blendon middle school students learn from maria wolfe...
TRANSCRIPT
ST. MATTHEW'S MESSENGER
December 2019 Christmas
A Message from the Rector2020 – A New Year of Spiritual Growth and Mission
As you know, I have worked with Trinity Episcopal Church in Newark through our St. Matthew’s consulting outreach over the past two years. This was a way to share the experience of both priest and parish of St. Matthew’s with the greater Diocese, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to serve others and add financial support to our budget. This work now ends in 2019. So, what’s next? First, I continue as your priest in charge, and we grow in faith and mission to congregation and community. Second, we will continue to share our mission with the Diocese - now in the Columbus area. St. Matthew’s will be commissioned as a sending church for establishing a new Episcopal community in the Columbus area. (This fits our three missional objectives: create new communities, build positive social capital, and help people discover their best spiritual selves).
In 2020 I will be utilized as a Church Planter for a portion of my time during the week, and St. Matthew’s will offer assistance as needed. Our success as a church is growing in new and innovative ways and has continued to catch the attention of the Diocese in light of this win/win mission. The Bishop will commission St. Matthew’s as a sending parish for Church Planting that will allow St. Matthew’s to continue to grow while
serving the Diocesan vision of establishing new Episcopal communities.
We have come a long way as a unique Episcopal congregation, and this new year will allow us to not only to grow in our faith and love for each other but will also serve Columbus in the name of Jesus. Historically those congregations that serve as sending/planting churches become strong themselves as a church that grows churches. I look forward to serving and working with you as we continue to grow spiritually and offer our best to the greater community.
Father Joseph Kovitch
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Christ Is Born!
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Ministry
Education Round-Up
BLENDON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN FROM MARIA WOLFE ABOUT IMMIGRATING FROM CUBA12/20/2019
Inquisitive Blendon Middle School sixth graders surround special visitor Maria Wolfe.
Maria Wolfe, a Westerville City Schools grandparent and active community member, recently visited sixth grade students at Blendon Middle School to share her experiences about growing up in Cuba and moving to the United States.
She talked about Cuba’s history, education system, and the challenges of moving to a new country when she was a sixth-grader. The pupils learned how to conduct an interview and formulated ideas for their National History Day projects. This year’s theme is Breaking Barriers.
Life Together
In January, Sandra Weisner, Marie Kovitch, and Maggie Ervin will be creating a "sister" Facebook page of St. Matthew's main page. Scheduled retreats are often hard for people to attend, so we decided to improvise and bring prayer and retreat-type material through Facebook.
Below is the introduction to the page that will be entitled "Pray Think Love - Practicing the Presence." We will let you know when we are ready to launch, and we hope you join the page!
"Welcome to St. Matthew’s new adventure in prayer for our parish and our beloved Westerville
community. We hope this page brings you some f resh ways to connect and be present with God more consistently while you are striving to handle life’s challenges and be faithful to your weekly
commitments as well. You are not alone! Sandra, Maggie, and Marie will bring us a variety of offerings – different ways to pray, excerpts and essays, videos, and topic questions to get us all involved so we can learn from one another. We hope you will find this page to be an inspiration for you on your way to recognizing God’s presence more in your life. Please share with or invite others as you wish. Blessings!"
St. Matthew’s New Youth Outreach
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Neighborhood Bridges – A Current Towards Becoming Beloved Community at St. MatthewsDecember, 2019 By Rebecca Wright We have our first opportunity to be a viaduct to our community through Neighborhood Bridges. We are collecting travel size personal care products for Westerville students particularly those experiencing homelessness. The travel size care products will go in baskets in the classrooms to not only provide an essential need, but also to provide an opportunity to identify students for more needed products and assistance in the counseling office. Try to add perhaps just a few travel size items to your grocery list and look for the St Matthew’s Caring Box to deposit items or drop them off at the Pray Think Love House. There has been so much interest in helping our youth, particularly those experiencing homelessness, through discussions and learning opportunities at the house during AfterWords and other meetings. During St. Matthew’s Lenten Series this year, Deacon Douglas provided a contemplative series of weekly focused discussions he called “Queer Voices and the Face of Christ.” …. I know, right? Pretty thought provoking. I think everyone who attended were truly moved by what they learned. Often, teens who experience homelessness are teens who were disowned from their families because they have identified as LGBTQ. Deacon Douglas’ series provoked conversations of providing comfort and support in some capacity for these youth in Westerville.Amber Nickles offered her expertise and heart towards the needs of the youth in Westerville through several dialogues at AfterWords. She offered ways of connecting with others in Westerville who also were attempting to help teens experiencing homelessness and depression in Westerville. (Needed a period.) MaryBeth developed a relationship with Rick Bannister of Neighborhood Bridges. When we met with Rick, the need for toiletries and ways to help provide school lunches to the teens, with dignity in mind, was discussed. We anticipate more opportunities will develop for us at St Matthew’s to be a conduit to spreading love and acceptance alongside our neighbors.
