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.
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St. Bede's Announcements
In Person and Online Worship
for Sunday, September 12, 2021
The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Join us for
Worship Together in the Nave
at 10 am on
Sunday, September 12, 2021
On this Sunday
we will begin our worship
outside
near the cross
for a baptism,
and then go inside
for the Liturgy of the Word
and Communion.
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Masks continue to be required
whenever in the building.
11:30 am - Morning Worship (in English) on Zoom
Join us for Morning Worship on Zoom
also live streamed
This Sunday our Zoom worship will not be live streaming to U-tube
due to technical complications. You will be able to watch the service on U-tube
on Monday morning.
1 pm - Worship (in Spanish) on Facebook
Join us for Sunday Worship in Spanish
Querida Comunidad de San Beda, Unase a nosotros a orar.
Nuestro servicio en español es los domingos
a la 1 p.m. a través de Facebook live.
5 pm - Worship in the Nave (in Spanish)
Registration is required.
Please email The Rev'd Fabio Sotelo
(fsotelo@stbedes.org)
if you would like to attend.
Masks are required.
Information about how to join
all of our Sunday offerings on Zoom
will be sent out in a separate email
by Saturday afternoon.
There is always a call-in (from a regular telephone) option for
all worship, fellowship, and meeting opportunities
that are offered on Zoom.
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Gathering Going Forward Update
(for September 2, 2021)
Your Gathering Going Forward Group continues to meet monthly (and as needed) to offer advice to the Vestry and the Parish about best practices and protocols for how we order our common life as a parish during these ongoing days of global pandemic.
The group met on August 4 and September 1 and continues to affirm that our current protocols and mitigation strategies are strong and will allow for us to continue meeting in-person, inside for worship at this time. With that said, we ask everyone to please be vigilant about the protocols and expectations that the group has for our time together when we gather – in particular:
Wear a mask whenever you are in the building
Visit with St. Bede’s friends outside before and after worship
where ventilation is better
Honor distance around other people
Claim a seat for worship when you arrive
and try to stay close to it throughout your time there
Please remember that the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads 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.
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 (for everyone else - once they are available after September 20 and eight months after your second dose of the vaccine). 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.
SO REMEMBER:
GET VACCINATED
(if you are eligible and able)
WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC
(even if you are vaccinated)
KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS
SOCIALLY DISTANCE AROUND OTHERS
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New Formation Year Begins
This coming Sunday, the first after Labor Day, has been traditionally observed as Rally Day, a day to kick off a new school and formation year. As we begin this new formation year, please reach out to the families with unvaccinated little ones to let them know that they are in our hearts even though they are not physically in our midst.
Our households with elementary-aged children will begin receiving an all-ages curriculum in the mail to engage at home each week. If you would like to receive a digital or hard copy of these resources, let me know!
We will also all be invited to join Together Zoom once a month, starting in October. We hope to see many of you there.
And each week the children's ministry will share our curriculum's lectionary-inspired "micro-practice" (simple practice/ritual anchored in daily activities to help form healthy, spiritual, and mindful habits) with you through the E-news.
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Please find two opportunities
for contributing
to Haitian earthquake relief
in the section
"Around the Diocese
and the wider Church"
near the bottom
of your E-News.
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Join us in Education for Ministry (EfM) this year!
Education for Ministry
September 20, 2021 – May 23, 2022
Mondays, 7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., on Zoom for now
with occasional meetings on
Sundays, 2:00-4:30, outside on a screened porch
(in place of the Monday meeting)
EfM is a program of theological education and spiritual formation in a small community committed to attentive listening and nonviolent communication. The hope in EfM is to provide space for each participant to wonder about and to grow in her/his/their understanding of and relationship with God, as well as to offer resources to support each person in discerning and blessing their gifts to share in the community. Although the program is designed as a four-year process, a person enrolls for just one year at a time, as one’s life circumstances allow. All of the EfM materials were updated several years ago with new books explored each year; if you are a graduate of the program, you are welcome and encouraged to consider joining the group to have the gift and adventure of moving through the new materials.
EfM begins Monday September 20 at 7:15 p.m., meeting until 9. We’ll begin the year meeting on Zoom most weeks with occasional meetings on Sunday afternoons, 2-4:30, on a large screened porch. The group will select the Sunday afternoons that work best for these meetings.
The mentors for the group are The Rev. Lynnsay A. Buehler and Dr. Jo Marie Lyons. Each mentor has over 30 years’ experience in guiding an EfM group.
Click here for more information about the EfM group at St. Bede’s, tuition for the year and how to register.
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A testimonial from Miriam Needham
who co-facilitated our inaugural Sacred Circle group:
Many years ago when I was beginning my vocation as a pastoral educator of seminarians and clergy members, I learned a valuable lesson that I have tried never to forget. If I am successful as an educator/teacher then I have to realize and rejoice in the fact that the roles between teacher and student are often reversed. Through these many years I have been taught by the most amazing students whose courage to learn and risk have made them my teachers.
