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Thursday Announcements for July 30, 2020

7/30/2020

 
​FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
1) After last week's announcements, several people expressed interest in working with our friends at the Methodist Church to provide a simple bag lunch on Wednesdays, and so I committed us to try it next week. If you want to help, email me at [email protected]. Here's what we will need:

  • One or more people to shop for the food -- enough to make 25-30 bag lunches with sandwiches and a fruit, chips, and water. We have money to purchase the food, and just need someone to do the shopping.
  • One or more to prepare the lunches.
  • One or more to sit on the sidewalk or in the courtyard at noon next Wednesday and hand them out. 
 
2) Many of you already make your donations via online giving, which is a great and easy and safe way to keep your pledge up-to-date during this time of disruption. There is a new, even easier way to give electronically that probably lots of you already use for other things -- text giving. You can now text your donations to the church, using the same platform as we use for online giving, which is about the safest way there is. If you would like to try text giving, the number to use to donate is 308-252-3911. Here is link to a short tutorial starring an old person who is not that tech-savvy -- namely me! https://youtu.be/rxi3sDkvWBI

3) As of this morning, we are still hoping to re-open the church for public worship in two weeks -- Sunday, August 16th at 10:00 A.M. It will look and feel both familiar and awkward the first few times -- masks will be required, there will be no singing, and communion will be handled differently (see box below) -- but it will be the same liturgy and it will be the same sacred space and it will be so nice to be together. 

While we strongly encourage those who are at-risk to continue to participate online and not in-person just yet, we do welcome those who are low-risk and ready to get back. There will be no nursery or Godly Play, but families will be able to sit and worship together, so parents don't worry about kids -- believe me, any noise will be a welcome change from what we have had around here lately :)

Here is this week's graph of new cases in our counties: 
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Celebrating Communion 
 
Among many changes in our worship services while we must respect wearing masks and social distancing, Holy Communion may be the biggest collection of changes. This is simply an outline of how communion will happen. It may raise questions that you want to ask before our first service. You may also want to watch our livestream on Facebook to see communion in process before you decide to attend a service yourself. 
 
Picture yourself sitting in a pew, and the service has proceeded to the point where it is usually time for serving the communion:
  • The Celebrant will serve self and the assisting priest, followed by the altar party (musician, soloist, Lector/Intercessor)
  • An usher will signal to the first pew on the west/piano side to step out of the pew to the first two yellow distancing stickers on the carpet below the steps up to the altar level. Each person must carry with them whatever they brought into the sanctuary, as all will depart the church from the altar rail without returning to their pews.
  • An usher will signal the first individual (or family group) to step up to the nearest sticker on the left – followed by the second in line to move up to the nearest sticker on the right
  • While both wait on the dots, the priests prepare the host for the correct number of worshippers in each, placing a paper plate with the host(s) on the altar rail, and then backing away from the rail for social distancing
  • Each of the two parties on the dots move forward (after the priest has moved back) to the next dot at the altar rail, and the individual (or an adult in the family group) picks up the plate – feeding the host to self (or to each member of the family).
  • Each individual (or family group) then moves to the east/choir seats side (keeping social distance), deposits the paper plate in the receptacle beneath the hymn board, and exits the sanctuary and the church after proceeding down the steps near the lift.
  • In the meantime, an usher has brought out a second pew, and they have moved up as the previous groups moved up and following the direction of the usher at the steps to either the left or the right dot to wait for the priests to prepare their plates, bringing them forward to the rail and then backing away for each to come forward to serve themselves and exit as the original groups did – maintaining social distance.
  • Worshippers who are not comfortable going up the steps to receive the host should remain in their seats until others are served, and the priests will bring their plate with the host to them in their seat. The plate should be discarded in an appropriate receptacle.
  • Worshippers who had been ushered to the overflow seating in the parish hall to watch the service on the big screen will be escorted by an usher to the rear of the sanctuary (socially distancing) as the sanctuary is clearing, and they will move toward the altar from dot to dot, receiving their host in the same fashion as the earlier worshippers – either individually or in family groups. 
  • We are obliged to come into the church and exit the church without congregating in the narthex or elsewhere in the church to minimize the risks that we’ve heard so much about. We want no one to get the virus because they came to worship at St. Francis. 
GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
       Happy Birthday!!                                Happy Anniversary!!
Mardell Schnell            July 31             Jim & Suzi Calder                  August 1
Judith Widmaier           July 31            Ralph & Melissa Moreno        August 1
Justin Bohl                 August 2            Phillip & Colleen Kelly            August 5
Jim Calder                 August 4
 
