Welcome to St. Bede's E-News!
We hope that this weekly offering will keep you up-to-date
on the latest information from the parish
and from around the Diocese of Atlanta and wider Church.
Our e-newsletters are now being archived on our website.
at the top of the home page to find past newsletters.
|
|
St. Bede's Announcements
In Person and Online Worship
for Sunday, August 29, 2021
The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Join us for
Worship Together in the Nave
at 10 am on
Sunday, August 29, 2021
|
|
Masks continue to be required
whenever in the building.
11:30 am - Morning Worship (in English) on Zoom
Join us for Morning Worship on Zoom
also live streamed
This Sunday our Zoom worship will not be live streaming to U-tube
due to technical complications. You will be able to watch the service on U-tube
on Monday morning.
1 pm - Worship (in Spanish) on Facebook
Join us for Sunday Worship in Spanish
Querida Comunidad de San Beda, Unase a nosotros a orar.
Nuestro servicio en español es los domingos
a la 1 p.m. a través de Facebook live.
Information about how to join
all of our Sunday offerings on Zoom
will be sent out in a separate email
by Saturday afternoon.
There is always a call-in (from a regular telephone) option for
all worship, fellowship, and meeting opportunities
that are offered on Zoom.
|
|
An Update from the August Meeting of the
Gathering Going Forward Group
Your Gathering Going Forward Group met on August 4 to review the new pandemic guidance from the CDC in light of how we are currently operating at St. Bede’s.
The GOOD NEWS is that, at this time, we do not feel that we need to change any of the guidelines under which we are currently operating! We do, however, need to adhere to our published guidelines ever more vigilantly so that we can continue gathering the way we have been for over two months now. If there is any bad news, it is that we will have to delay adding back in some of the things that we have been missing that we had hoped to return to our worship by late summer. That’s okay. They’ll still come back – it may just take a little longer.
The Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus spreads more aggressively and can be spread by both unvaccinated and vaccinated people (even if they do not know that they are transmitting the virus and have no symptoms themselves).
Out of love of self and neighbor and out of Christ’s call to care for the most vulnerable, let us recommit fully to the guidelines we have set forth for how we gather at St. Bede’s. The Gathering Going Forward Group will soon be submitting to the Vestry and then publishing guidelines for all group gatherings at St. Bede’s.
In the meantime, please be vigilant and remember to:
Wear a mask whenever you are in the building
Visit with St. Bede’s friends outside before and after worship
where ventilation is better
Honor distance around other people
Claim a seat for worship when you arrive
and try to stay close to it throughout your time there
Your Gathering Going Forward Group and your Rector also encourage you - out of love for neighbor and the most vulnerable amongst us - to take care of yourselves and others out in the world as well.
GET VACCINATED
(if you are eligible and able)
WEAR A MASK IN PUBLIC
(even if you are vaccinated)
KEEP WASHING YOUR HANDS
SOCIALLY DISTANCE AROUND OTHERS
|
|
The Community Engagement Team
will meet next Sunday - August 29
at 1 pm on Zoom
Look to next Friday's E-News
for the Zoom link.
All who are interested in
Community Engagement and Outreach
are invited to join.
We'll be discussing activities for the fall, considering what might be possible and effective in the near-term. We'll also look at short-term budget considerations, including what response we might have to the crisis in Haiti.
For those who may wonder, the Community Engagement Committee seeks to support (and to varying degrees organize) work with and in the community (local, state/diocesan, and national/global). We also seek to lead conversations and education within the parish on subjects related to these activities.
The link to the August Zoom meeting follows.
|
|
Please find two opportunities
for contributing
to Haitian earthquake relief
in the section
"Around the Diocese
and the wider Church"
near the bottom
of your E-News.
|
|
Join us in Education for Ministry (EfM) this year!
Education for Ministry
September 20, 2021 – May 23, 2022
Mondays, 7:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., on Zoom for now
with occasional meetings on
Sundays, 2:00-4:30, outside on a screened porch
(in place of the Monday meeting)
EfM is a program of theological education and spiritual formation in a small community committed to attentive listening and nonviolent communication. The hope in EfM is to provide space for each participant to wonder about and to grow in her/his/their understanding of and relationship with God, as well as to offer resources to support each person in discerning and blessing their gifts to share in the community. Although the program is designed as a four-year process, a person enrolls for just one year at a time, as one’s life circumstances allow. All of the EfM materials were updated several years ago with new books explored each year; if you are a graduate of the program, you are welcome and encouraged to consider joining the group to have the gift and adventure of moving through the new materials.
