Mike Waller, Senior Warden

Judith Peele, Junior Warden

Sybil Atkinson, Parish Administrator

Office Hours:  9 AM to Noon, Monday through Friday

Phone:  540-980-2413

christpulaski.org          christ24301@gmail.com

February 2026

Martin Luther King, Jr., Day fell on Monday of the week I’m writing these words.

By coincidence, the latest issue of National Geographic’s History, contained an

article about Mahatma Gandhi. They are two of my heroes. Heroes of my

childhood differed greatly from King and Gandhi. The first full-length novel I read

featured the Lone Ranger. I loved westerns, movies and television. I still do.

Most westerns have a clear hero, the lawman or gunfighter who defends the

good people. The wicked cattle baron wants to drive homesteaders away from

the open range. His evil henchmen burn, plunder, and pillage these innocent

farmers and all looks hopeless until Alan Ladd outdraws Jack Palance in the

climactic scene. Gary Cooper defies his pacifist wife and cowardly town to face

the outlaws coming in on the noon train. James Arness kicks down the door and

shoots the kidnappers in the final scene just before a commercial featuring the

Marlboro Man.

Violent heroes have filled our stories from humanity’s earliest days. Gilgamesh

slays monsters. Achilles slaughters Trojans. Odysseus wipes out the suitors.

Beowulf kills Grendel and his mother. Milton, in Paradise Lost, portrays Jesus

Christ as a warrior in the battle against Lucifer and his fellow rebels. The glory of

victory in battle resonates like a heraldic trumpet through millennia.

Admittedly, that is over-simplification. Shane, the Alan Ladd character, and Will

Kane of High Noon, have depth. The epic heroes of antiquity represent cultural

values. But the joy in violence, the satisfaction of seeing the enemy defeated,

loom large in our heritage.

King and Gandhi fought against evil, but their weapons were love and passive

resistance. These methods do not always succeed. The Tiananmen Square

Massacre and contemporary events in Iran demonstrate their fallibility. But King

and Gandhi showed that peaceful protests can bring about change. As a child, I

saw how the images of peaceful marchers being beaten and hosed changed the

minds of adults I looked up to. From history, I learned how India gained its

independence from the British Empire without a war.

Jesus told us to love our neighbors. He blessed the peacemakers. He

reprimanded the follower who drew the sword in the Garden of Gethsemane.

True heroes can turn the other cheek.

Rusty Swope

Senior Warden

SERVICE SCHEDULE

(for February)

February 1 – Morning Prayer

February 8 – Holy Communion

The Rev. Terrie Sternberg

February 15 – Morning Prayer

February 18 – ASH WEDNESDAY @ 7PM

The Rev. Terrie Sternberg

February 22 – Holy Communion

The Rev. Terrie Sternberg

VESTRY – The Vestry will meet on

Sunday, February 15th, 2026 following the

service. (third Sunday of the month)

SHROVE TUESDAY PANCAKE SUPPER

Our annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake

Supper is:

February 17 th , 5-7 p.m.

As in the past, all proceeds will go to

the Covington Boys Home and Jackson-

Field Behavioral Health Services.

Ron Hall is once again the

coordinator for this event (Chief

Pancake Wizard for Life!)

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FLOWER CALENDAR 

The new calendar for 2026 is now posted inthe hall outside the church office.

Please sign your name for the Sundays you wish to provide altar flowers. Please feel free to call the office if you want to be put on the calendar for a specific Sunday.

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LENT BEGINS

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE

February 18, 7:00 p.m.

The Rev. Terrie Sternberg will be with

us for the traditional Ash Wednesday

service, February 18…Imposition of

Ashes and Holy Communion.

Please plan to attend this service and

begin our Lenten journey together.

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LENT

The Episcopal Relief and 

Development booklet of Lenten

Meditations will not be printed, but

will be put online for our use:

episcopalrelief.org/church-in-

action/lent .

I can make a copy of this Meditation

for anyone that would like a paper

copy to use in your daily meditations.

Please just let me know and I will get

it to you.

MITE BOXES 

 Mite Boxes (red) are available if you would like to use one during the Lenten Season. The money will again go to the Episcopal Relief and

Development Fund. Let us know if you would like one. 

(You can always just write a check!)