Morning Prayer
2nd Sunday of Advent (Year B) December 6, 2020
Watch the Livestream at www.Facebook.com/StMattSav/Live/
Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (or anytime afterward)
This Week's Bulletin: https://gaepiscopal.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Advent2MorningPrayer-12062020.pdf
Preface
I am posting this worship service online because we at St. Matthew's Church in Savannah are unable to gather together in person this week due to the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic. Under the guidance of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, the Vestry has decided to keep our church building closed to all in-person gatherings.
This week, the Bishop and Canons of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia visited St. Matthew's to film Sunday worship. Bishop Frank Logue is officiating, the Rev. Canon Loren Lasch is preaching, and the Rev. Canon Joshua Varner coordinated the virtual choir. Several members and staff from St. Matthew's supported this week's service both in front of and behind the camera. The order of service (bulletin) may be found at the link above or right here.
At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, I will broadcast the following worship service using Facebook Live at www.Facebook.com/StMattSav. After the service concludes, you can re-watch it at any time. Below are this week's announcements for the St. Matthew's Community.
May God protect you from this virus and protect the most vulnerable among us. May we be God’s hands and feet of compassion and service to all in need during this time. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Guillermo A. Arboleda
Weekly Announcements for December 6, 2020
NOTICE - Vestry Keeps Church Closed for In-Person Worship: The Vestry has continued to track public health data and the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia’s COVID-19 safety guidelines. We have established a task force of church members who are health care professionals to advise the Vestry on when it will be safe to resume in-person gatherings.
You can follow the public health data with the Georgia Coastal Health District. The Vestry and COVID-19 Church Re-Gathering Task Force aim to see the daily COVID-19 case rate per 100,000 people fall below 10 in Chatham County (yellow zone) for a sustained period of time before authorizing in-person gatherings: https://covid19.gachd.org/daily-case-rate-per-100000/
A. Bishop Logue & Canon Lasch Visit St. Matthew's TODAY: During the pandemic, Bishop Logue is still visiting parishes around the Diocese to film worship services and check in on church members. On December 6, the Bishop's Staff will film the Diocesan worship service at St. Matthew's, and it will feature the Rt. Rev. Frank Logue as officiant, the Rev. Canon Loren Lasch as preacher, the Rev. Guillermo Arboleda as litanist, and members of St. Matthew's as choir singers and readers. This video will premiere on Sunday, December 6 from both the St. Matthew's Facebook page at 9:30 AM and the Diocese of Georgia's Facebook page at 10:00 AM.
B. SAIJM Covenant Assembly 12/7 @ 7 PM: The Savannah Area Interfaith Justice Ministry (SAIJM) will hold its annual Covenant Assembly on Monday, December 7th at 7pm.
We will vote for the two problem areas in our city that we aim to address in 2021. We can only pick two this year and the more of our members who attend this meeting, the more say St. Matthew’s has in the direction of this organization. The options, based on Sacred Conversations held on the 50+ member congregations are:
Housing,
Education,
Crime/Gun Violence,
Healthcare,
Poverty,
Food Insecurity, and
Racial Relations.
Finally, those who attend this meeting will vote on a new name for SAIJM. Options include:
SOUL (Savannah Organized and United to Lead);
ACT (Action in Chatham Today);
JUST (Justice United Savannah Together); and
SPICE (Savannah People’s Interfaith Coalition for Equity).
Please be sure to register via this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvdOCtqjkqGNOS1LNVsO9jabV1Mz97viho
C. Christmas Eve Hybrid Worship at 4 PM: St. Matthew's will hold a hybrid online/in-person worship service on Christmas Eve (12/24/2020) at 4:00 PM. At 4:00, we will debut a pre-filmed video of the Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist on Facebook Live. This will function just like our other online worship videos.
At 5:00 (or right after the video ends), church members are invited to gather in their cars in the parking lot to receive communion. Worshippers will stay in their cars and Fr. Arboleda will deliver communion (bread only) to people at their car windows. Communion will be available in the church parking lot from approximately 5:00-6:00 PM. Please note that the church building will not be open to the public (not even the bathrooms, unfortunately). This is the first time Holy Communion has been available to our parish since the pandemic began in March. We hope to see you then!
D. Virtual Coffee Hour 12/6 - Bishop Visitation: We will hold a virtual "Coffee Hour" over Zoom on Sunday, December 6, and again on every other Sunday at 10:30 AM. (Thank you to Mrs. Rachael Blue-Jones who is donating a professional Zoom login to the church for our use.) Bishop Logue and/or Canon Lasch will try to join us for fellowship after worshipping with us!
For security purposes, below is the Meeting ID only; please check your St. Matthew's e-Newsletter for the password (or email FrGAA@StMattSav.org to request it).
