Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Happy Feast of the Ascension. I pray that you are all still safe and well. I know people are getting a little stir crazy. Please continue to take precautions, but please, also, stay faithful in your phone calls, note writing, and prayers.
This week we will be blessed to have Wallace Truluck (pictured to the right) preach for us at our 10:30 a.m. service. Wallace, the son of Courtney and Bruce Truluck, is our most senior acolyte. He is graduating from A.C. Flora, and is off to LSU next year. I lament the fact that we are not able to do Youth Sunday as we have done it in the past, but I am thankful we are able to preserve the tradition of having a youth preacher.
Next week, a new committee will form. It will be dedicated to following the Bishop's guidelines for church re-openings. We will need to take multiple steps in this process. I understand that some want to open our church now. I also understand that others do not want to return to the campus until a vaccine is found. Most of the parish exists somewhere in the middle of these two positions.
As a large community, St. Martin's will have to take extra precautions and move more slowly than smaller churches. We have not had many services with fewer than 50 people in the last two years -- even at our 8 a.m. services. And we have not had a 10:30 a.m. service where our building has not been at 80 percent capacity, at the least. For us, physical distancing will be hard. With that being said, our greatest asset is our space. We have The Point; we have an outdoor amphitheater; we have a garden, and a gym. By creatively using all of these spaces, there will be safe ways for us to be together. At the same time, live streaming services and following the bishop's protocol of only having three people present during these services will continue. Our collective health, physical and spiritual, during COVID or not, will always be the number one priority of the leadership at St. Martin's.
Creative use of space, creative mission, creative pastoral care, creative preaching, creative music, creative Christian education, and creative worship are just a few reasons why we will remain healthy and thriving despite our physical distancing. These things are also just a few reasons why we have once again been nominated as the Best House of Worship in the Columbia Free-Times contest. I know I am biased, but I think you all are pretty great. Worship will be different for quite some time, but as long as Christ stays at the center of what we do, it will be good worship.
In Christ,
Mitch+
|
|
Join us for church this Sunday
via Live online worship with YouTube
|
(May 10)
. The Bulletin is attached, or you may access it below. And please continue to add your prayer requests during the prayers.
Click
HERE
for the readings.
Click
HERE
for the Book of Common Prayer.
Click
HERE
for the Order of Service.
|
|
Then join us after church
for a Zoom coffee hour!
This is a great way to catch up with one another. You will need Zoom on your device to join. If you do not have Zoom, when you click
HERE
, you'll be invited to download Zoom and join the meeting.
Once you are in Zoom, you will need the following to join the meeting:
Meeting ID:
924 4926 0578
Password:
onthepoint
If you want to join by dialing in,
call
253.215.8782
Meeting ID:
924 4926 0578
Password:
236317
|
|
PRAYER LIST FORM NOW AVAILABLE
|
|
If you would like to submit a name for our ongoing prayer list, please use this form. Names will be shared weekly prior to worship and will be removed after three weeks, as in the past.
|
|
COMMUNITY GARDEN NEEDS HELPERS
|
|
The plants are in the ground. Now for the watering and tending! Please sign up below for a slot to help keep our baby plants watered.
|
|
We only need 48 more masks!
|
|
|
|
We are almost there -- just 48 more needed to meet our goal of 200! We are collecting masks for:
- Our housing-insecure friends in Columbia on behalf of Candyman Homeless Outreach.
- The Department of Juvenile Justice through Mutual Aid Midlands, a community assistance consortium.
Thank you for the 152 we have received thus far. To donate additional masks, please sew as many as you are able and drop them off in the mail slot at the church office.
|
|
|
|
This week's Gospel is from John 17: 1-11. Click
HERE for the reading. Questions to consider as you read it together:
- What do you think it means to be known by God?
- What do you think Jesus meant when he said that he is no longer in the world?
More about the story
HERE.
Ascension activities
HERE.
A new, creative Bible storytelling resource for children, complete with creativity packs of supplies, available by subscription,
|
|
|
The great toilet paper caper
High Schoolers are reminded to join us
Friday (May 22) to deliver toilet paper to those in need.
Meet
at 1 p.m. in the church parking lot.
You must be able to drive/ride in your own family car
. Text, email, or call Courtney Baker if you plan on attending so you can get all the details.
|
|
Our
middle school youth
are invited to Zoom Lunch at
12:30 p.m. Thursdays.
Fix a sandwich and log in to have lunch together.
There is
no high school Zoom this week
(May 22).
|
|
 |
Susan Prinz to offer class on emotional well being
Being emotionally healthy isn't easy under the best of circumstances, but especially during these days. And yet, emotional health isn't something that simply is; there are ways that we can have a positive impact on this aspect of our well-being. To be emotionally healthy means understanding our emotions and having control over how we express them. Beginning Tuesday, June 9, at 3 p.m. The Rev. Susan Prinz, Ph.D., will teach a four-week, one-hour Zoom course on Emotional Wellness. Enrollment is required with capacity for 10 participants. For more information, check out the Living Compass curriculum at
www.livingcompass.org. To enroll, contact
Susan.
|
|
|
|
Tuesday Morning Bible Study
Join our Tuesday Morning Bible Study, which begins at
7:30 a.m. every Tuesday.
T
he video call is protected by a password to keep us safe. You can obtain that password by clicking
HERE
. After clicking in, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
|
|
|
|
Commons Threads stitching their time over Zoom
If you would like to join the camaraderie of doing needlework or other hand-sewn projects, contact
Stephanie Whitson so she can get you your Zoom invitation for the Common Threads gatherings taking place
weekly on
Sundays at 3 p.m.
|
|
May 24
Zaci Adams
Amanda Ladymon-Stockard
Marc Muri
May 25
Mike Kelly
Mitch Smith
May 26
Lee Dixon
May 27
Maggie Hair
Helen Strickland
|
|
May 28
Molly Dougall
Whitney Simmons
May 29
Emily Frierson
Kate Gellatly
Isabel Stanley
May 30
Cindy Chappell
Margaret Fitch
Theodore Lumpkin
Diego Thrasher
|
|
|
Follow St. Martin's on
Facebook
(St. Martin's-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church) throughout the week for parish news!
LIKE
the page for us, and
SHARE
posts with friends and family! The link for each Sunday's worship service is posted here along with lots of other SMIF news.
|
|
Follow St. Martin's on Instagram at
@smifsc, where we post:
- The 3-Word Gospel on Tuesdays.
- Compline from Home each evening, Monday through Friday.
- And other fun posts!
|
|
|
|
Thank you for your gifts . . .
|
To make
your pledge via online giving
, click
HERE.
To make
a financial gift to St. Martin's online
, click
HERE
.
To make your
Capital Campaign pledge online
, click
HERE
.
To make
a gift to the Capital Campaign
, click
HERE
.
|
|
|
5220 Clemson Avenue
Columbia, SC 29206
803.787.0392 | www.stmartinsinthefields.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
