
Jesus said: “When two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.” (Matthew 18:20). No matter where we gather – for worship, for coffee, for a meeting or a meal, for baseball or Bible study – if we are together because of our love for God and because we are followers of Jesus, he will show up; in our hearts, our minds, and the spaces between us – in our midst. Remember to keep your eyes and ears open for Christ’s presence among us, so that we can – in the words of the old prayer by St. Richard of Chichester – “see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly.”
From Sunday afternoon to Monday evening Alison Siener Brown and I will be at the Association of Anglican Musicians Conference (Fiftieth Anniversary) in Stamford, CT. We won’t be in the office, but if you need to reach either one of us in an emergency, we’ll be available by cell phone. ~ VGM+
Please see the following announcements:
- Dinner for Vets – in Community Hospitality
- Baptism; Choir Sunday – in Worship
- Christian Arts Camp – in Christian Formation
- Book Group – in Christian Formation
WORSHIP
Baptism on June 12 – Shane Christopher Bernardo, son of Nathalia and Chris Bernardo, and grandson of Peggy Valentino, will be baptized at the 10 am service. Welcome to the Body of Christ, Shane!
Choir Sunday – June 12, 10 am. All of our choirs will sing, and we’ll have a bell choir, concluding our regular choir season. Adult singers and choristers will receive their ribbon advancements, we’ll say ‘Thank You’ to our instrumentalists, and we’ll have some wonderful music! Over the summer we will have two choir Sundays, and anyone interested in singing for the day or in trying out choir is most welcome! We invite all singers, and have a particular need for men! And if you play an instrument or would like to learn to play handbells, we have a spot for you! Interested? Speak to Alison Seiner Brown.
Gratitude Mass, Saturday, June 18 at Noon. Along with the A.A. groups that meet here at All Saints’, all families in recovery are invited to this celebration of sobriety and gratitude. A pot-luck lunch follows in the Parish Hall. Please share this invitation with others.
Special Needs - All God's Children Service, 3rd Sundays at 12 noon. Designed for children and families with a range of special needs – including anyone who has a hard time sitting still! A 30-minute service, no segment is longer than 3 minutes each; optional Communion. Pass the word to friends and neighbors who can benefit from this. Next service is June 19. Contact Mother Vicki for details.
EVENTS
Parish Baseball Outing – Sunday, July 10 @ 5:05 pm – Come for a fun evening with your fellow Saints and watch the Somerset Patriots play the Lancaster Barnstormers at the TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. Tickets are $9.50 per person and we have field box seats reserved right behind home plate! Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex and bring your family and friends. There is also a baseball clinic for kids on the field at 4 pm. Once we know who is coming we’ll get transportation organized.
Diocesan Senior Ministries Evensong, June 12 - Please come and support Suzanne Traub, this year’s honoree from our parish, in thanksgiving for her many ministries at All Saints’. The Evensong will be at St. Peter’s, Morristown at 4 pm, preceded by a reception at 3 pm. Congratulations, Sue!
STEWARDSHIP
The “First Sunday of Rummage” is July 31; we’ll start receiving donations in the Parish Hall on this day. In the meantime, start setting aside your good, clean, rummage-able items. Please remember that we do not take cribs, tires, books for grown-ups, or tube TVs. We also need the plastic zippered packaging that sheets and blankets come in – they work well for packing up toys. Tell your friends and neighbors that we are happy to receive their rummage also. Questions? Speak to Kimberly Celeste.
Our Parish Cookbook Project is well under way! We have over 250 recipes, including some vintage recipes from every decade of the last 100+ years. The name for the book is “All Saints’ Can Cook: Over a Century of Friendship, Fellowship, and Food.” We are aiming for a sale debut of September 17 – the Rummage Sale! Thanks to our hard-working committee: Nancy Mink, Carol Berry, Barbara Barbeau, Janice Lettieri, and Bonnie McGrath.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Book Group for the summer will meet on Wednesday, July 13 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. The book for discussion will be “The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House” by Kate Anderson Brower. “Full of stories and details by turns dramatic, humorous, and heartwarming, The Residence reveals daily life in the White House as it is really lived through the voices of the maids, butlers, cooks, florists, doormen, engineers, and others who tend to the needs of the President and First Family,” from the 1940s up until 2015. Come for a lively discussion!
Christian Arts Camp- “All God’s Folk”, June 27-30 (Mon-Thurs), 9 am-12 noon.
For kids age 4 – Grade 5. Cost: $40 per child. We’ll have folk crafts, games, music and activities, as well as Bible stories. Middle School and High School students are welcome as helpers. Take a flyer, and invite your friends. Start the summer with some fun! Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki or Alison Siener Brown.
