Happy February! I hope that you all have been staying warm amid our recent winter weather – and thanks to everyone who has braved storms to come to services and concerts. As treacherous as winter conditions can be, my family was also grateful for at least one good opportunity to go tubing on a snowy hill.

But if I’m honest, I am not a big fan of winter. I prefer warm temps to cold, I like swimming better than snow play, and I profoundly miss the extra hours of sunlight that summer affords. It makes sense to me that winter is often associated with hibernation or even death. Interestingly, though, the ancient creators of the church calendar designated this as a season of light. At Christmas, the star marks the arrival of God’s light in the baby Jesus. At Epiphany, we remember how that star guided the Magi to worship Jesus. And, in the weeks between Epiphany and Lent, we look for how the light of Christ shines in our lives.

This Sunday, we will be celebrating another festival of light. February 2^nd is the Feast of the Presentation (or Candlemas!), which marks an encounter between the baby Jesus and two wise old prophets. As we will see, Simeon and Anna recognize Jesus as “a light to enlighten the nations” and they celebrate how Jesus comes to us even in our darkness. And, some of you might remember from last year that this celebration is also the basis for the traditions of Groundhog Day: if things were dark enough in early February for the groundhog to see its shadow by the light of Candlemas candles, then there would be more weeks of winter to come.

Regardless of whether our local groundhogs see their shadows this weekend, we should recognize that many people in our world feel like they are currently surrounded by darkness. It is easy to be overwhelmed by the anger and fear and uncertainty that fill the news right now – but that is all the more reason for the church to celebrate the light of Christ; in the words of Desmond Tutu, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” So, please join us this Sunday as we light candles together – and pray with us throughout the coming weeks, that our community can be a faithful reflection of Christ’s light and hope and love to the world around us.

Please join us on a monthly basis to pack meals for people in need in Kensington. Lunches are packed in Riverside Hall immediately following Sunday services. The meals are then delivered to Prevention Point for distribution. To learn more about the work of Prevention Point, see their website at: https://ppponline.org
Additional dates are: March 30, April 27, May 18, and June 22. 

If you would like to help but cannot attend, we will also accept donations of individually wrapped snacks, candies & chips. Brown paper lunch bags and sandwich bags are also needed. Items can be dropped off to the rectory Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday from 10:00 - 2:30pm, or Sundays before 12:00 in the back of church.

Praying together points us to Jesus. In Matthew, Jesus reminds us of the power of community prayer: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Led by Christine Pickup, a small group meets weekly to pray, using Zoom and readings suggested in the Day by Day booklet. All are welcome to join.

Since the beginning of Advent, we have been using The Morning Prayer from Northumbria Community’s Celtic Daily Prayer. You can learn more at the following link. We plan to continue using this format until the start of Lent. 
 
You can click the link below to join the Zoom meeting or use Meeting ID: 875 8998 7892   Passcode: 723011

Link to the Book of Common Prayer

Would you be interested in brainstorming, discussing, planning and participating in Gloria Dei missions?  We plan to meet on the first Wednesday of every month at 9:00 on Zoom. If you have any questions, please contact Jill Duink (jillddd@hotmail.com). 
You can use the link below to join the meeting, or use Meeting ID: 897 2826 6283   Passcode: 098374 

Join us for a refreshed version of our popular service. Don't worry, it isn't entirely different! Paul Fejko will still be performing on our beautiful Hook & Hastings organ. Keep an eye out for some interesting guest guitarists, a drum circle, poems, and discussions that we hope will inspire you throughout the rest of the week. The program will be led by our sextons, Jim & Paula Minacci, who want to create a welcoming and relaxed atmosphere that everyone will enjoy. 

The Navy and Marines are coming in October and November. And they’re both celebrating their 250th anniversaries in style. 

George S. Leone, president and chair of the board of Homecoming 250 Navy Marine Corps, will talk about this area’s close ties to both military branches and how Gloria Dei Church saw the Navy make history. Come learn about some of America’s most famous heroes … who made their mark in the Philadelphia area … when this was the largest port in British North America and the second-largest English-speaking city in the world. They include: the Navy’s John Barry and Gustavus Conyngham, Marines Samuel Nicholas, John Basilone, and many more. 

Prepare for the Blue Angels and Navy Ships
Find out when the Navy’s Blue Angels will perform a flyover of Philadelphia. And get the latest details on parades, exhibits, concerts, demonstrations and re-enactments. Leone promises an “unprecedented display of Navy ships from the American Revolution to today …and ships important to the Marines,” all of which you can tour on the Delaware River  https://www.homecoming250.org .

Admission is $10, which includes a drink ticket for a beverage of your choice (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). A maximum of 75 tickets will be sold. So, order your tickets now. Click on the link below to order.

