January 25, 2024 | VOLUME 36, ISSUE 04

VIEW AS WEBPAGE

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

January 28, 2024

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Deuteronomy 18:15-20

1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Mark 1:21-28

Psalm 111

Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Sunday, January 28, 11:30 AM: The Annual Meeting with reports, elections, and a revved up coffee hour! After the 10 AM service.

Saturday, January 27, 6:30 PM: Six Course Dinner & Wine Pairing (SoB venue)

Saturday, February 3, 12:00 PM: Griffith Observatory Tour (SoB venue) 2 SPACES AVAILABLE!

Friday, February 9, 6:00 PM: Beer & Brats (SoB venue) SPACE AVAILABLE!



Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Wednesdays | 7:00 PM

Sanctuary

Adult Forum: "A Case for Love"

Wednesdays | 7:45 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Please join us on Sunday, Jan. 28, after the 10 AM service for the St. Bede's Annual Meeting. There will be food and fellowship as we talk about reports, elections--and the future. If you've got opinions about how things are working and ideas for new ministries, this is your chance! Did we mention there will be a revved-up coffee hour?

Adult Forum

Wednesdays 1/24, 1/31, 2/7

in person and via Zoom

Following the Mid-week service at 7pm

Together we will discuss the movie

A Case for Love

and reflect on our own experiences of unselfish love

throughout the next 30 days.

Hard copies of the Guide and Journal provided in person.

Seeing the movie is not essential to the discussion!



DOWNLOAD THE GUIDE AND JOURNAL HERE

CLICK HERE TO JOIN VIA ZOOM

St. Bede's parishioners gather for a photo after viewing the new movie, "A Case for Love."

ABOUT THE MOVIE

A CASE FOR LOVE is a documentary that explores the idea that the personal practice of unselfish love has the power to positively transform each of us, those around us, and by extension, the world. Although inspired by faith traditions, given the highly divided nature of our current society, this message appeals not only to religious communities but to secular audiences as well.

This documentary examines the question of whether or not love, specifically, unselfish love, is the solution to the extreme societal and political divide facing the U.S. It focuses on subjects from across the U.S., striving to live their lives selflessly. All are common, everyday people of various ethnicities, from various walks of life, from various socio-economic backgrounds, all dealing with a variety of issues.

In addition to these subjects, well known figures including Pete Buttigieg, Al Roker, Sam Waterston and Jon Meacham weigh in as well. In the end, Bishop Michael Curry places what we’ve seen into context.

There is still space available for Beer & Brats if anyone who hasn't yet signed up is interested in joining in this delicious and festive event. Just let either Liz Mohler (mrslizmohler@gmail.com) or Daphne Moote (moote@mac.com) know.

Also, two spaces just became available for the Griffith Observatory Tour on February 3. Please let Daphne know if you are interested.

With her angelic voice, our choir soprano section leader, Connie Smith. performs a beautiful and exuberant rendition of Die Forelle (The Trout).

Our Music Director, Frank Basile, explains to the audience how Die Forelle (The Trout) got its name.

Chamber Music at St. Bede's

By Karen Scharre

An enthusiastic audience welcomed The Avanti Ensemble for a lovely concert at St. Bede’s on Sunday Evening, January 21, 2024, presented by the Friends of Music. Members of the ensemble were Tamsen Beseke (violin), Louise Brown (viola), Stephen Green (cello), Peter Doubrovsky (double bass), and our own Frank Basile (piano). Special guest Connie Smith, our soprano soloist and section leader also performed. We heard an all Schubert concert. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was a composer of the early Romantic period. During his short lifetime, he was a prolific composer in all genres, but is best known for his chamber music and songs.

The first piece was String Trio in B-flat major, D.471 for violin, viola, and cello. Schubert composed this piece in 1816. He only finished the first movement, though the movement he completed is a wonderful complete gem. The concert continued with Die Forelle (The Trout), sung beautifully by Connie Smith and accompanied by Frank Basile on piano. The song was about a trout swimming in a stream who was caught by a fisherman. According to Frank’s commentary, the poem for the song was written by Christian Schobart in response to his entrapment by a spy, who he thought was a friend, and turned him in for being critical of the government. The final selection was Piano Quintet in A major, D.667, “The Trout” for violin, viola, cello, bass, and piano in five movements. The quintet is nicknamed “The Trout” because the fourth movement is a theme and variations based on the melody that Schubert wrote for the song Die Forelle, which we just heard. Schubert portrayed the sound of water through his music. Adding a double bass to the ensemble instead of the usual second violin brought a deeper, richer sound to the quintet and allowed the cello to shine as a tenor voice.

