Dear People of St. Alban s

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1 serving God by serving others F E B R U A R Y But what does it mean to love and serve our Lord in the world we live in? What can we learn about that love from the stories of Jesus last days? Inside Lenten Boxes... 2 Shrove Tuesday... 3 Ash Wednesday... 3 Bible Study... 3 Lenten Thursdays... 3 Congratulations Amy... 4 Christmas Generosity... 4 BBQ Dinner... 5 Feeding the Hungry... 5 Winter Wonderland... 6 Calendar... 7 Dear People of St. Alban s Lent approaches. Yes, Ash Wednesday is coming on February 10! This is the season to take a fresh look at how we live out our mission as disciples of Jesus. Each week as our worship ends, we hear the call to go forth to love and serve our Lord. We respond with enthusias c shouts of alleluia, alleluia! But what does it mean to love and serve our Lord out in the world where we live? Lent is a good me to reconsider this ques on. This year, I plan to explore during this season the five marks of mission that Anglicans around the world use to guide our growth in discipleship. My sermon each Sunday will focus on one of these marks. The brief program accompanying our Lenten potluck suppers on Thursday evenings will enable us to see these marks of mission in the biblical accounts of Jesus last week of earthly ministry - - and in our own experiences of faith. What are these five marks of mission? One has to do with proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Another is about teaching, bap zing, and nurturing new believers. A third mark of mission is when we respond to human needs with loving service. Transforming unjust structures in society is another. Sustaining and renewing the life of the earth is the fi h. In life, these marks of mission o en overlap. For example, raising money to buy piglets to be raised by people currently living in poverty is loving service in response to human needs; it also addresses injus ces that exist in our world by giving people a resource they can cul vate to improve their circumstances. If we tell a child or grandchild why we re doing this at church and invite them to par cipate, we are proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and teaching this child about faith in ac on. Are pigs a renewable resource: is this promo ng good stewardship of crea on? Hooray, 5 marks! Scripture teaches us that faith without the fruit of love is a dead faith. During Lent this year, let s (Rev. Paula...Con nued on page 2) February

2 (Rev. Paula...Con nued from page 1) look at the fruit of our lives, and of our life together, through the lens of the marks of mission. The love of Jesus flows within and among us. What can we learn about that love from the stories of Jesus last days? How will that love open our hearts so that we may follow him with greater understanding, commitment, and joy? Peace, Lenten Boxes for Episcopal Relief Development and Pigs! Lent begins on February 10th this year. When you come to Ash Wednesday service, please pick up a Lenten Box so we can help parents feed their families and provide a source of income. Two years ago, our Lenten offerings were donated to ERD to buy goats and chickens from the Gi s of Life Program for families in need. Buying animals was so well received that we will be buying animals again this year. Only this me, we will be buying PIGS! Please collect your coins, check, or cash in your Lenten Boxes throughout Lent to see how many pigs we can buy. Each pig costs $100, or for just $20, we can buy a share of a pig. Your gi will provide pigs to a family as well as train them how to raise and sell the pigs. By giving a gi of farm animals for a family, we are helping them to break the cycle of poverty. Your Lenten Box offerings will enable St. Alban s to make a difference to a family. We will begin collec ng Lenten boxes on April 3 rd, the Sunday a er Easter. Please send your submissions for the November Beacon by February 20 to cedarpup@cablespeed.com or place them in the newsle er editor bin in the vestry room. 2 Serving God by Serving Others

3 Two services with imposi on of ashes and Eucharist will take place on February 10. The service at noon will have no music, whereas the choir will help lead our worship at 7pm. PANCAKE SUPPER Tuesday, February 9, 5:00 pm Come and feast before the Lent begins! If you d like to help with set-up, cooking, serving, or clean-up, please contact Alice Cook. WEDNESDAY BIBLE STUDY. EUCHARIST, AND LUNCH will con nue a er Ash Wednesday with a new me of 10:30 am for the start of the Bible Study. Eucharist will remain at noon, with a light lunch following. You are welcome to come for the Bible Study, or just come for the Eucharist, or come for all three segments on any Wednesday. LENTEN POTLUCKS on Wednesdays 6pm, beginning February 17 Bring some food to share, along with your ideas and experiences to contribute to discussion. For our program each week, we ll view a short video to s mulate our discussion. Each segment features commentary by some of America s premier biblical scholars on the stories that mark the end of Jesus earthly ministry, along with art by John August Swanson. What wondrous love is this? Let s explore together. Star ng in February, 1 st Sunday of the month loose offering goes to Endowment Repayment. February

