THE EPISTLE. St. John s Episcopal Church 405 N. Saginaw Rd. Midland, MI (989) Holy Week - Walk With Jesus

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1 THE EPISTLE APRIL 2015 St. John s Episcopal Church 405 N. Saginaw Rd. Midland, MI (989) Holy Week - Walk With Jesus March 29 April 1 April 2 April 3 April 5 Palm Sunday, 8:00am & 10:00am Wednesday Tenebrae Service, 7:00pm Maundy Thursday, 7:00pm Good Friday, 12:00pm noon Easter Sunday, 8:00am & 10:00am April 2015

2 The Vicar s Voice I am absorbed by the passion pageant of Holy Week. I can see myself as many of the players in this drama. I have been Judas and betrayed Jesus for politics and money. I have been among many who ate supper with Christ. He washed my feet. I have sung hymns with him on the way to mountaintops and I publicly declared him as my Lord in front of large groups of people. I prayed with Christ and fell asleep. I have been Peter and denied him more than three times; I mocked him by my actions. I have been Pilate s wife receiving dreams telling me God is among us. I have been Pilate and washed my hands when I should have spoken out for what I knew in my heart was true. I have been Barabbas, and did not have to face the consequence of my sins. I have also been the thief crying out for God s mercy in my distress. I have been the other thief on the cross still demanding that God relieve my pain. I have been privileged to wipe the face of God in many who suffer. I have been Simon of Cyrene, carrying someone s cross for a period of time. I have been Joseph of Arimathea and found a resting place for him. I have been at the empty tomb looking for my Lord. I have been Mary Magdalene in the garden, seeking, not recognizing him. I wonder whether I would be strong enough to stand the humiliation and suffering and abandonment of crucifixion that our God experienced. And then I remember that our God knows much more than any of us about suffering, yet promises to be with us in our distress. On Palm Sunday, I take off my watch for a week. I invite you to take off your watch, too, or do whatever it takes for you to enter God s time; to walk with Jesus all the way through Holy Week. The story of Jesus personal suffering continually brings us the promise of a new life, a resurrected life now and throughout all eternity. Thanks be to God and thanks be for God. The Rev. Mary J. Schuetz, Vicar Page 2

3 Holy Week at St. John s Episcopal Church Palm Sunday, March 29, 8:00am and 10:00am Worship The blessing and distribution of palms and crosses takes place at each service. Nursery care is available beginning at 9:00am. At 10:00am worship, youth will gather with their parents in the church and be a part of the Liturgy of the Palms and procession. Church school for children will begin after the procession. Tenebrae Service, Wednesday, April 1, 7:00pm In this symbolic service, a candle is extinguished as each of the fourteen appointed psalms from Lamentations is completed. The fifteenth candle, symbolic of Christ, is carried away, signifying evil s apparent victory. A sudden loud noise symbolizes the earthquake at Christ's death. The lighted candle is restored to its place, symbolic of Christ's eventual triumph. Maundy Thursday, April 2, 7:00pm This service commemorates the institution of Holy Eucharist by Jesus on the night he was betrayed. An Anointing of Hands for ministry will also be offered. Following this celebration of our Lord s Last Supper, the Altar is stripped and all decorative furnishings are removed from the church. Good Friday, April 3, 12:00pm noon Held at 12:00pm noon with choir, and communion from the reserved Sacrament; this service commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. The Good Friday liturgy includes John's account of the Passion Gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects (dating from ancient Rome), and optional devotions before the cross. Easter Sunday, April 5, 8:00am and 10:00am Worship Celebrate with the proclamation of Easter, with Holy Eucharist at both services, and with joyous music. No Sunday formation; children will worship with their families. Important Update: Nursery care is NOT being offered Easter morning. Page 3

