From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred

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From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church                                                                                 February 2021

           From Fr. Bill….          Reservation of the Sacrament—Restoration of the Sacred
   According to the Episcopal Dictionary of the Church             holy about real candles.
(yes, this is a real thing and references all things                 The use of real candles – oil lamps to be exact – is associ-
“episcopal”), the following is stated regarding the                ated with Abrahamic worship as far back as Moses in Exo-
“Reservation of the Sacrament:”                                    dus. While the Hebrew people wandered the desert during
  “Following ancient custom, the Book of Common Prayer             those long 40 years, they would take with them a place of
provides that the consecrated bread and wine may be re-            worship – a place where God would meet with Moses in a
served for the communion of the sick or others who for             tent called the Tabernacle. Within the Tabernacle stood a
“weighty cause” could not be present at                                               seven-branch lampstand made of pure
the celebration or for administration of                                              gold; this lampstand, is not a Menorah. It
communion by a deacon to a congregation                                               is said that God – Yahweh – commanded
when a priest is unavailable (pp. 408-409).                                           the lampstand, which was then trans-
The sacrament also may be reserved on                                                 ferred, or likely recreated, and placed in
Maundy Thursday for communion on                                                      the Holiest of Holies in the Temple. While
Good Friday. It is customary to keep the                                              the original lampstand was destroyed or
consecrated elements in a tabernacle or an                                            taken during the Roman destruction of the
aumbry or covered with a veil on a table                                              Temple in 70 CE, a replica of the Temple
or altar. A lamp or candle burns nearby to                                            Lamp sits outside in the middle of Jerusa-
announce the presence of the reserved                                                 lem near the site of the original Temple as
sacrament. This light is known as a sanctu-                                           a way to remember what was before.
ary lamp if the reservation is near the al-                                              But enough of my own seminary geek-
tar.”                                                                                 ery. I bring all this up because the purpose
  Following the fire that happened in the                                             of the sanctuary lamp is, for us, a remem-
basement of St. Alban’s nearly 10 months                                              brance that Christ is always with us – in
ago, amidst the melted tents, scorched                                                the good times and the bad. Yet, because
electronic candles, and destroyed towels,                                             of the fire, our power was shut off and for
ladder, and other sundries was the original sanctuary lamp –       several weeks the sanctuary candle was dark because there
unharmed and in one, complete piece.                               was no electricity to power it. Which is why the finding of
  Those of you who have been here awhile might remem-              the original sanctuary lamp is so important. The original
ber this lamp as it hung directly over the altar, shining the      sanctuary lamp with a lit, with a real candle, is a visible sign
Light of Christ for everyone to see. From what I under-            that no matter what – if there is electricity or not – God is
stand, once Fr. Rex saw members of our Altar Guild climb-          ever and always present with each and every one of us, all
ing atop ladders – and possibly standing on the altar itself to    of the beloved people of St. Alban’s.
change the candle – the sanctuary candle was retired and an          This last year has been unlike any other year – a year of
electric sanctuary candle took its place atop of the aumbry.       isolation, of hardship, of pandemic. And I find that I need
  I do not think it is a secret that I am not a fan of electron-   that visible, physical reminder of God’s presence in my life.
ic candles. Yes, I understand the cost benefits and safety         Which is why, I have restored the original sanctuary candle
features associated with them, although the hand-held elec-        to the Church. I hope it brings you as much peace as it does
tronic candles remain a “person of interest” as the cause of       me.
the fire. For me, however, there is something sacred and
From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred
Community Pantry Off to a Good Start
   We are excited to announce the creation of the St.        soup packets,
Alban’s Free Community Pantry, which is located              small boxes
right in front of the Little House. The pantry will be       of dry milk,
stocked with safely wrapped/packaged food and                shelf-stable
hygiene items, is available 24/7 to anyone in the            milk, tuna
community to access, and will be restocked several           packets, fruit
times per week as needed. Folks will be able to ac-          cups, coffee,
cess the pantry from the sidewalk and there is plen-         tea, juice, and
ty of parking for those who drive.                           other bever-
    Thank you to the Cub Scout Den 5, Pack 199 for           ages are all
your hard work in constructing this beautiful free           welcome.
community pantry.                                            Additionally,
   This free community pantry, much like our grow-           small con-
ing Community Gleaning Garden, is St. Alban’s                tainers of
living out its mission of being the hands of Christ          staple items
to a hurting and hungry world, welcoming all.                such as flour,
   If you wish to support the pantry, please drop off        sugar, salt,
shelf-stable, individually wrapped food items in the         rice, beans,
collection box inside the Parish Hall. Items such as         and artificial
small jars of peanut butter, snack crackers, jerky,          sweetener, as
granola bars, oatmeal packets, individual cereal and         well as indi-
                                                             vidually wrapped utensils are also welcome.
