The ministry of Jesus had three main emphases: preaching the Kingdom of God, teaching, and healing. Jesus commissioned his disciples to continue his ministry of healing. We also affirm and are committed to the ministry of the priest-hood of all believers, and recognize that through our baptism we are all ministers, mutual partners in Christ’s mission to the world.
Church Office Hours
Call Fr. Bob Coniglio 757-787-7258
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Revised Caronavirus Worship Service Guidelines effective Aug. 20, 2023
- Masks are voluntary.
- Communion is with the common bread and common chalice.
- For those who cannot drink from the common cup, reception of Communion in the one kind of the common bread is a sufficient and perfect Communion.
- Self-administered intinction from the common cup is not permitted. Special instructions are available for how it can be done with the Lay Eucharistic Minister.
- Other safety measures may be taken as we see as necessary.
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Pennies from Heaven
Each Sunday throughout the year we make small coin and cash contributions to be used to support various local charities.
Total contributions for 2023 were $1,900.00, one of the highest totals on record, and the same as 2021 and 2022. Distribution of the 2023 Donations:
Bank of Cheer……………………………………………………………………………….. $200
Dos Santos……………………………………………………………………………………. $200
E.S. Center for Independent Living…………………………………………………….. $100
Eastern Shore Coalition Against Domestic Violence………………………………. $200
Eastern Shore Habitat for Humanity…………………………………………………… $100
Lower Shore YMCA…………………………………………………………………………. $150
H&H Pharmacy………………………………………………………………………………. $100
Interfaith Crisis Council…………………………………………………………………… $200
Lighthouse Ministries……………………………………………………………………… $200
Chanco on the James……………………………………………………………………… $100
E.S. Health District NFP…………………………………………………………………… $200
E.S. Literacy Council………………………………………………………………………. $100
Mission of the Holy Spirit………………………………………………………………… $100
The total of the 2024 contributions through Nov 24 is $1,397.
— THE MINISTRY OF HEALING AT EMMANUEL —
The ministry of Jesus had three main emphases: preaching the Kingdom of God, teaching, and healing. Jesus commissioned his disciples to continue his ministry of healing. We also affirm and are committed to the ministry of the priest-hood of all believers, and recognize that through our baptism we are all ministers, mutual partners in Christ’s mission to the world. It is in this tradition that we offer a Ministry of Healing here at Emmanuel, Jenkins Bridge.
The healing ministry is a part of our approach to worship and pastoral care and is a vital component of the strong and committed lay ministries that have been part of Emmanuel’s long and proud history. With every Sunday celebration of the Holy Eucharist we offer the opportunity for prayers and the laying on of hands in a Rite of Healing. The physical touch through the laying on of hands is a rich tradition in the Christian faith and transmits the power of the Holy Spirit to those who seek God’s grace in bringing healing and wholeness to their lives. The rite is administered by Lay Healers who are devout members of the parish especially commissioned for this ministry. These “healers” serve as a channel for God’s healing grace, and will pray with you and offer the laying on of hands.
You are welcome to receive a prayer and the laying on of hands in the name of Christ, for whatever reason. Perhaps you may have been ill and desire physical healing or you are facing an operation; you may feel anxious or depressed and come for healing of your mental distress; you may wish to offer Intercessions for someone else for whom you would like to pray; you may wish to come forward for spiritual deepening, of offering yourself to be more available to God; you may wish to come for a blessing or to offer thanksgiving for an occasion of joy in your life; or you may come simply to receive the touch of Christ through a Lay Healer. “Come unto me who, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:8).
PARTICIPATING IN THE RITE OF HEALING
If you wish to participate in the Rite of Healing, as you come forward to receive the Holy Communion, take a purple ribBon from the bowl in the Font close to the organ. Place the ribbon around your wrist and proceed to the Altar Rail. Following your receiving the bread (Christ’s body) and wine (Christ’s blood) from the Priest, a Lay Healer will stand before you and lay his/her hands upon you. Share quietly with the Lay Healer anything special needs to be prayed for. Feel free to say “no” when the Lay Healer asks if you have a special prayer. The Lay Healer will then offer a prayer asking God’s healing and blessing for you. (What you offer in prayer will remain absolutely confidential. The lay healer serves as a channel of God’s healing grace and what you pray for is turned over to God and God only.)
