Pentecost-2 (Yr C) Jun 19, 2022

 

Note: the service is being livestreamed and recorded and will be available on our Facebook page.

 

If you’re new to St. Mark’s please see an usher for a welcome packet so we might acknowledge your visit and include you on our email list for weekly updates and information regarding St. Mark’s and the Diocese of Southern Ohio. The RESTROOM is located to the right as you enter the building.

 

Throughout the service the people’s responses are in italics; directions are in bold italics.

 

If you prefer a gluten-free host please notify an usher prior to the service.

 

 

PRELUDE:

Sheep May Safely Graze”                               J.S. Bach, arr. John Carter

 

WELCOME: The Rev. Rowena Mae MacGregor

 

Please stand for the ringing of the bell and processional.

 

PROCESSIONAL:                        

“We know that Christ is raised”                                        The Hymnal 1982,  #296

 

1  We know that Christ is raised and dies no more.

     Embraced by death he broke its fearful hold;

     and our despair he turned to blazing joy.

              Alleluia!

 

2  We share by water in his saving death.

     Reborn we share with him an Easter life

     as living members of a living Christ.

              Alleluia!

 

3  The Father’s splendor clothes the Son with life.

     The Spirit’s power shakes the Church of God.

     Baptized we live with God the Three in One.

              Alleluia!

 

4  A new creation comes to life and grows

     as Christ’s new body takes on flesh and blood.

     The universe restored and whole will sing:

              Alleluia! Amen.

 

 

The Liturgy of the Word

 

Celebrant:  Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Celebrant:  Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy Name through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

COLLECT OF THE DAY

Celebrant:  The Lord be with you.  And also with you.  Let us pray.

All: O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­-kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 

SONG OF PRAISE:

“Psalm 100”     Lift Every Voice & Sing, #278 

 

The people will sing the refrain, and the Cantor will sing verses 1 and 4.

 

All: Serve the Lord with gladness, alleluia.

 

 

Please be seated

 

A READING FROM THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS:  

Reader:  Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” [Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”] He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”  He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Then the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.” (19:1-15a)

Reader:  The Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

 

Please stand    

 

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF PSALMS

Reader: As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God.

Reader: My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

Reader: My tears have been my food day and night, while all day long they say to me, “Where now is your God?”

Reader: I pour out my soul when I think on these things: how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,

Reader: With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, among those who keep holy-day.

Reader: Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?  and why are you so disquieted within me?

Reader: Put your trust in God; for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Reader: My soul is heavy within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan, and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

Reader: One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts;  all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

Reader: The Lord grants his loving-kindness in the daytime; in the night season his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

Reader: I will say to the God of my strength, “Why have you forgotten me?  and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?”

Reader: While my bones are being broken, my enemies mock me to my face;

Reader: All day long they mock me and say to me, “Where now is your God?”

Reader: Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? and why are you so disquieted within me?

Reader: Put your trust in God;  for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.

Reader: Give judgment for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.

Reader: For you are the God of my strength; why have you put me from you? and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?

Reader: Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me,  and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling;

Reader: That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness; and on the harp I will give thanks to you, O God my God.

Reader: Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul?  and why are you so disquieted within me?

Reader: Put your trust in God;  for I will yet give thanks to him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.           (PS 42 and 43)

 

Please be seated

 

A READING FROM THE LETTER OF PAUL TO THE GALATIANS:

Reader: Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.         (3:23-29)

Reader:  The Word of the Lord.  Thanks be to God.

 

Please stand

 

GRADUAL:                           

“Fairest Lord Jesus”     (verses 1-2)                The Hymnal 1982,  #383

 

1 Fairest Lord Jesus,

       Ruler of all nature,

   O thou God of man the Son;

       thee will I cherish,

       thee will I honor,

   thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

 

 

2 Fair are the meadows,

       fairer still the woodlands,

   robed in the blooming garb of spring:

       Jesus is fairer,

       Jesus is purer,

   who makes the woeful heart to sing.

 

 

Please stand

 

THE GOSPEL

Celebrant: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Celebrant: Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me” — for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.   (8:26-39)

Celebrant: The Gospel of the Lord.   Praise to you, Lord Christ.

 

GRADUAL:                           

“Fairest Lord Jesus”     (verse 3)               The Hymnal 1982,  #383

 

3 Fair is the sunshine,

       fairer still the moonlight,

   and all the twinkling, starry host:

       Jesus shines brighter,

       Jesus shines purer,

   than all the angels heaven can boast.