                          Connect with us!
                                Bishop
                                                                Next spring, we will add canned items, but for now,
                  The Rt. Reverend Kym Lucas                 the danger of freezing means we cannot offer them.
                          Priest in Charge                   Please know we cannot offer any items that are sub-
                  The Reverend William Stanton               ject to spoiling without controlled temperatures.
                            303-521-7233                       We also are in need of hygiene items, including first
                   father@stalbanswindsor.com
                           Administrator
                                                             aid supplies, feminine products, soap, lotion, sham-
                          Diana Vanderleest                  poo, lip balm, sunscreen, toothbrushes and tooth-
                   office@stalbanswindsor.com                paste, etc. If you travel please think of the pantry
                           Senior Warden                     when you stay at a hotel and bring us the complimen-
                              Ann Kling                      tary shampoo, lotion, etc., that you don’t use.
                    kling_ann@hotmail.com
                           Junior Warden
                                                                 For more information, please contact Mike or Lin-
                            John Ginnity                     da Peters, 970-302-4514. If we don’t answer, please
                       johnginnity@gmail.com                 leave a message and we will return your call. Or you
                         Newsletter Editor                   can email us at LJVHP@comcast.net.
                             Carol Jones
                      jonesmartin@cowisp.net                   Shawna Hendricks is
                          Visit our Website                  looking for volunteers
                     www.stalbanwindsor.com
                       Visit us on Facebook:
                                                             for the Run Windsor
           https://www.facebook.com/stalbanswindsor          Lucky Brew 5/10K
                                                             race that benefits the I
                       Whoever you are.                      Heart Humanity program. I Heart Humanity provides
                     Whatever your story.                    laundry vouchers and soap for those in need in the
         Wherever you find yourself in your faith journey.
                  There’s a place for you here.
                                                             community. Volunteers will direct runners throughout
                                                             the race. The race takes place on March 13 from 9–11
     P.O. Box 697 – 311 6th Street – Windsor, CO 80550       a.m. It begins at High Hops Brewery, 6461 CO-392,
         970-686-9658 – www.stalbanswindsor.com              Windsor. Contact Shawna Hendricks with questions:
                                                             970-518-8333.
Page 2                                                                                  St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred
Preparations for Lent
  The Season of Lent is that 40-day period, not includ-
ing Sundays, beginning on Ash Wednesday and contin-
uing until Easter, which falls on April 4 this year. The
observance of a Holy Lent dates back to the earliest
days of the Church, when converts to Christianity
would undergo final preparations for their baptism at
the Great Vigil of Easter, and believers would reflect
honestly and intentionally on their relationship with
God in preparation for the renewal of their baptismal
vows.
  Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, falls on Feb-        Sunday.
ruary 17. We are offering two in-person services that          Included in the Lent home bags, is your own edition
day at our outdoor altar where we held our summer            of the saintly scorecard for you to play Lent Madness!
                                 services. The services      The brainchild of the Reverend Tim Schenck, Lent
                                 will be offered at 10:30    Madness is a fun and engaging way for people to learn
                                 a.m. and again at 5 p.m.    about the men and women comprising the Church’s
                                 During this service, you    calendar of Saints. Saints compete against each other in
                                 will be invited to ob-      a "March Madness" tournament-like, single-elimination
                                 serve a Holy Lent           bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of
                                 through self-               time and people vote online for their favorite saint. Six-
                                 examination and repent-     teen saints make it to the round of the Saintly Sixteen,
                                 ance, by prayer, fasting,   eight advance to the round of the Elate Eight, four
                                 and self-denial, and by     make it to the Faithful Four, two to the championship,
                                 reading and meditation      and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo.
                                 on God's Holy Word.
Through these practices, we draw near to Jesus Christ
and become like him.
  It is the tradition of the church to impose ashes as a
way of remembrance that “we are dust and to dust we
shall return.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we
have arranged a safe way to impose ashes so as to of-
fer the best protection to everyone while still honor-
ing this long-held, ancient tradition. At the service,
you will receive a small glassine envelope – like the
ones in which we offer our communion hosts – with
ashes. You will be invited, once directed in the ser-
vice, to impose the ashes on yourself, or if you live
with a family member, you may impose the ashes on
                                                                           Ashes to go 2020. From left:
each other. Our 5 p.m. service will be live streamed on          Reverend Emily Flemming, Dick and Mary Cella.
our Facebook page if you wish to remain at home for
the service.                                                 You can subscribe to Lent Madness to receive the daily
  Beforehand, we will be delivering Lent at home bags,       emails of saint pairings by clicking the following link
which will provide all that you need to celebrate Shrove     and subscribing: https://www.lentmadness.org.
(or Fat) Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent up to Palm

