St. Mary's Episcopal Church
Weekly Notices
The Final Friday in Lent at St. Mary's
Stations and Benediction, and Soup Supper—
and Palm-Cross-Making-Extravaganza!
Final Friday in Lent, March 31, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
Stations of the Cross and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will be offered at 6.30pm, followed by a simple-but-hearty soup supper together.
But wait! There’s more!
Into macrame? How about origami? How about fibre arts? Or are you just interested in learning something which will amaze your friends and stop cocktail party conversations in their tracks? If you have never tried to make a palm cross, you should know that it’s not difficult—and it’s a whole lot of fun.
The evening will end with Sung Compline at 9:15 p.m. for those who wish to stay.
Join us on Friday for Stations and Benediction, a wonderful soup supper, and our annual Palm Cross Making Extravaganza.
Holy Week and Easter
Click image for Holy Week Schedule
Click image for Eastertide Schedule
A User's Guide to the Liturgies of Holy Week
A Spiritual Retreat without Leaving Town
St Mary’s schedules quite a number of services between Matins on Palm Sunday and the final liturgy of Easter Day—30 in all. These liturgies are the most important and meaningful of the Church year—and many of your fellow parishioners use them as a spiritual retreat in the midst of their daily lives.
There are some people who will attend all of them thereby forming a quasi-monastic retreat. Others will be able to attend only a few. Both can be fulfilling ways to journey through the great events of Jesus’ Passion and Resurrection.
The culture of this world does not pause during Holy Week, and many people have obligations which life and scheduling impose on their ability to experience this week with their parish community as much as they would like.
So, for those who would like some guidance about how best to steward their time and energy, here are a few options.
If you can only attend
• One liturgy during Holy Week: The Great Vigil of Easter.
• Two liturgies: Palm Sunday and The Great Vigil of Easter.
• Three liturgies: Palm Sunday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter.
• Four liturgies: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter.
• Five liturgies: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Great Vigil of Easter, Easter Day.
If you can attend more than five liturgies, you might as well camp out with the rest of us! In other words, you are always welcome for any or all of our Holy Week liturgies.
Click on the images above for the schedules for all the services.
Province VIII BAM/Western Region UBE Conference
April 20-22, 2023)
St. Mary's and the Diocese of Arizona are part of Province VIII of The Episcopal Church and have been active for years in ministry with the Union of Black Episcopalians. The Karl and Virginia Washington Arizona Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians, which was started here at St. Mary's, is this year's host for the Western Region's annual conference, done in concert with the Province's Office of Black African Ministries (BAM).
The conference's theme this year is "Envisioning a Spiritual Mosaic: The African Diaspora Ablaze in Our Beloved Community. Further details and registration can be found at this link:
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Adult Formation
Sundays at 9:00 a.m. (other times can be arranged)
Episcopal 101
A class for inquirers, people interested in joining St. Mary's and the Episcopal Church—and anyone wanting to learn more about the Anglican way.
The Anglican tradition is known for the way we honor the questions of Christian faith and life—it's a central part of our ethos and the way we approach our relationship with God. In this seven-week series, we will explore the Anglican approach to scripture, prayers, liturgy, music, and the sacraments as they have been received and celebrated in the Episcopal Church and here at St. Mary's.
In this class, we will honor God's gifts of reason, curiosity, discovery, doubt, and community by inviting conversation about deeply significant aspects of our lives. Join us, as we discover Life in Christ by Julia Gatta, and how a "liturgical faith" can lead us ever deeper in our knowledge and love of Christ our Lord. You can download the book from Amazon/Kindle or we will be happy to order a paperback copy for you.
Bishop Reddall will be with us on the Fourth Sunday of Lent, 19 March 2023 to Confirm and Receive parishioners into the Episcopal Church.
Episcopal 101 is a series of six classes on Sundays at 9:00 a.m. Email karen@stmarysphoenix.org to express your interest.
Tuesdays 6:00 p.m. by Zoom
OUR TIME HAS CHANGED! Since a good many of our participants are former St. Mary's members who have moved to the Eastern Seaboard and our facilitator works for New Jersey based employer and the TIME CHANGE has happened, the group decided it would be humane to move the time ahead one hour.
Current study is the Epistle to the Hebrews. Read more here.
Children and Youth
Sundays at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday School
Lectionary-based Montessori-style learning and activities for children and youth are available during the Liturgy of the Word. Young people join the service during the Exchange of the Peace.
Outreach
The Alms Fund :: Helping parishioners and others in immediate need
The number of people calling—or appearing at our doors—needing help with rent, water or electric or gas bills, food, auto repair, etc., has greatly increased since the height of the pandemic. These are tough times for many of us, and the Alms Fund is there to help...sometimes. You can help us help those who despair that their electricity will be cut off, or that they will be evicted, or that their children won't have the nourishment they need to grow and flourish, or they need a nice outfit in order to interview for a job, or...or...or...
You can help St. Mary's respond in ways Jesus commanded us to respond by donating to St. Mary's Alms Fund. Just write a check with a memo "Alms Fund," or if you make your donations electronically, you can designate an extra donation to St. Mary's with a similar memo.
Help us help St. Mary's People and many others in immediate need so they have time to seek longer term solutions. Thank you so very much!
The Episcopal Church and the Visual Arts
Did you know that Saint Mary's has a membership in the artist's registry of Episcopal Church & Visual Arts? Their mission is to encourage artists and organizations to engage the visual arts in the spiritual life of the chruch. If you would like to receive email updates regarding news and exhibitions, please contact Karen in the church office (karen@stmarysphoenix.org) and she will add your address to the email distribution list. Find out more at ecva.org.
Electronic Liturgical Calendar
Who doesn't want to know that "Today is the Feast of St. Gregory Nazianzus" when January 2 rolls around? Or that Sunday, February 12, 2023 is the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany?
Well the Church Pension group has got you covered! Simply go to cpg.org/global/online-resources/liturgical-calendar/ and download their free calendar for electronic devices. This works with any device which uses .ics files for calendar data, which is almost every PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone.
Sign Up for Diocesan News
The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona publishes a weekly email news letter—which includes thoughts about a variety of topics by Bishop Reddall—and a quarterly magazine. These are free to anyone in our congregation who wishes to receive them. All you have to do is sign up!
Just enter azdiocese.org/newsletter/ in your web browser and follow the link. These are excellent ways to keep abreast of happenings around the diocese and the larger church.
Subscribe
Subscribe to our email list for once-a-week announcements, reflections, and news items from St. Mary's. It's a great way to stay in touch with what's happening around the parish!