— COMMUNICATIONS —
Message from Bishop Susan Haynes
ONE BREAD, ONE BODY, ONE LORD OF ALL…
ONE CUP OF BLESSING WHICH WE BLESS
We all can sing, probably by heart, these words of John Michael Talbot’s well-loved Communion hymn. The symbols they speak of are powerful images of unity and community. We are one, bound together by common bread and common chalice. Covid, for a time, rearranged some of these powerful symbols by necessitating at first the absence of bread and wine altogether, then the absence of the cup, then by dividing the cups into hermetically sealed plastic containers, and finally by the presence of many cups rather than just one. Throughout the pandemic we struggled to hold onto images of unity. And now we live with the pandemic – we have incorporated safeguards for living with it into our lives. As we learn how to live within these new guidelines, it is time to return to our images of unity. It is time to return to one bread, one cup.
Last year around Holy Week, I permitted the return of the common chalice for those who wished to partake. Priests were advised to continue their instruction that communion in one kind (the bread or host) would be a sufficient, perfect, and whole communion; but for those who wanted to receive in both kinds, the common cup was offered once again. Many churches, with the bishop’s permission, could continue, for a time, to offer individually sealed containers of bread and wine; but the goal has always been to return to the common chalice. The time for that goal is now.
As we enter the time after Pentecost, the season of Ordinary Time, Holy Communion in all our Episcopal parishes and faith communities should be offered through the vessels of one bread, one chalice. Churches may use up their supplies of the individually sealed containers of bread and wine but should not order more. At the point that the supply of these individually sealed containers is diminished, Communion should be offered as it was before the pandemic (one bread, one cup) with the following guidelines:
Communion in One Kind
Instruction and education should be given frequently (both verbally and written in the bulletin) that the reception of Communion in one kind is a sufficient and perfect Communion. Communion may be offered as individual hosts or as a common loaf, provided the one distributing the host has completely sanitized hands. The bread, the Body of Christ, should be administered by the priest or deacon.
The Common Chalice
The common chalice should be offered to all, but none should be compelled to consume. The common chalice should be administered by a duly trained and licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister (LEM). Reminder: according to church canon law, LEMs must be adult confirmed communicants. Children and unconfirmed adults should not administer the chalice.
Intinction (the dipping of the host into the wine)
Intinction currently is not authorized by individual communicants. Intinction by individual communicants has consistently been shown to be the practice that is the least hygienic and most conductive of bacterial germs. If a communicant desires his/her host to be intincted, only a licensed Lay Eucharistic Minister who has been properly trained may do the intinction. Should the communicant desire this, the communicant should leave the host in his/her hand indicating to the chalice bearer that intinction is desired. The chalice bearer may then pick up the host and intinct it and place it back into the communicant’s hand, being careful not to touch the hand. A separate intinction cup may be used for this practice.
Gathering around the table of our Lord is a gift we receive graciously and gratefully. It is a symbol of our united effort to connect with Christ and to be empowered and nourished to offer His way of love to the world. Through the grace and nurture of bread and wine, body and blood, we are empowered to offer acts of charity that speak to the presence of Christ in our world and of God’s love for us. I am reminded of the words of the hymn, written by my friend, mentor, and colleague, The Rev. Canon Henry George Randolph, Jr. which he wrote in honor of my consecration, and which was sung during Communion at that consecration and in many churches the next day:
Now gathered here, O God, we raise our hearts to thee with joy,
And offer our unending praise, our hymns to thee employ.
We give thee thanks for this new day in our community,
Renewing now our vows to serve with utmost charity.
For this most holy sacrament, this blessed Bread and Wine
Become for us our nourishment, and to our souls the sign,
O Lord of grace, we offer thanks and may we always be
Thy servants to all people then with utmost charity.
And as we go from here, O God, we ask thee to receive
Our humble prayers, our loving hearts, and may we never leave
Without thy presence and thy grace giv’n sacramentally
To acclaim thee and reflect thy Love with utmost charity.
(Music: Kingsfold, English folk melody; adapt Ralph Vaughn Williams (1872-1958)
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