St. James E-pistle Date of Sunday Service: January 20, 2019 Second Sunday after the Epiphany

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1 Pulpit Notes St. James E-pistle Date of Sunday Service: January 20, 2019 Second Sunday after the Epiphany Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: The Stewardship campaign may seem like it was a long time ago, but it s just been a few weeks. We ve been looking at results, and even though we have not yet reached the level we need, there are some encouraging signs. First, there are a few new pledgers this year. We love that! Welcome to this part of serving Christ and the people of God. Second, the vast majority of those who have pledged so far either increased or maintained their current level of pledging (about an even split). This is truly good news. Third, even though there are still about a quarter of the usual pledgers who have not yet turned in pledge cards, this is not unusual. It s normal to need a couple of reminders for folks to get those cards in. That s why, if you haven t pledged yet, you ll see a reminder letter with a spare pledge card in the mail this week. I realize churches have the reputation for always asking for money. But then, maintaining buildings (to say nothing of the remedial work we have to do on the church and grounds), costs money. And then there is the actual ministry! Perhaps in heaven there will be no need for currency, but as long as we are called to live and minister in this world, it s necessary. All we can do is commit to being the best stewards of the resources God puts in our care. I hope and pray that we are doing just that. This has been the message of the entire stewardship campaign our prayer that we are, each of us, the best stewards we can be of whatever it is God has entrusted us with. That s us as individuals and as a community of faith. Anyway, thank you for embracing this message and this ministry. The Church truly is nothing if it is not the people of God together. CHURCH WORK UPDATE: In an effort to be good stewards, we continue to work on the mold abatement in the church. The latest news is that abatement work is scheduled to begin on January 28. In preparation for that work, a lot of things will need to be removed from the church: Books, cushions, kneelers, vestments, even some pews. This will require some volunteer work, carting things out and cleaning those things that can be cleaned. Please look for s requesting help (we don t know when that will be yet but... before the 28th!). We believe that many hands make light work, and this action together also builds the kind of community that makes us a better church Albany Post Road, Hyde Park NY T F W E stjamesoffice@stjameshydepark.org at

2 Thank you for being part of this community and for embracing the challenges and joys that come with it. Grace and Peace, Chuck + NOTICE: Worship Continues in the Parish Hall. If You Have anything to add to the Epistle, please contact either Fr. Chuck, Dyan in the Office, or Brian Rance. Thanks! Thought for your week: Building communities that practice understanding, loving-kindness and compassion may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of our world. Thich Nhat Hanh Announcements Mark Your Calendars: I Want My Church to Grow Saturday, April 6 at 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM St. Paul s Church, 161 Mansion Street, Poughkeepsie This special training event is for: Laypeople and clergy who want to grow a vital church Those who want to join God in doing a new thing Leadership teams working on evangelism, church growth, spiritual development Includes Workshops on: Evangelism 101: Using Community Organizing Tools for Church Growth We Need More Money: Best Practices for Your Stewardship Campaign Men s Breakfast: The Men s Group eats breakfast this month on January 19 at 8:00 AM at Cranberry s. See you there!

3 Inquirers Class resumes on January 22 As always, it follows Evening Prayer at 6:30 open to all! at the Chapel. Our next session will be CHURCH HISTORY! ANNUAL MEETING REMINDER: The Annual Meeting of St. James will take place Sunday, January 27, at 9:00 AM. Please mark the date. Become a Reading Adventures Volunteer: Have you thought about Reading Adventures but never gotten around to volunteering? Do it now! We have completed the first semester of Reading Adventures this year, but we are always looking for more volunteers! In fact, every week, one or two volunteers has to back out for the day due to work, doctor s appointments, vacation, and so on. We always need more, and we would love to have you. Let Fr. Chuck know if you are able and willing to help a child fall in love with reading. Fireside Chat: Follow The Money : Finding the right title has been difficult for this chat, but the content is compelling. On February 7 at 7:00 PM, Fr. Chuck will present a follow-up lecture on slavery in our area, only this time it s about how entangled everyone was in slavery, whether they wanted to be or not. As always, the Fireside Chats are at the Chapel.

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6 January 2019 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Office Closed 15 7 PM Vestry AM Morning Prayer 2:00 PM. Hyde Park Assisted Living Eucharist AM Bible Study 3:30 - Reading Adventures 18 FREE PRAYER FRIDAY 19 8 AM Men s Breakfast Office Closed 22 6:30 Evening Prayer 7:00 Inquirers AM Morning Prayer AM Bible Study 3:30 - Reading Adventures 25 FREE PRAYER FRIDAY :00 AM ANNUAL MEETING 28 Office Closed 29 6:30 Evening Prayer 7:00 Inquirers AM Morning Prayer AM Bible Study 3:30 - Reading Adventures FREE PRAYER FRIDAY Sundays: Holy Eucharist Rite I is at 8:00 AM Holy Eucharist Rite II (with music) is at 10:00 AM. Sunday School and nursery are available at 10:00 AM. Between Service Classes on Sundays are from 9:15 to 9:45 in the Wilks Room. Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: Please pray for these diocesan ministries this week. If you want to check out the entire year s calendar for intercession, it s simple to find - go to 20 Church of South India Congregation of Hudson Valley 21 St. Simon the Cyrenian Church, New Rochelle

