Youth Summer 2021 Missions are back.
And lives will be changed.
As a church of Doers, it’s been a challenge to scale back our mission efforts over the past year. But we’re delighted to announce that our Youth Summer Missions are back. And here are the dates:
The Mini Mission gleaning the fields with Harvest of Hope is July 16-18.
The Appalachian Youth Mission with Hurley Community Development is
July 18 -24.
Both missions will adhere to the most current CDC Guidelines while promising the highly rewarding and personally rich experience you’ve come to expect from St. James’s Summer Youth Missions. Both mission opportunities give our youth--and their families--a chance to put their faith into action and see how our work together can change the lives of others in a meaningful way.
If you’re interested, click here to see all the details. Click here to register.
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Link to Casual Coffee Chat Zoom
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This week's eChimes features |
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- Holy Week at St. James's
- Very Special Music Prelude
- Lenten Lesson
- Easter Sunday Open House
- Thank you
- Experience Faure Requiem
- Invite • Welcome • Connect
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- Props to our PEEPS
- Shrine Mont Summer Camp Registration Opens
- Adult Formation
- Our Sunday Worship Services
- Ways to Connect
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Holy Week 2021 Service Schedule |
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Palm Sunday, March 28
10:00 am - Streamed service with follow-at-home resources
Maundy Thursday, April 1
7:00 pm - Streamed service
Good Friday, April 2
12:00 noon - Live-streamed service
Saturday, April 3
Easter Vigil service for House Churches
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Worship services will be available on doers.org/live, Facebook & YouTube
(If you can’t view your desired video on doers.org/live, please go to Facebook or YouTube.)
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Holy Eucharist
10:00 am - Streamed service
Consecrated hosts will be available at the Michaux House throughout Holy Week.
1:00 pm
A short in-person service will be held in the St. Francis Open-Air Chapel.
1:00 - 4:00 pm
The Church Sanctuary will be open.
1:00 - 4:00 pm
The Easter Cross will be available for flowering in the Memorial Garden.
The Easter Bunny will also visit during this time and hand out Easter eggs.
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Some notes about the very special musical prelude to this Sunday’s Service.
This Sunday’s worship service will open with a magnificent and moving six-minute prelude performed on piano by our very own Lisa Niemeier.
Please watch these videos, the first of which is a thorough introduction of the piece by Mark Whitmire.
The second video is Lisa herself discussing the meaning of the piece to her, the beauty and complexities of the music and, ultimately, the winding emotional journey it travels--just as we all have during the past year. Enjoy.
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A weekly reflection during Lent from our clergy.
This week’s Lenten Lesson is from Lay Chaplain Blake Singer
The Journey of Lent
In Pope Francis’ Ash Wednesday homily this year, he said that “Lent is a journey of return to God.” We often talk about Lent as a journey; a journey of return to God, a journey through the wilderness, and eventually, a journey to the cross. All of this is true. After all, who am I to argue with the pope? But I think there’s an inherent danger in talking about Lent as our journey. It makes me feel like Lent is about me and the things I can do to do Lent right. It gives me a false sense of security, that in my acts of piety and fasting I can complete the journey on my own. I start to think that maybe, after 40 days, I can make myself holy, I can save myself, and I can return to God just by my own volition.
But what happens when I inevitably lose my way along the journey? ...(click here t o read more)
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Come to our Open House on Easter.
Bring Flowers.
Just as we did at Christmas, we will be opening up the church Easter, April 4, from 1 to 4. In addition to having a chance to be in our sanctuary again (while practicing social distancing), you’re also invited to bring fresh flowers and greenery (maybe from your own garden) --so you can participate in the flowering the cross.
Over the course of the day, the cross will be covered in beautiful flowers in a brilliant array of color, light, and fragrance. The empty cross will be transformed from a symbol of death, darkness, and pain into a beautiful, new, and lovely celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Together, we will transform the cross and create a celebration of new life on Easter morning. What a beautiful sight that will be!
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Thank you to the Flower Guild & Altar Guild
This past weekend, we filmed our gorgeous Easter service. And when you see--and participate in--the service, you’ll quickly understand why we’re so eager to thank our Flower Guild and Altar Guild. They made our already beautiful sanctuary even more breathtaking.
Thank you to Flower Guild co-chairs Jeanette McKittrick and Loretta Miller and Altar Guild co-chairs Debbie Meigs and Lucy Meade. Your hard work and dedication are deeply appreciated.
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You can still experience the Faure Requiem on our YouTube page.
For those of you who didn’t see the Faure Requiem last Sunday, you can still experience its power on our YouTube page.
Presented by the St. James’s Choir and Orchestra, this stirring service marked the one year anniversary of the lockdown.
