ON-GOING ACTIVITIES AT ST. BEN’S
ABUNDANCE SHOP– Thrift shop at 2025 9th St. (If you would like to volunteer, please contact at (805) 528-1370)
COMMUNITY DINNER – Providing and serving food at SBCC, on 1st Thursday of odd-numbered months, in conjunction with Los Osos Cares.
EARTHCARE – Zoom 3rd Wednesdays 3pm. Discussion/action group seeking spiritual and practical solutions to environmental concerns. MEN’S GROUP – Morning social gathering, 3rd Saturdays – 9am at Celia’s Garden Cafe.
HEALING SERVICE – FACEBOOK – A time for prayers for healing at the 10:30 service on 5th Sundays.
HOLLISTER INSTITUTE – Opportunities for stimulating discussion and thoughtful exploration on Tuesdays at 10:15am on Zoom.
LAUNDRY LOVE – Helping low-income families with funds, soap, and friendly assistance at Osos Clean Laundry. 11-1pm and 4-6pm on last Wednesdays
PEOPLE’S KITCHEN – Providing and serving lunch at 40 Prado, 1st Saturday of even-numbered months
VESPERS AND CONVERSATION – Zoom – 5:30 pm Tuesdays
VESTRY / PARISH COUNCIL – ZOOM – 3rd Sundays at 12:30pm.
- Maureen Titus, Presiding Warden
- Lisa Gonzalez, Treasurer
- Berkeley Johnson, People’s Warden
- Pamela Bleisch
- Cathy Gildea
- Esta Kandarian
- Michael Lucas
- Brian Spolarich
- Sandy Fisher
We are grateful for God’s financial providence and blessing. Thank you for making your offerings by mail to our PO Box, or on-line.
THIS WEEK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
Benediction Articles Due June 10th – Please send articles, pictures, cartoons, and announcements to Cathy Gildea so that we can include them our summer edition of the Benediction newsletter. Themes for summer include LQBTQ+ Pride month, Juneteenth, and St. Benedict’s Day.
A Conversation with Bishops: The Role of the Diocese in the Changing Church – Save the date! Wednesday, May 29 at 2pm ET
It’s no secret that The Episcopal Church is approaching a period of significant change with the upcoming 81st General Convention and the elections for Presiding Bishop and House of Deputies’ President. These changes come with excitement but with a fair share of anxiety as well. Amidst the noise, the Episcopal Church Foundation (ECF) would like to invite you to a virtual discussion with bishops participating in ECF’s Diocesan Vitality Initiative (DVI) who are leading adaptive change in their dioceses – the kind of change that should give us hope for the future of our Church.
Join Bishops +Brian Prior, +Michael Hunn, +Phoebe Roaf, and +Douglas Scharf in conversation on the role our dioceses have in shaping the future of our ever-changing church landscape. We will hear about the adaptive work each of these bishops are engaging in to renew, redevelop, and revitalize their dioceses through the Diocesan Vitality Initiative.
Introduced by Haley Bankey, Director of Partnerships and Program Innovation, and moderated by Donald Romanik, President of Episcopal Church Foundation, this engaging virtual event will feature a 90-minute discussion and Q&A with our esteemed guests: Rt. Rev. Brian N. Prior (ECF Bishop-in-Residence and DVI Senior Consultant), Rt. Rev. Michael Hunn (Bishop Dicoesan of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande), Rt. Rev. Phoebe Roaf (Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee) and Rt. Rev. Douglas Scharf (Bishop Diocesan of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida).
Save the date for this virtual event on Wednesday, May 29th, 2024, at 2PM Eastern Time, and be part of the conversation shaping the future of our church community. Click here to RSVP and learn more.
Join us at Central Coast Pride events! St Benedict’s Discovery Team continues its work to reach out to the community around us. Upcoming plans include staffing booths at local Central Coast Pride events. Each year the central coast LGBTQ+ community comes together in joyful celebration, and we will be there representing St. Ben’s, offering blessings, prayer, and some water or lemonade instead of our traditional coffee. All are welcome to join and share in our support for our local LGBTQ+ community. You could even help at the booth and then enjoy the rest of Pride Fest. Join us as we share the love!
Festive pride attire is recommended but not required.
- Pride in the Plaza Saturday June 1 from 11-5 pm
- Pride in the Park on Sunday June 2 from 1-6
https://www.slopride.com/events
The Tuesday Spiritual Discussion group – The Tuesday morning Spiritual conversation will conclude our discussion on the book How to Live: What the Rule of St. Benedict Teaches Us About Happiness, Meaning and Community by Judith Valente on May 7th. We will not meet on May 14th. Beginning May 21st we will be taking a look at Marilynne Robinson’s Reading Genesis, which is “a powerful consideration of the profound meanings and promise of God’s enduring covenant with humanity. This magisterial book radiates gratitude for the constancy and benevolence of God’s abiding faith in Creation.”
You do not have to read the book to participate. Tuesdays at 10:30 on Zoom.
