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November 25, 2015
The e-pistle
Your Weekly News Update from St. Stephen's
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In This Issue
Happy Thanksgiving
We're sponsoring a refugee
Angel Tree up Sunday
Bishop Eaton to visit
Christmas Pageant
Casa Valentina
Christmas Trees on sale soon
A dear friend returns
Family Advent Wreath making
Noche Bueno
Moral Nature
A purse for Bishop Frade
EpiscoParrot
Event Calendar
Service Times
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To The People of St. Stephen's




Dear Friends, 

The second sentence of the St. Stephen's Church mission statement is:  "We seek out, invite, and welcome all people and encourage them to join us in a life of worship, mercy, justice, learning, and service."  Please read through all the articles in this e-pistle - you'll see that we are currently actively engaged in all five areas!

I also want to share with you an opportunity to make a difference in the wider world.  I will be attending this event next week and I invite you to join me.

The MCCJ - formerly "Miami Council of Christians and Jews, now broadened to a wider interfaith scope - is holding a forum titled "Can We Talk...?  Really, can we talk?"  As the information brochure says "In this 'post Charleston' era, how is our community addressing the challenges of inclusivity and equity?" There will be a panel discussion and a chance for frank dialogue.

Now, more than ever, our religious institutions must actively participate in advancing understanding and reconciliation among diverse groups.  As our country - and the world - continue to be torn asunder by racial, ethnic, political, and religious hatred, we disciples of Jesus Christ have a healing, reconciling voice, and now is the time to use it.

The meeting will be held:

Wednesday, December 2
6:30-9 p.m.
Miami Dade College Downtown 
Wolfson Campus Auditorium Rm 1261
300 NE 2nd Ave

Please contact me if you'd like to join me and I will add you to our reservation.  Admission is free but reservations are required.

In Christ's Love, 
 
Pastor Willie

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Share our feast; volunteer to help

 
As always, St. Stephen's will partner with others in our community to provide a Thanksgiving feast for all, right after the 10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day service on Thursday, November 26th, here in our Great Hall.

We need volunteers to bring already-cooked turkeys to the Great Hall this evening.  We also need food servers and other volunteers on Thanksgiving Day (tomorrow).  If you would like to volunteer or have questions, please call Alvaro Coraspe at 305 979 3703.

As is our long-standing tradition, we begin Thanksgiving Day with a Mass which we share with our friends from Christ Church.  The Mass begins at 10:30 a.m.  Christ Church's rector, Father Jonathan Archer, will be the preacher this year.

We will be sponsoring a refugee       
"I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . ."

 
For the past three months, our vestry has been praying about and discussing entering into a partnership with Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM)to co-sponsor a refugee or refugee family from the Middle East.
 
At last Wednesday's vestry meeting we approved co-sponsoring a young man from Iran.  He is now in Turkey and in the final stage of being cleared by the US State Department, which is the culmination of a two year vetting process, also involving the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).  Once he is cleared, he will be coming to Miami where St. Stephen's, in conjunction with the local office of EMM, will help him get settled.
 
If you would like to be part of this important ministry, please contact Chris Harrison or Pastor Willie.  Please pray for a successful conclusion of NEMA's vetting process.

AIDS Ministry to erect Angel Tree
We still need your help to make Christmas bright for these families

Over 20 years ago St. Stephen's AIDS Ministry began putting up an Angel Tree to collect gifts for children in families where a member was living with HIV/AIDS.  These children are from families connected with Food for Life and Care Resource. 

Years have gone by, and the public's feeling has sometimes been that HIV/AIDS is under control and that the number of families affected has dwindled.  Not so! This year the Ministry is again collecting gifts for children of these agencies - and the list we've been given has 257 children on it.  The numbers have not gone down!  These families have an annual household income of between $11,000 and $16,000 - not much room for anything over necessities. 

On November 29th our Angel Tree will go up in the church again. Please help by taking a card from the tree and returning it by December 13 with an unwrapped gift for a child of the age and gender you've picked, and help us make Christmas a little merrier for these children.  We need your help to do so.  Our school will also be participating, together we can make a difference!
 
Bishop Eaton to visit St. Stephen's
Come and welcome him on December 13

Our bishop coadjutor, soon to be our diocesan bishop, The Rt Rev'd Peter Eaton, will make his first official episcopal visit to St. Stephen's Church on Sunday, December 13.  He will confirm, receive, and baptize new members as well as celebrating the Eucharist and preaching.

This will actually be his second visit to our community, as he will be visiting our day school just three days before to celebrate the Thursday Mass and spend the morning at our school.  Bishop Eaton hopes to expand the role of all our wonderful Episcopal schools in the life and ministry of our diocese.

We will be hosting a reception after the Mass on December 13.  If you can contribute some finger-food goodies for that, please contact our Fellowship Ministry chair, Deb Roncallo.
 
It's Christmas Pageant time!
Sign your little angel up soon

pageant
The most joyful part of our 4 p.m. service on December 24 is the telling of the birth of Jesus through story and song by our youngest members.

If your child would like to participate this year, please contact Chris Faiella via email or by calling him at (786) 218-1117.  Rehearsals are held on Sundays and begin next week (December 6).
 
