Good Morning from the Church Mouse

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Friday, May 22, 2020

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Join us at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday for our zoom Sunday Service. Log into the zoom session on our webpage.

The Service bulletin will be posted on the website and available by clicking here.

Join the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma for two special events coming up next week to celebrate the Ordination and Consecration of Bishop-Elect Poulson Reed!

Live Interview

Diocesan Director of Media, Sarah Smith, will conduct a live interview with Bishop-Elect Poulson on Tuesday, May 26th at 10am on the Diocesan Facebook Page . Tune in to ask live questions in the chat!

Ordination & Consecration

The Right Reverend Dr. Edward J. Konieczny and The Standing Committee of The Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma request the honor of your virtual presence for the Ordination and Consecration of the Reverend Poulson C. Reed as Bishop Coadjutor in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church and Sixth Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma on Saturday, May 30th at 11am via Live Stream on the Diocesan YouTube Page .

The Ascension of the Lord

Meditation by Jennifer Hubbard

After my little one died, I would sit, Scriptures opened, combing God’s Word for the answers as to how I would move forward. I felt alone and afraid, and at times forsaken. I would ponder his Word, searching for anything and everything. Time would escape and I would chastise myself, thinking it was wasted. I was sure that while I searched I had missed opportunities right in front of me.

As has happened so many times before, the Scriptures answered me. I lingered over the passage: he had assembled his chosen ones and before he was taken up he offered an assurance, a promise, and a purpose. Despite this, they stood and looked into the distance. His chosen ones, they too searched the heavens and wondered at what time and in what manner (Acts 1:7-10). In his gentleness, he sent his angels to assure them: Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven (Acts 1:11).

I am caught by the beauty of the moment; in their quiet the disciples are offered another assurance and sent on their way. In this I am assured, too. My Savior will return on a day and time not of my knowing. But surely he will return. And until that day and that time, I am reminded, in my stillness and in my activity: I am not abandoned nor forsaken.

Jennifer Hubbard resides in Newtown, Conn. The younger of her two children, Catherine Violet, was a victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012.

ART: Ascension by Jesus Mafa, 1974.

These paintings were produced in a collaboration between Mafa Christians in northern Cameroon and French missionaries.

Click the image to download and print activity sheets for kids of all ages.

St. Andrew's has a new address for receiving mail.

When mailing anything to St. Andrew's (including donations), please us our new post office box address.......

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

P.O. Box 938

Stillwater, Ok 74076

Flag Rules & Etiquette: The Flag Code

Whether you call it Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes, or the Star Spangled Banner, most of the rules, customs, and traditions governing the display of the American Flag come from a law called the U.S. Flag Code (United States Code Title 4, Chapter 1).

Click here to read to more.

To make Safeguarding Training more accessible to all individual in the diocese, we are now allowing Safeguarding Training to be taken on-line. This could be your first training or renewal. This opportunity allows church members to do the training at home, on their schedule.

Administrators will be responsible for entering the individuals into the computer system of Praesidium, for St. Andrew's this is Debi Hodson. Please send Debi your name, month and day of birth, and email address so she can add you to the system in order to complete the courses online.

A note from St. Andrew's Financial Committee and Rev. Mary:

“As the quarantine lingers on, the Church thanks it’s members for all you have done and are doing.

We also thank you for your continued giving and contributions during this difficult time. We have received 87% of the budgeted pledges and regular contributions for April. You have been generous at a time when it was much needed.

You can make your offerings or contributions through Tithely , make arrangements through your bank to have a check mailed to the church, or just drop a check in the mail (P.O. Box 938, Stillwater, OK 74076).

Stay safe and God be with you.”

. ...just download Zoom and off you go.

Sounds easy.....but if you have questions or need some help with Zoom so you can join in on Sunday Services, meetings, etc. contact Amy or Dalton Parsons and they will be happy to help you. You can text or call Amy at 405 714 0882. You can text or call Dalton at 405 612 2077

from Lesser Feasts and Fasts

MAY 22

HELENA OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Protector of the Holy Places, 330

Helena was an Empress of Rome and devout Christian, but perhaps most renowned for her discoveries of holy sites related to the life of Jesus.

She was born into a lower class family in the middle of the 3rdcentury, though we are unsure about where. Many believe she wasborn in Drepana (now Helenopolis) in northern Asia Minor but this is uncertain. There are also later legends that place her birth in England, and for that she is honored with numerous holy wells across the country. Regardless of birthplace she would eventually become the wife, or at least consort, of Constantius I, who was co-emperor and ruled over Gaul (France) and Britannia (Britain). During this time Helena would give birth to a son, Constantine, in the year 272, but she would soon be divorced and live in the East in the palace of Diocletian.

Once her son gained the Western Empire in the year 312, she returned to Rome and was granted the title Augusta, or Empress, in 325. It was during this time that she made her famous journey to the Holy Land to find the places mentioned in the Gospels, with the most important finds being the Cross of the Crucifixion and the site of the Resurrection. Long after the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70, the Emperor Hadrian had the area rebuilt. As part of this restoration a pagan temple was built on the very site of the Resurrection. Helena ordered this temple destroyed, had the area excavated, and discovered three crosses along with the epitaph that said, “Jesus, King of the Jews”. To ensure it was truly the cross of Christ, a woman near death was carried to the site and touched each cross in turn. On the third one she was cured and Helena declared this to be the one. She ordered that a church be built which would be called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, a major pilgrimage site to this day.

Regardless of the truth of the legend itself, it is certain that she claimed to have found this and many other holy sites and relics on her journey. Unfortunately, she would not see the completion of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher as she died in 330, five years before its completion.Helena also had a reputation as a faithful Christian who cared for the poor. After her death several towns would be named in her honor and she would also eventually be given the title of “Equal to the Apostles”. Helena’s faith in her Lord was not a detached spirituality, but an embodied and historical one, such that she eagerly sought to find the very places where the Son of God had walked, taught, died, and rose again.

Most Merciful God, who blessed your servant Helena with such grace and devotion to you that she venerated the very footsteps of our Savior; may we too, assisted by her prayers and example, be given the same grace to always see your glory in the cross of your Son. Through the same Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lessons and Psalm

Micah 4:1–4

Psalm 2

Luke 23:26–32

[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry will offer a brief sermon for a virtual memorial service for the victims of the COVID-19 pandemic hosted by the National Council of Churches on May 24 at 6 p.m. Eastern time.

Click here to read more.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is offering Habits of Grace , a weekly meditation to help Episcopalians cope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we learn how to adjust our lives given the reality of the coronavirus and the request to do our part to slow its spread by practicing physical distancing, I invite you to join me each week to take a moment to cultivate a ‘habit of grace.’

A new video meditation will be posted on Mondays through May.” — Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

May 19, 2020: Finding gladness

Help Feed My SheepPlease contact Scott Deanat [email protected] to arrange a date when he can come by and collect food donations off your porch for Our Daily Break.

Matthew 25:14-30

‘For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, “Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, “Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.” His master said to him, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.” Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”