Dan McKeon This Week at Holy Apostles

This Week at Holy Apostles – 10/6/2019

Sunday, October 6
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Preacher: The Rev. Kathy Grieb, Ph.D.
Celebrant: The Rev. James Stambaugh

8:30a Morning Prayer
10:00a Holy Eucharist


Monday, October 7

Parish Offices closed

Tuesday, October 8

9:15a Morning Prayer
3:30-6:00p Choir School

Wednesday, October 9

9:15a Morning Prayer

12p Noonday Prayer
w/ Bishop Daniel

Thursday, October 10

9:15a Morning Prayer
11:00a Bible Study
3:30-6:00p Choir School

Friday, October 11

9:15a Morning Prayer

Sunday, October 13
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. James Stambaugh

10:00a Holy Eucharist

Dan McKeon Announcements

Announcements – 10/6/2019

Worship

† Healing Prayer will now be offered on the first Sunday of the Month, beginning today

† We will host a special shared Eucharist with Holy Apostles and the Mediator in Philadelphia on October 13 at 10AM. This will be a special service of healing and joy, as we welcome members of the parish who founded our parish and sustained us financially and spiritually for 2 decades before we became a parish. Don’t miss this special Sunday!

† On October 13th (next Sunday), we will welcome Maddie Fleckser into the body of Christ in the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  Maddie will be joining her parents, Justin and Annie, and sister Sydney as members of Christ’s body that is incarnate here at Holy Apostles, Penn Wynne. 

† There will be an Altar Guild Meeting on Sunday, October 20th immediately following the 10AM service.

† Are you friendly?  We need you! Our greeter ministry is one of the key ministries of our church.  Greeters welcome visitors, make people comfortable, hand out service leaflets and take up offering.  They make sure the service runs smoothly. Starting in October we will be organizing a monthly Greeters breakfast with the Rector, probably at a local restaurant.  If you’re interested in serving God in this way, talk to Jim Jervis or Fr. James.

† Morning Prayer is offered at 8:30AM on Sunday mornings and at 9:15AM Tuesdays through Fridays.  Anyone can pray the service privately using the Book of Common Prayer or one of a number of smartphone apps!  See the last section of the digital edition of the “Acts of the Apostles” for details.

Outreach

† There are lots of opportunities to participate in Holy Apostles Outreach through our various programs:

– Delivering items to a food pantry in Northeast Philadelphia

– Organizing supplies or gifts for our own Connect by Night shelter program coming for the month of December

– Meals at Darby Mission (3/17) or our annual holiday meal with the East Parkside Community Association (12/9). Other ideas are welcome. Please contact Joe Zorc (zorc@email.chop.edu) or see the sign-up sheet in the parish hall.

Children and Youth

† The national acolyte festival at the National Cathedral in Washington DC will be held on Saturday, October 19. Any acolyte or any child who wants to be an acolyte, ages 7-18, is eligible to attend.  Talk to Fr. James before September 27 if you are interested.

† Nursery childcare is available during the 10:00AM Sunday service for children ages 3 and younger in the Godly Play Room.

† The Holy Apostles Choir School is off and running for the Fall of 2019.  If you have a potential student, apply today.  More information is available at holyapostlespa.org/choir-school/. Please forward this information to friends and neighbors who may be interested. Contact Deb Stambaugh if you have any questions.   

Parish Life

† Year-to-date statements for 2019 Stewardship pledges will be sent out the week after September 30th, the end of the third quarter.  Continued thanks to all for their generosity and faithfulness in giving.  

† We are getting ready to refresh the hallway outside the church offices including some new paint, new furniture, and eventually new flooring.  As a result we have been moving some things around. The Lost & Found box is now located in the church office.

† We will host a blood drive for the American Red Cross on Saturday, October 5th.  If you would like to help, let James know.

† If you have an announcement to be included in Acts of the Apostles, please send it to holyapostlescomm@gmail.com before Thursday at noon of each week.

† Don’t forget to enter the church through the Parish office door and grab a “Church Member” badge from the office during Daycare hours (7:00AM – 6:00PM Mon-Fri)!

