
This Sunday is the Last Sunday after Epiphany. That means “Farewell to Alleluia.” At the 10 am service we’ll process the Alleluia banner out at the end of the service as a reminder that we don’t use the words Alleluia (Latin) or Hallelujah (Hebrew) in Lent. The Ash Wednesday services are also listed below. Please look at the announcements below, especially:
- Ash Wednesday (Lent)
- Events in Lent (Lent)
- ShopRite Grant - Updated (Helping Hands)
- New Book for Study (Christian Formation)
Ash Wednesday begins the season of Lent in which we prepare for Easter. Ash Wednesday is a day to take stock of our lives and to gather to remember “our mortal nature” and God’s abundant grace. There are two opportunities for worship:
9:30 am Holy Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes
7:30 pm Holy Eucharist and Imposition of Ashes, with music
Can’t make either service? Stop in for Ashes in the Church anytime between 11:45 am-1:00 pm. There will be opportunity for prayer and imposition of ashes, as well as quiet meditation on your own.
Three Events in Lent
1. Film: “The Way”, Feb 26 (Monday), 7 pm in the Parish House Lower Room. Come and watch this feature film starring Martin Sheen about a man’s journey along the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrimage route in Spain, as he searches for answers about his relationship with his son. Time for discussion afterwards.
2. Labyrinth Walk, March 11 (Sunday), 3-5 pm in the Parish Hall. This is a time of prayerful walking meditation along the labyrinth (borrowed from the Community of St. John Baptist). Walk it at your own pace. There will be time for reflection and journaling. Drop in any time during the two hours.
3. Youth Choir Tour Concert, March 27 (Tuesday), time TBD in the Church. The Youth Choir from First United Methodist Church in Cuyahoga Falls, OH, directed by Dean Wagner will present a concert of traditional anthems by Craig Courtney, Allen Pote, Dan Forrest, and George Friederich Handel. The second half of the program is a musical by Dean Wagner called “Keeping Vigil with Jesus.” This concert is a wonderful Lenten opportunity and will appeal to kids as well as adults. We’ll need to provide dinner for the youth choir and the adults travelling with them. More information about that will be coming soon.
Lenten Sunday Worship – during the more reflective and penitential season, we will use the Rite I version of our service t both 8 & 10 am, beginning with the Penitential Order. At 10 am we’ll also engage in a Lenten experiment of “Quiet Peace” in which we exchange the Peace with those closest to us. This will help us to reach out to our neighbor, and yet keep us in the quiet flow of worship.
Lenten Devotional Books from Forward Movement - Are We There Yet? Pilgrimage in the Season of Lent. “Using various and varied stories of pilgrimage and pilgrims, this book will explore the penitential and purgative process of walking to/around/through some of the most beloved pilgrimage sites in the Christian tradition as well as introduce the idea of an internal pilgrimage, a journey through difficult terrain of the soul.”
The books are free and are available for pick-up in the Narthex.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Thanks for a great Annual Meeting last week – good conversation, good energy, good sharing and listening to the Holy Spirit! Congratulations and thanks to those who were elected to leadership roles: Warden – Tom Hackett; Vestry- Wendy Clarkson, Janice Lettieri; Convention Deputy – Carol Berry, Jean Kimak, Waring Webb, Ellen Lewis (alternate). Copies of the Annual Report are available in the Narthex.
Bible Study/Book Study – Wed. at 10:15 am, in the Rath House. We are starting a new series that will run from Feb 14 through the end of Lent. We will read and discuss Inwardly Digest: The Prayer Book as Guide to a Spiritual Life, by Derek Olsen. Here’s a description: “Daily spiritual practice takes dedication and discipline, and we often wonder where to start and how to keep it from feeling like yet another task on our to-do list. In this grounded, practical book, author Derek Olsen uses The Book of Common Prayer for a template to a deeper spiritual life. Olsen explains the purpose and intention of the prayer book with fresh insight, offering practical applications for daily living.”
The book costs $20. Can’t come Wed. mornings? You are still welcome to buy a copy and read it on your own. The books will be available in the Narthex.
Pilgrim Study Group Mondays, 7-8:30 pm in the Rath House. The topic for the 6-week session is The Bible: “What is it, how was it given to us, and how should we read it” Learn how to make reading the Bible a part of everyday life, with the ability to read, pray, and listen to what God might be saying, allowing the words to change us. Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
2018 Parish Directory Ready for Pick-up in the Narthex! Please take one.
HELPING HANDS
Veterans Community Dinner, Feb. 24 at 5:30 pm - Vets and their families from our local community and from the V.A. in Lyons are invited for fellowship, conversation, and friendship...and a wonderful home-cooked meal in All Saints' Parish House at no charge. How can you help? Set up, clean up, serving, cooking (side dishes, salads, desserts). And please get the word out and invite any Vets you know! A sign-up sheet for volunteering will go out soon. This ministry is a partnership with our friends in the Christian (Catholic) Community. For more information speak to Kerrie Stepko.
ShopRite Grant Update – We are very pleased to announce that we have received an additional grant, this time from the Bernardsville ShopRite, for $1000 in support of our food pantry. It will be credited to us at the Community FoodBank, in addition to the $2500 grant from the Stirling ShopRite and will assist us in purchasing food that we distribute in the community and in Dover. Thank you, ShopRite!
STEWARDSHIP
Looking for a worry-free way to keep current on your pledge? We have two opportunities:
Auto-Payments from your checking account can be set up through your computer and on-line banking on a monthly basis. Your donation will come to us as a check in the mail, all at no cost to you or us.
Vanco/EFT involves a small user fee. The funds are taken directly from your checking account and deposited into the church account.
Want more information or help setting this up? Speak to Barbara Barbeau, Financial Secretary. Thanks!
SAVE THE DATE
Sunday, May 13 for Bishop Beckwith’s last visitation with us before his retirement.
PARISH CALENDAR
2/12 Pilgrim Study Group Rath House, 7:00 pm
2/13 Finance Committee Rath House, 7:30 pm
2/14 Ash Wed Worship Church, 9:30 am
Book Study Rath House, 10:15 am
2/14 Ash Wed Worship Church, 7:30 pm
2/15 Holy Eucharist Church, 7:00 am
Junior Choir Choir Room, 5:15 pm
Adult Choir Choir Room, 7:30 pm
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
As we put the Alleluia away for Lent starting on Ash Wednesday, here is a beautiful poem by the faithful poet Mary Oliver.
Hallelujah
"Everyone should be born into this world happy
and loving everything.
But in truth it rarely works that way.
For myself, I have spent my life clamoring toward it.
Hallelujah, anyway that I’m not where I started!
And have you too been trudging like that, sometimes
almost forgetting how wondrous the world is
and how miraculously kind some people can be?
And have you decided that probably nothing important
is ever easy?
Not, say, for the first sixty years.
Hallelujah, I’m sixty now, and even a little more,
and some days I feel I have wings."
Epiphany blessings, Vicki+