EPC Resources
Foster by Claire Keegan with Dean Victor Judge, Sundays April 16th, 23rd, 30th after worship.
Emmanuel Presbyterian is delighted to welcome Victor Judge for a three part discussion of the theological themes in Claire Keegan’s short novel Foster.
Victor Judge is the Dean for Academic Affairs at Vanderbilt Divinity School and lecturer in literature and religion specializing in the theological themes of the works of writers such as Flannery O’Connor, Emily Dickinson, Albert Camus, and William Faulkner.
Our discussion will commence directly after worship, so grab a cup of coffee and a little snack and circle up for some rich discussion of this wonderful little book.
The author, Irish writer, Claire Keegan.
Listen to a reading of the novel in three parts.
You may want to listen to this lovely reading of the novel in three parts by Evanna Lynch. If you do not have a YouTub subscription, you will have to skip or wait through the advertisements, but hearing Ms. Lynch read in her lilting Irsih accent is a treat.
Simply click the buttons below for each segment of the reading.
Our Response To The Covenant School Shooting
Dear Emmanuel Family,
I wait to hear from our Presbytery what support our faith siblings at Covenant Presbyterian may need. In the meantime, I know we all will be holding Nashville, the Covenant community, the families who have experienced such horrific loss, all students, families, and individuals associated or affected in any way by the killings yesterday.
Such terrible events reverberate in the hearts of many people for various reasons, bringing doubt, fear, pain, grief. Sadly, school shootings, the loss of children’s lives, is all too familiar in the United States: these mass shootings are a grievous blight upon our culture, but we feel acutely this tragedy as it is so close to home. Stan and I spent the last hours of the morning and into the afternoon “on call” in Green Hills yesterday for two families with teens at Hillsboro High School who could not get to their kids.
As an extension of the Wednesday night prayer ministry, Emmanuel Presbyterian will hold a Candlelight Prayer Vigil on Wednesday at 5:30pm in the sanctuary.
The regularly scheduled Lectio Divina, Supper, and Prayer Circle will take place as planned beginning at 6pm.
Please drop by to light a candle and lift all families involved, our city, and our hurting world in prayer. Pastor Jane will have a printed prayer and candles for lighting.
You might want to stay and rest a while in the holy silence or simply light a candle and continue on after a prayerful pause.
Our intention is to make this 30-minute window of time from 5:30 to 6:00 easy for as many of us as can come to hold the space or simply drop by. While action in many directions is needed to move our world forward to a better place, prayer is real and also needed.
Hold onto one another loved ones,
pray for the Peace of Christ to rest in the hearts of all afflicted,
pray for Christ’s Peace to reign in us all–
Yours in God’s great Love,
Jane
Lent Calendar
Ash Wednesday: February 22nd at 6pm
We will gather in the sanctuary for the imposition of ashes, prayer, music, and reading of the Holy Word.
Sunday Worship in Lent: 9:45am (Feb 26-March 26)
Sunday mornings in Lent will look a little different this year: your worship committee has designed a slightly new order to create a more quiet, contemplative service for the five Sundays of the Lenten season.
Contemplative music will begin at 9:45am.
Announcements will begin at 9:50am.
Worship begins at 10:00am.
Daily Lenten Devotional: The church-wide daily reading for Lent is…
Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent by Richard Rohr is the church-wide daily reading for Lent. We have a few copies at the church, donated by an anonymous angel. I think there are a few left. Otherwise, they are available for purchase at Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Wondrous-Encounters-Richard-Rohr-F-M/dp/0867169877
Sunday School in Lent: 9:00am (Feb 26-March 26)
Read the weekly selections in Wondrous Encounters and join us for Sunday School at 9am in Pastor Jane’s office. There will be plenty of chairs, and coffee too.
We will read and discuss the Sunday selection and discuss any lingering thoughts or questions from the previous week’s reading.
Wednesdays in Lent: 6:00pm –(approximately) 7pm Lectio Divina and Simple Supper
(March 1,8,15,22,29)
We will gather at 6pm each Wednesday of March for a brief practice of Lectio Divina.
Lectio Divina is a traditional practice of scriptural reading followed by meditation and prayer. The practice is meant to promote communion with God, the ability to listen and open to God’s promptings for you through scripture. In this way, Lectio Divina approaches scripture not so much a text to be studied but a living word to be listened to with an open heart.
At 6:30 we will gather at the table for a simple Lenten meal, usually soup and bread or beans and rice.
Holy Week Services
Maundy Thursday: April 6th
We will have our traditional Supper of the Lamb. Details will be forthcoming. Mark your calendar for this special event when we break bread together and remember that last supper we celebrate in our holy communion.
Good Friday observance will be April 7th: more details to come.
The Lenten season ends with Holy Saturday (or Quiet Saturday) as we anticipate the celebration of our risen Lord on Easter Sunday. A joyous day it will be.