Dinner and Worship Tonight

Dinner and Worship Tonight at 6:00 PM

Saint Stephen's, 30 W. Woodruff Avenue

In this Sunday's gospel reading, Jesus talks about the coming destruction of Jerusalem.  This is good, old fashioned apocalypticism, the idea that things have reached a breaking point, that at some point in the near future God will fulfill promises, restore our fortunes, and make a clean slate for our future lives.  It's a reading that's especially apt for this point in the semester, when we see an end in sight, but know that there's still a lot to get through before we reach that end.  What is the restoration you imagine, the ending that you hope for?  And what do you still need to struggle through to get to it?

Come join us for dinner, worship, and discussion.

Art+Spirit Day this Saturday!

Take some time out to create and meditate with us. We'll get in the right mindset, spend about an hour painting, working in clay, making mosaics, drawing, or making art in any other way we choose. Then we'll spend some time telling each other about what we've created.  Saint Stephen's Student Study Room, 30 W. Woodruff Avenue.

Dinner and Worship this Sunday

Join us for dinner and worship.

6:00 PM at Saint Stephen's, 30 W. Woodruff Avenue.

The Gospel for this Sunday is about the faithful widow who put her last pennies into the temple treasury.  Just writing that sentence demonstrates some of the complexities of the parable.  Why is putting money into the temple treasury good?  Right after Jesus tells this parable, he proclaims that both the temple and, presumably, its treasury, will be destroyed.  So it seems that the story of the widow's mite isn't about shlling for the establishment.  What's it about, then?  Come join us and help us figure it out.

Evensong this Sunday

We're celebrating Evensong with Saint Stephen's this Sunday.  The service will start at 5:00 PM instead of our regular 6:00 PM time, and will be followed by a chilli dinner that you're all invited to.

Who Are the People You Can Go to for Help? - Dinner and Worship on Sunday, October 7th

Jesus talks about divorce in Mark 10, and this has a way of making most people feel very uncomfortable.  Divorce is as much a part of our lives now as it was in the ancient world.  So when Jesus speaks so stridently against it, it's easy to hear his words as an attack on ourselves, or people we know and love.  And then he starts blessing little children, which seems out of keeping with the sternness of his previous remarks.  But his words about divorce and his blessing of children actually have a huge amount to do with each other.  He cautions men not to set aside their wives, something they could do in his time for no other reason than not liking the dinner that she prepared.  And he cautions the disciples not to ignore or inhibit the children.  Both women and children were treated as economic units in the ancient world.  The home was the center of the economy, and everyone labored, no matter their age.  It was easy for love to be distorted by financial need, and for family members to be valued or devalued depending on the economic good they brought to a family.  By conflating teachings about divorce and about children, Jesus is making a larger economic statement.  Don't treat people in terms of their utility.  Love first, worry about finances later.

This reading has something to say to those of us who are struggling to pay for college, or struggling to pay off college loans.  It's easy to feel indentured to work, like there's no way to change jobs or study the things that we really want to study.  It's easy to let the worry over finances distort our relationships and choices.

Who are the people that you know you can always go to for help?  Join us on Sunday to think through these questions and tell our stories.

Dinner and Worship

6:00 PM

Saint Stephen's Episcopal Church