Vision Statement for St. Paul’s, Marfa, Texas
St. Paul’s is an open, loving community
growing in the experience and understanding of the love of God,
acting to share the visible presence and compassion of Christ.
Mission Statement for St. Paul’s, Marfa, Texas:
Our mission is to be a welcoming, prayerful, caring community
actively sharing the love of God.
Values Statement for St. Paul's Marfa, Texas To accomplish our mission, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church bases its decisions and actions on the following core values:
Love of God and neighbor by honoring the worth and dignity of every human being including ourselves.
Daily relationship with God all through our lives through prayer and service.
The importance of giving and receiving forgiveness through the generosity of the Holy Spirit.
We value continual learning.
We value the Episcopal tradition of communal worship.
Practicing hospitality by welcoming all and serving and sharing with our communities.
The stewardship of God’s creation and all its inhabitants.
"Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful,
for beauty is God's handwriting." -Ralph Waldo Emerson
Prayer for the Inauguration
Almighty and Sovereign God:
As our nation undergoes this presidential transition, we pray: “Thy Kingdom Come.”
May your Holy Spirit instill Joe Biden of righteousness and the values and principles of your kingdom to exercise the sacred trust of administering the nation.
Give Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, the administration, and Congress the ability to honor you by doing what is right, fair, and just for all citizens, especially the poor, hungry, and marginalized., and those seeking asylum.
We ask that all the people in our nation, irrespective of race, gender, ethnicity, or religious faith be treated with dignity.
We pray for the wholeness, health, integrity, soundness, welfare, security, prosperity, harmony, and justice of all the citizens of our nation.
Help our nation develop a foreign policy that fosters peace, justice, equality, and freedoms that can advance the development, rights, and privileges of our global neighbors.
Move our nation to provide international leadership in the good stewardship of all the natural resources that you have entrusted to humankind.
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.”
TOMORROW NIGHT
For January 20 @ 7 pm central time Session 3: Mark 5:1-7:13
In advance of the next class, I encourage participants to:
Consider becoming a member of the Bishop's Committee and/or a delegate to the Diocesan Convention
The Bishop's Committee has set a threshold number for active cases in the Tri-county area to determine whether to offer in-person worship. When that threshold is crossed, we will have only live-stream worship on that particular Sunday. The decision will be made every Friday and put in an email with the regular Saturday announcements We will always live-stream!
Just go to the VIDEO tab and at 10:30 a live stream will begin, you just need to push the play button on the live video to join us.
As we have done since our pandemic responses have been in place, please let me know if you wish to receive communion at home or wish for a pastoral visit in person or by Zoom. We will look forward to seeing you, one way or another, on Sunday.
Love one another. Pray for one another. Stay calm.
Wear a mask, keep your distance and wash your hands.
A Prayer for Quiet Confidence O God of peace, who hast taught us that in returning
and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of thy Spirit lift us, we pray thee, to thy presence, where we may be still and know that thou art God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer, p. 832
~JANUARY~
19th - Tuesday
Tuesday, January 19: Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “The meaning of good and bad, of better and worse, is sim- ply helping or hurting.”
Richard Rolle, Walter Hilton, and Margery Kempe,
Mystics, 1349, 1396, and c. 1440 Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095 20th - Wednesday Fabian, Bishop and Martyr of Rome, 250
Wednesday, January 20: “If a friend is in trouble,” Edgar Watson Howe wrote, “don’t annoy them by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.” “Just call if you need something,” is no gift at all, in other words. It is a false promise in an empty box.
Thursday, January 21: We live in an era in which we set out to irradiate not one city but two, both Hiroshima and Nagasaki; in which we invented the end of the world and stored it in the corn fields of Kansas; in which we put more money into weapons than into public welfare programs; and technology, rather than ethics, became the norm of the doable. At the time, the bombing brought “victory” and a sense of “invincibility” to the United States. But seventy-five years later, as we look around the state of the country, we might ponder what Mahatma Gandhi said at the time, “The atom bomb brought an empty victory to the Allied Armies.... What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see.”
4:00 - Book Study Group on Zoom Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen CLICK HERE22nd - Friday Vincent of Saragossa, Deacon and Martyr, 304
Friday, January 22: “No one can be good for long,” Bertolt Brecht wrote, “if goodness is not in demand.” What we expect in a society is what we will get. Very few people can live beyond the standards of the society in which they exist. Those who do are saints; those who don’t are normal.c
23rd - Saturday Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, 1893
Saturday, January 23: Lots of things seem to be goodness that are simply political choices. It’s when we do what must be done despite the fact that people either won’t understand or won’t approve that the grain of goodness grows to fullness in us. Don’t be discouraged. It is often a lifetime in coming.
