727-360-8406
Office Hours: Monday – Wednesday – 10 am – 5 pm.
stalbansbeach@gmailcom
Open, inclusive, inviting, inspiring
St. Alban’s is a faith community where diversity is honored and celebrated; where acceptance, encouragement and love are given so that all people may explore their journey in faith; and where, through our many gifts, we cultivate a desire to give in thankfulness for all God has given us. We are of different ages from different backgrounds and during ‘the season’, different countries. We are straight, we are gay. Some are single, some married, some partnered, some – single again. We are women, men and children. Some of us live alone, some with others. People who come to St. Alban’s have all kinds of different reasons for choosing to make this a spiritual home – and this is a blessing.
So, no matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.
Please note: We are a small parish with a big heart. We operate thanks to a part-time staff and volunteers who enable us to provide rich worship experiences and to contribute to many outreach projects.
We are also a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Southwest Florida and are part of the world wide Anglican/Episcopal Communion. The Rt Rev. Dabney T. Smith is the Bishop of the Diocese. The Rt Rev. Barry Howe and J. Michael Garrison are Assisting Bishops.
The Rev. Gigi Conner is the Priest in Charge.
Mark These Dates
THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL TREE IS UP! Take a tag with a child’s name on it—sign your name to the book—get the present, wrap it and place tag on present—and bring back by December 16th to be blessed at the altar and picked up by social services.
December 8th is the ECW Christmas Lunch: 12 Noon at Isla del Sol $25.00
December 15th—ADVENT Quiet Day led by The Rev. Muriel deBussy- 10am—2:00pm bring bag lunch
December 16th—Interfaith Service of Remembrance for those who died homeless in the past year. St. Alban’s is happy to participate in this service. The service is at 5:00pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 100 Mirror Lake Dr. N.
December 19th—is the evening we cook and serve dinner to those infected or affected by AIDs. We provide a Christmas meal—fun Christmas music to sing—and an atmosphere of love—and yes—volunteers are welcome and needed.
Liturgical Notes About Advent: Throughout the generations God has sent the message of peace and reconciliation in the words of the prophets, in parable, in history and in nature, revealing a loving intent towards humankind. Finally, in due time, God sent Jesus into the world to demonstrate in human terms God’s way of living and loving. The First Sunday of Advent always marks the beginning of a new church year. We are on a three-year lectionary cycle, meaning we read Scripture from the Old testament, the psalms, the New Testament, and a Gospel every Sunday. Each year the Gospel focus is from a particular Gospel—this year we enter year C meaning the Gospel of Luke. (Year A is Matthew and Year B is Mark). We share this way of reading Scripture with the Catholic Church, Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, United Church of Christ and the Mennonites. Luke wrote two works, a gospel, the story of the life and teachings of Jesus, and the Book of Acts, which is an account of the growth and expansion of Christianity after the death of Jesus down through close to the end of the ministry of Paul.
Advent is a great time to slow down and intentionally prepare our hearts and minds to once more receive the Gospel of hope and healing. A little booklet about Advent and the birth narratives of Jesus from the Gospels is available for you to take home and read. During this Advent, to make an intentional effort to slow down a bit, we will be chanting the psalms and part of the service
Wednesday Evening learn about the Episcopal Church: Last Wednesday we learned how the Episcopal Church got started, who our Presiding Bishop is and how did he got to be one. We also learned that the Bible is like a library with almost every genre of literature featured in it. This coming Wednesday we’ll open the Book of Common Prayer which is a library in itself—to learn more about how we worship. December 5th at 5:30 pm at the church office.