LITURGY OF THE WORD 

Sunday, January 31, 2016: Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
First Lesson: Jeremiah (1:4-10)
Psalm 71:1-6, Page 683, BCP
Second Lesson (Paul's Epistle: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke (4:21-30)
Sermon By The Rev. Tracy Johnson Russell

Sunday, January 24, 2016: Third Sunday After Epiphany
First Lesson: Nehemiah (8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10)
Psalm 19, Page 606, BCP
Second Lesson: (Paul's Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:12:12-31a)
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke (4:14-21)
Sermon By The Rev. Tracy Johnson Russell

Sunday, January 17, 2016: Second Sunday After Epiphany
First Lesson: Isaiah (62:1-5)
Psalm 36:5-10, Page 620, BCP
Second Lesson: (Paul's Epistle: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11)
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to John (2:1-11)
Sermon By The Rev. Tracy Johnson Russell

Sunday, January 10, 2016: First Week After Epiphany
First Lesson: Isaiah (43:1-7)
Psalm 29, Page 620, BCP
Second Lesson: (Acts 8:14-17)
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke (3:15-17, 21-22)
Sermon By The Rev. Tracy Johnson Russell

Sunday, January 3, 2016: Second Sunday After Christmas
First Lesson: Jeremiah (31:7-14)
Psalm 84:1-8, Page 805, BCP
Second Lesson: (Paul's Epistle Ephesians 1:3-6, 15-19a)
The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to Luke (2:41-52)
Sermon by The Ann Perrott, Ministry Intern

NEWS AND EVENTS  

                                                                                                                                          









Sermons Of The Rev. Tracy Johnson Russell

To hear the sermons of The Rev. Johnson Russell CLICK HERE

St. Monica's Website

To visit St. Monica's website CLICK HERE.
 
Directions To St. Monica's

For driving directions to St. Monica's, 3575 Main Street, Hartford CLICK HERE
 
From The Desk of  the Priest-In-Charge

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalms 51:10, ESV)
Each new year comes with fresh starts, more resolutions and new beginnings. It is a time for making plans, setting goals and writing visions. But, did you know that the greatest "new start" of all comes through Jesus Christ. Second Corinthians 5:17 tells us, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come."

So, my friends, if you need a new beginning this year in any area of your life, allow Christ to make a new creation, and the old will pass away! He will put a new and right spirit within!

Start this year off on the right foot, by making your relationship with God your top priority by engaging in daily prayer and the study of God's Word, and you will experience the joy of newness of life!

Blessings!

Rev. Tracy

Inclement Weather
During inclement weather, St. Monica's will hold one service at 11:00 a.m. Please check your email and local news stations for service announcements.

Wednesday Bible Study

Wednesday Bible Study will resume Wednesday, January 13, 2016 at 6:00 p.m. We will study the Book of Hebrews.

Annual Reports

Annual Reports for 2015 are due Sunday, January 10, 2016

Christmas Feeding

A special thanks to everyone who helped make the Christmas Feeding so successful. Your commitment and support is always appreciated. God's Blessings for a joyous New Year!

Birthdays And Anniversaries In January

Happy Birthday to: Jessica Hurdle and Mary Pinnock 1st; Christine Hurdle 5th;  Cynthia Timoll 7th; Doreen Radway 9th; Jennie Dixon 12th and Tyreik Noel 12th; Winston Anderson, Eloy Toppin; Lorraine Gomes 24th; Floyd Wyche and Mary Pinnock 28th; Lauren Toppin 30th; Barbara Neals 31st.

Happy Anniversary to: Lewis and Cynthia Timoll; Floyd and Claudia Wyche.

In Memory Of: Auvita McKenzie and Edward Baisden 1st; Iris Fuller and Delores Johnson 2nd; George Cambridge and Enid Emanuel 5th; William Powell 6th; Elise Coley and Basil Wollaston 8th; Carlton Hickson 9th;  Gladys Thompson 10th; James King and Ruth Colvin 11th; Benjamin Banks 13th; Ivan Brown 114th; Winston Linton; Elliott Glendon and Emmett Greene 15th;
Christiana Rose 17th; Donald Phillips and Leon Russell 18th;  Solon Taylor 19th; Silas Hill 20th; Norman Leyhow 22nd; Joseph Pannell 23rd; Lillian Brewster and William Seymour 24th; Richard Bailey 25th; Raymond Countryman 26th; Harold Taylor, Bessie Johnson, Lloyd Henry and Florence McWillie 27th; William Smith 30th; Franks Davis, Jr. 31st.

Family of Nancy Bailey
The family of Nancy Bailey would like to thank our St. Monica's Family for the calls, cards and other expressions of love. Our hearts are full with joy for the life of our mother/grandmother, and for the legacy of faith she instilled in each of us. thank you, The 
bailey/Green Families.

Family of  George Hudson
The St. Monica's Church family extends our heartfelt sympathies to the family of George Hudson. May his soul and all the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace.

Vestry Members

Cyrus Aimey (Junior Warden), Winston Barnaby, Walter Benjamin (Senior Warden), Marie Brown-Harvey (Secretary), April Carter, Evelyn Green, David Hickmon, Stephanie Lightfoot, A. Bates Lyons, Joseph Noel, Evelyn Stewart, Terrie Thomas. Geraldine Williams.

Music

Rochelle Holder - Youth Choir

Nathaniel Baker - Music Director/Organist

Rector Emeritus

Canon Cyril Burke

Email

monicahartford@gmail.com

ITEM OF INTEREST















 

Preference to the First Book of Common Prayer (1549)
This preface written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer as a rational for the revision of the liturgical rites for Daily Office has been included in subsequent prayer books, perhaps because it is an eloquent expression of the theology undergirding the Anglican practice of common prayer.  

Cranmer notes first that the offices of prayer were "not ordained, but of a good purpose, and for a great advancement of godliness (BCP 866)-thus establishing the ground for revision of these prayers of the church rather seeing them as divinely ordained and unchangeable. He then goes on to recognize that "this godly and decent order of the ancient fathers" had been so "altered, broken, and neglected" that the daily offices from the early church stood in need of restoration and revision. 

Cramer further notes that although there must be "some rules" for an ordering of common prayer, these rules should be "few in number" and they should be "plain and easy to be understood" (BCP 866). And "all things shall be read and sung in the church in the English tongue, to the end that the congregation may be thereby edified".

Finally, in his preface Cranmer addresses the reluctance many of us have to embrace changes in the words and manner of our prayers. We too find it comforting to pray in ways that are familiar, when we can "say many things by heart". And yet he believes the great "profit in knowledge' gained by making such revisions to the prayer book are well worth the pain involved, and he trusts that the value of having a single book for common prayer will far outweigh the cost.

Source: Vicki K. Black, Welcome to the Book of Common Prayer. Morehouse Publishing Publishing: Harrisburg, PA, 2005, pp.138, 139. 

THE BOOK CORNER

Lionel: A Century of Timeless Toy Trains
by Dan Ponzol

The Lionel to company celebrates its one hundredth  year of supply the children (and adults) of the country with toy trains, settings and accessories. Lionel trains are famous world-wide and the favored collectibles of legions of fans and collectors of all ages. In Lionel: A Century Of Classic Toy Trains, ardent and knowledgeable collect Dan Ponzol provides a wealth of detailed information on specific sets, rare models, a history of the company, wonderfully illustrated  throughout with reproduced images from legendary catalogs and Lionel train adds, as well as representative models from his own expansive collection. This coffee table showcase book is a "must" for all true Lionel train fans.
Review by Midwest Book Review