Welcome to St. Bede's E-News!
We hope that this weekly offering will keep you up-to-date
on the latest information from the parish
and from around the Diocese of Atlanta and wider Church.
Our e-newsletters are now being archived on our website.
at the top of the home page to find past newsletters.
The deadline for submission to the E-Newsletter each week is Wednesday at 10:00 a.m.
Please send your submissions ready to go into the newsletter,
text and images attached in an email to the Parish Administrator.
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Sunday, January 9, 2022
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
The Baptism of Christ
We have pressed the "pause button"
on in-person worship.
Due to the alarming surge in COVID cases
in Georgia and metro Atlanta,
we are going to take a brief "pause"
in our in-person worship.
(Please see the update about worship below.)
Worship in English
on Zoom at 10 am
We invite all to join us on Zoom at 10 am.
(You can even come in your pajamas
and bring your hot chocolate, tea, or coffee.)
We will also be streaming this liturgy live
on
but we hope you can join us on Zoom
for the interactive community experience.
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Worship in Spanish
on Zoom at Noon
Links for how to join these
Zoom worship offerings
will be emailed out on Saturday
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Worship to Move Online for January
The Gathering Going Forward Group met on Wednesday night (January 5) and unanimously recommended moving all worship online for the rest of January due to the current surge of the Omicron variant. The Group will monitor conditions and then meet again near the end of the month to make further recommendations about when we can resume in-person worship.
This decision came on the Eve of the Epiphany – the season in which we celebrate Christ’s manifestation to the world. We are the Body of Christ and Christ’s light shines in our hearts wherever we are and however we gather. Let’s embrace these early Sundays of the Season of Epiphany as a time when Christ can shine through us and for each other as we gather on Zoom to pray, sing, and have fellowship.
As Molly Graves, our Senior Warden, pointed out, we have, in the past, celebrated having worship periodically moved outside, or to the Commons, or the Parish Hall, or to a public park. Worship is moving back to Zoom for a season and it will move back to the Nave again – when that is the right thing to do. Our pandemic journey may be teaching us that we have to learn to pivot back-and-forth – not what we were necessarily expecting, but a gracious opportunity and a useful tool nonetheless.
This Sunday, in addition to worship on Zoom, I particularly invite you to remain after worship for Together Zoom – our intergenerational offering…because remember, “intergenerational” means “between the generations” and we need all generations there for fun and formation!
Finally, I point you to Alyssa’s article below and an icon of hope created by Claudia Fedarko and Molly Graves. These faithful members of the Children’s Ministry Team have blanketed the front doors of our church building with stars to celebrate the Epiphany. On each star is a word. We are all invited to stop by and pick out a star – and a word – to be a guiding light for us in the new year. Please be blessed by being guided by the light of Christ that shines in you and in others.
Peace,
Chad
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Stop by the front doors of the Church
to participate in this meditative Epiphany exercise:
“We saw his star when it rose
and have come to honor him.”
Matthew 2:2
Friends and neighbors:
Take a moment. Breathe. Listen to the birds, the wind.
Then let your eyes read these guiding-star words as you continue breathing deeply.
I wonder which one of these words is yours?
Which one might the Holy Spirit use to guide you to see and honor Christ this year? Christ, divine and human.
Then choose your star.
Take a star or stars home with you.
Keep them in sight--on your fridge, your desk, your mirror, the inside of your bedroom door.
Let them guide you to the one who is called Love this year.
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Together Zoom this Sunday!
At 11:15AM this Sunday, January 9th
(following Morning Worship on Zoom)
The Zoom Link will be included
in the Saturday Worship E-newsletter.
A peaceful, joyful place (with mask-free faces and no Omicron worries in it!) is prepared for you this Sunday.
All-Ages belong at this child-centered time of story, wondering, crafting, song, prayer, and sharing. Stop by the church building to pick up your Epiphany "Chalking the Door" kit, or let Alyssa know and we will deliver it to you! asali@stbedes.org
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Baby Jesus Baskets
During the seasons of Advent & Christmas, we will be filling baskets with donations to help homeless new mothers in need. Baskets will be in the Commons by the Christmas tree until Sunday, January 9.
Donations may be left outside the front doors of the building through Sunday, January 9 at 2 pm and they will be brought inside and placed under the tree by a staff member. If you need to coordinate a drop-off at some other time, please email the office at: info@stbedes.org
The most needed items are:
New children’s clothing, sizes newborn to 12 months
Unscented Baby Wipes
Baby Soap for sensitive skin
Baby Lotion for sensitive skin
Other items needed:
Enfamil Ready to Feed Gentlease Formula
Enfamil Ready to Feed Prosobee Formula
Enfamil Ready to Feed Infant Formula
Boys Pull-Ups (size 3T/4T and 4T/5T)
Girls Pull-Ups (size 3T/4T and 4T/5T)
Diapers (size 4, 5 and 6)
Sippy Cups (hard/soft tips)
Bottles (new with nipples)
Sorry, no stuffed or used toys.
