December 28, 2023 | VOLUME 35, ISSUE 49

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First Sunday After Christmas

December 31, 2023

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Isaiah 61:10-62:3

Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7

John 1:1-18

Psalm 147 or 147:13-21



Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Saturday, January 6, 10:00 AM: Reverend Jennifer's installation in Sanctuary, with Reception to follow in Parish Hall

Monday, January 8, 6:45 PM: Sisters of Bede meeting in Parish Hall (hybrid)

Sunday, January 14, 11:30 AM: End-of-Life Advance Planning seminar in Parish Hall

Sunday, January 21, 7:30 PM: Avanti Ensemble concert in Sanctuary

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum

Wednesdays | 7:45 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Everyone is invited! Come join us for the installation ceremony and the reception to follow!

Join us for an educational seminar with Dignity Memorial / Gates Kingsley & Gates Smith Salsbury Funeral Directors [FD 2336]. We will discuss pre-planning, veteran benefits, and provide you with resources in order for you to protect yourself and your family. Our mission is to help create remembrances that reflect the unique values, character and traditions of the families we serve. That is our passion, that is our purpose, that is our promise. Guaranteed. Our short, twenty minute presentation will help you make a more informed decision should you choose to work with our team and our organization in securing your final arrangements and providing protection and peace of mind to your loved ones.

Left: Our Christmas tree. Center: Bread & Wine with flowers. Right: flowers & lights on the altar at evening service.

Left: The haunting, soul-stirring atmosphere created for the Longest Night service. Right: The Christmas pageant, narrated by Tom Elliott, with the children of Thad's and St. Bede's.

Left: Holy Eucharist with Ash in front as the angel Gabriel. Right: Rev. Jennifer reads the Gospel as her daughter Emma holds the book; Thad's musicians are in the background.

Advent and Christmas services were truly beautiful this year, thanks to many hands, feet and minds. The Longest Night service, held on December 21 and accompanied beautifully by acoustic guitarist Victor Vento, focused on prayer, quiet meditation and healing.

December 24 started out with Advent 4. Then St. Bede’s and Thad’s parishes combined for the Christmas Eve Family service at 4:30 PM to the delight of 125 joyous attendees. This service featured the Christmas themed “Paper Bag Pageant” with multiple children and narrator Tom Elliott, along with the sounds of Thad’s musicians. Finally came the glorious Christmas Eve Mass at Midnight complemented by our choir. Most noteworthy and powerful was the piano accompaniment throughout the entire Gospel reading, which was also interspersed with tender songs to the precious Child.

Special thanks go to Jerry Hornof and Karen Sharre for the spectacular Christmas tree, to Rea Crane for leading the sacristans, and to Rev. Jennifer and Music Director Frank Basile for creating spiritually moving services. Thanks also goes to Rev. Jennifer for her stunning flower arrangements. And thanks to all who contributed and rejoiced in this sacred season of hope, peace, joy, love and the birth of our Holy Savior.

St. Bede's parishioners were invited to attend Ahavat Torah's Chanukah service & celebration on December 16. Top row: Rabbi Michal & Rev. Jennifer share a warm greeting. Ahavat Torah performs their Chanukah service. Bottom row: One of their menorahs. The festive celebration following the service.

On October 25 Rev. Jennifer met Rabbi Michal Morris Kamil at an interfaith breakfast focused on helping the homeless. Rabbi Michal, who leads the Ahavat Torah synagogue, was looking for a space for her congregation to worship and celebrate Shabbat. Rev. Jennifer offered them space at St. Bede’s, and they are now using our Sanctuary and patio on most Saturdays (until 2:00 PM) and occasionally our parish hall on Friday nights. They love our space and are very grateful and we welcome them with open arms. It has indeed been a blessing for both of us for which we say, “Thanks be to God!”

Their website (https://www.ahavattorahla.org) states the following: "Ahavat Torah is a warm, spiritual, and welcoming Jewish synagogue, where we believe that a holy community not only embraces but celebrates everyone's unique individuality. We are committed to creating a warm and accepting environment that respects and values the diversity of our members. In our congregation, people of all backgrounds, beliefs, and abilities come together to forge deep connections, share in meaningful experiences, and build lasting friendships. 

