Dear Church of the Apostles,
Hallelujah! He is risen!
As we look ahead to the upcoming Fourth Sunday of Eastertide, I wanted to share two short things that may encourage you as you practice resurrection.
Listen to an Easter memory from Archbishop Foley Beach.
Sing along with one of my favorite songs of resurrection by Andrew Peterson.
Peace and Hope,
Brian+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
“When we practice resurrection, we keep company with Jesus, alive and present, who knows where we are going better than we do, which is always ‘from glory unto glory.’"
— Eugene H. Peterson, Practice Resurrection
On Easter Sunday I encouraged us all to practice resurrection by feasting, energizing our imaginations, and seeking truth. I want to point out three upcoming events at Apostles that will help us do these things in community with our friends, old and new.
This Saturday (May 4) Tamara and I will host a feast (okay, feast may be hyperbole) for any newcomers to Apostles. For this first Newcomers’ Dinner we are inviting anyone who began attending Apostles after Tamara and I arrived over two years ago. Anyone is invited to join us for the meal if you bring a friend who doesn’t have a church home and is interested in learning more about our church.
On the last Friday of Eastertide (June 7) we will gather for 8 Minutes Max. If you are an artist, consider sharing a work in progress with us. If you are not an artist, come and experience how art helps expand and energize our imaginations.
Last Saturday we held our first of four Cross Current sessions. Practice the truth of resurrection by attending one or more upcoming sessions held over the next three Saturdays (May 4 - May 18). Join others from Apostles and around the region as we listen to God for inner healing and wholeness.
Take a minute to checkout the details of these events here and reach out with any questions or to let us know that you plan to attend.
I look forward to practicing resurrection together!
Peace,
Brian+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
This Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week. Palm Sunday is the first of many chances that we have to engage with the Passion of Christ. Each service presents a unique opportunity to consider what the Lord has done for us through his death on the cross and resurrection from the tomb.
Please plan to join us for our Eucharistic celebration this Sunday and all of our Holy Week services including Maundy Thursday and Good Friday with our friends from Stepney Baptist and Beacon Hill, and Easter Sunday when we will celebrate the Paschal Feast at Penfield Beach in Fairfield.
When we arrive at church this Sunday, the Greeter Team will be handing out palms for us to use during the service. After the prelude I will invite us all to gather outside of the main doors (entering the lobby).
There we will pray together and engage with the first part of the Passion narrative, Jesus’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. Then we will process into the auditorium while singing the classic Palm Sunday hymn All Glory, Laud, and Honor as we wave our palms in honor of Christ our Passover and King.
The service will continue with songs of worship, the reading of the Passion narrative from Luke, a short homily, and a celebration of Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension at the Eucharistic table.
Palm Sunday as well as all Holy Week services are wonderful times to invite friends and family to join you at Church. People are generally more open to considering “religion” at this time of year. I look forward to worshiping with you all!
Peace and Hope,
Brian+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
Yesterday’s Gospel reading for the Daily Office was the account of Jesus feeding of the five thousand plus their families. (John 6:4-15)
I often think about the scene of thousands sitting on the grass while Jesus talks and the disciples distribute bread and fish. I am sure that the scene was active with children squirming and making noise, men and women having side conversations about the Good News, and the occasional cough or sneeze from those who were under the weather. If there were such a thing as cell phones, I bet one or two would have sounded off at just the worst moment.
None of this seems to bother Jesus. In fact, he seems to enjoy and embrace the signs and sounds of life, and responds with the gracious offer of bread both physically and spiritually.
What a great example of hospitality for us to follow this Easter Sunday when we invite our friends and neighbors to join our church family at the Jacky Durrell Pavilion at Penfield Beach.
I am so excited to be together and celebrate the resurrection of our King!
Please review the details of all our Holy week services here and plan to join us. Here are a few details to help you prepare for Easter on the beach.
I hope and pray that all who call Apostles their home church will come join us at 8 am for a “Sunrise” Service on the porch, stay for a continental breakfast, and join us for the Eucharistic Celebration at 10 am. (See below for details and times.)
There is no space to provide childcare on Easter Sunday. If you are the parents of littles or have friends who are parents of littles, please know that, like Jesus, we will all love to hear their voices and see their squirming. They are most welcome!
Amy will have activity bags for children to engage with during the service.
