
This Sunday at both services we’ll offer prayers for our country, and at the 10 am service we’ll have some patriotic music – including an anthem by guest soprano Jody Mullen.
If you missed Sister Monica Clare’s sermon last Sunday at 10 am, you can find it here or here. Thank you, Sister, for your ministry of preaching!
Here are the week’s announcements:
- Creation Care Conversation (Stewardship)
- Parish Work Day (Stewardship)
- Diocesan Pop-up Youth Ministry (Christian Formation)
- Independence Day (Christian Practices)
STEWARDSHIP
Creation Care Conversation, Thursday, July 11 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. A group will be gathering for an initial discussion of ways we here at All Saints’ can be good stewards of the environment and resources God has given us – especially here at Church. No one can do everything.... but everyone can do something. Questions? Speak to the Rector.
Parish Work Day, Saturday, July 13, 9 am-12 noon. Please come and help for an hour...or three. What needs doing? Outside work around the Church, Parish House, and parking lot; garage & shed. If we get a good turn-out we can get a lot done. Kids can help, too! Bring work gloves and helpful yard/garden tools. Please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex to let us know you can help. Thanks!
The Rummage Sale is Coming! September 28! We start accepting rummage donations on August 4. Let your neighbors know. What do we take? Housewares, yard & garden, small furniture, electronics, games & toys, linens, kids’ books (none for grown-ups, thanks), boutique, and more! What don’t we take? Tires, cribs, large couches, entertainment centers and over-sized dressers and china cabinets, clothes, mattresses, or anything broken or dirty. Sign up to help sort, price, organize, work the day of the sale. And invite a friend to join you – it’s more fun that way, and gets others involved. The volunteer sign-up poster is in the Narthex. We start accepting rummage donations on August 4. Let your neighbors know. Need more info? Speak to Kimberly Celeste.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Diocesan Youth Ministry Event - Save the date! On September 22 join us at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Oakland/Franklin Lakes to compete in the very first Pop Up Youth Ministry Epic Games! Registration begins at 3:30 and the event will begin at 4:00 and end at 6:30. Go for the gold against friends old and new in a series of the most epic games ever imagined. We will top the night off with dinner, a medal ceremony, and a worship by campfire. All youth grades 6-12 are invited and encouraged to participate. We can't wait to see you there!
Bible Study this week, Wed. at 10:15 am in the Rath House. We’ll discuss Chapters13 & 14 of Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense by N.T. Wright – “The Book God Breathed” & “The Story and the Task”. Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
WORSHIP
Funeral for Charlie Hogan will be held on Saturday, July 20 at 11 am here at All Saints', followed by a reception in the Parish hall. Please come and offer your prayers and presence for Charlie who was so much a part of the life of All Saints' before he moved to Maryland several years ago when his health began to decline.
Summer Hymn Sings - on Sundays through July we’ll begin our 10 am services with a Hymn Sing. That means you get to suggest a favorite hymn and we’ll all sing a verse or two. If you have a hymn that you love that is not in our blue Hymnal 1982, please tell Alison so she can plan to have a handout available for the congregation ...and tell her what Sunday you plan to be in Church so we know when to sing it!
PARISH LIFE
Summer Refreshments after our 10 am worship are served on the lawn - iced tea, lemonade, cookies. Please join us for this enjoyable time of conversation and friendship with parishioners and visitors. And if you see someone you’ve not met before, introduce yourself! And we need refreshment hosts during the month of August. Please take a look at the
CONVENT CORNER
There’s More Than One Way to Join a Religious Community. The Community of St. John Baptist welcomes all who are interested in becoming Associates. If you'd like to find out what Associates do, and how to join our over 300-strong community of Associates, please contact the CSJB Superior, Sister Eleanor Francis at 973-543-4641 ext. 3 or email her at sref@csjb.org.
DIOCESAN NEWS
"Just in Time" Stewardship Workshop - Sat, Aug 3, 2019, 10:00am to 11:30am at Episcopal House, 31 Mulberry Street, Newark - Join us at 9:30 AM for networking, coffee and bagels. Program begins at 10 AM sharp. Cost: $5 per person. Join the diocesan Stewardship Teaching Team for this Workshop. It will provide you and your team with lots of techniques and practical steps to help get your Fall Pledge Campaign up and running right on time and with the best chance of success. This Workshop is ideal for Stewardship teams, Wardens and Vestry, Treasurers and Clergy, and anyone interested in the ministry of Stewardship. Spaces are limited. Don’t wait – register today! Questions? Please contact Cynthia McChesney at cmcchesney@dioceseofnewark.org or 973-430-9909.
PARISH CALENDAR
7/9 Finance Committee Rath House, 7:30 pm
7/10 Bible Study Rath House, 10:15 am
7/11 Eucharist & Healing Church, 7:00 am
Creation Care Rath House, 7:30 pm
7/13 Parish Work Day Parking Lot, etc., 9am-12pm
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Independence Day is a Prayer Book holy day. It is also the day in 1905 when the ground was broken for the building of All Saints’ Church, the first shovelfuls being during by Bishop Edwin Lines (pronounced Lin-ess) and Miss Mathilda Schumacher, the chairwoman of the mission’s Ways and means committee (pictured in the photo above).
Because our spiritual ancestors in colonial days belonged to the Church of England, after the Revolutionary War we needed to establish ourselves as a separate, but related church (the beginnings, in some ways, of the Anglican Communion). In 1788 the “Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States of America” was born; the first Prayer Book for the new church was published in 1789.
But prior to that was a proposed Prayer Book in 1786, which set aside “the Fourth day of July to offer thanksgiving for the inestimable blessings of Religious and Civil liberty.” Here is the proposed Collect for the Day:
“Almighty God, who hast in all ages shewed forth thy power and mercy in the wonderful preservation of thy church, and in the protection of every nation and people professing thy holy and eternal Truth, and putting their sure trust in thee; We yield thee our unfeigned thanks and praise for all thy public mercies, and more especially for that signal and wonderful manifestation of thy providence which we commemorate this day; Wherefore not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy Name be ascribed all honor and glory, in all churches of the Saints, from generation to generation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” ~ Proposed BCP, 1786
And in keeping with the colonial theme, here is a patriotic hymn by the New England composer William Billings. The timeliness and specificity of some of its lyrics may sound quite unusual to us today. It rivaled “Yankee Doodle” in popularity: https://youtu.be/t7S_07E-9CA
Blessings, Vicki+