From the Rector
As you know, prayer is the center of our congregation, however some clarification is necessary to understand for whom we pray and when we pray for them.
There are three avenues to our prayer. The most obvious are the intercessions on Sunday morning. At that time we pray for those who are or have been members of our congregation: those who are ill or recovering from surgery; those who celebrate birthdays or wedding anniversaries; and those who have died. We get most of this information from our data bank, so it is very important that your anniversary dates are accurate. If we pray for you on the wrong date, please call the parish office so that we can correct this.
A second avenue is the prayer sheet on the table in the back of the church. While it is too long to include all those names in our Sunday morning prayers, Deacon Pat, any one else who comes, and I pray those prayer requests every weekday at Morning Prayer. So if you have someone for whom you want the church’s prayers, kept writing their first name on that prayer list each week. If possible, it is also nice to let that person know that we are praying for him/her. It makes a big difference to many people.
Finally, there is a group in our congregation who has formed a ‘prayer chain’. When you or someone you care for needs prayer, please call the parish office with the name of the person, and the reason for your request. From that point a large chain of people will be notified and that person will be included in their individual prayers. This is a powerful activity and I commend all those involved with this group. I especially want to thank Suzanne Taylor for keeping this prayer list up to date. If you wish to become part of this prayer chain, please call the parish office.
I have experienced the power of prayer in my own life and in the life of others. Please keep our congregation and our community in your prayers.
James+
The Woman behind Thanksgiving Day
Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, for 40 years the editor of "Godey's Lady's Book," the mother of all magazines for women, was responsible for our observance of Thanksgiving Day.
In 1846 Mrs. Hale, a widow with five children, began her campaign to have Thanksgiving Day established as a national holiday. Some individual states listened to her and acted, but the Federal Government ignored her pleas for 17 years.
In 1863 Abraham Lincoln heeded Mrs. Hale, and the result was the first Thanksgiving proclamation by a president since George Washington.
(Mrs. Hale not only edited a magazine, not only raised children as a single parent, not only was responsible for Thanksgiving's being recognized as a national holiday, she also wrote the poem, "Mary Had a Little Lamb!")
A Collect For Thanksgiving
Almighty and gracious Father, we give thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them.
Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
AMEN.
Sunday School at St. Stephen’s
It’s hard to believe that the kids meet just one time a week for an hour or less. Many, many things are happening, many stories are being told, many crafts are being made and many songs are being sung. For preschoolers through 6th grade, our focus is on the Old Testament, the foundation of our faith. We will soon move to the New Testament as we learn about Advent and celebrate Christmas. The Youth Group (middle school and high school) has been discussing symbols and icons. They went to Mark Bayer’s studio where he creates icons. Mark is an iconographer. He took the time to describe the symbolism in icons and how they are painted. We thank Mark and his wife, Galina, for welcoming the Youth Group into their home!
The 4th-6th graders were helping with the stole that we are making for Deacon Pat the last weeks of October. In November, it will be time for the preschool, kindergarteners and 1st-3rd graders to make their contribution. The end of November all of the children will be learning about deacons and how they can be “a deacon for a day.” Thank you to Karen Smith and Stacy DeBritz who are working with the kids and the sewing machine to create the Deacon’s stole.
The Youth Group is planning their Work Camp Thank You dinner, which will be held on November 17th at 6 PM. There's always good food and great entertainment!!
Dates to mark on the calendar:
11/4/07: Our church will be celebrating All Saints’ Day.
11/11/07: The preschool and kindergarten group will be meeting from 9:00-10:00am for a special class. During the 10:15 service, we will enjoy Jazz Sunday.
11/17/07: Work Camp Thank You Dinner at 6:00 PM in the Parish Hall.
12/9/07: We will be celebrating Deacon Pat’s 25 years as Deacon!
Future activities will include practice and presentation of the Christmas Program. The program is being created by Ben Boese and Tom Casale with Allison de Kanel and Peter Nelson as coaches. We will have more details in mid-November.
Church school continues every Sunday. It is never too late to join us.
1st-6th grade meet in the Community Room at 9:00am. Preschool and
kindergarten meet after the Children’s Sermon during the 10:15 service in
the basement classroom. The Youth Group meets after the 10:15 service at
Reid House (next door to the church on Garner Ave). If you have any
questions or concerns, please ask. My church email is laura@saintstephenschenectady.org.
