Monthly Archives: November 2014

This Sunday (November 30) at St. John’s

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I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus…. I Corinthians 1:4

A blessed and happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you.  On many Sunday afternoons, after everyone has gone home from church and the busyness of the day has subsided, I find myself in a state of gratitude.  A blessed and joyous state of gratitude.

I think back over the morning and there are so many places of grace.  There’s the rambling, but always interesting and challenging discussion at Adult Forum; the anticipation of seeing everyone show up, greet each other, and fellowship, even to the point where church doesn’t always start on time.  There’s the sounds of the choir practicing.  There’s the children telling me about their week and some new thing they’ve learned.  There’s the blessing of our worship together.  I look out and see your earnest faces.  I look out and see the children, copying my motions during the Eucharistic prayer.  And when you come forward, the way you hold out your hands for the bread of life is always a special moment.

So, on this Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks to God for you, the parish of St. John’s, Corbin.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

My Schedule

I am on vacation until Saturday.  Next week, I will be in Corbin Tuesday and Wednesday.  My sabbath days will be Monday, December 1, and Friday, December 5.

This Sunday we welcome Emily Cardwell to the pulpit. Emily is in the supervisory
part of discerning a call to ministry for the Diaconate. She has been supported in this process
by a discernment committee and her Vestry at St. John’s in Versailles, as well as by her husband,
Jeff and their three children – Leah, Quinn and Willa. She has been assigned to St. Agnes House
for her supervisory reflection, while also being given the opportunity to preach here in
Corbin. Emily is on the Pastoral Care team where her focus is prison ministry, and she finishes
up her third year as a Vestry member next month.

Advent Lessons and Carols, November 30, 4pm. Begin Advent with this special evening service of Scripture and hymns.

 

Adult Forum
This week and during December, we’ll continue our discussion of The Thirty-Nine Articles,BCP 867-876. Come learn about this historic document, which guides our denomination. Are the Articles still relevant today? Join the discussion. There will be no Adult Forum on December 28.

In January through mid-February (Christmas and Epiphany), we will discuss the blessing of
same gender relationships. If you’d like to lead a session, please see Rebecca.

Wednesday Morning Eucharist
Weekday Morning Eucharist will be available Wednesday, December 3, 9am in the Sanctuary.

Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 6, 9am – 3pm. Bring your donations to the church on Friday during the day.  Also create an event on your Facebook page to invite your friends!

Two furnaces replaced, 1 more to go! The furnaces located in the sacristy and the parish hall have been replaced. Thanks so much to all who donated! Now we need to replace the furnace in the rectory. Cost is just under $1,700 for a furnace that will also be more energy efficient. Donations for the furnace can be put in the box on the table in the parlor.

The Vestry has voted to donate $25 each month to Everlasting Arm Homeless Shelter. If you’d like to contribute, put your donations in the collection box by the guest register or mark your donation and put it in the collection plate.

Rotary Club of Corbin is collecting 500 new winter coats, especially for boys and girls ages 3-9. Coats will be distributed at the Empty Stocking Fund party on December 22. If you’d like to donate a coat, bring it to church and give it to Rebecca.

You can also make a financial contribution to Empty Stocking Fund and give it to Rebecca.

A St. Nicholas Festival for children will be held on Saturday, December 6, 4:00pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington.

Join Rebecca at Mission House in Lexington for Eucharist and lunch on Tuesday, December 9, 11:30am. Break bread together and meet and visit with Diocesan Staff.  A tour of St. Agnes’ House will also be held.

Donations for Christmas Flowers are being accepted until December 14. Donations can be made in Honor of, in Memory of or in Thanksgiving for a person or blessing. Envelopes are available in the parlor or put your offering in the plate marked, “Christmas Flowers.”

Decorate the church, Sunday, December 21, after church. Bring your lunch and stay after church on December 21 to help us decorate for Christmas.

You’ve heard about BLACK FRIDAY and CYBER MONDAY. On DECEMBER 2, start your ADVENT with #GivingTuesday at http://bit.do/domain2014, a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving. From 12:00 am to 11:59 pm EDT, supporters of participating nonprofits like THE CATHEDRAL DOMAIN can go online to connect with causes they care about and make tax-deductible donations. All contributions from this campaign will be used to support the ministry of the Cathedral Domain. You can schedule your donation at any time and it will be processed on
December 2.

