GOOD NEWS!
Text from Christine Flores last night (Tuesday @ 7pm):
"Home again. Still on oxygen plus other added treatments and Lung exercises but doing better."
Christine is a St. Richard's parishioner, nurse, fighting Covid-19. Your prayers are are very encouraging to her!
Thank you!
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... a loving and welcoming Christian community in Sky Forest, near Lake Arrowhead
At St. Richard’s, each of us is on a personal faith journey while we walk together as the Body of Christ. Guided by Scripture, Tradition, and Reason--the threefold source of God's Revelation in our tradition--we nonetheless do not claim to have all the answers to the wonderful mystery of the Incarnate God in Christ.
Sundays, at 9 a.m., we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, and because the Altar is the LORD's Table, not ours, all are welcome -- no exceptions -- to Communion.
The liturgy is the summit toward which all our activity is directed and the source of God's grace for that action.
All are welcome here at God’s table. Our address is 28708 CA-18, Skyforest, CA 92385
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Scripture for Oct 24:
Jeremiah 31:7-9 Ps. 126 Hebrews 7:23-28
This Sunday at St. Richard’s, the preacher was the Rev. Michael Seiler, retired Rector of St. Michael and All Angels, Corona del Mar. The homily was recorded at the 9am service
Sunday 10-24 -- Homily:
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From the first woman ordained a bishop: +Barbara Harris
“The God who is behind us is greater than anything in front of us.”
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Tolerance and Inclusion:
Christianity is not the only religion that leads people to God. Fact: God is NOT a Christian! God is God. God does not belong to us or any religion. We belong to God. God is not a Christian, a Jew, a Buddist, a Mormon or a Hindu. God is God. We are Christians and our neighbors are Jews and Muslims and humanists who are "Good without God" and we all must follow the pathway that we believe is best.
Sound right? Visit us!
Good evening.....trust all is well and you are enjoying our autumn weather.
Brought in my one and only plant which winters over in the laundry room. She is a stephanotis....I call her "she" as she produces beautiful and heavenly scented blossoms ...often used in wedding bouquets. ... The stephanotis is a tropical plant and although in her blooming glory when I first purchased her, I did not expect her to live beyond that one season. This year, I neglected to keep track of Steph's wandering and growth and when I was to bring her inside, found I had to either trim back her growth or cut through plastic webbing on the deck which keeps LT, my pup from slipping through and off the deck. ... Webbing is now cut and I will figure out how to fix that soon, as an attractive squirrel or chipmunk or lizard sends LT into huntress mode!
...Soon we will move back the clocks due to the end of daylight savings time. Shorter days, longer nights.
All Soul's day is right around the corner. The Diocesan Convention will be held soon. Thank you to Ron Parker as our delegate and John Reith as alternate and of course Father Gary. The convention is shortened this year and they have much to cover so our prayers for guidance in thier work for all of us is requested.
One thing we do know at this point in time, +Diane Jardine Bruce, Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles will be going, as Spirit directs her, to Missouri! We are blessed to have three retired Bishop's to work in the diocese covering visitations and other help.
We were asked recently if we were going to have a Celebration of Life for our beloved Jaz Ewen. With part of the family unable to attend and with winter coming on, the decision to put off the service until spring seemed best. Father Gary will keep in touch with the family and let us know.
[It seems this email is turning into a novella! ]
In the icon above but also following this article is a quote of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin....a Jesuit priest, philosopher, author and theologian.
We live in quickly changing times and we are fortunate to be part of the Anglican Communion...the Episcopal Church which is a living and evolving church. Change can come slowly or faster than we can keep up! The quote below encourages us to be gentle with ourselves. We all need self-care....often we put ourselves last. Love one another includes loving and appreciating ourselves.
The recent visit of Bishop +John Harvey Taylor gave us all the opportunity to reaffirm our beliefs, to commit to one another, to support and encourage one another. Within Bishop John's sermon we could see and feel the living church, the love and the Spirit within the sanctuary and certainly within the fellowship shared in our luncheon.
Prayers are requested for those impacted by COVID, either as patients or as caregivers and loved ones.
One last thought...Father Gary has taken on the care and keeping of our website and Facebook pages....check them out....we have arrived in the 21st century!
Love and blessings -- St. Richards
[Bishop's Warden (i.e., Guardian): Iris Walters]
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Teilhard de Chardin:
"Be gentle with yourself for you are living through a major expansion of your faith and how you use it in the world. You are rewiring decades of old beliefs and shifting how you live your life. This no small feat. It is OK to feel uncomfortable. Great change often brings with it discomfort and second guessing one's self. Do not shrink back from tis mission. Not now. You are changing and your Divine Self is shining the way."
The Mountain Homeless Coalition ministry all started about four years ago, when St. Richard's little Outreach Committee, along with a couple of our local Presbyterian friends, formed a 501c3 and by the grace of God connected with the county Homeless Services who then added a mountain region.
We were awarded a $1.1 million grant through the state’s Project Homekey last year to purchase 8 units in Big Bear for permanent housing for the homeless. We work now with 50 new requests for assistance monthly, with many clients needing help and support over a long period. Finding affordable rentals in the mountains is so difficult – many sold and converted to Airbnbs!
There is great need and many hard situations, but we are all grateful to be doing this work.
More info OR care to HELP?:
https://www.mountainhomelesscoalition.com
Facebook site:
https://www.facebook.com/MountainHomelessCoalition/
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The Rainbow Bridge Pet Sanctuary is this church's burial site for pets. Members and non-members are welcome to bury their beloved animals' ashes in our garden as well as place a brick marker engraved with the pet's name and dates of life with you.
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Whether you help through monetary donations, volunteering your time, or spreading our mission through word-of-mouth, thank you. We couldn't accomplish our goals without the help of supporters like you.
[picture: McWhirter Memorial Garden for Burials of cremains of our Loved Ones.
Members and non-members welcome.]
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