The Abundant Life – December 23, 2022

If you are so inclined to give, please choose “General Giving” as recipient!

Financial gift donors take note

For your gifts (cash and checks) to be included in the final 2022 parish bank deposit, they should be received at the church no later than Thursday, December 29.

Christmas Services

• Christmas Eve – 6:00 PM – Family Service – Best for families with young children.
• Christmas Eve – 11:00 PM – Midnight Mass – Incense and Full Choir
• Christmas Day – 8:00 AM & 10:30 AM – Hymns, Holy Eucharist
• Wednesday, January 4 – Epiphany (transferred) – 6:00 PM – Spoken contemplative Mass

Special Events in January

• Sunday, January 8, 2023 – The annual visit from Bishop Susan Brown Snook at 8:00 AM and 10:30 AM services.
• Sunday, January 29, 2023 – The Feast of St. Paul the Hermit and, following our 10:30 service, our annual meeting: Strategic Plan revealed, Church Directories distributed, Lunch served. You won’t want to miss this!

Parish Offices Holiday Schedule

St. Paul’s Parish Offices will be closed to the public the week after Christmas.  Except for some minor end-of-year wrapping up of administrative duties, regular office routines will be “on hold.”

This schedule gives all church staff and office volunteers time to rest and recharge after a busy Advent and Christmas season.  An assisting priest will be on-call for pastoral care emergencies.  The regular office schedule will be reinstated Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Winter Coat Donations Needed

Now that cooler weather has arrived in the desert, the Social Justice Ministry is seeking donations of new or gently used winter coats and jackets to distribute to our needy neighbors. Winter hats, scarves and gloves are also appreciated. Remember, donated used clothing should first be dry cleaned. Please place your donated items in the collection “barrels” located in the narthex.

Mid-week Services

You are invited to the church on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 PM each week for contemplative Eucharist/Evening Prayer. The church will be open the hour prior (5:00-6:00 PM) for silent, personal prayer. Come and rest.

• Wednesday, December 28 – Off for holiday
• Wednesday, January 4 – Epiphany

Parish Book Club reinstates in-person meetings

The next Book Club meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, at 1:00 PM in the Library at St. Paul’s. For January, Book Club has selected Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. Our Missing Hearts is an old story made new, of the ways supposedly civilized communities can ignore the most searing injustice. It’s a story about the power—and limitations—of art to create change; the lessons and legacies we pass on to our children, and how any of us can survive with our hearts intact.

New members are always welcome at Book Club. For more information, please contact Alan Zimmerman at

Prayers of the Church

For the Anglican Communion, and for the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby; for The Anglican Church of Melanesia, The Most Reverend Leonard Dawea, Archbishop.

For the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina, The Right Reverend Robert Stuart Skirving, Bishop.

For the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, The Right Reverend Dr. Susan Brown Snook, Bishop.

For those commended to our prayers: Mike Gorman, AJ Miller, Maryanne Struck, Teresa Ball, Richard Jones, Michael R., Al Wilder, Wilma, Steve, Brandon, Matthew, Jenni Foreman, Glena, Drew Blazier, Rex Comer, Louis Thibault, John Ketcham, Gary Koch, Jim Panos, Ventura Fuentes, Susan Pelowski, Paula Davis, Marna & Rick Hill, Ivory Murrell, Jr., James Hodge, Terri & Judi Miller-Steele, Joe Christopher, Greg Gowdy, Barry Hagenbuch, Roy Cody, Howard Cecil, George Barros, Philip Smith, Dirk Beach-Barrow, John Lasher, Tom Lutgen, Brian Nealy; pray for all those for whom no prayers have been said.

For those who have died: Anthony Picozzi, Mary “Cookie” Zingg, De Andre Rouse, Gale Enger, May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.  Amen.

For those with birthdays: December 27: William Hardwick; December 29: Warren MacPherson; December 30: Benjamin Carrillo, Michael Funke, Candace Falk.

For those celebrating anniversaries: December 26: Michael Funke & Rick Roberts; December 31: Megan & Curtis Goehring, Jon Coates & John Raposa.

For our Confirmands as they prepare to take this important step in their spiritual journeys.

Send us your Prayer Requests via email — You may request prayers, “For those commended to our prayers” or “For those who have died,” by sending requests to Weekly print deadline is Wednesday noon.

For next Sunday’s Lectionary readings, go to www.lectionarypage.net, and select January 1, 2023, the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ (New Year’s Day).

Area Homeless “Point-In-Time Count” January 25, 2023

We need your help in making Riverside County’s Point-In-Time Count (PIT) a success!

Each year, the Riverside County Continuum of Care (CoC) partners with cities to facilitate the federally mandated count of people experiencing homelessness throughout Riverside County. Information gathered from the count is valuable because it provides a snapshot of how many people experience sheltered and unsheltered homelessness on a single night. The data is used to demonstrate the need for federal and state funding, services, and resource planning, and to inform the community about homelessness.

The Homeless Point-in-Time Count reflects a snapshot of Riverside County’s homeless population. Obtaining an accurate count of people experiencing homelessness is critical to helping our communities attract the state and federal funding needed to address a growing public health crisis. Homelessness impacts families, individuals, and communities across Riverside County, and we recognize this is an issue that can best be addressed by working together.

Here’s how you can help:

• Volunteering: our hope is that you’ll help us identify individuals to help at our PIT count.

• • General Count
  • Youth Count

• Attend our virtual Community Planning Session: January 5, 2023

Sunday Service LiveStreaming

We are livestreaming our 10:30 AM Sunday Eucharist every week. The livestream project was made possible through a generous gift from a “snowbird” member from Philadelphia who wintered in Palm Springs for many years and worshiped at St. Paul’s every Sunday. You can view the livestream on our Home Page, YouTube Channel, and Facebook Page.

Missed a service?  Or want to rewatch a liturgy? All our past services are available to watch either on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/StPaulintheDesert or on our Facebook timeline: https://www.facebook.com/stpaulinthedesert

Episcopal Relief & Development

Episcopal Relief & Development is mobilizing with Anglican agencies and other partners to provide humanitarian assistance to people fleeing the violence in Ukraine. Working through the Action by Churches Together Alliance (ACT Alliance), Episcopal Relief & Development will provide cash, blankets, hygiene supplies and other needed assistance. Please pray for all those affected. To donate directly to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund, visit  (https://support.episcopalrelief.org/).  If you prefer, you can donate through St. Paul’s Parish.  Be sure to designate “ERD Ukraine” on your check or cash envelope.

Episcopal News Services

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego – The EDSD News is full of event announcements, church news, death notices, clergy changes, bishop-related notes, and current opportunities for service. Go to https://edsd.org/communications/ and scroll to the bottom of the page where you’ll find space to add your name and email address.  Then click on SIGN UP TODAY. You’ll receive the EDSD News on Wednesday, every week.

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