St. Stephen's Weekly Touchstone
 
September 6, 2011
 
The Week Leading up to The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
  

Thought of the Week

A couple of weeks back one of our vestry members stopped by the office to check on a couple of things and say hello. It was either the day before or the day of our earthquake. She remarked on how the topic of discussion for days, maybe even weeks, ahead was going to be all earthquakes all the time (my paraphrase). Little did we know that we would be canceling church not because of aftershocks or structural damage, but instead due to the promise of high winds and the threat of flooding. In a short amount of time everyone's focus shifted to Irene, and we find ourselves still working to recover. I'm reminded of shark week in early September 2001. Everyone was worried at that time about just how many shark bites there had been, and then on the morning of September 11 everyone's focus shifted swiftly and tragically to the unthinkable events of that early fall day.

 

You see, everything can change, and quickly at that. With this in mind I can begin to imagine what Peter and the other disciples felt a few short days after Jesus had been proclaimed the Messiah in their midst, on that Thursday evening when Jesus was arrested, and then unbelievably sentenced to death. I'm sure they had started to picture the coming headlines before that tragedy struck: Messiah Found: Return of God's Reign on the Way. But everything was turned upside down. Then something new happened, the tomb was empty, Jesus was resurrected. You see, the promise of hope is not just that things will go back to how they were before the tragedy (though I'm sure you are all happy to have power back), the promise of hope is that the world can be, actually will be transformed...that we will be made new regardless of what tragedy strikes. When I think of 9/11 I pay little mind to those tragic figures who so misunderstood God's will that they selfishly hurt others...instead I think of the brave people who tried to help those in need. I think of the people who came from all over the world to help clean up and seek out people in need and/or support those doing such valiant work. When I think of Irene, I think of people at the rectory eating and laughing together and people taking turns showering.  This is the Good News. This is the truth that serenades us as the choir sings Alleluias at Easter. This is the joy of being able to serve others in our outreach programs. This is the Truth that transforms our lives into living breathing examples of triumph as good trumps evil.  Thank God for the transformative power of the Gospel.

 

See you in Church!

Fr. Josh
Pictures of the Week
The flyer from the library as our concert on September 22 is an offering to the community here at St. Stephen's.
This organ console is one of the places from which James Turner, our Music Director, Organist and the Conductor for the concert and Preston Smith our guest Organist and Pianist will perform along with more than 30 other musicians including people from our Choir and the The Renaissance Vocal Ensemble.
 
We hope you can join us for this special event!
 
Special Announcement
 
 St. Stephen's Church, Armonk
presents
 

 FAURÉ

 REQUIEM

 

  Baritone ~ Howard Davies
 Conductor ~ James Turner
 Soprano ~ Claire Turner
 Piano ~ Preston Smith
 
  Also featuring
 Organ Music
 Organists ~ Preston Smith & James Turner
 
and
 
The Renaissance Vocal Ensemble
 ~
 Thursday, September 22, 2011
 at 8:00pm
~
 St. Stephen's Church,
 50 Bedford Road, Armonk, New York 10504
 Free Admission

Weekly Announcements

 

TREASURES OPENING

Treasures opened this morning for their 43rd Year!   Please stop by and see all the items that are for sale! Treasures hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 10 - 2 PM. You may drop off donations during shop hours or call 273-2051 to schedule other arrangements.

 

VESTRY MEETING TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

The Vestry will meet next Tuesday evening, September 13th at 7:30 in the Bethany Room.

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 CONCERT OF CHORAL AND ORGAN MUSIC Please join us here in church at 8pm on Thursday, September 22, for a performance of Fauré's Requiem by our greatly expanded choir. The concert will also include organ music from our guest organist and accompanist, Preston Smith, and choral items sung by The Renaissance Vocal Ensemble.

 

FALL SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE SCHEDULE RESTARTS SEPTEMBER, 18th

On September 18th we will go back to our 10 am service.

 

SATURDAY EVENING SERVICE TO MOVE TO SUNDAY EVENING

In lieu of our Saturday Evening Services, we will be starting a Sunday Evening Service at 5:30, and September 18th will be our first Sunday Evening Service.

 

BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS

Because many of our young people will be running the race across the street on Sunday morning September 18th, we will be Blessing the Backpacks at the Evening Service on the 18th and immediately following the service we will be having our Welcome Back to St. Stephen's Fall Cookout. If you wish to donate a side dish or dessert, a sign up sheet is on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall.

 

COLLECTING SCHOOL SUPPLIES

We will once again be collecting for Dr. Todd Herold's foundation and we ask that you bring in school supplies for children of the Dominican Republic by September 18th. For more information about where the supplies go, visit Dr. Herold's foundation website, www.chiromission.org.

 

SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN WILL BEGIN ON SEPTEMBER 25th

Sunday school for the children will begin at 10:00. Please meet downstairs in the Sunday school classrooms prior to Services on September 25th.  

 

New Adult Education Topic:  Stained Glass Does it all.

Stained glass can set a mood.  It can tell a story.  It can be purely decorative or can be dedicated in someone's honor.  There are symbols and there are statements.  There are stories and there are themes.  Some eras are better than others and some examples are beautiful beyond words.  I hope you can join us as we talk about and look at lots of examples.  At the culmination of our windowed journey, we will be visiting the Union Church of Pocantico Hills here in Westchester to see their Mattise and Chegall windows.  Class starts Sept. 25 at 9 am in the Bethany Room.

 

FRIENDSHIP SUPPER

The Desmarais Family has graciously offered to host the next Friendship Supper on Friday, September 30th at 7pm. Please join us at their home at 26 Deer Creek Lane, Mt. Kisco. Please RSVP to Laura Johnson at ljohnson6@metlife.com.
                                          Weekly Readings
 

 

Our first reading of the week will be Exodus 14:19-31

See the reading here:   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=182326477

 

Our second reading of the week will be Matthew 18:21-35

See the reading here:   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=182328255
 Sunday Servers 
 

Ushers:   TBA

Reader:  Carolyn Billet

Flower Guild:  Peggy Corey

Sunday Iced Tea on the Lawn:  Lunder

Saturday Refreshments on the Lawn:   Tokunaga

For any questions or needs, you may contact Fr. Josh Condon;  office - 914-273-3812, rectory - 914-273-4570, cell phone - 917-753-1997 or by e-mail:  jcondon.ststephens@gmail.com. You can also contact MaryBeth Weisner in the office at office.ststephens@gmail.com.