All Saints' Millington
  • Home
  • Who we are
    • Clergy & Staff
    • 100 Years And Counting
    • Spiritual Connections
  • Worship
    • Becoming a Member
    • Sermons & Reflections
    • Words of Faith
    • Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Funerals
  • Music & Choirs
  • Outreach
  • Giving
  • Calendar
  • E-Letter

This Week@All Saints'

3/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dear Friends in Christ,
Here are this week’s announcements, “For All the Saints’”, and the daily prayer for Lent.
Please remember that this Sunday the clocks move ahead one hour to start Daylight Savings Time!

Why do we celebrate Holy Week?  Why not go right from Palm Sunday to Easter? Holy Week is the pivot and center of the whole Christian year.  As we walk with Jesus through these days, we share with him the last week of his earthly life. We experience once again the profound depths of God’s love for us – even in the face of human weakness, betrayal and sin. At the same time, we make this journey together as a community, and we are renewed as the Body of Christ as we celebrate the new life of Resurrection upon which our faith is based. Holy Week centers us, grounds us, connects us to Jesus in a way that nothing else does.  I hope and pray that your participation will bring you strength, truth, hope and joy. ~ Vicki+

We hope that today is the last snow, but just in case: If there is snow and/or ice on Sunday, please check your e-mail in case there is a cancellation. You can also check the parish Facebook page, and listen to the church answering machine for an update. We try to have the information go out by 6:45 am.
+ + + + + + + + +
WORSHIP and MUSIC
Compline
, Thursday: March 19; 9:00 pm. A peaceful candlelit service of sung prayer, chant, and meditation ~ the ancient “bed-time prayer” of the Church. Led by members of our Choir, you are invited to join the singing, or you may simply join the prayer by listening. The Church will be open for candlelit private prayer and meditation at 8:30 pm. The service lasts about 20 minutes. Stop by on your way home if you are working late; or come over after you get the kids in bed; or stop in if you are out for an evening stroll around the neighborhood – you’ll be glad you did!

Special Needs Worship – March 15, All God's Children Service, at 12 noon (on the 3rd Sundays of the month). 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. Contact Mother Vicki for details. 

Easter Flowers - If you would like to make a donation for Easter flowers in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving for a particular blessing, please use the envelopes found in the pew on Sundays. Please be sure to include the names of the people being remembered or honored; they will appear in all the Easter bulletins.  You may also e-mail or call in the names of those you want remembered, or drop your check and list through the mail slot in the Rath House door. The deadline for the names is March 26. Thank you.

Foot Washing is an ancient and traditional part of Maundy Thursday, and was part of our liturgy here at All Saints’ many years ago. It will be included in our worship this year - a sign of our serving one another in humility as part of our community life. You can choose whether or not to have your feet washed. If you do choose to come forward, you’ll be seated on a chair in front of the pews facing away from the congregation. You’ll remove a single shoe and sock, have water poured over your foot and dried with a towel, and then you’ll wash the foot of the person who comes after you. During the foot washing, there will be congregational singing. The text of the chant we’ll be singing is from the Prayer Book, page 272:
The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples and had washed their feet, said to them, "Do you know what I, your Lord and Master, have done to you? I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done."
Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with
you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.
I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you.
Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with
you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.
By this shall the world know that you are my disciples: That you have love for one another.

After this the service proceeds with Communion and the Stripping of the Altar, as is our usual practice. I hope that you will be willing to give it a try ~ VGM+

Prayer Watch
– Jesus asks us to keep watch with him in our own Garden of Gethsemane (Altar of Repose) on Maundy Thursday night.  Please sign up for a 30-minute time slot (between 8:30 pm and midnight) of personal prayer and meditation as we keep watch, making sure that there is always someone in the Church during that time. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.

CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Women’s Book Group will meet on March18 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. The book for discussion is Deep Down Dark: the Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle that Set Them Free, by Héctor Tobar. Come for an evening of fellowship and learning.

Private Confession - Self-examination and repentance are an important part of Lent. The Episcopal Church makes provision for private confession and spiritual counsel, if that is helpful to you. There is an old maxim about private confession in the Episcopal Church: “All may, some should, none must.” If you would like more information about making a confession, please e-mail or call me: allsaints_rector@verizon.net; 908-647-0067. ~ Mother Vicki+

Bible Study
, Wednesdays, 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. We are currently reading through the Gospel of John. Come and explore Scripture and your faith in a relaxed setting where your questions are welcome and laughter and sharing is expected. Use one of our Bibles or bring your own!

Maundy Thursday Agapé Meal, April 2, 6 pm– Come for a pot-luck meal before our Maundy Thursday worship.  Agapé is the Greek word for God’s love – and the way we share it in community. A change from last year – there will be some Middle Eastern-themed foods as part of the menu, but feel free to bring whatever you like, except dessert which will not be part of the meal. Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex to let us know what part of the meal you can bring and how many people will be attending.
Holy Saturday Kids’ Service, Easter Egg Hunt and Ribbon Banner Making - April 4, 10 am.  Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex.  And we need donations of candy for the eggs, volunteers to hide the eggs, and provide refreshments; and older kids and adults to make the banners and hang them on the lamp posts. Please sign your kids up on the sheet in the Narthex and let us know how you can help.  Thanks.

The First Party of Easter follows the Easter Vigil on Saturday, April 4, in the Narthex. We need some simple refreshments to continue the best service of the year! Take a look at the sign-up sheet for what we need.