Invite you’re friends, neighbors, colleagues, family, and classmates to join us for any part or all of the morning. We expect and are totally comfortable with guests coming when they can and leaving when they must.
Will you help us provide breakfast? Sign-up sheets will be on the greeters table this Sunday for you to volunteer to bring food.
It is not too early to pray for spectacular weather. Keep an eye on the forecast and dress accordingly for the day. It may still be a little cool with the breeze coming off of the Sound.
I look forward to Easter on the beach with my Apostles’ family and meeting new friends!
Peace and Hope,
Brian+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
On Ash Wednesday we are called to “observe a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” (BCP, p 265)
In these next three weeks, as we continue to journey towards the cross and to Resurrection Sunday with fasting, prayer and giving, we invite you to join us in these special activities:
Donate items to the Blessing Bags service project our Apostles’ Kids will participate in this Sunday, March 31 (the list is here).
Take one or two Blessing Bags with you to give out to those in need in your local area.
Plan to stay after church this Sunday to pray with us for the end of human trafficking in our community. And join us to pray again on Friday, April 12 at Patti Hiller’s home, 10:00-11:30a.
Walk and pray with us at the University of Bridgeport on Saturday, April 6 11:00a - 12:00p.
Sign up to join us for the Friendship Dinner at UB, Friday April 12 at 7:00p. Fran Snow will have all the details for us this Sunday.
Holy Week Services (details here) - Palm Sunday, April 14 through Easter Day, April 21.
May the Lord continue to deepen our faith as we draw close to Him.
Blessings.
Jan+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
This week’s eNote on the value of confessing to others was written by a parishioner and friend, Rosemary Williams.
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your great compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions only too well, and my sin is ever before me.” - Psalm 51:1-3
I've always held a strange fascination with confession. When I was little, my Roman Catholic mother would periodically take us to her church, deposit miniature me in the church's office to be babysat, and go to the parish's confessional to confess her sins in kind and number. The Protestants in the family, myself included, engaged in no such activity; but I never stopped wondering what exactly happened in that strange and mysterious liturgy.
Eventually, my curiosity about this strange discipline? ritual? Sacrament? got the best of me. I confessed. My priest and I sat side-by-side. She sipped Earl Grey and I read aloud the full contents of my four-page list of sins. We were facing a large cross, but I don’t recall looking at anything besides my prayer book, my list, and my brown ballet flats. It was terrifying and liberating and adrenaline-inducing, all at once. I knew I'd be back.
My theological instinct tells me that confession is powerful because it involves naming and being re-named, which are both crucial to identity building. I name myself as a sinner, I name my sins, I name my need for mercy, and am subsequently re-named as being holy, pure, righteous. But in my experience, the spoken elements of confession are not at all what stands out. Instead, I remember the touches from each of these experiences: the weight of a priest's hand resting on my head as he extends absolution; the nearness of a friend as we squeeze into a prayer rug with hands clasped and arms around each other; the smoothness of a chrism-coated thumb-tip signing a cross on my forehead. All of these are holy touches, brothers and sisters welcoming me back into the family of God.
"Christ became our brother in order to help us. Through him our brother has become Christ for us in the power and authority of the commission Christ has given him. Our brother stands before us the sign of the truth and the grace of God. He has been given to us to help us. He hears the confession of our sins in Christ's stead and he forgives our sins in Christ's name. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Friends, confession is for all Christians and not only Roman Catholics. A priest or pastor can make a wonderful confessor, but so can a friend. Why not try it out this Lent?
Peace,
Rosemary
Dear Church of the Apostles,
This Wednesday we will begin the season of Lent by coming together as a church family to celebrate the Eucharist, including the imposition of ashes, at 7 pm at Roger Ludlow Middle School.
Turning from self-sufficiency and sinfulness is best done with our community. Fellow disciples and friends encourage us, challenge us, and most importantly fight with us against the loneliness that we may feel in taking up our cross and following Christ.
Greg Goebel, Anglican priest and founder of the Anglican Pastor blog, encourages us to follow these lenten disciplines that have been practiced throughout the generations of the Church:
Fast on Ash Wednesday
Read the Bible with special attention
Read the Church Fathers (and Mothers)
Give up sweets and alcohol (except on Sundays)
Abstain from meats on Friday (or perhaps give up one meal)
Give money to help others
Volunteer my time to visit and assist the sick, the prisoner, or the outcast
Below are some specific resources and ideas for how to engage with these lenten disciplines.