Formation and Bible Study
Advent - Preparation for the New Church Year
During Advent Season we studied and prayed with the Magnificat using Lectio Divina.
Lectio Divina is a practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's word. (Wikipedia)
Each Wednesday evening we studied the Magnificat from different perspectives. The evening ended with Compline (a simple end of the day service). The final session featured our own versions of the Magnificat. About half us were inspired (brave enough) to pen our own version. They were inspiring!
Below is the Magnificat in Mary’s voice, followed by voices of some of those taking part in the Wednesday Evening Sessions.
Mary’s Song of PraiseLuke 1:46-55 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
46 And Mary said,“My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.50 His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.
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51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;53 he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.54 He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
The Song of Praise in the Voices of Wednesday Evening members.
-Krys Clark
Beneath my dark tunicMy soul burnsUndiminished and rejoicing in the lord most bright
He has looked upon my meekness and shown me that yes, I am favored tooAnd those like me will be remembered
He has helped me many times and is most holy.
Those who honor and praise him will be looked upon with favorFor all time
Those who are boastful and proud he allows to be imprisoned in the chains of their delusions
For the rich men are evicted from their mansionsThe homeless given golden palaces to dwell
The emptied shall find their cupboards filled with joyWhile the fatted ones will be left bare
The lord assists his believersHis mercy burns upon themIn past, present and future
-Maria Wolf
Magnificat!?
The Canticle of Mary, is and isn’t my prayer.
Of the phrases Mary applies to herself I can claim some:
My spirit, that groaning within me that prays and rejoices when I cannot.
My realization of favor and privilege.
My giftedness.
God is indeed holy!
One I cannot:
It’s unimaginable at I may be remembered beyond 2 generations (children and grandchildren).
Mary’s phrases on how God acts in the world are challenging:
Is there no mercy for those who do not fear (are in awe of) God?
How does God show strength in this generation?
Vainglory seems do rule the day!
New thrones are built every day!
The lowly…how about them? The migrants? The out of work? The unschooled?
And the hungry? The rich?
How is the promise of mercy delivered today?
Could it be that God acts in and through me? Lord, help my unbelief!
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I am the mercy of God!
I am the arms of God!
I am the humbleness of God!
I am the deliverer of the mercy of God!
Magnificat! I am the deliverer of the mercy of God!
My whole being gives God Praise and Magnifies the Lord!
-Mother Abby
Reflection on The Magnificat
My soul delights in God because He inspires me to do His will.
He magnifies my efforts when I am obedient and respond to the needs of others.
I am blessed, joyous in continuing to do His will
I am committed to God and to the life of others.
-Father Joseph
My life sings the song of God eternal and the birthing of the Christ in my life in every moment, in every encounter. I rejoice. I magnify. I make manifest the promise of hope and love in a hungering world.
I dance in the rhythm of God’s power, holiness, and mercy, for the hungering poor and those who cry justice. My dance is action in compassion’s song and the in-breaking of God’s reign again and again.
Transforming a new creation of the great reversal when those who have will share with those who have not –
Where war will die and give birth to peace,
Where hatred and supremacy will be overcome with love,
Where despair and inequality will become hope and harmony,
Where the mighty will take their place among the worshipers of God my Sovereign.