Meals for Casa Valentina 
Please help with this wonderful ministry

Casa Valentina is a wonderful organization that serves young adults who have aged out of foster care, providing them assistance with life skills, education, and housing.

The St. Stephen's church and school community provides dinner for a life skills meeting on the second Tuesday of each month to a group of twelve young women living in Coconut Grove (the location has moved from the Roads area).  A big thank you to Mariela Martinez-Cid, Haidy Jensen, Vivian Giulliani, Rev. Jo-Ann Murphy and the daytime EfM group, Alvaro Coraspe, Amalia Suarez, Claudia Lanz, and SSEDS 4th & 5th grade volunteers for helping to provide delicious meals for Casa Valentina over the past year!  

You can prepare a meal with your friends, family, group, or even lead a cooking session at the Parish Center. If you would like to prepare the meal but cannot deliver, we can make other arrangements for delivery.
   
The Tuesdays we need to provide dinner are:

January 12, 2016
March 8, 2016
April 12, 2016
June 14, 2016
July 12, 2016
August 9, 2016
September 13, 2016
October 11, 2016
November 8, 2016
December 13, 2016

You can prepare a meal with your friends, family, group, or even lead a cooking session at the Parish Center. If you would like to prepare the meal but cannot deliver, we can make other arrangements for delivery.

If you can prepare a meal, please contact Julie Moxley here.
Christmas Tree sales begin day after tomorrow!
We need your help right after Thanksgiving

St. Stephen's church and school cooperate in selling fresh Christmas trees every year, starting just after Thanksgiving.

Would you like to get into the Christmas spirit by helping to sell Christmas Trees?


Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:

1) Click this link to see our Sign-Up on VolunteerSpot: http://vols.pt/N5FBmN

2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.

3) Sign up! It's Easy - you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on VolunteerSpot.

We'll see you there to share the fun!
 
A dear friend returns
Welcome home, Father Stowe!

Father Howard Stowe, long associated with St. Stephen's as Day School chaplain in the '90's, priest-in-charge during the interim before Pastor Willie came on board, priest associate for many years, liturgist par excellence, and good friend to many of us, left us for awhile to help out with the English-speaking congregation of Santa Cruz/Resurrection Church in Biscayne Park.  He has now come back to St. Stephen's and will be assisting us on Sundays.  If you don't know Father Stowe, please introduce yourself and let us all join to help him feel welcome!

Plan ahead to make an Advent Wreath
Reserve your spot now

advent wreath Believe it or not, Advent is almost here! This Sunday, November 29, at 9:30 a.m., St. Stephen's families are invited to make a family Advent Wreath to take home.  Reserve your spot by letting Rev. Jo-Ann know you plan to join in this intergenerational event.  R.S.V.P. to her at jmurphy@sseds.org or 305-537-1297.
 

 
Moral Nature: Faith in the face of a global climate crisis
What is faith's response?  Program on December 6

In honor of the UN's COP21 conference on the environment which will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11, we will be celebrating an environmental Mass at our 10:30 service here at St. Stephen's on Sunday, December 6. Water from melted South Pole ice will be incorporated in the Mass.

The Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida will also participate in several environmental awareness events that day, at the Milander Center for Arts & Entertainment 4800 Palm Avenue, Hialeah, FL.  These are
  • 4 p.m:  The Sacrifice - an experiential performance focusing on animal species facing extinction
  • 4:30: Panel discussion
  • 6:00:  South Pole communion. Bishop Eaton will be the celebrant/preacher and the Anglican Chorale will sing.
These events are part of the Clima exhibit by artist Xavier Cortada, which is timed to coincide with the UN's CO21 talks.  Go here for more information about and a schedule of the CLIMA offerings.
A purse for Bishop Leo Frade
Express appreciation for his service

Bishop Frade has served us faithfully for 15 years as our shepherd and witness of the Gospel. Diana, close by his side, has shared the work and challenges of his episcopacy while leading Our Little Roses. Now is the time to express our appreciation and affection with a retirement purse, The Transition Committee invites everyone to give generously.

Checks go to a single-purpose purse account and are to be payable to Bishop Leo Frade, with PURSE GIFT noted in the memo line. Mail checks to Bishop Frade Purse Gift, Attn: Cris Valdes, Diocese of Southeast Florida, 525 NE 15th Street, Miami, FL 33132. You may also make your gift online by clicking here. For more information on giving, see one of the clergy. Thank you in advance for your generosity!  

EpiscoParrot
Not his holiday



EpiscoParrot tweets @episcoparrot
Upcoming Events
Don't Forget These Dates     

reminder
Thursday, November 26 - 10:30 a.m. Thanksgiving service followed by a community feast

Sunday, December 13 - Bishop Eaton's episcopal visit

Thursday, December 24 - Christmas Pageant at 4 p.m.
 
Saturday, January 2 - Rector's Annual Christmas Open House (details to follow)
 

At St. Stephen's All Are Welcome 
 
Sundays 
Spoken Mass without music at 8 a.m.
  Sung Mass with music at 10:30 a.m.,
with child care for children under three

Thanksgiving Day
Service at 10:30 a.m.
followed by a community feast


Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 to 1.