The E-pistle

Friday, July 25th 2025

A Note from Father Sam

Dear friends in Christ,

“Lord, teach us to pray.”

In Luke’s gospel, that is the simple request from Jesus’ disciples that prompts him to give them the prayer we now call “the Lord’s Prayer.”

Do you need to ask God the same question? Perhaps you, like the disciples, would like to learn how to pray. Prayer might seem like something instinctive, but most of us have been taught to pray in some way or another over the course of our lives.

Maybe, you don’t know what words you should pray. How does one get God’s attention? Or maybe, you don’t know how to pray in the midst of a world that could use so much prayer, a world that doesn’t seem to be improving, despite the prayers of billions. How does one pray in the face of injustice, in the face of starving children and cruel war and growing poverty? Why should we even bother with prayer, when it too often feels like inaction?

There are not easy answers to those questions. But as disciples of Jesus, we follow one who taught us to pray, and to pray to the one who bears the pain of the world and promises to bring hope and healing in the face of such suffering. Prayer brings us closer to God. Prayer is how we share in the intimacy that Jesus shared with God, whom he called his “Father.” When Jesus taught his disciples to call God “Father,” he recognized that they, too, were children of God. When we pray, we brush up against the tender love of the parent who brought us and all things into being, and who has broken into the world to save us all.

The words we pray are secondary to the awareness of God’s presence, who is with us always, even when we forget! Prayer can be as beautiful as the poetic words of the Book of Common Prayer. Prayer can be as unplanned as the stream of your thoughts and feelings. Prayer can be as simple as the gentle breathing in and out of your lungs as you silently wait upon the presence of God. Prayer is, quite simply, intentional time with God.

On Sunday, we’ll hear Jesus answer the disciples’ question in the words of the Lord’s Prayer. I invite you: take time each day this coming week to be still, to recognize the loving presence of God, and to pray. If you don’t know what words to use, try the ones Jesus gives us:

Father,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sings,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial.

Amen.

Faithfully,

Father Sam

Sunday, July 27th, 2025

The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

9:00 AM Holy Eucharist Rite II

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Scripture for the Seventh Sunday After Pentecost: Hosea 1:2-10, Psalm 85, Colossians 2:6-19, Luke 11:1-13

Serving this Sunday:

Altar Guild: Diane Dillon

Fellowship: TBD

Celebrant: The Rev’d Samuel T. Vaught

Preacher: The Rev'd Samuel T. Vaught

Assisting Priest: The Rev'd Jane Tillman

Acolyte: Virgil Stucker

LEM: Kendra MacLeod

Lector/Intercessor: Linda Mason

Greeter: Genet Jeanjean

Musician: Doug Schmolze

Parish Prayer List

Those who are ill or in need of intercession

Jacob, Kathleen, Cynthia, Lori, Kit, David, Ann, Celia, Anne, Dawn, Tracey, Jim, Mary, Janet, Bobbie, Ginger, Arthur, Michael, Holly, Dick, Loralee, Maggie, Michelle, Martha, Grace

Those who have recently died

Lucianne Shoffner, mother of Loralee Brontë

Pat Buttenheim

Ginger Schwartz

Those who have asked for our long-term prayers

Josh, Mike, Ginny, Travis, Faye, Heidi, Rick, Allie, Joan, Duncan, Bernadette, Ray, Piers, Katrina, Rich, Karen, Michael, Khali, George, Barbara, Christy, John, Anthony, Astrida

Those celebrating birthdays or anniversaries

Joel Levi, Dan Weston, Cooper Maloney

Our Parish: St. Paul’s, Stockbridge

That we may grow in faith, hope, and love, and together strive to be the hands and heart of Christ for Stockbridge and the wider world; for Sam, our Rector; Jane and Libby, our Priests Associate; for our Wardens  and Vestry; for the students and staff of the St. Paul’s Children’s Center 

