A Message from the Rector:
Ash Wednesday
Dear Friends:
Today is Ash Wednesday, a strange and blessed day of the church calendar when we name what we are: mortal, broken, and deeply in need. There is healing in just saying it, in just naming it, in feeling the gritty ashes rubbed across the forehead falling onto the nose and on to our clothes, and in seeing the mark on our forehead and on the foreheads of others. This is real.
One of the most insidious effects of social media is the technology to mask or hide what we are. If we are lonely, we can spin our posts about activities and outings to seem like we live in an enviable social life. If we feel ugly, we can be sure to post pictures that give the best photo angle of our face or body, or augment the picture with careful make-up or photoshopping. If we feel like failures, we can boast loudly to all our gazillions of friends or followers a success that suggests otherwise. There never need be a down moment or tired face that prompts a question of concern, or love, or even recognition of humanity; there never need be a moment of bad news. What a crippling and exhausting—and dead-to-self way to life.
There is something about letting go of the artifice, of the self-delusion, and of the endless and scrambling effort to appear better than we are and to instead just be. Be what a human being inevitability shares with every other human being: Fragility. Mistakes made and regretted. Age. Illness. Disappointments. Isn’t the ability to share these things what make besties besties, and what makes a healthy family a source of strength? There is something about letting go of this, because it is then that we can find strength, healing, and companions for the journey. This honesty, this embracing, is what draws me to 12-Step spirituality more than anything else: the invitation to sit in the most raw truthfulness that you can muster in the presence of others.
I hope to see you at our Ash Wednesday services today. By the time you read this note, we will have two services left: 12.30 and 6.30. If you have never come to an Ash Wednesday service, make this the year. And if you are not able to leave home or the times do not work for you, I would be happy to add you to my list of “Ash Wednesday home visits.”
Ash Wednesday ushers in Lent, a season that is called “springtime of the soul” as it is a time to tend to our faith, to renew and grow into the practices that sustain us through the easy and abundant time and through our personal deserts and wastelands. Ashes are imposed on our foreheads to:
- Remind us of all those throughout the world who are mourning and suffering
- Remind us that we all sin, and that we all need repentance—that is, to turn back again (and again!) to embrace the challenges of being those-who-love
- Remind us of the promises of Jesus, and the love shown already to us and to the world
- Remind us that in fact, we all will some day die—and that life is precious
- Remind us of Jesus’ life of joy and suffering, healing and challenging, and his death and resurrection
- Remind us that in the midst of the crazy complexity of this life we are still called, named, claimed, and loved children of God
You will find below a pdf “Invitation to a Holy Lent.” Do give yourself one new way of opening yourself to know God, whether by prayer, by service to others, by taking stock of yourself and your life in an on-going and intentional way. The pdf has a few suggestions, but there is a treasure trove of possibilities that you can find online or in many resources I can lend you. Choose something.
It’s Ash Wednesday.
Remember that you are dust, and to +to dust you shall return.
And go in peace, in the name of Christ, to love and serve the Lord.
Jen+
Please click here for your “Invitation to a Holy Lent.”
Connect With Us
Rector’s Office Drop-In Time
Rev. Jen has set her office drop-in day as Wednesday of each week from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to stop in and visit. You are always invited to make an appointment for a time convenient for you. Mondays are her Sabbath day.
The First Sunday in Lent
In-Person Sunday Morning Worship Service, March 9, led by The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Oldstone-Moore, 10:15 a.m.
You can stream the service via St. Andrew’s Facebook Page. Click on this link to view the Live Stream. We will start the Live Stream 5 minutes prior to the start of the service.
Click here for the service booklet for March 9.
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The Latest Updates
LENTEN SERIES
We have a range of services and gatherings for Lent, including Wednesday Lenten Series at 12:30 and 6:30 each Wednesday. Use the on-line newsletter and a printed sheet outlining Lent and Holy Week to fill your calendar for this wonder and moving season. Click here for a full listing of the Lent and Easter services being offered this year.
PARISH GAME NIGHT AND DINNER
Save the date for the upcoming Game Night and dinner in Hamilton Hall on Friday, March 14, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. Justin & Dana Glessner will be hosting and providing a dinner of chicken noodle soup. There will be lots of games. Hope to see you all there!
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY
The Book and Bible Group has begun again, meeting at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays with Evening Prayer celebrated at 4:00 p.m.
