MAMA Church at Bethany House: December 2016

Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas Day Mass...

Join us for Mass on Sunday, Christmas Day at 10:30am! Call 859-404-8374 if you need a ride. God bless you!

What a lovely, Jesus-centered time we had at the Bethany House Christmas Vespers! Hearing God’s Word, singing to him in Advent and Christmas carols, and enjoying fellowship with each other was a wonderful way to make our final preparation for the Feast of Our Lord’s Nativity on Christmas Day!

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

A Christmas Celebration...

Christmas Vespers at Bethany House

Join us as we sing Christmas Carols, hear the Salvation story in readings from Scripture, and sing “Silent Night” by candlelight!

It begins at 7:00pm on Thursday, December 22 at 408 Levee Road in Mt. Sterling (across from the MCHS football stadium).

We’d love to share this time with you!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Chairs for Bethany House Fundraiser Update...

Hello, Friends!

Here's an update on the Bethany House Fundraiser for Chairs...

Through donations on Go-Fund-Me and donations mailed to Bethany House, we've already raised $200!!

You can help us by donating at...

Chairs for Bethany House Fundraiser

or by sending a check to...

Chairs for Bethany House Fundraiser

PO Box 502

Mount Sterling, KY

40353

Please consider a donation (in whatever amount) to this fundraiser – it will help us provide chairs for Bible studies, multiple weekly worship times, parenting classes, our Children's Guardian Angels support group meetings, and much more!

Thank you & God bless you!

Father Todd

Monday, December 5, 2016

Partnership with New Beginnings...

An announcement from the vicar of MAMA Chruch...

Dear friends,

I am absolutely delighted to share that Saints Mary and Martha Church will soon be sharing Bethany House (in Mount Sterling) with New Beginnings of Winchester!

New Beginnings equips expecting mothers with parenting classes, Bible study, and supply of physical needs. They also offer character classes (including abstinence encouragement), mentoring for new fathers, pregnancy tests, ultra sounds, and referrals for medical care.

As Anglicans, we are pro-life, and in partnering with New Beginnings we will be able to help foster pro-abundant life in the lives of women and men who are unexpectedly thrust into the role of parenting! Please take a moment to look at the New Beginnings of Winchester Facebook page (click on the link below)!

New Beginnings of Winchester

Please keep New Beginnings, Bethany House, and our outreach in Montgomery County in your prayers!

Father Todd Boyce,

Vicar of MAMA Church

at Bethany House

Thursday, December 1, 2016

A Surprising Discovery Tonight...

From the vicar…

Well, Bethany House was broken into and a note was left (on a dry erase board) apologizing for the broken glass. The man indicated that he was in need of warmth and shelter, and that he would never steal from the Church.

To his credit, nothing was missing, though it appears that he was drawn to three items in the Chapel: The Baptismal Font, the Chalice and Paten on the credence table, and the Tabernacle containing the Reserve Sacrament (each was moved, but unharmed). But it raises the question for us as Christians: How far does our hospitality go? Are we willing to follow Jesus when it's not easy?

I just returned from sitting in my car at Bethany House from Midnight until 1:00am, not so much to catch the man in the act (the Sheriff's Deputy who responded to our call believes he knows who the man is and we believe he's in need of our help), but to see his need being expressed.

Bethany House, as a community of Jesus-followers, is being pushed and pressed by the Lord right now. We've been praying for people to help. We've been praying for the Lord to flesh out his vision for our ministry. And, in a multitude of ways (including this evening's discovery), we believe that we're seeing the Lord's hand guiding and nudging us.

Though we would rather have been asked (thus avoiding the broken glass and repairs), there is something heart-warming about a soul seeking shelter in the Lord's house and leaving it unharmed. We know, now more than ever before, that Bethany House does not belong to us. As we say during the Mass "I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but speak the word only and my soul shall be healed."

Lord, send those to Bethany House who need your shelter, whose roofs are torn and tattered by the changes and chances of life.

Father Todd

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Bethany House FAQ’s...

Q – What is Bethany House? Is it a Church or is it some kind of monastery?

A – Bethany House is both a regular Church (Saints Mary and Martha Anglican Church - lovingly known as MAMA Church) and the home of the Companions of Mary and Martha (a group of Jesus-followers who are using the ancient “Rule of St. Benedict” to help them draw closer to Jesus and share him with the world).

Q – To attend worship or evening prayer at Bethany House, do I have to join the Companions of Mary and Martha?

A – No, you do not. Anyone who is seeking God is VERY welcome to join us for worship and prayer (and potlucks and other gatherings and activities, too)! We welcome you to join us anytime! Some who worship and pray with us are members of other Churches. In order to receive Holy Communion during worship, you do have to be a Baptized Christian and in good standing with your home Church.

Q – Is MAMA Church at Bethany House Catholic or Protestant?

A – It’s both! As Anglicans, we hold to “Catholic order and Evangelical faith”. Our form or style of worship looks very much like Roman Catholic Mass, but the hymns and songs we sing are very “Protestant” (many of them, like “Amazing Grace”, written by Anglicans).

Q – Is MAMA Church at Bethany House part of a particular Christian denomination?

A – Yes, it is. MAMA (Saints Mary and Martha Anglican) Church at Bethany House is part of The Anglican Church in North America. (You can learn more about the ACNA at www.anglicanchurch.net) But, you do not need to be an Anglican to join us for worship and prayer. Likewise, you do not need to be an Anglican to join the Companions of Mary and Martha – you only need to be a Baptized Christian who is in good standing with your home Church and who is willing to undertake the commitments that go with being a Companion.

