Calendar

Aug 17: Sunday School Registration Begins

Sept 7: Fall Picnic and Semi-annual meeting/Sunday School Open House

Sept 14: Sunday School Begins/Change to Fall Service Schedule

October 31 - November 2: Shrine Mont weekend

Nov 22: Smiles for Liberia Silent Auction

Full Calendar

News

Adult Formation Offering - Christianity and Politics

Posted by St. Anne's Webmaster

Join us for three Sunday evenings, 7:00-8:30 p.m., as our own Jim Jones leads us in a series entitled "Christianity and Politics: A Biblical Perspective." The first session on September 21 is subtitled "The Passion of God" and will look at the relationship of religion and the "secular order" from the perspectives of the Genesis story of creation, the moral imperatives imbedded in the teachings of the Torah, and the writings of the Old Testament Prophets. The second session on September 28 is titled "Jesus and Empire" and will explore Jesus' attitudes towards the secular state, as well as his strategies for dealing with the empire of his day. The third session on October 5, titled "The Challenge for 21st Century American Christians" will consider the implications of all of this for us as 21st Century Christians living in the seat of the world's current empire.

Kerygma Bible Studies to Resume in the Fall

Posted by St. Anne's Webmaster

Kerygma, a Greek word that means "proclamation," is the name of an ecumenically-based company that produces Bible study materials. One of the real advantages of the series they offer is that they are helpful to all, regardless of their level of experience and knowledge of the Bible. Both those who have never opened the Bible and those who know it well, get a lot out of the studies - and the groups have a lot of fun along the way.

As in the past, two sessions will be offered to help accommodate different schedules. One group facilitated by Mother Jackie and Jane Smith will meet on Monday mornings, 10:30 to noon; the other group facilitated by Mother Jackie and Geoff Lunt will meet on Tuesday evenings, 7:30-9:00. The week of September 22 we will begin a six-week study of the Beatitudes, examining the Beatitudes themselves, their Old Testament roots, their context and contemporary implications. The cost of the book is $15. If you would like to participate, please sign up on the sheet provided in the Narthex. Call Jackie at the church office if you have any questions.

Looking ahead, we plan a four-week study of the texts and seasonal themes of Advent beginning the week of November 17. Beginning in January we will tackle a fourteen-week study of the Book of Revelation.

Koinonia Groups Forming for the Fall

Posted by St. Anne's Webmaster

Koinonia is another Greek word, this word meaning "community." It has been our tradition at St. Anne's to invite people to sign up in the fall, and then those folks are grouped in groups of about eight people who meet in each other's homes for dinner throughout the school year. It is a great way to build community as you really get to know your group by the end of the year. Fellowship and fun are the only goals of the groups. There is nothing to study, there is no agenda, and the meals can be simple and shared, with everyone bringing one of the dishes. The time commitment is four or five meal times set around the schedules of your particular group, usually evenings but some groups have found a Sunday brunch works well.

We gather all together for a kick-off potluck dinner in October. At that time, groups meet each other and decide when and where they will meet next. If you would like to participate this year, please sign up on the sheet provided in the Narthex. Please indicate on the sheet if you would like to be part of a group that includes children and if you are willing to coordinate a group (simply making sure your group gets together, often by hosting the first meal). If enough indicate a preference, we can offer a group for singles. Many singles prefer to be part of a general group and often two singles will host one meal together.

Please call Mother Jackie if you can volunteer to help coordinate or have any questions about it.

More News

Worship

 

Worship at St. Anne’s is what is called in church terminology “Eucharistically Centered.” Simply put that means we have communion at all our services. But, in fact, it’s not really that simple. In Greek the word Eucharist means to give thanks. By sharing with each other the blessed bread and wine we acknowledge the gifts God has given us, especially the life and love of Jesus Christ. We also believe that the best expression of community is that we share this gift with each other, that’s why we offer communion at every service. It’s too great a gift not to share as often as we can!

When you look through the Eucharistic prayers in the Prayer Book you will find that there services we use are divided into two basic parts: The first part is the “Ministry of the Word,” here we read scripture and then share it with each other in either a sermon or a discussion. The second part is called the “Ministry of the Table (the Eucharistic prayer), when we share God’s gifts.

Music is an essential piece of worship at St. Anne’s. We take seriously St. Augustine’s adage, ‘they who sing pray twice.” With the exception of the 7:45 service, all our Sunday services include both congregational singing and accomplished performances from very talented choirs and musicians.

Our services are dignified and beautiful to both the eyes and the ears, but they are also warm and inviting. The clergy wear vestments, and the service follows the forms of the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. However, during the announcements, greetings, and sometimes the sermon, things get pretty informal. Veteran Episcopalians will recognize the services as being neither "high church" nor "low church," but somewhere between the two ("broad church").

If you are unfamiliar with Episcopal services, they are liturgical (meaning that they follow a script), they are scriptural (at least three Bible readings are included in most services), and they are participatory (the congregation reads and responds throughout the service). The scripts are found in the Book of Common Prayer, which allows you to follow along and participate throughout the service.

The Book of Common Prayer is a wonderful book that contains the scripts for many different types of services as well as for many general and specific prayers. When you are at a "loss for words" in your conversations with God, it will give you the words to express your feelings. And the words are beautiful. A recent Newsweek article on religion in America noted that a growing number of people are following the book's morning prayer liturgy, because they were drawn to the beauty of the language.