I'm praying that you are all doing well as we continue through this totally unusual time. And when I say "doing well," I'm talking about something far deeper than how you're passing the time or whether or not you were able to find toilet paper on your last shopping trip. While those things are important to our daily lives, I'm asking you today how your soul is feeling. It's kind of a deep question, so find your teen, make some tea or coffee and settle in to talk about it. Our verse for today is 1 Peter 1:17-23 New International Version (NIV) 17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it

Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR SUNDAY, 26 APRIL, 2020 WORSHIP EASTER PROCLAMATION Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ is risen! Response: The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! SONG OF PRAISE Alleluia! Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are th

Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith , Liturgy for Sunday 26 April Worship, Sunday Worship Music, Also in the Gallery, Forward Day by Day... FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 25 April 2020 Dear Friends: I have been having a recurring thought - a question, really - over the past several days, and have spent some time allowing it to run through my mind, seeing what comes forth and bubbles to the surface. That thought is this: What have I learned from this unusual and unprecedented situation we find ourselves to be living in? Forced and extreme isolation; "social distancing" - a whole new word and concept for many of us; constant wearing of a mask and other protective gear; watching

Hi Families! I pray that you are all staying safe and healthy. Unfortunately this new way of life is lasting much longer than anyone previously thought. I never imagined having to line up outside of the grocery store wearing my mask and anxiously waiting my turn to shop. While I was standing outside of Wegmans this past week, I looked at all the children's truck and tractor carts lined up along the side of the building, not being used. Every Sunday after church our family would go to Wegmans and Dave would go hunting throughout the parking lot for one of those carts. Even then I sanitized the cart, and we went on our way shopping while the kids fought about who had more room and Dave and

Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith , Saying Thank You, Prayer & Prayer Shawl Requests, Prayers for the week ahead, and more... FROM THE RECTOR Tuesday, 21 April 2020 Dear Friends: How can we ever say "Thank You"? To those on the front lines of this battle with the deadly COVID-19 virus? How can we ever express our appreciation for all they have been doing on behalf of our selves, our families, our communities, our nation and the world? Can we ever say "Thank You" often enough? Can we ever say "Gracias" loud enough? How can we ever say "Domo Arigato" strongly enough? How to say "Danke Sehr" to all those who deserve our "Merci" and "Mahalo" and "Toda" and "Efharisto"? As

Hope this email finds you well! It goes without saying that the past week, well actually the past several weeks, have been anything but ordinary or usual. There are so many words we can use to describe our experience; but when we reflect on the past few weeks it is undeniably stressful and a bit scary. It seems as though I get a new notification every few minutes on my phone and it becomes challenging to step away from the news headlines. If you are a parent you can either read through this lesson with your teen or share it with them. Either way, I would encourage you to connect with your teen to reflect on our lesson together. If you do not have a teen in YOM, please feel free to follow alo

Hi Families! I hope you all had a happy and blessed Easter! I also hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! I wanted to send out our church school lesson for the second Sunday of Easter. It would be so much better if we could be doing this lesson together, but now you will have the opportunity to share the lesson with the whole family! Scripture for this week: John 20:19-31 Background on our Easter series: Easter is another huge gift from God, building on not only the Christmas gift of the birth of Jesus, but also on the gifts that keep coming right here and now. The Gospel reading today follows the discovery of the resurrected Jesus by the women at the tomb. Although several disciples ra

Click Above for the Service See Worship Resources below and Click here for Music LITURGY FOR SUNDAY 19 APRIL 2020 WORSHIP EASTER PROCLAMATION Celebrant: Alleluia! Christ is risen! Response: The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! SONG OF PRAISE Alleluia! Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most Hi

Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith , Liturgy for Sunday 19 April Worship, Modified Office Hours resume this coming week, and Guatemala Sister Parish & School Update. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday in Easter Week, 18 April 2020 Dear Friends: No real need to point this out to all of you, but this will have to go down as one of the strangest Holy Week and Easter Week in history - certainly in my lifetime! I do hope that you were able to tune in to the Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday services posted to the parish website (messiahgwynedd.org). Based on some of the statistics reported back to us, more than half of you opened the videos. While it was quite strange celebra

Click on READ MORE below and then the video to enjoy the second chapter of our Virtual Warm Wishes Campaign! Hope you will keep your photos, quotes and messages coming! We're looking forward to Chapter 3! Please send your contributions to Diana Mulroy. Note: If some of the screens are going too fast for you, just tap your space bar or pause the video by clicking on the Pause Button | | in the lower left hand corner of the video screen.

