Staying Safe and Staying Connected
Good Morning Saint Stephen’s Church,
We continue our life of daily prayer. The Lord be with you.
Today’s Prayer
O GOD, we who are bound together in the tender ties of love, pray thee for a day of unclouded love. May no passing irritation rob us of our joy in one another. Forgive us if we have often been keen to see the human failings, and slow to feel the preciousness of those who are still the dearest comfort of our life. May there be no sharp words that wounds and scar, and no rift that may grow into estrangement. Suffer us not to grieve thee whom thou hast sent to us as the sweet ministers of love. May our eyes not be so holden by selfishness that we know thine angels only when they spread their wings to return to thee.
Walter Rauschenbusch, 1918
Walter Rauschenbusch is recognized with a feast day by the Episcopal Church on July 2nd, along with Washington Gladden and Jacob Riis. Rauschenbusch is known as one of the main leaders of the Social Gospel movement, which argued that Christians were obligated by faith to address the social problems of their day. In 1917, this Baptist pastor published his text A Theology for the Social Gospel, a key text for the movement. The above prayer is from his book Prayers of the Social Awakening, published in 1910.
Our Prayers of the People
Today, let’s pray:
For the peace and unity of the Church of God; for all who proclaim the Gospel, and all who seek the truth.
For comfort and healing for all who are affected by the Coronavirus, and for physicians, nurses, and all others who minister to the sick and the suffering, may God grant them wisdom and skill, sympathy and patience, and may God keep them healthy and safe.
From the Parish Prayer Chain, let’s pray for Clark, Jim, Eunice, Mason, Millie, Jane and Bruce.
For those who are homebound: Stephen, Pauline, Joan, Janet and Marilyn.
Those who are imprisoned: especially the women in the Schenectady County Jail.
For those in need of healing: Cindi Love, Peter Nelson, Mary Frances Hatfield, Debbie Trawick, Glenn Kaler, Bud Mazurek and Joe White.
For all the blessings of this life.
For our dioceses in the Anglican Communion: Matabeleland (Central Africa). Virginia (The Episcopal Church) and Huron (Canada).
For Marti – today is her birthday!
For all who have died, especially Virginia, Louise, Theodore, Irwin and Eleanor.
For one another.
Something to share
Excerpts from Lenten Meditation (Lent 25)
“Regardless of whether you are on the front lines or in some form of home shelter or medical care, prayer is an essential means through which we stay connected to God and one another. It is also a source of hope and strength in uncertain times.
In her book Amazing Grace, Kathleen Norris shares this about prayer ‘The ancient monks understood that a life of prayer would manifest itself in relationships with others. If prayer is a matter of concern to you,’ said the sixth -century monk Jon Climacus, ‘then show yourself to be merciful.’ As a ‘dialog and a union with God,’ he said, ‘prayer has the effect of holding the world together.’
We may not be able to see where all of this will lead, but we know that God will be with us. ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not see.’ (Hebrews 11:1).”
The Rev. Canon Jan Naylor Cope, Washington National Cathedral (cathedral.org)
The MoonCatcher Project is also making facemasks for area hospitals
The MoonCatcher Project is shifting gears to address the shortage of face masks in our community. We are asking all of our sewers and non-sewers to join us as we construct these masks for local hospitals and health care organizations. Can you think of a better way to be at home during this global crisis?
For Local Volunteers:
· If you sew, and have materials, please start working on the masks using these instructions.
· We can get materials to you if you don’t have them. Just send an email to make arrangements.
If you want us to pick up completed masks and coordinate donation, please email us.
· Don’t sew? We need cutters! Fabric must be 100% cotton. Please make a pattern out of cardboard or paper — cutting rectangles of exactly 9″ X 6″ for adult masks or 7.5″ X 5″ for children. (No guesswork please!)
· Each mask requires 2 matching rectangles.
If you need material, please email us and we will get it to you for cutting.
· Please assemble cut rectangles in groups of 50 (25 sets of 2 matching rectangles) and email us to make a plan for pick up.
QUESTIONS? Please send an email to: Ellie von Wellsheim- ellie@mooncatcher.org
News and Updates
Schenectady Community Ministries Food Pantry, our county’s largest emergency food provider, remains fully operational and it’s volunteer base remains strong, a call has been put out to our respective faith communities to provide an additional three to five additional volunteers each day the food pantry is in operation. The food pantry is located at 839 Albany Street in Schenectady. Contact me james.ross.mcd@gmail.com if you are interested in helping.
Church Publishing offers Book of Common Prayer, other free resources for devotional use:
https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/church-publishing-offers-book-of-common-prayer-other-free-resources-for-devotional-use/
Reminders
If you have an update/news, a prayer or poem or something inspirational you would like us to share with the congregation, please send it to us. Please also send us any prayer requests. We will incorporate these into the Daily Prayer as best we can.
Our church campus is closed. All parish meetings and gatherings are canceled and postponed until further notice.
Our goal is for all of us to stay in touch and connected in this time of isolation.
Share this news, and spread some love, not the virus!
Be of good courage. We are in this together, and we will be together again soon. God bless you and may God be with us in the days ahead.
Peace,
James+