Holy Week Service Schedule
This Holy Week will be different from past years. We can’t do things in the traditional ways, but we can be present in new ways. I hope you will attend as many services as fit into your schedule knowing that the more you can participate in the services the greater your delight will be in celebrating Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Day. — Rev. Barbara Miller, Rector
Tuesday of Holy Week — A prerecorded service of The Way of the Cross using pictures of our Stations of the Cross is provided here:
Wednesday of Holy Week — Evening prayer at 6:00pm on Zoom.
Please join by clicking here.
Maundy Thursday — An Agape Meal celebrated together on Zoom. We will say blessings over your bread and wine, eat together, listen to chapter 17 of the Gospel of John and a short reflection, close with prayers. Service begins at 7:00pm. Please join by clicking here.
Good Friday — Facebook Live virtual service at noon. Please join by clicking here.
The Great Easter Vigil — This service will be celebrated with St. Luke’s on Zoom at 8pm on Saturday, April 11. Have a candle that you can light at home. Virtual coffee hour to follow the service. The link will be sent a few days before the service.
Easter Sunday — Bishop Lucinda will lead a diocesan-wide online service for Easter Sunday, April 12, which will be presented on the diocesan YouTube page click here to access. Members of the diocese representing various deaneries and cultures will contribute to the service. This virtual service will be available at 10:00 am on Easter Sunday. St. James will hold coffee hour on Zoom at 9:15am. Click the Virtual Coffee Hour link below to join.
Thank you to everyone who has been mailing in their pledges and Easter offerings. Even though we are not meeting in our buildings, the expenses continue and your pledge is important. Please know that if you need to adjust your pledge during this time that we understand and give thanks for what you are able to give.
"The first Easter didn’t happen at a church. It happened outside at an empty tomb, while all the disciples were sequestered in a home, grief stricken and wondering what was going on. So, we’re all going to be keeping things pretty Biblical this Easter." — Rev. Dr. Emily C. Heath
Virtual Church Services via Live Streaming
Beginning on Sunday, March 22, 2020, we will be live streaming services from historic St. JamesChurch. Service times are:
Sundays at 10:00 a.m. via Facebook LIVE
Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. via Zoom
How to join Sunday morning services at 10:00 a.m.
Click here or on the image below to access St. James videos onFacebook.
Under the All Videos section, click the LIVE video to access a live stream of our church service.
Download the bulletin by clicking here.
A virtual Coffee Hour will follow the service at approximately 10:45 a.m.
Virtual Coffee Hour will be held on the Zoom videoconferencing app. Please join by clicking here. The password was sent out via email.
How to join Wednesday evening services at 6:00 p.m.
Zoom is a video conference application that is free and is easy to use. If you don’t have Zoom, itwill prompt you to download it, or find it in the app store for your smart phone or tablet. This wayof meeting is new for many. If you have trouble, reach out to Mother Barbara or one of the Vestrymembers for help. The password was sent out via email.
Bible Beat continues to meet via Zoom
St. James's popular bible study group, Bible Beat, continues to meet on Thursdays at 11:00 a.m.
All are welcome to join by clicking here.
For those who have the Zoom app installed and wish to join by entering the meeting number, it is: 482480 2340. The meeting password is the same as the password for virtual coffee hour, which is available by email by contacting the church office.
Post a review for St. James on Yelp
If you enjoy St. James, please consider leaving a review for us on Yelp. Help spread the good newsabout our loving, welcoming community in Christ! Click here or on the "St James Episcopal Church" link below to post a reviewand a picture of your own! Each additional review improves our ranking and helps area residents andvisitors find St. James. Thanks!
Read Liz H.'s review of StJames'episcopal Church-Paso Robles on Yelp
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St. James is . . .
St. James is . . .- — An historic church
- — A spiritual foundation
- — A place of welcome and acceptance
- — A conduit of beauty, joy, and grace
- — A center for community life
Come and be part of St. James! You are welcomed here. St. James has beenpart of the Paso Robles community for more than 125 years. It is both a place ofwelcome, prayer, and growth and a vibrant community of people seeking to growspiritually through prayer and worship, to proclaim the good news of God made known inChrist Jesus, and to promote justice, peace and love.
We seek to do this through . . .
- worship
- Worship is at the heart of our life as a parish faith community. The sacramental lifenourishes us week by week and common prayer strengthens us day by day. St. James' Sundayand weekday services provide a variety of worship opportunities for members, friends,and visitors.
- outreach
- Our parish community provides a strong center for our lives and we seek always to expandour boundaries through involvement in the greater community. St. James supports People'sKitchen and the Saturday Lunch Bunch, the SLO Food Bank, and Loaves and Fishes.
- education
- We believe that Christian formation is a life-long process that nurtures usintellectually and spiritually, equipping us to live out our baptismal promises. St.James hosts both one-time and on-going educational opportunities.
- parish Life and pastoral care
- The fabric of our life as a community of faith is maintained and nurtured throughpastoral care and fellowship opportunities. We seek to support each other in the life offaith: in joy and in sorrow, in good times and in bad.
- buildings and grounds
- We are blessed with a beautiful church and a patio and garden area that provides anoasis of calm in the midst of our bustling downtown area. Church facilities are used bya variety of community groups.
A Special Message from Rector Barbara Miller
Dear Friends,
This spring I have a dandelion forest in my front yard. The bright yellow flowers and fluffy white seed puffs are taking over my lawn. And instead of trying to eradicate them from my yard, which is always an exercise in futility, I am taking delight in them. Dandelions are a tough, tenacious, and adaptive plant. Wind blows their seeds far and wide. If one of those seeds happens to get blown over the ocean it has the ability to float for a month or more. Once landed on shore, the seed will grow, and the plant will figure out how to survive in whatever new and different conditions it finds itself.
Dandelions give me hope this year. Hope that we will adapt and grow in the strange new world we are living in. Hope that even though these days are dark and scary they are leading us to light. The little yellow blooms bobbing and bouncing in the breeze that blows across my yard remind me that this time of isolation and fear will end, that even though it feels like we are going to be in Lent forever, Easter Day will arrive.
But we can’t rejoice in the resurrection without first spending some time on the cross and in the tomb. We need to acknowledge and live in the grief and pain of losses we are experiencing due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Each of us is experiencing our own losses. Each loss is valid no matter how big or how small. Each loss hurts. For now, they are our cross. Allow the pain and let it pass. Allow the grief knowing that it will not last forever.
This year it is almost unbearable for me to think about Easter when we can’t be together in our church building filled with light and flowers and most especially filled with you, the people of St. James. But even so we look forward to Easter. We know that Jesus rose from the dead. We know this. We too will experience the glory of resurrection, of rising to new life when this trial has passed.
Let the strength of Jesus and the tenacity of the little dandelion give you courage to persevere through these days knowing that there is light ahead. Easter is coming. It always does and it always will. Jesus shows us the way. God is with us holding us up and loving us as we wait for new life.
Alleluia! Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed. Alleluia!
With Easter joy,
Barbara+
Mark Your Calendar
Weekly Bible Study | Thurs 11:00 a.m.
Our lively meetings happen on Thursdays via Zoom. Pleasejoin us by clicking here.
For those who have the Zoom app installed and wish to join by entering the meeting number, it is:482 480 2340
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