WOMEN IN THE BIBLE SERIES
You are invited to join an eight-week “Women in the Bible” study. We will meet on Wednesday evenings from 7:00-8:30 p.m. from January 29 through March 26. The series is presented by Professor Sandie Gravett. Details are in Hamilton Hall; register by e-mail to kramer501@msn.com with “Women in the Bible Series” in the subject line.
ALTAR FLOWERS
We now have a poster in Hamilton Hall to sign up for altar flowers. You may donate funds to purchase altar flowers in celebration of a birthday, anniversary, special date, or to honor someone who has died. A donation amount is $30 is suggested. Please make checks payable to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church and in the memo field please put this information: Altar Flowers, person’s name, occasion, Sunday date you’d like for the flowers to be on the altar. It is asked that you get this information to Renee well ahead of time. Thank you!
VESTRY MEETING MINUTES
If any of you are interested in what your Vestry is doing, there are two copies of each month’s minutes on the top of the piano in Hamilton Hall. Feel free to read and return!
THIS WEEK’S SHOPPING LIST FOR NON-FOOD PANTRY
Please add baby wipes, disinfectant wipes, and Adult Depends (any size) to your shopping list for the NFP for the month of March. Meals and conversation in Hamilton Hall are going well. Patrons are now able to pick out items they most need. Your contributions help our budget go farther in helping meet the needs of those in Putnam County. The next Non-Food Pantry will be Saturday, March 29 from noon – 2:00 p.m.
KROGER COUPONS
If you have any unwanted Kroger coupons, please bring them to Hamilton Hall and place in the window ledge near the “Little Library”. We would like to make them available to our Non-Food Pantry recipients so that they might be able to take advantage of them to help extend their food budget. Thanks in advance!
FREE DAILY DEVOTIONAL
We have some large print Day by Day daily devotionals in the sanctuary that you are free to take home for your personal devotions–and if we know that people would like copies, we can order the right amount. Many of you may also appreciate the on-line version of Day to Day. Click here.
ON-GOING COVID PROTOCOL
We continue to respond to both our county’s current CDC designation and to the current variant. Masking is optional. Decisions on COVID policy have moved from the Reconvening Committee to Rev. Jen and the Wardens.
Prayers and Reflections for This Week
We have heard that the daily reflections and scripture readings provided during Lent were appreciated. The meditations are written by persons from Gobin UMC and Beech Grove UMC. They will be in the newsletter each week. Whether you enjoy these every day or as the Spirit moves you, may this resource continue to bring you spiritual food for the journey. Blessings!
Click here to view the readings and accompanying links.
Non-Food Pantry Latest
Saturday, March 29
• Noon to 2:00 p.m.
There will be a distribution in Hamilton Hall and light lunches will be served inside. We are grateful for all those who have worked so hard to obtain supplies for the Non-Food Pantry. Items are having to be purchased from a variety of sources making it much more expensive. Donations to help offset this extra cost will be gratefully accepted!
Top 3 Needed Items
Your prayers are asked for:
Haile Bane, grandson of Joanne Haymaker
The family of Vernon Bane, father of Joanne Haymaker’s daughter-in-law
Beth Benedix, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Dan
Debbie
Kim Frank, sister of Pamalee Smith
Katie Gleichman, relative of Jim & Cathryn Ensley
Carole Greenawald
The family of Don Hamilton
Heather, friend of Jen+
Janet Jenks, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Tom Kaiser, friend of Jen+ & Chris
Linda
Teresa Masten, friend of Karen & Jim Mannon
Sally Motsch, friend to many at St. Andrew’s
Mary Mountz
Jeri Mucia, friend of Joanne Haymaker
Tom Mullen, father of Patti Harmless
Logan Murray, grandson of Dave & Sue Murray
Nick
Paul
Rick
Elizabeth & Natalie Sheffler, daughter & granddaughter of Page & Narda Cotton
Mark Smith
Skip Sutton
The family and friends of Karen Swalley, friend of Thom & Gwen Morris
Larry Taylor, former member of St. Andrew’s
Dwight Ziegler, uncle of Stephanie Gurnon
Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: St. Paul’s Church, Evansville: The Rev. Holy Rankin Zaher, The Rev. Sue Gahagan.
Our companion dioceses: The Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil: The Most Rev. Mauricio Jose Araujo De Andrade, Primate of Brazil and Bishop of Brasilia. The people and Diocese of Haiti and Saint Andre’s Parish and school in Mithon.
Anglican Cycle of Prayer: The Anglican Church of Canada.
Birthdays: Ava Jedele, March 9; Kathy Smiley, March 10; Scout Whitten, March 11.
Anniversaries: None.
Special Events and Services
