Staying Connected as a Faith Community
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Thursday, October 15, 2020
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Click the link to today's Morning Devotions recorded in the Chapel.
***The Tech Team has also been livestreaming this service at 9:30am to St. Mary's Facebook page for those who would like to veiw in live time.
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Contemplative Prayer Service
Sundays @ 4 pm
Church Street lawn
Don't forget to bring your mask, chair and tp maintain social distance as we come together for a time of prayer and fellowship.
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CLICK HERE to read Rev. Ann's OP-Ed tribute and memoriam to our friend, Dotti Cannon that has been shared in the wider community.
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Reflections from Rev. Ann
What experiment would we try if success were guaranteed?
At our opening session of the ECCT (Diocesan) Convention last evening, Wednesday, October 14, we entered our first World Cafe' session. This is a method or process for having conversations in larger groups and it has been adapted for our purposes at Convention. It allows for meaningful discussion on big topics instead of this happening during the legislative session. World Cafe' offers participants space for thoughtful reflections together. You can see in the whimsical graphic the guiding principles for the World Cafe' session. Focusing on what matters and listening to understand. These principles can get lost when the convention floor starts debating issues. This is our third year using the World Cafe' process at Convention. Each year the delegates contribute their ideas and they get refined to the questions up for discussion. On Wednesday night The Big Question was this:
What can ECCT and its members do to address the issue of wealth inequality, including: Developing a common language to assure that everyone is talking about the same thing; Understanding how it distorts the political decision making of our governments with examples; Understanding how wealth inequality intersects with other issues as racism, classism, etc; Understanding what is our role in politics as a church; Understanding how our Christian faith provides a standard for our participation in public life.
As you can see, this is a big question! Each round of table discussion - aka breakout rooms on zoom - had a new question to focus us more deeply into discussion. There were four rounds followed by a "harvest" session to see what we can take from all the rich conversation and ideas shared. These are the four questions, to engage the topic, The Big Question:
Why does this matter? What is the quest behind the question?
What is being overlooked? What is not being seen?
What connections are we seeing emerge? What are we hearing at the center of the table?
What experiment would we try if success were guaranteed?
As you can imagine the reports each time were just a snippet of all that was shared in over 40 breakout rooms with more than 270 people present for the Convention's first night. The document where all this was recorded was 100 pages long of notes from all these groups!
My favorite question in these discussion rounds, I'm sure you could guess: "What experiment would we try if success were guaranteed?" For me this opened the way for wild and crazy ideas! Ones that could actually move us toward justice, eliminating wealth inequities, and making lasting change in the intersections with racism and classism. It got me thinking about St. Mary's and Concordia's commitment to the work of GHIAA (Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance), and how we can be part of organized people standing up to organized power.
We concluded with the "Harvest" session asking: What is a key concept from your breakout room? What is something that you are interested in trying on? Here it gets hard. We quickly leap away from our big ideas about experiments with guaranteed success to much smaller versions of trying on something that would make indelible change. We are quick to shoot down our own ideas and to put aside our dreams in order to make a more reasonable or manageable proposal for trying something on.
My takeaway is that God is calling us to radical change in all areas - church, our local communities, our institutional systems, and ourselves. God is inviting us to dream big about justice, to dream big about equity, to dream big about the Gospel of Jesus Christ giving us hope. Each time we give in to discouragements or fears, we make God smaller than God and God's dreams for us. Each time we focus on what matters, we discover God is right there with us and God is guiding us. God calls us to be the best version of ourselves and bring that to bare on the Big Questions.
While I don't know what experiments may be proposed to the Convention on Saturday. I do know that God is blessing us with hopefulness as we bravely discuss and take action on the Big Questions of our day, reflected in these topics. I wholeheartedly agree with one participant who said, "I am encouraged and nourished by the level of awareness and thought shown by so many participants. I do feel there is hope for change of heart and systems if we can carry these thoughts and ideas beyond words into action."
Stay tuned! We have two more World Cafe' sessions. On Thursday, The Big Question: Which of the pandemic changes we have already made will we KEEP and thereby encourage a continuing culture of discovery in parishes? And, on Friday, The Big Question: How can parishes educate themselves about the reality of systemic racism, white supremacy and anti-Black bias, and feel compelled to take action as followers of Jesus?
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Virtual COFFEE HOUR begins at 9:30AM- join with the regular worship Zoom link below.
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Sunday, October 18th at 10AM
Permanent Meeting Code
Meeting ID: 823 2447 0555
Password: 0000
Join Zoom Meeting:
or
Dial
1 646 876 9923
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WEEK NIGHT COMPLINE continues this Fall....
Join fellow parishioners:
Monday: Karen A
**Tuesday: Andrea (will not be held on 10/20 & 10/27 due to vestry meetings)
Wednesday: Deacon Karen
Friday: Sharon
This short service from The Book of Common Prayer can be found in the BCP on page 127 or you may access the prayer book online at www.bcponline.org.
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LINK & PASSCODE
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 856 0827 5573
Passcode: 41Park
To dial by telephone call +1 929 205 6099
Meeting ID: 856 0827 5573
Passcode: 555650
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Personal Saints
This year on All Saints Sunday, November 1st, we will remember those who have died from Concordia and St. Mary's. We will remember these individuals by name during the liturgy. In addition, we would like to do a special slideshow. If you submit a photograph of those beloved ones who have passed from our care and keeping to God's (no matter how long ago they died), we will include it in our Personal Saints slideshow. This presentation will be set to music prepared by St. Mary's pianist Kelly Sharp. Please submit your photos to Reverend Ann at [email protected] by TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27.
