Epistle May 4, 2022

A Message from Libby

As I begin my 6^th term of service as an Interim Priest, I can say with absolute certainty that ministry transitions always bring a bit of uncertainty along with hope for resurrection and renewal. If you have questions or concerns, I hope you will e-mail or call your wardens, Jorja Marsden and Martha Bodine, or me. At both worship services on Sunday, May 22, Jorja and Martha will speak about how the search process will proceed. Please plan to be present in person or via livestream that day, and please keep St. Paul’s leadership in your prayers as we strive to move through this transition time with grace and transparency. 

This Sunday, May 8, is the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday because of the imagery in the Psalm, Gospel, and Collect. Jesus beckons us to hear his voice and follow him. May we have the patience to listen carefully and the courage to follow where Jesus’ voice leads. 

Trinity, Lenox hosts monthly service for

Victims of Gun Violence

First Saturday of the month, 8am

Online

The Lee Food Pantry

St. Paul’s Serves at Lee Food Pantry – Saturday, May 14

From 10 a.m. – Noon on Saturday, May 14, a team from St. Paul’s will be in charge of distributing food to anyone who needs a little help providing for themselves or their family. About a dozen people from the St. Paul’s community volunteer every second Saturday, with 6-8 present at a time. Volunteers frequently note the blessings they receive through this service to others. Last month, a Food Pantry recipient handed a note to one of the volunteers saying, “Thank you all for your help, kindness, and care.” Blessings abound! Jim Wade is our Food Pantry Coordinator. On Sunday, he will bring a basket of the food you’ve donated since last month to the altar at the offertory time for a symbolic blessing of these gifts freely shared with others.    

Join a Corner of Kindness on the Appalachian Trail

2022 Appalachian Trail Mini-Mission Day Trip                  June - August in Sheffield

Begun in 2018 as a shared ministry of two Sheffield churches, Old Parish and Christ Trinity, Trail Magic is back and we’re inviting you to share it with us. Gather a t of church friends and spend a day outdoors chatting with hikers and friends, and sharing refreshments! One St. Paul’s team has begun forming and will serve on Saturday, August 9. Training will be provided. If you would like to serve on a team, please speak with Libby or Jim Wade or Martha Bodine. See the flyer on the bell tower bulletin board for more information and in coming weeks, look on St. Paul’s website. Click below to take a quick look right now.

Community in Faith

Tuesdays, May 10, 17, 24, 31  

7:00 pm via Zoom

Our three-parish Community in Faith group will start up again on Tuesday, May 10^th with a four week lectionary based Bible Study facilitated by Rev. Tina Rathbone, Rector of Grace Church. The group will meet over Zoom and will focus on the ways stories from the Gospel come to life through our own journeys of love, struggle and (sometimes stumbling) faith. The Zoom link is below and on our website. Come join us!  

Regular Worship Services

Sundays at 8:00 AM

In Person & Indoors



Sundays at 10:00 AM

In-person, Indoors and Live-streamed

Holy Week Morning Prayer will be daily at 8:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship Teams (If you exchange shifts with someone, please notify the Church Office by Wednesday morning at office@stpaulsstockbridge.org.)

Parish Prayer List

• People we pray for on Sundays: Sarah
• Long-term prayer list: Piers, Katrina, Rich, Karen, Michael, Tom, Khali, George, Doug, George, David, Barbara, Christy, John, Peter & Darryl, Jim, Florence,
• Our partners at Grace Church, Great Barrington and their priest Tina Rathbone; Christ Trinity Church, Episcopal-Lutheran, Sheffield and their priest Erik Karas; the Austen Riggs community and the Riverbrook Residence; victims of violence, abuse, persecution and disaster at home and abroad; those impacted by the pandemic
• Outreach Ministry of the Week: St. Paul’s Children’s Center
• Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: St. Andrew’s, Longmeadow
• Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church of Rwanda
• Birthdays:  Robin Race (May 8^th), Darryl Lafferty (May 9^th), Scott Muir (May 12^th)

We give you thanks for the wonders you reveal

In our Education for Ministry class, we have transitioned into a new unit on spirituality and after a discussion of our reading we wrote the following prayer:

GOD'S GIFT THAT HAS BEEN RECAPTURED OR REKINDLED.

God who inspires us to pray

We are amazed by the ways you rekindle our gifts

We ask for the willingness to listen and be open

We confess we fear that which you ask us to do

We give thanks for the wonders you reveal

And ask that you fulfill the longing for love of those in want

So that all may receive the gifts of the Spirit. 

AMEN

Classical Music in Sheffield - June 11

Christ Trinity Church presents the second concert of its 2022 Lich Gate Concerts series, featuring music for string quartet. Artistic Director and Concert Violinist Jorge Ávila, also a Sheffield resident, has programmed Ludwig van Beethoven's String Quartet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 18, a work so grounded in 18th-century musical tradition that it earned the nickname "Komplimentierungsquartett" or "quartet of bows and curtseys." Jorge has paired this with William Grant Still's Lyric String Quartette. Often called the "Dean of Afro-American Composers," Still composed almost 200 works, including symphonies, ballets, operas, choral and vocal works, and chamber music.

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