 

 

Our Distorted Faith (Sermon) November 23, 2014

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Sermon – November 23, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

Last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King

Year A Proper 29 Track 1

Observance of Native American Heritage Month

`Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.  Matthew 25:45-46

Please be seated.

Today we are observing Native American Heritage Month.  I think I told you last year that as a child, I was scared to death of Indians.  There was Wagon Train, and so many other westerns.  There was the train ride at Hershey Park where Indians attacked the train.  And my father said some of our ancestors came to Kentucky with Daniel Boone, but were killed by the Indians.  There were historical markers in PA for Indian massacres.

Then there were the other images given me by learning about Jim Thorpe who was relocated to Carlisle, PA at the Indian Boarding School there.  At age 14, my parents took me to Tahlequah, the Cherokee Nation Capital in Oklahoma and taught me about the Trail of Tears. I had lots of confusion, fear, and curiosity about Indians as I grew up.

In 1989, I joined a group to address racism in our local community.  Eventually, we connected with the New Orleans-based Peoples’ Institute for Survival and Beyond.  I was fortunate to attend a nationwide training on Undoing Racism in the early 1990s.  It was held at a retreat center on the Gulf of Mexico, just outside of New Orleans.

The morning after I arrived, I took a walk along the Gulf.  On my way back to the center, I noticed one of the women from the training.  She was from the Navajo Nation in Arizona.  She motioned me over and told me she was doing a blessing in thanksgiving for safe travels.  She also told me she was from a water clan and this was the first time she’d seen the ocean, so the moment was very special for her.  She had traveled with a friend, but the friend was from the Wolf clan and the ocean/gulf felt very intimidating to her.

She asked me to join her in the blessing, which I did.  We turned in all of the directions and gave thanks for all of creation.  It was a wonderful prayer moment for me.  And more than that, I started thinking about who I was in a different way.  I, too, loved the ocean, and realized that my mother’s family was also “water clan people” of a sort since they’d been on Italian islands for many, many years.

Also, that this woman knew her clan and identified that as important information, made me think, too.  In fact, during the training another woman who was Indian asked why white people always introduced themselves by telling about things – their job or where their house was – rather than about their relationships – clan, mother, daughter.

And then, there was the whole notion of not owning the land!  That was a hard one to wrap my head around – that the land was just like the air we breathe and belonged to the community, not to individuals.

I’m sure you know of the awful history of how the Immigrants, for many of us, our ancestors, treated the indigenous people of this land.  The dominant society, who claimed to be Christian, certainly did not read the section of Matthew we read today nor other sections of the Gospel where Jesus clearly tells us how to treat one another.  No, many of our ancestors came, and played mental tricks so the Indians were not seen as human beings, and therefore, could be destroyed.  It’s a painful history, which has led to a painful legacy for all of us.  We have all been hurt.

And for we Christians who identify with the dominant culture, our understanding and faith in Jesus Christ has been distorted by the actions and legacy of our ancestors.  Rather than listening to the indigenous peoples about the reality of the context of life here, right here in what is now known as Corbin, KY, we imposed our understanding of the land and resources where we came from.

The indigenous peoples, the Indians, had been on this land for over 14,000 years!  They’d seen Cumberland Falls develop and change, most likely.  They’d learned the patterns of the seasons, the patterns of all living creatures.

In thinking about our observance today, I was going through some books I have.  One is God is Red:  A Native View of Religion by Vine DeLoria, Jr.  At the end of the book, Mr. DeLoria says (p. 296, 30th Anniversary Edition):

Who will find peace with the lands?  The future of humankind lies waiting for those who will come to understand their lives and take up their responsibilities to all living things.  Who will listen to the trees, the animals and birds, the voices of the places of the land?  As the long-forgotten peoples of the respective continents rise and begin to reclaim their ancient heritage, they will discover the meaning of the lands of their ancestors.  That is when the invaders of the North American continent will finally discover that for this land, God is red.

Ken Phillips will now share some words with us.

