St. Stephen's Episcopal Church

Did you know Pauli Murray was Episcopalian? The Reverend Dr. Anna Pauline Pauli Murray, an American civil rights activist who became a lawyer, women’s rights activist, and author. In 1965, she became the first African American to receive a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Yale Law School. As a lawyer, Murray focused on civil rights and women’s rights. Her book, States’ Laws on Race and Color, is an examination and critique of segregation laws throughout the country. ...Additionally, My Name is Pauli Murray is a documentary highlighting her journey fighting for social justice. Inspired by the other women in the Episcopal Church, Pauli Murray became the first black woman ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1977. Along Thurgood Marshall, Murray was added permanently to the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints. By fiercely challenging political, religious, and social powers in her search for equality for people of color, women, and the LGBTQ community, her legacy continues to speak to us in healing our divided nation. #paulimurray #blackhistory #blackhistorymonth #blackepiscopalians #allarewelcome #nooutcasts #thedignityofeveryhumanbeing Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Happy Lunar New Year to all who celebrate! May the Year of the Ox bring happiness, strength, and resilience. Wishing everyone good luck and good fortune in this time. . Happy New Year! #chinesenewyear #YearoftheOx #lunarnewyear #peace #resilience #strength

Join us Sunday morning, February 14th, at 10AM PT here live on Facebook! We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a service of Holy Eucharist. Feel free to share this post and invite your friends! You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #sunday #sundaychurch #churchlife #sundaymorning #peacebewithyou #love #respectingthedignityofallpeople #seekandserve #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

St. Stephen’s Midweek Eucharist 2.10.21

Join us today, February 10th, 2020 at 12PM here live on Facebook! We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a simple midweek service of Holy Eucharist. You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #churchlife #peacebewithyou #love #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

Listen, the Apostle Paul whispers, I will tell you a mystery. We will not all die, but we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor 15:51-52 para). I look into the night sky. I find a star gazing back at me, and I let it be the star over Bethlehem that instantaneously called humanity’s attention to the unveiling of God’s love for all people made known through the birth of Jesus. The mystery remains true: collapses and risings fill the patterns of our common life, still, we yearn for God’s love-filled light in the darkness. It transforms us, as God never puts an end to anything that God loves. Credit to adventword.org #advent #adventword #wilderness #waiting #watching #preparing #mystery

The time for rejoicing is near. Can’t you feel the swell of the season? After watching and waiting these weeks, we’re just days from welcoming baby Jesus into the world once again. O come, o come, Emmanuel. Rejoice! Our trusted friend Merriam-Webster offers two definitions for the word rejoice. We mostly live in the first one: to feel joy or great delight.... We feel joy in the freedom of summer, sun bearing down as legs pump bike pedals, and we race to meet up with friends. We take great delight in the first kiss of the one who will become the love of a lifetime. We rejoice as a newborn stretches into sleep, head resting in the soft spot between the neck and shoulder. During this season of Advent, we delight in family gatherings, laughter and good-natured ribbing over family-favorite feasts. We find joy in the giving (and sometimes in the getting) of gifts from loved ones. And we rejoice in the soaring melody of this beautiful Advent hymn, O come, o come Emmanuel. Whether we sing with our faith community in the pews, at the top of our lungs in the shower, or alone at home as we worship online, these words stir our soul. We, like Mary in the Magnificat, proclaim: My spirit rejoices in God my savior. This type of rejoicing is exuberant and contagious, and we tuck away the moments of rejoicing in our soul scrapbooks. But Merriam-Webster offers another definition for rejoice that we don’t often consider. Rejoice can also mean to give joy to, to gladden. In this use, it’s a transitive verb. What that means is that the verb has a direct object. It seems to me that this is the definition Jesus embodies. He comes to be among us, born in a lowly stable, to give joy to us. To gladden our hearts. To be love incarnate, love made flesh. We are the object of his gift of joy. So what does that mean for us as Christians? Yes, we rejoice. We must rejoice. Just think of the wonders of creationthe light of a firefly, cotton-candy skies at sunset, the crash of a wave. How can we not delight in their majesty? We rejoice in our relationships with others. The comfort of coming home, no matter how old and how long. A hand held on a long walk. The tear that escapes when a child takes flight into the world. God delights in these moments with us, and we rejoice. And of course, we rejoice in the gift of this baby, the Christ. Emmanuel, o come. Yet we cannot leave our rejoicing there, as something we receive or experience. As we seek to be Christlike in all that we say and do, we must also give joy to others and find ways to gladden their hearts. When we see that rejoicing is not just a taking in but a giving out, we discover blessings anew. Credit to adventword.org #advent #adventword #wilderness #waiting #watching #preparing #rejoice

Join us today, October 28th, 2020 at 12PM here live on Facebook!. We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a simple midweek service of Holy Eucharist. You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #churchlife #peacebewithyou #love #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