Q – What does worship at Bethany House look like?

A – It’s both ancient and welcoming. We sing hymns, chant the Psalms, hear three brief readings from sacred Scripture (one from the Old Testament, one from the Epistles, and one from the Gospels), hear a sermon, pray, confess our sins, and receive Holy Communion. The pattern of our worship is called a Liturgy (Latin for “the work of the people”). We call our time of worship the Mass or the Holy Eucharist. On most Sundays, the hymns we sing and the Scripture we read and the sermon we hear all focus on the same topic.

Times, Seasons and Colors...

Dear friends,

I used to have a favorite place I liked to visit at lunchtime. It’s a beautiful little Churchyard in which stands a stately, old sycamore tree. I first discovered this Churchyard and tree in 2009, and was able to spend many of my lunch hours there.

I was drawn to that beautiful, little place because I felt the need for peace and quiet. I relished hearing the leaves rustle in the breeze, the coolness of being sheltered in the shade, and the knowledge that it is a place set aside for worshiping our Lord.

That first year, as the seasons changed and the leaves disappeared, I was able to reflect on how “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands for ever.” (Isaiah 40:8 NLT) The green growth of summertime had given way to the harvest and gathering of autumn and, finally, to the bareness of the “bleak midwinter.”

Yet, somehow, the bare sycamore tree didn’t make sense to me until I placed it in the context of Advent (the season of the Church year in which we focus our hearts and minds on the first coming of Jesus in Bethlehem, as well as his promised return in glory). With the dawn of each new day, we, as Christians, anticipate any sign of life, any hint that would tell us to continue hoping in Jesus. We look for these signs in Scripture and in the “fingerprints” of God in creation.

I suspect that if I were to look at that sycamore tree in the purplish-blue light of the pre-dawn hours, I would be forced to squint, to bend my neck, and to strain my eyes. That’s how we should be looking for Jesus – especially in these days of Advent, as we anticipate the signs of Christmas and any signs of our Lord’s return in glory!

May this season of the pre-dawn’s purplish-blue (the color of Advent) cause us to grow in anticipation of and love for our Lord Jesus Christ!

Father Todd

A Few Things that Describe Us...

1. We’re a community of faith – we passionately believe that Jesus gave us the Church and calls us, as believers, to be a part of his Church. According to Scripture, we can’t possibly be who we’re called to be as individuals without participating in the life of our Church community.

2. We believe that pure, unadulterated, self-giving, outreaching love covers a multitude of sins – the grace of God offered to us in the sacrificial love of Jesus through the Presence of the Holy Spirit means that divine love is closer to us than our sins will ever be, all we need to do is reach out and ask for it.

3. We worship God because we want to offer him something – our first and greatest work in this life is not found in the career we’ve chosen, in our hobbies, or even in our families; it’s found in how we respond to God’s gift of salvation. Our most important work is the worship we offer to God. Only then can our families, our careers, and our pastimes make any sense and receive the attention they deserve.

4. We’ve chosen Saints Mary and Martha as our ‘patrons’ – in looking for a name for our parish, we wanted to make sure that we were listening to the Lord. The name of a parish should always match its unique mission – ours is to listen to the Lord like Saint Mary of Bethany and to work for the Lord like her sister, Saint Martha of Bethany (see Luke 10:38-42).

5. We are radically non-conformist – when the world prods us to relinquish our unique identity or mission in Christ, we lovingly explain that we’ve found something we’ll never give up.

6. We are Christians in the Anglican way – we’re not Anglicans because of some special or unique belief system. Anglicans simply believe the Bible to be the Word of God and affirm that belief through the Apostles and Nicene Creeds – that’s it.

7. We use the Book of Common Prayer as our guide in worship – the BCP allows us to pray God’s Word as worship. Because nearly 85% of the BCP is either direct quotation of Scripture or a paraphrase of Scripture – while the rest of points to Scriptural concepts – we don’t have to continually re-invent our way of worship.

COVID-19 Precautions...

As we continue to cope with COVID-19, these are some things we’re doing at Bethany House to keep everyone safe while worshiping Jesus…

1. We require that everyone who attends worship wears a face mask – we have a number of people in our midst with health issues that put them at high risk should they contract the virus.

2. We are practicing physical distancing – the pews in the Chapel are marked out for a seating pattern that ensures we keep physical distance from one another.

3. We are not singing during Mass – the latest research shows that the aerosols (which carry the virus) released when we sing do linger in the air for an extended period of time and that more of the aerosols are released when we sing rather than just speak.

4. We are distributing Holy Communion in one kind only (the precious Body of Jesus) – Father Todd brings the consecrated Host (the precious Body) to each worshiper. It’s just too dangerous at this point to receive the precious Blood of Jesus in the chalice – whether by the common cup method or by the intinction method.

So put on your favorite mask, bring some hand sanitizer, and join us as we worship Jesus!!

MAMA Church at Bethany House

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Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas Day Mass...

The Christmas Vespers...

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

A Christmas Celebration...

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Chairs for Bethany House Fundraiser Update...

Monday, December 5, 2016

Partnership with New Beginnings...

Thursday, December 1, 2016

A Surprising Discovery Tonight...

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Our Archbishop

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Times, Seasons and Colors...

A Few Things that Describe Us...

The Mission of Jesus...

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