4 Prayer Labyrinth Weekend At Holy Family, May Led by The Reverend Dr. Kay Mutert Veriditas Master Teacher In mid-may, Holy Family Episcopal Church, Midland will host a weekend of labyrinth events led by Certified Master Teacher, Dr. Kay Mutert. Lecture on Friday, May 15, 7:00-9:00pm and workshop + lunch on Saturday, May 16, 9:30am-2:30pm are free & open to the public. Labyrinth facilitator training is offered Sun-Mon, May 17-18, for which a few 50% scholarships are available to registrants. Scholarships are first come first serve; to be reimbursed after training is completed. Would you like to reduce stress, quiet your mind, and open your heart? Learn about the history of the Labyrinth and how to use this amazing meditative tool to help transform your life. The Friday evening lecture, as well as Saturday s workshop & lunch, are free to the public thanks to the generosity of Holy Family Episcopal Church who will cover those costs for attendees (a $75 per person value). All are invited and encouraged to take advantage of this great opportunity! Advanced registration for lecture and workshop is available through Holy Family s website: or you may call Friday, May 15, 7:00-9:00pm: Public talk: "Labyrinth: History, Mystery and Meaning" (includes a guided walk of either of the two labyrinths at Holy Family, 4611 Swede Avenue). Saturday, May 16, 9:30-2:30: Prayer Labyrinth Workshop and Lunch (this is a qualifying workshop for those interested in facilitator training). Sunday, May 17 and Monday, May 18: Labyrinth Facilitator Training (learn about becoming a facilitator and register at: More information about labyrinths and Veriditas workshops is available at View Master Teacher Dr. Mutert s speaker packet here (if viewing electronically). Dr. Mutert believes the ancient archetype of the labyrinth is right for today s world as it draws us into an embodied non-verbal experience. She encourages others to deepen their spirituality, letting her love for music and movement speak to the hearts of others. Holy Family has two labyrinths: the indoor labyrinth is in the church entryway, available Monday through Friday 7am to 5pm. The outdoor labyrinth is 60 feet across and patterned after one found in the Cathedral in Chartres, France. Page 4

5 St. John s Episcopal Parenting Tip: Prayer *Say grace at meals. Include a physical act such as holding hands, and a verbal cue, which stays constant, such as Let us now give thanks to God. *Teach your children to be unabashed about their faith, by thanking God for food in restaurants, in the drive-through, in the homes of others, as well as at home. *Establish a bedtime ritual of prayers that includes the Lord s Prayer and time for conversation with God, especially listening. *Teach children to give thanks, instead of asking for specific things, and to pray for acceptance of God s will. Help children to begin to understand that God always answers our prayers, but not always in the way we wish. *Pray with and for your children each day as they leave for school. Thank God for them and ask God to bless their day. *Arrange for your children to "catch you praying." A surprise model is very powerful. Facilitating existing networks of youth/young adult ministries Encouraging the development of new networks throughout the diocese Acting as coordinator/liaison with programs, events and conferences with youth & young adults, including Camp Chickagami Coordinating and managing both facility and program of Camp Chickagami Page 5 St. John s Youth Field Trip Sunday, April 26, St. John s youth, ages 7-17, will attend the Bullock Creek Youth Theatre s presentation of Godspell Jr. To sign up, contact Nancy Taylor, Youth Ministry Coordinator, or nancy@sjec-midland.org. Diocese Hires New Youth Position McKenzie Bade, Youth/Young Adults Networks Facilitator I d like to formally introduce myself as the newest face in your diocesan office! I ve been a life-long member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Port Huron. I ve had wonderful opportunities to be involved in camp ministries and various programs throughout the province and diocese. For me, church really happens when we are with the youth- learning, praying and worshiping with them - really listening to what they have to say. As this position is new to the diocese - I want to share some of what I will be up to: I plan to make my rounds through the diocese to network and connect with as many people as I can as soon as I can. If you have an event, gathering or meeting that would be a good platform, please get in touch with me. With camp season approaching, I would love to speak about involvement opportunities, facility use, exploring ideas for your own church retreat and the great expanded youth and family programming the Diocese of eastern Michigan has to offer you! I am elated and humbled that I have been called to this remarkable opportunity and am ready to be God s hands and feet working full time in what I never imagined could really be my career outside of my dreams! Contact me at mbade@eastmich.org or at the diocesan office,

