Dear Friends in Christ,

Bishop Beckwith will be at All Saints’ at the 10 am service for his parish visitation.  He will preach, celebrate the Eucharist, bless our reconditioned Parish House “Lower Room,” and share fellowship with us.  We will have Sunday School as usual, then at the Peace all classes will come to worship (inc. the children in the Parish Hall, and their class has moved back to the Lower Room).  The Bishop will have a short homily for the kids for them at the Peace. 

Thank you to everyone who has offered to help.  Please deliver all your delicious appetizers or sweets to the Parish Hall before you come to worship.  Thanks also to the folks who will set up and clean up.  Directly after worship we will gather in the Lower Room for the Bishop to dedicate and bless it before we go upstairs for the reception and Forum.  The kids can stay downstairs with Jasmine and Greer who will be providing child care. Originally our contractor was going to finish all the details on Friday, but he had to re-arrange his schedule to accommodate the building inspector on Monday.  So the last little bits will not be in place for Sunday, but they are soon to come.  Thanks be to God!

We were disappointed to learn yesterday that Marilyn Olsen, Bishop Beckwith’s wife, will not be able to join us, but hope that all of you can be present on Sunday for this important time in the life of All Saints’ when we can hear from the Bishop, and he can see and hear from us how God is working among us and through us and through our ministry of Community Hospitality.  See you in Church! 

And check the diocesan website: ­­­­­­­www.dioceseofnewark.org .

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Last Lenten Taizé service –thisWednesday at 7 pm.  Half an hour of candlelight, chanting, silence, and resting in the presence of God.  Thank you to Dr. Jody for offering this wonderful opportunity.

Easter Flowers – If you wish to donate flowers and plants to decorate the church for Easter in memory of a loved one in thanksgiving for a blessing, please use the envelopes in the pews and be sure to indicate the names of the people you want listed in the bulletin.  The deadline for names is March 29.

Palm Sunday – Next week.  Palms, Procession and Passion Gospel at 8 am; Palms, Bagpipe Procession and Passion Gospel at 10 am.  At the later service we’ll all gather in front of the Parish House and process around the Church, led by our piper Bill McAvoy.  Once at the Church door the youngest children will go to their class in the Parish House.  All other children and adults will attend worship.

Maundy Thursday
Seder Supper: A pot-luck meal with the traditional Jewish Seder elements that tells the story of the Passover and Exodus – for all ages.  April 5 @ 6 pm in the Parish Hall. Please bring a main dish, salad/side dish or dessert and one of the seder ingredients.  Take a look at the sign-up sheet in the Narthex and let us know what you will bring.  This is an event for the whole family, so please plan to come.

Holy Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar, 7:30 pm: This is the service that marks Jesus’ Last Supper and the institution of the Eucharist.  It is a time when all Christians worldwide of any denomination gather to remember what took place in the Upper Room.  At the end of the service we strip the altar of all linens, candles and hangings to symbolize the starkness of Good Friday.

Prayer Watch: following the Maundy Thursday service you are invited to keep watch with Jesus. We set up a small altar with the Reserved Sacrament in front of the baptismal font (an altar of repose), with plants and flowers to represent the Garden of Gethsemane.  The watch is kept until midnight, when we pray a short form of the Good Friday Morning Prayer and receive Communion from the Reserved Sacrament.  We ask individuals to sign up for 30 minute time slots.  While several people can keep watch at a time, we hope that all the time slots will be covered. This is offered as a time of personal reflection and meditation.

Good Friday
Stations of the Cross, 12 Noon: an interactive, inter-generational simple service for all ages.  As we move around the Church to mark each of the stops on Jesus’ journey to the Cross there are things to see, touch, say, sing and hear.  The service will be assisted by members of our Confirmation Class and any Middle Schoolers who would like to help.

Good Friday Liturgy, 7:30 pm: We gather in the starkness and simplicity of the Church, as at the foot of the Cross, to reflect on Jesus’ death and sacrifice for us.  There are prayers, Scripture readings and hymns.  Dr. Jody will sing the beautiful Gregorian chant hymn that is an adoration of the Cross (“Now my tongue the mystery telling”) and our friend and guest organist Shea Velloso will play an organ meditation.  Good Friday is always a difficult and uncomfortable day, but if we are present to it, our Easter celebrations will be much more powerful and joyful.

Holy Saturday
Kid’s Service, Easter Egg Hunt and Ribbon Decorating: Our annual Easter Egg Hunt for younger children will take place on April 7 after the brief Kid’s Holy Saturday Service at 10 am.  We need some parents/grandparents to fill and hide eggs and provide some refreshments.  A new feature this year (suggested by our Visual Arts Ministry) – kids in grade 5-8 are asked to come and help make ribbon streamers to decorate our parking lot for Easter! Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.

Easter Vigil, 7:30 pm: This is the first celebration of Easter, a wonderful and beautiful service that moves us from darkness to light, from death to resurrection!  We start in the Memorial Garden with the lighting of the New Fire, followed by a candlelight procession into the Church, readings, hymns and anthems that trace the history of our salvation, we renew our baptismal vows and celebrate the first Eucharist of Easter.  As the lights come up we see the beauty of the newly decorated Church and altar.  When you come, please bring a bell to ring at the Easter Acclamtion!  There will be refreshments in the Narthex following the service.

Easter Sunday @ 8 and 10 am: Hymns, flowers, choirs, Resurrection, Eucharist and joy at both services!  Easter is the most important day in our lives as Christians.  Invite someone to Church to share it with you.