† The Cash for Causes Program at Giant Supermarket:

· Purchase through JT Wertz

· 5% of card value is given to Holy Apostles operating fund.

· Can be used in store or when ordering Giant groceries through Peapod online delivery service.

Education

† This Thursday, October 24, the 11AM Bible Study begins our study of the book of Deuteronomy!  It is going to be a fascinating and eye opening study. Anytime is good time to come Bible study even if you can’t make it every week.  But now is a particularly good time if you’ve been thinking of joining! Bring yourself and your Bible. If you need a Bible or you’d like to talk about best translations of the Bible to use–let Fr. James know!   

† We are offering a new way to engage with Scripture: FacePsalm is our new Facebook group devoted to reading, studying, meditating on, and even memorizing the Psalms that we sing and pray every Sunday during our 10AM service.  Join the Facebook group and get involved in the (online) conversation! If you don’t have Facebook, you can still join us in the study of each upcoming Sunday’s Psalm–look for it on the back of the Acts of the Apostles.  Here is the link: bit.ly/2ndKq9o

Dan McKeon A Note from the Rector

A Note from the Rector – 10/6/2019

Today, October 6, is the Commemoration of St. Faith.  Sometimes known as St. Foy, she was a young girl who lived in the Aquitaine region of France and was martyred for her faith in Jesus at the end of the 3rd or beginning of the 4th century (approx. AD 297-304).  She was probably one of thousands of Christians martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.  According to St. Jerome, she was martyred by being made to lie down on a red hot brazier (notice the brazier depicted on the St. Faith’s Banner).  St. Faith is, of course, the namesake of St. Faith Episcopal Church, Havertown. This past July, many of us were present for the emotional service of de-consecration at the building which once held that congregation.  Without denying how difficult the closing of that parish was and is, we have also worked to honor the legacy of St. Faith here at Holy Apostles. That is why we have adopted St. Faith as one of our patron saints, and why we are celebrating her feast day this morning.  

It is also why we have created the St. Faith Preachers Series.  For over a year, the vestry and I have worked on creating this unique and dynamic program.  The idea is two-fold. First, we want to honor St. Faith in an enduring way. Second, aware that I am a solo, male priest and preacher here at Holy Apostles, we want to find a way to bring diversity to our pulpit, and to honor and raise up women leaders in our parish and the Church at large.  It is vitally important that our daughters and granddaughters see women in the pulpit and at the altar of this, their church. The St. Faith Preachers Series will accomplish those twin goals by inviting excellent, strong, and established women preachers to preach for us once or twice a year. We will also invite one promising, woman seminarian a year to preach for us.  Bringing guest preachers here takes money, so last December the vestry devoted $500 of this year’s budget toward this project. In the meantime, we asked Virginia Theological Seminary, an Episcopal seminary in the Washington, D.C. metro area (and my alma mater), if they would be willing to partner with us in this program. The seminary responded generously by giving Holy Apostles $3,000 for the continuation of the St. Faith Preachers Series.  I will be working with the Seminary to identify and invite a seminarian to preach for us in the Spring. But, this Sunday we are also very honored and blessed to inaugurate the St. Faith Preachers Series with one of Virginia Theological Seminary’s most accomplished and revered professors, The Rev. Dr. Kathy Grieb.

Dr. Grieb is the Meade Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Professor of New Testament at the seminary where she has taught since 1994.  She was ordained to the priesthood in 1983 in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and serves on the clergy team of St. Stephen’s and the Incarnation church in Washington DC.  Dr. Grieb earned a law degree from Catholic University, an M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Yale. A noted theologian, Dr. Grieb serves on the House of Bishops Theology Committee.  She represented the Episcopal church at the World Council of Churches Plenary Session in 2009, and is a member of the Inter-Anglican Standing Commission on Unity and Faith. She is a long-time instructor for the Canterbury Scholars program at Canterbury Cathedral in England.  

Dr. Grieb has written numerous articles and written and edited several important books.  My favorite is The Story of Romans (Westminster Press, 2002), which is an accessible and profound guide to reading St. Paul’s letter to the Romans.  Dr. Grieb, was my New Testament professor when I attended Virginia Theological Seminary from 2014-2017. I learned a lot from her about Scripture, theology, and about living the in the way of Jesus.  I am very grateful to her for that, and for being with us this morning. I know the Holy Apostles family will warmly welcome our first St. Faith Preacher.