 

 

 

 

 

This Sunday (November 23, 2014) at St. John’s

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Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Christ the King Sunday)

Last Sunday we learned of the death of Abdul-Rahman Kassig.  Sarah Pollom was a close friend and Anne Day and Jeff Davis knew him well, so we were especially connected to this event, having prayed mightily for his release.  Sarah was interviewed by CNN earlier this week.

By all accounts, Abdul-Rahman Kassig loved all of humanity.  In his 26 short years, he was an Army ranger and Iraq War Veteran, who traveled to the MidEast region during a college spring break in 2012.  There he found his calling, leaving school to help people who were suffering.  “Here, in this land, I have found my calling,” he continued. “Every day that I am here I have more questions and less answers, but what I do know is that I have a chance to do something here, to take a stand. To make a difference.”

He did just that, easing the suffering of people until his capture by ISIS in October, 2013.  As he faced the very real prospect of his death, he wrote to his parents:

“If I do die, I figure that at least you and I can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that I went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need,” he wrote.

“Just know I’m with you,” he added. “Every stream, every lake, every field and river. In the woods and in the hills, in all the places you showed me.”

Our Collect for this week asks that we may be freed from sin and brought together under God’s most gracious rule.  Let us remember Abdul-Rahman Kassig as a person who worked for that goal.

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 11-23-2014

This Sunday we celebrate Native American Heritage Month.  In commemoration of Native American Heritage month we will be gathering in the parish hall and process to the parlor to begin our service. We will remain in the parlor while Ken and Shelia Phillips smudge the nave and sanctuary. The smudge used is of the four sacred herbs to the Cherokee: sage, tobacco, cedar and sweet grass. After the sanctuary and nave have been smudged you are invited to smudge yourself as you enter the nave by washing your face seven times in the smoke, an action that cleanses the mind and heart as one takes in the smudge. The smoke of the smudge carries our prayers to heaven in the same manner that the Psalmist observes, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before thee, and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice!” (Psalm 141:2)

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rebecca will be on vacation for the week If you have a pastoral emergency, please call the Rev. John Burkhart at 521-0345.

Weekday Morning Eucharist will be available Wednesday, December 3, 9am, in the Sanctuary. 

Adult Forum: The Adult Forum meets each Sunday at 10:00 am in the Parish Hall.

Sunday School – Godly Play: The Godly Play program is for children is offered each Sunday morning at 10:00 am. All children are invited to participate in this special form of spiritual development.

Advent Lessons and Carols, November 30, 4pm.  Begin Advent with this special evening service of Scripture and hymns

Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 6, 9am – 3pm.  If you can contribute something to the fest, please turn in your donation form by November 23.

A St. Nicholas Festival for children will be held on Saturday, December 6, 4:00pm, at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington.

Join Rebecca for Eucharist on Tuesday, December 9, 11am at Mission House in Lexington.  Lunch will be served after Eucharist and a tour of St. Agnes’ House will be available.

Rotary Club of Corbin is collecting 500 new winter coats, especially for boys and girls ages 3-9.  Coats will be distributed at the Empty Stocking Fund party on December 22.  If you’d like to donate a coat, bring it to church and give it to Rebecca.  You can also make a financial contribution to Empty Stocking Fund and give it to Rebecca.

Donations for Christmas Flowers are being accepted until December 14.  Donations can be made in Honor of, in Memory of or in Thanksgiving for a person or blessing.  Envelopes are available in the parlor or put your offering in the plate marked, “Christmas Flowers.”

Decorate the church, Sunday, December 21, after church. Bring your lunch and stay after church on December 21 to help us decorate for Christmas.

Kroger Rewards: St. John’s is now registered with the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Please register your Kroger card at http://krogercommunityrewards.com . Our NPO number is 47782.

Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

United Thank Offering.  Remember to get your box for your thank offerings for this ministry of The Episcopal Church.  The next collection will be in the spring. 

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

The Vestry has voted to donate $25 each month to Everlasting Arm Homeless Shelter. If you’d like to contribute, put your donations in the collection box by the guest register or mark your donation and put it in the collection plate.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items. Vegetables are especially appreciated.

Well Done! (Sermon) November 16, 2014

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Sermon – November 16, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

23rd Sunday after Pentecost Year A Proper 28 Track 1

`Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:21

Please be seated.

