Christian community has six features rooted in our shared life as followers of Jesus in this place.
As people, we look for community in all places. In some places we establish something with a few features of community. Using Branson and Martinez’s six features of Community as our guide, you can see how easily disappointed we can be with other organizations which promise community. Many organizations have several of these features, but very few of them have all six.
We at St. Stephen’s are committed to growing Christian community, paying attention to how we demonstrate all six of these features in our life together. Please give some thought to how you can participate in building community within your church.
Click here to listen to Danelie’s invitation to this Fall series!
The office of Caring Ministries will be launching a Fall offering titled “Exploring Spirituality”. This is an 8-week long event offered on Sundays 1:00 pm. beginning September 26th – November 21st, in Rector’s Hall.
Click here to listen to Danelie’s invitation: Exploring Spirituality
Fall Series Exploring…*Feelings *Values *Strengths *Gratefulness *Grief *Hope *Positive Thinking *Forgiveness
In YogaMass, we remember and embody the promise of Jesus, “The Kingdom of God is within you.”
From the YogaMass.com website: In YogaMass, we remember and embody the promise of Jesus, “The Kingdom of God is within you.” YogaMass® is a unique worship experience engaging and integrating all of our dimensions — physical, psychological, emotional, mental, energetic, social, and spiritual. It reconnects us, through sacred ritual and practices, to the divine presence among us, within us, and in the sacred meal that we share as we seek to be transformed into the likeness of Christ. To sign up for the YogaMass held virtually on the Second Saturday of the month, go to YogaMass.com
Deacon Ron will lead you into a safe and quiet space with silence and storytelling, then guide the listeners through some healing prayer for whoever is on their hearts.
Deacon Ron Steed hosts a weekly, guided healing-prayer meditation on Fridays at 8:00 am on zoom. He will lead you into a safe and quiet space with silence and storytelling, then guide the listeners through some healing prayer for whoever is on their hearts. We should finish in about 30 minutes. It is a good time to lift the burdens of the week from your shoulders onto God’s and for us to make our collective healing energies available to the Spirit. For more information and the zoom link, please contact Ron at ronaldsteed@gmail.com (860) 326-9576. View the interview with Mother Whitney below.
No pride for some of us, without liberation for all of us.
Marsha P. Johnson
Marsha P. Johnson’s quote reminds us that dehumanization of one person means that others will be
dehumanized, too. The oppressor is dehumanized in their lack of care for their neighbor. According to
Britannica on-line, “Liberation theology [is defined as a] religious movement arising in late 20th-
century Roman Catholicism and centered in Latin America. It sought to apply religious faith by aiding the
poor and oppressed through involvement in political and civic affairs. It stressed both heightened
awareness of the “sinful” socioeconomic structures that caused social inequities and active participation
in changing those structures.” What both Ms. Johnson and liberation theologians recognize is that
oppression dehumanizes both the victim and oppressor. As baptized people, we remember the
covenant that calls us to action, “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as
yourself?” And we remember the scripture that shaped these words, “Then the righteous will answer
him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to
drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?
And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ and the King will answer them, ‘Truly
I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
(Matthew 25:37-40) And we remember the harrowing wisdom of Martin Niemoller, as he reflected on
the horror of the Holocaust: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was
not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a
trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then
they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
All of these leaders remind us of our interconnectedness. From various sides they see the truth of our
shared humanity. May we let Love empower us to see the Divinity in one another.
What are we to do with the suffering that we’ve known this last year, part of which was illuminated by Floyd’s tragic death?
We’ve come to the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
What are we to do with the suffering that we’ve known this last year, part of which was illuminated by Floyd’s tragic death?
Part of what we can do together as St. Stephen’s Church is allow the scriptures and prayer to attend to feelings of shame, fear, anger, guilt, weariness, and confusion. “The problems of the present are the solutions of the past.” We may have any of these feelings as we face our forefathers’ actions and deal with the repercussions in the history that we learn.