In Christ,

James +

Dan McKeon A Note from the Rector

A Note from the Rector – 9/29/2019

This Fall, I am using the metaphor of a tapestry to talk about Christian formation and discipleship at Holy Apostles.  Like a tapestry that is made up of many intertwined threads, our formation as Christians needs to be multi-threaded. Our life with and in Christ affects every aspect of who we are, so growing in our faith and becoming better disciples of Jesus has to include all aspects of life as well. The metaphor beyond the individual level.  Our communal life, too, is like a tapestry, as individuals are woven together by our involvement in the sacramental life of the church into something bigger than the sum of our parts. We are all threads in God’s great-big sacramental tapestry, which extends beyond just our parish and neighborhood, and finally covers the entire earth: “Praise be God’s glorious Name for ever, and may all the earth be filled with his glory” (Psalm 72:19).  

On the parish level, we are weaving our life of faith using five “threads”: learning, personal devotion, fellowship, worship, and service.  I am going to talk about all these threads in due time, starting with learning.

Learning is what we have commonly called Christian education.  It is just one piece of our overall, holistic formation as disciples.  As Jesus commands in Matthew 22:37, we are to love the God with all our hearts, souls, and minds.  Learning, in the context of the Christian life, is the act loving God with our minds.  

We have many opportunities to do this at Holy Apostles.  I want to make you aware of two new ways to learn and love God that are starting in October.  

As many of you know, we have a weekly Bible Study that meets in the Memorial Room on Thursdays from 11am-12pm.  Starting this week, we are adding an online Bible Study called FacePsalm. FacePsalm is a Facebook group that will be devoted the Psalms. Each week on Monday or Tuesday, we will post the Psalm for the following Sunday on our Facebook group.  Throughout the week we will discuss the psalm, think about it, and meditate on it. You’ll have opportunities to post your thoughts and to read each others ideas and comments. This is a way to be very intentional in preparing for the act of singing and praying the Psalm during the Sunday Eucharist service.  By the time we get to Sunday morning, those of you in the FacePsalm group will have read and mediated on the Psalm beforehand, which I think will change the way the Psalm affects in worship, and the way that we pray and sing it. There is something special about the Psalms. If given half a chance, they settle into your bones and have a way of bubbling up within us when we need them most. Any extra time you spend reading and meditating on the Psalms will be repaid to you in times of trouble and difficulty. These days, Facebook is not known for its ability to provide any of us with peace of mind. The hope is that the FacePsalm group can add little drops of peace, serenity and joy to your newsfeed throughout the week. So, if you have a Facebook account, join FacePsalm!

The other new opportunity for learning this Fall is a series of “Basics” classes.  This series comprises of four classes, offered on the third Sundays of the month at 9am.  The classes will repeat throughout the year so that I will teach each class three times a year. So, if you’re in choir for part of the year, or you can’t make it to a class on a given Sunday, there will always be another opportunity!  The classes are on four foundational topics: Bible, Church, Sacraments, and Liturgy. These classes are meant for anyone who is curious. They will be especially helpful to those who may be newer to Holy Apostles or to the Christian faith.  They will provide an excellent opportunity to invite someone along who you know might have questions about faith, or who are seeking. The first class will be October 20th and will be “Sacraments: what they are and what they do.”   I hope to see you there!

In Christ,

James +

Dan McKeon This Week at Holy Apostles

This Week at Holy Apostles – 9/29/2019

Sunday, September 29
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. James Stambaugh

8:30a Morning Prayer
10:00a Holy Eucharist


Monday, September 30

Parish Offices closed

Tuesday, October 1

9:15a Morning Prayer
3:30-6:00p Choir School

Wednesday, October 2

9:15a Morning Prayer

12p Noonday Prayer
w/ Bishop Daniel

Thursday, October 3

9:15a Morning Prayer
11:00a Bible Study
3:30-6:00p Choir School

Friday, October 4

9:15a Morning Prayer

Sunday, October 6
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Celebrant and Preacher: The Rev. James Stambaugh

10:00a Holy Eucharist

Dan McKeon Announcements

Announcements – 9/29/2019

Worship

† Noon day prayer with Bishop Daniel on Wednesday, October 2 at 12PM. 