24th - Sunday
Sunday, January 24: Goodness grows in us like flowers grow in any garden: by being planted and watered and nourished.
Florence Li Tim-Oi, Priest, 199225th - Monday THE CONVERSION OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE
Monday, January 25: Goodness is a process of becoming, not of being. What we do over and over again is what we become in the end. In the meantime, Agnes Repplier comforts us with this: “Our dogs will love and admire the meanest of us, and feed our colossal vanity with their uncritical homage.”
12:30 - 1:00 - Centering Prayer
The Casita 26th - Tuesday Timothy and Titus, Companions of Saint Paul
Tuesday, January 26: Courage can be a hidden virtue. Faith can be per- sonal. Goodness is the kind of character trait, however, that cannot be practiced alone. Goodness requires a public posture.To be good you have to be good to someone else. Makes you think, doesn’t it?
All Day - Forma Conference27th - Wednesday John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, 407
Wednesday, January 27: We like to believe that there is a supernatural source of all evil. We refuse to admit, Jo- seph Conrad says, that we ourselves are quite capable of doing all the evil there is. Indeed, who of us has not already done it, at least in microcosm? But once we real- ize that, we are suddenly capable of the im- measurable good that comes from humility.
Thursday, January 28: The love we owe our friends is a commitment to their own goodness. Those who enable us in our weaknesses do not love us; they are exploiting us for some reason of their own.
All Day - Forma Conference
4:00 - Book Study Group on Zoom Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen CLICK HERE29th - Friday
Friday, January 29: Who we are today is what the future will be like. The future, you see, has already arrived. We are it—for good or ill.
30th - Saturday
Saturday, January 30: Never confuse goodness and acceptability, goodness and conformity, goodness and piety. They are dangerous confusions.
Brigid (Bride), 523 12:30 - 1:00 - Centering Prayer
The Casita 2nd - Tuesday THE PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IN THE TEMPLE 7:00 PM - WAY OF LOVE GROUP3rd - Wednesday The Dorchester Chaplains:
Lieutenant George Fox, Lieutenant Alexander D. Goode, Lieutenant Clark V. Poling, and Lieutenant John P. Washington, 1943
7:00 - Bible Study If interested, please sign up at stpaulsmarfatx@gmail.com or michaelwallens@gmail.com.
OR Click Here on the 6th4th - Thursday Manche Masemola, Martyr, 1928 Anskar, Archbishop of Hamburg, Missionary to Denmark and Sweden, 865 4:00 - Book Study Group on Zoom Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen CLICK HERE5th - Friday Agatha of Sicily, Martyr, c.251 Roger Williams, 1683, and Anne Hutchinson, 1643,
Prophetic Witnesses 6th - Saturday The Martyrs of Japan, 1597 7th - Sunday 10:30 - The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany https://facebook.com/stpaulsmarfatx Live Streamed at 10:30 am
Cornelius the Centurion8th - Monday
Bakhita (Josephine Margaret Bakhita),
Monastic and Prophetic, Witness, 1947 12:30 - 1:00 - Centering Prayer
The Casita Medical Tour9th - Tuesday 10:30 - Marfa Ministerial Alliance Medical Tour10th - Wednesday Medical Tour Scholastica, Monastic, 543
7:00 - Bible Study If interested, please sign up at stpaulsmarfatx@gmail.com or michaelwallens@gmail.com.