6 Youth Ministry: Here s How We Do What We Do It s tough to balance the needs of St. John s busy young families, and the wishes of the congregation, with the spiritual and educational needs of the children. Here s how St. John s does it When the service begins on Sunday morning at 10:00, children are in their classrooms learning about God, Jesus, the Bible, and how to be good Christians, by engaging in activities especially designed for their age groups, while adults worship in adult ways. Classes are (loosely) determined by age, because children of different ages learn in different ways. Teachers take advantage of curricula made up of textbooks, videos, Bibles, and activities especially activities -- designed by educators for specific age groups. At the passing of the Peace, all youth and their teachers come together with the congregation, for Holy Communion. This way, everyone, both children and adults, worship together. Children learn best by engaging in activities and in play. Very young children play Bible, as Aaron Tate put it. It helps them make sense of what they are learning. Children are not auditory learners. They learn by seeing and doing, so when they are required to sit quietly and listen for long periods of time (such as the entire Sunday morning service), they become bored and resistant and may develop a negative attitude about worship, especially if they don t understand what is being said. Obviously, this is a problem; we are all called to worship. The classroom engages children s minds and emotions. Holy Communion engages their spirit and emotions. Both bring them closer to Jesus. Youth formation at St. John s strives for balance. Children are involved in ageappropriate, child-centered Christian education for part of their Sunday worship and are exposed to and integrated into adult worship during Eucharist. As they are able to sit for longer periods of time, and as they develop larger vocabularies and learn to read, appropriate behavior is taught and learned, participation in the service increases, and so does the time children spend in church. A great example of this is St. John s high school Sunday formation. If kids are scheduled to be acolytes, they worship in church for the entire service. If not, they have the option of attending their Christian education class, Disciples. In class, students reflect on the Gospels, and may even join worshippers listening to the sermon, as part of the class. Children need rites of passage. They need life events to which they look forward; something to which they aspire, even in the religious community. Confirmation is one of these rites of passage, as is becoming an acolyte, singing in the choir, joining the altar guild, running for vestry. Slowly growing into the role of a fully integrated member of our congregation shows children that they are growing up, and as they do, more and more options are available to them. Church becomes ever more desirable and children learn the importance of worship, secure in the knowledge that, Jesus loves me, this I know! -Nancy Taylor, Youth Ministry Coordinator Page 6

7 Faith, Families and Fellowship On alternate Sunday evenings, 6:30-8:00pm, typically at the church, adults in St. John s Faith, Families and Fellowship group participate in fellowship and faith discussions to connect more deeply with one another and God. To make it easier for parents to participate, St. John's offers child care and Biblebased activities for children through age 12 during the meeting times. Adults are currently studying an engaging video series called Animate:Practices. A new, four-session series beginning April 19 is called Experiencing Purpose and Meaning in Life. All are welcome to come on any of the upcoming meeting dates: April 12, April 19, May 3, May 17, May 31 This FF&F group will take off during the summer; a new meeting schedule will be published come fall. Library News submitted by Marnie Bash First they were just a list in the front of the Prayer Book, then there was Lesser Feasts and Fasts, next came Holy Women, Holy Men, and now we have Stars in a Dark World. Who are they? These are the folks we find in our church calendar, folks who have made an impact on their world and hold before us "different characteristics of the holy life, different ways to be faithful." Some are Saints with a capital S but most are people who were faithful day to day in showing Christ's love through service, in holiness of life, and through challenge to existing practices and perspective within both the Church and society.* The books on the bookshelves this month will allow us to meet these people; they are not books to read from cover to cover but to dip into to learn about someone you haven't yet met. Choose a date - perhaps your birthday or the birthday of a parent, child, or friend - and read about the person listed there. Try other dates. The stories about these people will show that they are not perfect but they keep trying to show Christ in their lives. Take Bishop Schereschewsky who translated the Bible into one of the Chinese languages in spite of being paralyzed by a stroke and only able to type with a few fingers; Molly Brant, a Loyalist during the Revolution but a confirmed Anglican and one who could lead others into compromise and peace; or Julia Chester Emery who led the national women's organization of the Episcopal Church (later ECW) for 54 years. Different people with different backgrounds, yet all lived faithfully and supported others in their faith as well. Meet someone new this month and share what you find out with your family and friends! *From Frank Griswold's introduction to Holy Women, Holy Men. Page 7

