The Shell Newsletter – March 5, 2020

From the Rector

Compline in Lent – The Daily Office in Practice

 Last fall our parish intern Tommy Turbyville led some conversations exploring praying the Daily Office, which then led into weekly Compline services during Advent.  It was a meaningful practice for those who were able to come, and a group spearheaded by Jeannie Pellicier has taken up leading Compline every Monday night in Lent at 7:00 pm.  Eight people gathered this past Monday to share in this beautiful form of night prayer – to end their day and help anchor them for the week to come.

If you weren’t able to attend any of Tommy’s sessions to learn about the Daily Office last fall, here is a brief synopsis about it from the Episcopal Church website:

Use of daily prayers to mark the times of the day and to express the traditions of the praying community is traditional in Judaism and in Christianity. The third, sixth, and ninth hours (9 a.m., 12 noon, and 3 p.m.) were times of private prayer in Judaism. The congregational or cathedral form of office developed in Christianity under Constantine (274 or 288-337) with the principal morning and evening services of lauds and vespers. The people participated in the cathedral form of office. The monastic form of office also developed at this time. In addition to lauds and vespers, the monastic form included matins (at midnight or cockcrow), prime (the first hour), terce (the third hour), sext (the sixth hour), none (the ninth hour), and compline (at bedtime). By the late middle ages, the Daily Office was seen as the responsibility of the monks and clergy rather than an occasion for participation by all in the prayers of the community throughout the day.

After the Anglican Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) reduced the eight monastic offices to the two services of Morning and Evening Prayer. These services were printed in vernacular English and intended for use by all members of the church. Participation in the Daily Office is at the heart of Anglican spirituality. It is the proper form of daily public worship in the church. In addition to forms for Daily Morning Prayer and Daily Evening Prayer in contemporary and traditional language, the Book of Common Prayer section for the Daily Office includes forms for Noonday Prayer, Order of Worship for the Evening, Compline, and Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families. These offices include prayers, a selection from the Psalter, readings from the Holy Scriptures, one or more canticles, and the Lord’s Prayer. Forms for Morning and Evening Prayer include an optional confession of sin. It also provides a Daily Office Lectionary that identifies readings and psalm choices for Morning and Evening Prayer (pp. 936-1001), and a Table of Canticles with suggested canticles for use at Morning Prayer and Evening Prayer (pp. 144-145). The officiant in the Daily Office may be a member of the clergy or a lay person.

All of that being said, the best way to learn about the Daily Office is to practice and pray it – and so I hope whether you can make it every week, or even only once, that you will make Compline a part of your Lenten journey this year.

Yours in God’s peace,
Kristin+

---

Formation

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS
Preschool through High School
9:30 – 10:15 lower level

Our recent “4^th Sunday Fun” group activity was a wonderful learning experience for our Sunday School students.  We welcomed guests Mary Anne & Rick Smith, the local A is for Africa organizers, and our very own Yvette Allen, just back from their trip to Tanzania.  They shared many stories about their visit with the Matim School children and we viewed a video of the children in action.  What a treat!  You may want to personally ask Yvette about her first journey to Africa.

All of the above………just in time for Lent.  Our Sunday School students received and decorated “mite boxes” to save their coins during Lent in support of our A is for Africa outreach project.  We encourage families to remind their children at home to place a coin in their mite box “for blessings and in thanksgiving” and “for those less fortunate and in need”.  The mite boxes will be turned in during Palm Sunday and Easter.  The children are always amazed to learn the amount collected when all the coins are added together.

These funds will provide much needed necessities for our Matim School friends in Africa.  Thank you!

As always, our teaching team enjoys working with your chldren each Sunday.  We welcome new students at any time and appreciate the help of parents willing to volunteer.

 St. James’ Sunday School Team
Yvette Allen, Bible Stories for Preschoolers
Betsy Davis, Kindergarten – 2^nd Grades
Natalie DelRegno – 3^rd – 5th Grades
Joan Fader – Middle – High Grades
Nancy Nanavaty – 4^th Sunday Fun activities
Mara Snyder – Children’s music

 

Spring Book Group Selection
Grab a copy of Anne Lamott’s Almost Everything – Notes on Hope and be ready to gather and discuss in May.