Reading the Bible with Special Attention
A Lenten Daybook at Tamara’s blog, A Sacramental Life
The Trinity Mission: Praying the Daily Office as led by my friend and colleague, The Rev. Michael Jarret
Read the Church Fathers (and Mothers)
On Social Justice, by Saint Basil the Great
Bread and Wine: Readings for Lent and Easter
Give Money to Help Others
Our offerings on Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday will be given to the Deacon’s and Rector’s Discretionary Funds. These are special accounts used to help those in need and to further the mission and ministry of Apostles. Consider donating to these funds at any time during Lent by simply writing “Discretionary Funds” in the memo line of your check and dropping it in the offering basket or mailing it to the office.
I will praying for a meaningful lenten season for Church of the Apostles and look forward to walking the way of the cross together with you.
Peace and Hope,
Brian+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
In an article entitled Prayer: Rebelling Against the Status Quo, missiologist and professor Dr. David Wells writes, “Prayer is an expression of the hope that life as we meet it, on the one hand, can be otherwise and, on the other hand, that it ought to be otherwise. It is therefore impossible to seek to live in God’s world on his terms, doing his work in a way that is consistent with who he is, without engaging in regular prayer.”
Church of the Apostles will hold two special prayer gatherings this weekend.
On Saturday, March 2; 11 am - noon: Epiphany Prayer Walk at the University of Bridgeport in support of our missions partner Bridges International Ministry. You can park in the lot located at the corner of University Ave and Lafayette St (across form the soccer fields).
On Sunday, March 3; following the morning service: Information and prayer time for the end of human trafficking in Fairfield County and southwest Connecticut. Our special guest will be Sister Maureen Fleming who will share about how God is working to end human trafficking locally.
I hope that you will join us.
Peace and Hope,
Brian+
Church of the Apostles,
One of my favorite things about Church of the Apostles is our monthly Family Table meals. We set aside one Sunday each month to sit down and share a meal together right after we have spent the morning worshiping together. This extends our fellowship and deepens our friendships with food, laughter and story-telling.
This month's meal will be Sunday, February 24, and we're having breakfast for lunch! Here's what to bring: A-G a box of your favorite cereal; H-N a breakfast casserole or quiche; O-Z fresh fruit.
Be sure to mark these important dates on your calendar as well:
February 16 - we will begin to move the church office to our new location. We'll need a crew from 9 am - noon to move boxes, stored items, small furniture, etc. Come when you can and leave when you must. The entire job should only take a few hours.
February 17 - plan to stay after the worship service for Apostles' Annual Meeting. Many materials and information has been sent in the past few weeks, and will be available in the lobby prior to church.
February 20 - we rescheduled our time with Sister Maureen. We will gather at the Hiller's home for this important conversation regarding the work God is beginning in Fairfield County on behalf of those who are enslaved by human trafficking. Click here for this week's prayer guide.
February 24 - our book discussion group, Apostles Reads, will meet at the Murphy home, 4:00pm, to discuss Walking on Water by Madeleine L'Engle.
I hope you can join us!
Blessings.
Jan+
Dear Church of the Apostles,
Three things for this week…
One, please continue to pray for the end to human trafficking. You can find a prayer guide to help direct you here. In addition, please, mark your calendars and plan to join us for an evening of information and prayer to end human trafficking in Fairfield County and southwest Connecticut (details on Home page).
Two, the Church of the Apostles’ offices are moving to 303 Linwood Avenue in Fairfield.
At the annual meeting I will talk more about why the Parish Council and I made this decision and how it fits well with our search for Apostles’ next worship space, but for now, please make note of two dates:
On Saturday, February 16 we will need a crew from 9 am - noon to help us begin moving. We will be moving boxes, stored items, small furniture, etc. on this day. Come when you can and leave when you must. The entire job should only take a few hours.
Tuesday, February 26 will be our first day fully occupying the new office space. Any mail or visits before that date should still arrive at our current office space at 338 Commerce Drive, Fairfield.
Three, please remember to join to us for the annual meeting on Sunday, February 17 (details on Home page).
Peace and Hope,
Brian+