
This Friday and Saturday is our annual Diocesan Convention, with three lay deputies from every parish, as well as all the clergy. We’ll meet at the Meadowlands Hilton in East Rutherford (new site for us this year) and it will be Bishop Hughes first time presiding over convention. Some of the convention will be lives-streamed. You can get the information about it here: https://dioceseofnewark.org/convention . This page also has PDFs of all the documents that will be discussed at the meeting. Please prayer for our Bishop and our diocese as we takes this next step together as Bishop and the People of God.
Please see the rest of the announcements, especially:
- Annual Parish Meeting (Annual Meeting)
- Choral Benefit Concert (Music Events)
- Rectory Changes (Buildings & Grounds)
- Funeral Service for Martha Wyatt (Worship)
- Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper (Prayer & a Party)
The Annual Parish Meeting of All Saints’ Church will be held on Sunday, February 10 at 11:15 am in the Parish Hall. This is an important time in our community life to hear from our leadership, to elect new Vestry members and diocesan convention deputies, and to gather for conversation with fellow parishioners. Please plan to be there. Childcare will be available during the meeting.
Those standing for election are:
- Roger Kosempel, Warden (2nd 2-year term)
- Anthony Saitta, Vestry (1st 3-year term)
- Linda Kestler, Vestry (2nd 3-year term)
- Barbara Barbeau, Vestry (1st 3-year term)
- Randy Gaulke, Vestry (unexp 1-year term)
- OPEN, Vestry (unexp 2-year term)
- anyone who might be interested in serving in this capacity in the OPEN position, please speak to Mother Vicki.
WORSHIP
Candlemas Procession This Sunday – The Feast of the Presentation (“Candlemas”) is Feb. 2, the fourtieth day after Christmas. It celebrates Mary and Joseph taking the infant Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated to God. At both services next week we’ll begin with a candle-lit procession, prayers, and hear the story from Luke.
Funeral Service for Martha Wyatt (1923-2019) is Sunday, February 3 at 12 noon. Martha was an active and dedicated member of All Saints’ Church for the majority of her life. Please keep Martha’s daughters Jeanne Wyatt and Kathy Conley and their family in your prayers. May Martha rest in the peace of Christ and rise in the glory of God.
MUSIC EVENTS
All Saints’ Choirs and Friends will present a benefit choral concert on Feb. 24 at 4:30 pm. Titled “Holy is the True Light”, the program will include music by Bach, William Harris, Howard Helvey, John Ferguson, Karen Marrolli, traditional South African, William Byrd, Bruce Neswick, Nicholas Palmer, and others, all based on the theme of light. There will be selections for full choir, men’s voices, women’s voices, and children. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall. Please sign up to contribute an appetizer, chese & crackers, or fruit.
All proceeds from the concert will go towards the start of a repair and restoration fund for our Resurrection altar window, which will be 100 years old at Christmas 2019. It was given by parishioner Thomas G. Clynes in memory of his wife Edith Seamon Clynes who died in February 1917, shortly after the birth of their second child. Admission to the concert is by free will offering; minimum suggested donation is $10. Please invite your friends and neighbors!
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Bible Study meets on Wednesdays at 10:15 am in the Rath House. We are reading and discussing the Gospel of Mark – this week, Chapter 10. We’d love to have you join us. Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
Our Narnia Book Club for families, kids, and adults is continuing this winter/spring. We’ll be reading “The Magician’s Nephew” from The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis starting February 24, with the first discussion after the 10 am service on March 3. Brochures with a reading schedule are on the book case in our Narnia Corner near the choir stalls. Copies of the book will be available soon for $5.
And in the summer, our inter-generational Vacation Bible School will be Narnia-themed: Aslan On the Move (June 23-27, 6:00-8:30 pm).
Why Narnia? The Inklings was a Christian literary circle with ties to Oxford University from the early 1930s through the 1950s. It included C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, and Owen Barfield, among others. They were particularly interested in the way creativity, imagination, theology, and spirituality all worked together to reflect God’s truth and the Christian life. Their writings (fiction for adults and children, poetry, and non-fiction) are a treasure of the Anglican spiritual tradition and have much to offer us today.
FUNDRAISING
Sausage and Peppers on Sale Sunday in the Parish Hall freezer. Several sizes available. Vegetarian onions, peppers, & sauce, too. Add to your Super Bowl celebration!
ShopRite Cards– everyone needs groceries! You may purchase ShopRite cards as a gift or for yourself on Sundays during Coffee House or at the parish office. You pay face value and 5% goes to All Saints’ ministries. Please speak to Barbara Barbeau.
Rectory Changes, 37 Northfield Road: We are between tenants, and it is listed for rent with Weichert Relators. Tom Day, Steve Kowalik, Max Kosempel, and Roger Kosempel have been working on the house to make some minor repairs as well as having the interior freshly painted. Thank you to Tom, Roger, and Max for all their hard work! If you know someone who might be a good tenant, please contact our realtor, Beth Lohner at Weichert. And please pray that God brings us the right tenant at the right time!
PRAYER & A PARTY
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper on March 5, 5:30-7:30 pm. This year we’ll be inviting our Veteran friends and Seniors in our community, as well as parishioners. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday – traditionally a time for using up all the butter/oil/sweets in the house – hence the pancakes! $5 per person/$20 maxmum per husehold/kids under age 3 are free. Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex so we know you are coming. And if you would like to help cook/set-up/serve, please also indicate that on the sign-up sheet.
Photos Welcome! Please help us by taking photos of parish events and Sunday services – with your camera phone or a regular digital camera, and then sharing the file with us. We use these photos for our website, Facebook page, and print communications. These pictures help us tell the story of All Saints’ in images. Questions? Speak to Parish Admin Susie Harris. And remember to check in at All Saints’ on Facebook and Instagram!
PARISH CALENDAR
2/3 Wyatt Funeral & Reception Church & Parish Hall noon
2/6 Bible Study Rath House 10:00 am
2/7 Communion & Healing Prayer Church 7:00 am
Junior Choir Choir Room 5:15 pm
Adult Choir Choir Room 7:30 pm
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
The Christian Virtues
Since the earliest days of the faith, Christian teachers and writers have emphasized the Christian virtues. The virtues are not merely “doing good” or “being good”, but they are particular habits of mind and heart that both support us in our faith, and have outward and visible effects in human behavior and the life of the community.
We work to develop these virtues over time by engaging in Christian practices, such as those outlined in the Way of Love. The Christian virtues are:
- Prudence – wisdom and discipline
- Justice – in our behavior and attitude towards others; seeking the good of the other.
- Fortitude – courage, patient persistence, brave endurance.
- Temperance – moderation, humility, and meekness
- Faith – trust in God; a divine gift
- Hope – knowing that we are citizens of God’s kingdom; God will never abandon us
- Love – divine, unselfinterested love; loving God, loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Which virtue comes most naturally to you? Which do you most need to work on – with God’s help?
Blessings, Vicki+