Men’s Ministry in the 21st Century –
Province VII of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew is having a retreat at Barnabas’s on Saturday 1 June, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The retreat will combine prayer and study. We will explore: What is men’s ministry in a non-binary world? There will be ample time for prayer, reflection, and the exchange of ideas. There will also be time for socializing. Both men and women are cordially invited to attend.
The Brotherhood of St. Andrew is one of the oldest auxiliary bodies associated with the Episcopal Church. At the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt, it was chartered by Congress!
Here is some recommended reading:
- The Intimate Connection: Male Sexuality, Masculine Spirituality, James B. Nelson
- A Thorn in the Flesh: How Gay Sexuality is Changing the Episcopal Church, Caroline J. Addington Hall
Please contact Eric Fisher at 805-704-0238 or provviiipresident@brothersandrew.net for more details..
PERSONAL PRAYER – If you’d like prayer support during the week, contact Berkeley Johnson (805) 550-5133. If no answer, please leave a message and your call will be returned. Prayer requests may also be emailed at any time to prayers@stbenslososos.org and requests for pastoral care may be sent to pastoralcare@stbenslososos.org.
This Week at St Ben’s
Sunday
- 8a Contemplative Service in person and on Zoom
- 10:30a Eucharist, in-person and livestreamed on FB
- 12:30 Parish Council Meeting
Monday
- 3:30p Liturgy Committee Zoom
Tuesday
Sunday
Service leaflets for Sunday services and Vespers are available under the Worship tab on our website:
https://www.stbenslososos.org/category/service-bulletin/
ADDITIONAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
RALPH’S CARD: Please consider registering your Food for Less or Ralph’s card as donating to St Benedict’s. In the last quarter 20 households contributed this way and we received over $200. Searching by our organization number HV013 is much easier when signing up.
Take Action on Our Church’s Values: The Episcopal Church provides a great set of Action Alerts on key issues before Congress. The alerts help Episcopalians automate expressing our views to our representatives in Congress. You also can edit your messages to personalize your concerns. A recent Alert of note is “Urge Congress to Pass Voting Rights Legislation.”https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/office-government-relations/action-alerts/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f100768%2fRespond
A reminder that all organic waste must now be put into a green container not into the trash. Thank you to Ron Thompson for getting us a new compost container – note that it is WHITE. Less organic waste in the landfill means less methane and less global warming. In SLO County green waste means food waste and paper napkins/paper towels that have been used for food waste, flowers and other organic material but NOT items that are labeled compostable like plates, cutlery etc. Thank you for caring for the planet and obeying the law. No bags of any kind may go in the compost or the recycle bins.
BIDDING BOOK PRAYERS – If you’d like to request prayers for someone to have their names read out during the worship services on Sunday, please write them in the bidding book on the stand by the usher’s station as you come into church.
UKRAINIAN REFUGEES in Poland need help. We are sending money to Caro’s sisters church in Nowy Sacz, Poland. Please put “Ukraine” on your check or on-line gift.
NAME TAGS – We are asking everyone to wear a name tag. Please check the name tag board by the door for yours. If you don’t have one, or if an old one has become too shabby, please ask the office to make one for you. In the meantime, you can fill out an adhesive tag for the day.
HOW TO FIND OUR SERVICES
Our 8am and 10:30 am Sunday services are Eucharist services, held indoors at the church for anyone wishing to attend in person.
The 8:00 am service will also be available on Zoom. There is no 8am service on the first Sunday of each month.
The 10:30 am service will also be live-streamed for those who watch remotely — either on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stbenslososos/ or through our website at http://www.stbenslososos.org/facebook-including-live-stream/
Service leaflets for both services are available under the Worship tab on our website: https://www.stbenslososos.org/category/service-bulletin/
Unless otherwise stated, our meetings happen on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7977776046?pwd=VUFZSXY3UVpNVitJaDl2VmhPS3E2UT09 Passcode is: 93402
ON-GOING ACTIVITIES AT ST. BEN’S
ABUNDANCE SHOP– Thrift shop at 2025 9th St.
COMMUNITY DINNER – Providing and serving food at SBCC, on 1st Wednesday of odd-numbered months, in conjunction with Los Osos Cares.
EARTHCARE – Discussion/action group seeking local solutions to environmental concerns. 3rd Wednesdays 3:00 pm on ZOOM
HEALING SERVICE – A time for prayers for healing at the 10:30 service on 5th Sundays.
HOLLISTER INSTITUTE – Opportunities for stimulating discussion and thoughtful exploration on Tuesdays at 10:15am on ZOOM.
LAUNDRY LOVE – Helping low-income families with funds, soap, and friendly assistance at Osos Clean Laundry. 11am and 4pm on last Wednesday of each month.
MEN’S BREAKFAST GROUP – Morning social gathering, 3rd Saturdays 9am at Celia’s Garden Cafe
PEOPLE’S KITCHEN – Providing and serving lunch at 40 Prado, 1st Saturday of even numbered months
SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION – a lively on-line conversation, often based on a book. Tuesdays 10:15am
VESPERS AND CONVERSATION – 5:30 pm Tuesdays