And I know that the truth of this same principle has been integral to my facilitation, along with Muriel and Molly, of this past year’s Sacred Circle group. Along with group members we found ourselves confronting histories of oppression in our country that dated back hundreds of years. We were determined to engage our own personal histories as they intersected with the historical narratives we were encountering in films and articles and various texts. The conversations were rich ….. the feelings stirred were at moments sadness, at other moments anger, and at other moments gratitude. When the material lifted intense feelings, our group worked to support one another and offer spaces of deep listening and acceptance. I was frequently aware that we all worked to bring balance as emails were sent out between groups sharing something that was happening currently that reminded us of the hope that is always present.
Working with Molly and Muriel was delightful. We are each so different and it seemed that each time we met to plan the next group, we learned from each other. The material assigned for each session was descriptive and challenging and we sought to facilitate the group so that the material ‘opened’ us to questions and, inevitably, to learning. Our facilitation, however, would have been futile had our group not been willing to engage. I am thankful for this past year’s Sacred Circle and I look forward to our coming year and the continued learning with a new group who will engage the curriculum in new ways. Working with Molly and Muriel again will always be a privilege but also ….. great fun!
Please join our circle as we spend the months of October through April exploring these issues.
A NEW GROUP IS FORMING - Sacred Ground Circle
Sacred Circle: A Justice and Faith Group beginning in October
Beginning in October a new group will meet approximately every two weeks on Thursday nights (6:30 - 8:30pm) to explore a new program developed by the Episcopal Church called Sacred Ground: A Film Based Dialogue Series on Race & Faith.
If you would like to explore the website and watch a short video about the program, please click here
In our exploration together we will read the books, Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman and Waking Up White, And Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving. We will also watch videos together, and read articles and essays from many different writers.
Muriel Diguette, Molly Graves, and Miriam Needham will co-facilitate this group beginning with an opening retreat (via Zoom) on Saturday, October 16th beginning at 10:00am. We will then meet every other week on Thursday nights through April. We will meet predominantly on Zoom, but will discuss meeting occasionally in person as the year unfolds.
Space is limited so please let us know if you are interested soon.
If you are interested in making a commitment or have any questions, please contact one of the three co-facilitators.
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Healing Our Racism
Book Discussion Group
Monday, September 27.
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm
on ZOOM
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series
“Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man”
“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. “There is a fix,” Acho says. “But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.”
In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask―yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity―but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.
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:
The Devil You Know by Charles Blow
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
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Mostly Mysteries Book Group
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.
For our September 22nd meeting at 7:00pm we will be reading Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson
Recovering from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, Sheriff Walt Longmire returns to Absaroka County, Wyoming, to lick his wounds and try once again to maintain justice in a place with grudges that go back generations. When a shepherd is found dead, Longmire suspects it could be suicide. But the shepherd's connection to the Extepares, a powerful family of Basque ranchers with a history of violence, leads the sheriff into an intricate investigation of a possible murder.
As Walt searches for information about the shepherd, he comes across strange carvings on trees, as well as play money coupons from inside Mallo Cup candies, which he interprets as messages from his spiritual guide, Virgil White Buffalo. Longmire doesn't know how these little blue cards are appearing, but Virgil usually reaches out if a child is in danger. So when a young boy with ties to the Extepare clan arrives in town, the stakes grow even higher.
Even more complicating, a renegade wolf has been haunting the Bighorn Mountains, and the townspeople are out for blood. With both a wolf and a killer on the loose, Longmire follows a twisting trail of evidence, leading to dark and shocking conclusions.
