Parish Health Ministries
Marian's departure from St. James has left us with a gap in our Parish Health Ministry programs. Many people possess ideas about what steps the parish should take in terms of continuing this important aspect of our church's life. However, this sudden change does not necessarily require an urgent and potentially misguided solution(s). There are many meaningful factors for us to consider.
We will continue to accomplish some of the tasks that our parish nurse accomplished. Fr. Jim will visit parishioners who cannot come to worship and/or receive the sacraments over the coming weeks. Moreover, the Episcopal Church Women (ECW) members and other parishioners will continue to routinely visit and speak with our members who are shut-in or ill.
We are blessed with many gifted nurses and health care providers as well as people who wish to be trained in Friendly Visitor and Lay Eucharistic Minister programs. There are additionally many stakeholders who are involved in this decision making process, especially the faithful members who benefit from our health ministry programs and offerings.
We will be contacting the Episcopal Retirement Home's Parish Health Ministry Office to seek their advice as well as meet with our nurses, parishioners, and program participants to solicit feedback and suggestions. Here's an invitation to talk with one of the vestry members after church to let them know your thoughts. The vestry will consider in the coming weeks the best future steps for us a as parish to take so that everyone can be as spiritually, physically, and mentally fit as possible. |
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Holy Week (Apr. 4-8) Worship Calendar
 Holy Wednesday Eucharist - 12 Noon
Maundy Thursday - Foot Washing, Eucharist, and Stripping of the Altar - 7 PM
Fr. Jim would like to see if there's any interest in offering a Maundy Thursday Prayer Vigil as a response for Jesus' request to remain with him in prayer during his hours of torment in the Garden of Gethsemane. Speak with him if you would like to participate and/or help to create the Sacred Space. The hours of vigil will preferably be from 9 pm till 12 midnight and from 4 am till 8 am on Good Friday morning.
Good Friday Eucharist - 12 Noon
Ecumenical Worship Service - 7 PM (Westwood First Presbyterian Church)
Easter Vigil - Saturday (with Baptisms) @ St. Luke - 7 PM
Easter Sunday - 10 AM
Invite your friends and family to celebrate the Church's most meaningful week of the year and some of the Episcopal Church's finest worship services.
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| Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ
 "But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."Nicodemus' nighttime visit with Jesus reminds me of how often Christian people struggle to comprehend Christ's teachings. Nicodemus seeks, like us, to better understand how he can gain everlasting life. Jesus responds by saying that such life is obtained through the Holy Spirit's "pneuma" presence and animation in a person's life. I re-learned an important lesson about how to live a more meaningful spiritual life. One of the points that Hugh O'Doherty constantly drove home at last week's Clergy Leadership Project conference is this: People only take responsibility for those things that they help to create. Life with the Holy Spirit is not a passive activity. It's not something that simply happens through baptism and/or a confession of faith. We have to seek for it as Nicodemus did. We have to move away from the darkness of past wounds, present sorrows, and readily apparent evil into the light and breath of God's "pneumatic" love. I'd like to think that Nicodemus departed from his initial meeting with Jesus by beginning a pilgrimage to draw closer to God through Christ's love and Word. Such efforts would have provoked him to continue his Pharisaic studies of Torah and the Law in new ways. Scripture suggests that Nicodemus defended Jesus during one of of our Lord's persecutions. Tradition also holds that  he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in taking Jesus' lifeless body down from the cross and placing it in a new tomb. His example demonstrates that letting go of one's principles in order to become a more deeply grounded spiritual person and a better disciple of Jesus the Christ is often sadly costly and perhaps even provocative.The remainder of this Lenten Season and the approaching solemn days of Holy Week will offer all of us many opportunities to ponder the questions of our faith even as we draw nearer to Jesus the Christ through his passion and resurrection.
Blessings Along The Way, Jim+ |
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| Name Tags
We are very fortunate to have many guests worshiping with us on Sundays. We're also blessed to have quite a few new members who are actively participating in St. James' life and programs. That's very cool!
Newcomers and new members offer us a rich opportunity to get to know one another better. It's easier to do so if we know each other's name. Thus, here's an open invitation for all of us to wear our name tags during worship services, coffee hour, Community Supper, and at other gatherings. If you are new and don't have a nametag, contact Deborah so that we can get one made for you.
 Also, please stay tuned for more information about our new 2012 parish directory. We'll be adding people to the roster as well as taking a closer look at the individuals and families who are on the current directory to make sure our records are current. Please contact Deborah if you need to be added to our directory records or if you need to update your membership information. Thanks!
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Thank you Letter
We received a lovely thank you letter from The Rt. Rev. Jean Zache Duracin, Bishop of Haiti. He thanks us for our financial support to rebuild Trinity Cathedral in Port Au Prince. You can read his letter here.
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