Weekly e-Epistle from St. James' Mill Creek

Weekly e-Epistle

from

St. James' Mill Creek

Wilmington, Delaware

August 14th, 2022

We'd love for you to join us!

We would be pleased if you joined us in person or online from the comfort of your home for church services via Facebook Live at 9:30am.

https://www.facebook.com/StJamesEpiscopalChurchMillCreek/

St. James Mill Creek Facebook page

Sunday Bulletin (August 14th)

Visiting with Us This Week

This Sunday the Rev. Emily Gibson will be visiting with us. She has served a number of places and dioceses during her ordained ministry, and you’ll remember her from her time helping us out during our transition and interim period.

Father Ben at Memorial House

Beginning on Friday, August 12 until August 19, Fr. Ben will be serving as host at Memorial House in Rehoboth. He will be back in the office on August 22.

Monday Morning Bible Study and Wednesday Eucharist Update

Monday morning Bible study will resume on August 22 at 10:30 AM in the Lounge. Wednesday morning Eucharist will resume on August 24 at 10 AM in the church. Please join us!

Opportunities to Serve on Sunday Mornings

Our rich Anglican tradition has many opportunities for service within the life of our parish. One of those ways is serving within the context of worship as an usher, an acolyte, a lay reader, or as a chalice bearer. Throughout this COVID-tide we have had limited Sunday morning participation in these liturgical roles, but as we move toward fall we invite you to prayerfully consider participation in one of these aspects of worship. If you have questions, please contact Fr. Ben in the Parish Office.

Confirmation Classes - Coming Soon!

Bishop Brown will have his scheduled visitation with us on October 2. With this is in mind, our confirmation classes will be beginning soon. The scheduled dates and times will be determined based upon our participants. Confirmation classes can be a great time for a refresher on life in the Church; a chance to re-connect with fellow parishioners; and ask those questions that have been bothering you since your own confirmation. There’s no obligation to be confirmed if you go through these classes, but if confirmation or re-affirmation has been on your mind and your heart, please contact the Parish Office to sign up and let Fr. Ben know if you have any questions.

Uptick in COVID Cases - Please Be Careful!

As we move deeper into summer, COVID cases continue to increase, especially with this new and more easily transmissible variant. Early indications are that prior infection does not prevent re-infection, and vaccination, while still proven to drastically reduce severe infection and death, offers little protection from contracting and spreading this new variant.

With all of this in mind, we continue to encourage and recommend masking indoors because of our intimate worship space. I also encourage you to re-assess your own risk level and that of our church community. If you are eligible for your second booster, please discuss with your healthcare provider whether it would be appropriate for you to receive that second booster at this time.

Finally, many people are presenting with no symptoms while still spreading this virus; so if you have recently been exposed but are not showing symptoms, please stay home. If you are feeling poorly and still test negative, please stay home. We will certainly miss you, and we will look forward to seeing you when you are feeling better.

Summer Prayer Team UPDATE

During the summer months, the prayer team will continue to lift up prayer requests shared by parishioners through emails to the church office at 302-994-1584 or to individual members of the prayer team. We collect the prayer requests and other concerns of the parish, community, and world. Then these requests are lifted up in the daily prayers of the team members. All are welcome to share their prayer requests and we hope you will consider joining us when our monthly prayer services resume in the fall on Sunday, September 11th. More information to follow.

For those who have an immediate prayer need, we invite you to email your prayer needs/requests to Carolyn Mack at cdmack37@gmail.com or call 302-565-8675

Can You Imagine Such a Place?

Imagine laying on your back in a field of wheat

The wind is blowing gently

The wheat is rustling in the breeze

Everything smells fresh and clean

As you lay hidden from view

You see the sky so blue and clouds of white

The sun shining on your face, you think

"What a beautiful place!"

You smell the musk scent of the earth

The sky the bluest you ever seen

Fluffy clouds, large and small slide across the sky

The leaves on the trees are full and green

The birds singing their songs to their mates

It's warm, sunny, everything is just right

As you listen, a smile brightens your face

Can you imagine such a place?

No one knows where you are, this private place of yours

Where there is nothing but peace, love, harmony

Everything is right with the world

Can you imagine such a place?