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:
Helen Abraham
David Allen, brother of Lisa Main
Ken and Barbara Peck, friends of Loretta Vail
Lauren James and her family, friends of Larry Bing
Vicki Bolton, friend of Muriel Diguette
Mitzi Kirby, friend of Ann Foote
Molly Graves
Jim Poulos, husband of Carol Kemker
Sarah Jane Ohl
Leslie Coleman, daughter of Jennie Couture
Wright Coleman, son of Jennie Couture
Elizabeth Colemen McCollam, daughter of Jennie Couture
Karen Daniel, daughter-in-law of Nina Daniel
Anne Jones, sister of Claiborne Jones
Al Studwell
Pat Raybourne, sister of Fran Snider
Rachel Bivens, friend of Doris and Jim Bushart
Fay Key
Mari Garnica, friend of the Sali Family
William Gunter, brother of Doris Bushart
Lisa Maloof, daughter in law of Anita Maloof
Kevin Maloof, son of Anita Maloof
Donareen Oakley
Jean Ahlfinger
Larry Bing
Bill Edgar, father of Beth Cannon
Sarra David
Rosalene Larson, mother-in-law of Michael Daniel
Sam Cannon
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Hilda Bell
Willie Diaz
Tim Waring
Peggy Allen, mother of Lisa Main
Ray Lampros
Gwen Cordner
Arlene Means, sister of Larry Bing
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
Kerry Penney
Patrick Newberry, stepson of Gretchen Berggren
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Brooke & Taylor Harty, granddaughters of Nancy Waring
Jim Ohl
Frances Bowen
Max Carpenter, grandson of Sarra David
Judy Penney, sister-in-law of Kerry Penney
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Helen Abraham
Cameron Maddox
For those who have died:
Jim Coleman, friend of Jennie Couture
Jean Ahlfinger
Lewis Cook
We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week:
9/12: Connie Aylor
9/13: Jandry Munguia
9/14: Jaime Ramirez
9/15: Fabio Sotelo
9/15: Alejandro Martinez
9/16: Chad Vaughn
9/16: Carmie McDonald
9/17: Carol Kemker
9/17: Chris Echterhoff
We give thanks for the births of
Lucia Aurelia, granddaughter of Anita Montelione,
daughter of Kristen and Paul, born on September 3,
and
Hayes Michael Echterhoff, grandson of Cathe Echterhoff,
son of Susan and Christopher, born on September 3.
We rejoice in the newly baptized,
Rosa Idalia Lopez-Martinez
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St. Bede's Online Giving
If you would like to make a gift to St. Bede's
(debit or credit card or ACH transfer from your bank account)
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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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Support the Cathedral Book Store.
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Opportunity for
Emergency Disaster Relief in Haiti
An Update the Rev'd John Porter...
Forging Futures is sending financial assistance to the ravaged towns of the Lower Peninsula - The Sud - and in particular, the towns of Jeremie and Les Cayes. Our own schools - located on the Sud in Leogane - were utterly destroyed by the devastation from the earthquake 11 years ago. This week the earthquake ( tranblemann te ) struck an area 60 miles west. This area is rural and less populated but more difficult to access. As is the case with most blessings, the good news is mixed.
What is the situation on the ground near Jeremie and Les Cayes?
Needed medical supplies are scarce. Water wells and cisterns are broken. Roads blocked by mud and debris. Grocery stories flattened. Hospitals and clinics have been damaged. The earthquake struck during the harsh and flooding rains of Fred - and now as I write - hurricane Grace.
Why is the situation so dangerous?
In the United States, we breathe a sigh of relief as the storms are “downgraded” from hurricane category to tropical depression. The winds represent our danger. Not so in Haiti. The winds are less to be feared. It is the rain bombs that loosen foundations and cause the Lavalas - horrific avalanches of earth and debris, destroying all in its path. Sweeping it all away. Crashing down the hillsides.
Is this a good time for Haiti?
There is a government barely struggling to survive, let alone govern. The President has been murdered by mercenaries from Columbia. There is no functioning infrastructure in Haiti. Severe punishing poverty remains. Covid is everywhere, as it is here. Lawlessness is too frequently the rule for the day.
from Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry:
“These are difficult times. Let us set aside our many quarrels. Put aside everything that threatens to divide us. Let us now look to the safety of the poorest and most needy among us.”
What can be done today?
It is not hard to understand that Haitians turn to the church in times of hardship because, more often that not, it is the church that does not abandon them in times of disaster. Any additional funds donated to Forging Futures this month will be sent to Haiti to alleviate the misery on the Sud. Our staff in Leogane know how to get every penny of designated financial aid to colleagues in the stricken areas of the country.
Or send a check to: Forging Futures in Haiti c/o John J Porter, 215 Abington Drive, NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328
Ke pa janm two lou pou meti li. Difisil pa bone, Se la chans ki bay.
One’s burdens will never be unbearable. Difficulty isn’t pretty, but hopefully, something good will happen.
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Supporting Partners in Haiti
After the August 2021 Earthquake
August 16, 2021
Episcopal Relief & Development is in close contact with long-term development partners in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday, August 14, 2021. The earthquake killed over a thousand people, caused structures to collapse and triggered landslides and flooding in the western part of the nation.
Our partners, including the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, have been assessing damage and checking in on the status of priests, parishes and community members. While the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined, initial reports are of over one thousand dead and over five thousand injured, centered in the departments of Grand Anse, Sud and Nippes. The US State Department has estimated over 1.6 million people have been affected.
“We are deeply saddened by the reports coming from our friends and partners in Haiti,” said Abagail Nelson, Executive Vice President, Episcopal Relief & Development. “We pray for their safety as Tropical Storm Grace approaches the country. We are currently mobilizing to work with an array of development partners to meet the immediate and long-term needs of affected communities.”
Please pray for our siblings in Haiti and all those affected by this earthquake. Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Haiti Fund will support the organization’s continued emergency response efforts in Haiti.
For 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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