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After setting all of the clocks, they have 37 seconds remaining. Mahoney says, “Great, well done. Now we wait.” Mr. Magorium responds, “No. We breathe. We pulse. We regenerate. Our hearts beat. Our minds create. Our souls ingest. Thirty-seven seconds, well used, is a lifetime.”
Click “Read More” to read Bingham’s entire Advent reflection.
Young people today are exposed to an entertainment world populated by a veritable pantheon of superheroes, about whom I must confess I know absolutely nothing. Truth be told, I grew up aware of only one such character: mild mannered newspaper reporter Clark Kent who would slip into a phone booth, (some of you may have to look up what those were,) whip off his suit, tie, and horn-rimmed glasses and emerge faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound… it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s SUPERMAN!
To read Sharon Rodgers’ complete reflection, click “Read More.”
We have spoken often this year of the old that is passing. We know that some way we have lived in the world is no longer working. Our last Pentecost reading from Mark ends with Jesus’s words: “The end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation; there will be earthquakes and famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.”
Jesus is talking about the end times, which we all feel acutely these days, but the last image we are left with is pregnancy. The end of a pregnancy, and the beginning labor pains of delivery. The threshold of birth.
To read the Rev. Christine Marie’s full reflection, click “Read More.”
The Vestry is St. Mary’s elected governing body. They meet monthly throughout the year and post updates for us here in the articles section of our website. The October Report includes an update on their meetings, the Pledge Drive, and St. Mary’s building. Please click “Read More” to read their entire update for October.
Our September meeting started with a reflection from Thomas Merton about our need for relationships. Due to the myriad ways the pandemic has led us to acknowledge and treasure our interconnectedness, this reflection resonates with us deeply. Merton understands that we do not and cannot exist in isolation and that it is precisely our relationships that give our lives meaning. He writes: “we do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone—we find it with another.” This statement speaks to us of how fellowship with other people brings us closer to God and helps us to know God better.
The Vestry is St. Mary’s elected governing body. They meet monthly throughout the year. Please click “Read More” to read their entire update for September.
We are thrilled to announce that construction for our new HVAC system for the church has begun! We are so close to having a safer and more comfortable worship space. Of course, as is often the case with construction, there will be some inconveniences as we move through this phase. As they demolish the old system and put in the new, the church and chapel might feel a little chilly this month.
To read the entire update, click “Read More.”
That’s My Farmer Dinner - Monday, October 18
Support That’s My Farmer Low Income Fund while eating a delicious dinner prepared by owner/chefs Mark Kosmicki and Tiffany Norton at Party Downtown. They have offered to cook up a fantastic menu with farm fresh meat and produce contributed by That’s My Farmer farm members. This is once again a takeout dinner to enjoy in your home.
To learn how to participate, click “Reach More.”
For me, one of the miracles of the past year has been Zoom services at St. Mary’s. Since the beginning of COVID, we have gathered nearly 200 times online, for Wednesday and Friday morning prayer, and evening prayer. (In addition, the Spanish Zoom service meets each week.)
At first, I was skeptical. Can people really feel the energy and presence of God and of other people on a computer screen?
Read Christine Marie’s full Listening Hearts reflection by clicking “Read More.”
Our reflection from Thomas Merton that began our August meeting focused on uncertainty. Merton states bluntly: “I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me.” His words feel uncannily appropriate to our current moment as we transition from the end of summer to the beginning of fall. We have no idea what is going to happen with the pandemic. We are fatigued and frustrated, and we cannot see the road ahead. Merton continues, writing that he wants to follow God’s will even as he doubts his ability to discern what that is. He concludes by saying that he believes the desire to please God does in fact please God, and so he strives to cultivate that desire. This is the glimmer of hope that Merton offers us—even when we can’t see the way forward, we must still seek to find and follow God’s will. It is the desire that matters. We don’t know what God will ask of us in this coming season, but if we continue to desire to desire to follow him, he will lead us in the right direction, as he has always done. We can cling to that confidence as we forge ahead.
The Vestry is St. Mary’s elected governing body. They meet monthly throughout the year. Please click “Read More” to read their entire update that was included in the Fall 2021 Bellringer.
Presence is the way that human beings experience God directly. When we are fully present in our minds, bodies, and hearts, the Divine shows up. It’s that simple, and it’s that difficult.
Christine Marie and Dan Martin warmly invite you to join us for this new series, beginning October 17, 2021.