 
Prayer Requests: Please email your prayer requests to Gina at [email protected].  If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. The requests must be received on Tuesday’s before 12:00pm for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after 12:00pm on Tuesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks.
Once the request is received it is added to the prayer list and then I email the names to have them added to the Prayer Chain and to the Daughters of the King.


The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 30, 2020
THURSDAY, July 30                           William Wilberforce

Luke 5:30
 The Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to [Jesus’] disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

From the Archives: April 4, 1968

The concern Jesus displayed for obvious and spectacular sinners weighed heavily against his claim to represent God. Some suspected that Jesus did not know enough about righteousness to be able to recognize sin even when he saw it, while others supposed that he mingled with prostitutes and traitors because they were all of a kind. That he did this with saving purpose seems to have occurred to none of them. His eloquent parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son were formed to justify his concerns about lost people, but eloquence is wasted on those who will not hear. Violating the popular standards of righteousness is never acceptable.

His association with tax collectors was especially unacceptable. To eat with such was to establish an unbreakable bond. Could their lostness justify such an action?

MOVING FORWARD: When has your faith in Jesus prompted you to give up privilege or prestige?

PRAY for the Dioceses of Massachusetts and Victoria Nyanza (Tanzania)

Ps [70], 71 * 74 | Judges 4:4-23 | Acts 1:15-26 | Matthew 27:55-66

​Gina’s Office Hours
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (at the church)
Wednesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)
Thursday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)

Thursday Announcements For April 23rd, 2020

7/23/2020

 
FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

COVID-19 Re-Entry News -- Last night the vestry met and reviewed our parish re-opening plan and the most current available data, and it was decided that unless the new case trends rise between now and then, we will hold our first public worship in the sanctuary on Sunday, August 16th at 10:00 A.M. The vestry and I will continue to track the numbers and if things change for the worse we will postpone until decline occurs, but as of this morning, we are proceeding with this plan. There will be many more communications about this in the coming weeks, including a video tutorial about how we will safely share communion, but the bullet points are these:
  • Masks will be required at all times, except when receiving communion.
  • Six-foot distances will be maintained.
  • Paper bulletins will be placed in the pews designating which seats may be used.
  • Family groups will sit together and receive communion together.
  • No Nursery or Godly Play will be provided at this time, however families with children are encouraged to attend and sit together.
  • No congregational singing will be scheduled.
  • If all seating in the sanctuary is full, overflow seating and video feed will be available in the parish hall.
  • Anyone with cold/flu-like symptoms should not attend in-person
  • Anyone in an at-risk category should consider continuing to join us online.
This seems like a lot of change, but it really isn't all that different once you get the hang of it. I know we are all longing for the day we can "get back to normal," but that day still seems far off, and with these safety precautions in place (and as long as new cases don't spike dramatically) we can at least gather in our sacred space with others and celebrate our sacred liturgy together. It's not everything we want, but it's not nothing, that's for sure. 

Here is this week's chart of cases. The dotted 14-day average trendline is the marker we are following.
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GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
Happy Birthday!!                                      Happy Anniversary!!
Adam Moreno                       July 23          Kevin & Monica Lehr    July 23    
Sarah Williams                     July 26          
Steve Shaw                          July 28
Alyson Anderson-Saenz      July 29

1) Prayer Requests: Please email your prayer requests to Gina at [email protected].  If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. The requests must be received on Tuesday’s before 12:00pm for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after 12:00pm on Tuesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks.

2) ALL IN-PERSON SERVICES SUSPENDED FOR NOW SUNDAY’S 10 A.M. SERVICES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – Saint Francis Episcopal Church  (Saint must be spelled out, do not abbreviate)
If you do not have Facebook, you can go to our website www.saintf.org

3) System Updates: Thank you to everyone who responded. If any of your information changes please let Gina or Father Mark know. You can email us at [email protected] or call 308-632-4626 and leave a message.