All donations must be in by Sunday, January 9th.
Donations will go to Our House shelter. For information about their mission and programs, visit https://ourhousega.org/.
Thank you for your support!
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Texts of Terror Class Continues January 20
In 1984, Old Testament scholar Phyllis Trible published her groundbreaking book, Texts of Terror, in which she explored certain deeply troubling biblical passages. Although Trible’s “Texts of Terror” dealt specifically with stories that portrayed the victimization of women, the term is now used more broadly to describe those texts that continue to challenge and confound the contemporary reader.
Please make plans to join co-facilitators Carmie McDonald and Claiborne Jones and other members of the St. Bede’s community as we continue our study of the Texts of Terror by discussing Psalm 137 on Thursday, January 20th at 7pm on Zoom. Our last class meeting is scheduled for February 3rd.
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The 2022 Annual Pledge Campaign
for St. Bede's
THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU!
Thank you to all who have already
prayerfully considered and returned
your 2022 pledge of financial support to St. Bede's.
As of January 6, we have received pledges
from seventy-three folks/families totaling $363,000.
If you have not already made a financial pledge
to support St. Bede's for 2022,
we would love to hear from you.
We hope that you will prayerfully consider
your pledge to St. Bede's
and return your pledge card
or use the link below to pledge online.
If your pledge packet never arrived in the mail,
please call or email the church office
and we will get one sent out to you as soon as possible.
Thank You!
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Gathering Going Forward
Guidance for the Parish
The Gathering Going Forward Group continues to encourage all eligible St. Bede’s parishioners to get vaccinated and keep up-to-date with 3rd doses (for the immunocompromised) and boosters - which have now been authorized for all adults. We would love to be a parish that models Christ’s call to love our neighbors and the most vulnerable among us by being a community that is as fully vaccinated as it can be.
Please remember that the Delta and Omicron variants of the COVID-19 virus spread more aggressively and can be spread by both unvaccinated and vaccinated people (even if they do not know that they are transmitting the virus and have no symptoms themselves). Vaccination is the best and most effective mitigation strategy and even it should still be combined with secondary layers of protection such as masking when indoors or keeping appropriate distance when outdoors.
SO REMEMBER:
GET VACCINATED - AND BOOSTED!
(as you are eligible and able)
WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC
(even if you are vaccinated)
AND CONSIDER UPGRADING
TO WELL-FITTING SURGICAL OR
MEDICAL GRADE MASKS
(cloth masks do not seem to offer
sufficient protection for you or for others
against the latest variants)
KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS
SOCIALLY DISTANCE AROUND OTHERS
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Healing Our Racism
Book Discussion Group
Monday, January 24.
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm
on ZOOM
The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Proposer Together
by Heather McGhee
Heather McGhee’s specialty is the American economy—and the mystery of why it so often fails the American public. From the financial crisis of 2008 to rising student debt to collapsing public infrastructure, she found a root problem: racism in our politics and policymaking. But not just in the most obvious indignities for people of color. Racism has costs for white people, too. It is the common denominator of our most vexing public problems, the core dysfunction of our democracy and constitutive of the spiritual and moral crises that grip us all. But how did this happen? And is there a way out?
Please join Muriel Diguette and other members/friends of St. Bede's to discuss current books pertaining to the issues of racism and white privilege.
We will meet the 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm.
If you want to go ahead and order books for future discussions:
See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Race Matters by Cornell West
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
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Mostly Mysteries Book Group
January 24th at 7pm on Zoom
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 7:00 pm
on ZOOM
The Mostly Mysteries Book Group is continuing to meet on Zoom. If you would like to take part, please contact Connie Coralli and she will send you the link.
The January selection is A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins.
When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbor clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs done to them. When it comes to revenge, even good people might be capable of terrible deeds. How far might any one of them go to find peace? How long can secrets smolder before they explode into flame?