Let the song of angels possess me and consume my life just as it spoke life into the void of galaxies and planets. It birthed a diverse people of Abraham. It was liberated in the Exodus, called forth prophets, communicated in times of exile that you still belong to the song, and birthed incarnation in Christ, in resurrection, in community, in belonging and inclusion. Let me amplify the song of such a God of new beginnings of hope of justice. Let me dance my life to such a song.
StewardshipSt Matthew’s Stewardship Campaign kicked off during the Advent Season.
During 2019 St. Matthew’s made a number of outstanding steps forward. During the Annual Meeting, in a few weeks, we will hear more about them.
Stay Tuned!!
Expect the 2020 Stewardship campaign to be rewarding.
REMEMBER :TIME
TALENTS TREASURE
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St. Matthew’s In Pictures
St. Matthew’s at Otterbein Promise House. Chipotle was served! St. Matthew’s is a major sponsor of Promise House. In recognition of our service we received the Citizen Award
from Otterbein University in 2019
Westerville Icons by Maggie Ervin – Artist-in-ResidenceThese icons served as the center of the backdrops at the altar.
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The Doris Hoffman Room in the P.T.L.House
The Doris Hoffman Room in the P.T.L.House with the Harry Hoffman Room to the left
The William Moses Room in the P.T.LHouse
The Harry Hoffman Room in the P.T.L.House
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Flashman (Bob Zust, Jr) kicking off the 2019-2020 Stewardship Campaign
Flashman is also an orator, specializing in condo sales and, more importanly, on church stewardship. He will
lead our 2019-2020 campaign.
SEASONS OF THE CHURCHChristmas
Christmas Season is the second of the seasons in the Church Year. It starts on December 25 (Christmas Day) with the Feast of the Nativity and lasts for 12 days, including two Sundays.
Christmas is a very happy time for Christians. It is the time Christ's birth is celebrated. Among the seasons, Easter is the only one that is more important than Christmas.
While the celebration starts on December 25, there is no historical evidence that this is the true birthday of Jesus Christ. It is believed this date was chosen to replace the Roman feast of the Natalis Solis Invicti by the birth of the 'Sun of Righteousness'. (See Malachi 4:2.) The observance spread throughout the Western church. In the Eastern Church, Christians celebrate Christ's birth on January 6, which is the Feast of the Epiphany.
The first mention of Christmas was in the year AD 336. It is believed that it started as a religious celebration in the early part of that century.
The day is celebrated in the Roman Church by three masses, one at midnight, one at dawn and one at noon. The three masses symbolize the threefold birth of Christ, (1) eternally in the bosom of the Father, (2) from the womb of the Virgin Mary and (3) mystically in the soul of the faithful.
In the Episcopal Church, there is a mass on Christmas Eve, which marks the beginning of Christmas. Usually additional services take place on Christmas morning.
The celebrations have taken on the practice of giving gifts. Gift giving was symbolized, in Northern Europe, by 'Father Christmas' (or Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus) bringing gifts to the children.
In addition, the Germans introduced evergreen trees as a major part of the celebration. They venerated evergreen trees as symbols of long life. They now became symbols of the eternal life Jesus gave us.
Length of Season: Two Weeks. Date of Season: December 25 to January 6. Mood of Season: Joyful. Color of Season: White. Symbol of Season: Manger, or the Christ Candle..
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church30 E. Collage Ave.
Westerville, OH 43081614 882-2706
St. Matthew’s Episcopal, Westerville, Ohio-New (Facebook)
The Rev. Dr. G. Joseph Kovitch
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Priest-in-Charge614-499-6588
The Rev. Abeoseh (Abby) FlemisterRetired, Volunteer Priest Associate
The Rev. Douglas ArgueDeacon
Mr. Lindsay SmithMusic Director/Outreach Musician
Ms. Amy Cooley Parish Administrator
Mr. Bill PhythyonBuilding and Grounds Manager
VESTRY
Kevin Aldridge
Clifton Flemister, Sr. Warden
MaryBeth Ingram
Donna Johnston, Secretary
JerriLynn Kaiser, Jr. Co-Warden
Doug McCann
Glenn Myres
Harold Patrick
Bryan Swift
Rebecca Wright
Bob Zust Jr, Jr. Co-Warden
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