Sunday, May 13, 2012

LITURGY OF THE WORD AND WEEKLY READINGS






Sunday, May 27, 2012: The Feast Of Pentecost-Whitsunday
The Rev. Dr. Marjorie Jones was our guest speaker

First Lesson: (Acts 2:1-21)
Psalm 104:25-35, 37, Page 736
Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (Romans:22-27)
The Holy Gospel Of Our Lord Jesus Christ According To John (15:26-27; 16:1-4b)
Suggested Readings For The Week
Monday Matthew 12:22-32; Tuesday Matthew 12:33-42; Wednesday Matthew 12:43-50; Thursday Hebrews 3:1-6; Friday Matthew 13:31-35; Saturday Matthew 13:36: -43

Sunday, May 20, 2012: Seventh Sunday Of Easter
First Lesson: (Acts 1:15-17, 21-26)
Psalm 1, Page 585 BCP
Second Lesson: John's 1st Epistle (5:9-13)
The Holy Gospel Of Our Lord Jesus Christ According To John (17:6-19)
Suggested Readings For The Week
Monday Matthew 8:5-17; Tuesday Matthew 8:18-27; Wednesday Matthew 8:28-34; Thursday Matthew 9:1-8; Friday Matthew 9:9-17; Saturday Matthew 9:18: -26

Sunday, May 13, 2012: Sixth Sunday Of Easter, Gift Day And Mothers Day
First Lesson: (Acts 10:44-48)
Psalm 98, Page 727, BCP
Second Lesson: John's 1st Epistle (5:1-6)
The Holy Gospel Of Our Lord Jesus Christ According To John (15:9-17)
Suggested Readings for the Week
Monday Matthew 13:1-16; Tuesday Matthew 13:18-23; Wednesday Matthew 24:41-46; Thursday Matthew 28:16-20; Friday Matthew 7:22-27; Saturday Matthew 7:28-8-4

Sunday, May 6, 2012: Fifth Sunday Of Easter
Fr. Davidson is away on Continuing Education and vacation. Bishop Coleridge is our celebrant and Preacher.

First Lesson: (Acts 8:26-40)
Psalm 22:24-30, Page 612 BCP
Second Lesson: John's 1st Epistle (4:7-21)
The Holy Gospel Of Our Lord Jesus Christ According To John (15:1-18)
Suggested Readings For The Week
Monday Luke 4:16-30; Tuesday Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; Wednesday Matthew 6:19-24; Thursday Matthew 6:25-34; Friday Matthew 7:1-12; Saturday Matthew 7:1, 3-21.



NEWS AND EVENTS







The Rev. Dr. Marjorie Jones And Independence Celebration Of Guyana
On Sunday, May 27, 2012 we celebrated the Independence of the Republic of Guyana. Our guest speaker was The Rev. Dr. Marjorie Jones, a Guyanese. She is a Professor of Education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is an Associate Minister at the Historic Charles Street A.M.E. Church. The Rev. Dr. Jones serves as Director of Christian Education and for the past sixteen years she has facilitated "Sister to Sister, a weekly women's Bible study group. She is married to Compton Jones, has four adult children and four grandchildren.

From The Desk Of The Rector
Thank you to the vestry and congregation for allowing me to do my continuing education. It was a refreshing time of reminding ourselves of our ministry as ordain clergy and the effectiveness and relevancy in 2012 and beyond. It was obvious to us that we have the same old issues as well as issues that confront us today that we must seek the guidance of God in understanding and interpreting for our congregations.

Annual Mother's and Father's Dinner and Program
We thank the Young People's Fellowship for sponsoring the Annual Mother's and Father's Dinner and Program. Thanks also to the members who selected the menu and prepared the food.

The food was delicious and the program was inspiring and uplifting. It was a delightful way to spend the day. The following are the Young People's Fellowship members:

Javanna Elliott, Cotdell Tuning, Tyrek Noel, Camry Brown, Connor Elliott, Raven Reaves-Jackson, Elijah Elliott, Jason Harvey, Taylor Thomas, Taylor Jordan-Blue, Camry Brown, Yasmine Nahounou and Cameron Jones.

Patronal Festival
On Sunday, May 13, 2012 we celebrated our Patronal Festival. Monica is our patron saint; a woman of persistent prayers and a strong confidence in God, who can change individuals and situations. 108 years reminds us that God has always been with us and will continue so to do. We must recognize the signs of the times and be proactive. We thank God for the past and we pledge in our time to be creative and innovative as we look afresh at our church, its ministries and its relevance in 2012.

As we celebrate Monica we remember the women of our church, local and worldwide. The caring nature of women has given our church a deep sense of never giving up and persisting in the face of all odds, with god as our guide. We thank God for our women and we pray that their work and witness with and for us will continue to show in even greater caring ministries as we move forward.

Food Pantry
Please continue to donate to the Ruth Small Food Pantry. Suggested items are canned or instant potatoes, canned meats (tuna, salmon, chicken(, canned sweet potatoes, soup, peanut butter,jelly and individual fruit cups. Thank you for your continued support.