                             Visit St. Alban’s on Facebook here.
                  And find more information about the church at its webpage:
                            https://www.stalbanswindsor.com/

St. Alban’s Episcopal Church                                                                              Page 3
From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred
Treasurer’s Report
  The year ended                               2018
                       Unrestricted Income/             2018        2019      2019      2020      2020         2021
with an operating      Expense
                                              Budg
                                                       Actual      Budget    Actual    Budget    Actual      Budget
loss of $115, exclud-                            et
ing the benefit of                            138,1
                            Total Income        70    168,814     149,590    178939   188,310   175,148      152,945
the PPP loan forgiv-
en ($16,047). It also      Special Events     3,000 2,710           2,500     2,265      600     1,485         3,300
included the net in-                          32,00
                                 Plate           0     30,432      30,000    25,383    20,000    14,473       12,500
surance proceeds of                           101,4
$34,918 that will be            Pledge          70    110,046     110,890   122,901   136,085   129,724      128,145
used primarily for
the kitchen update        Restricted Income   1,200     4,315       2,000     8,581    10,000                  5,500
and the net remain-
ing proceeds from
the playground grant Total Expense without 1774
of $2,223.                  Depreciation        90    160,441     181,081   206,037   207,283   175,263      176,388
Looking forward to       Ordinary  Recurring   (39,3
                            Net Income          20)     8,373     (31,491)  (26,184)  (18,973)    (115)     (23,443)
2021, the updated
pledges received are $128,445 from 36 family units.        is $42,500.
Last year there were 54 pledging units. There is an esti- We are thankful for the members and the financial
mated budget shortfall of $23,443. The estimated           support during 2020 – a challenging year for all!
budgeted expenses amount to $176,388, of which             Excluding insurance proceeds and expense, PPP loan
$124,118 is for personnel to lead us in ministry.          forgiven, and net income from the playground grant,
  The checking and savings account balances available the chart above is a summary of profits and losses.
for 2021 total $24,129, and the rainy day fund balance

                                      Update on Kitchen Renovation
  The kitchen renovation is beginning to take shape.         lower cabinets.
Thanks to the leadership and work of Sandra and Ter-           Angels donated a new dishwasher with a high tem-
ry Fornes, a phoenix will be rising from the ashes that      perature sanitizing feature and a new refrigerator. The
once was our kitchen. Due to smoke damage caused by          vents above the stoves, which were not vented proper-
                            the fire, the kitchen needed     ly, were removed and re-
                            to be demolished down to         placed with new stainless-
                            the studs, proving an op-        steel vents that will match
                            portunity for renovation.        both the refrigerator and
                              New circuits were in-          the dishwasher.
                            stalled in the electrical pan-     Currently, the framing
                            el, and both the kitchen and     and electrical is complete.
                            the Sacristy were wired for      New spray foam insula-
                            new recessed cam lighting.       tion was installed on the
                            To gain more cabinet and         walls, and bat insulation
                            counter space, the door          installed in the ceiling.
                            from the kitchen to the Sac-     The next step is drywall,
                            risty, and the window that       which is in the process of
                            opened to the east were          being scheduled.
  Renovations underway.                                                                            Insulation.
                          closed off. This allows for          You are welcome to
new upper and lower cabinets on both the east and            come in and check the progress of the kitchen at any
west walls of the kitchen, increasing the kitchen stor-      time. Please contact Fr. Bill if you are interested.
age space. New countertops will be installed on the
Page 4                                                                                   St. Alban’s Episcopal Church
From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred From Fr. Bill . Reservation of the Sacrament-Restoration of the Sacred
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