"Follow me and I will make you fish for people."
Sunday, January 24
The Third Sunday after The Epiphany
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 24, 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 24
  • Old Testament- Jonah 3:1-5, 10
  • Psalm 62:6-14
  • The Epistle - 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
  • The Holy Gospel - Mark 1:14-20
The Holy Gospel | Mark 1:14-20

After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Make Your Offering!
Schedule for the Week of January 24

  • Evening Prayer, Sunday, 7 p.m.+
  • Holy Eucharist, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, 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
  • Deadline for submission of 2020 Parish Reports, Sunday, January 31
  • Deadline for response to Eucharistic M./Lector/Server email, Jan. 31
  • Holy Eucharist, The Presentation, Tuesday, February 2, 7 p.m.
  • Ash Wednesday, February 14, services at 12 noon and 7 p.m.
  • First Sunday in Lent, February 21
  • Annual Meeting, first or second Sunday in May (tbd)



The Vestry met Thursday evening, January 21, via Zoom. Fr. Ben led the meeting with eight members of the vestry present. He indicated there were two feast days coming up on January 25 and February 2 (see above) and that there would be noon and 7 p.m. services on Ash Wednesday. Further information will be forthcoming regarding the distribution of ashes. He also indicated a new class series (via Zoom) would be offered during Lent.

Meeting highlights:
  • The vestry accepted the Scrip Program request to the Treasurer to contribute excess scrip profit to the Rector's Discretionary Fund, the fund which will support new carpeting for Pearson Hall, and the Glen-Ed Pantry. Funds will also be transferred to repay a temporary transfer from the Memorial Fund.
  • On behalf of the Altar Guild, Donna Ireland thanked Jim Weingartner, Keith Dudding, Jim Gillentine, and Fr. Ben, for their service during Christmastide.
  • The vestry approved an additional cost of living adjustment for Henry Evans to "catch up" for recent years in which he received no increase.
  • The 2021 budget was approved and included the Evans adjustment.
  • A Performance Review committee, led by Kevin Babb, is being formed to review the 2020 work of Fr. Ben. The committee will include vestry members and parishioners and will be 3-5 persons.
  • Sue Buckley has stepped down from the responsibility of preparing the Eucharistic Minister/Lector/Server schedules for worship services. Marilyn Strangeman, with assistance from Sue and Marian Smithson, has agreed to prepare the first six-month schedule for 2021 (but not serve in other facets of the EM ministry). The vestry thanks Sue for her many years of service in coordinating all aspects of this ministry.
  • Walter Bohn and Marian Smithson shared information on their early research of the cost to replace flooring in Pearson Hall and the kitchen. They will have more to report after meeting with two flooring/design representatives at the church on Monday, January 25.
  • Fr. Ben described a recent problem which emphasized the need to change the voice mail message setup in the office so that he can be aware of messages left even when he is out of the office. Marian Smithson has looked into Spectrum voice options and will change the current setup to assist with this problem.
  • Brief announcements: a columbarium niche was purchased by Elaine Klaus; annual ministry reports are due January 31, and a new refrigerator may be needed for the kitchen.
  • The next vestry meeting is scheduled for February 18.



As we make our way through this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, we may at first think of our many sisters and brothers in Christ around the world and across denominations. At the same time, we do well to recall the faithful who have gone before us and passed on to the next generation what they had received. Their witness is our witness, and we share with them in the faith once delivered through our Lord Jesus Christ. To that end, today I share a reflection from St. Augustine of Hippo on the Gospel according to John and Jesus's command that we ought to love one another.
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"A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." This commandment that he is giving them is a new one, the Lord Jesus tells his disciples. Yet was it not contained in the Old Law, where it is written: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself?" Why does the Lord call it new when it is clearly so old? Or is the commandment new because it divests us of our former selves and clothes us with the new man? Love does indeed renew the man who hears, or rather obeys its command; but only that love which Jesus distinguished from a natural love by the qualification: "As I have loved you."
 
This is the kind of love that renews us. When we love as he loved us we become new men, heirs of the new covenant and singers of the new song. My brothers, this was the love that even in bygone days renewed the holy men, the patriarchs and prophets of old. In later times it renewed the blessed apostles, and now it is the turn of the Gentiles. From the entire human race throughout the world this love gathers together into one body a new people, to be the bride of God’s only Son. She is the bride of whom it is asked in the Song of Songs: "Who is this who comes clothed in white?" White indeed are her garments, for she has been made new; and the source of her renewal is none other than this new commandment.
 
And so all her members make each other’s welfare their common care. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with him, and if one member is glorified all the rest rejoice. They hear and obey the Lord’s words: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another;" not as men love one another for their own selfish ends, nor merely on account of their common humanity, but because they are all gods and sons of the Most High. They love one another as God loves them so that they may be brothers of his only Son. He will lead them to the goal that alone will satisfy them, where all their desires will be fulfilled. For when God is all in all, there will be nothing left to desire.
 
This love is the gift of the Lord who said: "As I have loved you, you also must love one another." His object in loving us, then, was to enable us to love each other. By loving us himself, our mighty head has linked us all together as members of his own body, bound to one another by the tender bond of love.
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May we be faithful in loving one another that we live and grow in unity with all God’s saints past, present, and future.
 
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  Prayer for Mission, BCP p. 125
Helping Those in Need

Outreach will not do a Souper Bowl Sunday collection this year. To help those in need, please send a check directly to the Glen-Ed Pantry with "St. Andrew's" in the memo line.

Checks should be made out to “Glen-Ed Pantry” and mailed to
  • Glen-Ed Pantry c/o Amy Poos 125 Fifth Avenue, Edwardsville, Illinois 62025.
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. The reports will be distributed via email in early February. Questions should be sent to info@standrews-edwardsville.com.
In Memoriam: Helen Holbert

Helen Elizabeth Holbert, nee Samon, 78, of Edwardsville, passed away at her home on January 17, 2021. She was born on November 19, 1942, in Covington, Kentucky. She attended Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Helen married Richard H. Holbert, in Alton, on February 12, 1971.

Helen was actively involved in her community. She was a member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church where she served as a Sunday School teacher and treasurer for the Episcopal Church Women's Group. Helen was a member of the Edwardsville Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and served as the American History and Heritage Award Chairperson. She was a Girl Scout leader for 16 years and coached softball in Edwardsville. Helen was one of the founders of the Belleville Area Humane Society and volunteered for various no-kill animal shelters. She volunteered at Anderson Hospital in Maryville, instructed CPR and first aid classes for the American Red Cross and was a recipient of the Clara Barton Award. She retired from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. (Click here to continue.)
St. Andrew's Communications
Communications Coordinator and Newsletter Editor-in-Chief, Marian Smithson
Newsletter Editor, Jane Weingartner | Newsletter Editor, Marianne Cavanaugh