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The Herald-Star The Herald-Star Newsletter of Christ the King Lutheran Church and The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany, Wilbraham, MA July-August 2016 February 2016 community, gathered together, to do this this thing called “lit- FROM FATHER NATHANIEL urgy” (which translates as “work of the poeple) together.When we worship in the round, we’ll do two things differently from our current worship booklet. The first is the confession. In- stead of the standard confession in which the assembly con- fesses their sins and the presider proclaims God’s forgiveness, we will be using a form of confession often used in monastic communities. I will begin by confessing that I have sinned — to you, my brothers and sisters — and you will assure me of God’s forgiveness. In turn, you will then confess to me that you have sinned, and I will assure you of God’s forgiveness. It is an intimate, and communal act of seeking God’s pardon from the pastor, but also from one another. We will also be doing the prayers of the people differently: various petitions and thanksgivings will be offered, but they will be very general. For instance, we will pray for “the people in countries ravaged by strife or warfare,” after which a pause Worship in the Round Who remembers going to church and seeing the priest or pastors back most of the time? Older churches often had the altars against the wall, so that during the celebration of Holy Communion, the presider was turned away from the people. It wasn’t just Roman Catholic churches - many Lutheran and Episcopal churches were designed this way as well, not typi- cally changing until the mid-20th century. Nowadays we tend to talk about gathering “around the table,” and yet, we are still and silence will follow. You will then be invited to offer your normally oriented in rows, facing forward. own prayers—for instance, for the people of Syria. There will This summer we’ll be doing something different on Sunday also be time to bring forward our various prayer requests, be- mornings as we worship “in the round.” Sundays at Christ the ing able to see one another, and to very intentionally pray for King, the sanctuary will be rearranged so that we will sit in each other and those we love. circles around a central altar. We’re able to do this with move- And of course, we will gather around the table to celebrate able seats. And of course, summertime often means lower at- Holy Communion. Lutherans and now many Episcopalians tendance (we can’t fit quite as many people with this arrange- have moved away from speaking of the priest “celebrating” the ment). This affords us the opportunity to worship in the round Eucharist, as the celebration is something we all do together. - to truly “gather around the table” together. In a very visible way we will be celebrating this gift together - And yet, there’s something disturbing about worship in the as we gather together for worship in a very visible way. What a round - we have to look at each other! When you gaze up from wonderful opportunity this will be to gather together - to pray your bulletin or hymnal, it won’t just be the backs of a bunch for each other and for our world, to seek God’s forgiveness, of heads. You will see your brothers and sisters in Christ as we and to receive God’s precious gifts offered up for us all. sing and pray and worship together. This is an obvious yet oft overlooked part of our worship - it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. See you in worship this summer! When we worship, it isn’t just “us and God” - it is our whole Father Nathaniel the top apps for hiding other apps. When you press and hold the Audio Manager app, a locked screen is revealed Internet Safety: Part Two - behind which users can hide messages, photos, video and other apps. Again, if you see this app on your child’s phone, your child is hiding something from you. by Judith J. Phillips, Safe Church Coordinator Kik Messenger is an app-based alternative to standard texting that kids use for social networking. It is free to use As a follow-up to last month’s article about internet safety, here are a few but has lots of ads. (you can pay for an ad-free version) It is fast and has no message limits, character limits, or fees more applications and sites that you should know about. if you use the basic features. You should know that Kik has the ability to link to other Kik-enables apps within itself and is a way to drive up “app adoption” (purchases) from its users for developers. The app also encourages new Tumblr is like a combination of a blog and twitter. It’s a streaming registrants to invite everyone in their phone’s contacts book to join Kik, since users can only message those who scrapbook of text, photos, and/or videos and audio clips. Users create and also have the app. In addition, there is some stranger danger to this app. An app named OinkText, which is linked follow short blogs, or “tumblelogs”, that can be seen by anyone on line if the creator makes it public. Tumblr is popular with teens for sharing photos, is also a Kik community blog where users can submit photos of themselves and screenshots of messages, which sometimesto KiK, allows displays communication users’ full withnames, strangers to contests. who shareThis app their also Kik uses usernames real names. to find The people usernames to chat identify with. There them on with funny memes and gifs often go viral on line. Parents and caretakers Kik, so your children should not be using their real full name as their username. Image by Stoonn musings, videos and things they find funny with their friends. Tumblelogs freedigitalphotos.net creative but sometimes raunchy and inappropriate. Pornographic images and Ask.fm is a social site that lets kids ask questions and answer those posted by other users, often anonymously. This videos,need depictions to know of that violence, porn is self-harm, easy to find. drug This use, online and offensive “hangout” language is hip and are app is popular becausealthough there are some friendly interactions, Q&A about favorite movie stars, stores, food, easily searchable on Tumblr. Also, posts are often copied and shared. Reblogging on Tumblr is similar to re- or crushes, etc., there are lots of mean comments and some creepy sexual posts. This iffy content is part of the site’s tweeting. A post can be reblogged from one tumblelog then appears on another. Many teens like and/or want appeal to teens. Parents and caretakers should know that bullying is a major concern. This site has been linked their posts reblogged. Keep in mind that your child’s words and photos will appear on someone else’s page, to the suicide of several teens. Please talk with your kids about cyberbullying and how anonymity can encourage including inappropriate pages. mean behaviors. Oovoo is a free video, voice, and messaging app. Users can have group chats with up to 12 people for free. Teens Omegle is a chat site and app that puts two strangers together in their choice of a text chat or video chat room. mostly use Oovoo to hang out with friends in cyber space. Oovoo can be great for study groups, and it makes it I need not say more—but I will. Being anonymous can be very attractive to teens and this app provides a no- easy for kids to have face-to-face homework help from classmates. interests. Parents and caretakers should now that users get paired up with strangers. There is no registration fuss opportunity to make connections. Its “interest boxes” also let users filter potential chat partners by shared Burn Note is like Snapchat. It is a messaging app that erases messages after a set period of time. Unlike required. Also, this is not Snapchat, Burn Note is for text messages only, not for photos or videos. The display system shows only one word do it by video and there are some links to porn sites. an app for kids and teens. Omegle is filled with people searching for sexual chat. Some at a time, adding a sense of secrecy to the messages. By promising a complete delete of the message, kids could feel more comfortable revealing more than what they would do otherwise. What many do not understand is that, Wattpad is a free online community where users publish their own articles, stores, and poems. They are also able data is data, it does not go away. Capturing a screenshot so that the message can be shared and live forever is a to read, like and leave comments on other users’ work. Users can post their major weakness of these types of apps. own writing, no one needs to know their age or background and readers can be anywhere in the world. Technically, Wattpad is for ages 13+ however, they do not Cyber Dust is a disappearing messaging app that allows users to send messages that monitor the age requirement. Also users can join with a Facebook account which disappear on both the sender and recipient’s phone after a certain period of time. could display lots of personal information about a user. Material on Wattpad can This app is popular to users who feel an extra sense of privacy when communicating be inappropriate and is not screened by Wattpad.