EfM begins Monday September 20 at 7:15 p.m., meeting until 9. We’ll begin the year meeting on Zoom most weeks with occasional meetings on Sunday afternoons, 2-4:30, on a large screened porch. The group will select the Sunday afternoons that work best for these meetings.
The mentors for the group are The Rev. Lynnsay A. Buehler and Dr. Jo Marie Lyons. Each mentor has over 30 years’ experience in guiding an EfM group.
Click here for more information about the EfM group at St. Bede’s, tuition for the year and how to register.
|
|
Fake E-mails from Chad
(and perhaps others)
I have written to you before about instances of fake emails being sent out under my name. It seems some trickster is up to no good once again. A few of you have let me know that you have received emails purporting to be from me.
Please know that all emails from me (or any member of our staff) will come from a “stbedes.org” domain. Also, be weary of any email that asks something like “Can you help me out with something?”…and leaves it at that. That is not how I would communicate. It is a “hook” to get you to reply.
These tricksters set up fake email addresses (on other domains) and then apply my name as their screen name. This is happening at churches all across the country. There is nothing wrong with our system. We have not been hacked. And, unfortunately, there is not much we can do – apart from report them.
If it looks strange, don’t hesitate to reach out to see if it is legitimate – or feel free to simply hit “delete”.
Peace,
Chad
|
|
Women's Retreat Update
from Molly & Connie
Regretfully, we have an unhappy update about the scheduled Women's Retreat planned for Sept. 24-26.
Given the conditions in our community with the rise of Covid cases in the vaccinated and unvaccinated, as well as input from the medical professionals in our community, it no longer feels safe to go forward with the retreat. All of us are in such desperate need to convene and reconnect, so this is very disappointing news. This decision wasn't made lightly, but circumstances just don't make it wise to convene in the way envisioned at this time. Hopefully there will be a time soon when we can get together safely as we all desire to do, and when that time arrives we will joyously and enthusiastically do so.
Until then, continue to keep in touch with each other and love and care for each other in Christian community. Be well and stay safe.
|
|
A testimonial from Muriel Diguette
who co-facilitated our inaugural Sacred Circle group:
It was my great delight to co-facilitate our first “circle” of Sacred Ground Circle for the 2020-2021 season. Molly, Miriam, and I led our group of 14 people through a year of intense study and reflection. We learned together, and grew closer, in our exploration of how racism and faith intersect. We covered a lot of territory over eight months, as we traveled from coming to grips with our country’s ancestors and the harm that was done to our native landholders up through many generations of immigrants as they came seeking freedom and opportunity. We had our eyes opened or re-opened as to issues of injustice surrounding the troubled terrain of black/white relations and equity issues in this country, from the time of slavery until today. There are so many layers to our problems and we explored many of them, including the present day unresolved issues between red state/blue state divides. These divisions aren’t entirely about history, but about longstanding cultural differences and resentments. The work we did together is so important in getting our own houses in order, doing our white work, before we can begin showing up more broadly for racial justice.
Please join our circle as we spend the months of October through April exploring these issues.
A NEW GROUP IS FORMING - Sacred Ground Circle
Sacred Circle: A Justice and Faith Group beginning in October
Beginning in October a new group will meet approximately every two weeks on Thursday nights (6:30 - 8:30pm) to explore a new program developed by the Episcopal Church called Sacred Ground: A Film Based Dialogue Series on Race & Faith.
If you would like to explore the website and watch a short video about the program, please click here
In our exploration together we will read the books, Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman and Waking Up White, And Finding Myself in the Story of Race by Debby Irving. We will also watch videos together, and read articles and essays from many different writers.
Muriel Diguette, Molly Graves, and Miriam Needham will co-facilitate this group beginning with an opening retreat (via Zoom) on Saturday, October 16th beginning at 10:00am. We will then meet every other week on Thursday nights through April. We will meet predominantly on Zoom, but will discuss meeting occasionally in person as the year unfolds.
Space is limited so please let us know if you are interested soon.
If you are interested in making a commitment or have any questions, please contact one of the three co-facilitators.
|
|
Healing Our Racism
Book Discussion Group
Monday, September 27.
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm
on ZOOM
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
An urgent primer on race and racism, from the host of the viral hit video series
“Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man”
“You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have.” So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. “There is a fix,” Acho says. “But in order to access it, we’re going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations.”
In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask―yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.” In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity―but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.
Please join Muriel Diguette and other members/friends of St. Bede's to discuss current books pertaining to the issues of racism and white privilege.
We will meet the 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm.