 

 

Please be seated

 

THE SERMON

 

Please stand

 

THE NICENE CREED:  

“I believe in God almighty”        Wonder, Love, & Praise,  #769

 

(The cantor sings verse 1, and the congregation sings verses 2&3)

 

Please stand or kneel

 

THE PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE:  

Reader:  Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, all ministers of the gospel, that they may preach the word boldly and without apology. Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader:  Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, all the leaders of nations, that they may be unrelenting in their quest for peace. Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader:   Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, all the suffering peoples of this world, especially those who suffer for doing right. Lord, hear our prayer.  

Reader:   Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, those among us who experience desolation, especially those for whom God seems most remote. Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader: Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, all the sick and dying, remembering all those named on the parish prayer list: Wayne, Don, Carol S, Ruby, Howard, the Darnell family, Judy, Juanita, Rob, Mary, George, and Vern; that they may find life everlasting in you. Lord, hear our prayer.

Reader: Empower with your Spirit, O Lord, all those who have died,  that your will for them may be fulfilled; and may they share with all your saints in your eternal kingdom. Lord, hear our prayer.

All:  Gracious God, it is in the power of your abundant and life-giving Spirit that we call upon you in prayer. Deepen our hope in your presence and your promise; hear us in your tender love, now and forever.  Amen.

 

THE CONFESSION:

Celebrant:  Let us confess our sins to God, our neighbor, and all our relations.

All:  Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.  We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves; we are truly sorry and we humbly repent.  For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name.  Amen.

 

Celebrant:  Our Lord Jesus Christ has bestowed power and commandment to his ministers to declare and pronounce to those who are truly repentant, absolution and remission of sin.  Therefore, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, be reconciled to God through grace and “go and sin no more.” Amen.

 

Please stand

 

THE PASSING OF THE PEACE:  

Celebrant:  The peace of the Lord be always with you.  And also with you.

REMAINING IN THEIR PEWS,  the congregation offers the peace of God to one another.

 

Please be seated

 

BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY PRAYERS

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS:      Wardens

 

OFFERTORY SENTENCE

Celebrant: O Lord our God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power; because you have created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.  (Rev. 4:11)

 

Thank you for your generous weekly gifts.

The day-to-day mission and ministry of St. Mark’s

 is funded primarily by gifts received in the offering plate each week.

 

OFFERTORY

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”                               Dave Williamson

 

Please stand

 

PRAYER FOR THE OFFERINGS OF THE PEOPLE: 

Celebrant:  Let us pray.

All: Most Holy God, the author of life and creator of all that is, receive and bless my offering this day; that the currency of worldly value may become the currency of transformation through the worship  and work of this community. Amen. 

 

PRAYER FOR THE GIFTS OF FOOD:

Celebrant:  Remembering Jesus, who fed friends and strangers on the hillside, accept our gifts of food for the hungry in our community. 

Celebrant:  United in Christ, instill in us sincere appreciation for the food on our tables and the will to provide for those who are hungry.   Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten, nor the hope of the poor be taken away.

 

 

The Liturgy of the Table

 

To receive the sacrament, please  line up in the center aisle; at your turn approach the Celebrant to receive the Host. To receive the sacrament, which will be given in one kind only, please  line up in the center aisle keeping at least six feet between households; at your turn approach the Celebrant. Return to your seat via the side aisles.

 

Those not receiving the sacrament are invited to come forward for a blessing; cross your arms across your chest to indicate this to the Celebrant who will administer the blessing.  If you are unsure about receiving the sacrament please make an appointment with The Rev. MacGregor who would be delighted to speak with you.

 

Please remain standing

 

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER C

Celebrant: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Celebrant: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them to the Lord.

Celebrant: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

People: It is right to give him thanks and praise.

Celebrant: God of all power, Ruler of the Universe, you are worthy of glory and praise.

People: Glory to you for ever and ever.

Celebrant: At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.

People: By your will they were created and have their being.

Celebrant: From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.

People: Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight.

Celebrant: Again and again, you called us to return. Through prophets and sages you revealed your righteous Law. And in the fullness of time you sent your only Son, born of a woman, to fulfill your Law, to open for us the way of freedom and peace.

People: By his blood, he reconciled us. By his wounds, we are healed.

Celebrant: And therefore we praise you, joining with the heavenly chorus, with prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and with all those in every generation who have looked to you in hope, to proclaim with them your glory, in their unending hymn:

 

 

THE SANCTUS:                         Wonder, Love, & Praise,  #858

 

All: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.  Hosanna in the highest.

