Our first season, Advent, Christmas and Epiphany, is the start of the new Christian year! Our beautiful Advent wreath stand is made from natural driftwood, as is our cross behind the altar. Congregants decorate the altar area with poinsettias and multiple trees will adorn the wall behind the altar.
Every year during Advent we also celebrate the holiday season at the nearby condominium meeting room. Last year, 2018, the party was held on Friday, December 14, at 6:00 p.m. Congregants and families brought a dish to share, and a "white elephant" gift for another guest. It's always a wonderful way to get to know your fellow parishioners!
The beautiful Christmas Eve service began at 9:30 in the evening. Prior to the service Christmas carols were sung by the congregation.
The Christmas seasons ends with Epiphany, a Christian festival commemorating the visit to Jesus by the three wise men.
Ash Wednesday, Lent, Palm Sunday, Maunday Thursday, Good Friday and Easter
This year, 2019, Ash Wednesday is on March 6. The ashes are typically gathered from the burned palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. The ashes are placed on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. The Ash Wednesday service is at 7:00 p.m. (changed from 6:00 p.m.)
St. Simon's is pleased to have a short four-week study for men to share thoughts and experiences during Lent on Christian Character, referred to as "St. Simon's FisherMEN." We will meet each Saturday beginning on March 16 at 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. The weekly subjects are: Discipline, followed by Humility, Courage and Honesty on April 6. We will meet at Panera Bread in Redmill, Virginia Beach. Please contact the facilitator, Paul Lanciaux at lanciauxpaul@gmail.com to receive your weekly guides.
The season of Lent is a season of prayer and possible fasting which ends approximately six weeks later, on Maunday Thursday, April 18. There will be a service at St. Simon's at 7:00 p.m.
Good Friday, the crucifixion and death of Jesus, is the Friday before Easter Sunday, on April 19, 2019, as a day to reflect on human sin and the sacrifice made by Jesus to ensure we can be absolved of our sin. The Good Friday service will also be at 7:00 p.m.
Easter this year is April 21, 2019, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Our service at St. Simon's will be at 9:30 a.m. As a celebration children will place flowers they brought to decorate a cross designed to receive them.
Summer at St. Simon's
The side walls are removed for the summer to allow for extra parishioners as the population of Sandbridge increases. Once the summer comes to an end at the end of September, the walls are again replaced and the Vicar again returns.
Starting the first week in June through September, St. Simon's invites a different guest priest to stay for one week, Saturday to Saturday, and to preach on that Sunday when he or she is there. The guest priest stays in the attached cozy three-bedroom cottage for the week, with family if they desire. The location of St. Simon's, a mere block from the Atlantic Ocean, is a perfect area to enjoy the peace in the Sandbridge area in Virginia Beach.
The Blessing of the Animals
We're pleased to bless the animals to celebrate the feast day of the Patron Saint of Animals, St. Francis of Assisi, generally the first Sunday in October.
