Collect for the 7th Sunday after Easter

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

9 years ago Catherine Lough suffered a major stroke. Doctors warned that her vocabulary may not exceed 5-10 words. Through determination and faith, she has beat the odds. This Sunday at 9am, she will read the second lesson. A powerful image of Pentecost.

Lord Jesus Christ,

who hast built thy Church

upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets:

mercifully grant that building upon thee, the chief

cornerstone, with beauty and substance,

we may raise here at St Timothy's a

faithful people and a holy temple to thy glory.

May we and generations yet to come learn to praise thee

more and more in spirit and in truth.

Amen.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is often depicted in artistic renderings of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. In Luke 1.12-14, we are told that Mary is among the disciples as they returned to Jerusalem. The story of Pentecost begins in chapter 2 and there is no indication that those mentioned in chapter 1 were not also present.

This Sunday as we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, ponder the various names we call Holy Spirit: Comforter, Holy Ghost, Spirit of Life, Intercessor, Gift-giver, Guide, Spirit of Truth. As our processional hymn "Hail thee, festival day" states, Forth from the Father he comes with seven-fold mystical offering, pouring on all human souls infinite riches of God. The Holy Spirit's names are derived from its seven actions ( seven-fold mystical offering), which include initiating the Church, giving gifts to the Church, uniting believers together, calling chosen people for special service, equipping and sending forth God's chosen people, overcoming opposition, and saving souls.

Come down, O Love divine,

seek thou this soul of mine,

and visit it with thine own ardor glowing;

O Comforter, draw near,

within my heart appear,

and kindle it, thy holy flame bestowing.

Voluntaries:

Fantasia super "Komm, Heiliger Geist", Johann Sebastian Bach

Komm, Gott, Schöpfer, Heiliger Geist (Veni Sancte Spiritus), J. S. Bach 

Hymns:

Hail thee festival day, No. 225

We the Lord's people, No. 51 

Sing praise to our Creator, No. 295 

Come Down, O Love Divine, No. 516 

Breathe on me, breath of God, No. 508 

Holy Spirit, ever living, No. 511 

Choral Anthems:

If Ye Love Me, Philip Wilby

Come, Holy Ghost, Orlando Gibbons

See you Sunday,

Christin

This Sunday our parish comes together to celebrate Pentecost with our annual Pentecost Picnic! Burgers, hot dogs, and drinks provided. Bring a side dish or dessert to share. We'll picnic rain or shine: if it's raining, we'll gather in Drake Hall for a "picnic" and game night; if by chance it's not raining, we'll picnic out by the garden and play yard games. Bring indoor or outdoor games to play and look forward to a great time with your parish!

Please visit our new and improved online giving portal at https://give.givingkiosk.com/sttimwsgive. You can also click on the Give button in this email and the Give link on our website.

This new portal is easier to use and, once you create an account, you can keep up with your giving history. You can also give via check online.

This is amazing. I never have cash or a check, but I always have my phone. You can now give to the work of St Timothy's just by texting. Here's how it works:

1. Text an amount to 336-697-6543

2. You will be sent a link to set up your debit/credit card (take a few seconds)

3. Once complete, your transaction will go through and you number will always be associated with the card.

Plus, you can text "Funds" to see a specific fund. If you want to sponsor a lamp, you can text "25 st timothys" and it will go the St Timothy's Lamp, etc. If the fund isn't recognized, you'll get a list of all the funds and you text back the number of the fund you wish to give to

PS: This is not connected to your phone bill. It it connected to a card of your choice.

Chris and Linda Skarzynski

Our reason for supporting the capital campaign is a simple one............we love this church, but even more so, we love God. We want everyone who enters St. Timothy's to know the joy and peace that knowing Jesus can bring, and we pray that creating the holiness of beauty will open the doors of faith for generations to come. Having the opportunity to make a financial commitment to enhance our place of worship and make it even more beautiful is a blessing.  

Peace,

Chris and Linda Skarzynski

Let us turn our campaign pledges in by Sunday, May 20, the Feast of Pentecost.

We are hosting another "block party" for law enforcement officers on Friday, May 18. We believe we have all the logistics covered, but if you would like to help cover the cost of the hamburgers and hotdogs, as well as help replenish the fund that buys drinks and snacks for the Chapel, you can give here. Just be sure to select the St Michael's Chapel on the drop-down menu.