On our second day of our Season of Prayer for an Election, we come to pray for each human heart. Come together in saying: Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart and especially the hearts of the people of this land, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Check back in each day for a new... prayer as we prepare for an election of leaders to guide us into hope and courage. #seasonofprayer #prayerforthenation #hope #courage #peace #peacetoall

Join us this morning Sunday, December 20th, at 10AM PT here live on Facebook! We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a service of Holy Eucharist on this fourth Sunday of Advent. Feel free to share this post and invite your friends! You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #sunday #sundaychurch #churchlife #sundaymorning #peacebewithyou #love #summerchurch #respectingthedignityofallpeople #seekandserve #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

On the first day of our Season of Prayer for an Election, we come to pray for the nation. Come together in saying: Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ...ever and ever. Amen. Check back in each day for a new prayer as we prepare for an election of leaders to guide us into hope and courage. #seasonofprayer #prayerforthenation #hope #courage #peace #peacetoall

Imagine a flat plane holding all of creation, and at the center of all things, the radiance of God, alighting on all things, beholding all things, knowing all things. We, too, are on the plane, working to keep our eyes fixed on this center, drawing closer to the Source and each other with every step. But so often all the time! we take our eyes from God; we become distracted, we fall back, we get bored and settle for selfish desires, innumerable idolatries, and participation in systems that draw us further from God and each other. Now is our time to TURN back to God, preparing our hearts and fixing our eyes on the Holy One. Credit to adventword.org #advent #adventword #wilderness #waiting #watching #preparing #turn

If you were not able to catch our livestream this past Sunday, 10/25/2020, you can listen to Rev. Christopher's sermon "Choose Love" here: https://www.st-stephens.org/sermons #sermon #churchlife #community #togetherevenwhenwerenot #wereinittogether #holydistancing

As Election Day draws near, St. Stephen's and the whole Episcopal Church come together in asking God for courage and wisdom. Over the next 9 days, from October 27th through November 4th, we will be posting daily prayers focused on committing to offer to God our hopes and dreams of the upcoming election. We hope you will join us along this journey of prayer. #seasonofprayer #9days #election #hope #courage #USelection #prayingtogether #peace

Prayer is offering love. Being faithful is continuing to offer love by praying when frustrated. God knows the injustice and need as well as our pain and frustration. God invites our cooperation. -Br. Luke Ditewig http://www.ssje.org/word/

Join us this morning Sunday, October 25th, at 10AM PT here live on Facebook! We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a service of Holy Eucharist. Feel free to share this post and invite your friends! You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #sunday #sundaychurch #churchlife #sundaymorning #peacebewithyou #love #summerchurch #respectingthedignityofallpeople #seekandserve #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

Join us Sunday morning, October 25th, at 10AM PT here live on Facebook! We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a service of Holy Eucharist. Feel free to share this post and invite your friends! You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #sunday #sundaychurch #churchlife #sundaymorning #peacebewithyou #love #summerchurch #respectingthedignityofallpeople #seekandserve #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita

If you were not able to catch our livestream this past Sunday, 10/18/2020, you can listen to Rev. Christopher's sermon "Who Do You Belong To?" here: https://www.st-stephens.org/sermons #sermon #churchlife #community #togetherevenwhenwerenot #wereinittogether #holydistancing

After hearing of the death of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew in a boat to a solitary place. Crowds followed on foot. When evening came, the disciples came to him and said, This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves. Jesus said to them, They need not go away; you give them something to eat. The disciples said to him, but we have nothing but five loaves and two fishes. Jesus ...ordered the crowd to relax and eat. After Jesus blessed the food the crowd ate and was satisfied. Did Jesus make a feast from a few scraps of food? Or, did he unlock the sharing and compassion of the crowd, so that their own pocketful of food created a feast when combined with their neighbors’ pocketful? Debating this miracle seems like counting angels on the head of a pin the truth is that people were fed, a problem that needed a solution was solved, love and generosity happened here. Davey Gerhard, TENS Executive Director As we navigate these uncertain times and look ahead to 2021 we know that it will take the support of everyone in our community to ensure that we are able to continue serving the mission and ministry of St. Stephen's. Giving is easy at st-stephens.org/giving. We thank you for your continued support. #giving #livegenerous #ingivingwereceive #stewardship #practiceabundance #faithfilledgenerosity

St. Stephen’s Midweek Eucharist 10.21.2020

Join us today, October 21st, 2020 at 12PM here live on Facebook!. We hope you will be with us as we gather in community for a simple midweek service of Holy Eucharist. You can find service bulletins at st-stephens.org See you soon! #churchlife #peacebewithyou #love #togetherevenwhenwerenot #holydistancing #allarewelcome #santaclarita