This event, part of “Great Talks at Gloria Dei,” will take place inside the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in nearby Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, you can taste delicious gourmet desserts and pair them with wine, coffee or tea. One hundred percent of the funds raised from this event will go toward the preservation of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church and its graveyard.

Due to scheduling challenges, our Church Kids Adventure Club has not met much recently - though we did have fun making paper Christmas Trees to celebrate Jesus' birth! Looking ahead, we are hoping to have more regular meetings throughout the spring. This Sunday, we will be rolling beeswax to make our own Candles in celebration of Candlemas.

Other activities planned for the coming weeks include:
*Burning Palm Leaves to create ashes for Ash Wednesday;
*Enjoying Pancake Breakfasts on February 16 & March 16 (and maybe making some special treats!)
*Creating maps leading us through Lent to Easter;
*Looking at caterpillars and butterflies to talk about death and resurrection;
*Making palm branch crafts for Palm Sunday;
*Good Friday Family Service at noon on April 18;
*Easter Egg Hunt after the Easter service on April 20.

Note: The image above is some inspritation for creating a Biblically accurate angel (see Isaiah, chapter 6). This was featured on the Beyond the Brick's Facebook page, created by user cherrywolfgoblinboy. 

Join us for live, local music and poetry readings, along with $10 all-you-can-eat pancakes ($5 for kids 12 and under). Also enjoy fruit, sausage, coffee, tea, juice, pastries, etc.

Beginning after the Sunday service, 11:00 - 2:00pm, cash or Venmo at the door.

SACC, who we partnered with for the Angel Tree gift project last Christmas, is accepting donations for their food pantry. Their church works with many immigrant and refugee communities, so this is a great way to support people in need. You may leave pantry staples in the back of our church on Sunday mornings, or Tuesday-Saturday between 9:00 - 4:00pm. 
Recommended donations: canned goods, hearty soups & stews, instant mashed potatoes, pasta & sauce, peanut butter & jelly, mac & cheese. Also, baby food, diapers & wipes, paper towels.

Filament presents “Rococo Dialogues” in concert Sunday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m., at Historic Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church, 916 S. Swanson Street (Columbus Blvd. and Christian St.) in the Queen Village section of Philadelphia.

The trio includes Evan Few on violin, Elena Kauffman on viola da gamba and John Walthausen on harpsichord, playing at the oldest church in Pennsylvania … and one of their favorite venues. 

With Rococo Dialogues, Filament celebrates the salons of Anne Louise Brillon and the musical inventions they sparked. Madame Brillon, a brilliant musician and keyboardist living in Paris in the 18th century, was a confidante of Benjamin Franklin, and also the muse for a burgeoning genre of chamber music, the accompanied keyboard sonata. In this colorful and innovative program, Filament shares music dedicated to her by Luigi Boccherini and Johann Schobert, alongside trios of Haydn and some of Brillon’s own music. Allowing these varied works to speak to one another, Filament links the world of Enlightenment era salons to our own vibrant time.

Admission is $30 for adults, $15 for students with I.D. and $5 for children under 12. It includes a drink ticket for a beverage (alcoholic or non-alcoholic). Advance registration is highly recommended.

Meet-and-Mingle afterward at Riverside Hall

This concert will take place inside the church sanctuary, followed by a reception in nearby Riverside Hall. For a modest donation, you can treat yourself to delicious gourmet desserts there … and pair them with wine, coffee or tea while you chat with the performers. 

Filament is hosted by the Historic Gloria Dei Preservation Corporation. Some proceeds from this event will go toward the preservation of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church and its graveyard. 

Bring a fellow music-lover and share beautiful music in a spectacular, historic setting.

Jazz & Joe is a "coffee-house" style venue. Active listening and quiet conversation is welcome throughout the evening. Refreshments are served, and attendees are welcome to BYOB. This event is free, but donations are appreciated to help defray costs. 

Please note: Jazz & Joe is not held in April, July, August, November, December.

Ash Wednesday services will be held on March 5 at 12:00 noon and 6:00pm. Join us for the beginning of the season of Lent, which is an opportunity for self-reflection and the practice of spiritual disciplines as we prepare to celebrate Easter. Both services will include the imposition of ashes. 

FROM THE RECORDS OF GLORIA DEI

February 11, 1846 
Hannah Whyburgh died at the age of 100 years 24 days.  She was the grandmother of Mrs. L. Yocum.

February 19, 1810
Nathaniel Burt wed Agnes Hull.  He past 32. She daughter of George & Jane Holl, now or late in Ireland past 30 widow. Both in Phila. Note Apr. 4, 1810 These persons made the following declaration, & subscribed their names to it in the Register of marriages; under the record of the aforesaid marriage:. "We certify that these person attempted to personate us; but that neither of us was married then: We further declare, Nathaniel Burt for his part, that his father's baptism name was Arthur, & his mother's Alice; & that the father of Agnes was George Moody, & her mother's name Jane: but that her first husband was Hull. Phila. 05-09-1812

February 26, 1860
First baptisms at the Front Street Mission near Moore Street.  Twenty five children baptized.

