After the 10 am service on Sunday, October 23, we’ll hold our newly-annual AppleFest! celebration outside. All are welcome, and we invite you to bring an apple-y treat to share with the crowd. Chili and ciders will be offered, and games, crafts, and other fun things will round out the good time.
Blessing of the Animals! October 2
Did you hear the Good News?
Our jam-packed issue of the Fall Good News was mailed out last week. Click here to download a digital copy.
Welcome Joe!
Welcome Joe and Shoko!
Our new curate, Joe Kimmell will officially join St. Anne's staff this week, his first Sunday being July 24. We hope you will join us in the Sanctuary for 9 am worship, followed by a welcome coffee hour in Flint Hall.
Joe is originally from Chicago where he grew up in an evangelical church. After college, Joe moved to Lhasa, Tibet as an evangelical missionary. While studying at Tibet University, he met his wife Shoko who was in Tibet for her doctoral research on Tibetan Buddhism from her native Japan, where they were married in 2009. They moved together to the Chicago area in 2010, as Joe completed an M.A. in Clinical Psychology. Then, after moving to Cambridge in 2013, Joe earned an M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School, before discerning a call to ordained ministry as an Episcopal priest.
Now, while Shoko teaches colloquial Tibetan in Harvard's South Asian Studies department, Joe is completing the final year of his Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard in New Testament and Comparative Religion. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor at Boston College, teaching introductory courses to the Bible. In their spare time, Shoko and Joe love to travel, cook (Shoko), and watch reruns of really old Law and Order episodes (Joe).
Requiem by Maurice Duruflé
Summer Worship: one service at 9 am starting 6/18
Our worship schedule shifts to a single service beginning Sunday, June 18, 2022. At 9 am each Sunday, we will hold a service of spoken Holy Eucharist in the Sanctuary and via livestream.
Our office hours will also change during the summer: we will be closed on Mondays and Fridays, and open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at the reduced hours of 9 am to 1 pm.
As always, if you have questions, please email Jennie Cook, Parish Manager, at Jennie@stanneslincoln.org or leave her a message on the office phone line: 781.2259.8834, x 201.
In-Person Worship Resumes!
We are excited to announce that we have resumed in-person worship now that the building is in the final stages of repair and reconstruction. Due to the end of Daylight Savings Time this Sunday, March 13, we will hold just one service of Holy Eucharist at 10 am; the service will also be livestreamed (to access the link, visit our Home Page).
Next week, on Sunday, March 20, we will hold an in-person spoken Holy Eucharist at 8 am, followed by a hybrid (in-person and livestream) service of Holy Eucharist at 10 am.
Contemplate Lent with our 2022 Lenten Booklet
Once again the St. Anne’s community joined in creating a compilation of poems, readings, and reflections to guide us through the Lenten season. This year’s theme was about finding the “holiness in the ordinary,” which each submission considered in a unique way. We also included each Sunday’s particular collect. Every St. Anne’s family was mailed a hard copy of the Booklet; if you would like one, download it here or email Jennie to send you a copy.
A Message from the Wardens
As you know by now, a ceiling sprinkler head in the hall outside the upstairs kitchen failed the night of Sunday, January 16, resulting in substantial water damage to the core of the building on all three floors. The primary damaged areas are the interior hallways, the copier room, Jennie’s office, and the multipurpose room downstairs. Gratefully, the Sanctuary side of the building was not affected in any way; likewise, clergy offices, the library, the elevator, and other major equipment (except the copier) were unaffected.
The fire alarm system triggered the Lincoln Fire Department, which responded quickly and turned off the water; they also notified church staff. Although the water did not run for long, it was at a high volume. Our multi-talented maestro, Jay, and his wife, Jean, being the only ones able to respond immediately, went over late Sunday night and moved or covered items being dripped on (HUGE thanks to Jay and Jean!).
Insurance claims were filed right away with Church Insurance Group and ServPro’s drying equipment was up and running by Tuesday evening. The cause of the sprinkler failure is still under investigation; it was probably not due to freezing. The affected areas are now completely dried out, and all of the wet materials – carpets, insulation, ceiling tiles, wallboard – have been removed, as has the drying equipment. We expect to be able to start reconstruction very soon.
For now, the building remains closed while we relocate some staff offices and set up construction perimeters. Please assume no in-person activities for at least another week. Some previously scheduled activities may need to be relocated elsewhere in the building or re-scheduled. If you have questions or need anything, please email Jennie at parishoffice@stanneslincoln.org. This coming Sunday, January 30, we will again have one 10 am Zoom service of Morning Prayer, preceded by a 9 am zoom forum on the 2022 budget and a revision of our bylaws. We will let you know as soon as possible about the resumption of in-person services and limited in-person activities. Thank you for your patience and your good wishes!
Tom Shively & Carol Carmody, Wardens
Lenten Booklet 2022 Call for Submissions
This year’s Lenten Booklet Theme is “Holiness in the ordinary.” We typically associate holiness with our Sanctuary, the Bible, prayer and liturgy and perhaps saints. In observance of Lent and Holy Week 2022, let’s contribute our thoughts and meditations, memories, favorite poems, song lyrics about holiness outside of the church as well. Where have you encountered God? Please submit a page (250 words or less) by February 11 to jennie@stanneslincoln.org. Need help? Contact Joan Perera, Kay Peterson, or Al Rossiter.
Christmas Memorial Flowers
We regret that the listing of Memorial Flowers in the Christmas Eve bulletins was incomplete. Please click here for the complete list.
