January 8, 2017 The Episcopal Church of Bangor in Caernarvon Founded in 1722 2099 Main Street Churchtown, Narvon, Pennsylvania 17555 The Rt. Reverend Audrey Scanlan, Bishop The Reverend Canon Mark A. Scheneman Priest in Charge Historic Bangor Episcopal Church, the mother church of the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, seeks to be a community in Christ Jesus celebrating our heritage, vibrant in our worship, and engaged in ministry and mission as we approach the 300 th anniversary of our founding.
This Sunday at Bangor Church January 8, 2017 The Baptism of Our Lord 10:00 AM Holy Eucharist, Rite I This first Sunday after the Epiphany is commemorated as the Baptism of Our Lord. The Gospel reading, this year from the Gospel According to Matthew, moves quickly past the Nativity story to the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus as an adult. As Jesus stands in the River Jordan to be baptized by John, the Baptist protests, It is I who should be baptized by you. In the Collect for this day, we pray that we who are baptized may keep the covenant we have made and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior. As is appropriate on this Sunday, we will have a renewal of our baptism vows following the sermon. Please join us in the Church House for our time of fellowship and refreshments following the service. From Fr. Mark- Confirmation/Reception/Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows Just a week or so before Christmas, as we were immersed in the excitement of the season, I received a letter from the bishop s office: we are on the schedule for Bishop Scanlan to visit us on February 19. The last time we had an Episcopal (bishop s) visitation was over two years ago when our interim bishop came to Bangor Church. Since then, Bishop Audrey has been elected and consecrated and has been making visits to parishes around the diocese. This will be her first official visit to us.
Many will recall that she did visit us early last July on a Friday evening as part of her three day immersion into the Lancaster Convocation. We were able to arrange a visit and dinner at a local Amish farm, a buggy ride for her and her husband, Glenn, back to the church. And then she joined us in the pews for our colonial era service of Evening Prayer. She will preach and celebrate Eucharist that day. She also wants to have some time visiting with our vestry before the service and enjoy our fellowship with everyone after the liturgy. It will also be appropriate for us to present to her any persons who wish to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, be Received from another catholic and apostolic church, or Reaffirm the Baptismal Vows they once took. Let me briefly explain what this is all about. In the Episcopal Church, we understand that Baptism is the Sacrament of initiation. We recognize baptisms conducted in other Christian denominations. In other words, we don t re-baptize people. But our tradition retains the expectation that baptized persons make a public affirmation of their faith in the presence of a bishop and receive the sacramental laying on of hands. So, anyone who has been baptized but not yet been confirmed is encouraged (but not required) to take part. Some people have been confirmed in other denominations that share our theology of bishops - this includes Catholics, Orthodox, Lutherans, and Moravians. For people who have received Confirmation in these churches, we recognize that they have already been Confirmed so it is appropriate that they be Received by the bishop into the fellowship of the Episcopal Church. There is a third category: anyone who has been confirmed but desires to Reaffirm
their vows of baptism and receive the blessing of the bishop. This might include the spouse of someone being Confirmed, or perhaps someone who has come back into active membership after a time away, or, someone who senses a new call to some lay ministry or discernment concerning ordained ministry. In order to consider all of this and to prepare for the bishop s visit and the vows of Confirmation, we offer a brief preparation. I have decided that the easiest way to do this will be to have a morning at the church when I can sit down with anyone interested, answer questions and provide some instruction. We also have some helpful short books that can be read and provide wonderful information about our worship, our beliefs, our spiritual life and our church life. I would invite anyone interested, whether you are fairly new to our church, or have been an Episcopalian for years, to join us on Saturday, January 28, from 9:00 to noon. The next day, Sunday the 29 th, I will conduct an Instructed Eucharist during our normal 10:00 service. (More information to come.) I am hopeful that we will have at least several persons who will consider being presented to the bishop on February 19. Anyone with any questions should speak with me. May the Holy Spirit touch our hearts and open us all to new commitment and ministry. Mark+ Remember that you can email Fr. Mark at mark.a.scheneman@gmail.com or phone his cell at 717 440-0773. Coming Events Vestry meeting Sunday, January 15 Inquirer s morning Saturday, January 29 Bishop s visitation to Bangor Church Sunday, February 19 Ash Wednesday Wednesday, March 1 First Lenten Wednesday dinner/program Wednesday, March 8
Announcements +The new handrails for the sacristy door steps and entrance were installed before Christmas. You will notice that the quatrefoil design on our doors and up on the steeple has been incorporated into the railings. And in the quatrefoil design there are four pairs of symbols for the Evangelists - Matthew (the angel), Mark (the lion), Luke (the oxen) and John (the eagle). This will complete the project that replaced the wooden steps and entrance with stone last summer. At some time in the future we will schedule a dedication. +A couple of our very dedicated and loyal members of the Altar Guild are no longer able to continue serving. We have four teams and would like to have a full complement of four members on each team. As of now, we are four short of having complete teams. Would you consider helping? You will be assigned with other team members about once a month. The primary responsibility is to set up before services and to put away afterwards. Please speak to Fr. Mark if you would be interested in helping. +Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Audrey Scanlan, will be making her first official visitation to our church on Sunday morning, February 19. It will be possible for us on that morning to present individuals to the bishop for Confirmation, Reception, or Reaffirmation. If you have not been Confirmed or have not been Received into the Episcopal Church, please consider this opportunity. Fr. Mark will lead a morning of conversation and instruction on Saturday, January 28 in the Church House. And on the next day, Sunday, January 29 he will conduct an Instructed Eucharist during our normal 10:00 service. Watch for more information. +Our prayers have been asked for Kathy Weaver, Al and Mavis Pacchioli, Jim and June Royer, Dylys Glew, Jim Chubb, Eleanor Hertzog, Doris Evans, Betty Hessemer, Mark Larkin, and Joan Pollock.