Author Archives: ststephensmckeesport

Where do we go from here?

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Updated Resources | Episcopal Church

A Message to the Church from the Presiding Bishop

Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?

In this moment – when the stain of bigotry has once again covered our land, and when hope, frankly, sometimes seems far away, when we must now remember new martyrs of the way of love like young Heather Heyer – it may help to remember the deep wisdom of the martyrs who have gone before.

The year was 1967. It was a time not unlike this one in America. Then there were riots in our streets, poverty and unbridled racism in our midst, and a war far away tearing us apart at home. In that moment, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a book, his last one, with a message that rings poignant today. It was titled, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?”

One of his insights then was that a moment of crisis is always a moment of decision. It was true then and is true now. Where do we go from here? Chaos? Indifference? Avoidance? Business as usual? Or Beloved Community? Continue reading →

First Monday healing services

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St. Stephen’s is now holding a monthly healing service, with Holy Eucharist, on the first Monday evening of every month at 6:30 p.m.

Our next healing service will be held July 3. Fr. Dave is available to hear private confessions either before or after the service.

All residents of the McKeesport area are welcome to celebrate with us, and all baptized Christians are invited to take holy communion.

For more information about the services or about becoming a Christian or an Episcopalian, call the church office at 412-664-9379 or email ststephenschurch@gmail.com.

Holy Week services 2017

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Maundy Thursday services will be held at 6:30 p.m. with an agape meal, followed by the liturgy and the stripping of the altar.

It is part of the Triduum, or three holy days before Easter. It comes from the Latin mandatum novum, “new commandment,” from Jn 13:34. The ceremony of washing feet was also referred to as “the Maundy.” Maundy Thursday celebrations also commemorate the institution of the eucharist by Jesus “on the night he was betrayed.” Source

Good Friday liturgy will be at 12 noon.

The Friday before Easter Day, on which the church commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a day of fasting and special acts of discipline and self-denial. The liturgy of the day includes John’s account of the Passion gospel, a solemn form of intercession known as the solemn collects (dating from ancient Rome), and optional devotions before the cross (commonly known as the veneration of the cross). Source

Easter Sunday celebrations will be at 8 and 10 a.m.

The feast of Christ’s resurrection. According to Bede, the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon spring goddess Eostre. Christians in England applied the word to the principal festival of the church year, both day and season. Easter Day is the annual feast of the resurrection, the pascha or Christian Passover, and the eighth day of cosmic creation. Faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the Sunday or third day following his crucifixion is at the heart of Christian belief. Source

Please join us downstairs in the undercroft following the 10 a.m. Easter Sunday service for tea and cookies!