March 28, 2024

View our Sunday 9 am livestream worship service on our YouTube channel here.

Dear St. Georgians, 

The story of Holy Week is many things to us, but maybe most important is that it shows us that God takes us seriously. Our suffering matters. Our joy matters. Everything in between matters just as much. 

Holy Week, those seven days where we walk in real time through the final days of Jesus’ life, are filled with moments that teach us the depth of God’s solidarity with us. Jesus eats, sometimes well, sometimes only bread and wine. He takes off his shoes after a long day. His friends show their love in simple gestures of footwashing and welcome. He laughs at dinner. He gets indigestion. He has insomnia the night before he knows he will be tried and put to death. He gets annoyed with his friends who just don’t seem to understand him. He is abandoned. He is left all alone. He is unfairly tried. He is scourged and mocked. 

There is no suffering we know that God does not also feel. There is no abandonment we experience that Jesus has not also undergone. There is no failure in our lives that God has not exceeded and covered. And what happens to Jesus after his suffering, his abandonment, his utter failure? 

He rises again. 

Why would it not be the same for you? 

Come and remember. 

Fr. Will 

• 7:45 am: Holy Eucharist Rite I spoken worship
• 9:00 am: Holy Eucharist Rite II with Jazz Band and Choir. Also on YouTube Live.
• 11:15 am: Holy Eucharist Rite II with Organ and Choir
• 5:30 pm: Celtic Evensong with Holy Communion and Celtic Ensemble

Pray for Haiti

In this time of further political instability, our partners at Notre Dame Parish and School in Port Au Prince need our prayers. The school and parish (Pere Geffrard Ricot, rector) remain open by the grace of God, a beacon of hope in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city as well as for the teachers and staff who remain employed there. St. George’s has continued to help fund the operations of the school. As always, if you would like to contribute to our Haiti funds, click here (and select the Haiti option in the giving menu) or send a check to St. George’s designated for Haiti mission. Our Easter Outreach Offering will benefit Notre Dame Parish (see below).

• Daily Office on Zoom: Join a group of St. Georgians praying Morning and Evening Prayer, Monday-Friday at 8:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. on Zoom. The service only takes about 20 minutes. Click here to join.
• Meeting ID: 890 4918 9545
• Passcode: 638538
• Dial in: +1 301 715 8592
• Wednesday Worship: Join us in the nave for the Holy Eucharist and optional healing prayers and anointing at noon.
• Centering Prayer: Our rector leads this simple and profound meditation practice, Thursday mornings at 8 am in Faulkner Hall. It Includes a short scripture reflection and some basic instruction about Centering Prayer. All are welcome.
• Friday Morning Bible Study: Explore the readings for the following Sunday. All are welcome! Bring your Bible, or we have plenty to share. Meets at 9:30 am in Faulkner Hall.
• Rector’s Daily Office Lectionary On-your-own Bible Study: Individuals read short passages on their own according to the daily schedule in the Prayer Book. Our rector sends a weekly email with the readings. reflection, resources, and encouragement to make Bible reading a regular habit. To sign up, please contact the rector.

There will be no formation on March 31, Easter Sunday. Formation for all ages resumes on April 7.

Nursery:

• For our youngest St. Georgians, we offer nursery during the formation hour (and 9 am and 11:15 am worship services). Nursery caregivers Amy and Meredith welcome all babies, infants, and toddlers to the nursery for playtime.

Children (age 3 - 11): 

• age 3 – 2nd grade: Godly Play in the Preschool (lower level of McGuire) 
• 3rd – 5th grade: SPLASH (Spirit, Play, Love all spoken here), using a curriculum designed by the Episcopal Church, on the Youth Floor (3rd Floor of McGuire) Register your child here. 

Youth (6th - 12th Grade): 

• Youth Group meets 1st and 3rd Sunday evenings from 5 - 7 pm on the Youth Floor (accessed by the door to the church office off of the graveyard). All are warmly welcome; please contact Kate Long or Amy Bogardus for more information. 

Adults and Youth: 

• Adult Forum (Sydnor Hall) – When the Forum returns on April 14, we will kick off our next series, Life Together, which is all about relationships, with sessions on friendship, sex, parenting, and what Scripture has to say about each (it’s probably different than what you think!).

Below is our worship schedule for the remainder of Holy Week and Easter. We joyfully look forward to celebrate this holy time in our church life with you! Our worship services will be in-person and those livestreamed are noted below. You can find the full schedule and information here.

Maundy Thursday – March 28

• 7 pm: with optional footwashing and stripping of the altar.

Good Friday – March 29

• 12 pm: Service with sermon (also livestreamed on YouTube Live).
• 2 pm: Micah Ministries’ Ecumenical Stations of the Cross
• 7 pm: Service with sung passion composed by John H. Vreeland, Director of Music Ministries at St. George’s

Holy Saturday – March 30 

• 8:30 am: Morning Prayer in our Nave
• 5 pm: Liturgy of the Light in Sydnor Hall – for children and their families
• 8 pm: The Great Easter Vigil in the Nave

Easter Sunday – March 31

• 6:30 am: Micah Sunrise Service
• 7:45 am, 9 am (also on YouTube Live), 11:15 am, and 5:30 pm: Joyful Easter Eucharist
• 10:15 am: Our Easter Egg Hunt returns! Locations TBA.

Office Notes

The office will be closed Friday, March 29 - Tuesday, April 2 in observance of the Easter weekend. If you have a pastoral emergency (e.g., death, loss of job) and need to speak with clergy urgently, please call or text our pastoral emergency phone (540.361.8573).

Easter Outreach Offering

Each year, St. George’s vestry designates our Easter loose offering to a mission beyond the church walls. This year we are responding to the dire need of our sister parish. Notre Dame, in Port Au Prince, Haiti. They are struggling to keep their school open as a beacon of hope for the children as well as the staff and parishioners in some of the worst times faced by Haiti. On Easter, any cash in the collection plate, checks designated “Easter Outreach”, or electronic gifts (select “Haiti” in the menu) received will be sent securely to Notre Dame. Thank you for your generosity.

Commemoration of the Martyrdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On Thursday, April 4, the churches of Micah Ecumenical Ministries invite the community to gather at 5:45 pm at Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site, 525 Princess Anne St.) for a service commemorating the anniversary of the martyrdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. At 6:01 pm, there will be a moment of silence as we remember the time when Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. There will be awards presented to local heroes who have continued Dr. King’s legacy.