  Thursday Announcements-January 30, 2025 ERIN’S EPISTLETTES  Last fall, Saint Francis began co-hosting a youth group in partnership with First Presbyterian Church in Scottsbluff. We’re delighted to report six youth from Saint Francis have participated! We’ve been invited to provide dinner for those weekly meetings of Youth Fellowship. Individuals and families, as well as small groups or several families working together, are welcome to participate. Those who volunteer will be asked to provide a meal for fifteen people (most of them hungry teenagers!). This meal may be home cooked or purchased from a store or restaurant. For more information or to volunteer, please contact the church office.  Our friends at Calvary Lutheran in Scottsbluff will host the University of South Dakota Chamber singers in concert on March 10th. They're looking for locals willing to serve as host families that night. The choir requests accommodations for a minimum of two choir members per household, as well as a light breakfast the morning of March 11. If you're interested in hosting, please contact Calvary at 308-632-8023.  This spring, I'll be offering a three-session discussion series on The Dream of God: A Call to Return by Verna Dozier. (You can read more about the book and its author by following the links.) I'll offer one set of sessions during the day, and another set outside standard business hours. If you're interested in participating in this discussion series, please complete this brief survey to let me know which days and times work best for you. The scheduling survey has been extended until February 2. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DioNeb's next EfM Event, Caring for a Loved One with Memory Loss: Team Building and Financial Planning is on Saturday, Feb. 15 from 9am-12pm CT / 8-11am MT. The event will occur in person at St. Augustine's, Elkhorn (285 So. 208th St.) and online via Zoom. The agenda will include three presentations, personal stories, and time for questions. It is free to attend, with a suggested $25 donation to The Benedictine Way or the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Learn more from the flyer and register online. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ministry Teams, February 2, 9am Musician Nancy Meier Media Team Steve Trickler Ushers Greg & Collette Suhr Acolyte Master Clark Wisniewski Acolytes Madi Collins, Josie Weiss Lector/Intercessor Ann Peterson Eucharistic Minister Monica Shambaugh Altar Guild Collette Suhr, Ann Peterson, Jane Sayre Coffee Hosts Connie Schingle, Stephanie Schingle Flowers: Julie Fancher In memory her mother, Mary Upcoming Events at St. Francis: Vestry Meeting, Monday @ 6pm Lectionary Study and Compline, Tuesday 2pm, Library In Person Eucharist, Mary Chapel, Wednesday @ 12:15pm and 6pm Men’s Bible Study Thursday, 8am Discipleship Group. Thursday @ 12pm Annual Meeting during worship, February 9 with ECW Brunch following ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 🎶🎵🎶 Liturgical Notes 🎶🎵🎶 January/February 2025 ~ by the Rev. Erin Rath Sunday, January 12 marked the beginning of a new season in the church year: Epiphany. The day of Epiphany recalls the wise men's arrival, with gifts in hand, at the manger which cradled the infant Jesus. It comes immediately after the short season of Christmas, often called "the twelve days of Christmas," so named for the twelve days between Christmas Day and the celebration of Epiphany. In many Christian cultures, particularly in the Orthodox world, Epiphany is the primary day of celebration rather than Christmas. The light and insight the star above Bethlehem gifted the wise men, which ultimately led them to Jesus' cradle, become common themes of this season. These themes are mentioned throughout our current prayers of the people, which were composed specifically for this season. Though the six forms of the Prayers of the People provided in the Book of Common Prayer (1979) are worthy of regular use and reflection, I do not feel they address these themes as explicitly as this season and the needs of our time call for. The instructions (often referred to as rubrics) at the beginning of the Prayers of the People in the BCP not only allow for but encourage prayers to be composed beyond the bounds of the forms printed therein. The only requirement is that any composed Prayers of the People include the topics listed in the rubrics (see BCP page 383). In addition to the Book of Common Prayer, Enriching Our Worship 1 (approved in 1997 and published in 1998) provides extensive liturgical resources for morning and evening prayer and Eucharist. Seasonal blessings are provided in the Book of Occasional Services (originally published in 1979 and most recently revised in 2018). In this current season of our shared worship life, in addition to utilizing the contemporary form of the Lord's Prayer, we're using a post communion prayer from Enriching Our Worship 1. (We used a different post communion prayer from Enriching Our Worship 1 during the seasons of Advent and Christmas.) The blessing being used this season is from the Book of Occasional Services, as are most of the lengthier blessings utilized over the course of the liturgical year. We'll take a closer look at some of the theological themes brought out by the various post communion prayers in a future Liturgical Notes. If you have a topic or question you'd like addressed in an upcoming Liturgical Notes, please let me know. To those who've read to the end, I thank you for your interest.  From the Office—Ann’s Announcements
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