St. James Episcopal Church

11/21/2022

10/06/2022

We give thanks for Fr. Schmidt and all critters of God.

10/06/2022

This is the second time in a single year. The first time was on Thanksgiving, 2021.

12/24/2021

Come join us at St. James for the Feast of the Nativity at 5 p.m. today. Christmas Eve service with music, candlelight and Eucharist. Let's talk about how to keep the Christmas in Christ.

Due to the current state of Covid infection, masks will be required, and the reception following has been cancelled.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

11/20/2021

St. James Sunday worship - Christ the King.

When you think of Jesus as King, and sing the songs of kingship that we sing - what images pop into your head? Do you think of Christ seated on a glorious throne, surrounded by power? Does he sit with a human court, with human made symbols of authority and wealth? Is everyone present well dressed and well read humans?

Or is it perhaps instead a court earthy, green and verdant, surrounded by various creatures, like the peaceable kingdom? Are all who are present perhaps naked, without symbols of rank and power, and in their original innocence and openness, as more like in the original garden of Eden?

Just what is Christ's kingship? What is its shape and image? Come join us for worship at 10 a.m.

10/16/2021

Sunday Morning Worship: October 17 at 10 a.m. - A Celebration of Paul Salmon, Director of Music

Please join us online or in person as we celebrate 20 years of music ministry and Paul Salmon’s last Sunday with St. James. For Zoom information, email: [email protected].

We will hear music and best wishes from Stephen Taylor and Marian McClure, Michal Cowan, presentation of gifts from Susan Burckle, and a slide show of music, Paul and choir at St. James.

Come join in this service of well wishes and appreciation.

10/02/2021

This Sunday (October 3) St. James Episcopal will join with Centenary United Methodist to celebrate a Blessing of the Animals at the Stargazer Plaza (Main Street between 6th and 7th streets) at 2 p.m.

Come with your creature companions for some music, blessings and treats for your pets.

A collection will be taken to benefit the Humane Society Willow Hope Farm Equine Rescue.

06/27/2021

Do you know who these folks were at the Shelbyville Pride march today? They are the couple who's wish to get marriage challenged the courts all the way to the landmark Supreme Court decision six years ago today. They are local Shelbyville folk.

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5–4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. The Court overruled its prior decision in Baker v. Nelson, which the Sixth Circuit had invoked as precedent.

06/27/2021

St. James was well represented at Shelbyville's Gay Pride march today. It was a fine crowd, and the opposition preaching from local church protesters called us out by name several times. Others from the march expressed appreciation for support from a mainline faith community.

We were happy to be witness to the love of Christ in that moment. Good job, St. James.

06/03/2021

Rev. Jay Hodge from First Presbyterian Shelbyville shared this video link. It is a good one, and worth passing along:

We live in a time where we quickly put people in boxes. Maybe we have more in common than what we think? Introducing All That We Share. The English version.

05/23/2021

Pentecost at St. James - Sunday at 10 a.m.

In our Acts reading, the Spirit of the Living God finds expression in many languages to illustrate the Spirit's breadth of inclusion of all people and rejection of empire's uniformity. Paul expands on this in Romans 8 to include the waiting of all creation for this inclusion.

What might it have done for our imagination and our justice had that Pentecost event included the songs of the birds and the whales, and the buzz of the locusts? What would Pentecost have come to mean to us?

Lets celebrate and join in the song of Pentecost!

Jerry+

05/07/2021

St. James Sunday Worship: Rogation Celebration

This Sunday we will be celebrating the days of Rogation in our morning service at 10 a.m. The Rogation Days are traditionally observed on the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday before Ascension Day (which is this coming Thursday). “Rogation” comes from the Latin noun rogatio, meaning “asking” (the verb is rogare, “to ask”). It is a celebration of thanksgiving and prayer for life’s necessities like food and health.

The Rogation observance commonly consists of an outdoor procession around the church property or neighborhood, where the participants would stop at various locations to pray and sing. We cannot do that in this season of covid, but we can join in the spirit of rogatio and pause to give thanks and beseech God’s blessing. We will be doing that from the altar in a way that works for everyone, whether on Zoom or present at the building.

So, before joining in worship with us this Sunday, pause to consider these areas of our common lives, think about the people and places involved, and prepare to ask God’s blessing upon them:

For those gathered at the church building and online, here and around the world;
For places of work and commerce, and those that work and produce goods;
For gardens and parks of beauty and peace;
For food and soil, and those who work with it, the worms and fungi that nurture it;
For sources of learning and wisdom, and those who teach;
For clean water, and the lakes and streams of this watershed;
For clean air, and the trees and flowers of our communities, the pollinators and birds around us;
For those in government, our military, first responders, and those that serve;
For places of healing, shelter, and care, and those who care;
And for all who have gone before, saints of old and in our present day.

Come and join your hearts and voices to this time of blessing.