Last Epiphany Sunday, Shrove Tuesday & Ash Wednesday

Depending upon which calendar you go by, and where you focus over this long weekend, this Sunday has a lot of names. (See above.)  All of them accurate, and in our 10a.m. livestream Eucharist, we will touch on them all:  The Transfiguration, the last of the epiphanies in this season after the Epiphany, is Sunday's gospel story; we always pray for those we love, and we will also pray for the President (and Vice President) as we give thanks, with the rest of the nation, for their predecessors George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

Absalom Jones Fund:  To honor the Rev. Absalom Jones, the Episcopal Church's first priest of African descent, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has invited Episcopalians everywhere to support the Episcopal Church's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, known as HBCUs. Details are here. Today, February 13 is his Feast Day.

Prayers in the Garden service will NOT meet again this Sunday, February 14:  Yikes! More snow and cold! 

Digital Sunday School is taking its usual Presidents' Day Holiday break.  Blessings on our school families who are able to enjoy a "snow day" without online classes!  Here's this Sunday's Junior Sunday Paper.  I encourage every one to give the puzzle a try.  See if you can make the links between the before and after "transfigured" pictures.

Virtual Coffee Hour... is a great opportunity to "see" one another.  The link to YFNR's Personal Zoom Room seems to work well.  So, join the conversation via Zoom this Sunday, February 14 at 11:30a.m. by clicking this link. 

Our plan for Shrove Tuesday, February 16, is to have a brief "Conflagration of the Palms" in the driveway at 6p.m., offering waffles made by the Senior Warden and the Rector to all participants. Pandemic protocols will be observed, including mask wearing and maintaining physical distances. However, the weather may prevent a gathering in the driveway -- let alone a fire -- on Tuesday.  If so, we'll reschedule for 6p.m. Ash Wednesday.  Which I know is weird, but we live in weird times.

Shrove Tuesday is also the day for the premiere episode of The Black Church: This is our Story. This is our Song, at 9p.m. on PBS.  Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates will interview our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, among many others.  Bishop Douglas reports that Prof. Gates is a cradle Episcopalian -- his father a longtime pillar of the family parish.

Ash Wednesday Worship:  We will offer the Prayer Book service for the day including Spiritual Communion via livestream at Noon and 7p.m.  The Noon service will be a said service without hymns or solos; the 7p.m. service will include both.  Because pandemic protocols do not permit the usual imposition of ashes, the sprinkling of ashes will be offered from the Parish House steps at 1p.m.  You can find the livestream services here.

Thursday Bible Study is following the Israelites to the next pivotal episode in Exodus (and in the whole Bible) -- deliverance at the Red (or Reed) Sea.  Join the conversation, at 9:30a.m. Thursday, February 18.  Look for a new Zoom link in next week's "Let Us Pray" letter.

Intercessory Prayer: Please help shape the Prayers of the People, by replying to this message with the people, birthdays, anniversaries, and concerns you would like included in the Prayers of the People.

Chancel Door Open for Prayers in the Church:  We are continuing our experiment with leaving the door closest to the Guild Room unlocked between 10a.m. and at least 3p.m.  Please enjoy a quiet moment of prayer, likely alone, in the church, and pick up a candle stub to light during your prayers at home.  Offering envelopes are on the chancel table for those who requested them.

Annual Parish Meeting to reconvene June 6, 2021:  "Plan B"for our Annual Parish Meeting worked.  A nice group gathered, on line due to the weather. on Sunday, February 7, but as expected we were well short of a quorum.  So, as planned, the Meeting will reconvene in the garden on Sunday, June 6. 

Thanks to all who are mailing in your offerings!  
Although our in-person connections remain severely limited, the routine of the parish continues in the new year.  Thanks to your faithfulness, we are able to continue our shared life of worship and witness -- even while maintaining appropriate distances.  Please continue your financial support of our common life by bringing your offering to the altar, or the parish office, or by mailing to Christ Church, PO Box 574, Guilford, CT 06437.  Your offering will be presented at the altar; it will be physically present, while you remain safely at home.
In the faith, hope and love of Christ,
Harrison+
YFNR