Holy Innocents and St Columba Episcopal Churches

Episcopal Relief Gifts For Life

A couple of Sundays ago, parishioner Bob Kalicki announced that he'd just bought a flock of chickens. He quickly explained that he had been intrigued by the gift offerings in the ERD Gifts for Life Catalog that had been posted on the parish bulletin board. For a very small donation, somewhere in the world a flock of chickens will be given to a family, and they will be given both sustenance and a source of income all in one gift (the amount of donation also includes training for raising poultry for the marketplace).

Another parishioner ordered the Gifts for Life catalog and advised the grown children of the family that if they wanted to spend money on presents for their parents, they might think about "buying" something that will really help other families somewhere in the world.

Imagine all the people in your family who are hard to shop for: think what good you can do in this world if you give gifts for "people who have everything" to help "people who have nothing." For relatively small amounts of money, you can help people gain access to clean water, basic health care, or learn how to start a family-run business.

So if you can't think of anything for your Uncle Joe, consider getting him a pig for Christmas, but be sure to explain that it's in a good cause.

Faith Explorer

Wow! here's a great new resource for people exploring matters of faith. It's from the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago.

Faith Explorer: an online resource of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago

PADS: What We Can Do

Journeys from PADS to HOPE - Assisting the Homeless

Faith Community Sites: October 1 through April 30
Next training dates available:

DECEMBER, 2005
12/01– Our Savior's Lutheran

JANUARY, 2006
1/09– St. Alphonsus
1/10– Prince of Peace
1/12– All Saints

FEBRUARY, 2006
2/15– Prince of Peace

Addresses for training:

Our Saviour's Lutheran Church
1234 N. Arlington Heights Rd.
Arlington Hts

Guest Line-Up Time: 6:45 pm
-Haircuts - Stephen Ministries -

Church is located on Arlington Hts Road south of Rand Road at Olive Street.

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church
411 N. Wheeling Rd.
Prospect Hts

Guest Line-Up Time: 6:45 pm

Church is located on Wheeling Road south of Palatine Road.

Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
930 W. Higgins Rd.
Schaumburg

Guest Line-Up Time: 6:45 pm
- Showers -

Church is located on Higgins Road west of Golf Road, between Jones Road and Gannon Road. Park and enter at rear of church.

All Saints Church
630 S Quentin Rd.
Palatine

Guest Line-Up Time: 6:45 pm

Church is located on Quentin RD. between Gilbert St. and Exner Court, south of Palatine Rd. and north of Illinois St.

What Can We Do? What We Can Do

There are two "needs" to be met.

One requires a committment to take training and volunteer for overnight shifts. The closest location to our church is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church on Higgins: they cover Friday nights in our area. Other locations and days are available. The next training date is December 1 at Our Savior's Lutheran in Arlington Heights.

The other one requires a committment from a group of people or a team and has more flexibility of schedule. It might be possible for Holy Innocents/St Columba to "partner up" with another Episcopal parish or mission. Basically, it involves picking up soiled laundry "sets" from Prince of Peace and delivering them to be laundered at Alexian Brothers Hospital in Elk Grove Village.

Please see Ginny Gibbs this Sunday at Holy Innocents, or email the webmistress if you are interested in further information.

The Church of The Seventh-Day Absentists

Members of the Church of The Seventh-Day Absentists can come from any denomination, and may decide on a whim to attend their "home" church one Sunday, and worship as an Absentist the next.

Sometimes it makes no difference where you worship, because God is always there with you anyway. However, this Sunday at Holy Innocents will be special; it is Committment Sunday, when we pledge our time, talents, and efforts to supporting our mission and our community. Completed pledge cards will be brought forward with the regular offering to be blessed.

Members of the Bishop's Committee will be calling and listening to ideas, concerns, and feedback... and also to remind everyone not to be an Absentist this Sunday. See you in church!

Who?

Who are the groups who don't find the church trustworthy?

Who are the groups who don't believe the church has anything to offer?

