Dear Friends in Christ,

By now you should have received your Stewardship packet, outlining All Saints’ ministries, some financial information and a pledge card.If you did not receive this mailing, please let the office know and we will get one to you. Please return your pledge card by November 4th, either in the offering plate or in the mail. Thank you for prayerfully considering what pledge of your time, talent and treasure you will make to God’s work through All Saints’ in 2013.

Also, All Saints' Day (Nov. 1) is our Parish Feast Day, as well as an  important day in the Church calendar.  Last year we were not able to  celebrate it on the day itself, what with sabbatical and the October  snowstorm.  I hope you will consider being part of the Parish Pot-Luck  Supper, or the All Saints' Day Eucharist, or both.  More details are  below. 
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This Sunday October 28 – Kids’Trunk or Treat and Ministry Fair, 11:15 am.Children are invited to wear their Hallowe’en costumes to Church and “trunk or treat” from car to car in the parking lot after the 10 am service.Kids will gather (with or without costumes) in front of the Church after worship for an outdoor parade while the trunk or treating gets set up.Parish organizations will also staff tables at the Ministry Fair with handouts about their different ministries that you can be involved with. Something for everyone!

All Saints’ Day – November 1 –International Pot-Luck Supper, 6 pm in the Parish Hall. Celebrate our parish feast day with a feast! Plan to bring a main dish, side dish/salad or dessert that comes from your family background.  Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex (for set-up and clean-up, too). 

All Saints’ Day Worship, 7:30 pm. If you have the names of friends or family who have died that you would like to have
remembered in the Necrology(either on 11/1 or 11/4), please give the names to the Parish Office by 10/29.

November 4, All Saints’ Sunday- 8 & 10 am (remember to move your clocks back 1 hour).Family Service at 10 am;
the Necrology will be chanted at the start of both services.

Bible Study this Week:Wednesday, October 31 at 10:15 am.The passage for discussion is Hebrews 6. The next evening
Bible study is Nov. 7 (Genesis 9 & 10). 

Mid-Week Services: Holy Eucharist and Healing Prayer, Wed. 9:30 am and Thu. 7 am.
The next Evening Prayer is Wed., Nov. 7 at 7:15 pm

November 11 – Veteran’s Day Evensong, 4 pm at St. Mark’s, Basking Ridge.This is a combined service with the other four Conover parishes (our “sibling” congregations). All Saints’ Choir will participate with the choirs from the other parishes. It’s a great way to honor our veterans from the Revolutionary War to the present.

Women's Book Group - will next meet on Tuesday, November 27 in the Rath House at 7:30 pm. The book for discussion will be non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It’s about the origin of the HeLa cells used for decades in
important medical research and breakthroughs.

Family Promise Homeless Shelter (St. Joseph’s Shrine, Stirling) – our next time to serve at the shelter is January. We need a volunteer from All Saints’ to coordinate our parish’s participation in this very worthy ministry. If you are interested or have questions, please speak to Steve Liesch or Mother Vicki.

All Saints’ Care Circle - this ministry is one of the ways we care for one another by offering rides to the doctor, making a meal for a family or individual, running an errand, giving a ride to Church or any other sort of short-term need. We have moved this ministry
from a commercial website to an in-house e-mail distribution list.If you would like to be a Care Circle minister, please let the office or Mother Vicki know.Thanks!

Save the date – more information to come! January 26 – Grateful Gathering Dinner & Trivia Night, 6 pm. Fun and delicious!

Thank you for all the prayers and for everyone who came out for the first All God’s Children (AGC) service last
Sunday!We had a great first effort. Our next AGC will be Nov. 18, 12 noon.If you would like to volunteer to help,
please see the sign-up sheet in the Narthex. And if you know a family in your neighborhood who could benefit from the chance to worship together with their special needs child, tell them about ACG!This is not just for All Saints’members or even Episcopalians!
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Stewardship 
“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein” ~ Psalm 24:1
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 A Prayer for All Saints’ Eve (Hallowe’en)

 God we are surrounded by a cloud
 Faithful witnesses who have gone before
 Those who have loved where we would have hated
 Those who have healed where we would have hurt
 Those who have spoken out when we would have remained silent
 God may we walk in their footsteps
 Learning courage from their sacrifice
 Gaining strength from their faithfulness
 May we learn to give so that others may receive
 May we learn to love so that others may be set free
 May we learn to die to ourselves so that others might live
 God may we join that cloud of faithful witnesses
 Treading paths of loving obedience
 Leaving footprints that others desire to walk in
 God may we too lead kingdom lives. Amen.
                                              ~Christine Sine

Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+

Dear Friends in Christ,

Our stewardship packets for 2013 will be available in the Narthex on Sunday. Please pick them up. This will save us the cost of postage.  Thanks!

