Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR WORSHIP THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 30 August 2020 ** At a time convenient for you, open the church website - www.messiahgwynedd.org - for the video presentation of the Sunday service; then use the liturgical pieces below to actively participate. The video is available all week. OPENING PROCLAMATION The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Alleluia! And also with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! COLLECT FOR THE DAY (Proper 17) Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your N
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, the Liturgy for Tomorrow's Worship, Birthdays in the Week Ahead, and more. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 29 August 2020 Dear Friends: This Sunday's first lesson from Exodus recounts one of my favorite stories: God's calling of Moses from the burning bush. And the second lesson, from Paul's Letter to the Romans, is also one of my favorite passages. These verses remind me of two prayers . . . The first one I offer to you is a morning prayer and takes its theme from Romans: God of love, today help us to live peaceably with all. Help us to live in genuine love: to love our neighbors as ourselves, and to love you, O God, with our whole heart,
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, Belfry Bargains Update, Virtual Choirs Feature Messiah Singers, Produce for Manna, Guatemala Chica Beans Coffee, Recipes Needed, and a Prayer & Psalm for the Week FROM THE RECTOR Wednesday, 26 August 2020 Dear Friends: Can we really be staring at the end of August? Already? In many ways, it still feels like mid-March, when the world and all of our routines and assumptions of how life would proceed were abruptly stopped. I thought – quite naively, it is now apparent – that we would all be given a few weeks off, then we would resume right where we left everything. Pick up the pieces and move on. How very wrong I was! So mu
Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR WORSHIP TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 23 August 2020 ** At a time convenient for you, open the church website - www.messiahgwynedd.org - for the video presentation of the Sunday service; then use the liturgical pieces below to actively participate. The video is available all week. OPENING PROCLAMATION The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Alleluia! And also with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! COLLECT FOR THE DAY (Proper 16) Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, the Liturgy for Tomorrow's Worship, Birthdays in the Week Ahead, and more. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 22 August 2020 Dear Friends: While on my sabbatical two years ago, dedicated to studying the earliest centuries of Celtic Christianity, I traveled to the island of Iona. This small island, which lies just off the western coast of Scotland, was an important center founded by St. Columba as he and his fellow monks spread the new faith to the ancients Celts. While there, our guide showed us a stone carving in the ruins of the chapel of a goose in flight. The Celtic monks depicted the Holy Spirit both as a dove and as a wild goose; the fir
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, An Invitation from The Rev. MaryJo Melberger, Virtual Choirs Feature Messiah Singers, Produce for Manna, Guatemala Chica Beans Coffee, Recipes Needed, and a Prayer & Psalm for the Week FROM THE RECTOR Wednesday, 19 August 2020 Dear Friends: One of my favorite Scripture passages is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11. It is often chosen to be read at funerals. And for those of us of a certain age, we most probably came to know of it because of The Byrds 1965 hit song: Turn! Turn! Turn! Whether because of the Bible or the song, it is one of the most well-known pieces of Scripture, easily recognized and known by church-goers and non-church-goers ali
Included in today's update: An Invitation from The Rev. MaryJo Melberger Monday 17 August 2020 An Invitation From The Rev. MaryJo Melberger: Parker Palmer's book, "On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity & Getting Old" has been on my " want to read AND discuss list" for some time!! How about joining a "virtual book group via ZOOM? The discussion can be joined via Zoom by using either the visual, online or by telephone. Here is a description of the book: "From beloved and bestselling author Parker J. Palmer (Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, Healing the Heart of Democracy), comes a beautiful book of reflections on what we can learn as we move closer to "the brink of everything."
Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR WORSHIP ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST OPENING PROCLAMATION The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Alleluia! And also with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! COLLECT FOR THE DAY (Proper 15) Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, the Liturgy for Tomorrow's Worship, Birthdays in the Week Ahead, and more. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 15 August 2020 Dear Friends: In looking through a resource book I haven't used in quite some time, I ran across a 3x5 card that had been passed along by my mother. On it, she had written a quote that she had found helpful. It comes from an ancient book attributed to Lao-Tzu, a Chinese philosopher who lived in the 6th century B.C.E. He is credited with founding the philosophical system known as Taoism. The quote below comes from his major work, titled Tao-Te-Ching, translated as The Way of Virtue. Watch your thoughts - they become words
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, Thanks and a Message from Guatemala, Fresh Produce & Recipes Needed, and a Prayer & Psalm for the Week FROM THE RECTOR Wednesday, 12 August 2020 Dear Friends: In the aftermath of several deaths and funerals over the past few weeks, yesterday was a welcome respite and uplifting occasion. I officiated at a wedding. The bride and groom, both in their mid-60's, had known each other several years ago, but drifted apart; then reconnected through a chance encounter at the North Wales Post Office. It was a small gathering in the couple's backyard, the smallest wedding I had ever attended, only seven of us being invited. But the joy and the l
Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR WORSHIP TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST OPENING PROCLAMATION The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Alleluia! And also with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! COLLECT FOR THE DAY (Proper 14) Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. COLLECT FOR CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH Gracious God: through
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, the Liturgy for Tomorrow's Worship, Birthdays in the Week Ahead, and more. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 8 August 2020 Dear Friends: As I stand here at my computer desk, I can look out the window facing the graveyard. Right now, I am watching two young bucks, one sporting what looks to be the beginning of what will one day be a rather impressive rack of antlers. They seem perfectly at ease, wandering among the graves, stopping every few steps to nibble on some grass or the leaves of a low-hanging branch. Earlier this week, I must have spent fifteen minutes watching a family of red foxes - two adults, three kits - as they also enjoyed some
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, New Vestry Members, Property Upgrades, Forward Day By Day, Recipes Needed, a few reminders and a Prayer & Psalm for the Week FROM THE RECTOR Wednesday, 5 August 2020 Dear Friends: In the Book of Proverbs (12:18), we read: Rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. And in 23:16, it says: My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. I think that is the Bible's version of the old adage; "Think before your speak." It's sage advice. And all of us have rued the day when we didn't follow that advice. Engaging our mouth before engaging our brain is, at the least, embarrassing, and at the most, d
Click above for the Service Video For Music Click here To read today's Sermon Click here LITURGY FOR WORSHIP NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST OPENING PROCLAMATION The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you. Alleluia! And also with you. Alleluia! Alleluia! COLLECT FOR THE DAY (Proper 13) Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. COLLECT FOR CHURCH OF THE MESSIAH Gracious God: through your Father
Included in today's update: A Message from Father Keith, the Liturgy for Tomorrow's Worship, Birthdays in the Week Ahead, and more. FROM THE RECTOR Saturday, 1 August 2020 Dear Friends: As the pandemic continues and COVID-19 positive rates continue to climb, I think we are all looking for things that will lift our spirits, and are grateful wherever we may find them. I recently found a video that I have played several times over the past few days - in fact, I have the tune stuck in my head, which I really don't mind for once! If you would like an emotional and spiritual pick-me-up, simply Google the following: The Irish Blessing 2020. It is a compilation of singers from 300 Irish churches si
