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| Ethiopian cross with forsythia for 4th Lent |
Readings for this Sunday: Isaiah 43:16-21, Psalm 126, Philippians 3:4b-14, John 12:1-8.
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| The Labyrinth: Open for use if you wear your boots! Many signs of new growth underfoot. |
5:30 to 7 PM Simple Soup and Salad Suppers continue, with conversation on Growing a Rule of Life. This week we will explore how we might include our relationships with others into our own Rule of Life (family, friends, our church community -- those we know well and love easily and those with whom we struggle). Go to SSJE.org/growrule to receive daily reflection questions and background information. Sign up in the Parish Hall if you'd like to bring food.
Many thanks to Betsy Hess, our preacher last Sunday, for her reflections on the story of the Prodigal Son and an exploration of what it means to be merciful, conveyed through some powerful examples from her work as a social worker. Betsy is a postulant for ordination to the priesthood, and will be preaching again on April 10th. As part of her preaching/learning process, she is open to feedback and welcomes conversation about what listeners find effective and helpful and what questions arise in response.Saint Andrews to Host Safe Church Training. At 5:30 pm on Monday, April 18th we will be hosting a Safe Church Training event for the Lakes Region Convocation with the Revs. Celeste Hemingson and Robin Soller as trainer. Vestry members, pastoral visitors and eucharistic visitors, paid staff, and all who work with children and teens in the church are required to have Safe Church certification. To have the training session here at Saint Andrew's (rather than elsewhere in the state) is a great convenience and a rare opportunity for those of us who are new to parish positions, those whose certification is up for renewal (every three years), and for other interested parishioners who might like to take the training.
If
you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please contact Safe Church
Minister Marty Cloran, Office Manager Debra Hoyt or Reverend Heidi as soon as
possible. And please note, there is an on-line portion of the training must be completed by
April 8 to be eligible to attend the April 18th
training.
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| Our gardens are sprouting. New growth is breaking through! |
Suicide: It can happen to anyone! This coming Saturday, March 12th, TCNA is
sponsoring a Suicide Prevention/Intervention program called Gatekeeper Training. It will be presented
by Elaine de Mello from NAMI New Hampshire.
The course will cover:
· Suicide as a public health issue and its impact
on communities, family members, and friends
· Suicide data and how age, gender, culture, and
other factors impact suicide risk
· Individual, family, and community risk and
protective factors and ways to strengthen the positive influences that prevent
suicide and other risk behaviors
· Warning signs for suicide: how to recognize them
and respond in an effective manner
· Intervening with family members, neighbors,
friends, and others at risk, and connecting them with resources
· Techniques to communicate with
parents/guardians/family members or other support persons in crisis situations
· Best Practices concerning restricting access to
lethal means, safe messaging, and communicating about suicide
· Confidentiality and reporting requirements for
gatekeepers and professionals
· Local resources and services available and how
they can be utilized for persons at risk
· Strategies for promoting help-seeking, reducing
community risks and increasing community protective factors.
The course will run from
10 AM - 2:30 PM this Saturday, at the Cook Memorial Library in Tamworth village, and a light lunch will be served.
There is no fee, but you need to register by calling 323-8511. This is something
we can do for one another.
Food for thought from Fichard Rohr on the participatory mystery of Jesus...
For the Apostle Paul, this is what
he means by Christ: the participatory mystery of Jesus continued through space
and time in us. As Paul says to the Athenians, "In him we live and move
and have our being" (Acts 17:28). Paul is naming what we eventually will
call the "communion of saints" in the Apostles Creed. This "energy
field" is created by all those who pass love back and forth and is thus an
infinitely expanding force field. The "church" was intended to be the
group that consciously lived and exemplified this different quality of being.
The church's vocation is a privilege, like Israel's itself, to bring God's work
to visibility and possibility. But also like Israel we made ourselves into a
chosen elite – a country club for the saved – instead of a neon sign pointing
beyond ourselves.
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| Mud Season begins! |
When Paul addresses his
letters to "the saints" he is clearly not speaking of the later Roman
idea of canonized saints. He is speaking of the living communities of love who
make up his audio-visual aids all over Greece and Asia Minor. Paul does not
make heroes of individuals, but precisely as members of the Body do they
"shine like stars" as "perfect children of God among a deceitful
and underhanded brood" (Philippians 2:15). Following directly from Jesus,
Paul sees his small communities as a certain and effective "leaven"
by which God will eventually change the whole debauched Roman Empire. Social
scientists now tell us that Paul was unbelievably successful in a mere ten-year
period largely because he gave people back their dignity and self-esteem by
telling them they were equally and fully "children of God." This is
still revolutionary, but this wonderful message lost most of its impact when
the Church began operating as if some had that dignity and others did not.
May we strive to live as Jesus (and Paul) intended us to live!
Lenten blessings!
See you in church ... Mud Season and time change notwithstanding!
Heidi+
