This Week at St. Stephen's

Have you visited our website recently?  The Parish Calendar and 2011 Lenten Lectionary are now available there:  http://www.stst.org/.  When you look at the calendar, move your cursor over a particular event to get a pop-up box with details. 

David Henderson will be preaching at both the 7:45 and 10:00 services this Sunday.  As he moves on to his new adventure in Seattle, please wish him the best of everything.  David has been a quiet. cheerful and deep force for our little band and will be missed.

Adult Inquiry at 9:00 on Sunday completes the discussion of Bach’s St. John Passion. Last week the topic was John and his book.  This week the topic is Bach and his read of it.

The Little Red Tabernacle Wagon aka “Red Tab,” was blessed and made its maiden roll out through the park blocks to Pioneer Square last Sunday. It will be departing from the Peace Chant sculpture every Sunday from now on at completion of the Communion in the Park service which begins at 1:30 pm. 

St. Stephen’s drivers made their first official pick-up at the Oregon Food Bank this week.  Besides regular staples, the new foragers came back with coconut milk, pomegranate juice and individual yogurt packs.

Thanks to Don Davidson for his yard work on the church perimeter plants.  His landscaping included trimming, edging, pruning and general clean-up. Bring on the spring daffodils! Don is a friend of our clergy and offered his advice and work as a gift to the church.

And finally thanks to Faye Tayler for the beautiful design work on our 2011 Parish Directory which is now available at coffee hour.  Printing of the booklet was a gift of Martin and Lily Sudarma, owners of the Copyman print shop in our neighborhood at 11th and Jefferson.  Please stop in to Copyman for all your printing needs.  They are fast, offer competitive prices and are friends of St. Stephen’s.
Hope everyone has a great week!  See you in church!

An Invitation to a Holy Lent

Lenten Lectionary 2011

It is once again the season for reflection and self-imposed austerity. A making room for God in the midst of lives that seem to hum along quite well without Him. Lent is our chance for the pause, for seeing anew the world and examining our relationship to it in light of God's will. May these reflections provide good company on our journey to Easter morning and the possibilities of resurrection.

Ash Wednesday Services at Noon and 7 pm - March 9

Here’s a brief description from Fr. Dennis about our two services on the first day of Lent:

At Noon, in our Lady Chapel, we will gather to observe the ancient prayer of the Church as she leads us into the observance of holy Lent. Imposition of Ashes will follow the prayers and litanies the Church has prayed for the past centuries as we gather in community to turn our hearts and lives toward a reflection of what our 40-day journey into Lent will offer us in turning and repenting for our re-birth into Easter joy.

At 7pm, we will gather in the Eucharistic celebration to prepare for our entry into the observance of a holy Lent. The central act of our lives in community is the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. We sing, listen to the words of our holy scriptures, pray for those who need our prayers, confess our sins and receive absolution; greet each other in the peace of God and surround the holy table where we re-enact the supper that Jesus shared with his friends on the night he was turned over to suffering and death. We receive in that meal the sustenance that will nourish us through these 40 days of journey with the One who showed us the way through death into new life. We will bear the sign (in ash) of the Cross he carried for our liberation and re-birth into Easter joy.

Lenten Suppers and Poetry Readings

St. Stephen’s second annual Lenten Supper and Poetry Reflection Group will be on five Wednesdays, March 16 through April 13. The group promises to be, if not a knee slapping rollick, both enjoyable and unsettling as we grapple with the most important issues of living and dying through reflecting on a wide variety of poems and song lyrics. Please join us, on any or all of the Wednesdays. A light supper and fellowship beginning at 6:30 pm in the church with the discussion starting around 7:00 and ending by 9pm.We will provide each participant a small book with the twenty or so poems that will be covered during the five weeks.. Please RSVP by March 13 if you can, by emailing Ken Ballard at quietwriter@clear.net or calling him at 503-889-8549. Or by talking to Ken or Fr. Dale after church.