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St. Mary’s News

February 2016 Volume 7 Issue 2

An Invitation to Lent

Wednesday, February 10, will be for St. Mary’s Epis-copal and many other churches Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. The following words come from the

Proper Liturgy for Ash Wednesday:

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent,

by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial;

and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”

-Book of Common Prayer, p.265

This invitation is the doorway into Lent. Upon first hearing this invitation it is easy to think, “Well Lent is here again and these are the things I am supposed to do to get through Lent.” But what if it is not just about getting through Lent? Maybe the real question

is, “How will Lent get through to me?”

We often think of Lent as a penitential season and it is. But far too often the word penitential is misunder-stood and Lent often becomes nothing more than a season of blame, guilt, regret, and disappointment.

That is not what Lent is about.

In fact, the very first sentence of the Proper Liturgy for Ash Wednesday says, “Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made….” If that is

God’s attitude then it should also be ours.

Contents

1 Rector’s Message

3 Love One Another

Kairos

4 Daughters of King

5 Christian Education

6 Music

7 Birthdays/

Anniversaries

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St. Iranaeus, a bishop of the second century, said

“What God creates, God loves; and what God loves,

God loves everlastingly.”

We need to hear these words and take them deep into ourselves. We need to hear these words as applicable to us, to those we love, to our friends and families, to those we do not like, and to those we do not even know

or want to know.

The Lenten invitation is an invitation to the interior life, a call to go deep to discover and live into our true identity, our identity as children of God. Who we are in relationship to God is who we are. And who we are in God is either a beloved daughter or son. We are no longer dependent on

culture or even our own estimation for our identity or our worth.

That is where the self reflection comes in. Lent invites us to look at the ways in which we have allowed our fears, attitudes, behaviors, our accomplishments, successes and failures, as well as the opinions of oth-ers to tell us who we are, to separate us from God, ourselves, and each other. Lent invites us to repent of, fast from, and let go of those false identities and recover our true identity as God’s holy people made in the

image and likeness of God.

Lent is the time of year to reconnect our lives to God’s life, and to

rediscover we have no life outside of God’s life.

The Reverend Dewey E. Brown, Jr.

Rector – St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

37637 Magnolia Ave.

Dade City, Fl 33525

www.stmdc.com

Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the

Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20, 21

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Valentine’s Day & Love One Another

Our Valentine’s Day Love One Another meal is getting underway. Volunteers, new and longtime are coming forward adding brownies and wheelbarrow donations along with service. Our toiletry collection is filling up; keep them coming. Donations of dollars have been promised. Supplies will be checked and added as needed. The source of our meal will be decided. Eggs will be bought, boiled and gingerly peeled. Brownies will be mixed and popped into the oven. Plans to spend a good part of that afternoon helping serve our meal are being made. There are surely a few items lurking in your corners, closets and drawers that would be a candidate for the wheelbarrows. Pet food is always welcome.

Find a way to be a part of this loving outreach ministry!

Kairos

The next Women's KAIROS #38 at Hernando Correctional Institution in Brooksville will be held

March 3-6, 2016. The KAIROS ministry has its roots in Cursillo. Its purpose is to share Christ's

unconditional love with the inmates in ways that will transform lives and build Christian community

within the prison environment. The team has been assembled and is preparing and training now.

Like Cursillo, KAIROS relies on the support of the larger Christian community through prayer,

posters, cookies, and financial contributions, referred to as 'Agape.'

Four St. Mary's women are serving as volunteers on this next team and need the support of our

fellow parishioners. The following is a list of tangible ways that reflect God's 'Agape' love and are

very much needed:

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1. Sign the prayer list. The names on this list will form a Prayer chain made up of links that contain the names of every person praying for the team and inmates on the weekend.** Or better still--Colored strips of paper will be in a basket at coffee hour if you would like to sign your own name directly to one of the links of the chain. ( First name and last initial only.)

2. If you have an artistic side, draw and color some placemats. (see Nancy for placemats) These are used

for each meal, and are a special treat for the residents, especially those prepared by little children. Children

should add first name and age only.

3. There is a 24/7 Prayer Vigil for the entire weekend. Each of us on team is given three half-hour time slots

for people to cover in prayer. Consider taking responsibility for one of the available time slots from one of

us on team.

4. 75 people (team and inmates) attending the weekend consume many cookies over four days. We always

can use packages of sealed store-bought cookies of many varieties. (Watch for BOGO sales for best

value.) Please bring them to St. Mary's Freeman Hall and deposit them in RED Kairos container. Last

Sunday for collection is February 28th.

5. Financial contributions are always needed. $5.00 pays for one meal. We are responsible for providing

about 400 meals and 200 snacks, so any donation you can make of any size is very appreciated. Bringing

in food from the outside gives the residents a break from institutional meals and is such a treat for those

incarcerated. Your monetary donations are tax-deductible. P.S. Checks should be made out to KAIROS

(not to St. Marys)

Your prayers, love and ongoing support are very much appreciated and are a blessing to all who wil l

participate in this weekend. Lives will be changed.

