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Our Mission is to seek transformation in God's grace by worshipping God in prayer, song, and study; loving and serving our neighbor in and outside our parish Community; and being good stewards of God's creation.
Our Vision is to be a Mission-driven Episcopal congregation that by 2014 will be widely recognized as a vibrant, open, and inviting community, known for liturgically-centered worship and music, for lifelong learning, for pastoral presence and service to communities near and far, for good stewardship of our resources, and for celebration of our legacy as an historic church. |
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| From the Rector
The following is a sermon transcript from our guest celebrant, the Rev. Jess Petty |
 Fr. Andrew Stoessel
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A Sermon for 4th Easter, April 21, 2013
The Revelation to John barely made it
into the Canon of the New Testament—barely made it onto the list of books considered
authoritative in the life of the
Church. It is an apocalyptic book which
means that it deals with the last things—
with the end of the age—with the final moment of human history. It uses fantastic
images and dramatic metaphors in order
to describe what leads up to that moment.
The interpretation of the images is easily misread or distorted. And as you probably know, there are those who have
done just that, offering theories about the
final moment or its preliminaries—some
even going so far as to predict a date on
which the end will come. Others see the
symbolic language as describing actual
events in history in ways that are quite simply false and misleading. These
interpretations often reinforce individual
points of view, support particular agendas
or are designed to promote narrow ideologies
and understandings of reality.
The book dates from the year 95 which was a time when the Church was suffering persecution at the hands of the Roman government, under the leadership of the Emperor Domitian. Thus the book, understandably, has a rather negative attitude
toward authority. Even though it uses very derogatory images in expressing this attitude and it offers a description of Armageddon, the final battle of good against evil. Its main purpose is to strengthen the faith and resolve of the beleaguered Christian community.
On a more positive note, it offers a vision of the future that is meant to help
people deal with the uncertainty, pain and
evil of the present moment. Thus we are
brought to its relevance to us today—on
the Fourth Sunday of Easter—almost one
week after the bombings that marked the
end of innocence for the Boston Marathon—and again, perhaps, for many of us.... Read more in the Newsletter |
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REMINDERS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Organ Recital now a Benefit Concert
John "Jack" Russell, the next performer in our Organ Recital Series, is donating proceeds from his upcoming May 19th concert to The One Fund Boston. The One Fund Boston assists with
the enormous costs of medical and
trauma treatment of those more than
170 persons injured as a result of the
Boston Marathon bombings. Click on the Bach & Friends image at left to see the complete poster, or click here to read a performer's biography. See his program here.
Rogation Day Planting
This Sunday May 19, the Church School will be celebrating Pentecost with a Rogation Day. While the plantings that beautify our grounds are "gracefully and magically accomplished" by Church School children during the 10:00 am service, we do rely on help from parents. Contact Aileen Ryder or Sue Cool for more information—especially if you would like to contribute flowers and/or gardening tools.
Building Hopes for 300th Anniversary
On display in the Parish Hall are six sketches of possible additions and renovations to the St. Michael's campus to enhance the mission and ministries of the parish. We welcome your questions, comments, or suggestions! Please submit in the yellow box next to the display.
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Wed 5/15
9:30 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II
10:30 am Bible Study
Sat 5/18
10:30 am
Confirmations: The Cathedral of St. Paul, Boston
Sun 5/19 Day of Pentecost, Whitsunday
8:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I
9:00 am Thrift Shop meeting
9:30 am Church School (Rogation Sunday plantings)
10:00 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II
5:00 pm Organ Recital Series: John Russell performs
Wed 5/22
9:30 am Holy Eucharist, Rite II
10:30 am Bible Study
Thu 5/23
7:30 pm Lobster Lunch Cooordinating meeting
All interested are invited to attend! Contact co-chairs Linda Smidt, Barbara Miller, or David Bittermann with any questions.
Mon 5/27 Memorial Day
Office closed
Tue 5/28
6:00 pm
Middle School Supper Club
Click here for more details and events
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Download our latest edition here (PDF):
May 2013
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