7 22 St. Joseph of Arimathea Church, Elmsford 23 The Episcopal School in the City of New York, Manhattan 24 Episcopal Asian Supper Table 25 St. Paul s Church, Yonkers 26 Youth Choristers of the Diocese Please keep the following people in your prayers: Ashley, John Bohlmann, Helen Braun, Linkin Ewalt, Loretta Falzarano (sister of Donna Beyer), Heather Francese, Kathy Ganim, Brian Ganter (deployed to Afghanistan), Karla Givison (Deb Belding's sister), Gloria Golden, Robert Guariglia, Harold Hall, Dalton K., Edie Kline, Ashley Konyn, Tedi Kramer, Hope Jennings, Rosemary Leuken, Joanne Lynn, Jim Lynn (Carol Bender s brother - facing surgery)., Doris Mack, Margaret, Andrew Mendelson, Beth and Ginero Milano, Lillian Peralta, Mary Bowers Peters (stroke), Grace Plass, Deborah Porach, John Robinson, Rob Robinson, Jason Rodino (serving in Afghanistan), John Ross, Hank Schroeder, James Sheeky, Naomi Sleight, Carl Smith, Marguerite Spratt, Janice Syedullah, Tracy, Georgia Verven, Candace Vincent, Cassidy Way, Cliff Wells and Shawn Wheeler. Schedules A Note about Schedules: The names you see below are those listed on their respective schedules. There are often times when, due to sickness or travel, substitutes are asked to fill in or trade positions. This will probably NOT be reflected in the lists below so, if there is an inconsistency between what you see here and what you see on Sunday, that is all right. Birthdays Chris Granados-Kramer, Jodi Triola and Brian O'Leary (this past week): Birthdays Isabela Handman Quines, Alix Ciferri and Diane Plass (this coming week): Acolytes: January 20: Bill Fenwick and Jack Canez January 27: Russell Urban-Mead and Braeden Hall Altar Guild: January 20: Team II January 27: Team III 8 a.m. Readers: January 20: Shannon Butler and Sue DeLorenzo January 27: Lucille Ogden and Jim Smyth 10 a.m. Readers: January 20: Russell Urban-Mead and Andy Hall January 27: Wilma Tully and Judy Douglass Ushers: January 20: Andy Hall and Tonya Hall January 27: Judy Douglass and Vince Asher Pledge Clerks: January 20: Tanya Hall and Anna Marie Pitcher

8 Parish Cycle of Prayer: Coffee Hour Hosts: January 27: Andy Hall and Dean Caswell January 20: Kirstin Horn and Austin and Audrey Horne January 27: Kim Illuminate, Hope Jennings, Jada Jennings and Peter Khan January 20: Deirdre Mae Micker, Wendy and Russell Urban-Mead January 27: Annual Meeting (Breakfast) This Week s Lectionary Isaiah 62:1-5 Psalm 36: Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11 This Week s Hymns Processional: This is the hour of banquet Sequence: Come Holy Ghost Our Souls Inspire Offertory: "The Name of God" Communion: Taizé 35 - Sing praise and bless the Lord Recessional: All Hail the Power of Jesus Name Last Week s Sermon Sermon Preached on First Sunday after the Epiphany Baptism and the Spirit You may remember that two weeks ago, we had a baptism. Great time, especially since I didn t drop her. Then, the very next Saturday, her parents were Mary and Joseph in our pageant, and her sister was one of the angels. My favorite moment was at the end when the young angels were all dancing in front of the stage not planned but very joyful. Keep that image of dancing in your minds. But back to the baptism, what I liked was the joy there too, as we reminded ourselves of our own baptisms. Now today, we get to remind ourselves again as we celebrate the baptism of Christ. We know a lot of things about baptism: -We know it gives you Membership in the church -We know it s a Sign of relationship with God

9 We know in the gospel that it was the Beginning of Jesus ministry that he was revealed by God s voice as Son of God (to some) but that he was led to the desert right after to be tempted (or tempered) We also know that it that it was and is NOT -a coronation -fire insurance -just something that we do to keep grandma happy so she won t keep pestering you with the dreaded question: When are you going to get that baby done? BUT BUT BUT... there was something much more that s going on with Jesus and with each baptism thereafter which we ignore. And today s lessons want us to pay attention to it. Because this one thing we let slide under the radar is at the heart of what happened every day AFTER Jesus was baptized. And it is at the heart of what happens every day after WE RE baptized, too. That thing is The Holy Spirit. Before we go looking at Jesus, however, let s take a leap forward to the Acts of the Apostles because this is a strange little story that I m betting most of us have overlooked or never even knew existed. According to the story, Samaria they don t say WHO in Samaria, just Samaria? Received Christ. It s not important who though on a historical note, it is good to remember that Jews did not generally like Samaritans. At any rate, SOME people in that region embraced the way of Jesus. In fact, they d gotten baptized most likely by Philip who had been preaching in the region. But for some reason, he only baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, and this was not seen as a complete baptism. So Peter and John were sent to lay hands on everyone and finish the job so they could receive the Holy Spirit. Sounds a little like Confirmation, doesn t it? But that s not exactly what it is, especially since we always baptize in the name of the Trinity. More on that later. The point Luke who we remember wrote Acts was trying to make is that Baptism is NOT just a time where sins are forgiven, which is how people primarily understood it. And sad to say, that s how many Christians have understood it down the ages. They thought if you got baptized, you were safe. How very far from the truth THAT is! Baptism is the least safe thing you can do. And the reason for that is the Holy Spirit. Which brings us to the Gospel. John the Baptist was busily baptizing people for the repentance of sins, but he also reminded them all along that this was not a complete baptism that someone was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Baptism for repentance of sin just wasn t the whole picture. So when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form and then the voice of God said, You are my son. Curiously, we don t get to know WHO heard that voice. In other

