As Advent begins, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church invites the community to take part in a four-week Advent Discussion Group. These weekly conversations follow the themes of each Sunday’s Advent message and are designed as open, informal discussions rather than lectures. You can participate in person in the Parish Hall or online using the recurring Zoom link below. Meeting Information Tuesdays at 1:00 PM Join on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81257258254 Meeting ID: 812 5725 8254 Passcode: Uturn2go Weekly Advent Themes Week 1 – Discussion Topic: Even if everything falls apart, stay awake, God’s always there. Week 2 – Discussion Topic: Peace: Week 2 centers on Christ as the Prince of Peace, inviting us to trust God’s promise of reconciliation and calm in a restless world. Week 3 – Discussion Topic: What's with being baptized, and afterwards? Week 4 – Discussion Topic: Love: Week 4 celebrates God’s boundless love revealed in the gift of Jesus, calling us to embody that love in our relationships and communities.
A Season of Reflection and Community As the holiday season begins, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church invites everyone to gather for the four Sundays of Advent. These weekly services offer a peaceful space to reflect, reconnect, and prepare for the coming season with hope and intention. Each service begins at 9:30 AM and is open to all—residents, visitors, families, and anyone looking for a meaningful way to mark this time of year. Service Dates Sunday, November 30 Sunday, December 7 Sunday, December 14 Sunday, December 21 Worship takes place at: 2680 Country Club Drive, Borrego Springs Whether you attend every year or are stepping in for the first time, Advent at St. Barnabas is a thoughtful tradition that brings people together during a special time of year.
A Community Gathering in Gratitude The 2025 Thanksgiving Eve Service brought churches, neighbors, and visitors together at Borrego Springs Community UMC for an evening centered on gratitude and connection. The gathering reflected the shared ministry of local faith leaders and the ongoing work of the Borrego Ministers Association, which supports residents throughout the year. Pastor Mateo Mamea of Borrego Springs Community United Methodist Church opened the service with an invitation to enter the evening in a spirit of thankfulness, followed by an opening prayer from Rev. Michael Plekon. Scripture readings were offered by Cmdr. Dale Jones and Rev. David Madsen, with additional participation from Ellen Fitzpatrick and Diane Johnson . Pastor Mamea later shared the homily, encouraging gratitude as a daily practice. Music played an important role throughout the service. Jennie and Gary Edwards performed “For the Beauty of the Earth,” and the combined choir—directed by Jinny Perrin —sang a beautifully unified anthem that added warmth to the evening. Martha Deichler also spoke, sharing stories about the Borrego Ministers Association and its role in supporting local residents in times of need. Her message highlighted the shared compassion and cooperation among the community’s churches. An offering was received to support the BMA’s year-round assistance programs, which provide help with emergency needs for individuals and families across Borrego Springs. The service concluded with a final hymn and blessing, leaving those gathered with a renewed sense of gratitude and community. The evening reflected the strength of Borrego Springs’ faith community and the shared commitment to caring for neighbors.
By Fr Michael Plekon Once again, we enter the holiday season. For us it is the celebration of God’s becoming one of us, entering time, space, matter, our world. We can never say, after the birth of Jesus, that God’s up there in his heaven, far from us down here on earth. All powerful. But not much understanding what life, joy, sadness, growing older, getting sick, dying are about. Maybe our culture has made us think only in “holy, jolly” terms about Christmas. There’s been anger that we don’t use the word “Christmas” enough. But, really, a lot of what’s online and in the stores is not about Christmas but more about a winter holiday of decorations, parties, festive dinners and the like. Or maybe very little celebration. This isn’t some thought from Fr. Michael Scrooge. I will never tire of Christmas, in all the little details. The blizzard that imprisoned us, kept family from visiting years ago back in NY. Going out to cut a tree. All our kids and partners together trimming the tree, foodies joining forces for a culinary feast on Christmas day. And much further back our kids, when little, and their glee at the tree and gifts and more. Time does something to one’s memories and thoughts about Christmas. Many of us think of the grandparents, parents, even partners and siblings no longer with us to celebrate or even call/facetime/zoom with on the day. And yet, and yet…aren’t they always with us, no matter how Christmas looks for us this year? Aren’t they still there as we look at the nativity creche, as we sing carols and hear the Christmas story in church and receive Christ in communion there? They indeed are. Jesus said his kingdom was not after we die, far above us somewhere. We all know the many moments of heaven we have experienced here on earth. Looking at your newborn for the first time. Looking over the years into the face of the partner you love. Loving and being loved. Putting Christmas into practice in how we live. Once I read that our lives would be changed if we could keep just a tiny bit of Christmas all through the year. Isn’t that what the happy ending of Dickens “A Christmas Carol” is about? If you have not ever been to Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve at St. Barnabas, do come if you are able, at 5pm this year, Wednesday, December 24. Christmas Day there’s also a Eucharist at 9:30am.You will hear the story of Christmas. Beginning with the very creation of the world, because all history was a leadup to that night, in the stable, with the baby born, wrapped up and put to bed in the feed trough, with the farm animals around, and later shepherds and eventual royal wisemen. Joy to the world, the lord has come, let earth receive her king, let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing.
