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A weekly newsletter from Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church

The Voice Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church March 5, 2026 In this edition of The Voice: Upcoming Week at Immanuel Daylight Savings Time Begins Holy Week Schedule Sunday's Scripture Readings From Fr. Wayne Choral Evensong Next Discernment Meeting Vigil for Peace "Now Let Us Sing" Delaware Women's Chorus Concert Highmark Walk in support of Friendship House Coffee Hour hosts needed!! Prayer List Links to our wider church community Upcoming Week at Immanuel Remember... Daylight Saving Time begins Sunday, March 8 Saturday, March 7 12:00 noon Al-Anon (Common Room) Sunday, March 8 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Chapel) 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Church) 4:00 p.m. Choral Evensong for Lent (Church) Monday, March 9 6:00 p.m. Finance Committee Meeting (Common Room) Tuesday, March 10 6:00 p.m. Al-Anon (Parlor) Wednesday, March 11 10:30 a.m. Quiet Prayer (Parlor) 12:10 p.m. Holy Eucharist (Chapel) 5:15 p.m. Tai Chi (Gym) Thursday, March 12 7:00 p.m. Choir Practice (Choir Room) Saturday, March 14 10:00 a.m. Discernment Meeting (Dining Room) 12:00 noon Al-Anon (Common Room) Sunday, March 15 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Chapel) 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Church) 6:00 p.m. Vigil for Peace (Church) Holy Week Schedule 2026 Sunday, March 29, Palm Sunday 8:00 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Chapel) 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (procession at Greenhill & 17th Street at 10:20 a.m.) Monday, March 30 5:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist Tuesday, March 31 5:30 p.m. Holy Eucharist Wednesday, April 1 12:10 p.m. Holy Eucharist 5:30 p.m. Healing and Reconciliation Service (Church) Thursday, April 2, Maundy Thursday 6:00 p.m. Maundy Thursday Service (Dining Room) Friday, April 3, Good Friday 12:00 Noon Good Friday Service (Church) Sunday, April 5, Easter Day 6:00 a.m. Vigil (Church) 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist (Church) Sunday, March 8 The Third Sunday in Lent Exodus 17:1-7 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Psalm 95 For upcoming Sundays see The Lectionary Page: here From Fr. Wayne “There will be wars and rumors of wars,” Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel. Matthew quotes Mark, too. “But see to it that you are not alarmed.” Good luck with that. Mark contains a section known as “The Little Apocalypse.” My seminary advisor, who specialized in the study of Matthew, said that Matthew’s is an apocalyptic Gospel. Both were written within a generation after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple by the Roman army. The Jewish residents were dispersed across the known world, only coming together in the geographical nation of Israel beginning after World War II and the holocaust. That movement spurred talk about another apocalypse, commonly known as Armageddon. Prophecies indicate that Israel will be drawn together as a sign of the end times. Then, soon to follow will be the coming of Christ to reclaim the world and defeat forces of evil once and for all. Some also teach that Israel itself will be destroyed as punishment for crucifying Jesus, although only the Roman government possessed the authority to do that. The Middle East has been a place of turmoil for about as long as we’ve known anything about it. Perhaps that stems from differences made between the two sons of Abraham. When all hope seemed to be disappearing, Abraham had a son with Hagar, who was his wife Sarah’s servant. That son is named Ishmael. Then, Sarah became pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, the father of Jacob, who was renamed Israel after wrestling with God all night. The name "Israel” means “strives with God.” Sarah was jealous of Hagar’s ability to give Abraham a son, although it was Sarah’s idea in the first place. She convinces Abraham to send Ishmael and Hagar into the desert, where Hagar, not wanting to watch her child die of thirst, hears a promise that God will “make of him a great nation.” That’s the same promise Abraham hears over and over, from the time he is called from his father’s home. We heard the beginning of that story this past Sunday. But we seem to only remember the promise made through Sarah’s son. Two nations, born of quarreling mothers and likely forced into sibling rivalry. Add to that the possibility that Sarah may have been Abraham’s half-sister (they both had fathers named Terah, and are from the same place) and that both Isaac and Jacob married their first cousins, it’s no wonder the Middle East is insular and very confusing. But, when Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph was thrown into a dry cistern and left to die by his jealous brothers, it was descendants of Ishmael who pulled him out and took him to Egypt to be sold as a slave. You can read all this in the soap opera beginning at Genesis 12 and going to the end of the book. We want things to be different than they are, but we don’t have control over most of what happens in life. We want peace, but cheer competition and boast of our trophies. We want plowshares, but our retirement plans may depend on the profits of those who make swords. We want to bless peacemakers, but keep electing warmongers and chest-thumpers. We are often our own contradictions. Peace begins within. That peace, “which the world cannot give,” begins to come when we stop creating gods in our images, and begin to see the image of our Creator God in those we would prefer to call rivals. Jesus tells us wars and rumors of wars must happen, but they are not the end. I don’t want to speculate what it might take before we finally desire that the end be peace and remember to choose that when the opportunity presents itself. Because what we truly seek is wholeness. We have to stop dividing ourselves first. Come and worship with the Immanuel Parish Choir at Choral Evensong for Lent   Sunday, March 8, 2026 4:00 p.m   Musical settings by Sarah MacDonald, Rachel Aarons, and Edward Elgar   A candlelit reception will follow Evensong in the Common Room.   