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 23, 2020THURSDAY, July 23                           John CassianActs 9:10-12 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” He answered, “Here I am, Lord.” The Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul. At this moment he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so he might regain his sight.”

From the Archives: December 4, 1943    

We recently learned of a striking experience on the islands of the Inland Sea near Japan. A sailor approached a priest and asked him to call upon a friend in deep spiritual need.  

The missionary, tired out after a hard day’s work, turned to a recent convert and said, “I am dreadfully tired. Won’t you go and take him a Bible?” The friend replied, “No, teacher. It is not time to take that man a Bible. That book is yours, and now, thank God, it is mine also, but it is not time to take that man a Bible. Teacher, that man is reading you yet awhile. As Christ lives in you, so he lives in that man, and as he fails in you, he fails in that man.”  

The missionary could not sleep that night. Before daybreak, he set out to see the man. Let us be silent for a space and listen for that still small voice.

MOVING FORWARD: Who is reading you? Who is calling out to you with a spiritual need.

PRAY for the Dioceses of Masasi (Tanzania) and Upper Shire (Malawi)
Ps 50 * [59, 60] or 66, 67 | Joshua 9:3-21 | Romans 15:1-13 | Matthew 26:69-75

Gina’s Office Hours
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (at the church)
Wednesday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)
Thursday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)

Thursday Announcements for July 16, 2020

7/16/2020

 
FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

​
1) On Sunday Sarah Schaaf and her mother hosted another Laundry Love at the East Overland Laundromat. The response was great and lots of folks were served and the whole thing was just super positive!  Thanks Sarah and mom for keeping us in the outreach business even in these times of difficulty and distraction. You are an inspiration to me and to us!

2) Copies of the latest issue of the Forward Day-by-Day devotional are in and available. You can either stop in and pick one up (Tuesdays 9-1 are sure bets to find the church open) or call Gina and she'll gladly mail one out to you!

3) We are inching our way toward a date for resuming in-person worship. As you can see from the graph below the 14-day trendline (dotted line) for new cases in our counties is steady to slightly lower. If this continues for the next couple of weeks I'll be able to call the Bishop and set a Sunday for re-opening. I know that many will still feel most comfortable joining us online, but I know, too, that many other are ready and anxious to get back together. In the meantime we are getting our sanitation plan and supplies in place and things are coming together almost daily. As long as we don't see a spike in new cases I'm hopeful that we'll be back in some form on the premises by fall. 
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GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
          Happy Birthday!!                                    Happy Anniversary!!
    Trudy Schnell          July 19                   John & Jamie Selzer       July 20
    Gary Larson            July 22
 
1)Prayer Requests: Please email your prayer requests to Gina at [email protected].  If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. The requests must be received on Tuesday’s before 12:00pm for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after 12:00pm on Tuesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks.

2) ALL IN-PERSON SERVICES SUSPENDED FOR NOW SUNDAY’S 10 A.M. SERVICES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – Saint Francis Episcopal Church  (Saint must be spelled out, do not abbreviate)
If you do not have Facebook, you can go to our website www.saintf.org

3) System Updates: Thank you to everyone who responded. If any of your information changes please let Gina or Father Mark know. You can email us at [email protected] or call 308-632-4626 and leave a message.

A message from Gina
Most of you know that I also work at Walmart when I am not doing work for the church. I mention this because I know that during these difficult times, many people are worried and stressed. What I have found is even though I have a mask on while I work, I smile at every person I see and have been told that even though they can’t see my smile, they see it in my eyes. Remember the power of a genuine smile can change a persons day and remind them that God is in control and that everything is going to be okay. 
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Gina’s Office Hours
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (at the church)
Wednesday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)
Thursday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)

Thursday Announcements for July 2, 2020

7/2/2020

 
FATHER MARK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
​1. With special permission from the Bishop, this Sunday’s online service will include the in-person baptism of our newest brother in Christ Bryan Ugwu, son of proud parents Dennis and Luchi! The caveat is that we will have to keep to the 10-person limit in the church and follow all the same distance and safety protocols that we are planning to use once we are allowed to regather in larger groups for worship. So – look for some new wrinkles, including a change in the order of service at communion/blessing/dismissal. All this is in keeping with the goal of making church safe once we come together again. However it looks, I am so delighted to be doing this baptism! Join me in welcoming Bryan into our church family! 
 