No Mid-Week Services or Bible Study this week.  The Rector will be at the Diocesan Clergy Conference from Tuesday afternoon until Thursday afternoon.
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All God's Children at All Saints' Starting this Sunday at 12 noon. It’s a once-a-month non-denominational Christian worship service (30 mins. long) designed to appeal to children of any age, and especially appropriate for children with special needs. This is for the wider community, as well as parish families. If you know a family who might be interested in this time for worship and fellowship, please let them know about it. High school students and adults can volunteer - we'll need some extra hands! Please look at the sign-up sheet in the Narthex. If you want to know more or would like to get involved, speak to Kathy Hunt or Mother Vicki. And please keep this ministry in your prayers. Thanks!

Next Week October 28 – Kids’ Trunk or Treat and Ministry Fair, 11:15 am.  Children are invited to wear their Hallowe’en costumes to Church and “trunk or treat” from car to car in the parking lot after the 10 am service.  Parents and other adults who would like to offer Hallowe’en treats should sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. Parish organizations will also staff tables at the Ministry Fair with handouts about their different ministries that you can be involved with.

Thank you to all of our wonderful artists and to Nancy Mink and her crew for our Community Art Show last Sunday, and the BUNCO fund-raiser the previous Friday. The Show was a wonderful way to welcome our community neighbors and serve as a patron of the arts in Long Hill Township!

All Saints’ Day – November 1 – International Pot-Luck Supper, 6 pm in the Parish Hall. Celebrate our parish feast day with a feast! Plan to bring a main dish, side dish/salad or dessert that comes from your family background.  Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex (for set-up and clean-up, too). All Saints’ Day Worship, 7:30 pm.  If you have the names of friends or family who have died that you would like to have remembered in the Necrology (either on 11/1 or 11/4), please give the names to the Parish Office by 10/29.

November 11 – Veteran’s Day Evensong, 4 pm at St. Mark’s, Basking Ridge.  This is a combined service with the other four Conover parishes (our “sibling” congregations). It’s a great way to honor our veterans – past and present.

Women's Book Group - will next meet on Tuesday, November 27 in the Rath House at 7:30 pm. The book for discussion will be non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It’s about the origin of the HeLa cells used for decades in important medical research and breakthroughs.

Family Promise Homeless Shelter (St. Joseph’s Shrine, Stirling) – our next time to serve at the shelter is January.  We need a volunteer from All Saints’ to coordinate our parish’s participation in this very worthy ministry.  If you are interested or have questions, please speak to Steve Liesch or Mother Vicki.

Knitters Wanted for Seamen’s Church Institute. Use your talent – or learn a new skill – to help others. We have a great group of people who knit caps and scarves for the merchant seafarers, as collected by the Seaman’s Church Institute at Port Newark.  We have patterns and yarn.  You can knit at your own pace, on your own schedule.  Return the items to Janet Mansfield and they will be shipped off to Newark and given to those who move the goods that we import and export.  If you want more information, please speak to Janet Mansfield 908-604-8423.

All Saints’ Care Circle – RELAUNCH! About 18 months ago we tried out a commercial website, hosted by Lotsa Helping Hands, as a way to coordinate some of our parishioners’ needs and the care we could give them (driving to the doctor, help shopping, meals needed, etc.).  It was a wonderful idea, but the technology did not fit well with a parish of our size.  So…we are trying this again with a limited e-mail distribution list from our Hotmail account.  The Care Circle will work like this: A parishioner with a specific need calls the office.  Susie Harris or Mother Vicki sends out a request via e-mail to those who have signed up to be volunteers with the Care Circle.  If a volunteer can respond to the need, he or she e-mails the office and then calls the person in need to arrange the details of the care.  So if you would like to be a volunteer with the All Saints’ Care Circle, please respond to this e-mail with a message giving us your name and best e-mail address, and we will include you.  If we need to refine this as we go, we can.  For now, we need the names and addresses of those who are willing to make a meal, run an errand, drive to the doctor, give a ride to Church, or any other short-term commitment like that.  With many people participating, it should be a light task, to care for one another in this way.  Thanks!

