for your font and single spacing.

Questions should be sent to Marian Smithson/Jane Weingartner at info@standrews-edwardsville.com. (Note: It is understood that some financial reports will be in a different format.)
2021 Book Fairs Coming Up!

Mark your calendar for the 2021 Book Fairs. Due to Covid-19, all dates at this point are tentative per Cindy Reinhardt, but more detail about the possible February book sale will be available soon.

Dates: February 5, 6; May 7, 8; August 6, 7; November 5, 6
How Will You Know When You Will Get
the Covid-19 Vaccination in Madison County?

If you are a resident of Madison County and interested in receiving the vaccine, complete the Madison County survey available at this link.

When the vaccine is available and appropriate based on IDPH guidelines, you will be contacted to schedule a vaccination appointment.

Currently, vaccinations are being given to individuals in Phase 1A:
  • healthcare personnel, and
  • long term facility personnel.

A State of Illinois Covid Testing site is at SIUE, Parking Lot B, next to Morris University Center, today (January 9) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
No appointments are needed. Masks are required. Tests will be done with a nasal swab. Results are available within one week.
Archbishop to Speak at
March 2021 Conference

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry will be among the keynote speakers at the 36th annual conference of The CEEP Network, meeting digitally for the first time in 2021. Click on the image above for further information.

The conference will include five workshops:
  • The Future Economic Models of the Church: Leveraging Our Assets to Support Current and Future Ministries
  • The Third Place — Our Buildings and Communities
  • Racial Reckoning Within the Church
  • Strategic Conversations
  • Leadership
District 7 School Nurses Send Thank You for
Angel Tree Gifts

Dear Friends of District 7,

2020 has certainly been a challenging year and you have all risen to that challenge in the support that you have given to the Edwardsville District 7 Christmas program. Thank you for offering your assistance, time and resources to help our District nurses carry out our annual Thanksgiving and Christmas programs this year.

It is a pleasure having the opportunity to work with you on this valuable project. We appreciate your willingness to take the time out of your busy schedules at this time of year. We look forward to working with you again next year.

Best regards,
The Nurses of Edwardsville
District #7”
Bishop Curry on DC Crisis:
Who Shall We Be?

[Episcopal News Service] Drawing on the words of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., Presiding Bishop Michael Curry implored Americans to choose community over chaos in a message to The Episcopal Church as the United States reels from the Jan. 6 mob attack on the Capitol, incited by President Donald Trump and led by his supporters.

“This past Wednesday, … a monument to democracy, the Capitol of the United States of America was desecrated and violated with violence by vandals. Lives were lost. A nation was wounded. Democracy itself was threatened,” Curry said in a message to the church on January 8.
Curry connected the current situation with past crises, including the Civil War, the civil rights struggle of the late 1960s and the apartheid regime in South Africa, as well as more recent ones such as the violent white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, and last year’s murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minnesota.

“In the moment of a national crisis, a moment of great danger, … a people must decide, ‘Who shall we be?’” Curry said, offering a stark choice between further chaos and beloved community.

“I want to submit that the way of love that leads to beloved community is the only way of hope for humanity. Consider the alternative. The alternative is chaos, not community. The alternative is the abyss of anarchy, of chaos, of hatred, of bigotry, of violence, and that alternative is unthinkable. We have seen nightmarish visions of that alternative.”
Pray for Our Nation
Save your people, Lord, and bless your inheritance;
Govern and uphold us now and always.
Day by day we bless you;
We praise your name forever.
Lord, keep us from sin today;
Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy.
Lord, show us your love and mercy;
For we put our trust in you.
In you, Lord, is our hope;
And we shall never hope in vain.
-Morning Prayer II, Book of Common Prayer, p. 98
St. Andrew's Communications
Communications Coordinator and Newsletter Editor-in-Chief, Marian Smithson
Newsletter Editor, Jane Weingartner | Newsletter Editor, Marianne Cavanaugh