Weekly Worship Service
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Worship via Zoom with Coffee Hour to Follow – 10:00 AM
This Sunday, the last Sunday in Lent, we’ll continue using the Lenten pattern we started on Lent 1. Announcements will happen at the beginning of the service; there will be fewer voices and less music; there will be moments of silence and a question posed for us to reflect on and share thoughts with others during our first breakout time. Julia Nerbonne will be our preacher.
- First Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34
- Psalm 119:9-16
- Second Reading: Hebrews 5:5-10
- Gospel: John 12:20-33
For the Zoom worship service on March 21, 2021 CLICK HERE
If asked for a passcode, enter 657179
If asked for a meeting ID, enter 915 5954 9145
To join by cell phone only (voice only, no video),
call: 312-626-6799
Enter Meeting ID 915 5954 9145
If asked for a passcode, use 657179
For the Lent 5 Service Bulletin – CLICK HERE
For 2021 Lent Music Bulletin – CLICK HERE
Worship Team
Liturgy Matters at St Mary’s by the Rev. Susan M. Moss
The greater availability of vaccines, the increasing hours of daylight and the loosening of pandemic related restrictions, lift our spirits and increase our hope for more freedoms
and opportunities to re connect with friends and loved ones.
At the same time we grieve, for the second year in a row, unable to observe Holy Week and celebrate Easter face to face in the church. St Marians miss the sound of the organ, the music of the band, gathering around the altar-face to face to share bread and wine, the passing of the peace, and the warmth of a shared cup of coffee in the St Mary’s room amidst the energy of the children.
As we begin to prepare our hearts and minds for the drama of a second virtual Holy Week, I invite you to hold grief and hope together. You may find comfort in using your power of memory and imagination. While at home and on Zoom, close your eyes and picture yourself together with fellow parishioners, climbing the stairs singing All Glory Laud and Honor or Pave the Way with Branches as you process into the nave waving your palms.
Imagine too the little ones gathered around the altar eager to assist and the faces of caring members praying for each other. What do you miss? What do you look forward to when we are able to safely re gather in the church?
Holy One, accompany us in these challenging times. Be near to us in our grief and in our hope, and we prepare to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Amen.
What’s New?
- If you’d like to listen to the sermon given by The Rev. Carol Arney on Sunday, March 14, Click HERE.
- Would you like to participate in the Sunday worship services? Would you like to be the “Welcomer”/Announcement Leader? a Reader? the “People”? Would you like to sing with the choir? If so, send an email to: worship@saintmarysepiscopal.org Your gifts are needed and would be welcomed! All ages invited!!
- DON’T MISS OUT!!! SIGN UP FOR YOUR HOLY WEEK BAG NOW!! Although we won’t be meeting in person, the Worship Team is planning ways we can walk through Holy Week together. Holy Week bags will help us do that. The bags will contain directions for setting up a prayer altar at home as well as reading material and objects that will bring to mind the events of Holy Week. Bags can be picked up at St Mary’s the afternoon of Saturday, March 27th or they can be delivered to your home that afternoon! If you’d like a Holy Week bag, please send your request to pastoralcare@saintmarysepiscopal.org indicating how many palms you want and if you’ll pick up your bag or would like it delivered. (If you’d like delivery, please include your address and phone number.)
- See Holy Week zoom plans below & watch for more information next week:
- Palm Sunday (3/28/21) service planned by St Mary’s Worship Team and will include a virtual procession in your home with palms to wave.
- Maundy Thursday & Good Friday: St Mary’s is invited to join Christ Church in Woodbury or St Anne’s Church in Sunfish Lake or St Mark’s Cathedral
- Easter Vigil: 4pm Children’s Easter Vigil.
- Easter morning: one service at 10am, planned by St Mary’s Worship Team.
Feedback is welcome!
We welcome your feedback and recommendations about worship services.
CLICK HERE to give feedback. Thanks!
2021 Sundays in Lent – Images
The Worship Team would like images to screen share during “Moments of Silence” during our 5 Sundays in Lent. If you have images of any kind (drawings, paintings, photos, videos, stained glass, mosaic, etc.) that conjure up thoughts of God’s Promises as indicated below…and you’d like to share them with the St Mary’s community…please send them to Brian Nerbonne at Michigander_guy@yahoo.com by the Friday before the Sunday they would be used. If you’d like to read the lessons to get your creative juices flowing, check lectionarypage.net website.
03/21/2021
God’s Promise – a new covenant with Israel
Jesus as man suffered, through this suffering
and obedience he became salvation.
Jesus must die like the wheat grain in order to
bear much fruit – so we can believe.
Finance Update
Several large, six-month pledge donations were received in February. As a result, pledge donations for the month of February were approximately $15,000 over budget. Expenses in February were approximately $3,700 under budget. Despite the large donations in February, our projected budget deficit for the year is still expected to be approximately ($27,000), as the large donations were for multiple months. See the attached financials for the exact income and expenses as of the end of February CLICK HERE.
Pastoral Care
Pastoral Care Calendar for March & April 2021:
Pastoral Care Team
Mondays at 6:30 PM, ongoing
Lent Book Club: WALKING THE WAY OF LOVE on Mondays during Lent at 7:30 PM
Healing Circle
Tuesday, March 30 7:00 PM
Caring for an Aging Loved One
Tuesday, April 6, and each first Tuesday at 7:00 PM: ongoing
Evening Prayer (All Are Welcome)
Tuesday April 13, and each second Tuesday of the month, ongoing
8:00 PM this is a change to a once a month format and an invitation for all to join us.