The concert was followed by a reception in the Parish Hall, hosted by Daphne Moote, Susan Holder, and Rea Crane. We enjoyed delicious food and interesting conversation including the opportunity to meet the musicians.

Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.

Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.

You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.

Parishioners from All Saints, Beverly Hills – home parish of film director Brian Ide – turn out for the Jan. 23 debut of “A Case for Love.” Photo: Colleen Dodson Baker *



‘A Case for Love’ screening draws praise, commitment from Episcopalians

By Pat McCaughan 

Unselfish love is an antidote for the divisions ailing society, said some Episcopalians from the Diocese of Los Angeles after attending the one-day Jan. 23 screening of A Case for Love, a feature-film documentary inspired by the teachings of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

“Yes, saying yes and choosing to be kind makes you kinder all the time,” said Canon Serena Beeks, retired executive director of the diocesan Commission on Schools, in a telephone interview from New York City, where she viewed the film.

“If you can bring one person along every now and then, it helps. But it’s one person at a time. That is how movements start, but it’s not fast, certainly not at the beginning, so we have to persevere,” added Beeks. “What’s the alternative? We can be selfish. But let’s not. That’s not much fun. Let’s give it a shot.”

“A Case For Love poses an explicit, scary question – has love lost the battle? – and answers with a resounding no, especially when it comes to those living everyday lives, caring for those around them or receiving self-sacrificial love,” said Bishop John Harvey Taylor, who attended the evening screening at the Santa Anita Mall in Arcadia. “We all see the love in those families, and indeed in our families. It comes naturally. Bishop Curry’s prophetic call is to understand at last that the health of our culture and politics, even our survival as a nation, depend on finding a new civic vocabulary rooted in love and our obligation to our neighbor. This wonderful film deepens my belief that if this shift is to occur, the Episcopal Church will be in the lead.”

READ MORE HERE

* Note: The photo above shows parishioners from St. Bede's, not All Saints Beverly Hills.

St. James’ Episcopal Church in Independence, Iowa, regularly organizes free Hot Dog Fridays. The community meals exemplify the kinds of local outreach that the Diocese of Iowa hopes to build on with its Regional Mission Initiative. Photo: Elizabeth Duff Poppelwell

Episcopal recipients of $6 million in Lilly grants focus on lay leadership, community engagement, digital growth

By David Paulsen

Four Episcopal dioceses and one Episcopal parish are launching new initiatives focused on congregational vitality and leadership development after being awarded a combined $6 million in the latest round of grants from the Lilly Endowment’s Thriving Congregations Initiative.

The Episcopal grants were awarded to the dioceses of Albany, Iowa, Spokane and Vermont, and Christ Episcopal Church in Denver, Colorado. Each of the individual grants totaled more than $1 million, to be used over the next three to five years to develop, test and assess their new programs.

Overall, Lilly awarded grants to 104 faith-based recipients “to help congregations flourish by strengthening ministries that lead their congregations to deeper relationships with God, enhance their connections with each other and contribute to the vitality of their communities and the world.”

In Vermont, the Episcopal diocese plans to use its grant to establish an initiative called Communities for Spiritual Vitality, focused largely on training lay members to take on greater leadership roles in small, rural congregations. The diocese is partnering with the neighboring Diocese of Massachusetts.

Vermont Bishop Shannon MacVean-Brown, in an interview with Episcopal News Service, noted that 18 of her diocese’s 42 congregations are in the middle of clergy leadership transitions, which already requires lay leaders to do more. Communities for Spiritual Vitality will organize groups of lay leaders from the two dioceses into cohorts that will follow a two-year curriculum mixing in-person gatherings with clergy-led training in formation and discipleship practices.



READ MORE HERE

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