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Mark you Calendars
On Monday, November 2 @ 12 noon St. Mary's will mark All Souls Day with a brief 15 minute service of rememberance around the Memorial Garden. Please remember you mask and social distance standards.
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The Power of Ordinary Love
Sometimes it feels like the world is irreparably broken. A climate crisis leading to more hurricanes, fires, warming oceans, a political season that has ripped families and friends apart. A pandemic that has left us more isolated than ever and even more delicate than before. Even the strongest among us may wonder, "What hope is there? Is love enough to save us?" My guest today is someone who believes in the kind of love that can change everything. In this episode, Kate and Bishop Michael Curry talk about the power of ordinary and extraordinary love to remake ourselves and our communities along with us.
CLICK HERE to listen to Kate Bowler's Podcast featuring Bishop Michael Curry.
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ANTI RACISM WORK
TAKE TIME TO LISTEN AND LEARN
Vestry Member, Noreen Kirk shared this series she discovered from the Washington Post. CLICK HERE to check it out.
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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances --1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
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Let Your Thankfulness Show
Sages, mystics and prophets through the ages have taught us that cultivating an attitude of thankfulness will not only help us grow as disciples, but thankfulness will also deepen our connection neighbors and give us happier, more fulfilling lives.
And how do you cultivate thankfulness? First and always, through prayer. Consider how many of the Psalms offer thanks, or how often the Apostle Paul gives thanks for the people and blessings of his ministry. Pray always – and always with thanksgiving.
Keep a “blessings list” and pray through it daily.
Giving thanks to God can nourish thankfulness in your own heart, and you can also help encourage thankfulness in your community by developing a habit of thanking others – verbally, by text or email, or with cards and notes.
Since our national holiday of Thanksgiving takes place in November, it is the perfect opportunity to start.
Throughout November, look for every opportunity to thank someone for any reason, big or small. It could be a stranger who holds a door open for you, a clerk who rings up your sale, or a neighbor who does you a favor. Keep track of the number of times you can say “thank you.” You may be surprised. For fun, compete with others to see who can say “thank you” the most times in November.
In the process of saying “thank you” you will not only develop a habit that will deepen your soul, you will also change your relationship with neighbors, your community and our world. And that will be a real cause for thanksgiving.
–Rob Blezard
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Stewardship Tips & Reflections
Mastering thankfulness is like learning to play a musical instrument: the more you practice gratitude, the better you’ll be at it. Here’s a list of 25 ways to practice gratitude. https://chopra.com/articles/25-simple-ways-to-practice-gratitude Why not go through the list sequentially, focusing on one practice every day. When you get to the end of the list, repeat!
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Taking Care of Yourself & Others
Free COVID Testing
Oct. 22 the Manchester Health Department, in partnership with First Choice Health Centers, will be offering a series of free mobile COVID testing events. For full details CLICK HERE
November 3rd General Election Information
The Manchester Town Clerk’s Office and Registrar of Voters are working to provide the Manchester community with the latest information on voting registration, security, and processes to ensure all eligible voters who wish to vote this year are able to do so safely and securely. For more information CLICK HERE
DOWNTOWN SCARECROW CONTEST
While the youth group did not participate this year are there are more than 30 creative scarecrows lining our neighborhood. Take a stroll and check them out! Or CLICK HERE to view and vote.
Fall Movie Series Continues
Friday, Oct. 16 (Dusk) -- at the Westside Oval - Moana, outdoors at 110 Cedar Street, all ages, no fee
Manchester Public Library Fireside Author Series
Monday, Oct. 19 (7 p.m.) -- CLICK HERE for informtion about this virtual event featuring Megan Collins
OneManchester Newsletter
CLICK HERE to subscribe to this informative weekly newsletter highlighting town and school district events
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Connecting with Coffee
Ann's Zoom Coffee Shop on Fridays at 1pm
Join Zoom Meeting
or Dial +1 929 205 6099
Meeting ID: 873 0224 9184
Password: 958202
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“Coffee On The Curb”
This way of connecting has been fun and you don't even have to tidy the house! Feel free to call Rev Ann at 304-951-7122 or email her at [email protected] and she will swing by your home and chat outside (at a safe distance).
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Virtual Prayers of the People
CLICK HERE to view the list and to take a moment to lift these names up in your prayers. If you have people you wish to add please contact Rev. Ann.
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Calling all Letter Writers
A request from parishioner Lanie Turner whose son Dave Dickson in Georgia has an employee who has just been deployed. His Army Reserve unit has been called up and sent to Kuwait. Dave reached out to Lanie asking if we - the church folks - could send him letters and cards. (It’s an American address taking regular postage). Imagine being away from home right now and all the uncertainties of serving overseas. When writing, reference who you are, so you won’t be a stranger. There are no strangers in God’s eyes. May we see like God... and write a letter!
SPC Darriun Bedell
168th ECC
APO, AE 09330
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Our Prayer for St Mary’s
Ever-present God, we thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit as it moves and guides us here at St. Mary’s. We pray that you will reveal and help us to understand your mission. Inspire us in our love for each other and direct our actions as we move into relationships within our community. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen
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