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Invite • Welcome • Connect
wants to connect with you.
Invite • Welcome • Connect is a transforming ministry that is coming to St. James’s. It will inform and enliven everything we do moving forward--from the way we welcome new parishioners into our church to the way each of us connects to each other and our meaningful personal ministries.
We’ll be launching focus groups about IWC on April 18th in our House Churches. If you’re not in a House Church but wish to help St. James’s become more intentional in our practices of evangelism, hospitality, and connectedness rooted in the gospel directive to “To and make disciples of all nations”, contact Blake Singer.
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Props to our PEEPS.
The Holy PEEPS dioramas being created by our children are nearly completed and you can be charmed, tickled and inspired by them when you go to our Instagram or Facebook pages starting on Wednesday.
While you’re there, pick your favorites and we’ll announce the winners on Palm Sunday.
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Shrine Mont Camps registration opens
Tuesday, March 23.
Shrine Mont Camps will be offering both in-person and online camp experiences this Summer. Camp leaders have been hard at work for many months, consulting with medical professionals and other camp professionals across the country to design experiences that will be fun and safe for all. And, building on the success of last summer, Shrine Mont Camps will again offer Light in the Valley, an online camp where campers can make friends, play and worship together from home.
Registration opens this Tuesday, March 23. SMC is also asking camper families to provide feedback via this survey, which will help inform ongoing plans and preparations for the 2021 summer camps. (For more details, click here.)
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This coming Wednesday, March 24, is the last part of the 5-part series, Make Me An Instrument of Peace: A Guide to Civil Discourse. Part 5 is Sacred Space for Debate with Marcus Halley.
Created by the Episcopal Church, this powerful online course is facilitated at St. James’s by our own Rev. Hilary Streever. The Participant’s Guide will be emailed to all who register for our Wed. Night Fellowship series.
Fellowship is 6-6:30 pm. Discussion is 6:30 - 7:30 pm
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New Sacred Ground classes return in mid-April.
Sacred Ground is a groundbreaking film-and-reading-based series focused on race and grounded in faith. Part of what makes it so rewarding and, frankly, life-changing are the small group meetings where members walk through America’s history while weaving in threads of their own family story, economic class, and political and regional history.
Please watch this video and hear directly from St. James’sers who have taken the course explain how powerful it was for them.
Register for Sacred Ground by this coming Thursday, March 25 here.
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Our Sunday worship services |
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Sunday Worship...By the Numbers
We know it’s been challenging to not be able to worship in person on Sunday since the lockdown began. But we want to commend you and everyone in our parish who’s continued to show up for Sunday Services in truly impressive numbers.
Here’s the breakdown. Prior to pandemic, our average in-person attendance on Sundays was about 425. These days, if you add up the number of people who worship online at doers.org, YouTube and Facebook, plus the number of people who watch the sermons and announcements on Instagram and Facebook, the average number of people participating in our Sunday services, in one form or another, is about 470.
So while it may feel like only a handful of people are attending the service you’re part of, the truth is we’re hearing the word of God, our beautiful music and the wisdom of our clergy in larger numbers than we were when we were meeting in person. Only now, we’re seeing what we want, when we want--just not in the sanctuary on Sunday morning.
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Our online services are worth a second look.
Speaking of Sunday worship, if you haven’t worshipped online with us lately, you might not recognize it. More intimate. Easier to follow--and even sing along with. Better sound quality. And prayers and hymn lyrics right on the screen. It all adds up to an experience that’s more meaningful, more engaging and more enjoyable.
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Help Us Get to 1000
For us to do even more, we need 1000 YouTube subscribers. Just go to YouTube.com, search for St. James’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, then click on the red Subscribe button. |
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Here are the ways to stay connected with everything happening at St. James’s.
Share your Email
Your email is our most direct link to you. Make sure we have the best email for you. Or, if you haven’t shared your email, now’s a great time to do it.
Here’s the link. It will take less than 10 seconds.
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Follow us on Facebook and Instagram
When you follow us on Facebook and Instagram, you see pics and news you won’t see elsewhere. Remember, we’re SJEC1205 on Instagram and St. James’s Episcopal Church on Facebook. Facebook & #sjec1205
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Make sure to check out the new updates on our App. On the App, You will find tools like giving, streaming, and the bulletins. It is highly recommended to use the app as an alternative to paper bulletins. |
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Shop on Amazon Smile. Help St. James’s.
Don’t forget to use Amazon Smile as a simple and painless way to give to St. James's. Just designate St. James’s Episcopal Church Richmond, VA as your designated charity on Amazon Smile and a percentage of your purchase support our church.
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St. James’s Episcopal Church | DOERS.ORG | (804) 355-1779
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