8 Communion Wafer Baking - A New Ministry! Notice a difference in the communion wafers used in the last month? We re exploring using homemade wafers in place of the mass-produced ones and, so far, response has been very positive! We hope those 14 & older will consider participating in this new ministry. No prior baking experience is needed; training will be provided. Our aim is for the baking team to meet in the St. John s kitchen once every 6-8 weeks for approximately 2.5 hours. Regular meeting days/ times TBD. Please contact Ellen McVey, or jemcvey81@yahoo.com by March 31 if you d like to learn more. Simply Give Help Meijer Help Midland s Food Assistance Ministry The Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network (EFPN), of which SAMS (Share A Meal Service) Pantry is a member, has been selected to be a beneficiary of Meijer s Simply Give program which runs March 29 through May 11, Here s how you can help: Customers may purchase a $10 Meijer Food Pantry Donation Card, available at Meijer s check-out registers. Meijer will convert this card into a $10 food gift card which will be given to the EFPN to help stock pantry shelves. In addition, Meijer Corporation will make a matching contribution to the EFPN. Please make special note of double match days on April 17 & 18! On these days, a $10 donation will be worth $30 because Meijer will give an additional $20. Pantry representatives use the money to purchase food items that are not donated or available from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. Two years ago, during the 2013 Simply Give spring campaign, the EFPN received almost $8000 from supporters and the Meijer s Corporation. Help this year be even better!! Not A Meijer Shopper? There s Still A Way to Help! All food and money donated to the Emergency Food Pantry Network this March and April will be proportionately matched by anonymous donors. Details re: this Stop Hunger Challenge are available on the EFPN website and in St. John s March Epistle. (Food items are valued at $1 per item.) Call the EFPN at to learn more. Monetary donations may be sent to EFPN, P.O. Box 2521, Midland, MI Food donations may be brought to any EFPN pantry including SAMS or partnering church including St. John s Episcopal. Page 8

9 Parish Office Notes Secretary Hiring: We are happy to announce that Charlotte Jacqmain has recently accepted our offer to be St. John s new Parish Secretary. St. John s is extremely grateful to Karen (Williams) Tafel and Beth Chateauneuf who graciously served our congregation during our office transition time. We ll introduce Charlotte more thoroughly with a Q&A profile in a future newsletter but in the meantime, please welcome her and introduce yourself should you visit the office. Many of you may already know Charlotte through her service as a member of St. John s altar guild and vestry or as an 8:00am worship attendee. Helpful Reminders: If you have business, questions or updates for the parish office, please call the main line ( ) or use this office@sjec-midland.org. When possible, please give the office advance notice of desired meetings and/or use of office resources. This is greatly appreciated! Office Closings: The parish office will be open as usual on Good Friday, April 3 (9am - 12pm) but will be closed on Easter Monday, April 6. Page 9

10 An Easter Meditation By The Rev. Michael H. Wilson What is Faith if it doesn t endure when we are tested beyond our strength? A recent T.V. ad compared human attitude as related to the past and the future. As we remember the past, we see an equal number of experiences that are positive and negative. As we look to the future, we are vastly more positive than negative. That reminds me of our Christian faith viewed through Lent and Easter. Lent takes us to death. Easter leaps beyond Lent to faith in resurrection. The present builds upon the experience of the past and we live in its shadow. Our faith depends on our strength to raise ourselves above the fragileness of life and live with hope for the future. We all look to experience to guide. But there are experiences that totally eclipse and overwhelm our strength and may leave us feeling hopeless and helpless and without faith in a positive outcome to life s journey. At this point, our strength to have faith in life after death fails us and we are cast into outer bottomless darkness. Faith requires something other than our own strength to continue to guide and support us; to do so when experience of the past is too fragile. Even the Gospel message is built upon a story that happened only once and cannot be proven. So where does the Faith come from that enables us to say with shouts of conviction, Alleluia! Christ is risen!? It is a gift that we either enfold to our heart, or choose not to. God says in effect, accept my gift or not. It s your choice. All this was brought home to me with a wonderful and gentle but firm reminder given by one of my nurses one evening when I began to say aloud to her what I was thinking. I was totally dependent upon help from others for all my needs and could not have felt more sorry for myself. I told her I didn t want to live any more; that nothing would be better than what I was experiencing. She stood up straight, as if I had slapped her in the face. Then she bent close to my ear and whispered: You are a Priest and you should not be saying things like that. I was silenced. Hers was the voice of an angel reminding me to look beyond myself and see what wonderful things God was doing. I thought about my wife and her compassionate presence with me every day, day by long day. I thought about the medical staff knocking themselves out to do what was needed for my comfort, the really beautiful large room I was staying in, the hundred and fifty get-well cards that continued to pour in each day. I could go on about how loved and supported I am and all of this leads me to remember once again that I don t live by the strength of my faith but a strength of faith that comes from beyond. continued on next page Page 10

