Dear Church of the Apostles,

Today is the day that the Church has traditionally observed the Feast of St. Patrick. The day is often marked by wearing green and eating corned beef and cabbage, but Patrick also wrote prayers that are fitting for the time in which we find ourselves.

“Open the Door” by Adiel Dominguez

May the Strength of God pilot us. May the Power of God preserve us. May the Wisdom of God instruct us. May the Hand of God protect us. May the Way of God direct us. May the Shield of God defend us. May the Host of God guard us. Against the snares of the evil ones, Against temptations of the world. May Christ be with us! May Christ be before us! May Christ be in us, Christ be over all! May Thy Salvation, Lord, Always be ours, This day, O Lord, and evermore. Amen.

I encourage us to pray that the love, mercy, and strength of God will flow through us to others. Please, take a minute to review the ways that we are continuing to do this as a church family through worship and service. We plan to add to these lists regularly and encourage you to stay connected to one another by reviewing regularly and acting often.

I want to draw your attention to a couple of new additions:

1. We will be holding our Anglican 1 class this Sunday via Zoom at 8:30am. If you would like to join the conversation about the Book of Common Prayer, Liturgical Worship, and Thomas Cranmer, facilitated by Ryan Willers, let Jane know and we will send you the Zoom login details. These have been great times of thinking, learning, and sharing together. You can join us even if this is your first time.

2. We had such a sweet time praying together yesterday that we will gather again tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 pm on Facebook. These are 30-minute services using the Anglican liturgy from the ACNA 2019 Book of Common Prayer. Many people are lonely and afraid right now and are open to hearing about the hope and peace that Christ offers. Let me encourage you to join us and to invite friends by sharing the link.

Peace and Hope,

Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

This Sunday is the first Sunday of the Epiphany season on the Church Calendar. Epiphany is from the Greek and means “to show forth”. The following are several ways for us to show forth the love and light of Christ to our world this season of Epiphany.

One tradition is for families to gather in their homes and ask God’s blessing. It is an invitation for Jesus to be a daily guest in our home, our comings and goings, our conversations, our work and play, our joys and sorrows. Jan or I would be honored to come and spend about an hour during Epiphany, asking God to bless your home and, if you like, chalk your doorway. Simply contact Jane Jackson at the church office and schedule a time, including evenings and weekends.

Don’t miss the Gather Together event to learn, to pray, to act, to prevent human trafficking in Bridgeport and Fairfield County. I am asking that we at Apostles come out in numbers and with enthusiasm to this event.

We have a space for more participants for Living Waters. Please prayerfully consider if this is the moment that God is asking you to attend. Those of us who are free to love others well are best able to show forth the light of Christ.

The Diocese of Christ Our Hope is holding its annual regional retreat on Friday, January 31- Saturday, February 1 in Red Hook, NY (only 80 miles away). This event is open to everyone at Apostles and is an excellent time to not only get away with friends from Apostles, but also to spend time with parishioners from our sister churches throughout the northeast. I am thrilled that Sally Breedlove will be leading a time of quiet reflection this year.

Take a minute and review the details for these events below, and please plan to join us for as many as you can.

Peace and Hope, 

Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

I want to invite you to join Tamara and I as we engage together with our Apostles family in four ways to keep this Advent season well.

Engage with quiet and rest this Saturday morning at our annual Parish Quiet Day. Fires will be going inside and out, calm spaces will be offered for reflection, reading, prayer, or even sleep, and we will gather for three times of short community prayer throughout the morning. Come for a few minutes or for the whole time. See details below.

Engage with Scripture and prayer using the Daily Office this Advent season. We will have Daily Office booklets available on the Greeters’ Table this Sunday. You may also fine these two online resources helpful as well.

• The ACNA Daily Office site at legereme.com.

• A daily reading of Office at thetrinitymission.org.

Engage with the neighborhood by inviting people we know to the Advent and Christmas events below especially the Sing-a-long, Christmas Eve service, and 12th Night Party. Invitation cards are available on the greeters table and more information is provided below for each event.

Engage in justice. Mark your calendars for the Gather Together event on Saturday, January 11 from 9am-noon. Apostles is hosting and partnering with The Underground and the Partnership to End Human Trafficking (PEHT) to present this information and education session about the sex trade in Fairfield County to help us better understand the darkness of slavery that exists right here and now.

At Gather Together we will hear more detail about a follow-up event scheduled on Saturday, January 25 to canvass local businesses asking them to display a poster alerting people to the signs of trafficking and promoting a hotline to report activity and seek help.