The Diocese of Western Massachusetts

Doug, Bishop

Steven, interim Canon to the Ordinary

Search Committee for the next Bishop 

Diocesan Cycle of Prayer (Week of 7/27)

Congregations, Ministries, and Partners in Ministry

Trinity Church, Shelburne Falls

Franklin-Hampshire Region & Dean of Clericus

The Church and Wider Mission

Episcopal Relief & Development

Ministries to persons in assisted living/skilled care

The Episcopal Church in the United States of America; Sean, Presiding Bishop

The Anglican Communion throughout the world; Stephen, Archbishop of York

Anglican Cycle of Prayer

Sun 7/27: The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea

Mon 7/28: Diocese of Niassa (Mozambique/Angola)

Tues 7/29: Diocese of Nicaragua (Central America)

Wed 7/30: Diocese of the Niger (Nigeria)

Thurs 7/31: Diocese of Niger Delta (Nigeria)

Fri 8/1: Diocese of Niger Delta North (Nigeria)

Sat 8/2: Diocese of Niger Delta West (Nigeria)

Prayers for those in Authority

The Town of Stockbridge 

The Stockbridge Select Board 

Ernest Cardillo, Jamie Minacci

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Maura Healey, Governor of Massachusetts

The General Court of Massachusetts 

Leigh Davis (House of Representatives) 

Paul Mark (Senate) 

The United States of America 

Donald Trump, President of the United States

Supreme Court of the United States

The United States Congress 

Richard Neal (House of Representatives)

Elizabeth Warren (Senate) 

Ed Markey (Senate) 



Prayers for the World 

For lasting peace in the Middle East

For the people of the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar, Haiti, and other places of conflict

For kidnapped Ukrainian children and their families and friends

For all affected by natural disasters and climate change

For all who live in fear, especially migrants and transgender children and adults

July Red Letter Days

July 4: Independence Day

July 22: Saint Mary Magdalene

July 25: Saint James the Apostle

Lee Food Pantry: Current Needs

Baby wipes

Laundry detergent

Flour

Sugar

Rice

Paper towels

Toilet paper

Items can be dropped off at the back of the church. On the second Saturday of the month, a team from St. Paul’s volunteers to distribute food. Questions? See Jim Wade.

New Copies of Forward Day by Day Available

New copies of Forward Day by Day are available in the back of the church for you to take home. Forward Day by Day is a daily devotional that includes scripture readings, prayers, and a reflection written by a fellow disciple. If you are looking for a daily prayer practice, this is a great place to start! The publication is quarterly, so the new copies will take you through October.

Letter to the Church from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe

Dear people of God in The Episcopal Church:

Yesterday, Archbishop Hosam Naoum of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East gave a powerful address to the Church of England’s annual Synod in York about the situation in Gaza and the Holy Land. He spoke of the horrifying humanitarian conditions that the war in Gaza has created, including the continued bombing of hospitals, a desperate lack of medical supplies, and a food distribution system that he likened to the dystopian novel “The Hunger Games.”

In his address, Archbishop Hosam asked for our help, saying, “Where the church is wounded and constrained, we need the wider body of Christ to help us, to be the church in brutal and damaging times.”

Here are some ways that we in The Episcopal Church can respond to his call for help:

As Christians committed to peace and reconciliation, we can stand with our siblings in Christ in the Holy Land as they continue their ministry of presence and resilience in the midst of inhumane conditions. We join Archbishop Hosam in his call for the Israeli military to end the bombing of hospitals and the siege of Gaza; for the restoration of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza under United Nations supervision; and for Israel and Hamas to release all unjustly detained people and hostages.

We can also call for Israel to end its targeting of civilians in Gaza. I particularly grieve the death of Dr. Ahmad Attallah Qandil, a surgeon at the Diocese of Jerusalem’s Al Ahli Hospital, who was killed by a drone strike as he left the hospital after his shift last Friday. He is one of hundreds of medical workers who have been arrested, detained, or killed in Gaza during this war.