By Father David Madsen
Marcus Borg reminds us that Jesus didn't come to start a new religion. He came to transform lives.
Shape Note Singing Filled The Library! On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, the Borrego Springs Library hosted the San Diego Fasola Singers for a public Shape Note singing session. The event was led by Jeanne Plekon, with support from the San Diego Fasola crew and local participants including Beth Hart, Naomi Madsen and more. Attendance exceeded planned seating, and additional chairs were brought out to accommodate the audience.
When desert temperatures soar in Borrego Springs, heat isn’t just uncomfortable—it’s dangerous.
Residents of Borrego Springs can sign up for the upcoming Animal Action League Low-Cost Spay/Neuter Clinic on Monday, December 22, 2025 , at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church , 2680 Country Club Rd. Appointments are required and space is limited. A $30 suggested donation helps cover surgery costs. To schedule, call 760-366-1100 , press option “0,” and leave a message including “Borrego Springs Resident.” This event provides an affordable way to help control the pet population while keeping local cats and dogs healthy and safe. If you missed this clinic, check back for future Animal Action League events in Borrego Springs.
Commander, members of the Post, veterans and all of you assembled here. My thanks for inviting me to talk on this Veteran’s Day. I am Fr Michael Plekon, assistant priest at St Barnabas Episcopal Church here and co-chair of the BMA . I want to share with you the story of a 26 year old who was there in the first wave of Army Engineers on D-Day at Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 6, 1944. He was born Hrihori or Gregory Plekon in Nanticoke PA May 17, 1918. He died January 6, 1991. He was my father. Since the teacher could pronounce Hrihori, he became first Harry, which he didn’t like, then later Henry. One of four brothers, like most of them, left the coal region as most of them did. On Easter in 1940, in Yonkers NY, my maternal grandmother heard a young priest chanting the service in church, went to him afterwards and found he was the son of a boy she’d grown up with in the village of Burkaniew in what’s now western Ukraine. She invited the priest over for dinner and he brought his brother Henry, who immediately fell in love with my grandma’s remaining daughter, Helen. But Henry and Helen had been waiting to do so since he enlisted in the Army when war broke out in 1941. The real story today is that of my father’s courageous service. Like thousands of other soldiers, he was part of the long training in England for months. The ultimate goal was a massive invasion of occupied France, the largest attack in history. Which brings us to June 6, 1944. The Army Engineers, who still do huge projects like clearing and demoing burnt structures in burned out Pacific Palisades, were the first line of the assault, there to clear barbed wire, and other structures on the beach that would block the infantry, tanks, jeeps and trucks. My father hardly ever spoke of that day or any other day in his service in WWII. But on the 40th anniversary of D-Day in 1984 he spoke to a local newspaper reporter. He was awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded in combat and the Silver Star. Here is the citation attached. My father rejoined his 121st Engr Bn to rebuild bridges in Germany, liberate towns and I believe a concentration camp. He returned to his beloved, they married in May , 1946 and I came along in 1948, with two brothers to follow. My father bore within the scars of what had happened to him, the suffering and death he’d seen. We only realized this much later in his life. He was in family life as he was in the service: quiet, humble, hard working. He and my Mom said our evening prayers with us. We were in church every Sunday, why I have been a priest for over 40 years. Today we give thanks for his service and that of so many other courageous women and men. In Ukraine, during the struggle now against Russian invasion and oppression, there is a cry that is also a prayer and it is most appropriate for Veterans Day: Slava Hero’iim. Glory to the heroes, those who suffered and died to keep us free. May they inspire us to continue the struggle for our democracy and freedom in this Land. Amen.