HELPING HANDS
Food for Friends - Thank you for your continuing contributions to the Food for Friends program at St. John’s, Dover. This important ministry helps to feed hungry people. The pantry always needs non-perishable, nutritious foods, both for families who run short at the end of the month, and for people who are living on the street. People in apartments/houses need regular sizes of things that can be cooked: rice, beans, canned vegetables, pasta, sauce, canned meat and fish, also canned/dried fruit, crackers, peanut butter, etc. For homeless folks cans with pop-tops work well: soups, stews, fruit, veggies, juice packs, milk boxes, granola bars, etc. – things that can be opened easily without a can opener.

STEWARDSHIP
Wooden Indoor Climber for Sale – made by Community Playthings, has two moveable platforms, a removable slide, and can be folded up for storage. A memento of All Saints’ Nursery School that needs a good home! Asking $50. Speak to Mother Vicki.

From the Finance Committee – During this winter we’ve had some bad weather which has kept people home from Church, and on one Sunday we had no worship at all, due to the ice storm. That has had a negative effect on our income. While we know that parishioners will make up missed pledge payments during the year, it will be very helpful if you can do so soon when our heating costs are high. Thank you!

COMMUNICATIONS
Facebook Please be sure to connect with us on Facebook through the week! Like our page: “All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Millington, NJ”

Voice Online, the diocesan weekly e-lettter can be found here: https://col128.mail.live.com/?tid=cmRG4cmUbD5BGzmQAhWtamRA2&fid=flinbox . You can also subscribe to it yourself via the diocesan website; www.dioceseofnewark.org .
+ + + + + + + + +
PARISH CALENDAR THIS WEEK
3/10    Finance Committee          7:30 pm, Rath House
3/11    Bible Study                        10:15 am, Rath House
3/12    HE & Breakfast                   7:00 am, Church   
            Junior Choir                        5:00 pm, Choir Room
            Adult Choir                          7:30 pm, Choir Room
And please check the calendar on our website for the full listing of groups and events in our buildings.
+ + + + + + + + +
For All the Saints – March 9, Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa ~ died c. 394    
Gregory was a man enchanted with Christ and dazzled by the meaning of his Passion. He was born in Caesarea about 334, the younger brother of Basil the Great, and, in his youth, was but a reluctant Christian.
When he was twenty, the transfer of the relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste to the family chapel at Annesi quickened Gregory’s faith, and he became a practicing Christian and a lector. He abandoned this ministry, however, to become a rhetorician like his father.
His brother Basil, in his struggle against the Emperor Valens, compelled Gregory to become Bishop of Nyssa, a town ten miles from Caesarea. Knowing himself to be unfit for the charge, Gregory described his ordination as the most miserable day of his life. He lacked the important episcopal skills of tact and understanding, and had no sense of the value of money. Falsely accused of embezzling Church funds, Gregory went into hiding for two years, not returning to his diocese until Valens died.
Although he resented his brother’s dominance, Gregory was shocked by Basil’s death in 379. Several months later, he received another shock: his beloved sister Macrina was dying. Gregory hastened to Annesi and conversed with her for two days about death, and the soul, and the meaning of the resurrection. Choking with asthma, Macrina died in her brother’s arms.
The two deaths, while stunning Gregory, also freed him to develop as a deeper and richer philosopher and theologian. He reveals his delight in the created order in his treatise, On the Making of Man. He exposes the depth of his contemplative and mystical nature in his Life of Moses and again in his Commentary on the Song of Songs. His Great Catechism is still considered second only to Origen’s treatise, On First Principles.
In 381, Gregory attended the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, where he was honored as the “pillar of the Church.” In the fight for the Nicene faith, he was one of the three great Eastern theologians, known with Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus, as the Cappadocian Fathers. ~ Holy Women, Holy Men
Question for reflection: How has your family either encouraged your faith, or seemed like a stumbling block to it?

LENT@ALL SAINTS’: DAY 15
Lord God we say to you: Give us bread.
Not delicacies or riches, nor magnificent purple robes, golden ornaments,
and precious stones, or silver dishes.
Nor do we ask You for landed estates, or military commands, or political leadership.
We pray neither for herds of horses and oxen or other cattle in great numbers,
nor for a host of slaves.
We do not say, give us a prominent position in assemblies or monuments and statues raised to us, nor silken robes and musicians at meals, nor any other thing by which the soul is estranged from the thought of God and higher things;
no--but only bread! Amen. ~ a prayer adapted from a quotation of Gregory of Nyssa

Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    This Week
    @All Saints'

    The weekly e-letter of news, announcements and reflection from All Saints' Episcopal Church, Millington, NJ
    Join this list! please include your name and e-mail.  Thanks.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011

    Categories

    All
    Aa
    Announcments
    Ascension
    Baptism
    Bishop Beckwith
    Book Group
    Book Of Common Prayer
    Bowling Party
    Carrie Newcomer
    Car Wash
    Christian Arts Camp
    Christmas
    Community Forum
    Csjb
    Easter
    Egypt
    Epiphany
    Facebook
    Father's Day
    Fish And Chips
    Food For Friends
    Gala Brunch
    Green Faith
    Holiness
    Holy Habits
    Holy Name
    Holy Week
    Independence Day
    Inquirer's Class
    Japan
    John The Baptist
    Lent
    Maundy Thursday
    Memorial Day
    Mother's Day
    Ordination
    Palm Sunday
    Parish House Entryway
    Parking Lot
    Parking Lot Challenge
    Penitence
    Pentecost
    Prayer
    Rogation Sunday
    Sabbatical
    Scouts
    Seder
    Small Saints
    Solar Screening
    Souper Bowl
    Stewardship
    Summer
    Summer Program
    Worship

    RSS Feed

All Saints' Episcopal Church

 15 Basking Ridge Road, Millington NJ 07946    phone: (908) 647-0067    email: allstsmill@hotmail.com
Photo used under Creative Commons from Dustin A. Lewis