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Misson
Statement

“To Know Christ and Make Him Known in Word and Deed”

St. Stephen’s mission statement, adopted by the Vestry echoes the psalmist who implored, “Teach me your ways, O Lord…for you are my God and my Savior (Ps. 25).”
The end of knowing God’s ways is to “Make known among the nations what He has done (Ps. 105).”
It also combines the mandate of the Great Commandment, “To love God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself” with the Great Commission, “To go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
The statement encapsulates why we come together at St. Stephen’s, and that our devotion does not stop when we are dismissed from the Eucharist.

Clergy and Vestry

The Vestry is an elected group of confirmed parishioners who administer the church’s temporal affairs. The senior warden and the junior warden lead the Vestry, assisted by the treasurer and the clerk. These twelve parishioners, serving in staggered terms of three years, also act as a liaison to a particular ministry area. The Vestry, along with the rector meets every third Sunday of the month.

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The Rev'd Timothy Alleman, Rector

(570 540-3535

FatherTimothyA@gmail.com

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Assistants in training

Our Stewardship Statement

“We believe Stewardship is about our very being as children of God, acknowledging that all of creation is a gift from God and has been entrusted to us.  We recognize God’s generosity and grace with gratitude and thankfulness.   In response we are called daily to the sacred act of using and sharing our resources of time, talent, and treasure because  stewardship  is  all  that we do with all  that we have after we say,  I believe.”

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Our Patron Saint

Saint Stephen, who died in 35 AD, was the first deacon and the first Christian martyr. Most probably a Hellenistic Jew, he was one of ‘the seven’ who were appointed by the Apostles to ‘serve tables’ in Jerusalem (Acts 6. 5). He also preached and performed miracles (Acts 6. 8), thus incurring the hostility of the Jews, who accused him to the Sanhedrin. There he delivered the great discourse reproduced in Acts 7. 2-53, setting out by a recapitulation of Israel’s history that God does not depend on the Temple and that Christ was the prophet announced by Moses. Incensed at his denunciations, his accusers, apparently without formal trial, had him stoned. Saul, the future Saint Paul, was a witness to his martyrdom. His death, in fact, made a great impression on Saul, especially when Stephen died confessing Christ and asking forgiveness for his persecutors. His tomb was not known until its discovery by the priest Lucian in 415. His feast has been celebrated on 26 December from the end of the 4th century.


-The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church

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Worship

Please help us fill our church for the glory of God. From earliest times Christians have gathered to hear and respond to the God’s Word, to offer their prayers for the world for which Christ died, and to break bread and share in the supper of the Lord.

If you are worshiping from home or while traveling join us by visiting;

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SERVICES AT
ST. STEPHEN’S

Holy Eucharist – Rite I-Celebration at the Lord’s Table, Communion, the Mass, or Holy Eucharist is the central act of our Christian worship, at 8:00 am on Sundays is offered in the Chapel is a simple Eucharist, without music or hymns, said by a priest usually with the assistance of a lay reader, an acolyte, and a lay eucharistic minister. Using traditional language, many worshipers find its simplicity appealing.

Choral Eucharist – Rite II -At 10:30 am on Sunday mornings our Eucharist is celebrated with full ceremony: choir, hymns, and a choral Mass setting.

Choral Evensong – Evening Prayer sung by priest and choir, with full ceremonial. At St. Stephen’s we offer Solemn Evensong two or three Sundays a year.

Stations of the Cross – a devotion also known as the Way of the Cross is the offering of prayer at a series of stations or stops within a particular space and is associated with our Lord’s passion and death. It can be done as a private devotion any time the church is open.

2024 Vestry and Officers

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Christian Education

To Know Christ and Make Him Known in Word and Deed
At St. Stephen’s, our mission statement proclaims that we are alive as a parish to share the good news of God-among-us. Throughout our website, you will see the Christian Formation programs offered at St. Stephen’s.
St. Stephen’s traditionally ends its program year the last Sunday before Memorial Day weekend and looks forward to our “Kick-off Sunday” the Sunday following Labor Day weekend. We invite you to join us for Sunday morning, one of our weekday programs, or during a special offering as we broaden our knowledge and grow together in faith. It is an important way to take part in “knowing Christ and making Him known in Word and Deed.”
For more information about any of our formation programs contact ststephens.wb@gmail.com or (570) 825-6653.

Adults

Bible Study has returned and is on Sunday mornings at 9:15 in the conference room.   Additional schedules and places to be announced.

Children

10:30 AM Second Floor classroom of the Parish House. The children and teachers will join the congregation for the celebration of the Eucharist.

Sunday September 10th

We celebrate our Patronal Feast [St. Stephen, Deacon & Martyr] and keep a Super Sunday (Sundae).  Following the liturgies, there will be a presentation at coffee hour describing various ministries in the life of the parish and an invitation to learn more and sign up for these ministries.