I think I’ve talked to you about Betsy, the woman I worked for before I went to seminary.  I thought about her again as I pondered this Gospel for today.  While I’ve been fortunate to have many good people overseeing my work career, I do think my favorite was Betsy.

When I went to work for Betsy, I was 49, so not young in my work career; however, Betsy pointed out so many talents I never acknowledged I had.  I learned I love to do historical research, so Betsy often asked me to do that and then to put the words together to draft a speech for her.  I learned I loved being a speechwriter!

During one of those wonderful employee evaluations, Betsy told me I was a good writer.  Now I do love words and putting them together and I’ve written a lot in my career.  I know I can write a sentence that is grammatically correct and gets a point across.  But Betsy said I was not only a good writer, but that I should do more writing and more writing that would be published.  She gave me plenty of opportunities to work on projects that were published, including co-writing a chapter for the Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work.  And just yesterday, I received a copy of the latest book with a chapter I co-wrote:  Hope Matters:  The Power of Social Work, as well as a galley proof of another article that will be published soon in a religious journal.

And Betsy told me I “connected the dots” between people, ideas and organizations in ways she had never seen, so she created a job for me where that’s what I did.  And I loved it.  I knew I was a connecter and I knew I liked that, but I hadn’t understood that I was unique in seeing how things were connected.

Betsy saw my skills and abilities and gave me every chance to use them.  She also gave me helpful information about myself for every task I’ve taken on since that time.  I hope you’ve had a person like Betsy or people like her in your life.

And in today’s Gospel, we hear a parable of the master who leaves his property in the care of his servants.  This master knows his servants well and gives to each one the amount appropriate to their skill and ability.  But one of the servants was afraid of the master, so did not use what was given to him, but buried it in the ground, which incited the anger of the master.

God has given each of us various skills and abilities and expects us to use them for building up God’s Kingdom here on earth… for being Christ to the world.  We are not supposed to bury our skills and abilities, hiding them from the world!

I know it’s tough.  We’ve been taught not to boast and to try to be humble.  There is a line between boasting and stating the facts.  In order to not be boastful, we tend to hide our skills and abilities.  We don’t want to cross that line.

But God gave us those skills and abilities so we could do good in the world…so we could bring the Kingdom of God to fruition here and now.  Our skills and abilities are needed not only in all of our personal endeavors and relationships – our vocation, our family, our friends – but also the Christian community of St. John’s needs our skills and abilities.  There are some things in bringing about the Kingdom of God that must be done by a community – that we could not make happen as individuals.

When two or more are gathered together in God’s name, God is in the midst of us, we say in the Prayer of St. Chrysostom.  In some places, people can support their own chapels, but most of us need a community to provide a place of meeting, where we can gather, study and pray together.  When we pool our resources together, we have a choir, an altar guild, adult forum, learning for children.  We can provide a place for children to eat lunch during the summer.  We can share our joys and our burdens.  We can have a community who loves us, remembers us, and prays for us.

In a few minutes, we will have our Annual meeting.  I’m told people don’t come to church for the Annual Meeting.  We don’t always like the facts and business side of our life together, do we?  And we know a piece of the Annual Meeting involves talking about our money and the money we’d like to have towards making real the vision for the Christian community of St. John’s.

But just like our Gospel today…our master has left us with all of the resources we need to grow, and expand the Kingdom of God.  We have the time, talent and treasure of each of us.  Our annual meeting is the time each year when the master returns home to see what we’ve done with what we’ve been given.  Have we used our time, talent and treasure to increase the presence of Christ in this region or have we just buried our time, talent and treasure in the ground and hidden it from view?

God has given us everything we need and God demands a return equal to what has been given to us.  Let’s work together so we can hear God say to us, `Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’

 Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from Bishop Hahn: Thank you for your glad and generous hearts

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 Diolex shield logo
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the ways that you imitate our Generous Living Lord.

Thank you from Ron, who is fighting cancer with great courage because his Episcopal church surrounds him in prayer. (Though these names are changed, their stories are true.)

  • Thank you from Mary, who for five years has successfully wrestled the demons of addiction in a twelve step program in her neighborhood Episcopal parish hall.
  • Thank you from Carman, a young adult who left the balmy south to teach 3rd graders in inner city Detroit, because, “my high school priest always told me that Jesus wants us to go do good work.”
  • Thank you from Luke, a teenager whose life was enriched at the Cathedral Domain; from Dave and Mary – parents of very sick baby Tiffany – who slept at St. Agnes House last night instead of in their car; from Wes, whose life is made richer because he takes time from work every summer to volunteer at a Reading Camp.