What can we offer these people?

(...and will they find safety acceptance, love, and peace?)


Who?

Outreach

Who is waiting/hoping for an invitation:

Who doesn't know about faith communities?

Who doesn't know about God?

Vulnerability
Many institutions are not seen as trustworthy
Experience of rejection

Who doesn't trust organized religion or see it as having anything to offer? Does it have anything to offer?


Outreach

Outreach

What are elements of our mission?

--welcoming all people
--invite/inviting
--understanding God is loving/kind/compassionate/forgiving
--Responsibility, Renewal, Relationship... an exchange between God, self, and community
--Rewarding Experiences - when you let God into your life, you have them
--Passion, Excitement
--Crossing Barriers: Interfaith/Intergenerational dialog
--ess, Service: inviting ALL... serving others and each other
--Need to Rededicate, Reconcile, Rejuvenate...our church, our community, ourselves.
--Remembering why we come to church.
--


Outreach

Holy Innocents Mission

Idea ii

This has been posted in the sanctuary of the church for several weeks, while the congregation was invited to add comments on sheets of paper below.

Holy innocents Ministry

Holy innocents Ministry

This is a "working list" of topics covered several weeks ago at the Bishop's Committee Retreat, which was held at St Nicholas Episcopal Church, Elk Grove Village.

On this sheet, we were attempting to identify opportunities for ministry in our area.

Schaumburg Food Pantry

In the coming weeks we will be increasing our support for the Schaumburg Township Food Pantry for the holidays.

We have also discovered that there is a need to be filled; yes, even as small as we are, there is something we CAN do as a parish to help people, and to fight hunger in our community.

Those of us on your Bishop's Committee are very excited about this and other opportunities to reach out to people who need our help. Be sure to attend services this Commitment Sunday (1030am at Holy Innocents) to find out more.

Readings for November 20

Proper 29 The Sunday closest to November 23, BCP

The Collect

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well¯beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament

Ezekiel 34:11-17

Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats:

The Psalm

Psalm 95:1-7 Page 724, BCP Venite, exultemus

1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; * let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.

2
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.

3
For the LORD is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.

4
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.

5
The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.

6
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the LORD our Maker.

7
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!

The Epistle

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

In fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For "God has put all things in subjection under his feet." But when it says, "All things are put in subjection," it is plain that this does not include the one who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

The Gospel

Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, `Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, `You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, `Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Archbishop of Canterbury's Address to Global South To South Encounter

The Archbishop of Canterbury recently addressed a meeting of Anglican primates from the Global South, or Southern Cone. This meeting was previously billed as a possible "break point" of conservative African , South Asian, and South American provinces away from the Anglican Communion, or to form their own body.

From Archbishop of Canterbury | Sermons and Speeches

In other words, a catholic church is not a church that seeks a uniform global culture. The unity f the church is not cultural; it is in Christ "one Lord one faith, one baptism," and any number of languages and costumes. It's been said recently by a theologian that the catholicity of the church is really a kind of great protest against globalisation; the really catholic is the opposite of the globalised, because the catholic is about wholeness, about the wholeness of the person, the wholeness of local culture and language, therefore it's not simplyng the same fast-food shop in every village on the globe, and it's not like the global economy, in which people are drawn into somebody's story and somebody's interests which in fact makes others poor and excluded. The catholic is the opposite of the globalised because the catholic is about everyone's welfare, everyone's growth and justice. And particularly in our globalised world this witness to what I would call the truly catholic is perhaps more important than ever. The affirmation the rights and liberties of local persons but "rights and liberties" is a weak and perhaps misleading phrase; the language of rights has not stood us in good stead in the church. Let's say rather the Christ-touched dignity of every person and every culture. That is what the catholic church honours in its fullness and that is why the catholic church protests about a globalised system that works in the interests of a minority, whether in the church or in the world.

In other words, "all are welcome at this, God's table." This is how those who would exclude and divide are answered.

Via Father Jake Stops The World