Community Evening: Dinner + Writing Workshop

Join Us for an Evening with Pádraig Ó Tuama. Pádraig Ó Tuama, celebrated Irish poet and theologian, is renowned for his podcast Poetry Unbound with On Being. This special event is hosted by the young people of the Called Leadership Program in partnership with St. Stephen's and the Vine Church and proudly sponsored by the Diocesan Children + Youth Ministries office.

Bring a dish to share, your creativity, and an open heart as we gather at the start of Lent to explore the beauty of words and the connections they inspire.

This free event is open to all ages, and families are warmly encouraged to attend with their children.

https://diocesemo.org/connect/news/padraig-o-tuama

One Diocese, One Book

During the Tuesdays of Lent 2025, members of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri are invited to join together as a part of the “One Diocese, One Book” study.

Our shared discussion will not only engage us in spiritual exploration but also enhance our Christian profession that God is Love. 

The book selected is The Love that is God: An Invitation to Christian Faith by Fredrick Christian Bauerschmidt. 

Zoom meeting dates: 

March 11, 2025 - Chapter One: “God is love.”

March 18, 2025 - Chapter Two: “The love that is God is crucified love.”

March 25, 2025 - Chapter Three: “We are called to friendship with the risen Jesus.”

April 8, 2025 - Chapter Four: “We cannot love God if we do not love each other.”

April 15, 2025 - Chapter 5: “We live our love out from the community created by the Spirit.”

**Please note we will skip Tuesday, April 1, 2025. No joke! 

Presenter Schedule

• Canon Doris Westfall, March 11 @ 6:30 pm

• The Rev. Aaron Rogers, March 18 @ 6:30 pm

• Canon Whitney Rice, March 25 @ 6:30 pm

• No discussion on April 1, Clergy Retreat

• The Rev. Erin Pickersgill, April 8 @ 6:30 pm

• Bishop Deon Johnson, April 15 @ 6:30 pm 

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87074359511?pwd=14rR66QTZYipawm3jC4pH4xb0GFuzo.1

Meeting ID: 870 7435 9511

Passcode: 709630

Music Notes from Denise, February 15, 2025

This Sunday we will celebrate Scout Sunday and honor our own Scout Troop 601 that meets here on our St. Martin’s campus. The troop has graciously agreed to provide music for us with several Scout musicians. They are coordinated by Jackson Moeller, Committee Chairperson for the troop, who has a 24 year history playing in the Army National Guard Band! The ensemble will play on all 3 of our hymns, which will add so much to our worship. Our gospel reading in Luke 6 will describe Jesus preaching to a great crowd from many lands as he gives them the Beatitudes.

Our Processional hymn will be O God, our help in ages past. This text was written by Isaac Watts in 1714, shortly before the death of Queen Anne of England. This was a time of great crises and turmoil, as the successor of Queen Anne was as yet undetermined, and the fear of a monarch who would reinstate the persecution of Protestants was great. King George I prevented such persecution, but the fear before Anne’s death was great. This was the context in which Watts wrote his powerful text, now lauded as “one of the grandest in the whole realm of English Hymnody” (Bailey, The Gospel in Hymns, 54). No matter our situation, no matter our struggles and fears, no matter doubts, we are told to have courage, for the Lord is our God. And as Watts writes so powerfully in this hymn, our God is everlasting, and will be our help through all of our years. The first verse gives us every assurance we need: God is our help, our hope, and our home. This does not blithely dismiss our fears and troubles. They are, and always will be, very real. But it does assure us that even if we cannot feel the immediate comfort, or even when all we can do is lament, we have a God that withstands the storms of the life and the tests of time, and who protects us and hears our cries. (Hymnary.org)

Our Sequence hymn will be Crown him with many crowns. This hymn rejoices in who Christ is to us as the church. Christ was not simply a prophet, He was not simply the carpenter’s son, and He was not simply human, nor simply divine. Rather, this call to “crown him with many crowns” is a simple and yet profound declaration that Christ is many things, and everything. He is Lord of all, to be crowned for many things that all add up to Him being Savior of the world. Each crown represents a different aspect of who Christ is – Lord of life, Lord of love, Lord of years, Lord of heaven, the Lamb upon the throne. Christ is King, Servant, Lamb, Shepherd, and we celebrate this all-encompassing, paradoxical nature of our Savior by crowning Him the Lord of all. (Hymnary.org)

Our Offertory will be Blessed Is the One by Becki Slagle Mayo based on the Beatitudes. Our Chapel Choir will join St Martin’s Choir playing maracas and singing this joyful song.

       Blessed is the one, blessed is the one, blessed is the one who seeks the kingdom of God.

       Blessed is the one who is gentle and kind. Blessed is the one who cares.

       Blessed is the one who is pure in heart. God is with you everywhere.

       Blessed is the one who will follow the Lord. Blessed is the one who loves.

       Blessed is the one who is full of grace. Yours is the kingdom above.

       Blessed is the one, blessed is the one, blessed is the one who seeks the kingdom of God.

                                                                        (Copyright 2023 Choristers Guild)

Our Communion hymn will be Be not afraid by the Jesuit musician and hymn writer Bob Dufford, SJ. Its theme is discipleship and the 1 stanza evokes the hardships of the Exodus. Stanza 2 recalls many of Israel’s faithful who also struggled. Stanza 3 puts all of this in the context of Luke’s version of the Beatitudes which promises the greatest blessings of all creation to the poor, the sorrowful, and the scorned. The refrain reassures us during our own honest struggles that we can encounter the Living God and be reborn as God’s chosen, faithful people. (Wonder, Love, and Praise hymnal supplement leader’s guide by John L Hooker 1997 Church Publishing)

Our final hymn was written specifically for Scout Sunday by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. She wrote to me about her fondness for scouting with all three of her children involved when they were growing up, including her son who became an Eagle Scout. This hymn, We Thank You, God, For Values, celebrates the values taught in scouting: trustworthiness, loyalty, helpfulness, friendliness, courtesy, kindness, obedience, cheerfulness, thrift, braveness, cleanliness, and reverence. It also emphasizes caring for God’s creation, and LOVE that welcomes others and conquers hate.

We thank all the Scouts who are joining us and participating in worship this Sunday!