In this week's edition of the eNews:

- Priest's Corner: The Burden of Proof

- Need your ideas for the front yard!

- Upcoming Events

- Tomorrow, Saturday, 6/13: Liturgical Assistant training

- TBD: Livestream volunteer training

- This Sunday, 6/14: Shoreline Soul Gospel Choir

- 6/17: Vestry on Zoom

- 6/20: Milton Gilder's diaconal ordination

- 6/23: Final spring book discussion: "Disarming Leviathan: Loving your Christian Nationalist Neighbor"

- 6/24 (weekly): Wednesday Summer Bible Study on Matthew

- Jazz, Justice, and Jesus: Urgent Needs for St. PJ's Ministry and Community

- News from the Wider Church: Standing for the homeless in court, Anglican AI debates, MLK, Sojourner's special issue on America at 250, and more

- This Sunday at St. PJ's

• Last Children's Sunday School before summer break
• Cycles of Prayer
• Video: Last Sunday's Service and Sermon

- There's Always More...

Priest's Corner: The Burden of Proof

From the Rev. Nathan Empsall, priest-in-charge

Last Sunday, I focused my sermon on a line from the week's Gospel, when Jesus quoted what God told the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."

Then during the Announcements, I made a separate point about celebrating Pride Month in church. We often consider "pride" to be a sin, except when we boast in the Lord. But that's actually exactly what Pride Month can be all about: Affirming that God's LGBTQ children carry the image of God just like everyone else, and that they have a right to be proud of the LGBTQ identities that God gave them. This is an especially important message for Christianity to boast after spending so long spreading its oppressive opposite.

Why am I repeating something from Sunday in this reflection? Because David Tate found a fantastic sermon on Instagram that brings these two separate messages together as one, and I wanted to share it too. Watch Pastor Willie Bodrick from Boston's Twelfth Baptist Church as he explains that LGBTQ identity is not a sin for the church to "tolerate," but God's very creation itself, for us to affirm and love.

"I believe God loves LGBTQIA people because God is the one who made them. Dare I say that their humanity is not sinful, but rather the church's homophobia is.

"God's love is not rooted in divine tolerance: God's love is rooted in divine creation. God delights in what he has made and formed, and what God made and formed, he called it good!

"And if God made them, then the burden of proof is not on their humanity; the burden of proof is on our prejudice!"

(This link is to an Instagram video, but you don't have to have an Instagram account or be logged into watch.)

Need your ideas for the front yard!

As our undercroft-entrance renovations near completion (thank you Brian Fillmore!), it's time to think about what to do with our front yard. A little free library? Benches? Landscaping?

Please email your suggestions to frontyard@stpaulstjames.org, or put them in the suggestion box on the hallway-side table this Sunday!

Upcoming Events

• Tomorrow, Saturday, June 13: Liturgical Assistant training

Please speak to Rev. Nathan if interested!

• TBD: Livestream volunteer training

Please speak to Dylan if interested! Helping maintain our weekly livestream is a great way to help support homebound parishioners, keep connected to church members as they travel, and spread the word about St. PJ's to potential newcomers and visitors.

• This Sunday, June 14: Shoreline Soul Gospel Choir

Parishioner Kate Galambos invites you to join the Shoreline Soul Gospel Choir for an uplifting community choral gospel concert this Sunday, June 14, at 3 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 122 Broad Street, Guilford.  

Admission is free and open to the public.

• Tuesday, June 17: Vestry meeting on Zoom

• Saturday, June 20: Milton Gilder's diaconal ordination

Milton Gilder, who St. PJ’s is sponsoring for ordination, will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons in Christ's One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church on Saturday, June 20, at 11 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral (45 Church St, Hartford).

Your prayers and presence are requested, and the service will be livestreamed. Validated parking available at the MAT Garage. A reception will follow the service in the Cathedral House.

Congratulations to Milton – and to the Episcopal Church!!!

• Tuesday, June 23: Final spring book discussion, "Disarming Leviathan: Loving your Christian Nationalist Neighbor"

The spring round of our Margins & Movements social-justice book club will conclude on Tuesday, June 23, at 7 p.m. in the parish hall with a discussion of "Disarming Leviathan: Loving your Christian Nationalist Neighbor" by nondenominational Pastor Caleb Campbell, an acquaintance of Rev. Nathan's. Kelly Park will lead the discussion.

Get your copy from a local library or buy it online at Bookshop to benefit both the church and independent booksellers, rather than tech billionaires!

From the publisher: Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States. And he's suffered the relational fallout of standing against it, both in his community and his Arizona church. Campbell argues that while it's possible to be both a Christian and hold Christian nationalist ideas, Christian nationalism itself is an un-Christian worldview, rooted in ideas about power, race, and property that are irreconcilable with Christian faith. Campbell has come to see himself as a missionary to Christian nationalists, reaching out to them with the love and freedom found in Christ.

• Wednesdays beginning June 24: Summer Bible Study on Matthew

Beginning Wednesday, June 24, the Rev. Lynne Severance will host a weekly summer Bible study on the Gospel According to St. Matthew.

The gathering will meet at Lynne's home Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Participants will watch a video from Yale Divinity School's former Dean Harry Attridge, and then engage in discussion. Contact Lynne to RSVP or for more information, including location directions.

Jazz, Justice, and Jesus: Urgent Needs for St. PJ's Ministry and Community

Church finances are urgently tight and getting tighter. Our budget is in the red, there is essentially no cash on hand, and expenses have already been cut.