Save the date – more information to come! January 26 – Grateful Gathering Dinner & Trivia Night, 6 pm. Fun and delicious!
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Wider Community Announcement:

Girl Scout Troop 1281 will be holding a Fantasy Fun Day on October 20 from 12 noon – 5 pm at All Saints’ Parish House for any child between the ages of 5 and 12.  The theme of the event is to encourage using imagination and bringing awareness to the use of video, computer and television viewing time.  The event is the service project for several girls in the troop to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award.
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Stewardship - “Take delight in the Lord, and he shall give you your heart’s desire.  Commit your way to the Lord and put your trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.”

                                                            ~ Psalm 37:4-5
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O God, from whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed:  Give unto thy servants that peace which the world cannot give; that both our hearts may be set to obey thy commandments, and also that by thee we being defended from the fear of our enemies may pass our time in rest and quietness; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.   ~ Collect at Evensong, Book of Common Prayer, 1662

Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+

Dear Friends in Christ,

Please read the announcements below about all of the ministries, events and activities coming up.
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1st Annual All Saints' Community Art Show - Sunday, October 14, Noon -5 pm in the Parish Hall. Come enjoy an afternoon of color, texture, conversation and autumn-themed refreshments with local artists from our parish and wider community. Free admission.  Tell your neighbors, bring your friends!

Women's Book Group - is a relaxed group, open to all women of the parish.  We have lively discussions of books that we read, and the group chooses the selection each month. We will meet on Wednesday, October 17 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. The book for discussion is "The Kitchen House" by Katherine Grissom. 

Family Promise Homeless Shelter – this Thursday, October 18.  It’s All Saints’ turn to serve at the shelter at the Shrine of St. Joseph in Stirling.  We need volunteers for several different jobs: cook a nutritious meal for 10-12 people and deliver it to the Shrine, serve the meal at 5:30 pm, sleep overnight on-site to be the on-call person, set up cold buffet breakfast in the morning on Friday.  If you can help, please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.  If you have questions, please call Steve Liesch. 

We are also looking for someone to organize this thrice-yearly outreach ministry from All Saints’ end. Our next two times to serve this program year are during the weeks of January 6 and February 3. If you are interested or have questions, please speak to Mother Vicki.  Thanks.

All God's Children at All Saints' Starting Next Week, October 21 at 12 noon. It’s a once-a-month non-denominational Christian worship service (30 mins. long) designed to appeal to children of any age, and especially appropriate for children with autism, PDD-NOS, ADHD, ADD, Down's Syndrome or any other developmental or physical challenges. This is for the wider community, as well as parish families. If you know a family who might be interested in this time for worship and fellowship, please let them know about it.

High school students and adults can volunteer - we'll need some extra hands! Please look at the sign-up sheet in the Narthex. If you want to know more or would like to get involved, speak to Kathy Hunt or Mother Vicki. And please keep this ministry in your prayers. Thanks!

Kids’ Trunk or Treat and Ministry Fair, October 28, 11:15 am.  Children are invited to wear their Hallowe’en costumes to Church and “trunk or treat” from car to car in the parking lot after the 10 am service.  Parents and other adults who would like to offer Hallowe’en treats should sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. Questions?  Speak to Marlene Gebauer.

All Saints’ Day – November 1 – International Pot-Luck Supper, 6 pm in the Parish Hall. Celebrate our parish feast day with a feast! Plan to bring a main dish, side dish/salad or dessert that comes from your family background.  Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex (for set-up and clean-up, too).

All Saints’ Day Worship, 7:30 pm.  If you have the names of friends or family who have died that you would like to have remembered in the Necrology (either on 11/1 or 11/4), please give the names to the Parish Office by 10/29.