Topic: St. Matthew's Coffee Hour
Time: Dec 6, 2020 10:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Meeting ID: 825 7251 1175
Passcode: SEE e-NEWSLETTER
Dial by your location
+1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
Meeting ID: 825 7251 1175
Passcode: SEE e-NEWSLETTER
E. T/W/Th Evening Prayer via Zoom in December: Starting on Wednesday, December 2, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays in December, Fr. Arboleda will invite parishioners to pray Evening Prayer with him over Zoom. The video will still stream to Facebook Live at 5:00 PM, but we'll see more faces and hear more voices. To join the Zoom call, click the link below at 4:45 PM on Wednesday. Otherwise, watch the prayer service like you have been on Facebook Live.
For security purposes, below is the Meeting ID only; please check your St. Matthew's e-Newsletter for the password (or email FrGAA@StMattSav.org to request it).
Topic: Zoom Evening Prayer
Time: Dec 8, 2020 05:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every week on Tue, Wed, Thu, until Dec 23, 2020, 10 occurrence(s)
Dec 8, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 9, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 10, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 15, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 16, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 17, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 22, 2020 05:00 PM
Dec 23, 2020 05:00 PM
Join Zoom Meeting: See e-Newsletter
Meeting ID: 930 0965 1671
Passcode: See e-Newsletter
Dial by your location
+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)
Meeting ID: 930 0965 1671
Passcode: See e-Newsletter
F. “Trip Around the World” Quilt Raffle: The Quilter's Guild, through St. Matthew's ECW, is raffling a "Trip Around the World" Quilt to benefit St. Matthew's Building Renovation Fund. This fund supports major extra-budgetary building improvement projects, such as painting, replacing the sound system, replacing the oven in Toomer-Walker Hall, etc.
This beautiful, jewel-toned quilt measures 103"x90" and will fit a queen-sized bed. This machine-stitched quilt in tones of deep violet amethyst, blue sapphire, green emerald, blue topaz, and green peridot will enhance any bedroom.
The winner will be announced on September 30, 2021. Winners do not need to be present to win. In addition to the grand prize of the "Trip Around the World '' quilt, there will be interim raffles of seasonal quilt-type projects for no additional ticket purchase. Interim winners will still be eligible for the grand prize. The first interim drawing will be December 15, 2020.
Tickets are $15 each. Please make donations in $15 increments. Tickets may be purchased by:
Mailing a check to St. Matthew's with "Quilt Raffle" in the memo line; OR
Expect your raffle tickets to be returned to you by mail or email within 5-7 business days of receipt. Direct any questions to office@stmattsav.org.
G. The Parish Prayer List:
Prayer List: Martha Avery, Zavier Bradley, Raleigh Bryant, Christine Brown, Genella Chamberlain, Annie Colbert, Lazola Cope, Alice Dailey, Beryl Dandy, Mark Dashiell, Brittany Dawson, Eduardo Espinosa, Imani Ferguson, Ruby Fernandez, Harry Frazier, Gary Gordon, Amanda Green, Loretta Harmond, Marva Harris, Enoch Henderson, Charles E. Hines, Kenneth Howard, Terri Howard, Dale Hundley, Jared Hundley, Tracy Hundley, Milinda James, Alvin Jenkins, Dana Jenkins, Frances T. Jones, Lori Jones, Robert L. Jones, Sr., Ronald Jones, Tonya Jones, Whitney Kennedy, Leonard Law, Jr., Ralph Lovett, Ryan Lovett, Tammie Lovett, Marcus Marzen, Joan Maty, Craig Maxwell, Sada Maxwell, Altheria Maynard Carmelita Maynard, Bette Milledge, Hollie Moultrie, Patricia Murry, Russell Nails, Dorothy Neal, Jameel Newton, Glenzy Payne, Robert Payne, Dison Washington Slaughter, James Small, Gwendolyn Smith, Willie Stephens, Lori Ward, Gertrude Washington, and Noel Wheeler
Birthdays: Harriet McKinney (11/29), Raleigh Bryant (11/30), Alice Dailey (11/30), Nolan Jones (12/1), Justin Ward (12/4), Rashaad Jones (12/6), Jade Carrington (12/6), Monica Williams (12/9), LaShon Washington (12/9), Noel Wheeler (12/10), Renee Watts (12/12)
Wedding Anniversaries: N/A
Deaths: Anthony Watts (11/25)
May his soul and the souls of all the departed rest in peace; and may light perpetual shine upon them. Amen.
H. Giving to St. Matthew's: Many people are feeling the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis, including the church. We still need your support to pay our staff, pay our bills, and provide for these online live streams. If you pledged a donation in 2020 and are able, please continue making those contributions. If you have not pledged, please consider donating to St. Matthew’s now and in the future. There are several ways to give, but the simplest are these:
Mail us a check or money order at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1401 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd, Savannah, GA 31415; OR
Make a secure online gift to St. Matthew’s and/or automate future gifts at: https://onrealm.org/StMattSav/-/give/now; OR
Text “stmattsav” to 73256 to make a secure online donation through your phone.
NOTE: Donations made online (#2 or #3) through Realm incur a processing fee of about 2.5%. Please consider adding an additional 2.5% to your online gift to cover these costs.
Give online at: https://onrealm.org/StMattSav/-/give/now