If you want to go ahead and order books for future discussions:
The Devil You Know by Charles Blow
Native Son by Richard Wright
The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee
See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
|
|
Mostly Mysteries Book Group
Meeting Time:
4th Monday of each month at 7:00 pm
on ZOOM
The Mostly Mysteries Book Group is continuing to meet on Zoom. If you would like to take part, please contact Connie Coralli and she will send you the link.
For our September 22nd meeting at 7:00pm we will be reading Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson
Recovering from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, Sheriff Walt Longmire returns to Absaroka County, Wyoming, to lick his wounds and try once again to maintain justice in a place with grudges that go back generations. When a shepherd is found dead, Longmire suspects it could be suicide. But the shepherd's connection to the Extepares, a powerful family of Basque ranchers with a history of violence, leads the sheriff into an intricate investigation of a possible murder.
As Walt searches for information about the shepherd, he comes across strange carvings on trees, as well as play money coupons from inside Mallo Cup candies, which he interprets as messages from his spiritual guide, Virgil White Buffalo. Longmire doesn't know how these little blue cards are appearing, but Virgil usually reaches out if a child is in danger. So when a young boy with ties to the Extepare clan arrives in town, the stakes grow even higher.
Even more complicating, a renegade wolf has been haunting the Bighorn Mountains, and the townspeople are out for blood. With both a wolf and a killer on the loose, Longmire follows a twisting trail of evidence, leading to dark and shocking conclusions.
If you are interested in receiving the Zoom link, please email Connie Coralli
|
|
St. Bede's Prayer List
Prayers have been requested for:
Mitzi Kirby, friend of Ann Foote
Molly Graves
Jim Poulos, husband of Carol Kemker
Sarah Jane Ohl
Leslie Coleman, daughter of Jennie Couture
Wright Coleman, son of Jennie Couture
Elizabeth Colemen McCollam, daughter of Jennie Couture
Jim Coleman, friend of Jennie Couture
Loretta Vail
Myles Metcalf, great-nephew of Susan Reef
Karen Daniel, daughter-in-law of Nina Daniel
Anne Jones, sister of Claiborne Jones
Al Studwell
Pat Raybourne, sister of Fran Snider
Rachel Bivens, friend of Doris and Jim Bushart
Fay Key
Mari Garnica, friend of the Sali Family
William Gunter, brother of Doris Bushart
Lisa Maloof, daughter in law of Anita Maloof
Kevin Maloof, son of Anita Maloof
Donareen Oakley
Jean Ahlfinger
Larry Bing
Bill Edgar, father of Beth Cannon
Sarra David
Rosalene Larson, mother in law of Michael Daniel
Sam Cannon
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Hilda Bell
Willie Diaz
Tim Waring
Peggy Allen, mother of Lisa Main
Ray Lampros
Gwen Cordner
Arlene Means, sister of Larry Bing
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
Kerry Penney
Patrick Newberry, stepson of Gretchen Berggren
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Brooke & Taylor Harty, granddaughters of Nancy Waring
Jim Ohl
Frances Bowen
Max Carpenter, grandson of Sarra David
Judy Penney, sister-in-law of Kerry Penney
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Helen Abraham
Cameron Maddox
For those who have died:
Lewis Cook
Pedro Ávila, father of (our) Pedro Ávila, grandfather of Pedro, Shelby, & Francisco Ávila
We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week:
8/29: Ray Callaway
8/29: Meghan Birdseye
9/2: Arlene Fierros-Diaz
9/3: Laura Martin
9/4: Jenny Patino
We pray for these members of St. Bede's
who are to be confirmed Sunday at the
East Atlanta Convocation Liturgy of Confirmation
at Holy Trinity Parish, Decatur.
Jacqueline Cortina
David Perez
Arasely Toro
Felipe Navarrete Valente
The flowers on the altar are given in thanksgiving by
Nancy Ward, on the occasion of her son, Peter’s, 40th birthday.
|
|
St. Bede's Online Giving
If you would like to make a gift to St. Bede's
(debit or credit card or ACH transfer from your bank account)
|
|
Community Emergency
Assistance Fund
In addition to all of the wonderful ways that the Community Engagement Team is leading us in supporting community ministry partners (locally, churchwide, and globally) during this critical time, the Vestry has established a Community Emergency Assistance Fund to help people within the greater St. Bede's community with food assistance during the current public health crisis. This fund will be administered confidentially by the clergy in a similar way as their normal discretionary funds, but will be used exclusively to help with food assistance during this crisis.