Knitters Wanted for Seamen’s Church Institute. Use your talent – or learn a new skill – to help others. We have a great group of people who knit caps and scarves for the merchant seafarers, as collected by the Seaman’s Church Institute at Port Newark.  We have patterns and yarn.  You can knit at your own pace, on your own schedule.  Return the items to Janet Mansfield and they will be shipped off to Newark and given to those who move the goods that we import and export.  If you want more information, please speak to Janet Mansfield 908-604-8423.

All Saints’ Care Circle – RELAUNCH! About 18 months ago we tried out a commercial website, hosted by Lotsa Helping Hands, as a way to coordinate some of our parishioners’ needs and the care we could give them (driving to the doctor, help shopping, meals needed, etc.).  It was a wonderful idea, but the technology did not fit well with a parish of our size.  So…we are trying this again with a limited e-mail distribution list from our Hotmail account.  The Care Circle will work like this: A parishioner with a specific need calls the office.  Susie Harris or Mother Vicki sends out a request via e-mail to those who have signed up to be volunteers with the Care Circle.  If a volunteer can respond to the need, he or she e-mails the office and then calls the person in need to arrange the details of the care.  So if you would like to be a volunteer with the All Saints’ Care Circle, please respond to this e-mail with a message giving us your name and best e-mail address, and we will include you.  If we need to refine this as we go, we can.  For now, we need the names and addresses of those who are willing to make a meal, run an errand, drive to the doctor, give a ride to Church, or any other short-term commitment like that.  With many people participating, it should be a light task, to care for one another in this way.  Thanks!

Worship and Study- Come Get a Mid-Week Faith Boost -

Holy Eucharist and Healing Prayer:
Wednesdays at 9:30 am and Thursday at 7:00 am

Evening Prayer
Wednesdays at 7:15 pm - Our next two services are 11/7 and 11/14.

Bible Study this Week, Wednesday, October 17. The passage for discussion this week is Hebrews 5 (10:15 am – in the Narthex) Hebrews 4. The next evening Bible study is Nov. 7 at 7:45 pm (Genesis 9 & 10).  Both groups welcome all levels of Bible readers.  You can use our Bible, or bring your own.  Come and deepen your faith in a friendly and helpful setting.

Save the date – more information to come! January 26 – Grateful Gathering Dinner & Trivia Night, 6 pm. Fun and delicious!
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Wider Community Announcement:

Girl Scout Troop 1281 will be holding a Fantasy Fun Day on October 20 from 12 noon – 5 pm at All Saints’ Parish House for any child between the ages of 5 and 12.  The theme of the event is to encourage using imagination and bringing awareness to the use of video, computer and television viewing time.  The event is the service project for several girls in the troop to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award.
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Stewardship -  “…if  leadership is truly about servanthood and servanthood is about discipleship then the stewardship of that oft quoted and accurate trio of treasure, time and talent must naturally be about becoming a better disciple, becoming a better servant. And so I have come to realize and appreciate that stewardship is not about an annual pledge campaign but it is all about discipleship, serving others and in so doing, growing in my relationship with Christ.” ~ Martin Darby, Institute for Servant Leadership
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7 Hard Truths About the Practice of Hospitality

1.     There will be someone you don’t really want to welcome walking through your door at least once every day.  This is human – which is not to say you shrug your shoulders and ignore it.  Acknowledge it, cut yourself some slack, and say hello

2.     Never kick someone out of your heart. But you can ask them to leave the space.

3.     Self-forgiveness is non-negotiable.  As a wise priest once told me, “You are not perfect, but you are divine.”  You will make mistakes. Tomorrow is a new day.

4.     Setting rules, boundaries, limitations is not easy, especially when you see people in need.  But remember, the people in need will benefit from the peace and well-being that is created in the space by the rules you established.

5.     The power of your hospitality in no always seen in the moment.  A warm, heartfelt welcome is a gift that can be difficult for some to receive.  Have faith.  Keep showing up. Hospitality is, above all, a practice.

6.     Everyone deserves beauty.  Providing that for another is part of the practice.

7.     Everyone likes to help.  Never be totally ready for the party.  Receiving gifts is part of the hospitality, too.

          ~ Jenn Chinn, Program Manager - Charlotte’s Place, Trinity Church, Wall Street, NYC.

 

Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+