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Sunday Service

8:00am & 10:30am*

coffee hour to follow  (*will be livestreamed)

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Saturday Service 5:00pm

social hour to follow

2304 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel FL



Watch the 10:30am Sunday Service Sunday Bulletin

Wherever you are in life, there’s a place for you at St. Michael’s.  We believe every person is created in the image of our loving God; that God's radically inclusive love excludes no one.  Everyone is welcome here without exception.

 

We encourage you to explore our website, and join us for worship in person or online. Email Fr. Bill if you have questions or stop by for a chat. Whatever method or frequency you choose to join us, you will always experience the warmth and welcoming that is the core of St. Michael's.



REFLECTIONS

Welcoming Strangers in Scripture


One of my regular spiritual practices is reading Richard Rohr’s daily meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation (meditations@cac.org).  Recently he posted a piece written by Ched Myers that I found particularly insightful and inspiring.  Sacred scripture helps us to know the mind and the heart of God, and it can shape our attitudes and actions.


Biblical scholar Ched Myers writes of the prominence of immigrants in the Scriptures. 


Torah and the Prophets warned Israel not to discriminate against economic or political refugees, since in YHWH’s eyes even the chosen people were “but aliens and tenants” (Leviticus 25:23). Instead, they were to treat the “sojourners in your midst” with dignity and justice (Deuteronomy 24:14). This fundamental regard for the resident alien, and call to solidarity with the “outsider,” came to full realization in the teaching and practice of Jesus of Nazareth. An oft-cited verse that captures this is Matthew’s last-judgment parable, in which Jesus commends those who welcome him in the guise of a stranger—and condemns those who do not (Matthew 25:35–46). [1] 


Three archetypally vulnerable groups are commonly named in almost formulaic fashion: widows, orphans, and strangers. Because YHWH “watches over” them (Psalm 146:9), they have intrinsic rights to sustenance (Deuteronomy 14:29, 24:19–21, 26:12–13) and to human rights (Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalm 94:6). And the prophets measure the health of the nation by how widows, orphans, and strangers are treated (Jeremiah 7:6, 22:3; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5)….  


But there is another, theologically startling characteristic of scripture: from beginning to end, God too is portrayed entering our world in the guise of a stranger in need of hospitality. One of the first divine epiphanies is YHWH’s mysterious appearance in the form of “three guests” (Genesis 18:1–8). Abraham and Sarah offer them food, drink, and shelter, and their hospitality occasions the great promise of progeny that launches the salvation story of an entire people (Genesis 18:9–10)…. 


We can go further: the God of the Bible is consistently portrayed as “stateless,” and we can reasonably add undocumented. This is in stark contrast to the patron-gods of the empires that surrounded Israel, who lived comfortably in the temples of the king. In the Exodus tradition, the wilderness God doesn’t even have a name, much less “papers”: the moniker YHWH means “I will be whoever I will be” (Exodus 3:14). God’s voice summons Moses into a conspiracy for freedom from a burning bush outside the borders of, and in opposition to, Pharaoh’s political and economic system. Inspired and led by this God, the Hebrews flee Egypt “in haste” (Exodus 12:33), and wander in the desert as a people with no legal status—as political refugees still must do.  


The Gospel writers portray Jesus as a refugee in need of hospitality:  


The Second Testament continues in this tradition. The gospel story begins with Jesus’ family fleeing violence as political refugees, pushed around Palestine by the imperial forces of Caesar and Herod (Matthew 2; Luke 2). The adult Jesus not only characterizes himself as homeless (“the Human One has nowhere to lay his head,” Luke 9:58), but stateless. “My kingdom is not of this world,” he says before the Roman procurator (John 18:36). The evangelists also portray Jesus as a constant recipient of hospitality who sometimes even “invites himself in” (see, for example, Luke 19:5). [2] 


[1] Ched Myers and Matthew Colwell, Our God Is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant Justice (Orbis, 2012), 5. 


[2] Myers, Our God, 57–58. 


Peace and Blessings,

Bill+



Upcoming Events


Announcements


List of Services


Recurring Events & Programs


List of Services


Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat

30

8am Worship Service

10:30am Worship Service

31

1

1pm Staff Meeting

2

8am ZONTA

9am Holy Eucharist w/prayers for healing

10am F.I.S.H. of SanCap - Counseling

6pm Prayer & Potluck

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3

10am ZOOM: Bible Study

12pm Memorial Service for Janet & John Bendall

1pm Santiva Islanders Community Activities - Bridge

6pm ZOOM: Evening Prayer (Compline)

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4

12pm Choir Rehearsal

7:30pm AA Meeting

5

9am A Hygge Day of Reflection

5pm Worship Service

6

8am Worship Service

10:30am Children's Chapel

10:30am Worship Service

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7

9am CCMI EveryDay Cafe

8

8:30am HYBRID: Men's Fellowship

1pm Staff Meeting

9

9am Holy Eucharist w/prayers for healing

10am HYBRID: Pastoral Care Ministry

10am F.I.S.H. of SanCap - Counseling

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10

10am ZOOM: Bible Study

1pm Hybrid: Outreach Ministry

1pm Santiva Islanders Community Activities - Bridge

6pm ZOOM: Evening Prayer (Compline)

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11

12pm Choir Rehearsal

12:30pm Climate Change Conversation

7:30pm AA Meeting

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12

Palm Sunday

5pm Worship Service

13

8am Worship Service

10:30am Worship Service

4pm Messy Church

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14

HOLY WEEK

10:30am ZOOM: Christian Formation

11am ECW Board Meeting

12:30pm ECW Lunch & Program

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15

Annual Chrism Mass (Clergy)

1pm Staff Meeting

16

8am ZONTA

9am Holy Eucharist w/prayers for healing

9:30am CPR Training

10am F.I.S.H. of SanCap - Counseling

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17

Maundy Thursday

10am ZOOM: Bible Study

1pm HYBRID: Vestry Meeting

1pm Santiva Islanders Community Activities - Bridge

5pm Maundy Thursday Service

6pm CXL:: Evening Prayer (Compline)

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18

Good Friday

12pm Choir Rehearsal

12pm Good Friday Service

7:30pm AA Meeting

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19

Easter Weekend

5pm Easter Vigil Service

20

7:30am Easter Service

9:30am Easter Service

10:45am Easter Egg Hunt

11:30am Easter Service

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21

Church Office Closed - Easter

22

8:30am HYBRID: Men's Fellowship

1pm Staff Meeting

23

9am Holy Eucharist w/prayers for healing

10am F.I.S.H. of SanCap - Counseling

24

10am ZOOM: Bible Study

1pm Santiva Islanders Community Activities - Bridge

6pm ZOOM: Evening Prayer (Compline)

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25

12pm Choir Rehearsal

7:30pm AA Meeting

26

5pm Worship Service

27

8am Worship Service

10:30am Worship Service

28

1pm ZOOM: Christian Formation Ministry

29

1pm Staff Meeting

30

9am Holy Eucharist w/prayers for healing

10am F.I.S.H. of SanCap - Counseling

1

10am ZOOM: Bible Study

1pm Santiva Islanders Community Activities - Bridge

6pm ZOOM: Evening Prayer (Compline)

Show all

2

12pm Choir Rehearsal

7:30pm AA Meeting

3

5pm Worship Service


Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church

2304 Periwinkle Way

Sanibel Island, Florida 33957

(239) 472-2173




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