St. Mark's in Shelby

Today is the fourth Sunday of Easter (Easter Sunday being the first). The liturgical color is white, the color of celebration, joy, and peace, and symbolizing the greatest work of God in the world, specifically His triumph over death and evil. These are the readings for the fourth Sunday of Easter . Hymns Hymn 343: Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless . Hymn 708: Saviour, like a Shepherd lead us . If you open this link in a separate tab , you can listen to the music while you read the words.

As I write this, I have been on coronavirus lockdown for six weeks. For a single person living in a small apartment, that has meant days at a stretch when I do not go through the front door—life is pretty much defined by academic work on my computer and figuring out what to do about dinner. Every ten days or so, I venture out to buy things at the grocery store. (When my kitchen fluorescent light quit, I rejoiced because I had an excuse to go to the hardware store.) I expect my life is very typical of most people's at the moment. My friend in Spain says he takes the long way around when he is carrying a bag of trash (they don't have house-to-house pickup there) because he can get a walk through the neighborhood if he is legitimately carrying garbage to the bin. I keep seeing complaints in print that all this social distancing is just not fair. It's not fair that I can't get a haircut. It's not fair that I can't get together with friends. It's not fair

Today is the third Sunday of Easter (Easter Sunday being the first). The liturgical color is white, the color of celebration, joy, and peace, and symbolizing the greatest work of God in the world, specifically His triumph over death and evil. Saturday, April 25, is the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist, after whom our parish is named. Here are the lectionary readings for the feast of St. Mark . These are the readings for the third Sunday of Easter . Hymns Hymn 494: Crown Him with Many Crowns . Hymn 595: God of Grace and God of Glory . If you open this link in a separate tab , you can listen to the music while you read the words. The melody, "Cwm Rondda," is originally Welsh. Here's a YouTube video which shows how it was often sung .

One of the odder things about the Christian faith is that it's firmly rooted in stuff that actually happened. I don't think Buddhism or Confucianism would be damaged too much if someone were to build a time machine and determine that Buddha or Confucius never existed—their legacy is a system of thought and philosophy. Did Plato and Aristotle really exist, or are their philosophical principles the accumulated wisdom of a couple of Greek schools of thought? It really makes no difference. Thomas Jefferson famously took a razor blade to his copy of the New Testament and cut out all the supernatural material—miracles, virgin birth, resurrection and ascension of Christ—and kept what remained to focus on Jesus as a teacher of morals. I think he missed the whole point, and so do people like St. Paul. ("If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." I Corinthians 15:19) If we are just following a philosophy, we're sunk. That's where

Today is the second Sunday of Easter (Easter Sunday being the first). The liturgical color is white, the color of celebration, joy, and peace, and symbolizing the greatest work of God in the world, specifically His triumph over death and evil. April 19 is the day our Orthodox brethren celebrate Easter this year. These are the readings for the second Sunday in Easter . Hymns Hymn 207: " Christ the Lord is risen today " Hymn 185: " Christ Jesus lay in death's strong bands "

Richard, Angee, and Kelleah have recorded a few worship songs for us. Click the links below to listen to them. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ is Risen Today Alleluia Christ Arose Alleluia He is coming

Holy Week 2020 begins on Monday, April 6, and culminates with Easter on Sunday, April 12. Maundy Thursday Maundy Thursday is April 9, 2020. It commemorates the Washing of the Feet and Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the Apostles. The word "Maundy" comes from the Latin word mandatum, or commandment, reflecting Jesus' words "I give you a new commandment." The liturgical colors are purple, representing preparation and repentance or, alternatively, "Lenten Array," a rough or homespun fabric with an off-white color. These are the Scripture readings for Maundy Thursday . Hymn " Bread of the World in Mercy Broken " Good Friday Good Friday is April 10, 2020. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. The term "Good" in this context (since 1290) refers to "a day or season observed as holy by the church." The liturgical color is black. It is the color of extreme, deep so

This link will take you to a YouTube video of the Palm Sunday service at Grace Episcopal in Mansfield . This link will take you to the YouTube channel where you can find all the services.

My grandmother, Mimmee, gathered thousands of stories and anecdotes during her husband's tenure as a preacher. He would ask her, "Eloise, what do you have on confusion?" She would turn to her three drawer metal case (now 'confused' in my garage, needing sorted after a contractor turned it on its end) and look for her filings behind her tab for confusion. I gained a new perspective from one such story on Jesus' entry into Jerusalem told from the perspective of someone who had never seen Jesus till they approached him entering Jerusalem. …as we neared Jesus one cried out, and all joined in the cry, 'Hosanna Barabba!' and then they shouted our usual cry of welcome, 'Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord!' and one bolder than his fellows called out, 'blessed be the coming of the kingdom!' At that there was the wildest joy among the people. Some tore off branches of palms, and stood by the way and waved them in front of Jesus;

April 5, 2020, is Palm Sunday. The liturgical colors are purple, representing preparation and repentance or, alternatively, "Lenten Array," a rough or homespun fabric with an off-white color. Many congregations begin with a brief "Liturgy of the Palms," then have an outdoor procession to the church building, where they continue as usual with the Liturgy of the Word. Lectionary These are the Scripture readings for Palm Sunday The Liturgy of the Palms Here is the Liturgy of the Palms , from the Book of Common Prayer Hymns Hymn 154: " All Glory, Laud, and Honor ." If you open this link in a separate tab , you can listen to the music while you read the words. This is the hymn which is typically sung during the procession to the church building. Hymn 156: " Ride on! ride on in majesty " (The music is not the same melody we find in the Episcopal hymnal)

In the course of putting together a blog for a different purpose, I learned that this software has trouble posting comments from some browsers, etc. It's not your fault. I have changed the way the comments display and the way you post things. The instructions are in the side menu to the right (click the three little green lines at the top of the screen to get there). According to the website people, this should help. If you try to post a comment and it just doesn't seem to go, even after following my instructions, just send me an email and I'll put the comment up. —Curt