A Pastoral Notice: Bart Rainey, Sharon Yeager, Jane Pounds
June 20, 2022
Dear friends, family, and the larger Saint Stephen’s community,
I write to you in the unfailing hope of the Gospel and in assurance of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. I also write to you in the midst of immense sadness, shock, and grief following the trauma of the deaths of our beloved parishioners Bart Rainey and Sharon Yeager on Thursday, June 16, and Jane Pounds on Friday, June 17.
In this raw and visceral time, I ask your prayers for the family and friends of Bart Rainey, especially our parishioners Straughn Rainey, Bill and Melinda Thompson, and Nat (Abbie), Warner (Rebecca), and Lily Thompson. I ask your prayers from the family and friends of Sharon Yeager. And, I ask your prayers for the family and friends of Jane Pounds.
On Sunday evening at our Celtic Service, we prayed, “Lord Jesus Christ, you have put your life into our hands; now we put our lives into yours.” This is our prayer in the coming days, to fully entrust that God, who embraced Sharon, Jane, and Bart in eternal life, will comfort us and hold us through these days.
Here are the details for the upcoming services. All services will be livestreamed through the links below.
Walter Bartlett Rainey
Wednesday, June 22
10am Visitation in the Gathering Space
11am Service of Holy Eucharist in the Nave at Saint Stephen's
12pm Reception in the Gathering Space
Sarah Sharon McEwen Yeager
Wednesday, June 22
1pm Private Burial Service
3pm Service of Holy Eucharist in the Nave at Saint Stephen's
4pm Reception at the Chapel of St. John’s
Jane Easter Pounds
Thursday, June 23
11am Service of Holy Eucharist in the Nave at Saint Stephen's
12pm Reception in the Gathering Space
Give rest, O Christ, to thy servants Jane, Sharon, and Bart with thy saints, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Into thy hands, O merciful Savior, we commend thy servants, Sharon, Jane, and Bart. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech thee, sheep of thine own fold, lambs of thine own flock, sinners of thine own redeeming. Receive them into the arms of thy mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace and into the glorious company of the saints in light.
Faithfully,
The Reverend John B. Burruss