 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Monday, April 24, 2023 Thank you! Requesting your prayers for Gertrud Nelson You know her – or at least you know about her, as you have seen her art and read her comments on liturgy and family celebrations, or you have been influenced by her book, To Dance With God. She fell in her front yard Saturday afternoon and hit her head on cement, fracturing her skull – She has several brain bleeds. She is improved, alert and talking, but we do not yet know whether, or how fully, she will recover. She is important to so many in Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal Churches – and to me. Please pray for her family as well.  NEXT Sunday, April 30 There will be a bishop’s committee after church on next Sunday. Everyone is invited to come, listen and comment. Bishop’s Warden, Paula Shepard will lead the meeting.  ALSO NEXT Sunday, April 30 Ruth Lewis will preach for the last time at St Albans. You know her as a gifted preacher and a wise counselor and delightful conversationalist. She is also our friend. She and Larry are moving to St Louis in May to be near their family. We will miss her, but are so grateful for the time she and Larry have spent with us. Sunday, May 7, 2023 We will have a festive Eastertide potluck dinner to honor and celebrate The Rev. Larry and Ruth Lewis before they leave for St Louis on the 8th. Please plan to be here for this celebration.  Sunday, May 14, 2023 It’s Mother’s Day, although that isn’t a religious observance. It’s also going to be important for the congregation as The Rev. Chas Marks, the transition officer for the diocese will be present for worship and afterwards to meet with the congregation as you plan for your future after my retirement in September. Please be present. Also, Sandy Sherry will play her harp for the prelude, postlude and the Offertory! This is a special treat since it is hard to get that large instrument here and set up! You do want to be here and to bring your children to see close up!  In Two Weeks May 7, 2023 in honor of The Rev. Larry and Ruth Lewis Please bring whatever you’d like to share – but remember that Ruth needs gluten-free options!  Thank You! Thanks to all of you who led the service of Morning Prayer yesterday, who read and preached, managed music and otherwise made the morning beautiful. My eye is better, but I simply couldn’t see well enough to see to lead worship yesterday, to read, or to celebrate the Eucharist. There wasn’t much warning for those who served, because I kept hoping I would be able to manage, but it seemed silly since I have little depth perception yet, and might have fallen stepping off the sanctuary platform. You all are amazing people – and I love you. Cathy+  The First Reading for Sunday, 4 Easter A Acts 2:42-47 The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.  Notice what they did with the money – and what they didn’t do – and what the leaders didn’t do, too. Again this week you helped a young couple in need to be sheltered for two nights before they were able to secure safe housing. That is a good use of our money. Thank you. And notice what else they did – they “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers” – by the time Acts was written, that phrase had a specific meaning – as it did when yesterday’s gospel was composed: “They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.” It meant simply that as they did what Jesus had done at the last supper, he was recognized, known, to be present among them. This is why we gather week by week -It is why we pray together. It is why staying anybody away is a sadness for the rest of us. We are one. We need each other. We need to “know him” in this way. And when we are together, there he is in the midst of us – always.    |
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