|
Weekly
Postings
news & events
| |
February 16 - February 25, 2024 | |
|
"I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word."
Dear People of Saint Paul's,
Lent began on Ash Wednesday this week and hopefully we have already begun disciplines that we pray will help us to see ourselves truly and to ground us more firmly in our relationship with God. I said at the midday Eucharist on Thursday that if we aren't careful, Ash Wednesday and by extension Lent can become a perverse celebration of our fallibility and mortality. Christians have fallen for this before, with movements like the medieval flagellants who travelled from town to town displaying their penitence by publicly beating themselves up. The result can be a strange kind of play-acting that pretends that we have not been and are not being redeemed.
Done well, Lent is neither a celebration of vices nor a religious diet plan. Like all of Christian faith and practice, it is a response to the God of life. And so whatever disciplines you are adopting in this time of concentrated piety, I pray that you adopt them in relation to the God who has given us life and is always inviting us into deeper, richer life.
This perspective is also why it's not weird to have a liturgical party during Lent, as we will this Sunday when Bishop Frank Logue will be with us at 8:00 and 11:00. We'll celebrate Confirmation and Reception at 11:00 and the Bishop will host an open conversation with the parish at 9:30 in the Berlin Room. Tricks of the calendar meant that last year some of us saw quite a bit of the Bishop at Saint Paul's. That level of episcopal presence was a happy exception to the rule and we should expect things to return to the mean, so please don't miss this chance to worship with +Frank and to remember through him that we are not an isolated pocket of Christianity, but a constituent part of the one holy catholic and apostolic church.
Please join us Sunday and between now and then pray for those scheduled to be Confirmed or Received: Elizabeth, Claude, Doug, Brianna, and George. And check the rest of this email for what I ridiculously call all of our Lenten fastivities.
Eric+
|
|
EVENTS THIS WEEKEND | February 17 | |
|
|
|
Master's Table Soup Kitchen
Saturday, February 17, 8:15 or 10:15 AM
The Master’s Table Soup Kitchen at 702 Fenwick Street will be staffed by Saint Paul’s Church volunteers on Saturday, February 17, 8:15 AM for prep and 10:15 AM for serving. This is a good opportunity to get to know other parishioners while preparing and assisting in cooking and serving hot meals for guests in the community that are food insecure. If you wish to serve, please RSVP on our website (a direct link is available in the Weekly Postings). Contact Al or Laraine Yarbrough for more information.
| | | |
EVENTS THIS SUNDAY | February 18 | |
|
|
|
Episcopal Relief and Development
Middle East Fund
9:00 AM - 12:30 PM
| |
The Outreach Committee voted to send $1000 to the Episcopal Relief and Development Middle East Fund. We will collect gifts from the parish, and then will send a combined check from the people of Saint Paul’s Tuesday, February 20. If you would like to add your gift, please make your check payable to Saint Paul’s Church with a notation ERD Middle East Fund. Online gifts may be made on our website. (Choose Special Offering Fund and Episcopal Relief and Development Sub-fund).
Your gift to the Middle East Fund will support the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and Al-Ahli Arab Hospital as they offer critical health services to those impacted by the current crisis in Gaza. Through your generosity, we are able to provide medicine and other supplies to help our partners tend to the physical and psychosocial wounds of this conflict. For more information about the work of ERD, visit episcopalrelief.org
| | | |
|
|
|
Sunday Worship Schedule for 02/18/24
8 AM Rite I
11 AM Rite II
11 AM Facebook Live
11 AM YouTube Live
5:30 PM - Celtic Evening Prayer & Communion
6:30 PM - Compline + Sit and Wait (Chapel)
All of our Sunday worship services are in-person.
| | | |
|
|
Continental Breakfast this Sunday
Sunday, 9 - 10 AM Tyler Hall
Busy morning? We have Continental Breakfast this Sunday in Tyler Hall at 9 AM. Donations welcomed.
| | | |
|
|
|
Annual Episcopal Visitation
Sunday, February 18
The Annual Episcopal Visitation is Sunday, February 18. Bishop Logue will preside at the Holy Eucharist at both 8 AM and 11 AM with the rite of Confirmation and Reception at the 11 AM service.