For more information, please click “Read More.”
In July, Bingham+ read an Episcopal News Service story* about St. Bede’s Church in New Mexico that was able to leverage a $15,000 donation to buy $1.4 million worth of medical debt and then, in turn, forgive the holders of that debt.
To read the rest of this article and see how you can give your input, please click “Read More.”
COVID cases are spiking locally. On Friday, July 30th, Lane County moved into the Center for Disease Control’s highest risk category for COVID spread. Models from the State of Oregon show that cases will continue to increase through the middle of August. The Oregon Health Authority is asking that all Oregonians, regardless of vaccine status, wear masks indoors in all public settings to help slow down the rate of COVID’s spread.
Therefore, following the new recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Oregon Health Authority, and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon, masks are again required indoors in all spaces at St. Mary’s, regardless of vaccination status.
Click “Read More” to read the entire statement.
“Our work with and for refugees began when we began to follow Jesus, to follow His way and His teachings. It is because we are followers of Jesus, because we follow the way of love, because we follow the way of compassion, because we follow the way of human decency and kindness that we must be passionately committed to helping the refugees and displaced persons of this day,”
The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, from his 2018 message for World Refugee Day
Click “Read More” to read how St. Mary’s honored World Refugee Day 2021 and helped create refugee camp kits.
Dear Friends in Christ,
This week, the Governor rescinded nearly all legal requirements for capacity limits, physical distancing, and masking. In light of the Governor’s new order, I want to share with you the changes we will be making for our ministry groups, community groups, and for our worship services.
We are in what may be the trickiest part of COVID to navigate. Although we all long for COVID to be fully over, there is great difference of opinion on how close we are to that point. Some of you have expressed to me joy that the state has removed nearly all legal safety requirements and you are ready for St. Mary’s to remove all restrictions. Some of you have expressed concern that it is still too soon. Navigating that difference as a community will not be easy. I ask you to have grace with you fellow parishioners who think about these matters differently and to trust that they are acting in good faith.
Click “Read More” to read all about our most recent adjustments as we reopen more fully.
It finally feels like summer has arrived! The school year is done and the solstice has passed, so bring on the long days and vaccinated in-person gatherings that were once only the stuff of dreams. At our June Vestry meeting on the threshold of this summer season, we tempered our excitement with a reflection on “rest” from Thomas Merton. The passage we read was from a work aptly titled “No Man is an Island,” which certainly strikes a chord after this pandemic year.
The Outreach Ministry Council has been asked by the Vestry to allocate funds raised in 2021 through the Blue Bag Bottles and Cans Recycling Fundraiser to an agency or program that addresses housing for our unhoused neighbors. The Outreach Ministry Council requested input from parishioners and then met on Zoom to discuss the potential organizations to support. We have decided that the money we raise from returning redeemable bottles and cans will go to Community Supported Shelters (CSS).
Click “Read More” to read the full article.
Dear friends in Christ,
We look forward to welcoming you back to worship together in person!
We know that some are past ready and some are not quite ready. I encourage you to have grace for your fellow parishioners as we navigate this time.
Please click “Read More” to read Bingham’s entire letter to the parish on reopening.
“In some ways Sunday, June 13, will be a typical mid-June Sunday for St. Mary’s. Our Joyful Noise choir will perform their final piece for the ’20-’21 program year. They will sing, virtually, Everybody’s Got a Place in the Choir for the pre-recorded service. Mid-June is usually the time when we wrap up our program year and celebrate the accomplishments of our children and youth ministries. A lot about Sunday, June 13, will not be typical by St. Mary’s standards. The fact that our Joyful Noise choir is performing via video is one obvious difference. Another difference is that on that Sunday we will be saying “Thank You” to Carrie Peil as she steps away from the role of Joyful Noise Choir Director. You may have noticed that I used the term “Thank You” instead of “Goodbye.”’
Click “Read More” to read the entire article.
From Christmas stockings to summer activities, the Women of St. Mary’s support children throughout the year. From donations to fundraisers like the ECW table at the St. Mary’s Advent Fair, our funds grow, and we in turn distribute funds to help women and children in the community and beyond.
This year we are increasing our annual giving to Summer Fun Fund to $450. Will you help double that amount, triple that amount, quadruple that amount? Last year an additional $708 was given by parishioners. Children need good summer activities and the need to great. Let’s increase our giving.
Click “Read More” to read the entire article about the Summer Fun Fund.