4 Congratulations Amy! The stole she is wearing is a gi from our congrega on. Six members of our congrega on a ended this glorious and upli ing service. We are so proud of Amy and her accomplishments. Currently Amy is interning as a chaplain at a hospital in Bal more. She has 3 more courses to complete then, once she has secured a job, she will be ordained as a priest in the church where she will be serving. Photo of Amy Myers at the Ordina on of Deacons on Saturday Jan. 16th Remarkable Generosity at Christmas The Social Ministries Commi ee would like to share three examples of noteworthy generosity from St. Alban s parishioners during the Christmas season. First: On a 76 degree Sunday just 12 days before Christmas, a small group of choir members and other parishioners spent an a ernoon, out of a very busy Christmas season, delivering Christmas gi s and caroling to 10 angel tree families. What a generous gi of me! Second: Jo Ann Cherrico took 12 angels off of our Angel Tree for her family to buy all the gi s for 4 of the children. Jo Ann, her 2 daughters, and her daughter s mother-in-law, wanted to make sure all 4 angel tree children had a very nice Christmas. What a lovely and generous thing for a family to do together at Christmas! Third: At each holiday gathering during the Christmas season at Octavia Carter s house, Octavia invites her family members to bring non-perishable food to be donated to NCEON. Octavia has done this for a number of years. So much food was contributed to NCEON! What a generous and giving family are the Carters! 4 Serving God by Serving Others

5 Help Us to Feed The Hungry Reminder - Food for NCEON and Buddy Bags/Tabitha s Backpacks Now that temperatures are in the 20 s and we have had our first snowstorm, think about how nice it is to have a warm nutri ous meal on a cold winter s day. Also, think about how difficult it must be not to have enough food for that warm nutri ous meal. What must it be like for a senior ci zen with reduced means who has to choose between ge ng prescrip ons filled and buying food? Or a single mother who is struggling to feed her children throughout the weekend? At St. Alban s, it is our compassion that keeps us dona ng non-perishable food to NCEON, and to our Buddy Bags/Tabitha s Backpack program, week a er week. Thank you for your kindness and generosity in dona ng food for those who need it. February

6 WINTER WONDERLAND in Glen Burnie! 6 Serving God by Serving Others

7 February :00 am Holy Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 9:15 am Choir Prac ce 10:30 am Holy 14 8:00 am Holy 9:15 am Choir Prac ce 10:30 am Holy 21 8:00 am Holy 9:15 am Choir Prac ce 10:30 am Holy 28 8:00 am Holy 9:15 am Choir Prac ce 10:30 am Holy Presidents Day Church Office closed 5:00 pm Pancake Supper 16 6:00 pm Social Ministries 7:30 pm Ladies Guild 10 Ash Wednesday 10:30 am Bible Study Noon Ashes/Eucharist 2 pm Prayer Shawl Min. 7:00 pm Ashes/Eucharist 17 10:30 am Bible Study Noon Eucharist 6:00 pm Lenten Potluck & Program :30 am Bible Study 29 February 2016 Noon Eucharist 2 pm Prayer Shawl Min. 6:00 pm Lenten Potluck & Program :00 pm Vestry Mtg Alcoholics Anonymous meets every Monday & Friday at 7:00 pm Al-Anon meets every Friday at 7:00 pm Eternal Quilters meets on the 2nd Thursday at 10:00 am Food Addictions meets every Monday at 7:00 pm Purple Heart meets on the 3rd Thursday at 6:30 pm 5:00 pm BBQ Dinner

8 The Beacon of St. Alban s St. Alban s Episcopal Church 105 1st Ave SW Glen Burnie, MD Phone: , Fax: stalbans.church2verizon.net RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Sunday Worship Services 8:00 am - Holy, Rite I (no music) 10:30 am - Holy, Rite II (with music) Sunday School, K-8 and Nursery Church Office Hours Monday-Friday 9am-12 pm Rector Rev. Dr. Paula Datsko Barker Office Administrator: Char McFayden 8 Serving God by Serving Others