10 gospels, it s the crowd, or just Jesus, or John the Baptist. But we get to see the descent of the Holy Spirit, and THIS is what marks Jesus baptism as different, new and revolutionary. Because as we know, the very next thing the Spirit does is drive Jesus into the wilderness to test his vocation. And after that horrendous time, it s the Spirit who pushes him onward each and every day, sometimes making him put up with people he d rather not bother with and sometimes building him up when he s empty. See, the thing about Baptism with the Spirit is that it is a baptism into action. Even the Collect for today says: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him.... This is action just as it s action when at baptism we promise to seek and serve Christ in all people, and strive for justice and peace among all people. Oh, and it gets worse, because you re also left asking questions all the time. Like questions theologian Cynthia Bourgeault asks in a reflection she recently published: What does it mean to die before you die? How do you go about losing your little life to find the bigger one? Is it possible to live on this planet with a generosity, abundance, fearlessness, and beauty that mirror Divine Being itself? These are questions Jesus asked, and we are left asking them, too. And I know... that is such a drag! Because a lot of the time we just want to come to church and be with our people and then go home so we can get about our lives. Which can be okay at times. But you re baptized, and in baptism, we call upon the Holy Spirit it uphold and guide us. And that pesky Spirit will not let us off the hook not forever anyway. So you go home from church, and the Spirit is poking at you saying, You re not done. You ve got work to do. There s still poverty. There s still suffering. There s still injustice. There s still loneliness and cheating and sadness and people living lives of quiet desperation.... Too much, right? You can t fix it all. Nobody can. And you don t really want to get involved in all that political stuff. But it s too late for that. You re baptized. You ve got the Spirit poking, poking, poking. Call it political if you want, that Spirit is not going to let you forget the children of God at the border or in Flint, Michigan or in Poughkeepsie or just down the street at the hotel. Because the Spirit is a fire and as much as we try to extinguish that fire or at least hide it, we can t. When everyone is baptized in the church, we give them a lighted candle as a sign of the Spirit given at baptism. It s a reminder that you invited the Holy Spirit to be part of your life, and while baptism is no magical incantation that MAKES the Holy Spirit suddenly part of you it IS a sign that in order to claim our status as children of God, this Holy Spirit is part of the deal. When Jesus was baptized, it was with water and then with Spirit. Water reminds us that we are made clean by God s love rather than anything we can do to earn that love. It just is. Fire the Spirit pokes and prods us into living as children of that love.

11 So when you leave today, remember... you re baptized. As such, you will forever live dancing like those little angels at the pageant at the border between prayer and action. Which is okay because the Holy Spirit is your dance partner Always. Amen. A WORD ABOUT RECORDED SERMONS: Most weeks, I upload a recorded copy of the sermon onto my Facebook page as well as St. James YouTube channel. I have not yet figured out how to upload them to the St. James Facebook page but am working on it. You can also listen to sermons by going to YouTube ( and searching for St. James Episcopal Church, Hyde Park, NY. There, you will not only find sermons, but also videos of the Fireside Chats and other videos of interest. You can subscribe to that page, and then when new content is uploaded, you will receive a notification.

12 SERMON VALUATION FORM It is not necessary to take notes during the sermon. Rather, you can take some time afterwards to recollect the sermon and its effect on you. Give yourself a few minutes for each of the questions. If you choose to share this with the preacher, it can be a powerful aid to better preaching - but this is not a form to be handed to the preacher and forgotten. It is an aid for you, so you can speak directly with the preacher and answer follow-up questions. 1. WHAT ARE YOU STILL HEARING? That is, without evaluating it, what are the words or phrases from the sermon that are still echoing in your ears? Are there any ear worms? 2. WHERE MIGHT THIS BE LEADING? As a listener, where does this sermon lead you? What does it invite you to? What are the next steps in your faith that might arise from this sermon? 3. HOW DOES THIS SERMON PLAY? That is, how is it organized or ordered? What steps has the preacher taken you through? What structure did you notice in this sermon? What has it asked you to do? 4. HOW MIGHT THIS SERMON GROW? That is, what suggestions would you have to hone the message of this sermon, to make it more engaging, inspiring, logical, fleshed out... No sermon is ever entirely done; its themes will be revisited over time. What would help the next time be more compelling?