Epistle
Weekly News & Updates
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Dear St. Aidan's Family,
This Sunday during the 9:30 worship we will bless the pledges we have received as part of the “All Creatures Great and Small” stewardship campaign. If you have not returned a pledge card or the reflection page you received in the mail, please do so on Sunday or pledge with the link below.
We have come far in the past few years! Calling Laura+ as our Rector, emerging from the pandemic years, celebrating our 60th anniversary, retiring our mortgage. We are on the brink of dreaming bigger: liberated to discern a particular calling in our community, equipped to use our beautiful spaces for God's mission for His people, called to be the hands and feet of Christ.
Blessing the 2026 pledges on Sunday is an important part of this dream! Perhaps you have taken some time to pray over your pledge. Where do you see God's generosity? What parts of God's creation fill you with wonder? How are you called to contribute to God's plan for the world He created? I am praying all of this for you and we will do it together on Sunday! Even if your pledge for next year remains the same, blessing them together is an important offering to God in the life of St. Aidan's. I hope you will see your offering to St. Aidan's for 2026 in a fresh way and join me on Sunday in celebrating God's plan for our life together.
Rebecca+
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Look Ahead
Click link below for what's happening this week and next at St Aidan's
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Stewardship 2025:
Kahlil Gibran's counsel to "be like a flower and turn your face to the sun"; captures something essential about the spiritual life—the practice of orienting ourselves toward what gives life, warmth, and growth. A flower doesn't strain or force itself toward light; it simply, naturally, inevitably turns. There's a wisdom in this effortlessness, a reminder that spiritual receptivity isn't about willpower but about positioning ourselves where grace can reach us.
This image takes on particular resonance when we consider it through the lens of church stewardship, especially a campaign centered on "all creatures great and small." The phrase itself, borrowed from the hymn and ultimately from Psalm 104, reminds us that God's creative attention extends to every sparrow, every lily of the field, every creature that draws breath. If stewardship means caring for what God has entrusted to us, then we're called to tend not just our own spiritual gardens but the whole interconnected web of creation.
Every creature, in its own way, turns toward what sustains it. Help us sustain St. Aidan’s in this stewardship season.
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Worship Service Volunteers
We need an Usher for Sunday, November 9
Sign up to serve as: Altar Guild (caring for the altar vessels and linens), Lay Eucharistic Minister (serving the bread/wine at Communion), Lay Reader (reading the Bible lessons and leading the Prayers of the People), Usher, and Zoom Tech (livestream the service). Please sign up using the button below. Thank you.
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Center for Spiritual
Deepening Offerings
Art and Contemplative Practice: A Quiet Day
Saturday, November 8,
9:3o a.m. - 12 p.m.
In-person at St. Aidan’s
In the busyness of our days, and as the winter holiday season approaches, it is easy to miss the beauty of what is around us and inside of us. In this Quiet Day we will partner with the expressive arts and nature to encounter the Divine in whatever way that shows up for us. A brief description of art and contemplative practice will be provided; visual art, poetry, music, movement, drama, and nature-based. This will be followed by an extended time of arts-based viewing/listening, a guided reflection, and an opportunity to engage in your own creative response or to linger with art or nature.
And she stopped…and she heard what the trees said to her,
And she sat there for hours not wanting to leave,
For the forest said nothing, it just let her breathe...
~ Becky Hemsley ~
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If you are a crafter and want to have a little "Craft and Natter" time, Knitting Group + is meeting on 11/9 and 11/23 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the nursery. Come one or both days. If you knit, crochet, sew or have another fiber art you enjoy and would like to make hats or scarves for local shelters, bring your favorite pattern, one size fits all is best, and materials and join us.
| | Christmas Trees are coming! | | |
Center for Spiritual Deepening
Monthly Offerings
1st and 3rd Thursdays
- Gospel of Philip at 7:30 p.m. (online via Zoom)
2nd and 4th Thursdays
- Soul Circle meeting at 7:30 p.m. (online via Zoom)
Silent Prayer and Meditation
- In the Sanctuary on Tuesday & Friday mornings at 8:00 am
| | Focus Music, and the WFMA | | Check out Focus Music, and the WFMA website for other local shows. | |
Useful Links
Please Note
Anytime one signs up for an event through Sign Up Genius you will
automatically receive a "reminder" 2 days before said event. Since it's just a friendly courtesy reminder a follow up with the office is not necessary.
Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to email or call us. Thank you.
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Click above to donate weekly altar flowers.
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Click above to host Sunday morning fellowship.
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Click above to add a birthday or anniversary
for the month ahead.
| Click above to add someone to our Sunday worship bulletin prayer list. | | | | |
Update from our Treasurer
September Income: $19,502.07 (pledge, plate, Vanco, other)
September budgeted income: $27,833.33
September YTD income: $248,189.25 (pledge, plate, Vanco, other)
YTD budgeted income: $333,000.00
Thank you for your support of this amazing community!
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You may safely and easily make a contribution to St. Aidan's using the button below. Your financial gift of any
size supports the mission and ministries of St. Aidan's.
Thank you for your support!
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St. Aidan's on Social Media!
St. Aidan's is on Instagram and Facebook! Follow us on Instagram at staidansalexandria and don't forget to use #staidansalexandria when posting images from events at St. Aidan's. Follow us on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/staidansalexandria.
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Service Times
Sunday, 9:30 am (virtual & in person)
Sunday, 5:30 pm Celtic (virtual & in person)
Compline, 7:00 pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday (virtual only)
You are always welcome at St. Aidan's,
wherever you may be on your faith journey.
Service Links
If you are not receiving our separate mailing each week with links for worship gatherings and would like to be added to that list, simply reach out to the office
and let us know. Those links are sent out on Saturday.
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Meditation/Silent Prayer
In the Sanctuary at 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday and Friday mornings
Those who seek to include meditation in their weekly practice often find it easier to do so in the company of others. We light a candle and spend 20 minutes in silence. If you are interested in this shared prayer practice, email Lisa Richard at LJRRichard@gmail.com to let us know to expect you on a Tuesday or Friday, in person. Come regularly, or come from time to time. All are welcome!
Weeknight Compline
via Zoom Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:00 p.m.
We also offer evening prayer every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at
7:00 pm via zoom. If you are interested in this shared prayer practice, email Eileen Myers at staidansalexandria@gmail.com to receive
the link for Zoom. Come regularly, or come from time to time.
All are welcome!
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St. Aidan's has been serving the Stratford Landing area & beyond since 1963.
We worship in person on Sundays at 9:30 am and 5:30 pm (Celtic). We also offer evening prayer every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7:00 pm (virtual only). You are always welcome at St. Aidan's, wherever you may be on your faith journey.
Some Helpful Links:
Sermons
St. Aidan's Website
The Episcopal Church
The Diocese of Virginia
| |  | The Center for Spiritual Deepening at St. Aidan's supports the soul and heart work of those seeking a deeper sense of God's presence in their lives. Check out the Center and its offerings Here. | | | | | |