EASTER WEEK MESSAGE Easter Monday, 13 April 2020 Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith , LESSONS FOR YOUR EASTER WEEK DEVOTIONS, Sunday Worship on the Website, Prayer & Prayer Shawl Requests, Office Hours this week...and so much more! FROM THE RECTOR Dear Friends: As of this morning, we are living in a new world, a new Creation. Can you feel it? In the opening verses of Genesis, we learn the story of God creating, over the course of seven days, the universe and all that is 'ex nihilo,' a theological term meaning 'out of nothing'. At Easter, through Christ's Resurrection, with his defeat of death and opening up for us the possibility of eternal life, we experience a new day

Meditation for Easter Sunday - April 12, 2020 ‘There is a sound of exultation in the tents of the righteous!’ If Good Friday and Holy Saturday brought us face to face with the deep mysteries of the God who in the flesh undergoes great suffering and lays Himself down in the cold earth He has made, then Easter Sunday confronts with greater Mystery still. Victory has erupted in the midst of bitter defeat, Life in the very heart of death. So impossible is this rupture with all that we know and live by, that Mary Magdalen, that unsurpassed disciple, on Easter morning stands outside the tomb, weeping. We all know how the world works: the relentless path of constriction, of steady loss, of deat

Click Above for the Service See Worship Resources below and Click here for Selected Music & Easter Greetings For All Ages ​EASTER WORSHIP RESOURCES SONG OF PRAISE Alleluia! Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Allelui

PREPARING FOR EASTER WORSHIP Holy Saturday, 11 April 2020 Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith with resources to participate in the Easter service, and links to our website and the Philadelphia Cathedral . FROM THE RECTOR Dear Friends: On this day of preparation for tomorrow's Great Feast of the Resurrection, Easter Sunday I hope that this message finds you and all those in your household to be strong, and safe, and healthy. Because worship should never be a spectator event, but participatory and communal, you will find the resources below that will allow you to actively join in tomorrow morning's Easter service that has been recorded and will be available on the parish w

Dear Families - Since Easter is only one day away, I wanted to share this story with you. The Parable of the Lily by Liz Curtis, Higgs read aloud by Story Time with Nana Don't miss special Easter videos for all ages on our website! Just go to the Gallery and click on Videos.

GOOD FRIDAY Collect and Assigned Readings Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Psalm 22 Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Hebrews 10:16-25 John 18:1-19:42

Included in today's update: A GOOD FRIDAY Message from Father Keith, Lessons for the Triduum Devotions, Information about Services on our website, Bishop's Easter Service at the Cathedral FROM THE RECTOR Dear Friends: We are in the very think of it. This pandemic. This closing of so much around us that is familiar. This cancellation of school, sports events and concerts, movies and Broadway. This Paschal Triduum. This Good Friday. This fasting from family and friends, from gathering, from what often defines our sense of community. When I contemplated giving up something for Lent, I never thought it would go this far! The church year, with all its holy days, festivals, and cycles of prayer

Fast from the need for attention... and feast on attending to the needs of others Fast from indifference… and feast on the difference we can make where hope is lost Fast from dwelling on the mistakes of the past… and feast on the joy of bringing happiness to others Fast from closing your mind to new understandings… and feast on a passion for truth Fast from cynicism… and feast on hope Fast from predictability… and feast on surprises and spontaneity and an open spirit Fast from talking… and feast on listening Fast from the demands of perfection…and feast on the glory of being human Fast from anxiety…and feast on trust Fast from being stuck in time and place and mind… and feast on the journey

MESSIAH UPDATE MESSAGE Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, Lessons for the Triduum Devotions, Information about Services on our website, Bishop's Easter Service at the Cathedral FROM THE RECTOR Dear Friends: Tomorrow marks the opening day of the Paschal Triduum, or Easter Triduum, the three days of the Church's liturgical year that lead into and culminate with the Great Feast of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. The term 'Triduum' comes from Latin, meaning 'three days'; the term 'Paschal' comes from Hebrew, 'Pesach' being the word for 'Passover', the eight-day Jewish celebration that usually occurs at roughly the same time as the Christian feast of Easter. The three da

Although it has only been a few weeks since we last met for YOM, it feels like it has been so much longer. One of the things I have missed most about meeting with our teens has been the opportunity to share a lesson with them and support them through their spiritual growth. If you are a parent you can either read through this lesson with your teen or share it with them. If you do not have a teen in YOM, please feel free to follow along with us and share our lesson. As Christians, how do we respond in the face of a crisis? When a crisis happens in our world, it’s easy to question our faith, and it’s hard to replace the panic we face with the peace we’re promised as Jesus-followers. So, what c