Jesus announces

that his “hour” had

come. (John 20:23)

His hour a point in

His ministry. His

ministry on earth is

at an end and now

He begins his

return home to the

Father after

completing his mission on earth. He

assures his disciples that his death will be

the source of life to all who believe. He

illustrates this with the parable of the seed

dying which makes way for a rich harvest,

the first fruits of which will be his

glorification and the sending of the life-

giving Holy Spirit.

Yet Jesus shudders to the depth of his

soul at the thought of his approaching

crucifixion and appears to be saying “I

don’t know what to say.” But his real prayer

is “Father, save me from this hour.” With

this prayer he begs the Father to bring him

through his ordeal safely to his glorification.

God’s voice reassures him that He is with

his son every step of the way.

Jesus told us that as disciples we must

follow his path and reassures us that He

will be with us in our “hour of need.”

Our “hour” is not only our hour of death

however, it is also any hour that involves

great sacrifice and loss such as death of a

loved one.

The Gospel offers a perspective on

our grief journey that life requires us to

travel. Learning to trust Jesus to

accompany us gives us the assurance that

like Jesus’ “hour” we will journey through

darkness to light.

Sadly, our death denying culture often

obstructs the light that God provides.

The “Let’s pretend this death hasn’t

happened” approach manifests itself in

many ways, from the unreal atmosphere

of many of our funeral homes, the

dressing up of the body to give

appearance of sleep, our reluctance to let

go of a loved one even though everything

has been done to no avail and our

assurance to the bereaved that time will

heal.

Personally, I find the last one about

time healing especially troublesome, after

years of ministry to the bereaved I have

never found time that heals. Time doesn’t

heal, we go to our graves with the

The Journey of Grief: A Good Friday-Easter Sunday Reflection

Inside This Issue

ECW News

2

Buildings and Grounds 2

Sr. Warden Report (cont.) 2

Easter Crossword Puzzles insert

Birthdays /Anniversaries 5

This-N-That 5

Editor’s Corner 5

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

The Sentinel

Key Dates

Thu, 2 Apr: Seder Meal &

Maundy Thursday service

Fri, 3 Apr: Good Friday service

Sat, 4 Apr: Great Easter Vigil

Sun, 5 Apr: Easter Sunday

Sat, 2 May: Falcon Children’s

Home Gardening Outreach

Sun, 24 May: Pentecost

Sun, 31 May: Trinity Sunday,

Ladies Breakfast

Sun, 14 Jun: ECW Luncheon

Wed, 17 Jun: Deadline for

Summer 2015 Sentinel input

SPRING 2015

Sr. Warden’s Report:

As we near the end of the

Lenten season, I reflect on

what it means to be a

Christian. The first thing

you can ask a child is what

do they know about Jesus.

Many will give you the cus-

tomary songs we are all

familiar with like ‘Jesus

Loves Me’. For me it is “I

Sing a Song of the Saints of

God” by Lesbia Scott.

It is no wonder that this is a

song I hold dear to my

heart. Being brought up by

a mother who was raised in

the Episcopal Church, I

was introduced to it at an

early age. My mother was

taught this song by her

mother and it has been

passed on to my own chil-

dren. It was one of the

first children’s books that

my mother gave to my

children.

As one reads through the

text, they learn that there

are many faces to the Saints

we recognize today. The

Saints were “patient and

brave and true” and while

they were great by many

means, we are told there is

no reason why we should

not be one too. The song

says that “the Saints of

God are just folk like me,

and I mean to be one

too”. Therefore, we are

all Saints of God.

I think that the reminder

in these lyrics is that we

need not look solely in the

mirror. The range of

people who serve our

God is just as vast as we

are. We need not look

only at ourselves. We

should go beyond our-

selves and look for God’s

wounds of grief. As Jesus carried

his wounds to his resurrection, I

expect we will too. Contrary to

our death-denying culture, we

never “get over it.” Grief

cannot be fixed.

For us Christians, the “hour”

of Jesus offers a way of

accepting loss that will allow us

to grow in confidence and

awareness that God is journeying

with us and that as the grain dies

it will produce a rich harvest.

Because once you love someone

they will remain with us always.

In our hour of grief the Lord

takes us by the hand and guides

us through the wilderness, a

journey that will lead to a new

life.

Father David +

ECW News

The ECW have been busy

serving soup and sandwich

meals after the services each

Wednesday evening during the

Lenten season. The ladies have

been preparing some of their

best soup recipes and have had a

great turn out. It is such a nice

time to enjoy some fellowship

while reflecting on the gift that

God gave his only Son for us.

Looking forward, the ladies

are excited to attend a breakfast

hosted by the men of the church

on May 31st. It is always nice to

have someone else cook for you

and the ladies enjoy and

appreciate it. The ECW also has

an upcoming covered dish lunch

planned for after the Sunday

service on June 14th. It will be a

celebration of Fr. David’s

birthday. There will be signup

sheets posted in the church hall

closer to this event. These

lunches are not only yummy but

a fun time to visit and catch up

with other church members.

Grace Zyla, President

love in those we don't expect.

Love is the only thing that brings

us together in no matter what

form. God is love. After all,

“they loved their Lord so dear so

dear and his love made them

strong”.

Our Lord makes us strong as a

congregation. I am so glad to

serve the Lord at St Stephen’s.

We are a blessed family.

Heather Honeycutt, Sr. Warden

Editor’s Note: Lesbia Scott

(1898-1986) composed a num-

ber of children's hymns which

she sang to her own children.

She wrote both the words and

the tunes and in 1929 published

them in the collection

'Everyday Hymns For Little

Children', which she also illus-

trated.

Each hymn was written for a

different occasion, and one of

them, Saints' Days, found its

The Journey of Grief (continued)

Sr. Warden’s Report (continued)

Our proposed projects for 2015 include a tear off and new roof over the vesting area of the church. The existing flat roof there has leaked for some time. Another noteworthy project will be to repoint the church mason-ry. There are about forty spots that need attention – grinding out the deteriorated mortar and replacing with new. These will both help in our battle with wa-ter intrusion and moisture issues. The goal in the back yard is

to come up with a master plan to

enable an orderly approach to

beautification of this area as well.

Perhaps there’s a landscape ar-

chitect in our midst – if so please

contact John Todd or myself.

Regardless, please lift your pray-

ers to guide your vestry to right

decisions in moving forward.

Thanks!

Frank Trainer, Jr. Warden

Buildings and Grounds Update

Just a short note to update you on recent projects complet-ed and a few possibilities for the future. Last fall we invested in sever-al refurbishment projects that, I believe, enhanced the appear-ance of our beautiful church home. Retooling the sign board and wrought iron fence has done wonders for our side yard. The recent installation of a new church sign and additional mulch along the fence line will tie together the side and front.

Page 2 SPRING 2015

way to the US where it was set

to a new tune, Grand Isle, com-

posed by retired Episcopal

priest John H. Hopkins, Jr. In

this setting it was included in

the Episcopal Hymnal 1940,

under the title of its first line. It

was retained in the subsequent

Hymnal 1982 (#293) after its

proposed removal for lack of

theological profundity prompt-

ed a widespread letter-writing

campaign.

How technology

changes evangelism.

PUZZLE FOR CHILDREN

PUZZLE FOR ADULTS

Birthday Wishes to:

2 Apr - Peggy Royal

9 Apr - Dale Wilson

11 Apr - Savannah Elliott

15 Apr - Oralee Adams

15 Apr - Riley Holland

16 April - Allison Crumpler

21 Apr - Austine Dapuyen

22 Apr - Nicholaus Stephens

23 Apr - Ginny Powers

3 May - Peter Jernigan

4 May - Elizabeth Tidd

5 May - Jean Benson & Thomas

Wells

7 May - Kannan Crumpler

17 May - Frank Trainer

18 May - Jerry Latta

19 May - Caroline & Thomas

Honeycutt

27 May - Donnie Pope & Susan

Stephens

1 Jun - Martha Wilson

11 Jun - Fr. David McGuinness

12 Jun - Nancy Silvers

12 Jun - Jacob Wells

13 Jun - Clea Gallian

14 Jun - Linda McKenzie

15 Jun - Staci Parker

19 Jun - Luke & Thomas Tidd

24 Jun - Tony Adams

26 Jun - Diane Lanier

29 Jun - Pete Zyla

Anniversary Bless-

ings to:

5 Apr - Robert &

Linda McKenzie

16 Apr - Earl & Virginia Boudreau

21 Apr - Allison Crumpler

26 Apr - Donnie & Lisa Pope

4 May - Tom & Margaret Taylor

12 May - Scott & Staci Parker

17 Jun - Frank & Jennifer Trainer

18 Jun - Robert & Barbara Nicholl

18 Jun - Stephen & Kathy Pope

19 Jun - Tom & Clea Gallian

those that love God and obey His Laws.

Next time you witness a baptism pay close

attention to the words asked of the candidate

(or the godparents on his/her behalf).

Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of

wickedness that rebel against God?

Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?

Do you renounce all sinful desires that draw you from

the love of God? Do you turn to Jesus Christ and accept him as your

Savior?

Do you put your whole trust in his grace and love? Do you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord?

This qualifies as KISS in my world. AJLA

The Adult Education class is studying the

Book of Romans this semester (Jan - Jun).

While we agree that Paul’s letter writing style would

not qualify as an example of the KISS principle (see

snip at right); it does live up to its reputation as a

“theology textbook” for its thorough explanation of

Christian life and the Gospel message.

Paul begins by describing God’s anger against hu-

man sin, noting that everyone falls short of God’s

standard. However, he goes on to say that God

provides a way for us to overcome that sin through

faith in Christ. By His death, we are justified (made

right) with God and can consider ourselves “dead

to sin” and “living a new life”. We are assured that

all things work together for a common good to

Birthdays and Anniversaries for Spring 2015

Editor’s Corner :

Please continue your support of

the church throughout the year.

Jim Hawley, Treasurer

Easter Egg Hunting: On

Sunday, April 5th we will hold

our annual Easter Egg Hunt

for the youth immediately after

church. Individually wrapped

candy, or already stuffed plastic

eggs, are needed for the

hunt. If you would like to

help by supplying any of the

candy, please put it in the

kitchen of the Parish Hall.

Outreach:

On May 2nd we hope to return

to the Falcon Children’s Home

for our fourth year of fellow-

ship thru gardening. Details

will be provided in future bul-

letin announcements.

If you’ve not participated in

the past, this is a great local

ministry opportunity.

Dale Wilson, Outreach Chairman

This-N-That

Financial Update:

This report only consists of the

months of January and February,

as March financial statements

have not been finalized at the

time of this article.

Through the month of February

2015, St. Stephen's had a positive

revenue of $1702.16. The actual

year to date revenue is a positive

$1028.91.

Thank you to those who have

honored their pledged offerings

and for those who have made

generous unpledged offerings.

Page 5 SPRING 2015

“O God, our

times are in your

hand: Look with

favor, we pray

on these your

servants as they

begin another

year.”

AFFIX ADDRESS LABEL HERE

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

Our Mission Statement:

“To know Christ and Make Him Known”

Locate us on the web at:

www.ststephenserwin.org

201 Denim Drive Erwin, North Carolina 28339

St. Stephen's remains the only Episcopal Church serving Harnett County.

Although the church still has later generations of the first families who founded St. Stephen's, current membership more widely reflects the diverse population of all of Harnett County.

We are a county-wide parish on the threshold of exciting growth for the future.