The church number is 346-6241. My home phone is 377-0626.
Laura Davis
Why did I get two copies?
If you receive duplicate mailings from the church, it is because we need 200 pieces
to qualify for bulk rate mailing which is much cheaper than first class. Contrary to
public opinion, these doubles and triples are not because I have entirely
lost it.
Kathy Miller
Memorial Book Update
A Memorials Committee has been formed. The first item on their agenda is to update the Memorial Book. Fr. James, will lead this group and he requests that anyone having information about 'memorials' to the church call him as soon as possible. The committee is updating the information so that names can be entered into the Memorial Book in the case located in the Narthex.
If someone is a calligrapher, your skill is needed in entering new names into the Memorial Book. This will be your chance to make a lasting mark on St. Stephen's.
The committee is also taking suggestions for memorials to the church. If
you have ideas on how we might commemorate the contributions of those who
have died from our parish, please see Fr. James. A list of appropriate
memorials and a policy concerning the giving of memorials is being
developed.
AGAPE - Let’s Keep it Going
When? November 9th, 6:00 PM Rocky Bonsal will show us (some of) the 900 slides he took on his trip on the schooner Sea Cloud II
Where? The Parish Room
Who? Anyone and Everyone!
(Sorry - no child care, but children are, as always, welcome)
Please Bring
- Pot luck dish
- Own Plate
- Own Utensils
Questions? Call Pauline Holmes
Leading Restaurants Fear Lost Business
Yes, believe it! Each year at this time, when the area’s finer restaurants learn that the St. Stephen’s youth group is preparing to serve another of their 5.5 star meals, these eating establishments begin planning to lay off staff and serve only water and crackers – the competition is simply too fierce!
So mark your calendars, sharpen your appetites, and plan to arrive early to beat the crowds and the traffic – Saturday night, November 17, at 6 PM, the youth group will hold a dinner to thanks the parish for helping pay for last summer’s workcamp trip.
Amazing food! Luscious desserts! Thrilling stories! Heart-stopping suspense!
What more could an evening provide?
MISSION, MINISTRY, STEWARDSHIP and THE REAL WORLD
MISSION is the work of God. The words "whole" and "holy" share a common root -- and both have to do with being in synch with God, with one another and with all creation. This is what St. Paul said God's work was -- wooing us to want to be in synch... Paul called God's work (God's mission) a work of reconciliation... getting back in synch. God invites us to be partners with God in this work/mission.
MINISTRY is the work of men and women. Whatever work or service we undertake in God's name to heal broken relationships, to get God's creation in synch, is called ministry. The Greek root means "service."
Ministry happens, for example...
...when a child is helped to understand she is lovable...
...when a person is shown how his story connects with God's Story...
...when a person praises God...
...when a hungry person is fed...
...when a thirsty person is given a drink...
...when a powerless person is empowered...
...when a person's dignity is restored...
...when God's Word is proclaimed...
...when people meet to study God's word and to reflect on their lives...
...when a parish addresses a community problem...
STEWARDSHIP is a way of life. When mission (God's work) and ministry (our works) get more and more in synch, we *get a life* wherein not 10%, not 50%, but 100% of our time, talent, and resources at the service of God's mission. We begin to live consciously and intentionally in the really real world.
THE REAL WORLD is home. In the course of our life's journey, before we discover where home is, most of us live in and between two worlds. One is the real world in which God is making us whole. The other is a counterfeit ruled by our economy rather than God's. During life's journey, we wrestles with which world to choose as *our* real world.
What we have been conditioned to consider the real world, however, is a world of delusion. That is the world in which we have been conditioned to invest so much of our time, energy, talent, and resources.
The depth of our stewardship depends upon which world we choose to live in. If we choose the world of delusion, our stewardship will be limited to what is left over after our time, talent, energy and resources have been sacrificed to strange gods. If we choose the world where God wants to make us whole, then our whole selves -- 100% of our time, talent, energy and resources -- will be devoted to our partnership with God in mission and ministry.
The difference between being in one world or the other may be likened to
the difference between "believing that" and "believing in." Picture someone
pushing a wheelbarrow across a tightrope, high above. If you "believe
that," you watch from below and perhaps bet $10 -- some small percentage --
that the person will make it across. If you "believe in," you put yourself
in the wheelbarrow. Stewardship is the spiritual discipline, which
determines whether "I believe" means "I believe in" or "I believe that."