Evening Prayer Rite 2 from the BCP reach out to Rev Cindi for the Link, or if you need a Book of Common Prayer
Coffee & Conversation
Wed. April 14, and each second Wednesday of the month, ongoing
10 AM / 7 PM reach out to Rev. Cindi to reserve a time and get the link
LGBTQ+ Community
Monday, April 19, and each third Monday, ongoing
6:30 PM meets monthly for reflective conversation and community building
Join our Prayer Chain: pray with and for your friends and family at St. Mary’s.
Please contact Rev. Cindi if you would like to be included among those praying for
the needs of St. Marians or if you have a prayer request. (No meeting required)
You are invited to join any of these events:
Reach out to Reverend Cindi Brickson at
pastoralcare@saintmarysepiscopal.org for a Zoom link
For confidential prayer requests, reach out to Rev. Cindi at pastoralcare@saintmarysepiscopal.org
Getting to Know You!
You have seen the names associated with a number of these committees that are working hard to put together our worship services, music, pastoral care, our search for a new rector, our finances, good communication, as well as our vestry, but you may not necessarily know the faces. For the next couple of weeks we will try to highlight one of those groups and this week we have Family, Children, and Youth Programing!
Top Row: MiaLisa, Trevor
2nd Row: Carmen, Rose
Hello Families with kids that are planning to be a part of this year’s Easter Vigil. As you know, it is a digital Easter Vigil which involves videos of the kids. If you have kids that are in Sunday school and Tweeners (and anyone else who joins in our Easter Vigil fun) we are inviting two other churches to participate in the event this year. As such, there will be three Episcopal church congregations in attendance. We do plan to record the Easter Vigil and share the link with the invited churches afterwards. We want to make sure you are aware of this fact and give your consent to allow your child to be a part of this year’s Easter Vigil. We will be sending out consent forms to document your acknowledgement of this fact and your approval to allow your child to be part of this year’s Easter Vigil.
If you have any concerns, please contact MiaLisa to discuss options! HERE
New Form for submissions for Weekly, Website, Calendar, and Social Media:
Moving forward, please give our new Google form a try when submitting information needed for the various platforms of communication St. Mary’s has (Weekly, website, calendar, etc). You can find the form HERE.
If you have any questions with this form please email the Communications Team HERE.
Relationships & Common Good
As we move through this Lenten season of reflection and preparation, the vestry wanted to share with you, our beloved community, that we are preparing to partner with you on answering the following question: What would church look like that serves the common good for our St. Mary’s community and strengthens our relationships? Come Easter, the season of rebirth and new growth, we will bring suggestions on how we might start to engage in community conversations around this question. In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or reflections, please share them with any member of the vestry, or email our wardens HERE.
March is Food Share Month
St. Mary’s has a tradition of donating to our neighborhood food shelf at, Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul (I. A.) for the Department of Indian Works (DIW). If interested, you can go online to I.A. (Click HERE) to the “Donate” tab and select the DIW. You can also mail a check to them with DIW in the note line. You may also call to donate or to drop off food by calling Theresa Halverson-Lee at 651-789-3854. Another option is to donate to the Food Shelf of your choice.
Thanks for considering helping others in this especially hard time!
Upcoming Events at Saint Mary’s
Opportunities for Worship, Education, Choir, & Meet Ups
for the week of 3/19 – 3/25
Sunday, March 21, 2021
Worship via Zoom with Coffee Hour to follow.
10:00 AM
Link
Monday, March 22, 2021
Pastoral Care Team
6:30 PM
Contact Rev. Cindi for the Zoom link at
pastoralcare@saintmarysepiscopal.org or 612-998-5136
Monday, March 22, 2021
Book Club
7:30 PM
The Pastoral Care Team will host the book club during Lent. Please join us in reading and discussing WALKING THE WAY OF LOVE by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and others. We will meet on Mondays of Lent. We invite you to join us for one or any of the weeks, as your schedule and interest allows.
For more information: pastoralcare@saintmarysepiscopal.org
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Vestry
Vestry Meetings are open to all Saint Mary’s members. The Saint Mary’s Vestry usually meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. The meeting begins at 7:00 PM. (Note: If you are a member of Saint Mary’s and would like to attend this meeting via Zoom, please contact Jim DeLuca or Caroline Kaker for the Zoom access code at wardens@saintmaryepiscopal.org)
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Adult Choir
7:00 PM
If you would like to join us, or have any questions, please contact
Vonda at musicdirector@saintmarysepiscopal.org
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Saint Mary’s Dinner Group
Contact Julie Thomas for more information. Click here to contact Julie
Thursday, March 25, 2021
Thursday Evening Contemplative Service Via Zoom
Led by Erika Scheurer and Anna Clark
7:00 PM
Link
Sunday School Online:
MiaLisa McFarland Millares will send out an email with readings, activities,
and links for videos and discussions to all on our Constant Contact list.
If you receive this email, you are on the list.
Visit the St. Mary’s Calendars page for more information on what is happening.