JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
THIS SUNDAY, March 1st, The 1st Sunday of Lent, there will be one service at 9 am.
CENTERING PRAYER
Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.
MORNING PRAYER
Wednesday mornings at 9:00 a.m.
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
and FELLOWSHIP
Winter Weather Advisory!!!
Winter Weather Advisory!!! If the weather is questionable on a Sunday morning please call the church before you leave home to check for schedule changes. If a storm comes in on Saturday evening or Sunday, I will make a judgment by 7:00 AM about whether to hold or cancel services. Cancellations will posted on WMUR 9 and the church phone message will also reflect any cancellations. PLEASE do not travel if it feels unsafe to you. Enjoy a Sabbath morning at home and remember St. Andrew’s in your prayers.
READINGS FOR SUNDAY
Sunday, March 1st
1st Sunday in Lent
Year A
Year A
Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
Psalm 32
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
FROM THE RECTOR
A
big thank you to George Rau and Troop 151 for another great pancake supper!
This is the third year our Scout troop has cooked, and they’ve got it down to a
science. George is our liaison to the Troop and coordinated with them to make
it happen. He also set up the Parish Hall and chopped ice in the parking lot,
clearing the handicap parking spaces and the entrance to the sidewalk. Job well
done, George! And thank you to everyone who came to the supper. There were
about 50 people, with a nice mix of parishioners and the community.
Yesterday
at the Ash Wednesday services I shared a reflection written by the Rev. Heidi
Carrington Heath, Interim Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Phillips Exeter Academy. I was asked
to put it in the Thursday Memo, so here it is:
"Ash
Wednesday"
“I
am so afraid,” she whispered to me. “Please don’t go.”
She was alone, and she was dying. She was dying hard. It was not a
peaceful death, or one surrounded by loved ones. She was afraid, and
needed a witness.
It was and is so understandable. Death can be terrifying. We’re bad at talking about it as a culture. We’re not always good at talking about it as a church even. It can feel utterly terrifying.
But, I have news for us all. We are all going to die. I am going to die. You are going to die. We are all going to die. I know it’s not considered a thing you talk about in polite company, but there it is.
Today is Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of Lent and the day in the church calendar that we are called upon to face our own mortality. I am confessing a secret that it is one of my very favorite days of the entire church year. It is the day that we are called upon to face the deep truth that as mortals we are dust, and to dust we shall return. This beautiful, wild, precious life (as Mary Oliver would say) we are living right now shall not always be.
It can be scary, but I find it a little bit refreshing. After all, we live in a culture that tells us if we work hard enough, have enough money, buy enough skin care products, eat healthy enough, or exercise with enough vigor, we might just live forever. And yet, we know that is not true. So today, we proclaim the truth that we shall return to the dust over which God first breathed life.
And I, at least, breathe a sigh of relief. Because admitting and facing my own mortality, allows me to admit that God is God and I am not (and we should all be very thankful for that). It allows me to lay down my attempts to manage my own human brokenness, and step into the deep and holy mystery that is the Christian life. Having confessed my sins, and admitted my own mortality, it allows me to live freely this incredible, mortal life that is my reality right now.
But perhaps more than that, it helps me to let go of my fear. Because Ash Wednesday reminds us that in spite of it all, death does not have the last word. While we and others have the power to destroy our mortal flesh, God has destroyed death. As the pastor lays her hands on my forehead to impose ashes, I hear the quiet words of Matthew’s gospel mixed with hers: “Be not afraid. I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The beauty of Ash Wednesday is that it cuts through the crap. It gets to the heart of the very heart of everything. It reminds of God’s infinite promises to us. It reminds us there is beauty in our brokenness, and freedom that we don’t have to live up to some earthly falsehood about perfection.
So,
shout it from the roof tops, sing it in your heart, whisper it quietly to
yourself, but tell that truth... Then, breathe a sigh of relief and be
free. O mortal, you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Thanks be
to God indeed.
+++++
From the SALT Project, who published this: A
big SALT thank you to Heidi Carrington Heath, pastor, queer, femme, amateur
runner, amateur politico, and Interim Director of Religious and Spiritual Life
at Phillips Exeter Academy for this lovely
essay.
Caroline
LENTEN RESOURCES
Lenten Book Study: Wednesdays 12:00-1:30 pm.
Join us for a book study each Wednesday in Lent from Noon to 1:30 p.m. Our discussion will follow a simple lunch of soup and salad. The book is Entering the Passion of Christ: A Beginner's Guide to Holy Week, by Amy-Jill Levine.
From the Amazon website:
In Entering the Passion of Jesus: A Beginner’s Guide to Holy Week, author, professor, and biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine explores the biblical texts surrounding the Passion story. She shows us how the text raises ethical and spiritual questions for the reader, and how we all face risk in our Christian experience.
The book’s six chapters include:
- Jerusalem: Risking Reputation
- The Temple: Risking Righteous Anger
- Teachings: Risking Challenge
- The First Dinner: Risking Rejection
- The Last Supper: Risking the Loss of Friends
- Gethsemane: Risking Temptation
Lent Madness 2020 The Eleventh Annual Saintly
Smackdown!
With its unique blend of competition, learning, and humor, Lent Madness allows participants to be inspired by the ways in which God has worked through the lives of saintly souls across generations and cultures. Throughout Lent, thirty-two saints will do battle to win the coveted Golden Halo. Based loosely on the NCAA basketball tournament of a similar name, this online devotion pits saints against one another in a bracket as voters choose their favorites throughout this penitential season.