We have collected around $10,500 and distributed over $8,000 in assistance though food and utility support for individuals and families so far during the current public health crisis. The current balance of the fund stands at around $2,600 and new needs continue to present themselves. A dedicated group of members work with Fabio to help identify need and deliver food. Thank you to all who have contributed!
If you have questions about this offering to the greater St. Bede's community or if you are in need of food assistance or know someone who is, please contact either the Rev'd Caroline Magee or the Rev'd Fabio Sotelo.
|
|
Your Amazon purchases can support St. Bede's
through Amazon Smile
If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through
and designating St. Bede's as your charitable beneficiary.
To find St. Bede's in the beneficiary list,
you must search for "St Bedes Episcopal Church"
(without the apostrophe)
and choose the one located in Atlanta.
|
|
From around the Diocese
and the wider Church...
|
|
Support the Cathedral Book Store.
|
|
Opportunity for
Emergency Disaster Relief in Haiti
An Update the Rev'd John Porter...
Forging Futures is sending financial assistance to the ravaged towns of the Lower Peninsula - The Sud - and in particular, the towns of Jeremie and Les Cayes. Our own schools - located on the Sud in Leogane - were utterly destroyed by the devastation from the earthquake 11 years ago. This week the earthquake ( tranblemann te ) struck an area 60 miles west. This area is rural and less populated but more difficult to access. As is the case with most blessings, the good news is mixed.
What is the situation on the ground near Jeremie and Les Cayes?
Needed medical supplies are scarce. Water wells and cisterns are broken. Roads blocked by mud and debris. Grocery stories flattened. Hospitals and clinics have been damaged. The earthquake struck during the harsh and flooding rains of Fred - and now as I write - hurricane Grace.
Why is the situation so dangerous?
In the United States, we breathe a sigh of relief as the storms are “downgraded” from hurricane category to tropical depression. The winds represent our danger. Not so in Haiti. The winds are less to be feared. It is the rain bombs that loosen foundations and cause the Lavalas - horrific avalanches of earth and debris, destroying all in its path. Sweeping it all away. Crashing down the hillsides.
Is this a good time for Haiti?
There is a government barely struggling to survive, let alone govern. The President has been murdered by mercenaries from Columbia. There is no functioning infrastructure in Haiti. Severe punishing poverty remains. Covid is everywhere, as it is here. Lawlessness is too frequently the rule for the day.
from Acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry:
“These are difficult times. Let us set aside our many quarrels. Put aside everything that threatens to divide us. Let us now look to the safety of the poorest and most needy among us.”
What can be done today?
It is not hard to understand that Haitians turn to the church in times of hardship because, more often that not, it is the church that does not abandon them in times of disaster. Any additional funds donated to Forging Futures this month will be sent to Haiti to alleviate the misery on the Sud. Our staff in Leogane know how to get every penny of designated financial aid to colleagues in the stricken areas of the country.
Or send a check to: Forging Futures in Haiti c/o John J Porter, 215 Abington Drive, NE, Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328
Ke pa janm two lou pou meti li. Difisil pa bone, Se la chans ki bay.
One’s burdens will never be unbearable. Difficulty isn’t pretty, but hopefully, something good will happen.
|
|
Supporting Partners in Haiti
After the August 2021 Earthquake
August 16, 2021
Episcopal Relief & Development is in close contact with long-term development partners in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday, August 14, 2021. The earthquake killed over a thousand people, caused structures to collapse and triggered landslides and flooding in the western part of the nation.
Our partners, including the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, have been assessing damage and checking in on the status of priests, parishes and community members. While the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined, initial reports are of over one thousand dead and over five thousand injured, centered in the departments of Grand Anse, Sud and Nippes. The US State Department has estimated over 1.6 million people have been affected.
“We are deeply saddened by the reports coming from our friends and partners in Haiti,” said Abagail Nelson, Executive Vice President, Episcopal Relief & Development. “We pray for their safety as Tropical Storm Grace approaches the country. We are currently mobilizing to work with an array of development partners to meet the immediate and long-term needs of affected communities.”
Please pray for our siblings in Haiti and all those affected by this earthquake. Donations to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Haiti Fund will support the organization’s continued emergency response efforts in Haiti.
For 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for more than 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.
|
|
Several St. Bede's regulars subscribe to-and like! - these e-publications. To stay up to date on activities throughout the Diocese of Atlanta, sign up for the e-newsletter, Connecting.
You can also sign up to receive For Faith, which is a weekly devotional podcast from Bishop Rob Wright sent by email on Fridays. To sign up for either or both, click here
Quick Links
To schedule events, please contact our
Muriel Diguette
For the weekly lectionary readings visit:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