Conditions in the West Bank are also deteriorating, and we join the Council of Patriarchs and Heads of Churches of Jerusalem in expressing grief and outrage at the recent attack on Taybeh, the last all-Christian village in the West Bank. Extremist Israeli settlers destroyed crops and olive groves, damaged historic buildings and water systems, and attempted to burn its ancient Byzantine cemetery and fifth-century Church of St. George.

Archbishop Hosam and the Diocese of Jerusalem are committed not only to providing Christian hope in the midst of the current hopelessness, but also to creating conditions that will bring about a lasting peace between the Israeli and Palestinian people. Because U.S. policy plays an outsized role in this conflict, we Episcopalians in the United States have a particular responsibility to support this work by advocating to our government to support a permanent ceasefire and a solution that provides a just and enduring peace. Most of all, we must decry in the strongest possible terms any U.S. or Israeli proposal for ethnic cleansing or the removal of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank.

Our Office of Government Relations helps us make our voices heard in Washington, D.C., ensuring that we can speak as Christians guided not by any political party, but by the redemptive love of the Risen Christ. You can find more information and tools for advocacy on the church’s website.

As we pray for the peace of Jerusalem, we can also support the Diocese of Jerusalem as it continues its ministry of peacebuilding and reconciliation and prepares for the rebuilding of its ministries after the war. As I have done several times, I invite you to join me in making a generous donation to the Good Friday Offering or the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem, both of which provide urgently needed funds for the ministries of the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East.



In his address, Archbishop Hosam, who is from the Israeli city of Nazareth, called us to join his church in fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah that Jesus proclaimed in the synagogue there:

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

   because he has anointed me

   to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

   and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

   to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:18-19)

May we answer this call through our support for God’s people in the Holy Land.

The Most Rev. Sean Rowe

Presiding Bishop

The Episcopal Church

Diocesan Summer Reading Author Events

Video of Conversation with Author Cristina Rathbone

Resources for learning, support and advocacy

• Berkshire Immigrant Center
• Pioneer Valley Workers Center
• Worcester Refugee Assistance Project (WRAP)
• Episcopal Migration Ministry -- TAKE ACTION

Join us on August 19 for Conversation with Tim Crellin

The Land of the Living

BY THE REV. TIMOTHY CRELLIN

AUGUST 19 @ 6 PM

Join author, Tim Crellin, for a discussion of his first novel.

The Land of the Living is a historical novel that explores the themes of immigration and assimilation, war and its impact on families, the role of race and class in forging identity, and what it means to find home.

The conversation will be hosted by the Rev. Dr. Nina Pooley.

Episcopal Relief and Development– Disaster relief in the Texas Hill Country

Dozens are dead and dozens remain missing following the recent flash flooding in Texas Hill Country. Episcopal Relief & Development is working with the Diocese of West Texas to provide support in the coming days and weeks. Many in Kerrville, in their diocese and across Texas have personal connections to the missing campers and staff members impacted by this devastating crisis. As the scope of the disaster continues to unfold, we need your help. Episcopal Relief & Development is accepting donations to help with disaster relief here.

Appalachian Trail Ministry Volunteer's picnic August10th

The local church volunteer picnic for the Appalachian Trail Ministry is Sunday, August 10th at noon at First Congregational Church of Sheffield, under the tent. All are welcome, especially those who volunteered on the trail this year! The AT ministry will provide meat, buns, condiments, and iced tea.Volunteers can bring a salad, dessert, other beverages including adult beverages’ if desired. Please bring your own chair!

Summer Bible Study

Summer Bible Study continues!  Each Wednesday through August 27, we gather at 5:30 p.m. on the screen porch of the Rectory to explore the readings for the upcoming Sunday. We let our curiosities guide the conversation, and we never know quite where we’ll end up! Bring a Bible if you have one (we have plenty here, too), and come with questions and an open spirit! You can enter on the west side of the house, from the church gardens. Questions? Email Father Sam.