Parish Newsletter

February 2023

The Journey Through Epiphanytide

To The Season of Lent

Epiphanytide is a period focused on Beginnings. The Gospels focus on the early life of Jesus and the beginnings of our church. We hear of Jesus's own Baptism. We meet the earliest followers of Jesus and reflect upon our own call to Discipleship. We were fortunate enough to celebrate a beautiful baptism here just a few weeks ago when Father Scott helped welcome young James Rebello into our parish and Christian family. During the service, we were all invited to renew our own Baptismal vows and ponder both the gift of our faith, as well as the responsibility of our faith. As February carries us through the remainder of Epiphanytide we are invited to continue this inner reflection and to begin preparing our hearts for the Season of Lent. February is also Black History Month, a time when we are invited to dig deeper into our understanding of Black History. This month is set apart for us to celebrate Black Achievements and to wade into the harder parts of that history, looking at the painful legacy of slavery and racism. May this Epiphanytide be a time in which we all continue to seek the guiding light of God's love so that we may find our way out of darkness and live more fully into the call of our faith.

Saint Mary's Annual Meeting

is Sunday February 12th

Please join us for our Annual Meeting. We encourage everyone to attend in order to be present for voting and celebrating all the achievements of our parish community. In order to encourage attendance we will only celebrate one service this Sunday at 9:00 AM.We will live stream the meeting but please note that those who are not physically present will not be able to participate. The schedule is as follows:

9:00AM Holy Eucharist ( *No 8am or 10am today)

10:15 AM – Annual Parish Meeting in the church

11:30 AM – Brunch will be served in Walden Hall

A New Slate of Volunteer Leaders for St. Mary's

We are so grateful for all of you who took the time to nominate and vote for an incredible group of leaders for our parish community. Please click here to learn a bit more about who your new leaders for Vestry, Diocesan Council and Cape Cod Council of Churches are. We are so fortunate to have such generous and capable volunteers. Thank you!

Lenten

Fellowship & Formation

Please be sure to join us as we partner with our brothers and sisters at First Lutheran to pray and learn together during Lent. We are invited to First Lutheran every Wednesday night throughout Lent, for a simple supper of soup and bread followed by a Sacred Journey worship service.

Simple Suppers and Sacred Journey Service,

(5 Wednesday evenings throughout Lent)

Please save the following dates:

March 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th

*If you are uncomfortable driving at night please call the church office and we will try to assist you with finding carpools.

Lenten Lunch and Movie Series

We are excited to host our Lutheran friends here every Sunday afternoon throughout Lent for a simple lunch followed by a movie viewing and theological discussion afterwards. We will serve lunch at Noon and begin the movie by 1:00 PM.

Please save the following dates:

February 26th

March 5th

March 12th

March 19th

March 26th

Search Committee Update

Please click here for the latest important update from your Search Committee.

A Note From Our Pastoral Care Team

Please click here for an article that explains all that our Pastoral Care Team does to help support the Saint Mary's Community.

Coffee and Conversations Build Community

We need your help! Please consider signing up to host a coffee hour after the Sunday 10:00 AM Service. Click here for the online sign-up and further information. Thank you, Thank you!

Pastor Russ's Creation Care Column

Please click the link below to access a Cape Cod Times article explaining the exciting new initiative of The Faith Communities Environmental Network.

Click here to learn more about Energy Cafes

Making A House A Home

The habitat homes are oh so close to move in time! We volunteered to complete a bedroom bookcase for the young boy who will be living in our project house. The bookcase has already been assembled by some of our youth but, now we are looking for volunteers to paint it white. If you are interested in helping paint the bookcase please let Allison know. It is two selves high and about 3 feet by 4 feet. Additionally, we are looking for donations of books to fill the shelves.The young man, Jack is 15 years old and is an avid Lacrosse fan. Perhaps you have a personal favorite book you would like to donate for Jack's room? Allison will be publishing a wishlist of some of the books he and his mother have requested in the next E-News. The goal is to complete this gift before the end of February.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Valentines For Veterans

Thank you to the many creative St Marys gals who made valentines for our veterans and those active duty. Thank you also, to the kids from Our World United preschool . The cards are being distributed and shipped by Cape Cod Cares 4 Troops as well as locally.

On Valentines Day, Feb 14 we are honoring our Veterans with a reception at the Vets Center on West Main Street in Hyannis. If you would like to bake cookies or treats and package them please contact Judy Walden - Scarafile at Judyccbl@icloud.net And if you are a Veteran , please stop by so we can thank you.

Black History Month

Cape Cinema is celebrating Black History Month with a viewing of 3 unearthed and restored documentaries featuring writer and social justice advocate James Baldwin. There will be a panelist discussion following the movie viewing on February 15th at 7:00 PM. Click here for more information.

An Opportunity for Online Study from the Diocesan Racial Justice Commission

"What is Truth?" It's a question that the diocesan Racial Justice Commission's Subcommittee on Reparations invites congregations, groups and individuals to grapple with--and grapple with yet again--with the help of the "What is Truth?" study series it commissioned and launched last Lent. The upcoming Lenten season offers a new opportunity to engage with the six-session series, which is still available for use at any time as part of the Reparations Toolkit, all online at:

www.diomass.org/reparations-toolkit.

Save The Date!

For A Celtic Music Concert followed by an Irish Happy Hour - Sunday, March 12th!

Please mark your calendar for a fun and fabulous night hosted by our Saint Mary's Choristers! Seats are limited for this special event and will go on sale beginning on February 12th.

Please keep an eye out for an online signup and advance ticket sales. Click here for the flier describing this fabulous St. Patrick's celebration to benefit Saint Mary's.

Celebrating Our February Babies

click here or the image below to see who has a birthday in February .

“Our life is a faint tracing on the surface of mystery, like the idle curved tunnels of leaf miners on the face of a leaf. We must somehow take a wider view, look at the whole landscape, really see it, and describe what's going on here. Then we can at least wail the right question into the swaddling band of darkness, or, if it comes to that, choir the proper praise.”

― Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek