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Welcome to St. Bede's E-News!
We hope that this weekly offering will keep you up-to-date on the latest information from the parish and from around the diocese.
Our e-newsletters are now being archived on our website.
You can go to www.stbedes.org and look under the Connect With Us tab at the top of the home page to find past newsletters.
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Online Worship
for Sunday, February 21, 2021
The First Sunday in Lent
10 am - Morning Worship (in English) on Zoom Join us for Morning Worship on Zoom also live streamed 1 pm - Worship (in Spanish) on Facebook Join us for Sunday Worship in Spanish
Querida Comunidad de San Beda, Unase a nosotros a orar.
Nuestro servicio en español es los domingos
a la 1 p.m. a través de Facebook live.
8 pm - Compline (in English) on Zoom End your Sunday by joining others from St.Bede's in the quiet evening prayer form known as Compline. We usually take a few moments at the end to catch up as well. Information about how to join all of our Sunday offerings on Zoom
will be sent out in a separate email
by Saturday afternoon.
There is always a call-in (from a regular telephone) option for
all worship, fellowship, and meeting opportunities
that are offered on Zoom.
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Reflecting on Faith:
A Lenten Conversation Series
St. Bede's parishioners and staff members will pair up to lead us in Lenten conversations about some of the big questions around how we live-out or practice our faith. This series will borrow from Bishop Wright's weekly Lenten teaching series as well as scriptural themes during the Sundays in Lent.
Some of the questions to be explored are: How Can We Move Closer to God?; What Does Love Look Like When Neighbor is Enemy?; Where Do I Stand in Sinking Sand?; and What are the Directions to Joy?
Each week we plan to introduce and explore the theme for a bit and then break out into some small groups to have more intimate conversations about what the questions are stirring in us.
Join us this Sunday (February 21) on Zoom after Morning Worship (around 11:15 - just stay on Zoom, or join through the same link as for Morning Worship)
Lynnsay Buehler and Cheryl Murphy will lead us through an exploration of possible faith practices to engage during Lent (To prepare for this conversation, you may wish to review the "40 Days: Closer to God, Closer to One Another" menu of Lenten practices that can be found further down in this E-News.) Then on February 28, Carmie McDonald and Kim Padgett will lead us in conversations around the question of: How do we move closer to God? Look for the full schedule of the upcoming topics and conversation leaders to be published in future editions of E-News.
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Are you looking to embrace some Lenten practices or disciplines that can draw you closer to God and closer to others around you? We've brainstormed a number of small things that you might want to adopt as daily practices to help connect you with God and with one another in the days ahead in Lent. These are suggestive and can be adapted to you in your own context. They may also inspire you to imagine some other daily practice of your own.
* Walk 40 miles (1 mile per day)
or 40 minutes (per day)
or Walk 40 steps per hour
* Write 40 notes of gratitude (1 per day)
* Give $40 to some organization that helps folks in need
($1 per day for 40 days)
* Engage in 40 minutes of contemplative prayer per day
* Engage in 40 minutes of playtime/playfulness per day
* Spend 40 minutes reading and meditating on scripture per day
* Call 40 people and connect/reconnect with them (1 per day)
* Create something
(a piece of art, a poem, a piece of music)
each day for 40 days
* Make use of Lenten devotional booklets each day
(Episcopal Relief and Development
& Illustrated Ministries booklets
are available from St. Bede's)
* Pray with the online Stations of the Cross
* Take 40 "gratitude photographs"
or photographs of where you see God (1 per day)
* Offer 40 Random Acts of Kindness
to anyone - known to you or unknown
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St. Bede's Stations of the Cross
The Stations of the Cross that were created by Virginia Roach Munroe present a vision of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Each painting is a close-up, as if viewed on television, and each uses a basic color symbol, such as red for the hands of Pontius Pilate. The idea came to Monroe in the late 1960's, during the turmoil of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, when anger and hatred were expressed vividly on the nightly news. The title of each painting is a few words on how the event might relate to modern times.
St. Bede's member and webmaster Ray Callaway has digitized and curated an online gallery of the St. Bede's Stations of the Cross that you can pray at home.
[What you might not know about these stations
is that members of the St. Bede's parish posed for the portraits.
See if you can recognize anyone you know.
Hint: Junior Abraham is in this painting.]
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All-ages Lent Formation Resources
The all-ages formation team has found two great resources for all of us to use during the season of Lent.
We encourage you to open the resources and skim the first few pages to help you decide how you might use them. Use as much or as little of the resource as fits the needs and energy of your household. Our hope is that you will feel blessed and encouraged, not burdened!
Households with children may enjoy the packet that includes coloring pages, paper crafts, and child-centered devotionals to read and wonder about together. (Purple cover) Households with teens or adults may prefer the personal/family devotional booklet written for adults, with places to journal and doodle and suggestions for responses in your daily life. (Red cover)
Contact Alyssa Sali ( asali@stbedes.org) to receive a printed copy of either resource or she can send you the link to download it yourself from a PDF.
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ESOL Classes Resume on Zoom at St. Bede's
The ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teachers and students are eagerly beginning classes via Zoom starting this next week. Zoom ESOL classes are not easy, and many of our students do not have computers or wifi in their homes. We will work on conversational English skills as we eagerly await our return to our beautiful mission wing classrooms, perhaps this fall, si Dios quiere (God willing), as our 5:00 congregants would say.
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THANK YOU, THANK YOU,
THANK YOU!
Thank you to all who have already
prayerfully considered and returned
your 2021 pledge of financial support to St. Bede's.
As of February 4, we have received pledges
from eighty folks/families totaling $409,000.
If you have not already made a financial pledge
to support St. Bede's in 2021,
we hope that you will prayerfully consider
your pledge to St. Bede's
and return your pledge card
or use the link below to pledge online.
If your pledge packet never arrived in the mail,
please contact Muriel Diguette (mdiguette@stbedes.org)
and we will send out another packet to you.
THANK YOU!
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Healing Our Racism Book Discussion Group
Meeting Time - 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm
on ZOOM
Monday, February 22nd at 2:00 pm
Please join Muriel Diguette and other members/friends of St. Bede's to discuss current books pertaining to the issues of racism and white privilege.
We will meet the 4th Monday of each month at 2:00 pm.
For our February meeting on February 22nd we will be reading Between The World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of "race," a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men-bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden?
If you want to go ahead and order books for future discussions:
March 22: The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
April 26: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
May 24: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
June 28: Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho
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Mostly Mysteries Book Group on Zoom
The Mostly Mysteries Book Group is continuing to meet on Zoom. If you would like to take part, please contact Connie Coralli and she will send you the link.
For our February 22nd meeting at 7:00pm we will be reading A Time For Mercy by John Grisham.
This is book 3 of the Jake Brigance series.
Bursting with all the courthouse scheming, small-town intrigue, and stunning plot twists that have become the hallmarks of the master of the legal thriller, A Time for Mercy is John Grisham's most powerful courtroom drama yet.
There is a time to kill and a time for justice. Now comes A Time for Mercy.
For more information, please contact Connie at conniecoralli@gmail.com
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Bill LaBorde, friend of Toni Graney
Rosalene Larson, mother in law of Michael Daniel
Lori Burks, friend of Tom & Loretta Vail
Robyn Weiss, friend of Tom & Loretta Vail
Bryce Cannon
The Cannon Family
Aree Bancroft
Laura Ribas
Jane Wiggins
Hilda Bell
Willie Diaz
Tim Waring
Peggy Allen, mother of Lisa Main
Ray Lampros
Gwen Cordner
Arlene Means, sister of Larry Bing
Maggie Williams
Mary Rodriguez
Hollis Pickett
Margie Klein, mother of Jody Klein
Anita Maloof
Lynn Edgar, mother of Beth Cannon
Nancy Waring
John Branan
Kerry Penney
Patrick Newberry, stepson of Gretchen Berggren
Andy Matia, friend of Ann Foote
Brooke & Taylor Harty, granddaughters of Nancy Waring
Jim Ohl
Frances Bowen
Max Carpenter, grandson of Sarra David
Judy Penney, sister-in-law of Kerry Penney
Sydney Lund
Ann Foote
Helen Abraham
Cameron Maddox
For those who have died:
James Cottrell, Meghan Boyd Cottrell's father-in-law
Manuel Jeronimo-Martinez
Brenden Burks, son of friend of Tom & Loretta Vail
Ellen Hayes Wright, friend of Connie Coralli
Joan Baker McClanahan, former member of St. Bede's
We give thanks for those celebrating birthdays this week
2/21: Leo Fioresi
2/21: Jan Swoope
2/23: Carol Bowers
2/23: Jere Lutz
2/23: Gregoria Perez
2/24: Loretta Vail
2/24 Melissa Marquina
2/24: Kate Castillo
2/25: Issa Ackall
2/25: Anne Callaway
2/25: Lauren Hall
2/26: Ernesto Madrigal
2/26: Julio Cruz-Navarrete
2/27: Alex Munguia
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Vestry Establishes
Community Emergency Assistance Fund
In addition to all of the wonderful ways that the Community Engagement Team is leading us in supporting community ministry partners (locally, churchwide, and globally) during this critical time, the Vestry has established a Community Emergency Assistance Fund to help people within the greater St. Bede's community with food assistance during the current public health crisis. This fund will be administered confidentially by the clergy in a similar way as their normal discretionary funds, but will be used exclusively to help with food assistance during this crisis.
UPDATE of January 13: We have collected around $8,700 and distributed over $6,000 in assistance though food and utility support for individuals and families so far during the current public health crisis. The current balance of the fund stands at around $2,700 and new needs continue to present themselves. A dedicated group of members work with Fabio to help identify need and deliver food. Thank you to all who have contributed!
If you have questions about this offering to the greater St. Bede's community or if you are in need of food assistance or know someone who is, please contact either the Rev'd Caroline Magee or the Rev'd Fabio Sotelo.
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HELP FOR THE HOMELESS IN TUCKER
You may be surprised to learn that Tucker has a significant homeless population. The numbers have increased significantly during this time of Covid 19. Men, women, and children are included in the approximately 45 individuals living on the street or in their cars in Tucker. If you add Stone Mountain and northern Decatur, areas bordering Tucker, the number increases to approximately 70. Tucker First United Methodist Church operates the only "cold weather shelter" in our area and its resources are limited.
Omega Support Services, a remarkable agency located in the heart of Tucker on Fellowship Road, is collecting items to distribute to them. If you are looking for something to do to help others during this time, this is one way to contribute while social distancing. Omega is looking for back packs (can be used if in good shape); small individual toiletries, wet wipes, knit hats, gloves, socks and flashlights. They ask that the socks be new, tube shaped if possible, and they can use sizes for men, women, and children. The knit hats and the gloves can be gently used. These can be dropped off at the Omega Office at: 4213 Fellowship Road, Suite C, Tucker, Georgia 30084. There should be a blue bin that you can drop things in. You can also order online and have things delivered directly to them. Use Amazon "Smile" and your purchase benefits St. Bede's too. Omega Support Services is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Christy Bloodworth is the founder and Executive Director, and she can be reached at (678) 615-2390 if you have questions. You can also contact Lois Shingler if you have questions or want more information. lshinglerpc@gmail.com or (404) 593-9001. You can also let Lois know if you want to make sure any on-line orders arrive at Omega.
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Your Amazon purchases can support St. Bede's
through Amazon Smile
If you shop on Amazon, consider accessing Amazon through
and designating St. Bede's as your charitable beneficiary.
To find St. Bede's in the beneficiary list,
you must search for "St Bedes Episcopal Church"
(without the apostrophe)
and choose the one located in Atlanta.
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 Support the Cathedral Book Store.
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Episcopal Relief & Development Focuses on Lament in 2021 Lenten Meditations
In response to the unprecedented events of the past year, Episcopal Relief & Development's 2021 Lenten Meditations share deeply personal reflections on the theme of lament from a diverse group of writers. Many of the authors share experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty. "2020 was a deeply challenging year for many, filled with losses," said Sean McConnell, Senior Director, Engagement, Episcopal Relief & Development. "We hope our supporters will use the 2021 Lenten Meditations to guide them through the four steps of lament and to help them heal and grow." The meditations follow the "Four Steps of Lament" outlined by author and speaker Heidi Weaver: - Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation
- Reflect on that which has been lost
- Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked
- make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another
The authors of the meditations are all leaders in The Episcopal Church and represent diverse perspectives, ministries and backgrounds. "Editing the collection was powerful to me on a personal level," said Sandra Montes, Editor of the 2021 Lenten Meditations. "Reading each reflection by Episcopal leaders of color who invited me into this season of Lent by opening up their hearts and using their voices to help me lament, while giving me hope, was incredibly moving." The 2021 meditations are available online to download. Supporters are also invited to sign up to receive the daily meditations in English and Spanish by email. Unlike previous years, the meditations are only available online, not as printed booklets. "As many churches have moved their services online, we felt it was important to create a Lenten experience that would continue to be useful for our supporters," continued McConnell. Episcopal Relief & Development also invites churches and supporters to observe Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday this year on Sunday, February 21 or another Sunday in Lent. Lent was officially designated at the 2009 General Convention of The Episcopal Church as a time for dioceses, congregations and individuals to remember and support the work of Episcopal Relief & Development. Although the first Sunday in Lent is the official day of observance, churches may hold a special service on any Sunday. Liturgical resources to help congregations observe Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday are available at episcopalrelief.org/sunday. "The expressions of lament in the 2021 Lenten Meditations share sorrow, but they also come from a place of deep love," said the Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church. "Because God loves us we know that God joins us in lamenting the loss of any living being." Download the Lenten Meditations and learn more about planning an Episcopal Relief & Development Sunday at episcopalrelief.org/Lent. For 80 years, Episcopal Relief & Development has been working together with supporters and partners for lasting change around the world. Each year the organization facilitates healthier, more fulfilling lives for more than 3 million people struggling with hunger, poverty, disaster and disease. Inspired by Jesus' words in Matthew 25, Episcopal Relief & Development leverages the expertise and resources of Anglican and other partners to deliver measurable and sustainable change in three signature program areas: Women, Children and Climate.
RESOURCES & LEARNING
Click below to access our Resource Library and learn more about our efforts around the world.
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For People with Bishop Rob Wright
Welcome to For People, a conversation with Bishop Rob Wright, spiritual leader to the more than 50,000 people in the 117 worshipping communities of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta. In this podcast, Bishop Wright meets listeners at the crossroads of faith and life to explore the challenges of an ever-changing world. Listen in to find out how he expands on his For Faith devotional, draws inspiration from the life of Jesus to answer 21st-century questions.
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Several St. Bede's regulars subscribe to- 
and like! - these e-publications. To stay up to date on activities throughout the Diocese of Atlanta, sign up for the e-newsletter, Connecting.
You can also sign up to receive For Faith, which is a weekly devotional message from Bishop Rob Wright sent by email on Fridays. To sign up for either or both, click here
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To schedule events, please contact our
Muriel Diguette
For the weekly lectionary readings visit:
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