Rescheduling Meetings
Fr. Davidson needs our cooperation if we wish to reschedule a meeting on Monday or Wednesday between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Fr. Davidson schedules interviews and pastoral counseling either before or after Prayer Meetings on Monday. He may also schedule interviews and pastoral counseling on Wednesday. He schedules events when there is no Bible Study. As a courtesy, please call Fr. Davidson to verify if he has anything schedule.

Activity Calendar
Weekly: 1) Mondays-Prayer meeting at 6:30 p.m. 2)Wednesday-Bible Study at 6:30 p.m.

Special Days (Weekly): 1) Wednesdays and Fridays-Food Pantry opens 10:00 a.m. to noon.
2) Every other thursday-Pro's and Con's task Force at 6:30 p.m.

Special Says (Monthly): First Thursday-Stewardship committee at 6:30 p.m. 2) Second Thursday-Vestry Meeting 6:30 p.m. 3) Third Tuesday- Women of Valier 4) Third and fourth Saturday opens at 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. 5) First Saturday-Episcopal Church women (ECW) at 12:00 noon.

Birthdays And anniversaries In May
Happy Birthday to: Constance King 1st; Dominique Dupuy 2nd; Gregory dupuy 3rd; Kathleen Register 5th; Gregory Hurdle 7th; Andre Barnaby 9th; Patricia bell 10th; Nancy Bailey 13th; Percy Nelson 14th; Lloyd Wimbish 19th; Ann Johnson and Gwendolyn Hall 20th; Jean Hylton 27th; Olive James and Marvin Jones 29th; Terry Brown and Beverly Watkins 31st.

Condolences
We announce the death of Janice Binion, president of St. Monica's Episcopal Church Women. Mrs. Binion, the wife of Fred Binion died Sunday, May 20, 2012. Our prayers go with her husband, her mother Johnsie Walker, her sister Jeanette and all other family members. May she rest in peace.

Happy Anniversary to: Mr. and Mrs. Barnaby 10th; Mr. and Mrs. Brown and Mr. and Ferguson.

In Memory for May
In Memory of: Victoria Naraine, Henry Allen and Matthew Walker 2nd; Garnet Farnes and James McMillan 3rd; Blanch Campbell, Eugene Bussey, Norma Martin, Charles Palmer, Joseph Pilgrim and errol Tripp 4th; Marcelyn Bowen 5th; Sebert Goldenblum and Ciela Oalvert 14th; Grace Michelle, Mathide Stevenson, Leveta Watson, Maxine Hilburn, Carrie Pilgrim and Julian Price 16th; Frank Robinson, william skeete, Howie Hattie and Rudolph Clarke 18th; James Willis 21st; Roy Soares and Earl White 22nd; Irma Reis 25th; Benjamin Taylor, Charlotte Gilmore and Victor Lambert 26th; Pearci Bastiany, Dora Hicks, Leon Miller and Eugene Simmons 27th; Patricia Gouch 30th; Edith White 31st.




ITEMS OF INTEREST








Pentecost
Pentecost is the Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter). It is a feast of the universal Church which commemorates the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ. Pentecost occurs on the ancient ancient Jewish festival called Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22 and Deuteronomy 16:10). For many centuries, Pentecost was known in the English speaking world as Whitsunday (White sunday) because, though the vestments were red, candidates for baptism were dressed in white.

I Wonder
This is an occasional column that answers interesting questions.

Do Episcopalians leave church early?

"It's not that we can't, its just that we - don't.

Chalk it up to our English heritage, but few people seem to make a motion for the door until the last line of the last hymn is completed, and the deacon or priest gives his formal dismissal.

In fact, Episcopalian owe more than we're aware of of our deferential Anglican roots. As we know, all churches have distinctive aesthetic, or DNA. Some of our proclivities are seen in


*the polite distance we tend to give visitors;
*our hesitancy to talk about money;
*our aversion to any kind evangelism that would make someone feel uncomfortable;
*the particular gusto with which we sing our hymns;
*our desire to stick around until worship services are officially over."

Source: The Episcopal Handbook (New York, NY: Church Publishing 2008) p. 59.




THE BOOK CORNER
Dying To Be Me
By Anita Moorjani

Dying To Be Me is a moving story that is very well written. I couldn't put it down and read it cover to cover twice.

It is broken into three parts: 1. Her life leading up to and through the time or her illness; 2. Her near death Experience; 3. Her reflections of her experience after her NDE.

For Many years I have been interested in life beyond the physical time and space that we experience on this plane. Anita Moorjani does a wonderful job of describing this in her book. I have always felt that it's impossible to describe anything that is beyond our knowledge and word. She uses metaphors to put it into some perspective rather than trying to exactly express that which is beyond our limited frame of reference.

The book is valuable for many reasons. It is well written and easy to read. It addresses many aspects of her story with well documented facts. And I found it to be very encouraging for anyone who wants to live a full life. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to anyone.
Review by Sayres