Bible Study - Wed. 6/15, 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. This week we are reading Galatians, chapter 3. Come join the learning, support and fun. You may use one of our Bibles or bring your own. Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
COMMUNITY HOSPITALITY
Dinners for Vets – our next dinner for our neighbors from the VA hospital in Lyons is tomorrow night, Saturday, June 11 at 5:30 pm. This time it will be a simple cook-out: Ribs, London Broil and Chicken and baked beans provided…you are invited to come and bring a side dish. We are also blessed that some of our friends from the Christian Community are coming alongside us in this work. Thanks be to God! It looks like we have a great response from the Vets. Please come and continue some of the relationships you started building at the Pentecost event…or start some new ones! If you would like to help out by bringing a side dish, please let Jane Hayden, Afseneh Thursfield, Candy Pecoraro, or Steve Kowalik know.
Going Local Conversation on June 12 – Our work with the Vets from Lyons has been part of an experiment in connecting with our community neighbors that the Guiding Team of our Going Local journey has been trying out. The team is working with coaches from the diocesan Going Local effort – Kathy Seabrook and Joanne O’Neill. They will join us at coffee hour on June 12 to help us reflect on our efforts so far. If you have been part of any of the dinners, or are interested in learning more about what we are doing, please join us for the conversation! Everyone is encouraged to participate, especially as we listen together to the ways the Holy Spirit is leading us in joining God’s work in our neighborhood.
DIOCESAN NEWS
Be sure to check the Diocese of Newark website for news and information from Bishop Beckwith and the diocesan staff. It is updated on a regular basis: http://www.dioceseofnewark.org/
Joining Jesus on the Journey: A River-to-River Pilgrimage Across NJ. Monday, July 25, 2016 - Saturday, July 30, 2016. Walk with Bishop Beckwith across the diocese from the Delaware River to the Hudson River the week of July 25-30. This is an opportunity to be part of a prayerful pilgrimage in which we look for how we can join God in shaping the future of our diocese. You can participate for an hour of worship, a day of walking, a meal, or the whole pilgrimage. On Thursday, July 28 Mother Vicki will be walking the section from Mendham to Summit. Please consider joining the Journey for the day! For more info please see the diocesan website: http://www.dioceseofnewark.org/event/joining-jesus-journey.
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PARISH CALENDAR
6/14 Finance Committee 7:30 pm, Rath House
6/15 Bible Study 10:15 am, Rath House
6/16 Holy Eucharist 7:00 am, Church
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
Parish Office Hours: Mon., Tues., Thurs. from 9:30 am-4:00 pm,
Rector’s Sabbath day: Friday
Remember to “Like” us on Facebook: All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Millington, NJ
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FOR ALL THE SAINTS
June 11 - Today the church remembers Saint Barnabas the Apostle.
Barnabas, a Jew from the island of Cyprus, was not one of the Twelve of our Lord's disciples. However, he may have been one of the Seventy. He came to be so closely associated with the early church that he is customarily called an apostle.
When Barnabas joined the Christian church it was for keeps, as he demonstrated when he sold his land and gave the proceeds to the company of those who believed. It was Barnabas who discovered Paul and brought him into the Christian community. Paul and Barnabas became great friends. Together they nurtured the young church at Antioch. They went on missionary journeys together and seem to have been an impressive team. Both seem to have continued to hold secular employment for some time after taking up their ecclesiastical roles.
Barnabas was also a friend to Mark, the Evangelist (see April 25), and they did missionary work together. Barnabas is regarded as the founder of the church on his native Cyprus and is alleged to have been martyred at Salamis in 61.
Read the Wikipedia article here.
O God, whose Son Jesus Christ has taught us that it is more blessed to give than to receive: Help us, by the example of your apostle and servant Barnabas, to be generous in our judgments and unselfish in our service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Grant, O God, that we may follow the example of your faithful servant Barnabas, who, seeking not his own renown but the wellbeing of your Church, gave generously of his life and substance for the relief of the poor and the spread of the Gospel; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
~ from the website www.forwardmovement.org , the same folks who bring you Forward Day by Day.
Christian Spiritual Practices
If you are looking for a helpful mobile app for prayer throughout the day, take a look at https://gregorians.org/office/ . This app changes four times a day for Morning Prayer, Noon Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline. Their main website is here https://gregorians.org/ and the app link is at the bottom right side of the page. This is the simplest Daily Office mobile app I’ve found. Try it out!
And if that kind of structured prayer is not your style, try this: find a quiet time and place (it can be anywhere) and sit or walk in silence for 5 minutes with no particular thoughts. Be gently aware of God, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Breathe calmly and quietly. At the end of 5 minutes, say the Lord’s Prayer. Do this once a day. That’s all. Over time, you can slowly increase the amount of silence if you want to, but allowing God to have your full and undivided attention for 5 full minutes is great!
Blessings,
Vicki+