OR Click Here on the 6th11th - Thursday Medical Tour Theodora, Empress, c.867 Frances Jane (Fanny) Van Alstyne Crosby, Hymnwriter, 1915 10:30 - 1:00 - Borderland Deanery Clericus
4:00 - Book Study Group on Zoom Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen CLICK HERE12th - Friday Charles Freer Andrews, Priest and “Friend of the Poor” in India, 194013th - Saturday Absalom Jones, Priest, 1818 14th - Sunday 10:30 - The Last Sunday after Epiphany https://facebook.com/stpaulsmarfatx Live Streamed at 10:30 am
Cyril and Methodius, Missionaries, 869 and 885 15th - Monday Thomas Bray, Priest and Missionary, 1730 12:30 - 1:00 - Centering Prayer
The Casita 16th - Tuesday Charles Todd Quintard, Bishop of Tennessee, 1898 7:00 - Bible Study Click Here on the 16th17th - Wednesday Ash Wednesday - Beginning of Lent Noon - Ash Wednesday Liturgy https://facebook.com/stpaulsmarfatx 1:00 - 2:00 - Drive-by Imposition of Ashes If you wish to have ashes brought to you, please email the church at stpaulsmarfatx@gmail.com
Janani Luwum, Archbishop and Martyr, 1977 3:30 - Sin Fronteras Book Study Cruelty as Citizenship:
How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy Beltrán, Cristina18th - Thursday Martin Luther, Pastor and Church Reformer, 1546 4:00 - Book Study Group on Zoom Return of the Prodigal Son by Henry Nouwen CLICK HERE19th - Friday Agnes Tsao Kou Ying, Agatha Lin Zhao, and Lucy Yi Zhenmei, Catechists and Martyrs, 1856, 1858, and 1862 All Day - Clergy Retreat20th - Saturday Frederick Douglass, Social Reformer, 1895 21st - Sunday John Henry Newman, Priest and Theologian, 1890
10:30 - The First Sunday of Lent https://facebook.com/stpaulsmarfatx Live Streamed at 10:30 am22nd - Monday Eric Liddell, Missionary to China, 1945 Margaret of Cortona, Monastic, 1297 12:30 - 1:00 - Centering Prayer
The Casita
Prayers of the People - Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Dear sisters and brothers, we are marvelously made by the Maker of all things, our God sees into the deepest needs of our hearts and calls us to follow and listen to the voice of the sovereign One to whom we offer our prayers, responding to each petition by saying, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.”
+ You have called your Church your children and given to us the Holy Spirit, O Gracious One; Grant that we may share with our friends the good news of Jesus of Nazareth and invite them to "come and see" so that others may share our fellowship in his name... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+ That we may honor our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit, not succumbing
to the values of our culture, but respecting ourselves and one another as vessels of God’s divine presence; We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+ That we may live out our mission to be a welcoming, prayerful, caring community actively sharing the love of God, and follow Jesus’ great commission to heal the sick and preach the word, bearing witness to others of the fruits of a lively faith, and the power of the Holy Spirit; We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
+ For those who serve in the armed forces, that they may be protected in their mission, and return safely to waiting families and friends; We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+ You search our hearts and know us, Almighty God: Lay your hand upon our nation and upon all in authority throughout the world, that they may be instruments of your compassion and peace, and that we may be known as people in whom there is no guile.... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.
+We remember with gratitude the life, words, and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you for raising him up as your servant. Help us to honor him, and to glorify you, by finding good and gracious ways to extend the blessings of liberty, justice, and equality to all people.... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+You visit us in friendship and invite us to be generous and hospitable neighbors to all among whom we live, O Loving One: Fill us with your grace, that we may be a community of kindness and compassion... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+For an end to the worldwide pandemic, that God will free us from this dangerous virus, strengthen those who labor for our health, and give us grace to strive for the common good..... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+ By your power, you raise our bodies in union with you, especially those we name at this time, including Jane Reddell, Fr. Robert Murphy, victims of Covid-19...... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
Guided by the light of Christ shining in our hearts, we continue our prayers.
+ In thanksgiving for those who bring treasures to the poor and needy of the world, offering precious gifts of hope to God’s fragile people....In thanksgiving for all the blessings of this life, remembering those who have been our mentors and teachers, and through whose companionship we have experienced the riches of divine grace; Let us take time and name who and what we are thankful for....... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
+God of mercy, we pray for all in any kind of need or trouble: For the many who are suffering economically, that God will watch over those who have lost employment, struggle to pay their bills or have enough to eat.....For all whose lives have been touched by storms, fires, and the pandemic, ALS, Cancer and other diseases that they may find help, hope, and compassionate care from those around them....Let us remember by name those we know and can name in the silence of our hearts; for those we don’t know but know about, and for those worldwide who suffer...Awaken in us compassion and humility of spirit, as we seek and serve Christ in all persons...... We call upon you in your Temple....
Speak Lord, for your servant is listening
Concluding Collect: God of mystery, whose voice calls us by name, hear the prayers of your people and give us childlike faith to listen to your words and be ready to follow you in faith, through Jesus Christ our Savior.Amen.
For Our Country
Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our
heritage: We humbly ask you that we may always prove
ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will.
Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and
pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion;
from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend
our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes
brought here out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue
with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your Name we entrust
the authority of government, that there may be justice and
peace at home, and that, through obedience to your law, we
may show forth your praise among the nations of the earth.