REMARKABLE OCCURRENCES

February 21, 1801
Half past 10 at night two couples came, two of them as evidences. The intended bridegroom was said to be a sailor who must go to sea next morning. Being refused on account of the late hour, they knocked at the door and kept entreating for 15 to 18 minutes.

February 14, 1807
About 7 in ev. a young, appar. decent couple applied, the girl 18, and an orphan, by her own acct. The man by looks 22 or more. The companions were a young man and a girl. I told them that falsehood is too common for a clergyman to believe anything without the strongest evidence, and so dismissed them.  They went off in a quick manner, and the intended bridegroom said that some body also would marry them.

February 7, 1811
In the night a party, Irish by dialect, came about 11 at night, and a long time kept asking, and knocking, not with st. my remonstrance, but finally went off, without and bad words

TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS

To our Mother Ann Brown

who departed this life Feb. 19 A.D. 1848 in the 64th year of her age

“rest sweet mother rest in slumber

Fill the resurrection morn;

Then awake and join the number

Whom thy triumphs shall adore.”

“Thought thy presence was endearing

Though thy absence we deplore

When at the Saviours bright approaching

We shall meet to part no more.”

In Memory of George W. Bioren

Born Feby 22d 1814

Died July 8th 1847 aged 33 years.

Death has been here and born away

A brother from our side.

To the memory of William Pocklenton

departed this life 20 of Feb. 1....

15 years of ... and ...

Behold O Mortal Man and see

For as I am so thou will be

Intombd in clay my body lye

Till the last trumpet bid me rise

That when this dark prison

Is past & all things brought to light

I and my little children three

May Joy in blest eternity.

ARTICLES FROM THE OLD SWEDES TODAY 

February 1917
Alms Basin Consecrated - On the day before Christmas, at a service which partly filled the galleries, Bishop Rhinelander preached for us and consecrated the memorial alms basin and plates which were given in memory of the first Rector, Rev. Andrew Rudman; and the chancel bracket, a memorial to the late Rector, Rev. Snyder B. Simes.  These memorials are additions of great value and usefulness.  The alms basin is very unusual. During the week before Christmas it was on exhibit in Caldwell’s window, at their new store.  Its great simplicity, with the plaque of the church set in the bowl, and the gold cross, studded with jewels, as its only adornment, makes it a most effective piece of work.

February 1919
Telephone - A “pay-’phone” has been installed in the Bible Class building for the convenience of those who come to the Church. Those wishing to call up for any purpose will find it best, as a rule, to call in the morning between ten and twelve o’clock.  The number is LOMBARD 4840

A Fifth Generation
On Sunday afternoon, December 29th, a great-great-great niece of Hannah Collin, the wife of Dr. Nicholas Collin, was baptized in the Church, Grace Emily Madeley, whose mother was Miss Catharine Sparks.

February 1920
Mrs. MacFarland’s Tablet - On the afternoon of Sunday, December 14, 1919, after a memorial service held in the Church, the congregation, led by the Infant School, marched to the latter’s room, where a tablet was unveiled in Mrs. MacFarland’s memory.  It consists of an Oak Panel framing a beautiful painting, in oil, of the Good Shepherd, and bearing a suitable inscription carved into the wood.  A reproduction of the tablet was shown on the Christmas program of the Sunday School Carol Service, which may be obtained by any who have not yet seen it, and all those possessing the Book of Memory will receive a copy of the tablet to be inserted in their book.                        

Our service is comprised of uplifting music, Episcopal worship and spiritual/biblical teachings. While we are always a work in progress, Gloria Dei strives to be a place where all will feel welcome in faith and spirit.

February 2 – Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

• Malachi 3:1-4
• Hebrews 2:14-18
• Luke 2:22-40
• Psalm 84
• or Psalm 24:7-10

Collect: Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

February 9 – Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

• Isaiah 6:1-8, [9-13]
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
• Luke 5:1-11
• Psalm 138

Collect: Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

February 16 – Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany

• Jeremiah 17:5-10
• 1 Corinthians 15:12-20
• Luke 6:17-26
• Psalm 1

Collect: O God, the strength of all who put their trust in you: Mercifully accept our prayers; and because in our weakness we can do nothing good without you, give us the help of your grace, that in keeping your commandments we may please you both in will and deed; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

February 23 – Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany

• Genesis 45:3-11, 15
• 1 Corinthians 15:35-38,42-50
• Luke 6:27-38
• Psalm 37:1-12, 41-42

Collect: O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.