Category: Justice

Blessing of the Animals October 6

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Bring your pets to church!

On October 6 at 10:30am in the Spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, we’ll give thanks for the animals in our care and pray to be faithful stewards of God’s creation. Bring your animals to church for a shortened service of Holy Eucharist. Following Communion, the animals will all process out to the front lawn for a blessing, and a reception with treats for people and animals.

A few words about logistics:

  • For reasons of safety: non-aggressive dogs are welcome on leashes. All other animals need to be in carriers, like you would use for travel on an airplane or train.
  • If your animal isn’t suited to coming to church: Come with a picture of your animal. We’ll send you home with a prayer card you can use to extend the church’s blessing.
  • Stuffed animals are also welcome! Children are welcome to bring their stuffed animals for a blessing.
  • Remembering pets we have lost: We will also say a prayer for pets we have loved and see no longer.

August 18: Remembering Michael Brown (5th Anniversary)

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Watch the Sermon:

On August 18, The Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, co-chair of the Ferguson Commission was our guest preacher at both services. Michael Brown died five years ago this past August 10. Holy Communion marked the anniversary of his death, and of the start of the movement that arose in the streets of Ferguson.

Watch the forum:

At 9:15am, between the services we held a forum with Dr. Wilson and our own Rudy Nickens, who served as the governor’s staff representative to the Ferguson Commission. We asked, “five years since the Ferguson Uprising, what has changed and what work still lies ahead?”

Theology on Tap Aug 6: Faith and Reproductive Justice

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Missouri has been in the national news as “pro-life” advocates have pushed for new laws and policies that may make us the first state in the union with no clinic offering abortion services. While regarding all abortion as having a “tragic dimension,” since before Roe v. Wade The Episcopal Church has advocated for reproductive choice in local, state, and national policy. Join our rector and Dr. David Eisenberg of Missouri Planned Parenthood in a conversation about faith and reproductive justice.

Theology on Tap seeks to create a “low pressure” environment for conversations about faith, ethics, politics, and life today.  Join us and bring friends.

Theology on Tap meets upstairs at Dressel’s Pub at 6:30pm on the First Tuesday of each month. Click for a map

Dressel’s Public House
419 N Euclid Ave.
St Louis, MO 63108

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Protest Immigrant Detention: July 31-August 1

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Join the Heartland for Human Justice coalition as we protest the opening of the new detention center in Fort Sill, Oklahoma and participate in an interfaith vigil in remembrance of the children who have died while in detention.

Sign up by clicking here.

We will be leaving from St. Louis by bus the morning of Wednesday, July 31st and returning late evening on Thursday, August 1st. Our action will occur on the morning of August 1. We welcome participants from across the Midwest who may want to join our bus caravan en route, or meet us in Lawton, Oklahoma for the press conference and vigil on August 1.

Cost for transportation only is $65. Scholarships are available to underwrite transportation expenses. If you need a scholarship to attend this event, please contact the JCRC.

This trip is sponsored in part by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, which has provided funding to subsidize transportation expenses.

Spanish Classes beginning January 28

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Join our class on Mondays at 6:3opm starting January 28 and continuing through March 11.

This January Helen Burton, a member of the congregation and Spanish Teacher will offer a conversational Spanish Course on Monday evenings. The fee for the course is just $35, to help with the cost of resources for the class (need-based scholarships are available). You can sign up on our website. Any questions can be directed to the office 314-721-7401 or [email protected]
The classes are open to all, and are especially encouraged for those who are interested in joining our pilgrimage to El Salvador June 3-10.
Sign up today.

Holy Communion Stands with Migrants

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“For I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.” -Matt 25

In 2017, Holy Communion committed partnership with the Anglican-founded non-governmental organization Cristosal. Our partnership brings us into direct relationship with Central Americans threatened by escalating violence. We know firsthand that those who seek asylum and refugee status in the United States are not criminals, but victims of crime. Our Central American neighbors do not seek to do us harm but to protect the lives of their families. We stand with them.

Read more about “why families flee” on Cristosal’s site.

Cristosal is a nongovernmental organization based in El Salvador advancing human rights in Central America through rights-based programming, research, and learning.

They take a human rights-based approach to community development and poverty reduction that recognizes at its core the inherent dignity, equality and inalienable rights of every human being. This principle repositions the poor in the development enterprise from beneficiaries of charity to citizen partners, architects and owners of their own development process.

With Cristosal, we advocate for the rights of those displaced by violence.

Earlier this summer, Cristosal won a landmark supreme court case in El Salvador, forcing the Salvadoran government to protect the rights of its citizens displaced by violence. You can watch our forum at Washington University’s Danforth Center for Religion and Politics below:

Advocate today:

Through our denomination’s office of Public Policy, you can directly contact your representatives and ask them to support asylum claims:

Click here to contact your representatives today.