In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness,
and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in you to fail;
all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer for St. Paul's
(adapted from a prayer written by Richard Rohr)
O Great Love,
thank you for living and loving in us and through us.
May all that we do
flow from our deep connection with you and all beings.
Help our faith community become a community
that vulnerably shares each other’s burdens and the weight of glory.
Listen to our hearts’ longings for the healing of our world.
Guide us in living out our mission to to be a
welcoming, prayerful, caring community
actively sharing the love of God . . .
Knowing you are hearing us better than we are speaking,
we offer these prayers in all the holy names of God,
Amen+
Prayer for the Pandemic
Loving God, hasten the day when the virus will have run its course; quicken scientists to develop medications and vaccines; call out the best instincts of your people- love, neighborliness, compassion, and a sense of caring for every member of your beloved community on Earth. We pray out of the depths to you, O God of hope. Amen.
Prayers are asked for…..
The Church
Justin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Michael, our Presiding Bishop, Michael, our Bishop and Michael, our Vicar….In the Anglican cycle of prayer we pray for The Anglican Church of Australia, The Diocese of Aipo Rongo – The Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea, The Diocese of Ajayi Crowther – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), (Ibadan Province), The Diocese of Akobo – The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, (Jonglei Province), The Diocese of Akoko – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), (Ondo Province), The Diocese of Akoko Edo – The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), (Bendel Province), The Diocese of Akot – The Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, (Eastern Bahr el Ghazal Province), ....In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer: St. John's, Alamogordo, Church of the Ascension, Cloudcroft…We also pray for St. James, Alpine, St. Stephens, Ft. Stockton, Santa Inez, Terlingua, Chapel of St. Mary & St. Joseph, Lajitas, and the Marfa and Alpine Ministerial Alliances…. For Connor Travis and the ministry of Young Life
For Our Leaders
For Donald, our president, Greg our Governor, Manny our mayor and the mayors and city managers of our surrounding communities…. For Joe, our president-elect and Kamala, our vice president-elect and all newly elected officials as well as our elected officials in Washington and all who exercise authority at any level of government. For all who struggle to make a more just society
St. Paul’s Prayer Box and Prayer Wall
Living out our mission to be a welcoming, prayerful, caring community actively sharing the love of God….On our wall…To day I Pray: For my children...For Betsy...For all who serve in a hospital...Amy, Sam George, Laurel, Chase, April, Chris, Creede, Bennett,...All my family,...Rudy with ALS....Today I Hope: Love wins, Everyone loves each other...To remain sober....the teepees will be warm at Big Bend....For unity...For a safer tomorrow....Things will get better...Ending racism...Today I Thank: Fro a home, work...my sister...The Earth...Jesus,... Heavenly Father...St. Paul's....Merry Christmas....God for Camillia m y friend....His grace, patience, guidance...God for His grace...Universe for its enduring embrace...my family...For our Democracy...Live to see another day...God for Gace...Finding a home here...Marfa for being accepting of all...His grace, patience and guidance...Prayer Box: For our long trip and our families far away...Becca's recovery from a broken ankle...For our family friend "R" who is facing serious surgery on October 1...Mariano Faiardo reecovery from cancer (my father)...Victor Amram, grandfather of 92 that is struggling for strength...Zanfini...
St. Paul’s Prayer List
Gail, Patty, Holly, D'Ette, Merit and the Fowlkes family, James, Shere, Kevin and Jay, Lesly, Lila, Melodie, Mimi, Pat & Mary, the Vana Family… FOR Jeanie Olivas, Vijaya, Frank, Larry, Jack Risen, Kathryn Anschutz, Sue Ellen, Kelly, Brian Hutchins who have cancer… for Michael Simpson, Lee Ann,. for James, Brian Neal & Jacob, Linda, for Jenny, Megan and Elizabeth, for David who has MSA, Frank, for Ralph...Kathleen….Bishop Jerry and Jane Lamb…Jessie Ann….Francisco Javier Del Hierro Vega, Juan Paul Del Hierro Vega, Arlyn Del Hierro…..Canon Carole McGowan... Help us remember that whereas some sections of the media are skewed and biased or even untruthful, Your essence is truth and light...for the media that they present with truth, compassion and unbias... Douglas...for those with the coronavirus, those living in isolation because of the virus, caretakers and researchers to find a cure and a vaccine...MEMBERS OF THE TIPTON FAMILY...Amanda, a nurse on the frontlines in New York City....Debbie Hamilton who is a paramedic on the front lines in San Antonio....Dawn who has cancer..Airman First Class Sidney Davis who is overseas.....Andrea, a nurse recovered from COVID-19 and back at treating others, Safe travels, Protection from COVID-19,...Ellen Boyd. After 15 years of being cancer free, her cancer has returned.... Itze who is in hospice...For the Kinney-Morrow family...Father Phil West recovering from a stroke...Gary Stonum who has Covid-19....for Katie who is dying.....Aurie....Mary Steele who is battling stage 3 breast Cancer...Kellie and Rick on their journey together....Pearl....Paul Woods, Cancer....Dorothy Swanson who fell and now has the Coronavirus....Lee Ann....Kaley Bowerman & Judah...Kristy Kimmell...Burt and Doris Ann Brownfield.......Corina & Carlos and their daughters, Iris and Lily....Rudy and Allison....Roberto who has cancer and Julia his wife....Luane Porter...Carol Janocek who has cancer...Layne who is struggling....Marina Z with Covid-19....Yvonne who is in hospice care...Roger Cribdin, Cancer medical trial...Patricia, congestive heart failure....
