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Sunday, the Feast of Pentecost, we’ll celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church, the Body of Christ in the world. How are we called to be Christ’s hands and feet to our sisters and brothers, our neighbors, and all of creation? This is the question that we’ll spend the rest of our lives answering. And we’ll begin (again) that answer on Sunday when we gather at the Table for the Heavenly Banquet.  During the service, we’ll have special rites for welcoming those who’ve joined the St. Mark’s family since last year’s Feast of Pentecost, and we’ll commission our new acolytes and Wardens/Vestry members.  Wear red–the liturgical color that represents (among other things) the Holy Spirit, described in Acts 2 as resembling tongues of fire in its descent upon Jesus’ friends.

After we are fed at Christ’s table, we’ll adjourn to the lawn for a potluck picnic.  Please join us, even if you can’t bring a dish to share. We’ll have an abundance. We are children of an Abundant God!

How true, how true…and over the summer you can count on seeing many changes at this site–an upgrade in design and content. Please let us know what you’d like to see here.

We’ll introduce a link to our Sunday sermons, an event calendar, and our comments on some of the issues of the day–who knows what else? Come back now and then, and see what’s up at St. Mark’s.

This week at St. Mark’s we celebrate the Rogation Days and the Feast of the Ascension. The Rogation Days focus on the theme of our faithful stewardship of creation. During these days (Monday the 18th through Wednesday the 20th), we offer special intercessions for our gardens–and the crops in the fields of the Palouse. We sing The Great Litany–a special liturgy of responsive prayer–during Morning Prayer, Monday through Thursday at 8 a.m.

Thursday, May 21st is Ascension Day (forty days after Easter Day), one of the church’s principal feasts. We’ll celebrate Holy Eucharist at 12:10 p.m. On this day, we recall and celebrate Jesus’ ascent “far above all heavens that he might fill all things.”

We will offer our usual mid-week Eucharist on Wednesday, May 20th at 12:10 p.m. By scheduling the celebration just after noon, we offer an opportunity for a worshipful break from the rigors of the workday. Please join us.

We are a Prayer Book people. We of the Episcopal Church—with others who count the Church of England as its “Mother Church”—rely upon our Book of Common Prayer (BCP) to define our worship, and upon our worship to define ourselves. As we pray, so we believe; and the foundation of that life of prayer is set in corporate (communal) worship: we are a people who discern our life in Christ and our ministry to the world in community.

It is not only in the text of the liturgies of the Prayer Book that our theology is articulated, but in the rubrics (the italicized material in the BCP which provides “directions” for the celebration). And the book contains the “catechism” which succinctly provides, as the title describes, “An Outline of the Faith.” Finally, there are tables, calendars, historical texts, and other material which inform our self-identity—and inform our expression of that knowledge through corporate worship.

And yet the bounds of our knowledge of the BCP tend to be defined by frequency of usage: that is, we know something about the liturgies we use regularly and less about the ones we use less often, or not at all. Several of you commented, with some surprise, at the power of the liturgies we used during the Triduum, the final three days before Easter Day. You asked how I “came up” with those liturgies. These were “Prayer Book” liturgies celebrated, almost without exception, following the BCP text and rubrics of the liturgies for those most special days. They are services shared by all Episcopalians and most other Anglicans.

How did we come to have this particular Prayer Book, the 1979 revision of the BCP? Many of us were members of the church in the 1970s when 50 years of study gave way to proposed revisions. These were disseminated among congregations in “trial liturgies” providing—over a decade—the opportunity for members to give feedback to the liturgical commission responsible for the revisions. But even if we were participants in that process, how much do we know about how the texts evolved? And why?

Because 2009 marks the 30^th anniversary of the current Prayer Book revision, this is an apt year for us to spend some significant time exploring this book—learning about not only its history, but the wealth of material in its 1001 pages. This is our history and inheritance—delving into its riches will deepen our worship experience, expand our understanding of its possibilities, and broaden our knowledge of ourselves.

You are invited to join us for the next several weeks [starting May 6] during “Wonderful Wednesday” for an exploration and study of the Prayer Book. The number of sessions we have will be defined by your interest—up to four weeks. We’ll begin to gather and set up at 5 pm; potluck dinner begins at 5:30, and the program starts at 6:15. Bring your curiosity, your questions, a prayer book (if you have one), a pen, and a notebook. Let’s see how we are reflected in this “family album.”

Won’t you please come and explore with us,

–The Rev. Robin Biffle

There is nothing so important this month as the invitation to the rich worship offerings during Holy Week and Easter Week, particularly during the Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) and Easter Day, the centerpiece of the Christian year. Experiencing these liturgies in their totality, in sequence, lends particular depth to the experience of these holy days. The worship schedule is below. I invite you to the special joys of this season, in our Lord’s name. –The Rev. Robin Biffle

April 5: The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday

Proper Liturgy for the Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday, 9:30 a.m., with a dramatic enactment of the Passion Gospel

April 6-8: Monday-Wednesday in Holy Week

Holy Eucharist, 5:30 p.m.