Thank you from every child who met Jesus in Sunday school, every lonely adult who found friendship over coffee hour, every public servant whose values were formed by the Gospel of justice, and every person who finds a life worth living in the good news of Christ.

If you have been a financial supporter of your parish you have touched these lives and many more. On behalf of them all, known and unknown, I thank you! Your generosity has changed their lives for good.

In this season you will be asked to contribute to many life changing ministries in your parish and throughout the Diocese. I hope you will respond with glad and generous hearts. I encourage you to make a generous pledge to your parish. Beyond this, I hope you will respond to those ministries beyond your parish that touch your heart.

We love, because God first loved us; we give, because in this important act God’s love flows through us to our neighbors next door and around the world. This is why I give. I hope you will join me.

I wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving. I continue to be blessed and thankful for the richness of our shared ministry in God’s mission.

Christ’s Peace,
Bishop Doug

This Week (November 16) at St. John’s

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

This is our Collect of the Day for Sunday.  I heard it often during my seminary education as the opening prayer for various classes.

All holy Scripture is written for our learning!  And most of us know we’re never really done learning from Scripture.

We ask God to grant us wisdom in learning for scripture. Then certain behaviors are listed.  We hear Scripture each week during our various services.  In hearing the scripture, we have a chance to experience it anew.

And there are many resources that help us to read Scripture regularly.  There are the Forward Day By Day booklets available to you in the parish hall.  Each day, the daily readings are listed.  You’ll find the Daily readings listed in the Book of Common Prayer.   Look at the Daily Office Lectionary beginning on page 934.  Over two years, you will have read the Bible.  The Bible Challenge takes you through the Bible in a year with a meditation for each day and a prayer.

Now, it took me some time to actually “mark” in my Bible.  The pages seemed so sacred to me that I didn’t want to mark them up.  But it’s important to mark up our Bibles with our favorite passages and various notes.  It’s interesting to go back and look at our markings.

Then we plead with God to “inwardly digest” the Scripture.  Yes, we can do all of that work of study, but then the learnings must be seared in our hearts and direct our ministry and the way we live our lives.

My prayer is that we all may deepen our learning from Scripture!

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 11-16-2014

News & Notes

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rebecca will be at St. Agnes’ House Monday, November 16, through Thursday, November 20. Her Sabbath Day will be Friday, November 21. You can get a message to her by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or by e-mailing priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org

Weekday Morning Eucharist will be available Wednesday, December 3, 9am, in the Sanctuary. 

Adult Forum: The Adult Forum meets each Sunday at 10:00 am in the Parish Hall. This Sunday, we’ll be looking at planning our funerals.  Vicky Prince from Hospice of the Bluegrass will be with us Nov. 23, to discuss how to talk to your family about your end-of-life wishes.

Sunday School – Godly Play: The Godly Play program for children is offered each Sunday morning at 10:00 am. All children are invited to participate in this special form of spiritual development.

Thankoffering Sunday is this Sunday, November 16.  Put your Thankoffering boxes in the offering plate and pick up another one for the spring ingathering.

Daughters of the King meets the third Wednesday of each month at 4:30pm.  The next meeting is November 19. If you have special prayer requests or would like to join this prayer ministry, please contact Shelia Phillips.

Game Night, Friday, November 21, 6:30-8:30.  Pizza provided.  Bring your favorite drink.  The Young Adults of the church are hosting a game night!  Let Blythe Swinford, TJ or Jason Beams-Jackson, or James Partin know what card and board games you’d like to play!  Everyone is invited!

We will celebrate Native American Heritage Month at our service on Sunday, November 23.  Ken and Shelia Phillips will lead our observance.  We are reminded that the worship of The Episcopal Church is in many languages and traditions each and every week of the year.

Advent Lessons and Carols, November 30, 4pm.  Begin Advent with this special evening service of Scripture and hymns

Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 6, 9am – 3pm.  If you can contribute something to the fest, please turn in your donation form by November 23.