Another thing that we can do is extend compassion to one another.
Finally, we can learn of the interconnectedness of us all. By increasing our curiosity and resisting the temptation of simplification and certainty, we will grow in our capacity to discover our agency to bring about something better. We will also grow in our trust and assurance that what little part we can do has purpose in the larger process of transformation.
We know that God wants something better for all of creation than what we witness and experience now. Through the church, the body of Christ, healing can occur.
Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota Compline on April 20. Our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, offered the meditation/reflection during this service.
On Tuesday night, April 20, Episcopalians in the Diocese of Minnesota gathered on Zoom for Compline. Compline is the last service of corporate worship of the day. Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline comprise the four services of the Daily Office.
Our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry, offered the meditation/reflection during this service.
The service lasts 30 minutes and I commend it to you.
There are a lot of feelings to process after the verdict of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Prayer and scripture, both included in Compline, prayers and scripture which have been prayed and read for centuries, can assist us in living in this particular moment within the infiniteness of God’s time.
May God’s blessings be known to you today.
What is Yom HaShoah? Holocaust Remembrance Day
Read more here…
We remember the Holocaust so that good people in our day and age will not fall prey to believing that something so horrible is ever justified.
Please join us for Ridgefield’s Annual Community Observance of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), online, April 8, 2021 at 7PM, organized by the Ridgefield Clergy Association and hosted by St. Stephen’s and Congregation Shir Shalom
Please click the link below to join the observance:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85792812168
You can listen by telephone by dialing 646-558-8656.
When prompted, please enter webinar ID: 857 9281 2168
You can also watch over YouTube Live by searching for OurShirShalom
The following words come from a Proclamation from our President:
We honor the memories of precious lives lost, contemplate the incomprehensible wound to our humanity, mourn for the communities broken and scattered, and embrace those who survived the Holocaust — some of whom are still with us today, continuing to embody extraordinary resilience after all these years. Having borne witness to the depths of evil, these survivors remind us of the vital refrain: “never again.” The history of the Holocaust is forever seared into the history of humankind, and it is the shared responsibility of all people to ensure that the horrors of the Shoah can never be erased from our collective memory.
Bishop Curry’s Word to the Church
“Who shall we be?” Click here to listen to Bishop Curry’s words.
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has issued the following Word to the Church. Listen here:
https://episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-currys-word-church-who-shall-we-be
What is AdventWord?
What is AdventWord?
AdventWord provides visual and written meditations during the liturgical season of Advent. In 2020, Advent begins on Sunday, November 29. The written meditations will be provided in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and in American Sign Language on YouTube. Each morning during Advent, the meditations are distributed: on AdventWord.org, Email, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Around the world, prayers ascend in response to the meditations. People post their reflections on their respective social media pages, tagging AdventWord on the platform. From there, AdventWord shares and reposts on each site – amplifying the prayers during this holy season. Find the social feed on the AdventWord website, or on your favorite social media platform.
Explore the different ways that people respond to the daily words, whether written meditations, drawings, photographs, or poems. And don’t forget to share on the St. Stephen’s Facebook page and Instagram, as well!
https://www.instagram.com/ststephensct/
Or just follow us on Instagram @ststephensct on Instagram.
Did you know that St. Stephen’s has an Instagram page? It’s true! Join us on Instagram for daily inspiration, photos, activities and MORE!
Join St. Stephen’s on Instagram – @ststephensct – and experience our church in a whole new way!
Starting on November 29, we will be participating in AdventWord – A Global Advent Calendar! Subscribe by email at adventword.org
From AdventWord: During Advent, we anticipate the coming of Christ, an event that awakens our deepest desires and longings.
Sign up and receive the daily #AdventWord email meditation.
Tweet, Facebook or Instagram an image each day #AdventWord.
Watch the Advent Calendar grow each day.
Thousands of people will be sharing their personal images in response to the daily meditations.
And make sure to check out ststephensridgefield.org/advent for many more Advent activities and fun resources!