Bring a friend or two to this beautiful, contemplative service and close your weekend off the right way! Discernment Meeting Saturday, March 14, 10:00 a.m. You all are encouraged to continue to participate in this vital discernment process. A reminder - after the last meeting, Fr. Lovelace gave us some homework: Call of Abraham - Genesis 12:1-7 Call of Moses to lead the people out of Egypt - Exodus 3:1-12 Call of Joshua - Joshua 1:1-9 Call of Samuel - I Samuel 3:1-18 Call of Jesus’ disciples - Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:1-11, Matthew 4:18-22 Call of Mary - Luke 1:26-38 Call of Joseph - Matthew 1:18-25 What about these stories speaks to you today? Can you identify with any of these stories about God calling? Do any of these stories feel familiar as you think about your congregation and where you are today compared to the Bible story? Vigil for Peace Sunday, March 15, 6:00 p.m.   Join us for a quiet, candlelit evening of meditation grounded with music, poetry, and prayers for peace.   Stay for the evening or just a few minutes as we offer up our hopes and desires to the Spirit of the Universe for peace in our world, for the health and safety of all caught in the midst of violence, for the environment and all living creatures irrevocably damaged or destroyed as a result of human acts of behavior.   All members of the community are invited to attend and participate in the readings or music. Now Let Us Sing! A Concert of Music by, for, and about Women Sunday, March 22, 3:00 p.m. The music explores the experiences of women through history, from the tragic death of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII, to Christina Rosetti's challenge to the rules of courtship and marriage. A free-will offering will be taken to support the Transitional Housing Program of Friendship House. For details see the below JPEG flyer, which we invite you to post on social media and share widely. We look forward to seeing you there! Become a Highlands Hoofer in support of Friendship House! Highmark Walk in support of Friendship House will be Saturday, May 2 We have a new team name: Highlands Hoofers Registration is now open-- we hope to get at least 20 walkers, and raise at least $2000 to support Friendship House Here's the link to sign up-- https://secure.walkforahealthycommunity.org/p2p/fundraising/394011/team/Highlands-Hoofers/en-CA If you can't walk, you can still donate Questions? Talk to Carl at [email protected] Coffee Hour Hosts are needed from March 15 onwards! If you are able, please sign up on the easel in the lobby Many thanks! Pray for those in need of our prayers for strength, guidance, or healing: Leslee Moore, the Santana family, Dean, Brenda McCourt, Edwina Michael, Dee Dee, Thomas, Bob Penneys, Nathaniel, Emily Gibson, Molly, Laurence Hazell, Nancy Godfrey, Leroy, Eleanor Austin, Karen Watchorn, Kathie Bove, Jerry Gainrett, Daisy Gainrett, Rachael Zito, Cliff Simpson, Noel Pumphrey, Jared Oliver, Bob Utz, Luke Cain, Cooper, Karen, Maria du Pont, Elaine Simpson, Bev H., Jean S., Stephen Hoffman, Sister Jo Anne, Kimberly Peterson, the Doorman family, Bob Utz, Sr. Mary Ellen, Sarah Pumphrey, Hugh Shinberg, Sr. Rosie Castelli, Bill Gibson, David Andrews, Ezekiel Arredondo. If any names may be removed from the prayer list or if you wish to add any names please let the parish administrator know at [email protected] Immanuel Highlands is part of a wider church! ‘Link’ in to our community Diocesan website Diocesan quarterly magazine Delaware Communion Diocesan weekly e-news The Net archives Subscribe to diocesan publications Province III Episcopal News Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs Global Partnerships Anglican Communion News Archbishop of Canterbury Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church 2400 West Seventeenth Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19806 (302).658.7326 Office hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. https://immanuelhighlands.church https://www.facebook.com/immanuelchurchhighlands   Priest in Charge: Father Wayne Rollins [email protected] Music Director: Ryan Pryslak [email protected] Parish Administrator: Lola Michael-Russell [email protected] Sexton: Jim Maloney (302) 658-7326 [email protected] Senior Warden: Maria du Pont [email protected] Junior Warden: Barb Volko [email protected] From the Editor If you have an item to be included in The Voice, please email it to the parish administrator at [email protected] by the Tuesday before the Thursday release of the newsletter. If you don't have access to email, please call the office or leave your written request in the parish administrator's mail slot in the mailboxes across from the parish administrator's office no later than the Tuesday before The Voice goes out. Thank you!   Immanuel Highlands Episcopal Church immanuelhighlands.church

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