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In This Issue
Photos
Parish Notes
The Propers
Last Sunday's Sermon

Upcoming Events

Sunday, Dec. 7:

Annual Meeting after service

 

Dec. 14 - 20

Hypothermia Shelter at St. Pat's

 

Tuesday, Dec. 16

Vestry Meeting 7:30 PM


 
Saturday, Dec. 27:

Feed the Homeless

10:30 AM

 

Altar at Easter 2013

       

Birthdays

November

1   Bennett Miller

4    Brian Dubas

7    William Herbert

9    Colby Leonard

10    Tom Auld

12    Nhung Dang

18    Nam-Tran Mai

24    Thomas H. Wetrich

25   Kiet Samuel Tran

 

December

 4    Irene Graham

 5    Jennifer Moya

 6    Jean Pierre Chanu

10    Winnie Lebo

11    Graham Parvinkarimi

14    Lois Cascella

15    Laurie Los

15    Moi Phan

24    Jane Chapman

25    Amelia Nicholson

28    Paul Los

30    Patricia Phan

31    Trang Diep

31    Chon Kim Huynh

 

Our Prayer List

We remember in our prayer:

 

Cathy Anderson, Dee Bailey, Rachel Burgess, Jane Chapman, Marie Cosimano, Tim Clary, Dorothy Connelly, John Davis, Michael Dickinson,  Loretta Dougherty, Luis Garay, Pat Gardner, Carolyn Gawarecki, Louise Gibney, Jean Graham, Katherine Hafele, Margaret Ellis Harris, Alek Hensley, Leslie Hogan, Cindy Hogman, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Michael Horn, Lindsay Johns, Jamie Kaplon, Iona Kiger, Quinn Kimball, Alice King, Jeff King, Michael Knowles, Peter Kosutic, Susan Lawrence,  Thai Lee, Bruce Lineker, Sharon Lineker, Felicia Mitchell, Evelyn Morgan, Danielle Morgan, Que Nguyen, Chick Nixon, Mary Esther Obremskey, Olive Oliver, Jim Owens, Gary Owens, Valerie Parkhouse,William Ross, Fern Shuck, Irene Skowron, Josh Smithers, Inez Stanton, Candi Stewart, Patrick Stefl, Kara Stryker, Walter Sushko, George Thomas, Elizabeth Trigg, Tammy Vanphung, Michael Weekes, Warren Weinstein, The Westfall Family, Meredith Wiech, Bernard Williams, Rev. Letha Wilson-Barnard, Rudy Zimpel.

 

 

               ____ 

 

Note: If you have a loved one or friend who needs prayer please call the church and leave a message at 703-532-5656, or write to Winnie Lebo at

thelebos@verizon.net  or call her at 703-536-2075.  Also, should a name need be removed from the list, please let Winnie know promptly, and give the reason.  

 

 

Saint Patrick's Ministers 

The Ministers of Saint Patrick's Church are the People of this Parish

 

supported by

 

The Rev. Marian Humphrey, Interim Rector

 

We serve our Lord as part of the Diocese of Virginia

 

led by

our chief pastors

 

The Rt. Rev. Shannon Sherwood Johnston, Bishop

 

The Rt. Rev. Susan Goff

Bishop Suffragan 

 

and  

The Rt. Rev. Ted Gulick,

Assistant Bishop 

The Vision of St. Patrick's

Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church is a community of care, called to be Christ-centered and multicultural in worship, Christian education and action to proclaim  Christ's love to the world.

   

Previous Issues of the Epistle
Please click here if you wish to see the previous issues of The Epistle

St. Patrick's Organized for Missions and Ministry 

 

SAINT PATRICK'S ORGANIZED

FOR MISSIONS AND MINISTRY

 
Vestry Committee:
Senior Warden: Kathy Oliver; Junior Warden:  Bill Houston;
Registrar: Winnie Lebo;
Treasurer:  Kathy Oliver; 

Other members of the Vestry:   Elisabeth Nguyen, Milton Thomas, Victoria Kennedy, Ann Nelson. 

 

GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES

 

Altar Guild:  Lois Cascella;  
Bell Choir:  Mariko Hiller; 
Sunday Service Bulletin:  Diem Nguyen, Steve Lebo;
Offering Counters:  Bob Cascella; Diocesan Council Delegate: Bill Houston (Kathy Oliver, alternate delegate);
St. Margaret's Circle:  Ann Nelson; Telephone Chain:
Alice King; Feed the Homeless:  Elisabeth Nguyen;
Odeon Chamber Music Series:  Mariko Hiller;
Westlawn Elementary School:  Winnie Lebo;
Falls Church Community Services: Catherine Dubas;
Hypothermia Shelter Program:  Hao Nguyen; 
The Epistle Newsletter Editors: Winnie Lebo; Flea Market:
Prison Ministry: Nancy Burch;
Meals-on-Wheels: Sunrise/Bluemont:
Michael Knowles   

 

 