Those who have died
Father Randy Lutz, Victims of Covid-19, those who died in the capitol...
World News This Week in Prayer
Dear God,
Today we long to be held. We long to be held, not by the hateful actions we see on our televisions. Not by a virus that continually kills thousands upon thousands. Not by our divisions and the things which cause us to break apart. We long to be held by your unbreakable, unshakeable, and infinitelove. We long to be covered by you – that we can take a breath and step away from the chaos happening in our world. And yet we know that we too must do the work to make our community and world a place filled with your love and your justice.
Remind us, Lord, that this is your world, and that no matter what happens here to any of us, we always remain yours and belong fully and completely to you. We ask that you help us to embody you as we find a way to spread your justice in this world and in all of us who remain so broken.
God, although we long to forget the events of this week happening in our world, we still choose to lift up all of the feelings we feel in our bodies to you: our sadness, our anger, our helplessness, our confusion, our disgust, our desire to change ourselves and those around us, our longing to move on, our wish for hope. All of these feelings, and many others, we lift up to you and we ask that you take them as we also continue to work through them ourselves. We pray that we, and those around us, may have understanding as we all work through our feelings differently. We ask that you help us to find a way to sit with our emotions while also sitting with you.
We realize God that although we want to separate ourselves from the actions of others, we know we are part of it all too. We know this, O God, and so we ask that you forgive us and guide us to check ourselves for the hatred, the racism, the bigotry, and the lack of love that we show in the small and big ways that we don’t realize, or that we choose to ignore. Guide us Lord and deepen our hearts that we might realize that no matter how good we think we are, we need to make sure that we are embodying your love in every action and in every word we say.
God, as we mourn the events of this past week where hatred was seen at the United States capitol building, we also recognize all the suffering in our community, country, and world. We pray for Uganda, where the internet is blocked and security has been stepped up as counting gets under way after polls closed in a hotly contested election that has been marked by violence in which dozens have been killed. We pray for The Netherlands, where the Dutch coalition government is in danger of collapse over a scandal over child benefits lasting 8 years
We ask for your presence as the world experiences our single Covid-19 highest death toll – over 13,000 in one day (over 4,000 people in the U.S. alone). We pray for the places where the number of positive test results continues to climb all around the world, as lockdowns continue to grow longer. We pray for knowledge and support as a variant of the virus with much higher transmission rates has now been detected in 45 countries.
We pray for comfort in Indonesia, where all contact has been lost with a passenger jet that carried 50 people.
As war and violence continue across our world, we pray for peace and pray for the loved ones of the dozens killed in Syria by Israeli airstrikes apparently targeting positions and arms depots of Iran-backed forces located there.
We pray for comfort as we continue to experience losses of all kinds this season – the lives of so many, broken relationships, jobs and sources of income, as well as the anniversaries of so many losses which we remember and continue to mourn.
God, there is so much. So many things are happening in our world that we cannot wrap our minds around, and so we ask that you may help us. That you may hold us as we cannot hold ourselves. That we may find you in all of the little places, in all of the things we have to do in any given week – we ask that you walk with us and that we may find little pieces of comfort and joy throughout our week. Even when we are not strong and have so little to give – we know that you have so much to give. We ask that you may be the comforting presence to each of those in our community – that your unshakeable and infinite love will carry us through and hold us today and always.
In your name we pray.
Amen.
"SEE" YOU SUNDAY!
The Rev. Michael Wallens
Vicar - Saint Paul's Episcopal Church
P.O. Box 175, Marfa, Texas 79843