11 continued from previous page An Easter Meditation By The Rev. Michael H. Wilson The faith that endures beyond the strength we have to be faithful is a gift from beyond and we each are called to carry that faith to others. That s Christian ministry. It s living the Gospel message. It began with God s love for his creation and continued through the coming of Jesus and His Resurrection and has been carried forward from person to person to this day. There are times in the life of each of us when we are the strength-bearers for others and then there are times when we are the ones carried beyond our own strength. I hope, whether today you are feeling strong in your faith or carried by others that come Easter morning as the sun rises you may pray as will I, ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! Easter Flowers St. John s invites you to remember a loved one or express gratitude for blessings by making a donation to the Easter Flowers fund. Donors names and memorials will be listed on an insert in our Easter service bulletins. Donations will be used to pay for lilies and other seasonal floral arrangements decorating our church Easter Sunday. Forms may be found in the office and church entrance. Please return completed form with your donation by regular mail (Attn: Bookkeeper) or in person to the St. John s office. You may also place it in a sealed envelope in the Sunday offering. Checks should be made payable to St. John s Episcopal Church, marked Easter Flowers. (A minimum donation of $15 is requested.) Please note: The last date on which donations may be received and listed in the Easter bulletin will be Palm Sunday, March 29. Thank you for considering this opportunity! Pastoral Care Do you know someone who would appreciate a pastoral visit from one of our clergy or lay visitors? Do you know someone who is a patient in one of our area hospitals? Do you know of someone who should be added to our prayer list? With their permission, please contact our church office during the week and pass this information along to us so that we can respond appropriately. It s always better to get a message more than once than not at all! In the case of a pastoral emergency outside of office hours, please contact: The Rev. Mary Jo Schuetz (989) Page 11

12 Sundays 8:00am 9:00am 10:00am 11:15am Regularly at St. John s Worship... Holy Eucharist, BCP - Quiet, traditional service; Rite Two Adult Formation... Bible Study In the Activity Room (lower level) Worship... Holy Eucharist, BCP - Rite Two with music and children s... Christian formation classes; nursery care available 9-11:15am) Fellowship... Coffee, juice & goodies in Williams Hall Wednesdays 9:00am 10:30am 12:00pm Men s Bible Study... In the McNab Room Women s Bible Study... In the McNab Room Worship... Holy Eucharist, with prayers for healing offered We joyfully gather to pray, worship, learn and serve as we seek to follow Jesus, and invite all to join us on a sacred journey of hope and transformation. The next edition of The Epistle will be published in early May. The final deadline for submissions is Tuesday, April 28. Please consider submitting stories of your group s activities, or news of coming events and activities. If you are not currently receiving an notice to tell you that The Epistle has been published on our website, and you would like to receive one, please office@sjec-midland.org. If you would prefer to receive a printed copy of The Epistle by regular mail, please call our church office at to share that message. We would be happy to mail a copy to you each month. St. John s Episcopal Church 405 N. Saginaw Road Midland, MI (989) office@sjec-midland.org Vicar - The Reverend Mary J. Schuetz Page 12