Rotary Club of Corbin is collecting 500 new winter coats, especially for boys and girls ages 3-9.  Coats will be distributed at the Empty Stocking Fund party on December 22.  If you’d like to donate a coat, bring it to church and give it to Rebecca.  You can also make a financial contribution to Empty Stocking Fund and give it to Rebecca.

Kroger Rewards: St. John’s is now registered with the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Please register your Kroger card at http://krogercommunityrewards.com . Our NPO number is 47782.

The Vestry has voted to donate $25 each month to Everlasting Arm Homeless Shelter. If you’d like to contribute, put your donations in the collection box by the guest register or mark your donation and put it in the collection plate.

Thank you to the 20 families and individuals who have made pledges totaling $35,012 towards the mission and ministry of St. John’s Church in 2015.  If you haven’t done so, you can still make a commitment to this mission and ministry by placing a pledge card in the offering plate.

Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

Flowers for the altar: Donations for flowers for the altar are accepted for any Sunday of the year. Please place your donation in the envelope, marking whether they are in honor of or in memory of someone.

Hymn Selection Group If you’d like to choose hymns for services, join this group.  You will choose hymns for an upcoming service and then meet with the entire group to confirm the final selections.  See Billy Hibbitts if you are interested.

Would you like to write Prayers of the People?  If you are interested in writing these prayers (there are resources that can help with this task), please let Rebecca know by phone or email priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

United Thank Offering.  Remember to get your box for your thank offerings for this ministry of The Episcopal Church.  The next collection will be in the spring.

Are you interested in assisting with the Sunday service?  Readers, Eucharistic Ministers, Crucifers, Altar Guild Members and choir members are all important for each Sunday service.  If you’re interested in serving, please let Rebecca know by phone 859-429-1659 or priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org.

 Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items. Vegetables are especially appreciated.

Remembering our Veterans!

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Veterans' Day 2014

Veterans’ Day 2014

We remember those who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Silvestre Alaniz, Army, 2008-present
John Echols, Air Force, 2001-present

Jason Beams-Jackson                       Leslie Carter

Larry Conley                                         James L. Disney

Ed Van Gorder                                     Joseph Justice

Taylor Justice                                       Calvin C. Moore, Jr.

Elmer Parlier                                          Ken Phillips

Don Sullivan                                                 Cecil E. Davis                                     Lamar R. Jones     Fred Mainord                                            Richard Swinford                                         Gary Snider

Jim Weaver                                                   Otto Goff

Ralph Goff                                                   Bobby Phillips

Victor Jordan                                               Glenn Campbell

AJ Jones                                                       Tom Terry

Bill Wiser

 

Preparing for the Kingdom of God (Sermon) November 9, 2014

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Sermon – November 9, 2014

The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, CSW

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Corbin, KY

22nd Sunday after Pentecost Year A Proper 27 Track 1

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Matthew 25:13

Please be seated.

Recently, I was looking through some old photographs.  Yes, actual photographs.  Unfortunately, I was not a good cataloguer of my photos.  I didn’t always write the date on them and I didn’t put them in albums in chronological order and many times, I got duplicate photos then stuck them in different albums!  I’m so grateful that we now have online archives of digital photos and computers that somehow know when the photos were taken!

So, I was looking through album after album, remembering the process of taking the photos, using up the roll of film, taking it to be developed, maybe even to a 1-hour processor, and then getting them back, and finally seeing if they were any good or not.

Then I saw it.  I had forgotten I took the photos of the event, but it is seared in my mind as a place and time when I got a glimpse of the Kingdom of God here on earth.  It is a photo of a diverse group of people…diverse in culture, gender orientation and age.  We are sitting around some tables having dinner and conversation and plenty of fun.

I looked closely at the photo from the early 1990s.  I did know most of the people and am still in touch with many of them.  But some have died.  I couldn’t remember the name of the restaurant, although I remember a lot about the owner, whose name I’ve also forgotten.  I didn’t even remember what time of year it was or why we were there.  But I clearly remembered it as a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

Why is that?  Because there were so many things in that group that could have divided us…could have kept us separate.  Things like race, culture, class, age, sexual orientation.  Yet, we were together and having fun and so grateful for our friendship.  I just knew and know the Kingdom God is like that.