Children’s Eucharist Instruction Class for kids in Grades 1 or 2 will meet on April 16, 23 and 30 (Mondays) at 4 pm with Mother Vicki in the Rath House.  Parents who want their kids to participate in learning more about our central act of worship and the sacrament of Communion should e-mail the parish office.

Green Faith to Host Residential Solar Screening Event for the Wider Community @ All Saints’ on April 29, 12:30-3:30 pm  – Interested in learning about how you might be able to have solar power installed at your house (at no cost to you), save money and benefit the Church at the same time?  Green Faith, in partnership with Google and AP Solar, will conduct a Solar Screening Event here.  We’ll have more information available soon, but put the date on your calendar now, and let your neighbors know that this might both interest and benefit them.

Argyle’s Fish and Chips – Save the Date: Thursday, May 3!  We’ll need help with selling tickets, setting up, desserts, drinks, serving, etc.  You can start now by saving the cardboard trays that seltzer and water bottles come in.

Women’s Book Group - The book for this month is The Dream by Harry Bernstein. We’ll be meeting to discuss this on Wednesday, April 18 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. 

Stewardship - All we have been given in this life is on loan, at best. It is not ours, we will never truly own it. We have it, for whatever reason, in order to care for it as best we can….We are stewards of all of it, called by God to leave the land, our material possessions, our money, and our relationships better than we found them, or they found us. ~ The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop, Diocese of Olympia

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Collect for Mission (one of three in Morning Prayer)
Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on
the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within
the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those
who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for
the honor of your Name. Amen.
     Book of Common Prayer, page 101

Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+

Dear Friends in Christ,

Happy Easter! I hope that you all had a day full of blessing with friends or family.  Thank you to all who made our Holy Week and Easter services so beautiful and inspiring – choirs, altar guild, office staff and volunteers, acolytes, LEMs, Lectors, everyone who came and worshiped, and everyone who prayed behind the scenes for our worship to touch hearts and minds and souls.

It is still Easter…and will be until Pentecost on June 12!  So it is still the season of resurrection and new life.

Many of you may have seen all or part of the Royal Wedding.  Apart from the excitement, glamour and pageantry of the day it was a service of worship in one of the most venerable churches in the Anglican Communion, and Prince William will one day be not only the King of England, but also head of the Church of England and will hold the title “Defender of the Faith,” as has every British monarch back to Henry VIII.  Every wedding is an opportunity for all couples to renew their vows, and the Bishop of London’s sermon on marriage was very fine.  Copies of it are available in the Narthex at Church.  You can also read it online here: http://www.london.anglican.org/NewsShow_14548 .

Sunday at 11:15 is the Gala Kick-off Brunch for the Parking Lot Challenge. Please come and bring finger food: sandwiches, cheese and crackers, fruit salad, cookies, etc.  This will be a fun and informative event.  You’ll hear a few brief words from the parish leadership, the choir will sing a piece by contemporary composer (and NJ resident) Mark Miller, and commitment cards to support the parking lot project will be distributed.  And we’ll have a good time socializing with friends and fellow parishioners!  We hope everyone will be able to come to this event!

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Fish and Chips is Almost Here – Order Your Tickets Now! The dinner is Thursday, May 5, Eat-in or Take-Out.  Two Seatings: 5:30 pm & 6:30 pm.  $13 per person/$6.50 for kids under 12 (at the door prices are $14/$7).  Ordering before Monday will help us give an accurate count to Argyle’s.  You can e-mail or call the office if you need an order form.  And we still need helpers, especially middle school/high school kids to help serve, even for part of the time.  We also need dessert bakers.  If you can do either of these things and have not yet let us know, please speak to Kimberly Celeste, Mother Vicki, or resply to this e-mail.

Communion Classes for children in Grades 1 or 2.  May 3, 10 and 17 at 4 pm in the Rath House.  This is an important part of our children’s Christian education.  They will then be recognized on June 5 at the 10 am service for completing the class.  To enroll your child please speak to Mother Vicki.

Women’s Book Group May 27 at 7:30 in the Rath House.  This month’s book is Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan.  It’s a fictionalized account of the relationship between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Borthwick.  Come for an evening of good conversation and fellowship.

And at last: the All Saints' Men’s Group!Saturday,May 7, 8-9 am in the Parish House.  Come share coffee, doughnuts and an hour of fellowship on Saturday before the weekend to-do list kicks in! Questions?  Speak to John McGrath.

Community Forum: Raising Spiritually Healthy Kids – Wednesday, May 18, 7:30-9 pm in the Parish Hall. The presenters will be Vicki McGrath and Beth Sciaino.  Come for inspiration and conversation on your parenting journey.  The approach to the evening will be open to parents of all faith commitments – not just Christian, and not just Episcopalian.  Bring a friend or family member.

Bunco! Friday evening, May 20 in the Parish Hall.  It’s a fun and easy dice game that you can play while you socialize.  $20 donation, with proceeds going to All Saints’.  Reserve your spot now, as space is limited.  Contact Nancy Mink or Wendy DiSarno with questions.

Beth’s Ordination as a Deacon – June 4!  Our seminarian Beth Sciaino will be ordained as a transitional deacon (last step before priesthood) on June 4 at 10 am in Trinity and St. Phillip’s Cathedral in Newark – and we are all invited.  Plan to come and support Beth – and wear something red!

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The Christian is not therefore the person who has accepted a particular set of theories about the universe but the person who lives by the power of the joy that is laid bare in the event of the resurrection of Jesus.  To be baptized ‘into’ Christ is to be given a lasting connection with joy.

-         Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, from his Easter 2011 sermon

Blessings,

Vicki McGrath+