Emmanuel Episcopal Church

2015 Annual Meeting on January 11

 

Service Bulletin for the First Sunday after Christmas

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Water Leak Cancels Coffee Hour 12.28.2014

Some time between the lovely reception that followed the Christmas Eve Mass and 2 p.m. on Christmas day when I came to the office, a leak occurred in the pipe(s) between the bathrooms in the parish hall and caused a goodly amount of water to flow from the kitchen into my office. 

 

The pipe will be repaired at our expense (which should be minimal) and the church's insurance will cover all other costs, less our $500 deductible for the insurance-recommended profession drying, etc., and for any necessary repairs, including replacement carpet should that be required.

 

Servicemaster's drying process of carpet, cabinets, etc., will take place over the next three days to conclude on Monday, with major equipment stretched from my office into the kitchen. 

 

Therefore, we will NOT have coffee hour following the service on Sunday at 11 a.m., lest anyone trip over wires in the kitchen and bathrooms, etc.

 

Fr Chris

Homily for Christmas Eve 2014 - Will you let him in?

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Some moments are so profoundly holy that the veil which normally seems to separate the divine from the human and human from the divine becomes translucent, and in that birth which we recall and make present this night, heaven enters earth and earth receives heaven. 

In that nativity of Jesus, God welcomes us into that kingdom where mercy and truth meet and righteousness and peace kiss (Ps 85.10) in the one who is a child born for us, a son given to us who is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Is. 9.6), in the one who is as the angel declares, Savior, Messiah, and Lord.

That we might be a part of this union of heaven and earth is not a foregone conclusion, for in the prologue to John’s gospel, we read that “he came unto his own and his own received him not” (1.11).  There seems to be an inviolable freedom in whether earth is willing to receive what heaven gives.  Divinity does not force itself on humanity.  Though he may have once been described as “the hound of heaven” (Francis Thompson, 1859-1907) for his relentless seeking after us, Jesus will not force either himself or his way upon us.

On that night so long ago, a young expectant mother and her betrothed did not force their way into some comfortable hotel room but accepted the humble accommodation they finally received.

The story of that search for a place is told through a four-hundred-year-old tradition celebrated in Mexico and other parts of Latin America, beginning 16 December and running through tonight, the 24^th, nine days, one day for each month of Mary’s pregnancy.¹ 

This tradition, called “Las Posadas,” is increasingly celebrated here in the Unites States of America, among a burgeoning Latino population.  “Las Posadas” is Spanish for “the inns.”

Service Bulletin for Christmas Eve

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Service Bulletin for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

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Christmas Eve at Emmanuel

Please join us for Christmas Eve services at Emmanuel on Wednesday, December 24th: 

 

10:45 Caroling

11:00 Midnight Mass, followed by reception

Homily for the Third Sunday of Advent - Empower us for the work of ministry!

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11
Psalm 126 or Canticle 3 or Canticle 15
1 Thessalonians 5:16-24
John 1:6-8, 19-28

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.

With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry!

Could we imagine a more apt, prayerful refrain to our opening hymn as we elect three new vestry members to continue the “work of ministry” that has been going on in this community for the 170 years since this church was consecrated to God in 1844?

With the Spirit’s gifts empower us for the work of ministry.

I include in the bulletin FACTs on Episcopal Church Growth,¹ and I hope you will read it (only 19 pages with lots of pictures)to see what insight can be gained as we at Emmanuel face the challenges and opportunities God gives. FACTs is the largest survey of its kind, 4100 Episcopal churches, and it takes into account an even more comprehensive examination of 14,000 churches, synagogues, parishes, temples, and mosques in the U.S. 

Most churches say of course that they want to grow, but the numbers reveal that many, if not most, are not growing. Beyond intuition and hopeful thinking, beyond the Jerry Falwells and the Joel Osteens, FACTs gives statistical evidence for what has an impact on growth and decline in The Episcopal Church.

Service Bulletin for the Third Sunday of Advent

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Homily for the Second Sunday of Advent - Where are you?

Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13
2 Peter 3:8-15a
Mark 1:1-8

Homily by Fr R Christopher Heying

Where are you?

Whoever we are and wherever we may be, we are invited to go out into the wilderness of our lives, there to hear a wild man address each of us directly and personally, “Where are you?” 

Where are you? 

Are you in that place to which Peter just beckons? 

That while we wait for the fulfillment of God’s promised life, we might be in a place of “peace, without spot or blemish,” grateful for the patience God shows us because God does not want any to perish but all to come to metanoia, or in English, “repentance,” defined not as “a self-loathing for bad behavior” but rather an invitation to recognize where we actually are and then to metanoia, repent, to change our mind, to change our heart.  And  go in a new direction, toward that place God wants us to be, a place of life and peace. 

Life and peace.  That is what John invites us to through a “baptism of repentance,” a new and life-giving direction through a change of mind, a change of heart.

Where are you?

Service Bulletin for the Second Sunday of Advent

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