 

 

You may stand or kneel

 

Celebrant: And so, Father, we who have been redeemed by him, and made a new people by water and the Spirit, now bring before you these gifts. Sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. On the night he was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, “Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

Celebrant: After supper, he took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, “Drink this, all of you: This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the

forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.”

Celebrant: Remembering now his work of redemption, and offering to you this sacrifice of thanksgiving,

People: We celebrate his death and resurrection, as we await the day of his coming.

Celebrant: Lord God of our Fathers and Mothers; God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel; God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: Open our eyes to see your hand at work in the world about us. Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. Let the grace of this Holy Communion make us one body, one spirit in Christ, that we may worthily serve the world in his name.

People: Risen Lord, be known to us in the breaking of the Bread.

Celebrant: Accept these prayers and praises, Father, through Jesus Christ our great High Priest, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, your Church gives honor, glory, and worship, from generation to generation. AMEN!   (with gusto!)

 

Please stand

 

THE LORD’S PRAYER:

All:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name,  your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever.  Amen.

 

FRACTION ANTHEM:

“Christ our Passover”     Wonder, Love & Praise,  #866

All: Alleluia. Alleluia.  Alleluia. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us; Therefore let us keep

the feast. Alleluia. Alleluia.  Alleluia.

 

INVITATION TO COMMUNION:

Celebrant: The Gifts of God for the People of God.

The people may now come forward to receive the Sacrament.

 

THE PRAYER OF RECEPTION FOR THOSE PARTICIPATING ONLINE:

(to be said by those at home)

 

Blessed Jesus, with your faithful people at every altar of your church where the Holy Eucharist is now being celebrated, I offer my praise and thanksgiving.  Since I cannot receive you today in the Sacrament of your Body and Blood, I ask you to come spiritually into my heart.  Cleanse and strengthen me with your grace, Lord Jesus, and let me never be separated from you.  May I live in you, and you in me, in this life and the life to come.  Amen.

 

Please stand

 

COMMUNION HYMN:  

“Heal me, hands of Jesus”             Wonder, Love & Praise,  #773

 

1 Heal me, hands of Jesus,

     and search out all my pain:

   restore my hope, remove my fear

     and bring me peace again.

 

 

2 Cleanse me, blood of Jesus,

     take bitterness away;

   let me forgive as one forgiven

     and bring me peace today.

 

 

3 Know me, mind of Jesus,

     and show me all my sin;

   dispel the memories of guilt,

     and bring me peace within.

 

 

4 Fill me, joy of Jesus:

     anxiety shall cease

   and heaven’s serenity be mine,

     for Jesus brings me peace!

 

 

POST COMMUNION PRAYER

Celebrant:  Let us pray.  Eternal God, heavenly Father, you have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood.  Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

THE BLESSING:

Celebrant:….. +And may the blessing . . .

 

RECESSIONAL:

“The God of Abraham praise” (verses 1-3)                The Hymnal 1982,  #401

 

1  The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above;

   Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love;

   the Lord, the great I AM, by earth and heaven confessed:

   we bow and bless the sacred Name for ever blest.

 

 

2  He by himself hath sworn: we on his oath depend;

   we shall, on eagle-wings upborne, to heaven ascend:

   we shall behold his face, we shall his power adore,

   and sing the wonders of his grace for evermore.

 

 

3  There dwells the Lord, our King, the Lord, our Righteousness,

   triumphant o’er the world and sin, the Prince of Peace;

   on Zion’s sacred height his kingdom he maintains,

   and, glorious with his saints in light, for ever reigns.

 

 

DISMISSAL:

Celebrant: Alleluia! Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.  Thanks be to God. Alleluia!

 

POSTLUDE:

“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name”                                            Paul Leddington Wright

 

THE CANDLE IN THE SANCTUARY LAMP remains lighted throughout the week to

indicate and honor the eternal presence of Christ.

 

THE ALTAR FLOWERS are given in celebration of Donna Larsen’s birthday.