If you are interested in receiving the Zoom link, please email Connie Coralli
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St. Bede's Prayer List
Prayers have been requested for:
Taylor Harty, granddaughter of Nancy Warning
Joy Waring Harty, daughter of Nancy Waring
Summer, friend of Larry Bing
Bob and Linda Hammill, friends of Larry Bing
Brian Couch, friend of Lisa Main
Mary DeMarco, friend of Nancy Bruce
Joy Sims, daughter of Nina Daniel
Jack Raymer & Ginnie Ferrell
Fran Snider
Myles Metcalf, nephew of Susan Reef
Carmen Graciaa, friend of Laura Martin
Jim Poulos, husband of Carol Kempker
Helen Abraham
Mac Thigpen
Fay Key
Lisa Maloof, daughter in law of Anita Maloof
Kevin Maloof, son of Anita Maloof
Donareen Oakley
Bill Edgar, father of Beth Cannon
Sarra David
Rosalene Larson, mother-in-law of Michael Daniel
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Hilda Bell
Willie Diaz
Tim Waring
Peggy Allen, mother of Lisa Main
Ray Lampros
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
Kerry Penney
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Jim Ohl
Frances Bowen
Max Carpenter, grandson of Sarra David
Judy Penney, sister-in-law of Kerry Penney
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Cameron Maddox
For those who have died:
Larinda Tervelt, friend of the Contemplative Living Group
Louie Shapiro, cousin of Suzanne Shapiro
Sarai Shapiro, daughter of cousin of Suzanne Shapiro
Diane Mundy, friend of Suzanne Shapiro
Garry Allen, uncle of Lisa Main
Alan Wilensky, former husband of Gwen Heaton
Mary Maitland Kimball, sister of Jan Swoope
We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week:
1/2: Camden Gowler
1/2: Darline Saavedra
1/3: Charles Murff
1/5: Amelia Graciano
1/6: Jane Bowers
1/6: Marty Elks
1/6: Reynaldo Ramirez
1/9: Trevor Cannon
1/9: Mary Rodriguez
1/10: Anthony Hernandez-Martinez
1/11: Jesus Valenciano
1/11: Anthony Victoria
1/12: Ted Webster
1/13: Alan Medina
1/15: Jose Vargas
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Community Emergency
Assistance Fund
In addition to all of the wonderful ways that the Community Engagement Team is leading us in supporting community ministry partners (locally, churchwide, and globally) during this critical time, the Vestry has established a Community Emergency Assistance Fund to help people within the greater St. Bede's community with food assistance during the current public health crisis. This fund will be administered confidentially by the clergy in a similar way as their normal discretionary funds, but will be used exclusively to help with food assistance during this crisis.
We have collected around $10,500 and distributed over $8,000 in assistance though food and utility support for individuals and families so far during the current public health crisis. The current balance of the fund stands at around $2,600 and new needs continue to present themselves. A dedicated group of members work with Fabio to help identify need and deliver food. Thank you to all who have contributed!
If you have questions about this offering to the greater St. Bede's community or if you are in need of food assistance or know someone who is, please contact either the Rev'd Caroline Magee or the Rev'd Fabio Sotelo.
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Your Amazon purchases can support St. Bede's
through Amazon Smile
If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through
and designating St. Bede's as your charitable beneficiary.
To find St. Bede's in the beneficiary list,
you must search for "St Bedes Episcopal Church"
(without the apostrophe)
and choose the one located in Atlanta.
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From around the Diocese
and the wider Church...
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Pathways
the magazine of the Diocese of Atlanta
The new Pathways is now available online! Through original photography, articles, and interviews, Pathways shares inspiring stories from Middle and North Georgia — examples of spiritual growth.
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Bishop Wright's Weekly Podcast
Did you know that Bishop Rob Wright has a weekly podcast? You can take a spiritual "deep dive" each week with Bishop Wright and his special guests and grow deeper in faith and understanding as you listen and learn.
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Support the Cathedral Book Store.
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Episcopal Relief & Development Tornado Relief in
Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee
December 13, 2021
Episcopal Relief & Development is in contact with Episcopal dioceses in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee in response to the devastating tornadoes that struck this past weekend.
A line of severe weather spread across the central US late Friday evening, December 10 through early Saturday morning, December 11. The storms created over 50 tornadoes, including one with a 200-mile long path through Kentucky. At least four EF-3 and five EF-2 tornadoes had been confirmed in Missouri and Illinois. EF-3 tornadoes are considered severe with estimated wind speeds of 158-206 mph. Rescue efforts are underway to locate missing people and the full extent of the damage is unknown at this time. As of Monday morning, at least 26,000 homes in Kentucky are without power.
“We are in contact with Episcopal dioceses in the affected areas,” said Katie Mears, Senior Director, US Disaster Program, Episcopal Relief & Development. “Our partners are assessing the needs in their communities created by the storms. We stand ready to assist in the coming days and weeks.”
Please pray for the people impacted by the deadly tornadoes. Donations to the US Disaster Fund will support Episcopal Relief & Development and its partners as they respond. For over 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for more than 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.
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Several St. Bede's regulars subscribe to-and like! - these e-publications. To stay up to date on activities throughout the Diocese of Atlanta, sign up for the e-newsletter, Connecting.
You can also sign up to receive For Faith, which is a weekly devotional podcast from Bishop Rob Wright sent by email on Fridays. To sign up for either or both, click here
Quick Links
To schedule events, please contact our
Muriel Diguette
For the weekly lectionary readings visit:
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