March 5, 2023 | VOLUME 35, ISSUE 7

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Second Sunday in Lent

March 5, 2023

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Genesis 12:1-4a

Romans 4:1-5, 13-17

John 3:1-17

Psalm 121

Preacher: The Reverend Jennifer Wagner Pavia

Sunday, March 12

Grassroots neighbors at 1:30 PM and 5 PM

Saturday, March 18

Neighbors 4 Neighbors at 10 AM

Bible and Breakfast

Tuesdays | 9:30 AM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Midweek Eucharist

Tuesdays | 6:00 PM

Sanctuary

Evening Prayer

Wednesday | 7:00 PM

Luther Hall & Zoom

Reverend Jennifer is leading a Lenten study class on Wednesday evenings after the 7:00pm Wednesday evening Eucharist service.

The class is centered on the book Witness at the Cross from Prof. Amy-Jill Levine. The book examines the “experience of Holy Friday from the perspective of those who watched Jesus die: Mary his mother; the Beloved Disciple from the Gospel of John; Mary Magdalene and the other women from Galilee; the two men, usually identified as thieves, crucified with Jesus; the centurion and the soldiers; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Jews and Romans, friends and strangers, the powerful and the powerless, the hopeful and the despairing”.

In preparation for the class, we purchased 15 books for distribution (there is a suggested donation of $15 to St. Bede’s). The book is also available in digital format for those who prefer that format. It is available through a number of sites including:

 Witness at the Cross: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Friday - Kindle edition by Levine, Amy-Jill. Religion & Spirituality Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

Witness at the Cross | Cokesbury

To establish a roster of those who will be attending (either by Zoom or in Person) we are requesting you complete the linked Lenten Study Form.

St. Bede's Lenten Season Adult Study - Google Forms

Thank you!

VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED

March 12 | 1:30 PM & 5:00 PM

Grass Roots Neighbors is a volunteer community organization. They meet the immediate needs of our neighbors experiencing food and housing insecurity. GRN mobilizes to fill the gaps in existing services by providing assistance with love and respect. The organization's vision is to be a community effectively involved in ending poverty. ​

Among their outreach programs, GNR cooks and delivers a hot meal every Sunday to various encampments on the Westside. Once a month, St. Bede's with Holy Nativity assists GNR with preparing and providing meals. There are now four different volunteer time slots:

• 2 - 4 PM (mostly chopping of fruits and veggies)
• 4 - 6 PM (mainly packaging food)
• 6 - 8:30 PM (loading and distributing the food)
• 7:30 - 10:30 PM (distributing food in Venice by bike)

GNR utilizes the kitchen facilities at Holy Nativity Episcopal Church.

GNR, Holy Nativity, and St. Bede's have created a Google Sign-Up Form to assist with monthly volunteer coordination. Please click the button below to access the volunteer sign-up form.

Are you planning to attend worship online and want an easy way to make a pledge payment? Do you want to ditch the checkbook and set up reoccurring payments? Are you looking for a convenient way to make a one-time special gift to St. Bede's?

Did you know you can make donations online to St. Bede's, securely and easily?

Visit the St. Bede's website and at the top of every page, look for the "Donate" button. When you click on the "Donate" button, you will be transported to St. Bede's Vanco eGiving and Payment Process Site.

Vanco is an industry leader in online payments. More than 40,000 churches, faith-based groups, nonprofits, schools, and educational organizations trust Vanco to securely complete transactions every day. Vanco complies with PCI Level 1 standards, the highest security standard in the payment processing industry.

You are invited to set up one-time or recurring gifts using credit, debit, or bank transfer on Vanco's secure payment processing platform. Giving online through the Vanco site saves time and the hassle of remembering to bring your offering. In addition, you decrease the expense incurred by St. Bede’s from handling and processing checks and cash.

Michigan Episcopal leaders rally support for common-sense gun legislation as hearings begin

[Diocese of Michigan] Episcopal leaders from across Michigan on March 1 called for passage of common-sense gun laws as lawmakers in the capital city of Lansing kicked off the first of two days of hearings to address a rising tide of gun violence.

“Gun violence is now the number one cause of death for our children,” said the Rt. Rev. Bonnie Perry, bishop of the Diocese of Michigan. “After so many years of waiting and begging and sharing stories, we are finally going to have hearings on gun violence bills that will save lives.”

Perry’s diocese, which spans southeastern Michigan, has been the site of two deadly school shootings in the last 15 months. On Nov. 30, 2021, four students were killed and six students and a teacher were wounded by a student at Oxford High School, located about 30 miles north of Detroit. This year, on Feb. 13, three Michigan State University students were killed and five others wounded by a gunman who entered two buildings on the East Lansing campus and opened fire.

“We are so tired and we are so angry,” Carl Austin Miller Grondin, MSU’s student body vice president, said at a March 1 news conference in Lansing. “As students we need to be heard. We have grown up in this violence, and this should not be our reality.”

Read more here

View the Latest Edition of "The Episcopal News"

Chicago Episcopal church installs electric vehicle charging station, part of growing national trend

[Religion News Service] As more drivers make the decision to switch from gas-powered cars to electric vehicles, places to power them remain few and far between in large parts of the country. And with the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 incentivizing clean energy and electric cars, as well as providing investments for green technology, the demand will only increase.

Churches, with their large parking lots that often sit empty during the week, could help provide a solution.

Houses of worship exist in every community and are usually centrally located, making them ideal partners for expanding EV access, according to Andrew Fox, chairman and CEO of Charge Enterprises Inc., which specializes in electricity and communications infrastructure.

‘We’ve got work to do’ toward racial justice, Deacon Margaret McCauley preaches at Absalom Jones service

By Pat McCaughan

[The Episcopal News – March 1, 2023] The Rev. Margaret McCauley invited worshippers at the Feb. 26 annual diocesan Absalom Jones celebration to join the H. Belfield Hannibal chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, the NAACP, the Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Black Lives Matter, because “we’ve got work to do.”

McCauley, deacon at St. John’s Cathedral, Los Angeles, and guest preacher for the joyous service at Holy Faith Church in Inglewood, compared Jones’ refusal to move to the balcony of St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in 1786 to today’s Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

“When he was confronted with ethnic hatred in St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, he and Richard Allen led the Black people out of the church. This is an early example of Black Lives Matter,” McCauley said. Jones, a popular preacher, had increased the membership of the church ten-fold, which frightened the white congregation, who insisted Jones and other Black members sit in a balcony.