NEW MEMBER CLASSES TO BEGIN THIS SUNDAY
Dear all: Some of you have joined St. Stephen; some have expressed interest; and some of you are simply looking to see if this is… Read More »NEW MEMBER CLASSES TO BEGIN THIS SUNDAY
St. Stephen News
Saints Alive Resumes Thursday, September 22, 11:30 a.m
Rev. Tom Finley Brown, Guest Speaker, On Mission to Pakistan The Rev. Tom Finley Brown called the church office months ago when we originally scheduled our Pakistani friend,… Read More »Saints Alive Resumes Thursday, September 22, 11:30 a.m
Seeking Samaritan House Volunteers!
Although it doesn’t feel like the autumn season yet, we’re gearing up for a fall meal! The next 3rd Friday Dinner is scheduled for September… Read More »Seeking Samaritan House Volunteers!
A Place Set Apart
“She lies like a gem in the ocean,” although her identity remains hidden on most maps. Yet thousands of pilgrims arrive each year to seek her secrets, her soul. Her rocks are as old as the earth itself and tell of a fiery, violent birth from deep beneath her shores. Legend says that the giant warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill, whom the English call Finn McCool, built the “Giant’s Causeway,” a geological phenomenon of basalt columns lining a pathway on the floor of the ocean, so he could walk from Ireland to the west coast of Scotland by way of the island of Staffa. Mr. mac Cumhaill lives in the mythology of both countries, inspired by these strange vertical columns of igneous rock. It can be seen in all its grandeur on the south side of Staffa, an uninhabited island, part of the Inner Hebrides’ archipelago, home to thousands of nesting seabirds, foremost among them, a large colony of puffins. . .surely a bird designed by committee; home also to Fingal’s Cave, made famous by the composer Felix Mendelssohn who in 1830, after a visit, composed the “Hebrides Overture.”Read More »A Place Set Apart
When We All Get Together
My summer schedule has been populated with high action, kick it in gear, activities for the children and youth and friends of St. Stephen Presbyterian. From preparing for Vacation Bible School for over 75 children – it was wonderful, to immediately transforming Parish Hall into the Garage Sale of dreams, then to the Chicago Youth Mission Trip and the absolutely dynamic results there – relationally, and finally to Music Day Camp just a week ago. I’m shaking finger at those of you giving me any credit for the summer’s achievements; I’m just a forceful presence taking many a volunteer along for the ride. None of these events were done alone; all were done in tandem leadership and youthful shepherding. You have you to thank. I am grateful that we all made this spiritual summer happen successfully.Read More »When We All Get Together
Back by Popular Demand: Dinners (or lunches) for Eight!
Join church friends for fun and fellowship at a “Dinner or Lunch for 8” in September!! Groups will decide on their date for the get together and whether… Read More »Back by Popular Demand: Dinners (or lunches) for Eight!
FATHERS, TRUE; BUT ALWAYS SONS Genesis 37.1-11
There were times, I’m sure, when Jacob must have agonized with regret over his showing to his other sons that he loved Joseph more than all of them. Yes, I can appreciate that when a man approaches old age, he treats any proof of his virility with extra special love, and certainly Joseph being a child of Jacob’s old age would qualify for that kind of attention. Yet, any of us here who has an ounce of wisdom in us can see the makings of a terribly dysfunctional family system in the household of Jacob and his twelve sons. Joseph had all the makings of an imp, a pipsqueak, a pest, a callow lad filled with all the narcissistic self-absorption that any 17 year old boy with raging hormones could inflict on his family. Jacob was the doting sugar-daddy. His older brothers could not even say, “Good-day” or “Hello” to him. Perhaps the Bible is describing a family you know well.Read More »FATHERS, TRUE; BUT ALWAYS SONS Genesis 37.1-11
Greetings from Hot and Sunny Louisville
A Letter from guest commentator, Missionary Sharon Curry
I wish I could describe in a few short words the amazing work that God has been doing in the past few weeks. I have been on a whirlwind of travel from Big Tent in Indianapolis to a few days of R&R in Tennessee, to two weeks of Ecumenical training in Toronto, and now, I am “resting” in Louisville at the PCUSA portion of orientation training for my new position as Health and Development Consultant for South Sudan – 8 to 10 hours a day of training and fellowship with PCUSA World Mission staff.Read More »Greetings from Hot and Sunny Louisville
Windy City Trip Log
“We know that all things work together for good, to them who love God and are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
Our trip to the Windy City, Chi-Town, Illinois, in mid-July, was punctuated with dramatic mechanical issues. However, in retrospect, these issues became side interests and financially not-so dramatic as we envisioned.
Thirty representatives of St. Stephen went to Chicago on a Youth Mission Trip. It included middle school and high school church members, college age SPITS (sponsors in training), and experienced and inexperienced sponsors – including one who just returned from his honeymoon…