In today’s readings, we are asked first of all in Joshua, to choose the God we will serve.  Last week I asked you what makes you cling to Jesus, despite the challenges of being a Christian.  Now this week, you are asked to be clear about whether you will serve God or whether you will serve other things in your life that you think are God?  Will you serve your own pride and ego?  Will you serve money?  Will you serve property?  Or will you serve the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca…the God whose Son, Jesus Christ came to live and die as one of us?

If you will serve the God of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, the Father of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, then in the Gospel of Matthew you are told to “Be Prepared” for the coming of the Kingdom of God!  Those of you who were members of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will remember those words!

Always be prepared.  Always be prepared for the Kingdom of God!  So how do we prepare for the Kingdom of God that we’ve never seen?  Jesus did give us some hints.  The Kingdom of God will be filled with all kinds of people, especially those we least expect.  Remember Jesus found that the outcasts of his day…the marginalized of his day…the tax collectors, the women, the prostitutes, the Gentiles…were the very ones who believed in him…believed in his message…and changed how they lived their lives.  Having oil in our lamps…Being prepared and awake…means that we look around us and see how our relationship is with those people today who are marginalized or on the fringes.  Does our church look like the Kingdom of God because all people are active members of our body?

Jesus said we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  So at the heart of the Kingdom of God is love.  Do we love ourselves?  Do we forgive ourselves?  Do we learn from our mistakes, ask forgiveness and move on?  Or are we constantly abusing ourselves?  Having oil in our lamps means that we love ourselves, faults and all.

And what about our neighbor?  Are we judgmental, rather than using good judgment?  Do we work so that all of our neighbors have what they need to live a good life or are we just concerned with ourselves and our family?  Having oil in our lamps means that we love our neighbors.

So, choose this day whom you will serve, and then Be Prepared…keep awake…have enough oil in your lamps, because the Kingdom of God is amazing and you won’t want to miss it!

Amen

This Sunday (November 9, 2014) at St. John’s

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We will recount to generations to come
the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, *
and the wonderful works he has done. Psalm 78:4

Who told you about Jesus Christ?  Someone told you, maybe your parents…maybe a friend… maybe a book…maybe reading the Bible.  Someone “recounted the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD,” to you.  And that person heard it from someone and on and on back 2,000 years!  That’s a lot of people telling other people, isn’t it?

To whom have you told the story?  Maybe you live the story and are an example of the Christian life to others.  Maybe you’ve invited someone to church.  Maybe you’ve actually stood up in front of a group and told your story.  Maybe you’re more of a  one-on-one person.  Maybe you’ve written your story.

Imagine how your life would be if no one had recounted the story of God to you….  Keep finding ways to tell the story so generations to come will know of the wonderful works God has done!

Blessings as you finish your week!

Love, Rebecca+

Bulletin 11-9-2014

Rebecca’s Schedule: Rebecca will be at St. John’s Tuesday, November 11, through Thursday, November 13. Her Sabbath Day will be Monday, November 10 and Friday November 14. You can get a message to her by calling the church office at 606-528-1659 or by e-mailing priest-in-charge@stjohnscorbin.org

Please prayerfully consider the gifts God has given you that you will give back to St. John’s for Christ’s ministry and mission during 2015.  We continue to accept pledge cards as the finance committee works to prepare for our November 16 Annual Meeting and adoption of the 2015 budget.

This Sunday, with prayers and thanks, we remember all of those who have served our country in the Armed Forces.  W

Silvestre Alaniz, Army, 2008-present
John Echols, Air Force, 2001-present

Jason Beams-Jackson                                 Leslie Carter
Larry Conley                                              James L. Disney
Ed Van Gorder                                            Joseph Justice
Taylor Justice                                             Calvin C. Moore, Jr.
Elmer Parlier                                              Ken Phillips
Don Sullivan                                              Cecil E. Davis
Lamar, R. Jones                                          Fred Mainord
Richard Swinford                                        Gary Snider
Jim Weaver                                                 Otto Goff
Ralph Goff                                                  Bobby Phillips
Victor Jordan                                             Glenn Campbell
AJ Jones                                                      Tom Terry
Bill Wiser

Annual Meeting, Sunday, November 16, with pot luck to follow!

