WORSHIP WITH US
During Shelter-at-Home, our worship will be livestreamed
Sundays, view our worship service at 10am
at www.facebook.com/ststephensslo/live
Click here for the Worship Booklet and Hymnal & Psalter for Lent.
At Zoom Coffee Hour, we will share our experience and fellowship.
Join us at 11:15 via Zoom
https://zoom.us/j/3271528720?pwd=M1hJQlhXNGJORlNBb3NXVHpZY0Yrdz09
Meeting ID: 327 152 8720
Password: 0908
Tuesdays, join Centering Prayer at 5 pm on Zoom for Centering Prayer
Meeting ID: 327-152-8720 Password: 0908
Wednesdays, join on Zoom for Morning Prayer at 12:15 or Facebook Live if you want to listen.
- To access the Facebook Live stream, go to www.facebook.com/ststephensslo/live/
No account or login is required. - To access Zoom, go to https://zoom.us/j/496602267 Request the password ahead of time through a Facebook message or as a comment during the service. The host will send you the password.
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Welcome!
Welcome to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. We strive to recognize and nurture the Christ in ourselves and each person that we encounter along the way. Join us for service on Sunday to experience for yourself the fellowship of Christ.
Our mission as a parish is to open our hearts to God and to share Christ’s unconditional love with the world. We do this by following three pathways:
- Welcoming: We invite all to join us at every stage in their spiritual journeys.
- Worshiping: We cultivate a living tradition of liturgy and a life made holy by the sacraments.
- Working: We share our abundance, we strive for justice, and we accept our calling to protect God’s creation.
Inclusivity Statement
St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is a congregation of families and singles, children and seniors, and a diversity of ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, interests, and backgrounds. We are followers of Jesus, guided by His teaching and example to love God and our neighbor. We welcome all people regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, racial background, mental or physical ability, recovery, political belief, economic condition, and all other expressions of what it means to be human. We invite you to worship with us and walk with us no matter where you are on your spiritual journey.
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Services Palm Sunday to Easter Day
Holy Week and Easter Services will be broadcast on Facebook Live and YouTube again this year. In addition to the services listed below, there will be a Deanery Good Friday Service and a Diocesan Easter Vigil.
March 28 – Palm Sunday at 10am
April 1 – Maundy Thursday at 5:30pm
April 2 – Good Friday Stations of the Cross at 12noon
April 3 – Easter Vigil at 8pm
April 4 – Easter Day at 10am
The One-Year Anniversary Service
on Zoom
March 19, 2021 at 5pm
This will be a service to grieve, to remember, to weep, to give thanks, to seek solace and to look to the future Christ calls us to.
Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81292759479
Meeting ID: 812 9275 9479
Lenten Study on Creation Care
A Beginners Guide to Creation Care and the Climate Crisis.
Zoom on Thursdays at 4pm, February 25 – March 25
This Guide was designed as a 5-week course of Lenten study by the Earth Care team at St. Benedict’s, Los Osos. Each session in the series offers prayers, guided reflections on Scripture, theological perspectives, group discussion and short videos to make up 1-hour meetings about our relationship with God’s world and our responsibility for it.
For additional information contact Kathryn Bumpass at kathrynb@mail.fresnostate.edu or by phone 805-709-0840.
Lenten Meditation
In response to the unprecedented events of the past year, Episcopal Relief & Development’s 2021 Lenten Meditations share deeply personal reflections on the theme of lament from a diverse group of writers. Many of the authors share experiences related to a variety of issues including disease, violence, racial injustice and poverty. The meditations follow the “Four Steps of Lament” outlined by author and speaker Heidi Weaver:
- Rest, to take sabbath time to simply be present to our current situation
- Reflect on that which has been lost
- Repent for the sufferings and loss we have caused or overlooked
- make Restitution and be Restored to God and to one another
Download a pdf of this timely daily devotional for Lent (Ash Wednesday Feb 17 - Easter April 4)
Online Course Available
The Episcopal Church believes it is important that parishes are equipped to be on the front lines of suicide prevention. If you would like to take this course, you can register here:
https://dfms.formstack.com/forms/start_training
Weekly Diocesan Conversations About Race
every Thursday at 4:30pm, via Zoom
The Revs. Karen Cuffie and Jani Wild are leading weekly pastoral conversations on racism every Thursday at 4:30 pm. There will be a brief introduction to the focus of the session followed by discussion and prayers. Please join us; there is no better way to learn, process, and share together than in a faith community.
To join the Zoom Meeting:
Meeting ID: 835 7594 8022; Password: 748467
One tap mobile: +16699006833,,83575948022#,,1#,748467# US (San Jose)
How to Be An Ally
The Diversity Coalition of SLO held 4 panel sessions on "How to be an ally". Each had a different constituency of the community, including one with a panel of faith leaders. They were all very good. Watch them at: https://www.diversityslo.org/
Responses from The Episcopal Church
At the highest levels and locally, Bishops and clergy have addressed the issues of the ongoing protests and the use of church property for political propaganda. Fr Ian has not issued a separate statement, but his voice echoes those of the following:
- The Most Rev Michael B Curry, Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church
https://episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/presiding-bishop-currys-word-church-when-cameras-are-gone-we-will-still-be-0 - The Rt Rev Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington [DC])
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/trump-st-johns-church-protests.html - The Rt Rev Lucinda Ashby, our own Bishop of El Camino Real
https://www.realepiscopal.org/a-message-from-bishop-lucinda-june-1-2020/
Adult Education
Matthew, Romans & Genesis
Videos of the Zoom conversations, and the PowerPoint slides from the Adult Ed course on the lectionary books we will be hearing on Sundays this summer can be found here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tmTQMfJAui-7lECNj-IOIfb4QM87ZaP4?usp=sharing