There are questions each month about whether certain bills will be paid.

To help ensure that St. PJ's can continue to:

• offer robust worship with unique and spiritually grounded jazz
• physically support the work of Loaves & Fishes and Sunrise Cafe
• speak out for justice in Jesus's name
• gear up for a full year of Christian adult formation
• and more

Please spread the word about our available event and office rental facilities and consider making an extra donation if you can.

News from the Wider Church:

Standing for the homeless in court, Anglican AI debates, MLK, Sojourner's special issue on America at 250, and more

- [ENS] Easton church to challenge Ocean City in federal court in defense of homeless shelter ministry

- [ENS] Draft of King’s ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ found at Virginia seminary archives

- [ENS] Houses of worship older than America outlasted wars, schisms, lawsuits

- [Christian Today (UK)] Archbishop of Canterbury highlights benefits and risks of AI

- [RNS] Pepper-sprayed yet undeterred: Faith leaders keep ministering at Delaney Hall

- [Sojourners] After 250 Years, Christians Owe America the Truth (by Jemar Tisby)

- [Sojourners] Trump Wanted Prayers for America. So Let’s Pray.

- [Reclaiming Faith, by Rev. Jen Butler] They Eventually Come for Everyone

Come 10:30 a.m. this Sunday, June 14, for Jazz Eucharist, the last children's Sunday School before summer break, and Coffee & Community to mark the third Sunday after Pentecost.

Serving this Sunday:

Sunday

10:30 a.m.

Jazz Service

In-person and online

Wednesday

12:30 p.m.



Quiet Communion

In-person only

Thursday

12:30 p.m.



Midday Prayers

In-person only

Cycles of Prayer and St. PJ's Prayer List

In the Episcopal Church in Connecticut cycle of prayer for June 14, we pray for St. Paul’s, Norwalk; All Saints with Christ, Oakville; 

St. Saviour’s, Old Greenwich; and for students of all ages who are graduating.

In the Anglican Communion Cycle of Prayer, we pray for the Church of the Province of South East Asia

On the St. PJ's prayer list, we pray for Rachel, Doug Parker, Calvin Griffin, the Rev. Walter MacNutt, Kevin Gerbe, Leota Tucker, Edwina Johnson, Cynthia King, Paul D'Agostino, Richard Holcomb, Tiras Jaske, Uli Mackert and family, Charlie & Bridget Farrell, Alyce, Pam, Stephen Lett, Vanetta Lloyd, Marietta D'Albero, Marietta Coppola, Alexandra Sanseverino, Dr Milton Coke, Pam Yesner, the Rev. Carl Scovel, Karl Mini, Patrick Reynolds, Margaret Perry, Ryan Welch, Kyle Park, Fr. Tom, George Moore, A.J. Crosby, Adrienne Brady, Jeannie & Clemente Campos, Jean Douglas, Joan Capella, Joan Farrell, Sharyn Kessler, D.J. Multer, Michael Montenegro, Susan Yates, Meryl Tate Triplett, Tom Olds, Anthony Marchitto, Dawn Magliulo, the Gilder Family, Carolyn Wigley, Wendy McLeod, Lee J. Howard, Anne Cheney, Sandy Sanford, Judy Hopkins, Monica Lee 

Birthdays: Sam Babb (06/14), Maggie King (06/18)

Candidate for Ordination: Milton Gilder

VIDEO: Last Sunday's Service and Sermon

Last week was the second Sunday after Pentecost and the beginning of "Ordinary Time." Rev. Nathan celebrated the Eucharist and preached on God's grace through the lens of Les Misérables.

If you either missed or want to revisit last Sunday or other recent Sundays at St. PJ's, you can find the recorded livestream on our Facebook and/or YouTube pages.

There's always more...

Please remember that there is a blue Lost & Found bin in the church office.

If you would like to submit an item for consideration in the eNews or bulletin announcements, please let Rev. Nathan know at revnathan@stpaulstjames.org by next Wednesday afternoon.

Please contact Monifa Atkinson in the church office at office@stpaulstjames.org or (203) 562-2143 if you are interested in receiving more information about any of the following:

- Renting space at St. PJ's for your next party, meeting, concert, wedding, or other event. More info at the St. PJ's website here >>

- Volunteering with St. PJ's

- Adding a name, birthday, or anniversary to the St. PJ's prayer list

- Arranging pastoral care needs

- Purchasing grocery-store gift cards to benefit St. PJ's

- Reserving a place in the St. PJ's columbarium or purchasing a plaque on the Memorial Wall

St. PJ's Staff and Contacts

Administrative Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - Noon

Priest Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday by appointment

office@stpaulstjames.org

(203) 562-2143

• Priest-in-Charge: The Rev. Nathan Empsall, revnathan@stpaulstjames.org, (203) 278-9199
• Administrative Director: Monifa Atkinson, office@stpaulstjames.org
• Sexton: Sammy Rodriguez
• Children's Sunday School: Sarah Hill
• Interim Director of Music: Dylan Rowland
• Tech and Music Intern: Dontae James
• Vestry: Bill Evans (co-warden), Juhani Jaske (co-warden), David Hill (treasurer), Maggie King (clerk), Maurice Harris, Pam Sayre, Vanetta Lloyd, Lynne Severance, David Boyer, Roni Holcomb