SRCA Updates

 

 

Dear Parish Family,

 

Teri Canody and I are just back from our diocesan synod (meeting). What a wonderful, exciting spirit was present as we listened to parish reports and conducted the business of the larger church. We are so blessed to be under the leadership of a godly bishop, and to be able to focus on sharing Jesus with our neighbors. I am blessed beyond measure.

 

Please plan now to worship with us on Sunday the 18th and to stay after worship for our first annual parish meeting. At that time we will hear about matters concerning our parish life. The annual meeting is a traditional part of the Anglican church world, and is an essential part of "being church" together. We will have child care, and a light lunch will be served as a part of the meeting. We will finish by 1:00.

 

This week we celebrate the Second Sunday of Easter (note it is not the Sunday after Easter). Our Easter celebration lasts fifty days, continuing through the celebration of Pentecost, which will be on /may 23^rd this year. "Alleluia" will continue to resound through our worship as we celebrate the miracle of God's resurrection power at work.

 

During the Easter season our some of our Sunday gospel readings will be drawn from the accounts of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. You will notice that there is no Old Testament reading. In its place read from the book of Acts, hearing about the early church. Our readings today include Acts 5:27-32, Psalm 150, Revelation 1:4-8, and John 20:19-31.

 

On Sunday we will welcome six of our children as we baptize them into Christ's one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church. Please congratulate Joshua Canody, Colman Davenport, Mary Davenport, Elisa Davenport, Tess Davenport, and Sarah Davenport. Did you know that once baptized a child has all the rights and privileges of church membership with the exception of voting or holding any position that would require them to be legally responsible (running for vestry, etc.)? They are most welcome to receive communion, and once old enough to serve as acolytes (third grade), lectors and chalice bearers(16).

 

As a congregation we will make a serious promise to help these children come to know, love, and follow Jesus. Let's all be thinking how we can truly live into that promise!

 

Sunday Help:

AM setup in the gym:  Mike, Brad, Charlie, Bruce

Take Down:  all hands on deck

Altar Guild:  Jason

Acolyte: Colman, Mary

Hospitality:  Kathy

Greeters:  the Wheelers

Sunday School:  children in church to witness baptism

Nursery:  staff

Reader/Prayers of the People:  Tom

LEMs:  Mary, Jason

Prayer Team:  Young Hee, Zita

Ushers: Adrian, Young Hee

 

 Blessings,

 

Becki+

 

The Rev. Becki Neumann+
Rector, South Riding Anglican Church
Office: 703-961-1983
Cell: 240-217-4370
Home: 717-762-0924

Easter Greeting

 

Dearly loved family in the Lord,

We have had a wonderful Holy Week at South Riding Church, walking with Jesus through some of the events of this transformative week in his life. On Tuesday we walked with Jesus on his walk to Calvary with the Stations of the Cross. On Thursday we enjoyed a wonderful evening of table fellowship at our Seder Supper. On Friday night all present were tremendously moved and blessed by our service of Tenebrae. And this morning we were blessed to hand out Easter eggs and water at the South Riding Egg hunt. It was fun to turn frowns to smiles.

And now we are waiting... waiting through the length of Holy Saturday, as we recall Jesus, and we wait with eager anticipation for the first cry of Easter morning.

We will worship in the gym this Sunday. Our scripture readings for Easter will include Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-21, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, and Luke 224:1-12.
 
"Welcome happy morning age to age shall say" is the opening line from a traditional Easter hymn. It is indeed a joyous morning when we celebrate our Lord's resurrection. The apostle Paul captures the importance of the resurrection well when he says, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14). As Christians we emphasize the importance of the cross of Christ, we wear the cross, venerate the cross. The two great commandments form a cross shape – the vertical bar representing our loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and the horizontal bar representing our loving relationship with our neighbors. The cross is the predominate symbol of the Christian faith.
 
But what about the empty tomb – the resurrection. The empty tomb is… well, empty. It is perhaps the most controversial tenet of the Christian faith. Why do we stumble around or over it? What does it say to us in our lives today? Let's listen together to what God might be saying to us in the emptiness of the tomb.

See you tomorrow!

In Jesus,

Becki+

Sunday Lineup:
AM setup:  mostly done, but we might need to tweak a thing or two.
Take Down: All hands on deck, please! 
Altar Guild:  Sally for Set up, volunteers for take down
Acolyte: Nicholas - Cross, Candles - Jack and Virginia
Hospitality:  Kathy
Greeters: 
Nursery:  cry room only.
Reader/Prayers of the People: Paul 
LEMs:  Mary, Jason
Prayer Team:  Zita, Young Hee
Ushers:  Adrian, Alan




The Rev. Becki Neumann+
Rector, South Riding Anglican Church
Office 703 961 1983
Cell 240-217-4370
Home 717-762-0924