 

 

GROUNDED IN COMMUNITY

 

THIS SUNDAY — PENTECOST 2 HOLY EUCHARIST –  JUNE 19:

Celebrant: The Rev. Rowena Mae MacGregor

Music Director/Organist: Donna Larsen

Ushers:  Tony Rubino, Jim Rudd

Acolyte: TBD

Lay Eucharist Ministers: Readers:

                                                   OT/PS: Judy Rudd

                                                   EP/POP: Jim Rudd

Tech: Katherine Wagner, TBD

Counters: Dave Reuter, TBD

Altar Guild: Katherine Wagner

Open/Close: TBD/Wagner

 

 

NEXT SUNDAY– PENTECOST 3 HOLY EUCHARIST –  JUNE 26:

Celebrant: The Rev. Rowena Mae MacGregor

Music Director/Organist: Donna Larsen

Ushers:  TBD, Tony Rubino

Acolyte: Elizabeth Wagner

Lay Eucharist Ministers: Readers:

                                                   OT/PS: Jim Rudd

                                                   EP/POP: Elizabeth Wagner

Tech: TJ Walch, Katherine Wagner

Counters: Tony Rubino, TBD

Altar Guild: Elizabeth Wagner, Katherine Wagner

Open/Close: TBD/Wagner

 

 

Events at St. Mark’s this Week

 

THIS SUNDAY (Pentecost 2, July 19): HOLY EUCHARIST, 10:30am, in person and on Facebook Live. HUNGER SUNDAY.

 

MONDAY:  SAA MEETING, 6:30am, Lounge;  AA MEETING, 7:30pm, Parish Hall

 

TUESDAY:  TOPS MEETING, 10a, Lounge;  NA MEETING, 7:30pm, Parish Hall

 

WEDNESDAY:  STUDY OF LUKE, 7pm, Zoom

 

THURSDAY:  VESTRY MEETING, 7:15pm, Zoom; SAA MEETING, 7:30pm, Lounge

 

FRIDAY:   there are no events scheduled this day

 

SATURDAYHIDDEN GEMS, 11am, Parking Lot;  AA MEETING, 7:30pm, Parish Hall

 

NEXT SUNDAY (Pentecost 3, July 26): HOLY EUCHARIST, 10:30am, in person and on Facebook Live. CLERGY DISCRETIONARY FUND COLLECTION SUNDAY.

 

 

Places to be, things to do

 

SOFTBALL IS BACK! We’re playing on Tuesday, June 21, at 7:15pm on Diamond #3

 

SUMMER STUDY OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE: Rowena+ will be leading a class on the Gospel of Luke during June and July, on Wednesdays at 7pm via Zoom beginning June 22.  16. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha is recommended for this class, and for general use, available from Amazon (used copies for less are also available).

 

THE RIVER’S EDGE BRASS BAND will be performing on Sunday, June 26 at 4pm, at Westminster Presbyterian Church (125 N. Wilkinson St, Dayton).  There’s no cost for this concert; there will be a freewill offering.

 

 

The Community of St. Mark’s Classifieds

 

THE SUNDAY READINGS can be found at www.lectionarypage.net.  The readings for

Sunday, June 26 are: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14, Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20, Galatians 5:1,13-25, Luke 9:51-62

 

 

Lesser Feasts and Fasts

 

RECOMMENDED FEAST DAY TO OBSERVE: Wednesday, June 15, is the Feast of Evelyn Underhill, 1941. The only child of a prominent barrister and his wife, Evelyn Underhill was born in Wolverhampton, England, and grew up in London. She was educated there and in a girls’ school in Folkestone, where she was confirmed in the Church of England. She had little other formal religious training, but her spiritual curiosity was naturally lively, and she read widely, developing quite early a deep appreciation for mysticism. At sixteen, she began a life-long devotion to writing. Evelyn had few childhood companions, but one of them, Hubert Stuart Moore, she eventually married. Other friends, made later, included such famous persons as Laurence Housman, Maurice Hewlett, and Sarah Bernhardt. Closest of all were Ethel Ross Barker, a devout Roman Catholic, and Baron Friedrich von Hügel, with whom she formed a strong spiritual bond. He became her director in matters mystical. In the 1890s, Evelyn began annual visits to the Continent, and especially to Italy. There she became influenced by the paintings of the Italian masters and by the Roman Catholic Church. She spent nearly fifteen years wrestling painfully with the idea of converting to Roman Catholicism, but decided in the end that it was not for her. In 1921, Evelyn Underhill became reconciled to her Anglican roots, while remaining what she called a “Catholic Christian”. She continued with her life of reading, writing, meditation, and prayer. She had already published her first great spiritual work, Mysticism. This was followed by many other books, culminating in her most widely read and studied book, “Worship” (1937).  Evelyn Underhill’s most valuable contribution to spiritual literature must surely be her conviction that the mystical life is not only open to a saintly few, but to anyone who cares to nurture it and weave it into everyday experience, and also (at the time, a startling idea) that modern psychological theories and discoveries, far from hindering or negating spirituality, can actually enhance and transform it. Her writings proved appealing to many, resulting in a large international circle of friends and disciples, making her much in demand as a lecturer and retreat director. She died, at age 65, in 1941.