​"Our congregation is a place where all have an opportunity to nurture their spiritual intention, share their wisdom, and participate in a lively discussions. We are deeply committed to Tikkun Olam (healing the world) within our congregation, the community, and the world."

Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.

Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.

You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.

The Philadelphia 11 are ordained at a July 1974 service. File photo

‘The Philadelphia 11’ documentary evokes memories of women’s struggle for equality in the church

By Pat McCaughan 

For the Rev. Canon Judy Heffron, retired rector of Holy Trinity Church, Covina, grainy 8-millimeter home video footage documenting the “irregular” ordinations of eleven women at the Episcopal Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia nearly 50 years ago, unleashed a flood of emotional memories.

“It was very powerful,” Heffron told The Episcopal News recently. “To see and hear them actually speak about those personal experiences … was very, very moving.

“As a woman at that time, my heart resonated with what they were experiencing in terms of rejection,” said Heffron, retired dean of Deanery Six, who was ordained a priest in 1982 in the Los Angeles diocese.

Heffron joined about 75 others who gathered Dec. 16 at Claremont’s Laemmle Theater to view the film. As the 50th anniversary of those ordinations approaches July 29, 2024, filmmakers Margot Guernsey and Nikki Bramley felt it was a “story for everyone … about how to break down barriers with grace, and be true to oneself in the process,” according to the film website. “And it is about standing up to institutions that do not allow all people to be who they are called to be.”

Deanery Six hosted the screening, according to the Rev. Jennifer Hughes, who serves at St. Peter’s Church in Rialto, and helped organize the event along with the Rev. Jessie Smith, rector of St. Ambrose Church in Claremont.

“We really wanted to find a broad audience,” Hughes said. “It was a story that I had known about but only in the most surface way, and I think that’s true for a lot of people in the church.

“I had a desire to understand better this part of the history because I think that the witness of women ordained in the church is one of the most important fundamental identities of The Episcopal Church. I wanted to understand for myself the history better but also I recognized the significance of a film like this more broadly.”

READ MORE HERE

The Rev. Catherine Bond, left, and the Rev. Jane Pearce hold hands after being blessed at St John the Baptist church in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Photo: Press Association via AP Images

Same-sex couples receive blessings for first time in Church of England

By David Paulsen

Same-sex couples began receiving blessings in the Church of England on Dec. 17 but are still not allowed to marry in England’s Anglican churches – a long-debated compromise that conservative Anglicans have said goes too far and more progressive Anglicans have said doesn’t go far enough.

While the divisions in the Church of England and across the wider Anglican Communion are not expected to be resolved anytime soon, the day marked at least a small step toward fuller LGBTQ+ inclusion for the couples who were able to request blessings from their clergy for the first time.

Among the first couples to receive the blessings were the Rev. Catherine Bond and the Rev. Jane Pearce, both associate priests, during Holy Eucharist on Dec. 17 at St. John the Baptist Church in Suffolk. The Rev. Andrew Dotchin, who offered the blessing, described the couple’s relationship as a “pilgrimage graced by [God’s] blessing,” and he prayed for them to “rejoice and hope in sustaining their love for all the days of their lives,” according to a BBC report.

A day later, on Dec. 18, Pope Francis broke similar ground in the Roman Catholic Church by allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples, the Vatican announced. Though gay and lesbian couples still have no liturgical rite for their unions in the Catholic Church, the pope’s decision was seen as a significant step in a denomination that has been slow to welcome LGBTQ+ Christians and has asserted that marriage is only for a man and a woman.

The Church of England’s blessings were endorsed by its General Synod in February 2023 as culmination of a six-year initiative referred to as “Living in Love and Faith.” Since then, groups of church leaders had met to develop a selection of readings and prayers of thanksgiving and dedication, which were approved this month by the church’s House of Bishops.

READ MORE HERE

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