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February 13, 2013
The e-pistle
Your Weekly News Update from St. Stephen's
Join Our Mailing List
In This Issue
Art Show!
Swords Into Ploughshares
Youth Notes
Ash Wednesday Today
Lent Activities
Prosperity Center Seeks Spanish-Speaking Volunteer
Event Calendar
Service Times
Find us on Facebook
 



To The People of St. Stephen's

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Friends,    

 

As is often the case around here we have an abundance of concurring of events.  Just as Lent gets underway our Art Show happens the same weekend.  While one holds the message of slowing down, taking time to be silent with the Lord, the other is our St. Stephen's community at its most exuberant, celebratory over-the-topness (I won't suggest which is which!).  Lent is early this year; President's Day Weekend comes when it does.  And so it goes.  We say goodbye to the "A" word today, but our 8:30 mass this Sunday will be a celebration of creativity in its wondrous and joyous ways.

 

But that's the way life is.  Despite our efforts to confine things to a certain time or place, events have a funny way of taking off in a completely different direction.

 

Actually, that's the way God is.  Despite our best efforts to keep God contained in a tidy box of our own making, our own image God has a way of leaping out in the most surprising of ways.   

 

This Lent, as we do ultimately slow down (after the Art Show that is!) may we each stay open to discover the many ways God continues to surprise us.

 

In Christ's Love,  

 

Pastor Willie Allen-Faiella                                                                                       

It's Art Show Time!
Check it Out This Weekend



Visiting the church office means walking around huge bags of onions, stepping over tea room signs, and navigating stacks of building materials.  The Art Show staff and volunteers are out in the parking lots and under the oak trees marking off booth numbers on the asphalt and pine mulch. Our vendors will be setting up their booths tomorrow, and the artists will follow on Friday. The weather man is cooperating with predictions of good weather.  Let's all jump in and have a great time at the St. Stephen's Art Show on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday from 9 am to 6 pm.  Volunteer online to help!

Please don't forget, there will be one Mass only this Sunday - at 8:30 am. If you haven't been to this service yet, don't miss it this year.  The artists bring their art into the church to be blessed, and the whole service is infused with the creativity and joy of the day.  You'll find it easy to drive in early on Sunday, take part in the Mass, and stay to enjoy the show!

 

"Swords Into Ploughshares" on March 30 
Partnering with Miami Police

 

St. Stephen's is proud, in partnership with the Miami Police, to offer members of the wider community an opportunity to turn in firearms they no longer wish to own.  This is a voluntary, anonymous event, no questions asked.

 

Our first buy-back event will take place on Holy Saturday from 9 am - 1 pm in the McFarlane Road parking lot.  Gun owners will remain in their cars until escorted by an officer to have their firearms processed.  They will then receive cash or a gift certificate for either $50 or $100 depending on the size of the firearm.

 

We chose the date not because there's nothing else going on in Holy Week (!) but for the theological symbolism of a weapon's being turned in the day before we celebrate Christ's resurrection.

 

If you would like to help support this effort financially please contact Pastor Willie or call the parish office (305-448-2601).  

 

"...they shall beat their plowshares into swords and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not rise up against nation neither shall they study war any more" (Isaiah 2:4). 

 

Youth Notes

Lenten Offering to Establish Sunday School in the DR 

 

This Lent the children of St. Stephen's will have the opportunity to contribute to starting a Sunday School at Divina Providencia, the mission church in the Dominican Republic where we will be going on mission this coming summer.  If your child has not received a Hope Chest and a Lenten Giving Calendar, pick them up on Sunday, February 17 or contact Rev"d Jo-Ann.  Offerings may be returned on Easter Sunday, March 31.

 

T-Shirts On Sale, Profits to Benefit Our Youth 

 

St. Stephen's T-shirts are on sale again.  The 100% cotton shirts are red with white lettering and feature our Hearts of the Grove tree design both front and back. They are available in both children's and adult sizes. If you would like one the cost is $15.00.  Profits benefit the St. Stephen's youth group.  Contact Reverend Jo-Ann at [email protected] or 305-537-1297.  

 

Ash Wednesday is TODAY
Imposition of Ashes at noon and 7 pm

Ash Wednesday The distribution of ashes on Ash Wednesday comes from a ceremony of ages past. Christians who had committed grave faults were turned out of the church 46 days before Easter wearing hair shirts sprinkled with ashes made from the palms from the previous year. The penitents did not enter the church again until Maundy Thursday after having won reconciliation by forty days' penance and sacramental absolution. Later, all Christians, whether public penitents or not, came to receive ashes out of devotion as a sign of mourning and repentance.