Confirmation and
Initiation

Initiation into the Christian faith begins in the waters of our baptism, for it is from this space that our common life flows. Because the Episcopal Church has a deep sense of Catholicity alongside an understanding of the Reformation, it is often seen as a “bridge” church and as such, many come through our doors from myriad traditions: Southern Baptist, Quaker, Congregationalist, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic, to name a few. It is for this reason that the Episcopal Church has several rites of entrance into this branch of the Body of Christ. Baptism is primary among them, but depending upon the tradition that one has experienced, the following rites are regularly celebrated. • Baptism, a sacramental rite that spiritually cleanses and welcomes new members into the community of Jesus Christ. Adult baptism often takes place at the Easter Vigil service (the Saturday night before Easter). • Confirmation, a sacramental rite in which a person who has been baptized into the Christian church is confirmed as a member by the bishop. • Reception, a ceremony celebrated by the bishop, in which someone who has been confirmed in other historic communions is received as a member of the Episcopal church. • Reaffirmation, a ceremony in which those who have been baptized reaffirm their baptismal vows.

Common Questions

Why do you use incense? In the ancient world, incense was the equivalent of modern air freshener. When an important guest was coming to visit, one would burn incense in one’s home to purify the air and eliminate foul odors. Since we believe that Jesus Christ comes into our midst during the celebration of the Eucharist, we cense the altar, the ministers, and congregation as a symbolic purification in anticipation of his arrival. Also, the rising smoke of the incense is sometimes said to symbolize prayer rising to heaven. At the most basic level, however, it just smells nice. Anglo-Catholic worship engages us through all our senses, so that we come to associate the joy of worship and the comfort of prayer with the pleasant aroma of an incense-filled church. Why do you pray out of a book? It is sometimes alleged that prayers read from a book are less sincere than spontaneous prayers “from the heart.” But this criticism misses the point. As the title of The Book of Common Prayer implies, these prayers are “common” prayer – that is, the corporate prayer of the congregation and of the entire universal Church. The Anglican spiritual tradition certainly encourages us to pray in our own words, as we are led by the Holy Spirit, in our private devotions, or as bidden during Prayers of the People, But what we find in the Prayer Book are not private prayers, but rather corporate liturgical prayers. They distill centuries of spiritual wisdom, embodying the thoughts, sentiments, and aspirations of the generations of faithful Christians who have gone before us. Reading these prayers and making them our own can only enrich our personal prayer lives. Why all those fancy robes? In the Anglican tradition, they are called not “robes” but “vestments.” At one level, their purpose is similar to that of ceremonial dress uniforms in the military: they signify a rank and a function. When the Sacred Ministers and servers put on the sacred vestments, they are stepping into a defined liturgical role. So far as possible, the vestments serve to obscure the idiosyncratic features of individual personalities that call attention to themselves and distract the congregation from prayer and worship. For example, the chasuble worn by the priest helps the congregation to see not Fr. So-and-So with all his annoying quirks and foibles but rather the celebrant of the Mass. At another level, the wearing of sacred vestments serves as a reminder that the ministers of the Mass are engaged in no ordinary mundane activity but rather are treading on holy ground and handling holy things. Why all the ritual and ceremony? It is a common misconception that rituals are by definition empty and meaningless, that they involve “just going through the motions.” Anthropologists and sociologists have discovered that ritual is intrinsic to being human. We rely on countless rituals to bring meaning and order into every aspect of our lives. The classic example of an everyday ritual is a handshake, which not only signifies but also actualizes the friendship that it symbolizes. (If you doubt this, then consider the impact of refusing to shake someone’s hand!) Episcopal worship engages us in the fullness of who we are as human beings; and that means that it engages us by means of ritual: processions, bows, signs of the cross, and so forth. Yes, rituals can become empty when we perform them absent mindedly without paying attention to their meaning. The solution, however, is not to jettison the rituals but rather to revivify them by performing them thoughtfully and prayerfully. Why does the service take so long? Our 10:30 AM Sunday Choral Eucharist typically lasts an hour and a half. Services in some other churches – such as Eastern Orthodox or Pentecostal Churches – often last much longer. Still, our liturgy is longer than in many other churches, whose services do not exceed one hour. On balance, the length of our service is probably typical for Episcopal parishes using Rite II and a choral setting. Suffice it to say that any worthwhile activity is worth the time it takes. Many people have no problem sitting in a cinema for two hours to watch a film, or in a stadium for three hours to watch a game of baseball or football. Many worshipers report that during the liturgy they lose all track of time, so caught up are they in the praises of God. That’s the ideal we’re aiming for.

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