2. COVID cases are on the rise locally, so don’t be fooled – keep practicing social distancing and keep wearing your mask when you are out in public and keep washing your hands. Defeating the virus is the fastest way to return to worship. I know I have personally been less diligent lately and I have to constantly remind myself that this thing is here and it is no joke. Some local churches are reopening, and some are not. We are still in the “not” group for now, but tracking the cases daily and weekly, watching for the signs that the virus is decreasing in the counties we serve, and ready to go once that is true. We have just begun to get creative with our livestream, and Scott and crew have more nice touches in store going forward. 

3. Don’t forget that we have three ways to prayer for one another and our loved ones in the church. If you or someone you know would like prayers for healing or blessings of any kind, you can let Regina know and she will get them added to the:
  • Prayers of the People during Sunday worship (for two weeks)
  • Parish Prayer Chain (as long as needed)
  • Daughters of the King Prayer List (as long as needed)
GINA’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
                Happy Birthday!!                        Happy Anniversary!!
       Adena Taylor        July 1             Alan & Jan Johnson              July 1
     Joyce Walsh         July 2             Matt & Jeane Anderson        July 2
     Marvin Lamont     July 5             Fernando & Sara Moreno     July 5
     Adam Haack         July 9
     Daniel Harvey       July 9


1) Prayer Requests: Please email your prayer requests to Gina at [email protected].  If you do not have email, just call the church and leave a message. The requests must be received on Tuesday’s before 12:00pm for them to be included in the Sunday Bulletin for that week. If the request is received after 12:00pm on Tuesday, they will be added to the next Sunday Bulletin. We will follow the same process and keep the names on for two weeks.

2) ALL IN-PERSON SERVICES SUSPENDED FOR NOW SUNDAY’S 10 A.M. SERVICES WILL BE LIVE STREAMED ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE – Saint Francis Episcopal Church  (Saint must be spelled out, do not abbreviate)
If you do not have Facebook, you can go to our website www.saintf.org


3) System Updates: I am updating our information database and want to make sure I have all the correct information such as names, addresses, spouses and/or minor children, birthdays, anniversaries, phone numbers and email addresses. If possible, please send an email to me at [email protected] with you or your family’s current information, it would be appreciated.
***Thank you to everyone who has responded with their information. I do not have a time limit on updates, so just respond when you can. 

The Forward Day by Day Meditation for July 2, 2020 

THURSDAY, July 2                           Moses the Black 

Matthew 20:27-28 And whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.

From the Archives: July 25, 1946
From the human viewpoint, the training given to James was wasted: all that time of discipleship with Jesus, all the teaching and example, all the understanding of the inner circle—and then to be killed when his real ministry of leadership had just begun. No labor in God’s name is in vain.


James once wanted prominence and position. He obtained them but not as he had imagined. He became a saint rather than Jesus’ grand vizier. And he became so not by his ability or by pulling wires but by witnessing and suffering for Jesus.

We may long for greatness, and we can have it: the greatness thrust upon us by those we loved while they ill-treated and persecuted us.


MOVING FORWARD: What may be holding you back? Offer it up to Jesus—ask him for direction and peace.

PRAY for the Dioceses of Makurdi (Nigeria) and Thika (Kenya)

Ps 131, 132, [133] * 134, 135 | Numbers 23:11-26 | Romans 8:1-11 | Matthew 22:1-14

Gina’s Office Hours
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (at the church)
Wednesday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)
Thursday  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (work from home)

    Rev. Erin Rath

    Check in here for weekly announcements.

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Contact Us

St. Francis Episcopal Church
14 E 20th Street
​P.O. Box 1201
Scottsbluff, NE 69363
​(308) 632-4626

To contact the front office, please click here. 
To contact a member of the clergy, please click here.

Service Times

Sundays at 9 a.m.
Every Sunday service is livestreamed

Wednesdays at 6 p.m.
In-Person Eucharist
1st and 3rd Wednesdays
Evening Prayer on Zoom
2nd and 4th Wednesdays
Contact the office for access codes

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