Prayer for a New Day
Blessing of the Animals October 3
Easter 7 (5/16/21) – Kyra Cook
“I am not a priest—I just poorly play one on Facebook live. My study of the Bible is relatively recent and shallow—I didn’t find my way into regular worship until I met Gene. Sure, my childhood featured Easter Sunday services in fluffy Talbots dresses and two-weeks each summer of Vacation Bible School… but those were less an expression of my belief in God than they were my being easily bribed by flowery dresses and weeks of time at Grandma’s house.
I’m not a rector, but Iama writer. I’ve consumed a lot of stories in all sorts of different media. I love the craft of storytelling, and the tropes and tools we writers use to tell a story right. That’s why I think I love John’s gospel.”
Easter 4 (4/25/21) – David Urion
“This fourth Sunday of the Easter season is awash in images of shepherds and flocks. This Gospel passage, and the 23rd psalm from which its imagery derives. The original audience listening to Rabbi Jesus would have been more than familiar with the frequent use of images of sheep and flocks in scripture and teaching.
Years ago, when I dropped out of college for a bit of time that was graciously considered by the dean of students as a “leave of absence”, I lived on a farm in the Upper Connecticut Valley in New Hampshire. This farm raised blueberries and trees and was self-sustaining for its own produce. Living there was, quite literally, living off the land. Like most New England farmers, the man who owned the farm was responsive to his neighbors’ needs. Farming in New England is not for the faint of heart and you survive in solidarity with the other resolute souls who try to earn their living out of that stony ground and frequently harsh climate. One of the neighbors kept sheep, and when he would need to leave town for a time, we took care of his sheep. It was thus that I had a very short-career as a not very capable shepherd. The Mediocre Shepherd, you might say.”
Easter 2 (4/11/21) – Garrett Yates
Easter Sunday puts a pause on the world’s worries: pilgrims make their pilgrammages; choirs belt out their strong hallelujah’s; the pope says mass for thousands; preachers mock death; the adorned altar proclaims spring, and for a brief shining moment the hope of Jesus Christ risen is tangible. But then the world blinks, as it were, loses its concentration and returns its attention to other pressing matters: COVID variants in the air, a border in disarray, a boiling planet and brutal gun violence. Then it turns to look for this hope again, and it’s gone. An array of forces is approaching us led by the baddest bully of them all: death. Where is that Easter bravado today?
One week after, do you still believe in Easter? How? There was once a man who did not believe in Easter. His name was Thomas the Twin; we might call him St. Skepticus.
Easter Sunday (4/4/21) – Garrett Yates
I studied Greek in college. And I have to admit I didn’t choose this major for any high or lofty reason; I have since begun to tell people that I wanted to read the New Testament in the Original; that’s not really true. We had something of a “Major’s Fair” at our Orientation Week, and all the other tables were full and bustling except for the Classics table – so I wandered over, and I was drawn in by a kindly professor and a big plate of Grape leaves. I ate 4 or 5 or maybe 12, and I signed my name on a sheet.
I’ve been thinking back on those early days recently, especially my first classes. The first Greek word I learned was the first person singular present tense indicative verb LUO. I quickly discovered it means “I loose.” You learn it on day one of the Greek class because it’s a short, regular verb that’s easy to conjugate. It’s a particularly useful verb for those who’re in the habit of tying up oxen or releasing mules. Now, as a 18 year old boy from a suburban town I didn’t have a lot of life experience to bring to sentences like “I would have loosed the oxen,” or “They are going to loose the donkeys,” let alone “I would have loosed,” “I used to loose,” and “I was going to have loosed.”
But then comes the great day when you first pick up a copy of the New Testament in its original Greek. And then you enter a new world.
Holy Saturday (4/3/21) – Garrett Yates
Holy Saturday is often referred to Christ’s Harrowing of Hell. A harrow is a spiked implement that is drawn over plowed land to break up clods, tear up weeds, and level the ground for planting. Knowing that bit of agricultural technology gives our figurative use of the adjective harrowing an important layer of meaning. When we speak of a harrowing experience, we mean one that is hair-raising and unnerving, one that disturbs our peace and challenges our sense of security. Whatever in us remains to be broken up and rooted out so that we may be made fertile and fruitful may need to be harrowed. It is not likely to be a comfortable process.
Good Friday (4/2/21) – Garrett Yates
How in the world did it come to this?
I met Daryl in a homeless shelter. Darryl was in his mid 40’s and he was fresh out of prison. He was rather open and forthcoming with me. He told his story about living on the run – drugs, and alcohol had gotten him into trouble. He told me about a life of dishonesty and duplicity, and straight-up fear – taking money from his mother, stealing his neighbor’s car. Because of this, he was always on the defense; always trying to protect something; always fearing that he was going to be found out. He was found out early in the morning after a multi-day bender. He said, “It’s never good when its your own Momma who calls the cops on you.” He was arrested and taken to County. Darryl told me something I will never forget; he said, “I sat there in my cell I was the freest I have ever been in my life. I was as free as a bird in springtime. I didn’t have to run anymore,” he told me.
Maundy Thursday (4/1/21) – David Urion
This is a difficult day, if we let its meaning seep into our being, and into our marrow. It has come to this. Three years of preaching and teaching, comforting and confronting. Three years of mighty acts power, and small acts of kindness. Enigmatic parables, and straightforward and frightening demands. And now this. The last gathering, although most present don’t know it. A frightful wrestling with conscience, and a clear vision of what the next 24 hours would bring. Take this burden, and yet let it be according to your will.
We tend to rush through this week, in a great hurry, it would seem, to get to the end. The place we know, or hope for, or pray for, or simply wonder about. The empty tomb, the encounters, perhaps we can even hold the notion of a Crucified-Yet-Risen-One in our hearts. Yet by rushing through this week, we do the story and ourselves a disservice.