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Weekly e-Epistle
from
St. James' Mill Creek
Wilmington, Delaware
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January 30th, 2022
We'd love for you to join us!
We would be pleased if you joined us in person or online from the comfort of your home for church services via Facebook Live at 9:30am.
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Here is a PDF of this Sunday's bulletin for you to enjoy. |
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The moments surrounding Jesus’s first teaching at the synagogue are filled with some hope and optimism that maybe this local boy made good will have come home to restore Nazareth to glory, healing their infirmities, strengthening their crops, and making local business what it used it be. After all, what good is having the messiah be from your hometown if he’s not going to take care of everyone there to start with.
Jesus’s words to them, though, are shocking. He says “You’re gonna tell me to do this, and you’re going to tell me to do that, but here’s what you need to know,” and that’s when he reminds them of some stories from the Hebrew Scriptures: stories of man with leprosy and the widow from Zarephath.
There’s often this feeling and fear that life is a zero-sum game, that for someone to win, someone else has to lose. While we might like to assume this is a modern-day thing and not part of the human condition, this moment with his hometown synagogue reminds us that this may just be something we always have to find a way to push against.
I think what we can take from this moment is when we start feeling anxious or overly concerned, take a moment and see where there is abundance instead of scarcity. Seeing that abundance can make the way forward a clearer and more hopeful and more like the Kingdom Christ comes to proclaim.
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Get FREE at-home COVID-19 tests
Every home in the U.S. is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-19 tests. The tests are completely free. Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.
Order your tests now so you have them when you need them.
To place your order please visit www.covidtests.gov
If you have any questions please feel free to call the office at 302 994 1584.
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Coffee Hour Remains on Hiatus
Because of the surge in COVID cases our coffee hour will remain on hiatus. Please feel free to visit in the carriage circle following church (if weather permits), and we look forward to being back indoors for coffee and fellowship soon.
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Gentle reminder to the folks that have left any Christmas decorations or special mementos that were left to a loved one in the cemetery. If you wish to retrieve something from the grave please do so, otherwise we will start clearing the graves shortly. If you are unable to pick them up in person please call the office at 302-994-1584 and we can make arrangements for them to be picked up at a later time.
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St. James’ Mission and Outreach ~Sharing God’s gifts with others.
Thank you all for your generosity and caring that made and make these offerings possible. We ended 2021 in generosity and we’re starting the new year off in the full spirit of giving ~
· We helped make Christmas a little brighter for our those in our Adopt-a-grandparents outreach by providing a warm sweatshirt, warm bootie socks, a blessing cross, a huggy stuffed animal, and room decorations to each of our twenty residents of the Coral Spring Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (formerly Brandywine Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.)
· Our Adopt-a-family ~ mom and two children who had been burned out of their apartment before Thanksgiving, received funding for their deposit for a new apartment and Christmas gifts: new coats, bedding, clothing, and sports equipment.
· We provided over 100 pair of socks, 50+ hats, scarves, and gloves (and a few t-shirts) to our friends at Emmanuel Dining Room on New Year's Eve along with their favorite meal of lasagna, green beans, a roll, banana, and homemade cookies and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as an extra snack or meal for later! Our next lunch offering will be Monday, January 31st.
· Just in December, we have provided over 30 coats and jackets, many other clothing items, snacks, food, toiletries and hygiene items, children's books and toys, diapers, laundry detergent, etc. for those being served at the Hope Center and Friendship House. See more about this ongoing ministry below.
· We start the new serving Meals on Wheels to our neighbors the week of January 10th.
· And we will offer meals and caring to families participating in Family Promise the week of January 16th.
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Serving those in need with dignity and respect…
We are grateful for your support that enables us to
serve lunch at the Emmanuel Dining Room
and provide clothing, food, and other items
needed by those being served at the Hope Center.
EMMANUEL DINING ROOM
Providing a daily lunch to those in need in Wilmington
Our next date for providing lunch for Emmanuel Dining Room will be Monday, January 31, 2021 and we will continue to deliver our lunch items and extra bottles of water. We hope we will be able to serve our guests in the dining room sometime this spring. For now, we offer “take-away” lunches. We will be serving meatball subs, fruit, chips, cookies, and a bottle of water again this year. When possible, we’ll also offer a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a snack/extra meal (for now--made by youth and adults in their homes.)
