Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Your physical, mental and spiritual health stays in my prayers. COVID-19 continues to creep into everything we do, whether it is worship and prayer, or, simply, seeing friends and family. In some ways it is an ever-present cloud. I don't know about you, but I have experienced everything from stress dreams to stress eating, and, at the same time, I have found myself blessed with the experience of getting to know my neighbors in a new way, having had physically distanced gatherings, each on the edge of his or her property.
This week the St. Martin's staff gathered on Zoom and began to imagine life through the summer. Energy continues to be high around our Bible studies, but we noticed a need and desire for some community fun. In response to this, we are going to try to bring back "Pints with Priests." We do not want this to be a formal Zoom meeting, so we are going to try to do this over Instagram Live and Facebook Live. Each week, for the next few weeks on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., we will read some of the funny stories in the Bible, and give our take on them. We may even have a few guest speakers. If viewership is high, we will continue. If not, we will move on to the next idea. I suspect trial-and-error will be a big part of our learning process. I hope you will participate.
As we await guidelines from our diocese about how churches in large groups can move forward, please know we are actively brainstorming ways we will be able to safely gather as Christian community again. Right now, until we have guidelines, everything from doing church outside to using our gym to gathering in neighborhoods is both on and off the table. St. Martin's has always been a creative place. That creativity, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and blessed by Christ, is what I believe is keeping our community healthy and vibrant even though our physical doors are closed. Please be safe, vigilant, and loving in the days and weeks ahead.
In Christ,
Mitch+
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Join us for church this Sunday
via Live online worship with YouTube
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(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.
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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
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The return of Pints with Priests! Watch our Facebook page and Instagram account (@smifsc) over the next few days for more details about Mitch's "Pints with Priests" episode and the story of Jonah,
Wednesday (May 20) at 5:30 p.m.
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Our community garden is still underway with a delivery of manure this week to make the soil rich for the planting that is coming. Thanks to
Duane Dunn, above left, and his son Justin, above right,
for their help in spreading the manure into our soil.
We are growing our garden to share food with those in need. Stay tuned for details about physically-distanced volunteer opportunities that will be coming soon.
In the meantime, we sure could use the following items, which can be dropped off at the Parish Office door:
- Four sets of handheld garden tools (handheld trowels, pruning shears, and cultivators). Click HERE if you would rather order and have delivered to the parish from Amazon Smile, which also provides a donation to the parish.
- Multiple sets of gardening gloves. Click HERE if you would rather order from Amazon Smile. Purchasing here also provides a donation to St. Martin's, too!
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We need 118 more masks to meet our goal of 200
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We have committed to provide handsewn, reusable 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 82 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.
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Tucked-in at Bedtime Storytime this
Sunday at 7 p.m.
, on the church's
YouTube channel
. These stories are also posted on the
Children's Ministry's Facebook page
at the same time. This week's story is being read by the Dottie and Angela Adams family.
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This week's Gospel is from John 14: 15-21. Click
HERE for the reading. Questions to consider as you read it together:
- What does it mean to live as God invites us to live?
- Do we always have to see something to believe it is there?
More about the story
HERE.
Activities for this Sunday:
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The great toilet paper caper
Calling all High Schoolers: Join us next
Friday (May 22) to deliver toilet paper to those in need. You must have your own car to drive and deliver. Check GroupMe for more details. Text, email, or call Courtney Baker if you plan on attending so you can get all the details.
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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 next week (May 22).
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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.
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Lectio Divina with Susan
This coming Tuesday (May 19), the Rev. Susan Prinz wraps up her Lectio Divina (Holy Reading) class via Zoom from 3-4 p.m. Click
HERE to receive instructions for logging in
.
You will then receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Questions? Contact
Susan Prinz
.
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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.
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May 17
Peg Edwards
May 19
Carolyn Holt
Peggy Nettles
May 20
Lucy Case
Alan Lott
Angus McLendon
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May 21
Harriet Huiet
Chad Poteat
May 22
Paula Gribbin
Martha Murphy
Nathanael Petit
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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.
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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!
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Thank you for your gifts . . .
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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
.
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5220 Clemson Avenue
Columbia, SC 29206
803.787.0392 | www.stmartinsinthefields.com
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