First Sunday of Advent

Psalm 146

Isaiah 1:1-9

Isaiah 60:1-3, 11a, 14c, 18-19

2 Peter 3:1-10

Matthew 25:1-13

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Officiants: Deacon Nancy and Cathedral/Diocese Staff Clergy

Preacher: Reverend Angela

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Home is where the heart is. For our Bishop, as for all Episcopal Bishops, home is wherever the faithful meet for worship and service within the geographical bounds of the diocese. But as Bishop David recounts here, there is that grounding sense of coming home, when he returns to the Cathedral church, the Mother Church of the diocese. It is here that he finds sustaining joy, encouragement and hope for the future; and for his ministry of episcopal shepherd and spiritual leader among us. Listen as he reflects on where he experiences the presence of God at St. James, where he hopes we will be in another year and where he experiences joy at St. James during this season of focus on financial stewardship.

Please Note: you may either return your pledge card by dropping it in the mail slot at the Cathedral office, by mailing it to the Cathedral at 4147 E. Dakota Ave, Fresno, CA 93726; or by submitting it using the link here. With the pledge form is a proportional giving chart to inform your decision making. As Bishop David concludes, “Bless you, bless you, bless you for all you do! Bless you!”

Reprint with Correction from November 18, 2020

Reaching into his Cherokee Heritage, Warren shares about finding a loving, accepting, and inclusive community here at St. James. Eight years ago, spiritually adrift; searching, Warren experienced God’s heart song fill him with an overflowing sense of acceptance and love. He broke into song. It was, he said, “as if I were the flute of God.”

What he sang in that moment was not in a language known to him. It was Cherokee! Thus began a journey in search of his Native American father’s Cherokee roots; and a quest for a spiritual home. But not just any spiritual home. A home of acceptance. A place where he could sing and live out God’s heart song of inclusivity for all of God’s children.

Without success, Warren tried out for two church choirs before coming to St. James. St. James welcomed him saying, “Come, we will teach you to sing.” Warren shares “I was off pitch 80% of the time when I first started, but it didn’t matter. St. James accepted me.”

The Cherokee say of friendship that when two people realize they will be friends, they look at each other and say “friends it will be;” which means friends who will be brothers and sisters: Friends with the same thought. Friends forever. Friends united by the Spirit of God.

St. James, you have brought brother Warren joy because you welcome all with the embrace of Christ regardless of immigration status, voice quality, whom one chooses to love, or your roots. Warren not only sings the talk, he walks it, too! Retired and in his 70’s, Warren walked the SJRaise walk from Fresno to Sacramento on behalf of immigrants because he knows, first-hand, how fiercely God desires all to be included. Your faith-filled generosity provides the resource for such inclusive justice-making through St. James.

We are excited to share with you that starting Advent 1, your Cathedral Clergy are transitioning to live streaming our Sunday services from the Cathedral as a step toward re-opening in person, when that becomes possible.

Starting this Sunday, you will see your Cathedral Clergy leading morning prayer in the Cathedral, wearing masks and socially distanced, which will be livestreamed. The music and readings will be pre-recorded by Cathedral and diocesan members, as is currently done. This “hybrid” model will include music and the laity from both St. James and the greater diocese – so you’ll still be able to see friends from near and far participating! You can view it all on our same Facebook and YouTube channels.

When our county moves out of the purple tier, and when deemed prudent, we anticipate being able to invite you to join us in Zoe Eden where space will allow us to safely maintain distance. And ultimately, we will be able to celebrate Eucharist with you. Won’t that be a glorious day!

Tune in on Sunday.

St. James is looking to reconstitute the Buildings and Ground Committee for our continued beautification and the long-term maintenance of our cathedral campus. This is an important committee for our cathedral campus and we are looking for people with ideas, thoughts and organizational experience. This re-constituted committee will be asked to assist in areas involving the buildings and grounds of the campus, including: devising a comprehensive campus map, vendor management, security applications and a comprehensive maintenance plan with considerations geared towards environmental and economic considerations.  We need you.

The Bible is full of gardens and beautiful Holy spaces; please help us replicate that beauty on our campus when we return to in-person worship.

Now is our time. We need people to maintain this energy and interest. Help us keep our campus beautiful and ever growing.

If you are interested in this important ministry, please contact the Senior Warden at srwarden@stjamesfresno.org.

The committee will meet via Zoom.

St. James offers Sunday worship each Sunday at 10:00AM on our YouTube Channel, Facebook Page, and Website. Archives of these services are available.

Starting this Sunday, we will once again begin offering digital service programs. Visit the St. James website to download the program. If possible, for our creation care work, please do not print the program.

To help us improve our digital church experience, please evaluate your experience of our "live stream service," by taking a moment to complete a short survey following Sunday's service.

Conserve water by replacing little-used grass areas like your front yard with a native garden. A native garden can reduce street noise and offer more privacy for you and your family. Water savings: up to 75 percent of the water typically used. Growing indigenous plants with low water requirements could save you up to 550 gallons of water per year.

To participate, log into the Cathedral Coffee Hour on Zoom. The meeting password is "james4147". You can also join the conversation by phone. Call (669) 900-6833 and enter the meeting ID 821-8772-3828. You will be prompted to enter the phone password "492292".

Meets the first Saturday of each monthly at 9:30AM on Zoom. These gatherings are open to all. To join via Zoom, click here. There is also a call-in option: (669) 900-6833 - Meeting ID: 894 7483 4226 - Passcode: 230840797.

The clergy of St. James remain deeply committed to offering pastoral care and support to members of the Cathedral Congregation especially during this difficult time. If a pastoral need arises for you or someone you know in the congregation, and you want to contact the clergy, please either email us at clergy@stjamesfresno.org or call the Cathedral office at (559) 439-5011 and select option 5 to leave a message for the clergy.

Amid the continued uncertainty of an unrelenting coronavirus pandemic, the church’s presiding officers announced Nov. 20 that they had decided, with Executive Council’s unanimous backing, to postpone the 80th General Convention from July 2021 to July 2022, a move intended to ensure the large churchwide legislative gathering can be held in person in Baltimore, Maryland, as originally planned.

It’s been 25 years since United Nations member states adopted the Beijing platform, a framework for uplifting and empowering women to advance gender equality worldwide; although there’s been progress over the years, 2020 has seen setbacks.

Washington National Cathedral hosted a virtual event focused on healing the divisions in American society on Nov. 20, featuring a discussion between Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Russell Moore, executive director of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

A brutal campaign season is over. The votes have been tallied. A new president is scheduled to be inaugurated on Jan. 20. How can Episcopalians who committed themselves this year to political engagement build on that collective energy and momentum in promoting moral values in the public sphere?

If you have any feedback, comments, or questions for the Midweek Missive Editors, please email us. Submissions to the Midweek Missive are welcomed and must be submitted to midweek@stjamesfresno.org by Tuesday at noon.