April 8: Wednesday in Holy Week

“Holy Music, Holy Lent,” 7 p.m., free concert with St. Mark’s Choir and UI cello/bass ensemble

April 9: Maundy Thursday

The Proper Liturgy for Maundy Thursday,with foot-washing, 7 p.m. (with choir) followed by the stripping of the altar

Gethsemane Watch: an all-night vigil with our Lord

April 10: Good Friday

The Proper Liturgy for Good Friday, with Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament, 7 a.m.

The Way of the Cross, 12:10 p.m.

The Proper Liturgy for Good Friday, with Holy Communion from the reserved sacrament, 7 p.m. (with choir)

April 11: Holy Saturday

The Proper Liturgy for Holy Saturday, 12:10 p.m.

The Right Rev. James Waggoner, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Spokane, will visit Moscow on Sunday, March 1.  He will preach and celebrate Holy Eucharist at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 111 S. Jefferson in Moscow, during the regular 9:30 a.m. service. At 3 p.m., he will officiate at a celebration of new ministry for the Rev. Robin Biffle.  The public is invited to both services.

At the 9:30 service, Waggoner will confirm a new member of the church.  In the Episcopal Church, the sacrament of confirmation is performed only by a bishop, who lays hands on the person and prays for the Holy Spirit to strengthen him or her.

Biffle was called last summer to be rector at St. Mark’s and began her duties Aug. 1.  She is a graduate of the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn.  Biffle received a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from Whitman College in Walla Walla.  She was a journalist for 12 years and then spent 17 years in law enforcement.

Waggoner is in his ninth year as head of the Spokane Diocese, which includes 41 Episcopal parishes and missions in eastern Washington and northern Idaho.  He visits each congregation in the region at least once a year. For more information, contact St. Mark’s at 882-2022.

Please join members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in a pancake feast on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in observance of a centuries-old pre-Lenten tradition.

The day before Ash Wednesday is known throughout the Anglican Communion as Shrove Tuesday, a name derived from the Old English verb “to shrive,” which means to seek pardon or forgiveness. In the Middle Ages, this was the day when faithful church members made a pre-Lenten confession to the priest, and when—on this final day before the 40-day Lenten fast—households typically used up their eggs, meat, butter, and other fats in anticipation of Lenten abstinence. In France, the occasion became known as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.”

At St. Mark’s Parish Hall, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., congregational leaders will prepare and serve the Shrove Tuesday meal of pancakes, sausage, eggs, applesauce, juice and coffee. Cost is $4 for adults and $1 for children 10 and under.

Additional donations to cover costs are welcome—extra is used to assist with crisis needs in Moscow through the parish’s discretionary fund. This year there will be two additional donation boxes: bring a non-perishable food item for the Moscow Food Bank or make a cash donation to Episcopal Relief and Development’s efforts among the women and children brutalized in the on-going violence in the Congo.

Evening Prayer will be offered at 5 p.m. in St. Mark’s main worship space. On Ash Wednesday (Feb. 25), St. Mark’s offers three services of Holy Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes: 7 a.m., 12:10 p.m., and 6 p.m. All are welcome to these ancient rites marking the beginning of the penitential season of Lent.

St. Mark’s is located at 111 S. Jefferson, across from the Moscow-Latah Public Library. For more information, call 882-2022. Handicapped access for the dinner is available through the Parish Hall door at the rear of the church.

Celebrate the Epiphany with us on Tuesday, January 6^th at 6:00 p.m. with Holy Eucharist, followed by a candlelight dinner at 7:00 p.m.  Cost of the meal is $15 for Adults and $7 for children 12 and under.  The meal includes prime rib, baked potato, tossed green salad, asparagus casserole, dinner rolls, cheesecake, chocolate cake and wine.  Any money left after food cost, will go towards the purchase of new light-weight round tables for the parish hall. 

Reservations are required.  Please call the office at 882-2022 (or e-mail) so that we purchase enough food and have enough tables set.  Guests are more than welcome—but please give us a head-count.

Fourth Sunday of Advent (12/21). Holy Eucharist. God’s promise of favor is fulfilled and Jesus. A mystery is revealed. The Gospel focus is on Mary, the mother of God, the Mystic Rose.

Christmas Eve

4:45 PM           Family carol sing.

5:00 PM           An Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist. This liturgy will reflect the many ways in which we treasure not only the Infant Jesus, but all the children among us. Children will serve as ushers and help distribute the bread and wine. There will be a children’s sermon. 

10:00 PM         Vigil for Christmas Eve. A service of candle-lighting, carols, and brief readings, this service offers as a time of quiet gathering and reflection before the festal Eucharist.

10:30 PM         Holy Eucharist. This will be as festive a service as we can make it! Lots of carols, some special music, a short sermon—closing, of course, with a candle-lit “Silent Night.”

 
Christmas Day

9:30 AM           Holy Eucharist. This will be a simple service, with some Celtic overtones.

 
Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr (12/26)

12:10 PM         Holy Eucharist. Simple. In lieu of a sermon, a brief reflection on St. Stephen. Approximately 30 minutes.

 Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (12/27)

12:10 PM         Holy Eucharist. Simple. In lieu of a sermon, a brief reflection on St. John. Approximately 30 minutes.