I hope that you will crescendo to Christmas and beyond by joining us in these activities and events.

Peace and Hope,

Brian+

"A high school stage play is more polished than this service we have been rehearsing since the year one. In two thousand years, we have not worked out the kinks. We positively glorify them. Week after week we witness the same miracle: that God is so mighty he can stifle his own laughter. Week after week, we witness the same miracle: that God, for reasons unfathomable, refrains from blowing our dancing bear act to smithereens. Week after week Christ washes the disciples' dirty feet, handles their very toes, and repeats, It is all right -- believe it or not -- to be people.

"Who can believe it?"

--Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk

Dear Church of the Apostles,

Over the next few weeks I will be writing a note to help us be more comfortable in our new worship space and with our new worship movements.

Let’s consider the movement of taking communion together.

In our Eucharistic Celebration service we move in Word and Sacrament toward the sacrifice of Jesus who redeems our lives and calls us to himself. The Eucharistic table is the climactic moment in our worship of God together.

Time at the communion table is a gift to us, a moment where we pause and receive God’s gift of grace. We believe that through the bread and wine God actually heals, actually forgives, and actually empowers us. Therefore, we will savor the time when we receive the bread and wine.

The ushers will dismiss you by rows. Our fantastic ushers are learning their rhythm as well, but the idea is that we do not want anyone standing in the aisle for too long. Take this time of waiting in your seats to prepare your hearts by worshipping God in song or listening in quiet contemplation before you move to the table. Some of us who have embraced the motions of Anglican worship will bow when we exit the row signifying that the walk up the aisle is a an act of accepting our holy God’s welcome to the table.

When you arrive at the front of the sanctuary move toward the outside aisle, line up across the front, face the cross and altar, take a deep breath of rest, and wait to receive both the bread and wine. We will bring both the paten and chalice to you. It will be tempting to slide toward the outside aisle as the person next to you returns to her seat. Resist that urge, stay still, and remain in rest.

After you have received the bread and wine, feel free to return to your seat by using the outside aisles. Children, parents, and spouses who come to the table together should wait until everyone in your family receives communion.

I have loved learning our new space together over these past five Sundays. We will settle into our rhythm of life together over the weeks, months, and years to come. In the meantime, we will rest in the confidence that “It is all right -- believe it or not -- to be people.”

"Who can believe it?”

Peace and Hope,

Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

Each week, as we continue to settle into our new space, I’d like to share a couple of family notes about our building and services during our Eucharistic service and then in the weekly note.

This week we discussed...

Children’s supervision: For the safety of our children and the care of our facility please be sure that a parent is supervising elementary aged children before and after the Sunday service. This includes both within the building and especially outside in the courtyard, playground, and parking areas. We have excellently trained and skilled Children’s Ministry volunteers that teach and care for our kids during the service, but we do not provide care and supervision before and after the service.

Entering and Exiting the Sanctuary: After the Children are dismissed to Sunday School each week please enter and exit the sanctuary through the doors located at the rear of the room (in the hallway near the coatrack and across from the kitchen). There will be a sign in the hallway in front of the main sanctuary doors to remind us. Entering and exiting through the rear doors will help us keep the noise from the hallway from drifting into the worship service and will make those who need to move about more comfortable.

It has been a pleasure to worship and minister in our new space with you all. I look forward to all that God has planned for us in the future.

Peace and Hope,

Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

This Sunday at 10am we will hold our first service in our new worship snd ministry space at 2385 Park Avenue, Bridgeport. All of the big improvement projects will be completed by our first day with small tasks continuing in the weeks to come. Many of us have been working in the building and it is starting to feel like home. 

Let’s be on our hospitality game for the next few months. If you see an unfamiliar face, greet them, get their story, invite them back. If for some reason our new sanctuary is full for worship (and we hope it is), give up your seat for someone else if you are physically able. 

Arrive on time and sit toward the front leaving seats in the back for our visitors. 

If you are serving on one of our volunteer teams this Sunday please arrive at 9:20am (or earlier if necessary), so we can show you around and be ready to welcome guests and parishioners. We’ll have coffee!

Weather permitting we will gather in the front courtyard this Sunday at 10am and process into our new sanctuary together. We’ll have some coffee out as you arrive, so come a little early and enjoy some pre-service fellowship before our community procession.

A few more things to consider for this Sunday:

We will have a few tables and chairs outside for our Move-in Party, but please bring a lawn chair if you have one. 

There is plenty of parking including handicap parking. Everything will be clearly signed, and we will have a greeter in the parking lot to answer any questions. 

