Our youth at St Andrew’s Episcopal Church are growing in knowledge and understanding of the Holy Scriptures as they study together and take time to ask many valuable questions. We did an 8 minute youtube romp through all the books of the Bible, spoke of the timeline, origins, the different languages.
Their pre-class work was to take a virtual tour of the Bible Museum in Washington DC prior to class. We discovered that there are many Bible translations. Stay tuned to our next updates to see how our youth are learning and growing together spiritually which will strengthen them both now and through to adulthood.
Our Bishop’s visit. We are blessed today with our
bishop’s presence among us. Although she is often here for other events or
meetings, today is her official bishop visit with us which happens every two
years. Our bishop is our shepherd and chief pastor so her visit with us is an
opportunity for us to get to know each other better, to experience worship together,
and for us to share our passions around God’s mission here in Shippensburg, and
to learn more about the diocese. We invite you all to a reception immediately
following the 10 a.m. service. After our fellowship time, Bishop Scanlan will
meet with Mother Barbara and your vestry members.
Confirmation of our Young People. We were blessed by our bishop as
she gave our young people two choices for confirmation this year: 1)
confirmation during her official episcopate visit (once every 2 years) and 2) a
service in the fall where our young people will assume integral liturgical
roles and the service will be an intimate celebration of their affirmation of
their adult faith. The second option allowed for continued formation of our
young people as they had not yet completed their more formal confirmation
preparation. That service will be on November 5th and we invite the
congregation to be a part of this special time.
We
celebrate with all our young people and acknowledge and affirm their walk in
faith. Today, our young people who will be prayed over and blessed in
preparation for their continued confirmation preparation are: Jonathan Luo, Julia Rhodes, Alexander
Smeltz, and James Williams. Our young people who will be confirmed today
are: Sarah Brooks and Neiley O’Donnell.
We give praise and thanksgiving to God for their presence here among us and
their faithful example of growing into the love of Christ.
Confirmation of our adults. We are incredibly blessed that
both Donna Harpster and Juanita Mills
are being confirmed in the Episcopal Church and becoming official members of
our parish. We are delighted to welcome them into our part of the Body of
Christ and rejoice of their presence and commitment to faithful living.
It seemed appropriate that the gospel text for the day of the Bishop’s visit was on Jesus’ mountaintop experience which transfigured him and transformed the disciples in their understanding of Jesus’ identity and their shared mission. That’s what happened yesterday when Bishop Audrey Scanlan led us in worship, confirmed those ready to commit anew to their faith, blessed a parish member and resident of The Episcopal Home who wanted to reaffirm her faith, engaged in the sharing of stories and experiences of the sacred, and met with our vestry. It was a mountaintop experience for us all! We left, coming down from the mountain, changed and clearer of who we have become as a parish and what God has placed on our hearts to do. We all offered the depth and breath and best of ourselves to God and each other — and the Holy Spirit gathered us all together to bring God’s glory into our world.
We are so grateful for our bishop’s pastoral guidance and leadership and her ability to enter fully into our life as a parish and to enhance it.
We offer our congratulations and blessings upon the people who were confirmed or who reaffirmed their faith yesterday:
Emma Eshleman
Cameron Gilbert
Bramley Hawkins
Della Hawkins
Shannon O’ Donnell
Zachary Rhodes
Laurel White
Dolly Koehler
One of the very meaningful parts of our bishop’s visit was the time she spent with our younger members. We gathered in a circle and shared an object that is special to us and why and then shared where we each find God at St. Andrew’s. After each person’s sharing, we entered into a time of silence, then chanting, which seemed to draw us ever closer to each other and with God. What was remarkable and stunning to me was that all of our young people seemed to speak so naturally about finding God at St. Andrew’s. It was as though this is the most natural thing in the world. For many of us, it is. But for some, those two things, spirituality and the institutional church, don’t always come together. I feel blessed that we at St. Andrew’s are forming our young people to expect to discover God in what they do here at church and in the people gathered. One of the most touching responses for me was when one of our young people mentioned that when they stand up in front of the congregation to sing, they are aware of God looking back at them through the people in the pews.
The bishop spent time getting to know the vestry members and exploring what the term missional means. This word takes the more familiar concept of outreach and expands and extends it to speak of experiences where all those involved are changed and transformed. There is a mutuality of growth that happens when we move from doing something FOR someone to doing something WITH someone in such a way we are all changed and our lives are enhanced.
I know the bishop’s visit is one day which is etched in my heart, now and through all eternity. This is what church is all about. Many blessings, Mother Barbara