Please plan to join us in the Berlin Room for a “Conversation with the Bishop” at the Sunday Forum at 9:30 AM and share a few moments following the service with our Confirmands in the Churchyard.
| | | |
|
|
A Conversation with the Bishop
Sunday February 18
9:30 AM, The Berlin Room
Join us this Sunday in the Berlin Room for a "Conversation with the Bishop." Bishop Frank Logue will join us for the hour. Bring your questions for this lively and varied conversation.
| | | |
|
|
|
St. Nicholas Choir (age 5 - grade 2)
Canterbury Choir (grades 3-9)
Sundays, 9:25 - 10:00 AM
The Canterbury Choir (children in grades 3-9) and the St. Nicholas Choir (age 5 through grade 2) will meet this week as scheduled.
If you or any family or friends are interested in the choir program, please email Director of Music, Keith Shafer or call (706) 724-2485 ext. 215.
| | | |
|
|
|
Children's Sunday Formation
(grades pk4-5)
Sunday, 10-10:45 AM
St. Patrick's Room
This Sunday, the Godly Play and upper elementary classes will gather together for a special formation for Lent. Bishop Frank Logue will be visiting Saint Paul’s, so we hope to get a quick visit with him too.
We know some families and teachers are traveling this weekend. Traveling mercies to all of you. We look forward to seeing you when you return. To everyone else, we can’t wait to see you on Sunday. Contact Kim Butler for more information.
| | | |
|
|
|
Middle School Formation
(grades 6-8)
Sunday, 10-10:45 AM
St. Benedict's Room, CMC
Our middle school class continues. Elizabeth Lindroth will lead the class. For more information contact Elizabeth Lindroth.
| | | |
|
|
|
Guided Labyrinth Walk
“The Wilderness of Lent”
Sunday, February 18, 4 PM
On the First Sunday of Lent, February 18, 4 PM in the Berlin Room, Belinda Peebles will lead a labyrinth walk. The labyrinth is a single path that has been used as a walking meditation and path for prayer since ancient times. No experience walking a labyrinth is required. There will be a brief introduction to walking a labyrinth and a time for reflection prior to the walk. Wear socks. For more information contact Suzanne Pursley-Crotteau.
| | | |
|
|
|
EYC (Episcopal Youth Community)
Grades 6-12
Sunday, 5-7 PM, St. Bart's
EYC Meets Sunday at St. Bart's in North Augusta for dinner and a lively game of Spoons. For more information contact Elizabeth Lindroth.
| | | |
|
|
|
A Service for Quiet for Lent
Sundays, 6:30 PM, Chapel
You’re invited to begin a practice of silence for Lent. Sit and Wait follows the Celtic Service Sunday evenings (6:30 PM). The service begins with a Service of Quiet and will end with a twenty-minute sit. The people end in silence.
Please email Suzanne Pursley-Crotteau or contact by phone at (706) 910-9331 for further information.
| | | |
BUILDING BRIDGES: Saint Paul's in the Community | |
|
Look for this new listing of where Saint Paul's
is building relationships in Augusta and the CSRA.
Sunday, February 18, 3:00 PM, Mtr. Kimberly will be a guest speaker at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church for their Black History program. All are welcome.
Throughout February, on Gospel Station WLCZ 98.7fm, Saint Paul's is a sponsor of special Black History Month programming.
| |
EVENTS NEXT WEEK | February 19- February 25 | |
|
|
Creation Care Earth Day 2024 Planning
Monday, February 19, 5:30 PM
The Creation Care Committee is finalizing its plans for Earth Day 2024, and we'd love for you to be a part of it! We'll discuss activities and set up at our meeting on February 19 at 5:30 PM in Tyler Hall. Bring your ideas. Refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Jen McKee.
| | | |
|
|
Tuesday's Music Live
Tuesday, February 20, 12 noon
Tuesday’s Music Live 35th season continues Tuesday, February 20, at 12 noon, with a free concert by Balalaika Fantasie. More information by calling the Box Office, (706) 722-3463 or tuesdaysmusiclive.com.
| | | |
|
|
|
1Book1Diocese Selection for Lent
The Good Life
This Lent, the people of the Diocese of Georgia will consider what makes a life fulfilling and meaningful through the lens of the Harvard Study of Adult Development. The 1Book1Diocese Selection is The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness by Robert Waldinger, MD and Marc Schulz, PhD.
Saint Paul’s will not be convening our regular zoom-based discussion group this time, but we have copies available in the narthex (donation $$20-$30) and the diocese provides reading guides and other materials to enrich your read of this book. You can find those resources in the diocesan newsletter From the Field, and we will link to them in the Weekly Postings each week.