New Castle County HOPE Center
for Individuals and Families in need of temporary housing and support services.
What started as temporary housing during the cold weather of 2020-2021 has grown into a permanent center that provides housing and support services for individuals and families who are without adequate housing in New Castle County. New Castle County (NCC) purchased the former Sheraton Hotel on Airport Rd (now named the New Castle County HOPE Center) and kept the hotel management staff to keep the facility running. Working together, many non-profit organizations including Family Promise provide various services and support for individuals and families to obtain emergency and more significant housing and medical, psychological, and job skills opportunities as well. The hotel can accommodate 400 and suites and adjoining rooms are given to families and enable households to stay together. Housing is coordinated through the Delaware Housing Alliance.
If you know of anyone who needs this housing, please ask them to call 1-833-FIND-BED (1-833-3463-233) and leave a message.
How can you help?
Review the list below and see where you might be able to help.
Current items needed:
• Hygiene items such as deodorant, shampoo, and soap (regular and travel size)
• Non-alcohol hand sanitizer
• Tide pods or other laundry pods
• NEW Underwear, and socks - all sizes, children through adult
• New or gently used t-shirts and light jacket
· New books for adults and children
· Gift cards - Target, Acme, Wawa
Please drop the items off:
· Monday-Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the parish hall porch
Please place your donations in the bin labeled Donations for HOPE Center on the porch of the parish hall. Liz will bring in the bin and any donated items at 12:30 p.m.
· On Sunday, there is a container in the foyer of the church.
We take the donations to Friendship House about every two weeks.
Thank you,
St. James' Outreach Ministry
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Prayer Team
One Sunday of every month, the members of the prayer team hold a “virtual” ZOOM prayer service (focusing on the prayer requests shared by parishioners through calls or emails to the church office 994-1584 or to individual members of the prayer team.) We lift up these prayer requests and other concerns of the parish, community, and world.
Also, weekly we share the prayers and petitions that have been given to us and they are lifted in the daily prayers of the team members. All are welcome to provide their prayer requests and participate in these services.
For those who have an immediate prayer need or would like to receive the ZOOM codes and join the prayer team service, we invite you to email your prayer needs/requests to Cindy Fauerbach cindyfauerbach@verizon.net or call Cindy at
302-584-8053
NOTE: Our next ZOOM prayer team will be Sunday, February 6th at 5 p.m.
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St. James' Pastoral Care Team
St. James' Pastoral Care Team continues to support our parish family and our community.
If you or someone you know is in need, we:
· send cards, make phone calls, and pray with you and/or for you.
· For now, in an abundance of caution, our home, hospital, and Eucharistic visits are on hold.
Please call the office (302-994-1584) and leave a message. Someone will get back to you. Messages are retrieved daily, seven days a week.
Please let us know if you need us or someone you know needs us. We will not know if you do not tell us.
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“Blessful” Meditations
We all know that life can be a little stressful and hectic sometimes. We hope that by reading this short bible passage and watching a relaxing video will help you take a moment and reflect on God’s gifts.
Mark 11:25
“And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
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Celtic Prayer, adapted from Carmina Gadelica
Thanks to you, O God, that I have risen today,
to the rising of life itself;
may it be to your own glory,
O God of every gift,
and to the glory of my soul likewise.
O great God, aid my soul
with the aiding of your own mercy;
even as I clothe my body with wool,
cover my soul with the shadow of your wing.
Help me to avoid every sin,
and the source of every sin to forsake;
and as the mist scatters
on the crest of the hills,
may each ill haze clear from my soul, O God. Amen.
Find more Morning Psalm and prayers please visit
https://delaware.church/psalms-and-prayers/
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COVID-19 Restrictions
Our firm desire is to worship our Lord in beauty, holiness, AND safety! Please be assured that the St. James' leadership team has worked hard to have meaningful worship while at the same time making our environment as safe as possible for everyone.
- Church entry time will be 9:15 a.m.
- Please sanitize hands before entering the church.
- Face masks are mandatory.
- At communion, please wait until you are back in your seat to consume your wafer.
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For Access to the News of the Diocesan Publications |
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St. James' Mill Creek
2106 St. James Church Road
Wilmington, DE 19808
302.994.1584
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