
There are several new items this week. Please take a look!
- New: Sunday 8 am In-person Outdoor Service start Sept. 20
- Rummage Shoppe Opens Sat., Sept. 19
- Sunday 10 am Zoom Worship
- Sunday 5 pm In-person Evening Prayer
- Parish Staff Updates and Thank You
Worship
1. In-person Worship: New – Sunday 8 am Rite 1 Morning Prayer, Outdoors In-person in the Memorial Garden. Reservations are required here : https://reopen.church/r/bloP83YN. Bring a lawn chair, the copy of the service leaflet ( on the website www.allsaintsmillington.org) or your own Book of Common Prayer; wear your mask.
2. In-person Worship: Sunday 5 pm Evening Prayer Outdoors (weather permitting), reservations required here: https://reopen.church/r/bloP83YN. We gather on the side lawn (between the Church and the parking lot). Bring a lawn chair, the copy of the service leaflet (on the website www.allsaintsmillington.org) or your own Book of Common Prayer, your mask, and maybe some bug spray.
3. If you are interested in attending in-person services, please read the guidelines on our website before making a reservation: http://www.allsaintsmillington.org/uploads/1/2/5/1/1251925/outdoor_worship_at_all_saints_gudelines.pdf . Our outdoor services will continue to adapt and evolve as we evaluate the experience.
4. On-line Worship: Sunday 10 am Morning Prayer via Zoom. Please e-mail allstsmill@hotmail.com for the Zoom credentials.
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All Saints’ Rummage Shoppe – our shop is having its first sale day on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9 am 12 noon in our Parish Hall. Make an appointment here (we can have 8 shoppers per hour) https://reopen.church/r/bloP83YN. Note – this is the same link we use to register for in-person worship; look for the Rummage Shoppe heading. Wear your mask. Tell your friends. Items are also being sold on-line here: https://www.facebook.com/AllSaintsRummageShoppe/ This is an on-going fund-raiser for All Saints’ ministries. Thank you to our Rummage Team for their creativity and resourcefulness!
Bible Study meets Wednesdays at 10:15 am. We are studying parts of the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament – a central part of our worship and prayer life. We meet via Zoom. If you would like to participate or want more information, please e-mail Mother Vicki at allsaints_rector@hotmail.com.
Food Ministry – our Twelve Baskets food pantry serves families and individuals in the Long Hill Township area in several different ways: with donated food from the wider community, items we have been able to purchase in large quantity from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey (with financial support from ShopRite, the Elks, and individuals), and direct donations of produce and bakery from ShopRite. We have been supporting Vets in the Valley Brook apartments in Lyons and sharing with the Pop-Up Food Pantry at St. Bernard’s in Bernardsville. If you know a person or a family who is struggling to make ends meet and can use food assistance, please have them call the parish office 908-647-0067x4 and leave a secure message.
Diocese of Newark: Church Leader University, Saturday, Oct. 3 – this is a morning of workshops for parishioners and lay leaders that is offered to help equip people in their ministries. There are both “nuts & bolts” AND faith-development sessions. This is a free Zoom event, but you do have to register ahead of time. To look at the list of offerings and registration, click here: https://dioceseofnewark.org/clu-fall-2020
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Parish Staff Updates & Thanks You – over the summer many folks have been able to get away (even in this COVID-time) or have at least spent time away from e-mail and on-line life in general, so you may not know how hard our part-time and volunteer parish staff have been working all summer:
Our Director of Music Alison Siener Brown has become our primary technology person for Sunday Zoom worship. She chooses, rehearses, and records music with members of our choirs. Setting up and editing virtual choir anthems takes time. On Sundays Alison sets up the computers for both the pre-recorded and live music, records the whole service, and then edits that video and posts it to You Tube, and she is actively investigating more ways to make music part of our worship in the present moment when live singing is so difficult.
During the regular program year Alison has continued to meet weekly over Zoom with the Adult Choir and the Junior Choir for both learning and fellowship. This fall the Junior Choir will be working on practicing (socially-distanced) handbell music, as well as choir anthems that can be recorded and played on Sunday mornings.
Alison has been a strong support for the nightly services of Compline on Facebook Live, taking her turn in both leading Compline and “live-texting” the service in the chat so people can follow along on the screen. She’s part of our newly created “Live Streaming Team” to help get our in-person worship to be streamed simultaneously. Last spring Alison continued to convene the Narnia Book Group on Zoom, and we hope we can do another installment later in the fall.
Parish Administrator Susie Harris has continued in her regular roles in communications and overseeing our buildings – but now with lots of twists! The Sunday bulletins are produced electronically and e-mailed to the parish, as well as being posted on the website. The website is updated and refreshed on a regular basis. And there have been a number of parish-wide mailings to send out. While our regular Thursday morning “Office Angels” who volunteer folding bulletins and do other office projects have not been able to meet in person, Susie has been hosting a weekly Zoom call for fellowship and support to this group.
During the time that we have not had meetings or worship in our buildings, they still have needed to be cleaned, repairs have been made, and other maintenance attended to. Susie has coordinated all that. She has also supported some of our Sunday services on Zoom as an additional tech person. Over the summer Susie worked with the Rummage Team to move our Sale indoors and turn it into a Shoppe! That effort continues. She also fields calls to the Twelve Baskets Food Ministry and often connects with people in need.
Beginning in March Susie added to her responsibilities by preparing and depositing the bank deposit each week, coordinating with Cindy Retotar, who is entering all of our financial information into accounting system.
Father Shawn Carty, our volunteer Priest Associate, has taken a share of preaching and leading worship, especially during Holy Week and when Mother Vicki was on vacation this summer. As a member of the Finance Committee Shawn has been processing our bills and printing checks off the accounting system since March. He serves as the Chaplain at the House of the Good Shepherd long-term care facility in Hackettstown. That position had been part-time, but has now been expanded to full-time, making work-week travel to Millington difficult, so we will be looking for a volunteer to take on that ministry.
Alison, Susie, and Shawn have all worked very hard to keep our parish community together, functioning as well as possible under the circumstances, and doing it all in a prayerful, faithful way. Thank you!
Christian Practices: For Our Country
Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage: We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~ Book of Common Prayer, p. 820
Blessings, Vicki+