Almost Everything is a powerful exploration of how we bring hope back into our lives.  From Goodreads:

“I am stockpiling antibiotics for the Apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen,” Anne Lamott admits at the beginning of Almost Everything. Despair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families, and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest–when we are, as she puts it, “doomed, stunned, exhausted, and over-caffeinated”–the seeds of rejuvenation are at hand. “All truth is paradox,” Lamott writes, “and this turns out to be a reason for hope. If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change.” That is the time when we must pledge not to give up but “to do what Wendell Berry wrote: ‘Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.'”

In this profound and funny book, Lamott calls for each of us to rediscover the nuggets of hope and wisdom that are buried within us that can make life sweeter than we ever imagined. Divided into short chapters that explore life’s essential truths, Almost Everything pinpoints these moments of insight as it shines an encouraging light forward.

Gather for discussion on Monday, 5/11 or Thursday, 5/24 for reflection and discussion.

Easter Formation Teaser!
This Eastertide join Rev. Kristin and others in the Way of Love 50 Day Bible Challenge.  Using the book of the same name, we will read individually during the week and gather on Sundays at 9:30 am to pray, reflect, and discuss the previous week’s readings together.

The Way of Love 50 Day Bible Challenge pairs each of the seven Way of Love spiritual practices with a passage of scripture as well as reflections, questions, and prayers written by a variety of faith leaders.

Come and see what God has to say about the spiritual practices of Turn – Learn – Pray – Worship – Bless – Go – Rest. Informed by scripture and inspired through prayer, these practices offer the opportunity to transform our relationship with ourselves, with our family and communities, and with our Savior. Featuring fifty days of reflections, The Way of Love Bible Challenge is an extension of The Bible Challenge, a global initiative to encourage daily engagement with scripture and an exploration of the Word of God.

Sundays at 9:30 am on 4/19, 4/26, 5/3, 5/10, 5/17
and at 10:45 am on 5/24 (once the summer schedule of one service at 9:30 am begins)

---

Youth Group

The 2019-2020 Youth Group has been having a great time.  We meet twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Sundays.  Our 4th Sunday gatherings are for fellowship, and last month we had a game night.  Some of the games we played were Yahtzee and a Throw Throw Burrito game which was an action game disguised as a card game.  It was a great time to see all of the different games that everyone brought and the group had fun rotating throughout the different games!

During our 2nd Sunday of the month meetings we have been studying The Way of Love.  During our first meeting last fall we covered an intro, and have so far discussed the topics of Learn, Turn, Pray, Worship and Bless. These meetings are quieter and have provided opportunities for good discussion and for us to get to know each other better.  In our most recent meeting we dove deeper into the topic of Bless.  We discussed the big and small blessings that we have in our daily lives and also how we can help bring blessings to those around us.  It was humbling to discuss those blessings that we may tend to forget about sometimes in the busier seasons of life.   We ended the night with the youth decorating boxes that will be used to collect donations for Mt. Airy Net throughout Lent.  It was such a fun way to see everyone express their own individual artistic side and also a reminder to help spread blessings!

Both sets of meetings have had very good attendance.

~Bobby, Kara, Annie, Victor, & Rev. Kristin

---

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Parish Administrator Hours for the week of March 8, Monday through Thursday 10-4.

Volunteers Needed  St. James’ Thrift Shop needs volunteers on Monday, March 16^th from 10am-12pm for their annual change over from Fall/Winter to Spring/Summer.  Please sign up in the narthex.

Sabbatical Q&A  Join Kristin+ and members of the Renewal Team after both services this Sunday to hear about the work they’ve been doing and to ask questions about plans for this time of renewal for our community next year.  Click here to read previously published articles.

Lenten Outreach  The season of Lent is here and the Outreach Committee has Lenten calendars available.  The contributions are donated to Mt. Airy Net.  The Youth Group decorated boxes to place the food and sundry items in, but you can also use your own box or bag.  Donations need to be brought back to church by Palm Sunday (April 5) as they will be blessed on Easter morning.  Thank you from the Outreach Committee!

Lenten Compline Services  A Compline Service will be held during Lent for those of you who are seeking a quiet place to pray.  Come join us on Mondays, March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and April 6 at 7 pm in the sanctuary.  Compline is a service of evening prayers that is the final church service (or office) of the day.  This service is typically 30 minutes.  Prayer books will be provided – just bring yourselves!