Faye Hart

Serving those in need with dignity and respect…

We are grateful for your support that enables us to

serve lunch at the Emmanuel Dining Room

and provide clothing, food, and other items

needed by those being served at the Hope Center.

St. James' Mission and Outreach updates

Sharing God’s gifts with others.

Thank you all for your generosity and caring that made and make these offerings possible.

Family Promise

Our next week offering meals and caring to families participating in Family Promise is August 7-14 (This will also be the last offering this year.) At this point, guests continue to live in the cottages at the Jesus House off Milltown Road. We’ll let you know if that changes and we are able to return to providing our families with lodging, snacks, and dinners in our parish hall.

Meals on Wheels

Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver lunch and some evening meals to our neighbors in Murray Manor. Our next week to deliver meals is August 8-12.

Hope Center and Friendship House

We continue to provide clothing items, snacks, food, toiletries and hygiene items, children's books and toys, diapers, laundry detergent, etc. for those being served at the Hope Center and Friendship House.

SPECIAL REQUEST:

UNIFORMS NEEDED

Friendship House’s goal is to collect 10,000 school uniform items before the start of the 2022-2023 school year to support 13 local public schools. They need youth khaki pants sizes L, XL, and XXL and youth polo shirts in navy, red, or white, sizes L, XL, and XXL.

Items can be left in one of our St. James’ collection boxes inside the front door of the church or Monday-Thursday a box is outside the Parish Hall on the front porch. And they will be delivered weekly to the Friendship House Clothing Bank as we receive donations.

Or, donations can be brought Monday-Thursday, 8:30 am - 2:30 pm to the Friendship House Clothing Bank at 1603 Jessup St. Wilmington, DE.

If you have questions, please contact Cindy Fauerbach 302-584-8053. Thank you!

Emmanuel Dining Room

In the past, we have served from 140-200 lunches to our friends at Emmanuel Dining Room on the 31st of the month (7 times per year). Covid brought new challenges and we were able to provide the lunch “fixings”, but not help in the kitchen OR serve the meals. From March 2020 until April 2022, guests were provided a “take away” lunch that they picked up outside the dining room and had to eat elsewhere.

We are happy to say, WE ARE BACK in the kitchen and serving guests in the dining room.

On our next lunch date—Wednesday, August 31st, our guests will enjoy tuna subs, chips, banana, and homemade cookies and have peanut butter and jelly sandwich to take away for later.

Please join us in the Parish Hall kitchen on Tuesday, August 30th at 9 a.m. to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as an extra snack or meal for later for our guests being served the next day. (Masks and gloves, please and will be provided.)
If you'd like to provide some homemade cookies (or store-bought cookies), please bring them to the Parish Hall kitchen marked EDR by Tuesday, August 30th. Earlier in the month, you are welcome to put homemade cookies into the freezer to keep them fresh. Please label them EDR.
Questions: please text or call Pat Minor 302-983-6299 or Cindy Fauerbach 302-584-8053.

Summer Prayer Team

For those who have an immediate prayer need, we invite you to email your prayer needs/requests to Carolyn Mack at cdmack37@gmail.com or call 302-565-8675

St. James' Pastoral Care Team

St. James' Pastoral Care Team continues to support our parish family and our community.

If you or someone you know is in need, we:

· send cards, make phone calls, and pray with you and/or for you.

· For now, in an abundance of caution, our home, hospital, and Eucharistic visits are on hold.

Please call the office (302-994-1584) and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Messages are retrieved daily, seven days a week.

Please let us know if you need us or someone you know needs us. We will not know if you do not tell us.

St. James' Pastoral Care Team

St. James' Pastoral Care Team continues to support our parish family and our community.

If you or someone you know is in need, we:

· send cards, make phone calls, and pray with you and/or for you.

· For now, in an abundance of caution, our home, hospital, and Eucharistic visits are on hold.

Please call the office (302-994-1584) and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Messages are retrieved daily, seven days a week.

Please let us know if you need us or someone you know needs us. We will not know if you do not tell us.

“Blessful” Meditations

We all know that life can be a little stressful and hectic sometimes. We hope that by reading this short bible passage and watching a relaxing video will help you take a moment and reflect on God’s gifts.

Proverbs 10:12

“Hatred stirs old quarrels, but love overlooks insults.”