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December 4. 2014
Photos


Westlawn Angel Tree

Mickie Frizzel lighting the Advent Wreath

Guest violinist Lenelle Morse

Michael Knowles tending the pollinator garden
Parish Notes
Westlawn Angel Tree
This Sunday, when you come to church, you will see the Westlawn Angel Tree in the narthex.  We have been asked to help sixteen families this year.  This includes 28 children and 26 adults.  Please choose one or more angels from the tree.  We are asking that you purchase just one gift per angel picked.  Wrap the present, put a gift tag with the child's name on it on the present and affix the angel from the tree to the package in such a way that it can be removed.  We use these angels to match up families.  So they are very necessary.  If you are unable to shop but would still like to participate, a monetary contribution may be made.  Please make checks payable to Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church with "Angel Tree" on the memo line.  You can either mail this to church or place it in the alms basin.  We ask that all gifts be returned to church by Sunday, December 14.  December 19 is the last day of school before the winter break and we need to have the packages to school for distribution before that date.  If you wish to have an angel but can't make it to church to pick one, please feel free to contact Winnie Lebo at thelebos@verizon.net or by phone at (703) 536-2075. 

- Annual Meeting
Don't forget, December 7th is our Annual Meeting after the 10:30 service. Please join us.

- Quiet Service
Every Sunday in Advent, Mother Marian+ will be having a Quiet Service in the chapel at 8 AM.

- Christmas Flowers
The Christmas tradition at Saint Patrick's is to use flowers, poinsettias, greens, and stars throughout the Church. The Altar Guild has always had your support in carrying out this tradition.  If you would like to offer flowers in "Memory of a loved one" or as an "Offering of Thanksgiving", please donate $12 to the Altar Guild.  Refer to Sunday leaflet for form.

- Pastoral Search Prayer

Our Heavenly Father,

Your love for us is unfailing. You surround us with a hedge of spiritual protection against the storms of life keeping us from harm's way. You have blessed this church- a sacred place we love, a diverse and caring community where all are welcome and each is valued. Look graciously upon us during this time of transition.

 

We ask your guidance as we seek a faithful priest who will: lead us in worship, care for us, celebrate our diversity, help us to know Christ and make him known, and equip us for ministry using the gifts and talents of our congregation to share Christ's love within our community and in the world beyond.

Encourage us in this endeavor. Renew our faith, and inspire us to conceive that which is beyond our experience. Let us be of one mind and heart in Christ.

 

We pray especially for those who have been called to serve on the search committee: give them clarity of purpose and help them listen carefully to your still, small voice. In all of these things, let us be mindful that it is you who is calling the right person to shepherd your flock at St. Patrick's.

We ask this in the name of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, AMEN



 

The Propers 

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Second Sunday of Advent

 

Texts: 

First Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13

Second Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-15a

Mark 1:1-8  

 

Collect: 

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

 

Last Sunday's Sermon 

Given by The Rev. Marian Humphrey  

November 30, 2014

   

Today the new Liturgical year begins. It is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent shakes us out of our complacency in the stagnant waters of life and into the gushing rivers of God's own Time. Entering into Advent shifts our focus on the mundane and carries us to the precipice of what God has in store for us- eternal life.

Advent invites us to slow down. Advent challenges us to look around us and notice those around us who live without hope and those who still do not know the Light of Christ in their lives. Advent announces to us that the time of the Lord's coming has happened, is happening, and will happen again. Advent dares us to live in the present moment for that is where we find the Christ.

The Scripture readings for today look back as well as look toward the future. Isaiah speaks of a time when Israel had felt abandoned by God. The time of exile was an occasion when Israel needed to re-examine its relationship with God. Israel had become content to re-fashion God into a god who could be more easily manipulated and more easily dismissed. The consequence of such decisions was that God withdrew God's protection in order to bring the people of God back to their senses. Israel was subsequently conquered by the Assyrians and forced into exile. Israel waited for the Lord to forgive them and to save them once again as He had done at the Red Sea for their ancestors.

The prophet laments by wishing, "O that You would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would quake at Your presence!" Isaiah reminds God of God's previous deeds on behalf of Israel as well as its total dependence on God alone. "Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all Your people."

The people of Isaiah's time longed for a Messiah who would rescue them. They imagined a savior who would put the enemies of Israel to shame. Instead, they received a baby. A baby was born in a small insignificant town to an unwed mother. God wanted to send a Savior who would die on a cross.

 

"Those who believe in God can never in a way be sure of him again. Once they have seen him in the stable, they can never be sure where he will appear or to what lengths he will go or to what ludicrous depths of self-humiliation he will descend in his wild pursuit of humankind. If holiness and the awful power and majesty of God were present in this least auspicious of all events, this birth of a peasant's child, then there is no place or time so lowly and earthbound but that holiness can be present there too." a sermon entitled, "The Face in the Sky," Frederick Buechner Journey with Jesus Hard Gifts Debie Thomas


May God bless and keep you, and may God grant us peace.  

Please pray for Saint Patrick's throughout the process of transition 

 

Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church

Falls Church, Virginia