Ash Wednesday services with imposition of ashes are being held on February 13 at 7 am, 8 am, noon, and 7 pm.

Also, at each Wednesday noon healing service during Lent, Father Stowe will conclude with brief meditations on "The Living Waters Within Us."

Lent Activities
Classes, Services, Meditations, Potlucks and More

lent Our Invest 2 classes during Lent will be entitled "Faithful Living, Faithful Dying." and will address some of the decisions Christians are called upon to make as the end of life approaches.

February 24 - An Episcopal View of Death and Dying, presented by the Rt. Rev. Calvin Schofield.

March 3 - An Introduction to Hospice Services, presented by the Rev. Jean Rocot Gay.

March 10 - Advance Directives/Estate Planning, presented by Mr. Charles Johnson.

March 17 - Planning your Funeral, presented by the Rev. Wilifred Allen-Faiella, Rector.

"Lent Madness" -  enjoy a Lenten discipline in the comfort of your own home while learning about some of our saints!  32 saints are in contention for the "Golden Halo."  Who will it be this year?  To join in the learning and fun click here. You can also read up on the saints in the running this year in Pastor Willie's new blog "Saintly Shenanigans."

"Who Says So?"  Encountering Our Scripture will be the topic of a five-week Wednesday evening potluck series starting February 27.  All sessions will be held in the Parish Center. The potluck supper will start at 6:30 pm and the program will start at 7 pm.  Please let us know if you need child care.

We will hold early Communion Instruction for children on five Friday Afternoons starting February 22, from 4 to 5:30.  Children from our church and school families will learn something of the history, manners and meaning of the meal which is central to our faith.  Father Michael Picou and Rev'd Jo-Ann Muirphy will teach classes for children in second grade or older.

At the noonday Mass on Wednesdays during Lent, hear words from scripture, pray for your own needs and those of others, receive laying-on-of-hands, join in Holy Communion, and sit quietly together for a few moments before the blessing and dismissal to listen to very brief meditations by Father Stowe on "The Living Water Within Us." 

For a listing of Lent and Holy Week services, please see the schedule at the end of this e-pistle.

Our Prosperity Center is Now Up and Running!
St. Stephen's Free Tax Prep Center Needs Your Help

Now in its third year of operations, the St. Stephen's Prosperity Center will remain open until the end of tax season.  Our IRS VITA certified volunteers prepare and e-file tax returns on behalf of area residents with household incomes under $50,000.

Please help spread the word about this FREE service.  We need your help to distribute fliers to those who may meet our income requirement.  We also invite you to like our Facebook page. Please download a flier from the page to send out by email.

Prosperity Center Facts
Location:  NEW Peacock Room off McFarlane Parking lot
Days & Hours of Operation:  Weekday evenings and Saturday Days
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Call 786 254 1910 or Email:  [email protected]

Upcoming Events
Don't Forget These Dates     

 

reminder

February 16, 17, and 18 - St. Stephen's Art Show!

March 3 - Gifford Lane Art Stroll, noon to 5 pm

March 9 - St. Patrick's Day Party, 5:30 pm

March 16 - School and Home Gala at 7 pm

March 24  - Palm Sunday:
                 8:00 Low mass and palms
                10: Blessing of palms and procession from the                            Barnacle
                 10:30 High mass and reading of Passion Narrative

See below for Holy Week services

   

At St. Stephen's All Are Welcome 

 
Sundays 
Said Mass at 8 am
Sung Mass with choir at 10:30 am,
with child care for children under 3
and Children's Chapel for children 7 and under  
Wednesdays
Healing Mass at noon in the side chapel.

Holy Week Services

Palm Sunday, March 24
10 am Procession from the Barnacle on Main Highway
10:30 am Mass in the Church

Maundy Thursday, March 28
7 pm Foot Washing and Stripping of the Altar
and
Vigil in the Garden from the conclusion of the Maundy Thursday
service until the noon Good Friday service

Good Friday, March 29
Noon Service with Communion from the Reserved Sacrament

The Great Vigil of Easter, March 30
7 pm, with Holy Baptism

Easter Day, March 31
8 am and 10:30 am Mass
Easter Egg Hunt for Children
 
 2750 McFarlane Road
Just west of Peacock Park
Coconut Grove
305.448.2601

Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 5