In person worship services at St. Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church have been suspended until further notice.
Online services through Zoom, are being held on Sundays at 10am and Wednesdays at Noon.
For questions or for more information on how to join the Zoom services, email the church at stpetersbytheseak@gmail.com.
The church and the See House are closed until further notice.
Resources for Families
Activities Guide: Enhancing and Practicing Executive Function Skills with Children from Infancy to Adolescence – Harvard University Center on the Developing Child
Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics: Kids' Zone
Department of Energy: Games and Activities; Virtual Field Trips to National Energy Labs
Environmental Protection Agency: Games, Quizzes, and Videos about the Environment
The Library of Congress: Presentations and Activities to Help Students Learn about History
NASA: Interactive Lessons about Space, Earth, Solar System and Universe; Lessons from Astronauts about Living in Space; STEM Activities for Students of All Ages
The Kennedy Center: Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems; Tour the Kennedy Center with The Pigeon
The Smithsonian: Free Smithsonian STEM Games and Simulations; Meet the Animals of the National Zoo; 3D Exhibits and Virtual Tours; Smithsonian Magazine Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit; The Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour; Digital Smithsonian American Art Museum; Distance Learning Resources
NOAA: Use Real-Time Ocean Data to Explore the Environment
USGS: Learn from Home About Physical science, Geography and Maps
USA Today: 100 things to do while trapped inside
EASTER SUNDAY
Easter Day/Year A
April 12, 2020
Jeremiah 31:1-6; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18
Just a few short weeks ago, we were gathering in the church for our services…we were gathering in the See House for coffee hour, book groups, bible studies, prayer services, choir practices…community groups were using the See House every day of the week….we were visiting people in the pioneers home, we were travelling and making plans to travel, we were attending plays and concerts and movies and children’s programs at their schools…the playgrounds, the streets, the stores…were all filled with people and noise and busy-ness…
Today…our world has become much quieter in many ways…or so, it seems, at times…but, I have also seen how, in some ways…the world has become noisier and louder…
The grief and the worries and the heartache of this time of living in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic…has felt unbearably loud and noisy at times with the hearing/reading of the daily news, being updated every day with the statistics of those being diagnosed with the illness, those dying from the illness, new health mandates and orders to follow….it has also been unbearably loud in the silences in the times of waiting and unknowing, too…
But, the other noise, that has been loud and noisy and hopeful, all at once, for me…is when I think about all the people on the front lines, the doctors, the nurses, the caregivers who are hustling and bustling and doing all in their power to love and care for those entrusted to them… or when I think about the grocery stores, the restaurant workers, and all those in our community who are working tirelessly and creatively to find new ways to care for the whole community….
The sounds of new life and new creation and new hopes are bubbling up in the midst of all that has threatened to drown out the Good News of God’s love for God’s people….
People are learning new ways to gather, to reach out to one another, to stay connected to one another, to love one another in ways we had yet imagined…
That’s what Easter Hope reminds us of.
That the noise and loudness of darkness and death do not have the final say.
Easter comes. In darkness and in light. In comes in the loudness and in the quiet.
Our gospel story began in the darkness. An empty tomb.
But, right there in the midst of that realization, that Jesus wasn’t there, in the tomb…and just a few moments later….Mary turns and sees, and hears, that indeed Jesus is there, with her! He has risen…just as promised. He is walking with her…talking with her…
I walk every day down to the church…in the winter…the morning walk is dark…the streets are quiet…the air is cold. I kept hoping for the days when the weather would get warmer, lighter…I kept hoping for the days when we wouldn’t have to worry about shoveling snow anymore..
It seemed liked it was taking forever…
But, gradually, the landscape, the sounds I hear, the smells of early morning have changed…and I am being serenaded every morning now, by the bird songs as I walk…my eyes are feasting on the new flowers that have burst through the dark soil….the sun is already up when I walk…illuminating the path that stretches far ahead of me…
That’s what Easter hope is.
No matter what….spring comes. Summer comes. Fall comes. Winter comes, and spring comes again…Easter comes again, being born anew in our hearts and our lives, every day…new mercies every day. New joys every day. New hopes every day.
That’s what Easter Hope is.
On the last Sunday, we gathered together in the church, on March 15……I left you with these words: God is in the midst of all of this…God has always been with us. God will be with us for the long journey ahead….and I offer them to you again today…
Today, in the midst of Easter morning, with the assurance, that Indeed Jesus is Risen…we can be filled with the loudness and the quietness of this Easter hope that lives for us, and in each one of us…
Alleluia…Jesus is Risen…Jesus is in the midst of all of this…Jesus has always been with us. Jesus will be with us for the long journey ahead…
In this life…and the life yet to come…
Jesus walks with us, talks with us…tells us that we are his own….and the joy we share, as we tarry there…none other, has even known…
Instrumental Hymn after sermon: In The Garden
Words and Music by C. Austin Miles, 1912
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, Alaska
HOLY SATURDAY
April 11, 2020
Collect of the day:
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy Saturday scriptures
Job 14:1-14
Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16
1 Peter 4:1-8
Matthew 27:57-66
GOOD FRIDAY
Collect of the day
Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scriptures for today
Image info:
© Paul Oman/Drawn to the Word 2020. All Rights Reserved.
www.paulomanfineart.com
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Maundy Thursday
Collect of the Day:
Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scriptures for today
image info:
© Paul Oman/Drawn to the Word 2020. All Rights Reserved.
www.paulomanfineart.com
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
Collect of the Day:
Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scriptures for today:
Image info:
© Paul Oman/Drawn to the Word 2020. All Rights Reserved.
www.paulomanfineart.com
TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK
Tuesday in Holy Week - April 7
Collect of the day:
O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scriptures for today:
A Prayer to enter Holy Week (written by Kimberly Knowle-Zeller)
Read the prayer HERE
MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK
Scriptures for Monday in Holy Week - April 6
Collect for today:
Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Holy Week
Holy Week Services are as follows:
Palm Sunday, April 5 at 10am.
Monday through Saturday, April 6 through April 11, at 12pm.
Easter Sunday, April 12 at 10am.
All Worship services at St Peter's by the Sea Episcopal Church are currently being held online or can be accessed by phone. For more info on how to join the service online or by phone call, or for any other questions, please email the church at stpetersbytheseak@gmail.com.
The church building and the See House building are currently closed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Image info:
© Paul Oman/Drawn to the Word 2020. All Rights Reserved.
www.paulomanfineart.com