THE GABRIEL
Parish Newsletter for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church August 9, 2021
Calendar Reminders
Aug 9 6:00 pm NA Meeting, Parish Hall
Aug 11 6:30 pm Bible Study, ZOOM
Aug 14 9:30-11:00 am AA Meeting
Aug 15 10:15 am Holy Eucharist, with Rev. Larry Minter. On Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsJeff/live_ videos/
Collect for 12th Sunday after Pentecost (August 15th)
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Lessons: Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:9-14; Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58
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OUR PARISH PRAYERS:
Today, we pray for our church: for Michael, our presiding bishop, for Jennifer our bishop, and for the people of our companion diocese of Brasilia, and their bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mauricio Andrade; and in the diocesan cycle of prayer we pray for Clergy and students of diocesan campus ministries. In faith and hope
We pray to you O God.
We pray for those in need of food, shelter, clothing, and of God’s healing touch, especially for those who have asked us to remember them in prayer: Virginia, Beverly, Juanita, Gwen, Mary Sue, Delani, Nan, David & Michele, Patricia, Sonny, John, Fred, Laura and Robert. Comforter of the suffering, warm our hearts and hands to loving service.
We pray to you O God.
For all who have died in the hope of the resurrection, and for all the departed. We pray especially for Michael and for all of his family; and we pray for Sally Joanne and her family. We pray to you O God.
For all who fear God and believe in you, Lord Christ, that our divisions may cease, and that all may be one as you and the Father are one, we pray to you, O Lord. Make us one in heart and mind to serve you with joy forever. Amen.
REJOICE ALWAYS, PRAY WITHOUT CEASING, GIVE THANKS IN ALL
CIRCUMSTANCES,
FOR THAT IS THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOU!
FROM THE GABRIEL TEAM:
NEXT SUNDAY (August 15th): Holy Eucharist will be celebrated by Rev. Larry Minter. Don’t forget—the little red wagon is waiting to be filled with food donations for the Center for Lay Ministries!
ONLINE MORNING PRAYER SERVICES: The next service will begin Sunday, August 8th at 10:15 am. It will be live and in person at St. Paul’s, and on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/StPaulsJeff/live_videos/
Please join us, during or after the service, and tell others about the service. Also check YouTube for videos of past services: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCynD2CNlCMbJ5YOb1Euce5Q.
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MANY THANKS for your continued faithful responses to the need for funds. Please bear in mind that with our return to in-person services, costs begin to escalate and your contributions are still needed.
PARISH OFFICE HOURS : MTWF 10:00-4:30 and Thurs 10:00 to 1:00 pm.
If you have something you’d like to add to the next newsletter (including a brief update on what you and/or your family have been doing since last we met together), please email the team at stpaulsjeff@gmail.com by Sunday afternoon. Please put “newsletter” in the subject line.
A Priest Finds Serenity in Humor
‘It was just our Lord, in one of his most unrecognizable forms.’ I hope he didn’t mean me.
By Mike Kerrigan
Aug. 3, 2021 6:31 pm ET
Amid the rancor dividing Americans, how do we learn to see one another as countrymen again? I reconnected recently with an old friend and Jesuit priest, Daniel Sweeney, with the intention of asking him.
In the 1980s, Father Sweeney taught world history at Georgetown Prep, the high school in North Bethesda, Md., where I was a student. He’s now an assistant professor of political science at the University of Scranton.
Surely my clerical companion, whether drawing on his priestly or academic vocation, could offer the customary good counsel to which I’d grown accustomed in adolescence. Still teaching by anecdote, Father Sweeney didn’t disappoint.
He recalled a time he’d repaired from the hurly-burly of instructing adolescent males to the tranquility of a faculty lounge. Seated beside him was another Jesuit faculty member, James A.P. Byrne, a priest known for saintly serenity and heroic patience.
Their peace was interrupted by an obscenely loud knock on the door. It was the kind of gratuitous pounding both men instantly knew had been delivered by the sort of student from whom they’d sought respite. Father Byrne got up, exchanged words with the impertinent young man, and returned to his seat.
From the Wall Street Journal Submitted by Phyllis Nelson
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ANSWERS TO SUNDAY’S HISTORY QUIZ:
1. Who was the first female priest at St. Paul’s?
Answer: The Rev. Susan Mills
2. When was the first Diocesan Convention held in Jeffersonville?
Answer: In 1855. Two priests were ordained and $30.00 given for missions.
NOTES FROM HISTORY by Sonny McCulloch
We all know that Covid 19 shut our buildings and in-person services down for nearly 15 months in 2020--21. It is not the first time our buildings have been closed. The fire of 1981 occurred in June 1981, causing a great deal of damage to the church and destroying the parish hall. From June 1981 until November 1981 services were held in the JayCee club house. The church building reopened on All Saints Sunday 1981. The rebuilding of the parish hall took until September 1982.
In 1937 the buildings were closed from mid-January to about June, due to flood damage. Services were held at the home of Flynn Newkirk in Port Fulton. Flood waters inundated St. Paul's, which at that time was located in the 100 block of W. Chestnut St. until 1874. Services were held on the steamboat "Grey Eagle.” The records do not show the length of that shutdown.
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MEET OUR REGISTERED LAY EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS
Having completed the Diocesan requirements for registration as Lay Eucharistic Ministers, Dennis and Charlene McAndrews are ready and eager to bring communion to those who are unable to be present at Sunday services. If you would like to be added to their list of participants, please contact Marylee at the church office: 812-282-1108, or stpaulsjeff@gmail.com .
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