Many blessings and thank you,

Debi Brown, Carol Jefford, Nancy Meech, Jeanne Plecenik and Candice Weaver

Tanno DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

“For me, one of the greatest frustrations of walking through the ‘dailiness’ of my life as a Christian is that I don’t always get to see how the bits and pieces of who I am fit into the big picture of God’s plan. It’s tempt-ing at times to see my life as a meal here, a meeting there, a carpool, a phone call, a sack of groceries.....disjointed fragments.

And yet I know that I am called, as God’s child, to believe by faith that they do add up. That in some way every single scrap of my life, every step and every struggle, is in the process of being fitted together into God’s huge and perfect pattern for good.”

This is a quote from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. Members of Martha Chapter (DOK) are reading – and discussing – the book together, a few chapters at a time, at our monthly meetings. Women of the parish are welcome to join us the second Sunday (February 14th, this month) in Tanno Hall following the 10 a.m. Service as we explore ways of finding intimacy with God in the busyness of life.

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Christian Education

Many thanks to all those who attended the Safeguarding God's Children course in January! My

hope is to schedule another course in the near future for those who've inquired since and those

who could not make it in January. Keep watching your bulletins and newsletters.

The Christian Education department, Music Ministry and Youth Group will combine efforts in

hosting a church-wide Lenten Soup Supper and Compline Service on February 21st in Freeman

Hall from 5-7pm. We ask that you sign up at the bulletin board to bring a soup or bread to share.

Drinks will be provided.

The first hour will be for visiting and playing games, followed by trying to choose which wonderful

soups and breads to try. At the close of the evening, Sharon Brant and the Youth Group will lead

us in Compline. We hope that you mark your calendars, sign up and please feel free to bring a

friend

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FEBRUARY 2016 MUSIC MINISTRY NOTES

Dear Friends,

As January ends and February begins, I would like to thank all of you for what you have already

done in 2016 in support of our Music Ministries. Your help, donations, prayers, time, effort,

encouragement, suggestions, monetary gifts, and love are immensely appreciated, and never taken

for granted. Our Yard and Bake Sales were successful, and on Sunday, February 7th we are sure to

enjoy the Super Bowl Subs, cookies, and chips (Call or email me and I will get your order in, if you

have not done so yet). Your “junk” turned into about $1,000 worth of “treasures,” and these funds

will help out a family in need and also help defray the cost of the FUMMWA summer music camp in

Fruitland Park, June 12-17. Again, your generosity and faithfulness is overwhelming, and I feel

extremely blessed to be in music ministry together with you week after week.

Looking ahead, I hope that you will be able to join us during the 10 am Sunday worship services, as

well as several extra special occasions in February. Our Ash Wednesday Service will be held at 7

PM on the 10th in our sanctuary. And, on the 21

st from 5 to 7 PM in Freeman Hall, we will combine

efforts with our Christian Education Department in hosting a Community and Church-wide Lenten

Soup Supper and Compline Service (led by our Youth Group). Mark your calendars now, because I

am sure you will not want to miss these dates!

As far as what is going on behind the scenes, each group is continuing to prepare for Lent, Palm

Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, and the Bishop’s visit and Confirmation. So, a lot

is going on and I am looking forward to all that God has in store for us in the future.

As we get to the end of Epiphany, and begin the Lenten Season, it is the hope of our St. Mary’s

Music Ministry that the songs we share during worship will be meaningful to you and help to set the

tone for each of you to have a closer walk with Jesus, Our Savior. And personally, as I wrote in my

annual report, “If there’s anything I can do for you, just make it known to me.”

God’s Peace and Love,

Sharon Brant

(813)949-4184

SBLutzBell@aol.com

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February Birthdays

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

Julia Auvil, Elizabeth Sanders

Kathi Boyle, Kathy Phillips, Diane Tsacrios

Amberley Bozone

Judy Walls, Larry Smith, Louis Giella

Sharon Phillips

Harry Edwards

Brennan Allen, Kaeleigh Hicks, Anne

Gonzalez, Mary Teschner

Bill Thompson

Jim Burnsed, Audrey Phillips

Everett Rigsby, Anne Malley

Jill Wiemer

Dot Brenn, Sharon Brant, Rich Allen

Amanda Jordan

Elizabeth Beltz

Elaine Moorman

Tony Carbone, Debi Brown, Claire Malley

Ray Battle, Sandee Sayre

Dennis Celentano

Carol O’Connell

February Anniversaries

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6

7

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11

12

14

16

17

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

28

29

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7

13

14

21

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Clay and Amanda Jordan

Leon and Betty Milton

Glen and Margaret Thompson

William and Donna Kusky

Tim and Donna Tumelty

Doug & Darlene Livengood-Shields

Jon Sidney and Lori Larkin

Dennis and Nancy Alfonso

Bob and Carrie Luckey

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Upcoming Events

February 7 Pick up your Super Bowl Subs

February 9 Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper

February 10 Ash Wednesday services 7 am and 7 pm

February 14 Love One Another

February 21 Lenten Soup Supper followed by Compline

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

37637 Magnolia Avenue

Dade City, Florida 33523

352-567-3888

Check out our Website…

www.stmdc.com