† October 6 will be a special day.  It is the Feast of St. Faith and this year we are celebrating with the inauguration of the St. Faith Preachers Series.  Our inaugural preacher will be the Rev. Dr. A. Katherine Grieb, Meade Professor of Biblical Interpretation and New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary.  This Sunday is not to be missed!

† Healing Prayer will now be offered on the first Sunday of the Month, beginning October 6.

† We will host a special shared Eucharist with Holy Apostles and the Mediator in Philadelphia on October 13 at 10AM. This will be a special service of healing and joy, as we welcome members of the parish who founded our parish and sustained us financially and spiritually for 2 decades before we became a parish. Don’t miss this special Sunday!

† There will be an Altar Guild Meeting on Sunday, October 20th immediately following the 10AM service.

† Are you friendly?  We need you! Our greeter ministry is one of the key ministries of our church.  Greeters welcome visitors, make people comfortable, hand out service leaflets and take up offering.  They make sure the service runs smoothly. Starting in October we will be organizing a monthly Greeters breakfast with the Rector, probably at a local restaurant.  If you’re interested in serving God in this way, talk to Jim Jervis or Fr. James.

† Morning Prayer is offered at 8:30AM on Sunday mornings and at 9:15AM Tuesdays through Fridays.  Anyone can pray the service privately using the Book of Common Prayer or one of a number of smartphone apps!  See the last section of the digital edition of the “Acts of the Apostles” for details.

Outreach

† There are lots of opportunities to participate in Holy Apostles Outreach through our various programs:

–     Delivering items to a food pantry in Northeast Philadelphia

–     Organizing supplies or gifts for our own Connect by Night shelter program coming for the month of December

–     Meals at Darby Mission (3/17) or our annual holiday meal with the East Parkside Community Association (12/9). Other ideas are welcome. Please contact Joe Zorc (zorc@email.chop.edu) or see the sign-up sheet in the parish hall.

Children and Youth

† The national acolyte festival at the National Cathedral in Washington DC will be held on Saturday, October 19. Any acolyte or any child who wants to be an acolyte, ages 7-18, is eligible to attend.  Talk to Fr. James before September 27 if you are interested.

† Nursery childcare is available during the 10:00AM Sunday service for children ages 3 and younger in the Godly Play Room.

† The Holy Apostles Choir School is off and running for the Fall of 2019.  If you have a potential student, apply today.  More information is available at holyapostlespa.org/choir-school/. Please forward this information to friends and neighbors who may be interested. Contact Deb Stambaugh if you have any questions.   

Parish Life

† Year-to-date statements for 2019 Stewardship pledges will be sent out the week after September 30th, the end of the third quarter.  Continued thanks to all for their generosity and faithfulness in giving.  

† We are getting ready to refresh the hallway outside the church offices including some new paint, new furniture, and eventually new flooring.  As a result we have been moving some things around. The Lost & Found box is now located in the church office.

† We will host a blood drive for the American Red Cross on Saturday, October 5th.  If you would like to help, let James know.

† If you have an announcement to be included in Acts of the Apostles, please send it to holyapostlescomm@gmail.com before Thursday at noon of each week.

† Don’t forget to enter the church through the Parish office door and grab a “Church Member” badge from the office during Daycare hours (7:00AM – 6:00PM Mon-Fri)!

† The Cash for Causes Program at Giant Supermarket:

· Purchase through JT Wertz

· 5% of card value is given to Holy Apostles operating fund.

· Can be used in store or when ordering Giant groceries through Peapod online delivery service.

Education

† This Thursday, October 24, the 11AM Bible Study begins our study of the book of Deuteronomy!  It is going to be a fascinating and eye opening study. Anytime is good time to come Bible study even if you can’t make it every week.  But now is a particularly good time if you’ve been thinking of joining! Bring yourself and your Bible. If you need a Bible or you’d like to talk about best translations of the Bible to use–let Fr. James know!   