It looks as if the playground will not be ready to use this Sunday as we continue to work to make it safe and secure for our kids. We hope that it will be ready in the next couple of weeks, so we can play before the weather gets too cold. Although the gates will be locked, please keep little ones from working their way inside. 

I am looking forward to this Sunday! Plan to join us and invite some friends to come along.

Peace and Hope,

Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

This Sunday we will be celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism during the morning service. Jakob Wittwer will be presented by his parents, Ben and Lindsay Wittwer. If this last name sounds familiar, you’re paying good attention. Jakob is Walter and Karen’s grandson. We will have a cake reception after the service during our regular hospitality hour.

Next Sunday, September 22 at 12:30pm we will have our first workday at our new worship space at 2385 Park Ave in Bridgeport. We will work together to clear space by moving items varying in weight and size. Please wear comfortable clothes that can get dirty, closed shoes, and gloves.

Work is underway to make our new space one of utility, blessing, and beauty. As you know these kinds of projects can have a timeline all of their own. However, we have targeted two important dates to move into and use our new facility.

On Sunday, October 6, we plan to have a time of remembrance at Rodger Ludlowe during the morning service. After the service, we plan to load our worship and classroom gear into trucks and take them to the new building. Please wear comfortable moving clothes to church that day and plan to help us move our space immediately following the service. We will provide a simple pizza lunch at the Park Avenue location.

On Sunday, October 13, we plan to hold our first worship service at our new space followed by a move-in party on the front lawn. We will have food (bring a dish to share) and fun for kids and adults alike. This is an excellent day to invite some friends to come along. Mark your calendars and plan to join the fall fun!

I am excited to share this next adventure for our church family with you all!

Peace and Hope, Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

Jesus said, “What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.” (Acts 1:8; The Message)

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It is the day that kicks off Ordinary Time on the Church Calendar, when we consider the power of the Holy Spirit and the formation and family life of the Church. 

Often times, however, we forget the third and perhaps most important aspect of Pentecostal power, to be witnesses of Jesus in both word and deed for the spread of the Gospel locally and around the globe. 

We will be considering this mission for the next four weeks both from the biblical mandate and our strategy at Apostles to be a missional people. In addition, we have invited a few of our missions friends and partners to share a bit of the Gospel work that they are doing both globally and locally.

I hope that you will join us each week. I look forward to worshipping our Missionary God in the Power of the Spirit together!

Peace and Hope,
Brian+ 

PS It is customary to wear something red this Sunday in celebration of Pentecost. I’ll be in my red shoes. Please, join me!

Dear Church of the Apostles,

This Thursday is Ascension Day!

The Nicene Creed states, “He ascended into heaven; and is seated at the right hand of the Father.”

The Church Calendar reserves one Thursday each year (approximately 40 days after Easter) to pause and consider the Ascension and to celebrated the beauty, power, and tension of Christ’s return to the Father. 

Why is celebrating the Ascension important to us as believers?

N.T. Wright gives us at least one reason, “We need, as Paul says in Ephesians, to have fresh wisdom and insight in knowing things as they truly are, so that we can grasp the true nature of the Christian hope and inheritance, and the genuine Christian concept of power, which challenges all other human ideas of power.”

Although our current space is not allowing us to hold a service this Thursday, I encourage you to celebrate the Ascension of Jesus Christ the King by using an Ascension Day Prayer Guide that you can find here.

Peace and Hope,
Brian+

Dear Church of the Apostles,

Hallelujah! He is risen!

I'm still thinking about our Easter service at Fairfield Beach and about the wall of windows that gave us the beautiful view of the water and let all that morning light wash over us as we worshiped.

On most other Sundays in the year we worship in an auditorium with lots of lighting, but no natural light from any windows. Because we have been meeting in this same auditorium for several years, I don't give much thought to the room. It has grown familiar to me and I've become accustomed to it. But since Easter my mind often wanders back to those windows...looking out into God's creation as we gathered together, sang, prayed, and heard from His Word. For me, this visual reminder of the Creator added a much needed perspective shift to how I worshiped that day, and I've been wanting another glimpse ever since. 

This coming Sunday, May 26 I will get that chance. We all will. This Sunday we will hold our 10:00am worship service in the cafeteria of the Roger Ludlowe Middle School instead of the auditorium. There are two whole walls of windows in the cafeteria! 

Join us this week and let's expect the Lord to shift our perspective so we see Him, and the glory of His creation, in a new and deeper way. I look forward to seeing you there.

Blessings,

Jan+