Use Your Extra Hour Next Sunday to Join Us in the Parlor!

Yes, it "Fall Behind" time and November 2 you get back the hour you gave up in April. Why not spend it with the Prime Timers? Prime Timers is a St. Martin's Adult Christian Education (A.C.E.) group geared for people in the Prime of Life, ages 50-64. We meet in the Parlor near the Church Offices from 10:15am to 11:00. We are following a course of study from the United Council of Churches titled The New Testament Community. October was a journey through the book of Acts, for November we are studying some of Paul's letters, and you are invited!

Prime Timers Celebrates Good News.

We celebrate our members Good News at Prime Timers with a $1 contribution to Henny Penny, our Good News chicken. Periodically Henny donates the money she collects to a worthy charity, currently the Amistad Mission in Bolivia.

Today Connie celebrated her High School reunion, although she didn't tell us which one!

Commissioned by the Community

Our Mentor Vice-Rector the Rev. Ken Fields led the Prime Timers this Sunday, bringing with him a "visual aide" in the form of Jack, a seminary student scheduled to be ordained in May. This is appropriate because today's reading is from Acts 13, where Saul (who is Paul) and Barnabas are commissioned by God and sent off to preach the Word. In the Spirit's words they were set apart. Rev. Fields used this story to parallel the ordination process in the Episcopal church.

The early Church, and the Episcopal Church, are diverse, as shown by the various prophets and teachers introduced at the beginning of the story. The Greek word Leiturgeo translates as "work of the people" and is the root of our English word "liturgy." The fasting they did was different from what we think of today, but the purpose was the same:  to focus the mind leading to more openness to the Spirit. The laying on of hands is meant to transfer the power of the community to the one "set apart" and when an Episcopal priest is commissioned there is a laying on of hands by the bishop and priests of the Parrish. It's a very moving event.

Paul and Barnabas head to Paphos where they encounter a false prophet named Bar-Jesus. The prefix Bar means son of. They immediately call Bar-Jesus out as a (Acts 13:10) "child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right." They call on the Lord to blind Bar-Jesus and indeed this happens, very much like Paul's vision on the Road to Damascus. Rev. Fields mentioned the G.O.E., "God's Own Exam" or more formally the General Ordination Exam, part of the ordination process, and part of the system by which the Church keeps false teaching away.

Rev. Fields mentioned a movie "The Apostle" with Robert Duval. Duvall is a man whose happy life unravels, he baptizes himself, moves to a small Louisiana town to be an evangelist, has a transformation, and, well you get the picture. Rev. Fields point was that this could not happen in the Episcopal Church. There are too many checks along the way to ordination.

George mentioned how the early church in the U.S. consisted of scoundrels and spirits! Being so far from England or just plain out in the country, some preachers were sincere while others were in it for the money. Rev. Fields mentioned John Wesley, an early Anglican responsible for the Methodist Episcopal revival in England, who influenced the early church in America. The Bishop of London was never going to come to America to ordain priests, so Wesley sent Rev. Dr. Thomas Coke to establish an independent American Methodist Church. Controversy ensued and ultimately there was a split between the Republican Methodists and the Methodist Episcopal Church. However, the authority to ordain priests through district representatives remained.

Rev. Fields concluded, doubtless with the sermon he was about to deliver on his mind, by reminding us that once you are baptized every act is an act of ministry, and in the church the "stones shout," the building itself is a reminder of ministry. The docents (who would be commissioned at today's service) provide yet another ministry.

Rev. Fields then concluded class with a short benediction.

The Lesson for Sunday, November 2nd is "Fitting Into the  Community"

Key Verse:  Ephesians 4:7

Focus of the Lesson: Diversity is a reality in every human community. In what ways is diversity important to the unity of the church? Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus challenges us to use our diverse identities and gifts to build up the Christian community.

The reading is Ephesians 4:1-16 This text is from the New International Version. (NIV)

Background Scripture:  1 Corinthians 12:3-21; Ephesians 4:1-16

   ¹As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

   ⁷But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. ⁸This is why it says:
     "When he ascended on high,
       he led captives in his train
      and gave gifts to men."
   ⁹(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? ¹⁰He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) ¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

   ¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

NIV