We are offering a new way to engage with Scripture: FacePsalm is our new Facebook group devoted to reading, studying, meditating on, and even memorizing the Psalms that we sing and pray every Sunday during our 10AM service.  Join the Facebook group and get involved in the (online) conversation! If you don’t have Facebook, you can still join us in the study of each upcoming Sunday’s Psalm–look for it on the back of the Acts of the Apostles.  Here is the link: bit.ly/2ndKq9o

Dan McKeon Announcements

Announcements – 9/22/2019

Worship

† October 6 will be a special day.  It is the Feast of St. Faith and this year we are celebrating with the inauguration of the St. Faith Preachers Series.  Our inaugural preacher will be the Rev. Dr. A. Katherine Grieb, Meade Professor of Biblical Interpretation and New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary.  This Sunday is not to be missed!

† There will be an Altar Guild Meeting on Sunday, October 20th immediately following the 10AM service.

† Are you friendly?  We need you! Our greeter ministry is one of the key ministries of our church.  Greeters welcome visitors, make people comfortable, hand out service leaflets and take up offering.  They make sure the service runs smoothly. Starting in October we will be organizing a monthly Greeters breakfast with the Rector, probably at a local restaurant.  If you’re interested in serving God in this way, talk to Jim Jervis or Fr. James.

† Morning Prayer is offered at 8:30AM on Sunday mornings and at 9:15AM Tuesdays through Fridays.  Anyone can pray the service privately using the Book of Common Prayer or one of a number of smartphone apps!  See the last section of the digital edition of the “Acts of the Apostles” for details.

Outreach

† Thanks to everyone who participated in the Darby Mission meal on 9/17. We cooked for 110 people and everyone had a great time.  Our next meal will be on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th 2020. There are lots of opportunities to participate in Holy Apostles Outreach through our various programs:

–          Delivering items to a food pantry in Northeast Philadelphia

–          Organizing supplies or gifts for our own Connect by Night shelter program coming for the month of December

–          Meals at Darby Mission (3/17) or our annual holiday meal with the East Parkside Community Association (12/9). Other ideas are welcome. Please contact Joe Zorc (zorc@email.chop.edu) or see the sign-up sheet in the parish hall.

† Our Connect by Night hosting month has been moved from July to December.

† We will continue to collect food for St. Mark’s in the box in the parish office hallway. We will look for other opportunities to work with them.  Let Joe Zorc know if you are interested in participating.

Children and Youth

† The national acolyte festival at the National Cathedral in Washington DC will be held on Saturday, October 19. Any acolyte or any child who wants to be an acolyte, ages 7-18, is eligible to attend.  Talk to Fr. James before September 27 if you are interested.

† Nursery childcare is available during the 10:00AM Sunday service for children ages 3 and younger in the Godly Play Room.

† The Holy Apostles Choir School is off and running for the Fall of 2019.  If you have a potential student, apply today.  More information is available at holyapostlespa.org/choir-school/. Please forward this information to friends and neighbors who may be interested. Contact Deb Stambaugh if you have any questions.   

Parish Life

† Year-to-date statements for 2019 Stewardship pledges will be sent out the week after September 30th, the end of the third quarter.  Continued thanks to all for their generosity and faithfulness in giving.  

† We are getting ready to refresh the hallway outside the church offices including some new paint, new furniture, and eventually new flooring.  As a result we have been moving some things around. The Lost & Found box is now located in the church office.

† We will host a blood drive for the American Red Cross on Saturday, October 5th.  If you would like to help, let James know.

† If you have an announcement to be included in Acts of the Apostles, please send it to holyapostlescomm@gmail.com before Thursday at noon of each week.

† Don’t forget to enter the church through the Parish office door and grab a “Church Member” badge from the office during Daycare hours (7:00AM – 6:00PM Mon-Fri)!

† Did you know that you can support the church through your
amazon.com shopping habit?  Go to smile.amazon.com. You’ll be prompted to choose a charity to support. Search for Church of the Holy Apostles, Penn Wynne and select.  A small percentage of each amazon purchase that goes through smile.amazon.com is given to the church.