St.Tim's community garden is in our sixth summer of growing produce to share with our community. We have gardened for our neighbors at Anthony's Plot and New Communion Mobile Food Pantry, and this summer we are adding a "salsa garden" to share with a new group called Regenerate Forsyth. Through Regenerate Forsyth, compost was made out of the food waste from a community event called Christmas for the City, plant seedlings were raised by the Career Center, and groups across the community are incorporating the plants and compost into their established community gardens. Produce will be collected and salsa will be made late summer early fall. Club 543 (our 3rd-5th grade service corps) prepared the soil and planted the veggies this past Sunday. After this week of rain, we will be starting a sign-up for volunteers to help water and weed the garden this summer. Email [email protected] if you're interested in helping with our garden. 

St. Timothy's 9th annual Costa Rica Golf Tournament to benefit Costa Rican mission projects will be held on June 8, 2018 at Salem Glen Country Club. Click the following link for more information and to register:

http://www.sttimothysws.org/costa-rica-golf-2018

For more resources on Gaudete et Exsultate and holiness, please visit this page on our website. You will also find archived reflections from Fr Steve on Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation.

I read somewhere once (if only I could remember where) that the Mystery of Faith (which we often sum up as “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”) is like a jewel – one thing with many different facets. Each feast of the church year gives us a glimpse into one facet of that Mystery – Christmas into the Incarnation, Easter into the Resurrection, Ascension into (of course) the Ascension and session at the Father’s right hand. Each of these facets is not only inextricably linked to all the other facets, but also contains facets of its own. To switch metaphors, it’s like examining a snowflake or a salt crystal under a microscope and finding fractal upon fractal.

One of my frustrations as a preacher is that I feel like I have to say everything about the Mystery of Faith or a particular facet of it at once, and, if I leave anything out, then my sermon will somehow be deficient. Instead of being unable to see the forest for the trees, I am unable to see the trees for the forest. The Mystery of Faith, the story that has been passed down to us from the Apostles by means of the Scriptures, is so big that you can’t fit it all into one place, and the same is true even of the individual facets of that mystery.

That’s why we have so much repetition in the Church. We have the church year to focus on different parts of the Mystery, and we repeats the same feasts every year so we can bring out the different emphases and implications of those parts. That’s why we should read the Bible and reread the Bible every day. The Scriptures, and the Mystery to which they bear witness, are inexhaustible in their riches. We must not think we are done with them.

Let us not be content, rest on our laurels, or (heaven forbid) let ourselves get bored with repetition. Rather, let us, to use the image from C. S. Lewis’ The Last Battle, go “further up and further in.”

Join your St Timothy's family for an outing to a Winston-Salem Dash Baseball Game

Thursday, June 14 at 7pm

The Dash vs Wilmington

Purchase your tickets online at https://groupmatics.events/s/email/Sttimothys6 by May 31st to sit in St Timothy's reserved section.

The Overflow Shelter is closed for the warmer months, but our work with our homeless friends continues at City with Dwellings with our Community First Center (633 W.4th St.). We are open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9-11am and need adult volunteers to help us provide hospitality and discover connections with our community members. We offer opportunities for art therapy, yoga, tai chi, anger management, stress relief, as well as an open-source peer support group called Together for Housing. Talk to Katie Bryant ([email protected]) or Lea Thullbery ([email protected]) for more info or go to www.citywithdwellings.org to sign-up.   

Vacation Bible School this summer is taking an exciting twist! We will be exploring Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time" and considering our God-given gifts that help build up the Kingdom of God. All ages are invited to participate--there will be something for everyone. We'll have a movie night in June so that all can see the new movie "A Wrinkle in Time" together. Email katie@sttimothys if you would like to help with planning VBS--a planning meeting TBA soon! 

Please help welcome our Winston Salem police officer to services on Sunday mornings. Follow the link below to sign up to provide a snack. The officers enjoy homemade baked goods or breakfast items such as bagels, muffins, or pastries. If items contain nuts please label them. Snacks should be delivered to the basket at the welcome counter in the narthex on Sunday mornings. If you have questions please contact Megan Farrell at [email protected] or 336.408.7779. Thank you for extending a warm welcome to our officers!

Link to sign up.

Write to Graham Green

Our own Graham Green is a Lt Col in the Army National Guard and is currently deployed in Iraq. We are proud of Graham, his wife, Shannon, and children Garrison and Julia. We will continue to surround them with prayer. He is able to receive letters at the address below. Please use the address exactly as it is printed.

LTC Graham Green

HHC 449th CAB

Camp Taji

APO, AE

09378

We have a limited number of St Timothy's stickers (perfect for car windows). If you would like one, they will be in the office and in the narthex on Sunday. We will reorder to meet the demand.

If you put the sticker on your car, send us a picture!