Weekly Highlights

the victims of mass shootings;
civil discourse grounded in respect;
refugees, immigrants and those without a home.
The search for a new bishop and rector: Merciful God , giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese and a rector for this parish, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Service Schedule

Saturday

5:00 PM - Holy Eucharist and Healing

Sunday

8:00am Rectors Bible Study & Coffee
9:30am Holy Eucharist
Following worship, Fellowship, Coffee and Refreshments
11:00am Adult Formation & Education

Wednesday

12:15pm Mid-Week Eucharist

Office Hours

Monday-Thursday

10:00AM-12:00PM & 1:30PM-4:30PM and other times by appointment .

St. Stephen's Vestry

Christina Priddy
-Rector's Warden

Vic Grace

-People's Warden

Jack Colaric
-Treasurer
Mary Heldenbrand
-Clerk
Vestry

Lyle Skillen

Vicki Bradshaw

Ronnie Sunderman

Bruce Brannan

Kristin McCartor

Paul Basha

Ken Carleno

Helpful Links

Mary Lou Clark

Our faithful sister, Mary Lou Clark, died last week. Her memorial service will be on March 24th at with a reception to follow. Please keep her family and friends in your prayers.

Movie Lovers Group meets tomorrow!

Movie Lovers group will see The Red Sparrow at 1:10 p.m. at Harkins Theatre, 7354 E. Shea Blvd. this Friday, March 2. A snopsis follows:

Fr Dominika Egorova is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat. When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.

Thank you Habitat Volunteers!

4 Habitat for Humanity volunteers from St. Stephen's joined others from several other parishes at the Shire house in Tempe on Saturday the 3rd. The St. Stephen's crew worked all morning to keep the house on schedule for its June dedication. The team blocked the house and also landscaped and touched up the paint in two other houses.

The volunteers were Ken Carleno, Sue Grace, Vic Grace, and Frank Williams.

Ken provided lunch for all of the volunteers on site.

Our next scheduled event will be painting on 21 April. Details will follow in a future bulletin.

Lyle Skillen in Utah

Lyle Skillen is awaiting a heart transplant in Salt Lake City. He met the Utah Jazz Bear & dancers and the Governor of Utah. Please keep Lyle and Meghan in your prayers.

Game Night next Friday!

Mexican Train will be played Friday, March 9th at 6:30 p.m. in the Dining Room. Bring a snack or just come and enjoy this fun group.

March S.A.G.E.S.

S.A.G.E.S. will meet Thursday, March 15 at noon for their monthly potluck. Bring a bread, casserole, salad or dessert to serve 6. All are welcome. Our guest speaker, Joyce Seide, from Southwest Medicare Specialists will be discussing the basics of Medicare. She will also be talking about a federal program that is in place for individuals that have Medicare A&B and can help with the cost of prescription drugs as well as the different levels of state assistance that are available.

Palm Cross making!

Are you interested in helping to make palm crosses for our Palm Sunday celebration?! If so, please contact Marge @ 480-946-1556.

Lenten Study Series

Join us for the Lenten Soup & Study series on Wednesday nights during Lent from 5:45-7:30pm. We'll be studying and discussing videos from a series titled - A Celebration of Disciple: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard J. Foster.

Heretics Weekly's next book

Heretics Weekly Book Group is taking on a timely subject in our next reading selection: Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill by Dave Grossman.

Here is part of what Amazon has to say about this selection:

Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill supplies the statistics, interprets the copious research that exists on the subject, and suggests the many ways to make a difference in your home, at school, in your community, in the courts, and in the larger world. In using this book, parents, educators, social-service workers, youth advocates, and anyone interested in the welfare of our children will have a solid foundation for effective action and prevention of future Columbines, Jonesboros, and Newtowns.

Heretics Weekly meets most Saturdays from noon to 1:30 pm at Jim's Coney Island, a few blocks north of the 202 on Scottsdale Road. Everyone is welcome-even if you can't make it every week!

Please call Leah Batty (480-423-0991) or Kristin McCartor (602-421-6954) for more information.

African Team Ministries

This month we have the opportunity to participate in a different outreach project. On the 11th and 18th we will host a display of crafts from several African countries (and Israel). These crafts are for sale and the proceeds of the sales will be returned trough African Team Ministries to the villages of their origin. This gives us the opportunity to support a growing cottage-style industry in some of the poorest areas of the world. It also gives us the opportunity to purchase some rather unique gifts for our families and friends. You could actually finish your Christmas shopping this year in one short week.

The Asress house is ready to dedicate!

Thanks to the St. Stephen's volunteers, along with other parishes in the Episcopal Habitat Coalition of Central Arizona, Genet will have her new house dedicated at 9:00 AM on Saturday, 10 March. 10 V olunteers worked over two Saturdays to frame and paint this house. Anyone from St. Stephen's who wishes to bless this new home and to be blessed by it in return is welcome to attend this joyful meeting.

The house we have built is at 1937 E. Don Carlos in Tempe, near McClintock and Apache, click here for a map.

Hot enough for you?

This week our 2018 Habitat Lenten Calendars ask us

to count the comfort that our homes give us here in the desert, from swamp coolers for some to swimming pools for others. Please pass your thanks on to others through some coins in your House Bank.

If you have not done so, please pick up you 2018 Habitat Lenten Calendars and their accompanying house banks this weekend. They are a daily reminder to "feed" the house banks during our Lenten fund drive. Each day allows you to count a new blessing and to help others receive such blessings in the future. IOU's work as well as coins, so long as they turn into cash or checks by Easter. Your generosity during Lent will help the Episcopal Coalition of Central Arizona put two new families into good, affordable houses this year. You will also help the coalition support Habitat projects elsewhere in the country and around the world through its annual tithe.

St. Stephen's was wonderfully generous to Habitat for Humanity last year, raising over $3,800. Let's make 2018 even better.

Easter Flowers

We are collecting orders for Easter lilies and other flowers that will adorn our altar on Easter. If you'd like to order a lily in thanksgiving for or loving memory of someone for Easter services, please order online here, place the order form into the offering plate or bring your request into the office by the weekend of March 18th.

Parish Workday

Mark your calendars and plan to pitch in for our parish workday on March 10th. We'll have a task list available for sign up in the coming weeks.

We aspire to be an accepting community in which people will know Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, spiritual formation and fellowship. We hope our community will encourage all to use their God given gifts to serve others in the name of Christ.

Faithfully,

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church