News items and stories
Lent, what's it all about?
Do you ever feel like you would like to slow life down a bit? Our culture does not encourage time away from work, noise, bad news, and hectic schedules. Since the beginning of Christianity, communities of faith have understood the need for reflection and contemplation.
Our New Deacons!
It all started about four and a half years ago. After much hard work and dedication, on January 30th, our congregation began a new chapter with the ordinations of Bill and David to the Sacred Order of Deacons. The Laying On of Hands in the Apostolic Succession was made by The Right Reverend Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr., before a packed house. Our ministry changed in character on that day as we move another vital step closer to the day they are ordained as priests. They were ordained to the transitional deaconate, meaning that ultimately they will be ordained as priests at least 6 months from now. Deacons perform a number of roles and are especially entrusted with helping the poor, the oppressed, and the sick.
The deacon represents the Gospel to the congregation, and in fact one of the most cherished deaconal duties is that of Gospeler. The Gospeler proclaims, or reads, the Gospel for the people. The deacon literally walks the Gospel Book into the midst of the congregation to read it.
Episcopal-RC Haiti Outreach Mission
For 10 years, volunteers from The Episcopal Church and The Roman Catholic Church have joined forces to help the community of Mirebalais Haiti through Haiti Outreach Mission (HOM). Located about 30 km northwest of Port-au-Prince, Mirebalais was minimally affected by the earthquake. It is estimated that prior to the earthquake, the ratio between people to physicians was 30,000 to 1.
HOM was founded in 1998 after Dr. Dominique Matthews and her husband Roger visited her native land on their honeymoon, and decided that they wanted to do something to help alleviate suffering in Haiti.
On January 25, 2010, we received the very sad news that Roger died unexpectedly. We invite your prayers for his family and the future of Haiti Outreach Mission without his excellent presence.
Deacon Ordinations January 30th!
Ordination is a sacramental rite of the church by which God gives authority and the grace of the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by bishops to those being made bishops, priests, and deacons (Book of Common Prayer [BCP], pp. 860-861). The three distinct orders of bishops, priests, and deacons have been characteristic of Christ's holy catholic church. Bishops carry on the apostolic work of leading, supervising, and uniting the church.
Presbyters (often known as priests) are associated with bishops in the ministry of church governance, along with the church's ministry of missionary and pastoral work, in preaching of the Word of God, and in the administration of the sacraments.
Deacons assist bishops and priests in all of this work, and have special responsibility to minister in Christ's name to the poor, the sick, the suffering, and the helpless (BCP, p. 510). The BCP provides rites for the ordination of bishops (p. 512), priests (p. 525), and deacons (p. 537).
St. Andrew's-Ann Arbor hosts benefit for breakfast program
Our sister congregation will host the following event, “BREAKFEST 2010” CONCERT
TO HELP FEED THE HUNGRY IN ANN ARBOR
All-acoustic show at The Ark to span American and Scots-Irish traditions
Centering prayer and Lectio Divina sessions Continue in Epiphany
On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 6pm, members of St. Barnabas gathered to practice centering pray as a group. Centering Prayer (CP) is a form of silent prayer, where one empties the mind, and sits with God for about 20 minutes. Each person chooses a "sacred word", usually one or two syllables, to use silently when the mind wanders. This is the primary tool in centering oneself during breaks in concentration. The great mystics call this wandering the "monkey mind," and we all suffer from it in varying degrees. Some CP sessions are better than others. It is best to commence the sessions without expectations. One can have a wonderful CP experience even though one's day was challenging, for example.
Stech and Glaser authorized for ordination, Scott and O'Connell head to final phase of certification
The congregation of St. Barnabas achieved another milestone in December. Bishop Wendell N. Gibbs, Jr., the Commission on Ministry and the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Michigan have authorized the Ordination of our to Candidates for Priesthood!
Evensong in Advent
What is Evensong? Since the late middle ages "evensong" has been the popular name for vespers (from the Latin vesperis, "evening"), the Evening Office of the western church. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer used it in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Its more contemporary version is included in our current BCP last updated in 1979. Although in 1552 Cramner replaced it with "Evening Prayer," the common name remains "evensong." In many Anglican cathedrals and other large churches, especially in England, evensong is sung by clergy and choir as a choral liturgy.
Chelsea "Citizen of the Year" awarded to our own Nancy Harris
If you'd like to meet someone who seemingly works 24/7, call parishioner Nancy Harris. After founding "Hearts Community Service" a non-profit organization initially created to help those who experience a total loss due to fire, Nancy can be seen most days on the phone with social service allies helping the needy or out gathering donations around Washtenaw County-furniture, clothing, kitchen items, appliances, etc. Nancy currently serves St. Barnabas as its Senior Warden, the chair of the parochial governing body, known as The Bishop's Committee. For more info, click the Chelsea Standard article. http://heritage.com/articles/2009/10/14/chelsea_standard/news/doc4ad6063...
Groundbreaking symbolizes new possibilities at St. B's.
Several of the St. Barnabas faithful gathered to break ground on the new addition. Asked what it meant, Candidates for the Priesthood David Glaser and Bill Stech, vested in black cassocks, beamed in unison, "All are welcome." "We have worked together for a long time to make this happen, and it is becoming a reality," said Bill.
