Kristina DeFrancesco
Prayer for a New Day
Prayer for a New Day
Worship, News
Kristina DeFrancesco
Blessing of the Animals October 3

Join us October 3 at 5pm for an outdoor Blessing of the Animals. Animals on leashes or in carriers are warmly welcome, as are stuffed animals and photos.

Blessing of the Animals October 3
Sermon
Kristina DeFrancesco
Pentecost 2 (6/6/21) – Garrett Yates

“It feels like this is something of our last Sunday of the school year, before we shift into summer mode next week with one 9am service. It’s also like we are at this societal moment of pivoting out of COVID-19 restrictions and more or less going back to normal – if there ever was such a thing. What’s been a bit disorienting for me was the radical abruptness of reopening. It was like the CDC and our civic leaders just got tired of the gray zone of semi-regulated communal life, and rather than slowly undimming the lights, they just decided to flick the switch on, and many of us, accustomed to the dark and coziness of quarantine, are squinting a little bit, trying to acclimate to the bright lights of normal.”

Pentecost 2 (6/6/21) – Garrett Yates
Sermon
Kristina DeFrancesco
Trinity Sunday (5/30/21) – Garrett Yates

“Imagine a Portrait Gallery approached you and wanted to capture your image for posterity. How would you like to be portrayed? What picture of yourself would you like others to see? And do you think that picture ties up at all with the pictures others have of you? How would you be in this portrait? Where would you be? What emotion, position, look would just capture you?”

Trinity Sunday (5/30/21) – Garrett Yates
Sermon
Kristina DeFrancesco
Day of Pentecost (5/23/21) – Garrett Yates

“Human beings take around 650,000,000 breaths in their lifetime;

About 25,000 a day. How many of those are we aware?

My Apple watch rings once an hour with a reminder to Breathe.

It’s kind of annoying:

What does it think I’ve been doing for the last hour?

It doesn’t give me a reminder to tell my heart to pump blood

Or to my intestines to digest food.

Why does it suppose I’ve neglected my breath?”

Day of Pentecost (5/23/21) – Garrett Yates

All Saints' Day Rutter Requiem: Sunday, November 3

On the evening of Sunday, November 3 we will observe the feast of All Saints with the Requiem by English composer John Rutter. In this serene and beautiful work, accompanied by a chamber orchestra and beloved by singers and listeners alike, Rutter combines the traditional words of the Latin Requiem mass with those familiar from the English prayer book, setting them to peaceful, expressive music. Gather with us at 5 pm for this special musical event as we remember all the faithful departed.

Election Day Prayer: Tuesday, November 5 at 12 pm

Before or after you vote on Tuesday, November 5, please come to the Side Chapel for a short prayer service at 12 pm. This service will be a time to center our hearts and minds in gratitude for the gift of voting, for the responsibilities we have as citizens, and to pray for a peaceful election process. The church will be open for drop-in prayer all that day, as well as the following day, so come any time for respite, reflection, and release.

Welcome Back to Sunday School!

We began our new year together in Children's Chapel in the Library, where we set our Prayer Table and read the Summary of the Law (Mark 12:30-31).

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

Then we read Todd Parr's "Love the World," which gives colorful images of loving yourself and loving the world. "Love your face, love your space...Love Yourself! Love the World!" Here are some things on the list of “what we love,” as volunteered by the students and recorded on easel paper.

Books, Trees, Yourself and Being Yourself, Doing Science, Walking, Your Pet, Your House, Languages, Vegetables Gardens, Opportunities, What You Make, The Planet and The Environment, Your Nose, Your Clothes, Slime, Family, Friends, Your Name, Your Nation, Hugs, School, Your Money…

So, this list can lead to some further thinking and conversation about what we each love– or what we each think other people might love. Although the book doesn't explain this directly, the author Parr offers things we can love about our individuality, like "Love your giggle. Love your wiggle," and how we can actively share love in our community, like "Love lending a hand. Love making a stand." The wide variety of things we can love can lend your family some guidance when thinking about prayer. If we conceive of God as the source of love, manifested in the magnificence of the natural world, in our relationships of comfort and support, in the persistence of human generosity, then spending time in prayer is as straightforward as spending time thinking about where and how we experience love.

We introduced the book to the students by saying that this is the theme of our school year together: Love the World. It seems to be a simple theme. Is it? For our children, with their natural sense of wonder, our forty minutes naming Love was simple, and also expansive and layered. Amen. May it be so!

To download a copy of our Sunday School calendar, click here.

September Spiritual Farm Share + National Church Webinar

This month’s installment of our Spiritual Farm Share (sent out yesterday; click the image below to access), centers on anxiety and the 2024 election. Coincidentally, the National Episcopal Church also announced yesterday this webinar on faithful voting which will be held tomorrow, September 18, at 1 pm EST. Bp. Michael Curry will be among the panelists, with the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations moderating.

So, read Joe’s Farm Share (click the image below), click here to register for the Webinar, then join us this Sunday, September 22, at 9 am for our Talk-Back Forum in Flint Hall.