Weekly for June 15, 2023
St. Michael’s Weekly News – June 14, 2023
Dear People of St. Michaels,
Today is Flag Day; not a national holiday, but a day that commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777, by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress. It is a day to celebrate this emblem of our country but also brings up that balance of patriotism and church. I believe you can, especially in our country, support both at the same time.
I grew up in a very blue collar, lumber working family that lived in a town that was oriented that way; with many of my parents’ friends and kids I went to school with, many of the dads worked in one mill or another. Some of them, or their grandparents had served in the Armed Forces of our country, so having an allegiance, a devotion to our country was expected and common. If you look it up, what the flag is supposed to stand for, you might find: “The Stars and Stripes embodies the very qualities that make our nation great: liberty, justice, freedom, love of country and national purpose.” But I also learned that our freedoms included the right to question the direction our country was going in and the chance to have a voice and then a vote in our democracy every year. Our country existed to offer freedom, including freedom of religion to everyone. Many of our battles and conflicts that were fought over were about the freedom of peoples, including people of our country. So the flag, to me, has always represented those values, an allegiance to those values as well as to our country.
As a religious person, I knew that my opportunities to worship freely and openly were a part of what our country was about, too. As someone who celebrated the Love of God for others, we as a Church also stood for freedom and the openness for all people to come to know Christ; to freely worship and express their beliefs. As I became ordained, I needed to acknowledge I now had a higher allegiance to the Church, to my calling as first a Deacon then a Priest and that my commitment to the Church also became a part of my being. Within the Church we also had elections and opportunities to express our desires, the direction we felt the church should go in, with like-minded people. There was within the Church another allegiance to balance life with and another chance to experience the democracy we found in our country also reflected in the structure and workings of our Church.
So I think, on this day, we can show our love and care of country; understanding that it should always stand for an openness to varied opinions and varied people living here. That we can understand how we can promise ourselves to the church, to following God and our values within the church as well, and find there a balance that, in both places, must be open to listening to the other and knowing the bedrock values of what we are about. We CAN live in harmony and sometimes in the tension of honoring God and Country within our lives.
In Christ,
Pastor Randy Knutson +
John Thorbecke (1960-2023)
There will be Celebration of Life for Jon Thorbecke this Saturday, June 17 at 11:00 am here at St. Michaels with a lunch following in Larsen Hall. Jon is the son of Erik and Charla Thorbecke. He died on Saturday, June 3rd at their home on Highway 20. Jon had some recent illnesses, but then collapsed at home Saturday night and nearby family members and then paramedics were unable to revive him. Jon had taken a keen interest in St. Michaels and parish life and was most recently our Junior Warden, tending to physical needs of our building and serving on the Vestry.
Our Website
When you can, check our new website: https://www.stmichaelfb.com/
St Michael & All Angels Green Team
Mission Statement:
As Stewards/Caretakers of God’s Creation - our shared home Earth - it is our responsibility to preserve and protect God’s gift. As part of being good stewards, St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church of Fort Bragg is committed to determine the carbon footprint of our Church buildings and grounds, develop a plan to try to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, and follow through with our plan.
Your St. Michael’s Green Team
Heather Anderson
Rev Randy Knutson
Robin Knutson
Marcia Waters
Rick Bondor
Renee Jones
Online Worship Information
This Sunday we will offer in-person worship and at the same time offer the online broadcast of our service at 10:45 am in the ways posted below:
Our Sunday Service will be on St. Michael’s Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/StMikesFtBragg
https://www.facebook.com/StMikesFtBragg/videos
It will also stay there on the Facebook Pages and you can watch it later.
You can also watch it on this YouTube Channel later that day as well.
This is a NEW St. Michaels YouTube Channel and also on our website!
https://www.youtube.com/@st.michaelsepiscopalfortbragg