TIPS FOR AVOIDING THE FLU OR CORONAVIRUS
From the Diocesan Office:
With
the regular flu season upon us, and increasing concerns about the possible
spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, the Diocese wishes to remind everyone about
mindful practices for hygiene to minimize the risk of contagious diseases in
churches. Here are some simple things you can do to help everyone:
Wash your hands frequently.
Sanitize hands before and after contact with others. Place containers of hand
sanitizer in the pews, near doors, and beside tissue boxes to be used when hand
washing is not possible.
If
you are not feeling well (even a little bit), stay home. You are not
helping any one by arriving at church with a cold or the flu to tough it out.
Clergy or lay ministers can bring the sacraments to shut-ins and/or provide
pastoral care by phone as appropriate. Substitutes can be found for Sunday
ministries.
The Peace — respectful acknowledgment of each other with no
physical contact. Parishioners who are coughing or sneezing should refrain from
handshaking during the Peace. Bowing to each other, friendly waves, and peace
signs are all perfectly acceptable substitutes for handshakes and hugs.
Make sure the Holy Eucharist is offered by individuals who have
cleaned their hands (and used hand sanitizer). Ask the altar guild to clean handrails
and the altar rail before and after each service.
Avoid intinction — the dipping of the bread into the wine — even by celebrants or
communion-administrators. Intinction is not a sanitary substitute for drinking
from the chalice. Intinction risks possibly unclean hands being dipped in the
wine and is thus an infection transmission route. It also creates risk for
those with certain allergies.
The shared communion cup. There is little evidence of risk of disease associated with the
shared communion cup, but each parishioner must make up their own minds about
its use.
Greeting the Ministers following the service should include conversation, but with no
physical contact.
Coffee Hour. All effort should be made to minimize the touching of food or
beverages. Food should be served by individuals who have washed their hands,
put on serving gloves, and are using tongs. Beverages should be served by
individuals who have washed their hands and are wearing gloves. Either paper
plates and napkins or a dishwasher with a water temperature setting hot enough
to kill germs should be used for cleanup.
It’s not too late to get your flu shot. While many are worried
about the COVID19 virus spreading, this is already a bad flu season. If people
have not gotten a flu vaccine, there’s still time before the expected second
wave of seasonal flu infections.
Additional information and
links may be found on the Episcopal Relief & Development web page, “Faith-Based Response to Epidemics.”
INTERFAITH PRAYER
INTERFAITH PRAYER VIGILS FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE
Please join us and participate in an important act of witness and solidarity. Interfaith Prayer Vigils and Jericho Walks take place on the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 9:00 am - 10:15 am at the Norris Cotton Federal Building, 275 Chestnut Street, Manchester. Upcoming Prayer Vigils and Jericho Walks are
Tuesdays, March 3rd and March 17th.
The walks’ name refers to the the biblical story which describes the walls of Jericho falling down after the Israelites marched around the city seven times. (Joshua 6:15-27) More information about the Jericho Walks can be found at https://www.afsc.org/blogs/news-and-commentary/bringing-down-walls-our-unjust-immigration-system.
If you would like to carpool please be in touch with Christi Humphrey, cchumphrey@comcast.net.
DINNER BELL
Dinner Bell cook teams for March are:
1st-Sandwich
8th-Rau
15th- Lewis
22nd -COOK TEAM NEEDED
31st-UUFES
Thank you for your volunteer
work in this special Outreach program!
SAFE CHURCH
If you are up for Safe Church Renewal
you must do your renewal modules on Armatus
then sign up for one of the following meetings online.
Safe Church Zoom Call
If you have questions, please contact Safe Church Minister, Marty Cloran.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
Come join us! Knitting skills not required.
1st and 3rd Wednesday morning at 10:15 a.m.
If you knit or crochet (or would like to learn how to) and are led to engaging in an outreach mission that provides physical and spiritual comfort to those in need, please join us on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month at 10:15 AM in the Prince Room. We are a joyous group that will keep you in stitches! The coffee and tea will be on and new members are always welcome. If you have any questions, please call Lin Frank at 323-0402.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Lent
We
need time, space, simplicity in our lives –
Enough bareness to discern the outline
of who we are
and
how we should live.
Let us use this Lent as a time of
peace and reflection,
in
which to withdraw from getting and spending
and
desiring,
and remember the love which holds us.
Lent is a time for clarity, as when
the bare boughs
of
winter show us the shape of the tree
in
austere beauty.
Let us clear away the clutter of our
lives in order to see
the
underlying pattern.
Monica Furlong, Prayer and Poems
COMMUNITY FOOD CENTER
FOOD CENTER
The monthly item for March is
FROM Deb IN THE OFFICE
I will be out of the office from February 25-March 5th having shoulder surgery on the 25th, followed by a period of recovery.
I will be looking for angels to help in the office during the month of March with bulletin assembly and maybe various other tasks that I would need a right arm for. If you can help please drop an email to the office or let Rev. Caroline know. Thank you in advance for you assistance.
Debra
Debra
MARCH BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES
If you do not see your birthday or anniversary listed, please make sure Deb in the office has an information sheet on file for you.
Birthdays
10 Susan Ines
13 Trudy Thompson
16 Caroline Hines
20 Albert Bunker
21 Chris Boldt
30 Kaitlyn Marshall, Barbara Lord
31 Claudia Kennedy
13 Trudy Thompson
16 Caroline Hines
20 Albert Bunker
21 Chris Boldt
30 Kaitlyn Marshall, Barbara Lord
31 Claudia Kennedy
PHOTO GALLERY
LINKS