Love is Brave: Magdalene House visit on March 19

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My husband Ellis has one of my favorite t-shirts. It’s purple and says in big letters “Love is Brave.” He’s worn it lately at a number of protests and demonstrations. I’m always a little jealous. But that’s okay because on Sunday, I’m going to buy my own.
The Rev. Hope Jernagen will be with us as guest preacher at both services on March 19, and to present at our adult forum. She’ll be talking about the work of Magdalene St. Louis, a  new program, founded through the Episcopal church. Magdalene is a residential community for women who have survived lives of sexual exploitation, violence and addiction. Women receive up to two years of housing, healthcare, and a compassionate community of sisterhood and support.
The “Love is Brave” t-shirt is part of a social enterprise created by the women of Magdalene, Bravely. The women help to make these feisty/awesome shirts, and gain valuable job experience in sales, marketing, website management, and the like, experience that will help them find work when they graduate from the program. Magdalene is teaching us that Love is Brave. I hope you’ll join us Sunday as we hear their story.

Brooklyn Payne on a Mission to Panama

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Follow Brooklyn in Panama on her blog: http://brooklynyasc2016.blogspot.com

(Click play to hear Brooklyn’s sermon from July 31)

Thanksgiving from Brooklyn Payne

After generous donations from the people and vestry of Holy Communion, from churches around the diocese, and from family and friends, Brooklyn Payne surpassed her goal of raising $10,000 toward her trip to Panama. Any additional donations that are made will also go toward Brooklyn’s year in Panama. Money raised beyond her goal will help offset the cost of the program for other participants from around the church. Brooklyn leaves for Panama at the beginning of September. She couldn’t be more thankful for your generosity in supporting her and praying for her.

Rector’s Letter

Dear friends,

I write with a request for your support of a young person from our parish.

Brooklyn Payne is headed out in August on a year-long mission immersion with The Episcopal Church in Panama City, Panama. Brooklyn will be working day-to-day with at-risk children in the Bella Vista Children’s Home.

Brooklyn is participating in this program through the Young Adult Service Corps of The Episcopal Church. Created by General Convention, The Young Adult Service Corps is a ministry for young adults who are interested in exploring their faith in new ways by living and serving in communities around the Anglican Communion. YASC brings young adults into the life of the worldwide church and into the daily work of a local community. At the same time, it brings the gifts and resources of the church into the lives of young adults as they explore their own faith journeys.

I myself served as a YASC missionary at El Hogar children’s home in Tegucigalpa Honduras. The year I spent in Central America was foundational for my own adult faith. I could never have participated in the experience without the support of parishes throughout my home diocese.

The Episcopal Church’s General Convention provides most of the cost of sending each Young Adult, but every participant must raise $10,000 toward the cost of their trip. Holy Communion’s Vestry has committed $2,500 to supporting Brooklyn. It is our hope that many members of Holy Communion might join us in supporting her financially and prayerfully.

As critical as financial support is for her experience, I also ask you to consider adding Brooklyn to your prayer list over the next year, and following her blog online (link to come).

Thank you for considering supporting Brooklyn!

In Christ,

The Rev. Mike Angell

Rector

Brooklyn’s letter:

Hello,

My name is Brooklyn Payne, and I am 21 years old. I am a member of Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion. I was baptized as an infant and confirmed at 12 years old at Holy Communion. My family have been members of Holy Communion since the 1960s and still attend there.

I grew up attending Sunday school every Sunday morning. I was an acolyte, a reader of the Psalms, a babysitter in the nursery and a member of the youth group. I have served on the Trinity Hot Lunch Program serving our guest as long as I can remember. I participated in the Christmas and Easter pageants. When I became old enough, I was in the youth group where I went on many mission trips serving under the direction of Karen Sterbenz, the Rev. Rebecca Ragland and the Rev. John Stratton. I enjoyed my service as a young Episcopalian. If friends spent the night at my house, it was automatic that they attend church with me on Sunday morning. I guess I was an evangelist even back then!

From age six to eleven, I accompanied my mom to vestry meetings. (Yes, six consecutive years!) I did my homework and played quietly around the church during the meeting. Two hours was about my limit, and by that time the meeting was ending.

I just graduated from Missouri State University, in Springfield, Missouri with a degree in International Business. I am telling my story to gain support from the churches in the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri for the next chapter in my life: missionary work. I have been very fortunate to get accepted into the Young Adult Services Corps through the Episcopal Church, where I will spend a year of service in
San Miguelito, Panama serving at the Bella Vista Children’s Home. I will leave in August 2016 to work with young girls, from infants to 18 years old, who are no longer safe in their families’ homes.

I am tasked to raise $10,000 in order to help cover the expenses of my year-long stay in Panama. I am so excited about my journey, but I need help in raising the funds for my calling to do God’s work. A donation to my missionary trip to Panama would be greatly appreciated. Words of inspiration and well wishes are also welcome!

This will be a year of growth and love for me. I serve with God’s hands on my shoulders, and my heart in God’s hands.

Yours in Christ

Brooklyn Payne

Checks can be made out to Holy Communion with “Brooklyn Payne” in the memo line, or you can contribute online (Please designate your gift to “Brooklyn Payne Service Year”). As critical as financial support is for her experience, we also ask you to consider adding Brooklyn to your prayer list over the next year, and to read her updates online (You can follow her online using this link).

See more videos on The Episcopal Church’s site by clicking here.