St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church
Our Vision: To be a community… Real. Rooted. Relevant.
Our Purpose: To follow Jesus Christ so that we will be His hands and feet in the world.
The Call
April, 2023
A Message from Fr. Larry
Lessons we can learn from Tulips
Spring is slowly beginning to appear in our midst. The grass is slowly turning green, some trees are beginning to blossom, and the brave daffodils are showing off their wonderful bright yellow flowers. Soon, tulips will begin to share their happy, bright colors with us. I have been fortunate to live in several parts of our country where tulips are grown. At this time of year, they fill places like the Skagit Valley in Washington state with acres of rows of color as far as you can see. Since all of creation is sacred, I sometimes wonder if the tulips have some wisdom to share with us? I wonder if we can learn from tulips.
I did a bit of research about tulips and was surprised in what I discovered. They were first cultivated from the wild in Persia in the tenth century. They were not brought to western Europe (think Holland) until the seventeenth century. Shortly after their arrival, ‘tulip mania’ swept all across Europe. Huge parcels of land were sometimes traded for one tulip bulb. Horticulturalists experimented with all sorts of hybrids producing new shapes and colors for tulips. Tulips have one of the longest histories of cultivation in the world. The petals of the tulip are edible (although I do not recommend it), yet tulips have no fragrance. For most of the year, they lay dormant in the soil. At first glance, tulip bulbs are pretty dull – if not a bit ugly.
What does this have to do with us, as we move forward to the holiest week of Christianity? What do tulips have to teach us about the meaning of the Three Holy Days of Holy Week (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday)? What do tulips know that we do not know about the ‘through death to new life’ that is at the heart of Christianity?
Tulip bulbs are very ordinary looking, yet when they are buried in rich soil, they surprise us with beautiful colors. Tulips wait patiently in the earth, until the warmth of spring beckons them to a new form of life. Similar to caterpillars, tulips remind us that a profound transformation can occur.
As we recall the final days of Jesus, my prayer for all of us is that, like the tulip, we may be open to how the great love of Christ as lived out in Holy Week may not only touch us with hope and joy, but also that this love may continue to transform us to be God’s people.
Blessings,
Larry Ehren+
Please join us for as many of these important observances as you can, following Jesus with us from the Last Supper to His glorious resurrection.
Palm Sunday service with Liturgy of the Palms is at 10:30 AM April 2.
Holy Thursday service is at 7:00 PM on April 6.
Good Friday service is at 7:00 PM on April 7.
The Great Easter Vigil is at 8 PM on April 8.
Our Easter service is at 10:30 AM April 9, with an Easter Egg Hunt for children after the service.
Teaching Moment
Well, maybe this is MORE than a “moment” but it’s well worth reading.
You may know that Pope Gregory tarnished Mary Magdalene’s reputation in 1591 by declaring in a sermon, “She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be the Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. And what did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? . . . It is clear, brothers, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts . . .”
His statement have been discredited since then, but new Biblical scholarshop at this link
suggests that many early manuscripts were altered by changing the name “Mary” to “Martha”, thus downplaying the importance of Mary Magdalene as a foolower of Jesus.
The New Spirit is published every two weeks. Read the latest issue here.
Following the joint Standing Committee and Diocesan Council retreat in January, which Regina and Fr. Larry attended, work has started on the Four Pillars of Ministry:
Proclaiming the Good News
Forming Disciples
Serving Others
Striving for Justice
Each attendee was assigned to a group covering one of the four topics. They are to develop goals which will drive a ground-up development of the 2024 budget based on these goals rather than historic spending patterns.
Bishop Diane Bruce continues to be here, there and everywhere in the Diocese. If you’re on FaceBook, connect with her. She posts frequently and is a great example of how to use social media.
Lenten Learning Opportunity
We will be offering a Lenten series this year focusing on Episcopal practices and beliefs, using the book “Walk in Love”. The schedule for our Lenten series is at this link.
You may join in person after the Sunday service or via Zoom on Wednesday nights at 7 PM.
On Sunday, March 12, St. Mary Magdalene participated for the first time in the Martin City St. Patrick’s Day parade. The idea started with a small, dedicated group and over a very short time frame, a float was designed, green T-shirts were ordered (some suppliers had already run out of green!) and paperwork was completed. The afternoon before, in pouring rain, they assembled the float in a rented storage locker.
Parishioners and their extended families, in addition to riding on the float, walked the route and passed out “vouchers” (for admission to a church service) and handed out candy and other treats to the crowd.
Fr. Larry even supplied an article for the Diocesan Newsletter, the New Spirit, which is at this link.
There are more pictures at our site on Shutterfly.com.
Heart-n-Hand and Classic Cars- a Gala Night
On Saturday, March 25, Heart-n-Hand held its first-ever fund-raising gala to celebrate its 25th anniversary at the Armacost Car Museum in Belton. Since the museum is open only to fund-raising events, this was a rare opportunity to see the collection of immaculately-maintained cars- everything from vintage Packards and Studebakers to a couple of Ferrrari Testarossas and a collection of kiddie cars.
This Chiefs helmet, autographed by Travis Kelce, went for $800. No, it was not purchased by anyone from St. Mary Magdalene!
Heart-n-Hand is a key outreach for St. Mary Magdelene (see Opportunities to Serve, later in this newsletter) and nine members of St. Mary Magdalene attended. They serve the people in Belton who need help, whatever form that help might take. If they can’t supply it directly they will connect them with an organization that can.
On-Line Training: Safe Churches, Safe Communities
If you’re involved in any kind of ministry at St. Mary Magdalene (and most of you are!), the Diocese strongly recommends this series of on-line modules. Each can be covered in 15 minutes or less. Everyone- Chalice Ministers, Lay Readers, Acolytes, Vestry members, people with a key to the church, Sunday School teachers, etc.- needs to be educated on risks and risk mitigation to keep God’s people safe.
If you haven’t started these courses, contact Cyndi and she’ll set up an account for you.
New Way to access Ministry Schedules
From Regina:
Well, the new scheduling software I selected as a substitute for Breeze was free. There’s that. It did, however, have so many quirks (excuse me, features) that the challenges of setting it up for Holy Week, with the extra services and varying numbers of readers, acolytes, etc. were more than I could tolerate.
So- I keyed the schedules for each ministry into a single Excel spreadsheet and will be creating a chart for the current day plus the next two services to be included in each Bulletin.
You will not be getting reminder e-mails from the churchscheduling.com software (I removed everyone’s e-mail addresses). Ignore any you do get. As we phase out Breeze you will not get them from Breeze, either. You can, however, get the entire schedule any time at this link or from the “Ministry Schedules” button on the front page of our web site.
Please let me know of any upcoming changes and I’ll update the schedule.
At its March 4 all-day Workshop meeting your vestry, after prayer and reflection, divided into three discussion groups:
– Church Growth / Retention / Welcome
– Children’s / Family Ministry
– Stewardship and use of our grounds
We developed action items for all three areas including new leadership for the Church Growth/Retetion/welcome group, plans for having an available team and curriculum available for Sunday School/Nursery so that we’re prepared when families with children visit, and plans for wider use of our church grounds for community events.
Note that we need YOU for any and all of these activities.
If you want to be part of the effort to be more welcoming and to generate plans to increase church growth and retain our current members, let Cyndi know.
If you’re interested in being available for Sunday School/Nursery, make sure you sign up for on-line training (Cyndi will get you started) and let Regina know.
If you have ideas for how the church building and grounds could be used by the wider community, contact Rich or Regina.
Minutes from our February meeting are available here. The Priest’s Report from the February meeting is here.
It’s Tax Time!
If you need a statement of your donations to St. Mary Magdalene for 2022, log into Breeze and click on “My Profile” at the left and then “Giving” from the next page.
We’ll be discontinuing Breeze within the next month, so the earlier you do this, the better. Cyndi can generate a statement after that if you weren’t able to get it from Breeze.
Thanks, as always, for your support of St. Mary Magdalene!
Women‘s Book Club
At our meeting on Monday, April 3rd at Susan Petrakos’ house we will discuss “The Lies that Bind Us” by Emily Giffin.
Daughters of the King
Daughters of the King meets the third Sunday of the month in Education Room right after church. . If you’re interested, please contact Cyndi Troyer.
God and Guinness April 21
Heart-N-Hand Ministries, right here in Belton, serves the homeless as well as others just needing a hand up. At their website, www.heartnhand.org, there is always a current list of donated items they are seeking.
Heart-N-Hand would also appreciate volunteers to assist in their Thrift Store, Monday-Saturday; the store hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For for more information, please contact Alexis Butterfield, Executive Director, at 816-322-1133 or 417-551-2470. Her e-mail is alexisjbutterfield@gmail.com.
Thank you for your consideration!
Here are some additional items you can donate; donations can be left in the Narthex.
Heart N Hand in Belton could use:
· Hygiene items (Preferably travel sized items: wash cloths, small combs and brushes, deodorant, body wash, razors, lip balms, wipes)
· Band-aids and individual sized medications like Tylenol, Ibuprofen, tums, etc.
· Lightweight brand-new fleece blankets.
· $10 HyVee gift cards to be used as gas cards for our clients.
· Winter gloves
· Size 4, 5, and 6 diapers
· Adult diapers of varying sizes
· Coffee creamer / sweeteners (individual packets)
· Cleaning supplies (Lysol wipes, toilet bowl cleaner, multi-purpose cleaners)
· Food donations (any non-perishable goods are always appreciated!), including individual bags of chips
· Here is a link to items you can order from Amazon
Our Next Blood Drive will be Wednsday, June 7 from 2 PM to 6 PM.
Our January drive results were excellent: 19 donors including two who donated double units of red blood cells.
We still need plastic bags to make mats for the homeless. If you’d like to learn how to crochet them, contact Regina at berensregina@gmail.com.
Single Moms KC needs clothing for women and children and full-size toiletries.
Missouri Puppy Mill Rescue needs bleach and Lysol multi-surface cleaner.
The Call
We are still looking for another person to create The Call every other month (alternating with Regina). It can be done gradually as you get announcements of events, etc. Many other items are provided by others and you just have to incorporate them with some pretty straightforward “drag-and- drop” software. Please let Regina know if you are interested.
Events
We need someone to take over co-ordination of church events — the earlier, the better so Denise can show you how it works. Please contact her if this interests you.
Service Streaming
We are looking for someone to help stream the service so that people can access it on our YouTube channel. Frank and Brock will train you; talk to either of them if you’re interested.
More About Us
St. Mary Magdalene offers in-person Sunday Worship at 10:30 a.m. We are also live streaming the service for those who prefer to join us from home, on our YouTube channel at this link.
If you have a family illness or a personal concern, please contact the church office at 816-331-2222 and leave a voicemail.
We miss you when you cannot participate in church, and we want to know when one of our members can be comforted from a pastoral visit, being added to our prayer list, or by receiving communion at home.
If you have a family illness or a personal concern, please contact the church office at 816-331-2222 and leave a voicemail.
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St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church | 16808 Holmes Rd., Belton, MO 64012
(816) 331-2222 | http://www.marymag.com