Our Annual Meeting will be held Sunday, November 16.  We will elect new people to Vestry, as well as Delegates to the 2015 Diocesan Convention.  We will pass the 2015 budget.

Nominees for a 3-year term on Vestry are:
Billy Hibbitts
Mary Swinford

Nominees for 2015 Diocesan Convention are:
Bruce Cory
Steve Gilbert
Amber Hibbitts
Billy Hibbitts
Alternate:  Gay Nell Conley

Nominations can also be made during the Annual Meeting.

Who are the Members of St. John’s Church?
According to the Constitutions and Canons of The Episcopal Church, 2012, the following is a definition of a Member in Good Standing.  This is from Title I, Canon 17, Sections 2(a) and 3, (Pg 57):

Sec. 2(a) All members of this Church who have received Holy Communion in this Church at least three times during the preceding year are to be considered communicants of this Church.

Sec. 3. All communicants of this Church who for the previous year have been faithful in corporate worship, unless for good cause prevented, and have been faithful in working, praying, and giving for
the spread of the Kingdom of God, are to be considered communicants in good standing.

Weekday Morning Eucharist will be available Wednesday, November 12, 9am, in the Sanctuary. 

Adult Forum: The Adult Forum meets each Sunday at 10:00 am in the Parish Hall. Next Sunday’s session will focus on end-of-life issues.

Sunday School – Godly Play: The Godly Play program for children is offered each Sunday morning at 10:00 am.  All children are invited to participate in this special form of spiritual development.

Addiction and Grace, a service for people affected by addiction, will be held at Christ Church Cathedral on Sunday, November 9, 3:00pm.  If you’d like to carpool to this service in Lexington, see Blythe Swinford.

The Second Diocesan Ministry Fair will be held Saturday, November 15 at Emmanuel Church, Winchester, 8:30am – 4:30pm.  Keynote speaker is The Rev. Stuart Hoke, Th.D.  He will speak on the church’s role in addiction recovery.  Cost is $20.  Forms are on the bulletin board and online registration is at www.diolex.org.

Thankoffering Sunday will be November 16.  Please bring your United Thankoffering boxes to church that day.

The Communitywide Thanksgiving Service will be held on Monday, November 17, 7pm, Freedom Point Church of God, 472 N Hwy 1223.

Game Night, Friday, November 21, 6:30-8:30.  Pizza provided.  Bring your favorite drink.  The Young Adults of the church are hosting a game night!  Let Blythe Swinford, TJ or Jason Beams-Jackson, or James Partin know what card and board games you’d like to play!  Everyone is invited!

We will celebrate Native American Heritage Month at our service on Sunday, November 23.  Ken and Shelia Phillips will lead our observance.  We are reminded that the worship of The Episcopal Church is in many languages and traditions each and every week of the year.

Chocolate Fest, Saturday, December 6, 9am – 3pm.  If you can contribute something to the fest, please turn in your donation form by November 23.

Rotary Club of Corbin is collecting 500 new winter coats, especially for boys and girls ages 3-9.  Coats will be distributed at the Empty Stocking Fund party on December 22.  If you’d like to donate a coat, bring it to church and give it to Rebecca.  You can also make a financial contribution to Empty Stocking Fund and give it to Rebecca.

Two furnaces replaced, 1 more to go!  The furnace located in the sacristy and the one in the closet in the parish hall have been replaced.  Thanks so much to all who donated!  Now we need to replace the furnace in the rectory. Cost is just under $1,700 for a furnace that will also be more energy efficient. Donations for the furnace can be put in the box on the table in the parlor.

Kroger Rewards: St. John’s is now registered with the Kroger Community Rewards Program. Please register your Kroger card at http://krogercommunityrewards.com . Our NPO number is 47782.

The Vestry has voted to donate $25 each month to Everlasting Arm Homeless Shelter. If you’d like to contribute, put your donations in the collection box by the guest register or mark your donation and put it in the collection plate.

Serving Our Neighbors – See baskets in the parlor.

  • Everlasting Arms, Corbin’s shelter for people who are homeless, is in need of men’s and women’s razors, gloves, deodorant and socks.
  • The Food Pantry at Corbin Presbyterian Church is always in need of nonperishable food items. Vegetables are especially appreciated.