† The Cash for Causes Program at Giant Supermarket:

· Purchase through JT Wertz

· 5% of card value is given to Holy Apostles operating fund.

· Can be used in store or when ordering Giant groceries through Peapod online delivery service.

Education

† This Thursday, October 24, the 11AM Bible Study begins our study of the book of Deuteronomy!  It is going to be a fascinating and eye opening study. Anytime is a good time to come Bible study even if you can’t make it every week.  But now is a particularly good time if you’ve been thinking of joining! Bring yourself and your Bible. If you need a Bible or you’d like to talk about best translations of the Bible to use–let Fr. James know!  

Dan McKeon A Note from the Rector

A Note from the Rector – 9/22/2019

The Darby Mission meal this past Tuesday was a huge success.  110 people came together to enjoy a meal that we were honored to host. Many hotdogs and hamburgers were made and enjoyed along with all the fixings, including a batch of coleslaw that garnered high praise, and homemade cheesecake that was gone in a nanosecond. A big thank you to everyone who prepared or donated food, and who helped serve and clean up.  And a huge thank you to Joe Zorc for organizing the meal and taking the lead on the grill.

The Darby Mission is an extraordinary ministry.  As the name implies, it is rooted in a particular place: the Borough of Darby in Delaware County.  The Mission part has to do with the fact that the ministry of the Rev. Doris Rajagopal is funded through the diocese, and that it is fundamentally about MISSION.  It is about recognizing what God is up to in Darby and jumping on board.

Doris and her ministry partner, Jessica, are a dynamic force for good in that neighborhood.  Those of you who have known Doris and been part of this work longer than I have can easily attest to that.  In addition to the twice monthly meals, which are sponsored and hosted by various Episcopal congregations in the diocese, Doris and Jessica run an afterschool program that serves 115 students.  They also run various innovative programs for youth, including a really great cooking class, and together with students from the Darby middle school and a local graffiti artist they have created two public murals. And they are always scheming, cooking up ideas that spread God’s love and peace in that neighborhood.  

But, the Darby Mission is more than just programs: it is about a deep, abiding presence in a particular place.  This presence through time imparts the love of Jesus and the grace and mercy of God through hundreds of tiny actions and conversations.  All this, over the long haul, has a transformative effects on people’s lives that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. That is how the Holy Spirit operates: taking our small gifts and making them into something bigger and better than anything we could imagine.  

That is why, even though we only have the privilege of hosting a meal every three to six months, Holy Apostles is committed to the Darby Mission for the long haul.  We are one thread in a vast tapestry, an interconnected network of relationships that make the Darby Mission possible. For one thing, several folks from Holy Apostles—honoring the legacy of St. Faith—have been involved at the Darby Mission from the beginning and are involved not on a quarterly basis, but a weekly basis.  And our involvement is morphing and evolving organically over time as we build relationships and come to better understand the needs and assets of the community. Here are two examples of this. We are beginning to help build a website for the Darby Mission, using the skills and talents we have combined with the amazing content they produce.  Also, for awhile now, in addition to food, folks from Holy Apostles have been offering books to both children and adults who attend the community meal. This has been an enormous hit. It was great to see kids running around last night with new books tucked under their elbows.  

I am still learning about the systemic challenges—as well as the beautiful resilience—of the many underserved neighborhoods that surround us in the Philadelphia metro area, but my hunch is that simple acts like ours which facilitate access to good books and bolster literacy are important.  

Without any real coordination between us, other churches in our area such as St. Mary’s in Ardmore and St. Asaph’s in Bala Cynwyd have also begun to help gather and distribute books to folks who want and need them, in their case, into several Philadelphia schools.  So, we’re just following where the Holy Spirit leads. As God reveals the ways God is moving, whether through food, or books, or conversation, God’s people are simply trying to follow God’s lead. Because whether it’s Penn Wynne or the borough of Darby; whether it’s your workplace, or home, or grocery store, or school, God is already there.  God is already moving.  God is already changing lives.  That’s good news.  

For more on the books, talk to Cassie Woestman or myself.

In Christ,

James +