 

O God, Origin, Sustainer, and End of all your creatures: Grant that your Church, taught by your servant Evelyn Underhill, guarded evermore by your power, and guided by your Spirit into the light of truth, may continually offer to you all glory and thanksgiving and attain with your saints to the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have promised by our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.  (Holy Women, Holy Men)

 

 

Prayers for the Week of June 12

 

FOR PEACE.  For the victims of violence; remembering especially the victims of the 16 mass shootings from June 1-12; For the people of Ukraine: for refugees, for those who have died and those who grieve, for those in the military defending the sovereignty of this nation; For those who have died;  For those affected by  natural disasters, especially those affected by the flooding in Montana and the wildfires in New Mexico, Texas, and Alaska;  For medical and wellness practitioners, who are assisting people with mental, physical, and financial conditions and issues related to the Covid pandemic; For the homeless; For all those addicted to heroin, remembering especially those who died this week from overdose; For all those who have committed suicide: remembering especially teens and young adults who took their own lives this week; For all our brothers and sisters who have died by violence around the world, remembering especially violence in our nation; For our enemies; For the safety of all American military and civilian personnel where ever they serve, remembering especially all those serving at Wright-Patterson AFB; For those who struggle with the basic necessities of life after natural catastrophic events, especially those misplaced by earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding, drought, fire, mudslides, and tornadoes; For the millions of refugees worldwide who wander the lands of the earth and whose suffering is greater than we can ever know.

 

For those in our prayer cycles: in the Anglican cycle of prayer, we pray for the Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan;  in the Diocesan cycle of prayer, we pray for Trinity in Bellaire, Church of the Advent in Cincinnati, and Good Samaritan in Amelia;

 

For St. Mark’s Families in our parish prayer cycle;

 

For those celebrating birthdays;

 

For those celebrating wedding anniversaries;

 

For those on our parish prayer list;

 

For those who suffer from illness, grief, or any other adversity.

 

For faithful animal companions and those who care for all animals;

 

For the mission work of this congregation: CARE House, Canterbury Court, St. Paul’s UMC Food Pantry, Becoming Beloved Community Initiative, and for the non-profit groups who use our Community Building;  For our Diocesan Bishops: for our Provisional Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Wayne Smith; The Rt. Rev. Kenneth Price, the Rt. Rev. Nedi Rivera, and the Rt. Rev. Wendell Gibbs; For our Presiding Bishop, The Most Rev. Michael Curry; For Jake Cunliffe and Dan Carlson, who were ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons on June 4; For all postulants and candidates for holy orders in this Diocese: Phoebe Myhrum,  Martha Camele, Maggie Gough, Brad Gough, Catherine Duffy, Alane Osborne, Libbie Crawford, Gayland Trim, Molly Cook, Victoria Lewis, Kate Meeks, Kyle Schenkewicz, Gregory Williams.

 

For all faith communities as we navigate the way forward in a world being transformed by a number of crises – that we remain faithful in our devotion to God and open to constant change and ongoing self-evaluation.

 

 

 

 

For the complete Weekly Prayers with parishioners’ names, click HERE.

(NOTE:  Password Protected:  Contact Dave or Katherine for Password.)

 

To read a copy of the latest Vestry Minutes, click HERE.

(NOTE:  Password Protected:  Same one as above.  Updated yearly.)

 

 

For more announcements, click HERE.

 

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ADULT EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

 

 The Rev. Rowena MacGregor facilitates various adult educational/spiritual development offerings (Zoom).  Be sure to check the Sunday bulletin for times and dates of her most recent programs.

 

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937-256-1082

Email: st_marks@ameritech.net

Office Hours: Monday – Friday, 9am – noon

 

 

The Rev. Rowena Mae MacGregor, Priest-In-Charge

570-404-2025   rector@stmarksdayton.org

 

Katherine Wagner, Parish Administrator

parishadmin@stmarksdayton.org

 

Donna Larsen, Music Director

musicdirector@stmarksdayton.org

 

Libby Nicholson, Senior Warden

Kendall Rubino, Junior Warden

wardens@stmarksdayton.org

 

Dave Reuter, Webmaster

webmaster@stmarksdayton.org

 

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