The Good Life is not an intentionally theological text, but the book does open up topics that a church group can discuss with easy connections between this study and our faith in Jesus.
As the authors write, "The good life is joyful ... and challenging. Full of love, but also pain." And for those of us who follow Jesus, the good life is one in which loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself is central. We will see how these two greatest commandments connect to the key insights of the study that is the heart of this book.
| | | |
|
|
|
Senior Lunch
Wednesday, February 21, Noon, Tyler Hall
Join us for lunch Third Wednesdays each month, at 12 Noon in Tyler Hall. Just a relaxing social time. Lunch is provided but donations welcome. Please sign up in the Narthex on Sunday mornings or on our website using the link below.
| | | |
|
|
|
Compline - ZOOM
Wednesdays, 8 - 8:15 PM
|
Meeting ID: 595 177 454
Dial-In: (646) 876-9923
Compline is a beautiful, simple, and quiet service to end the day together in prayer with God. This service is led by members of the parish using an on-screen bulletin so everyone may pray together.
Following the prayers, those who gather through Zoom have an opportunity for a mid-week visit.
| | | |
|
|
|
Mid-Week Eucharist
Thursdays, 11:30 AM
A mid-week Eucharist in the Chapel begins at 11:30 AM. Lunch in the Berlin Room follows at 12 noon with a weekly Bible study (more information below.) Join us as your schedule allows: Come for Eucharist and lunch, lunch and Bible study, or stay for all three. (So that we may honor mid-day schedules, lunch is scheduled for 15 minutes and will continue through the Bible study conversations.)
| | | |
|
|
|
Lectio at Lunch
Thursdays, 12 Noon, Tyler Hall
Every Thursday in Tyler Hall you’ll find a lunch combo that can’t be beat! We offer a tasty meal with a generous helping of fellowship, plus a lively discussion arising from the Gospel of Mark. Our text is N.T. Wright’s Mark for Everyone which takes this Gospel in small bites, reflecting on each week’s reading with relevant and important insights. We finish promptly at 1:00 PM and invite you to join us as your schedule allows. You may bring your own lunch or share in the meal provided. Donations accepted.
Questions? Contact Kitty Gordon.
| | | |
|
|
|
Caregivers' Support Group
Thursday, February 22, 3:30 PM, The Chapel
Caregivers’ support group will meet Thursday, February 22, 3:30 PM in the chapel. This group provides support for people caring for people they love (our first thought is ailing spouses, aging parents, children who need extra attention, and other relations of mutuality in which one-way care has grown), but anyone who is a caregiver for another is welcome. Contact Fr. Eric for more information.
| | | |
|
|
Zentangle Drawing Workshop
Saturday, February 24, 9:30 AM-12 noon,
The Berlin Room
Join us for a meditative drawing class on February 24th, 9:30 AM-12 in the Berlin Room. Art educator Martha Arrington will lead you through the steps of this relaxing drawing method that anyone can do as long as they can write their name. $30 includes all materials and supplies. Contact Martha Arrington to sign up marthaarringtonart@gmail.com
| | | |
|
|
Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul
Sunday, February 25
Session 4 of 10, 4:15-5:15 PM, The Berlin Room
Join us for a new Sunday afternoon formation gathering which precedes the Celtic Service. The clergy will lead a discussion of John Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World. Books are available from many retailers and in the Narthex. Donation $15-20. A schedule of gatherings will be available. For more information contact Eric Biddy.
| | | |
|
|
|
Dates for Your Calendar
February 19 - Vestry Meeting
March 5 - Tuesday's Music Live
March 10 - Veterans' Ice Cream Social
March 10 - Rose Sunday Concert & Reception
March 15 - Friday Night Fish Fry
| | | |
OTHER RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS | |
|
|
|
New Forward Day by Day has arrived
The new Day by Day issue for February, March, and April has arrived and is available in the Narthex. If you would like to have one mailed to you, please contact Hannah in the parish office. Forward Day by Day is a booklet of daily, "page-a-day," inspirational meditations each reflecting on a specific Bible passage from the daily lectionary readings of the Episcopal Church. The meditations are rich in substance and offer a wide range of witness and experiences. These meditations are also available online on the Forward Movement website.
| | | |
|
Saint Paul's Faithfulness
(A new budget will be presented)
Offerings Pledged this Week
Pledged Offerings Received this Week
Total Expenses to Date
Total Income Received to Date
| | | |
Are we missing your birthday?
| | | | |
