
The Rummage Sale is tomorrow, Sat., 9/17, from 9 am-2 pm! Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to pull this together, especially to Kimberly Celeste for her leadership. We hope to see you there – either setting up, selling, delivering rummage, or cleaning up at the end of the Sale. Besides being our biggest fund-raiser, it is also a wonderful opportunity to meet and welcome our community neighbors, and share something of the All Saints’ spirit of God’s love with them! And then join us on Sunday morning at worship. Of course we’ll announce the results, but we’ll give thanks to God for all the ministries efforts that went into the Sale. And we’ll celebrate at coffee hour! We will also be celebrating a baptism (see Worship below); please be on hand to welcome our newest Christian!
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STEWARDSHIP
Parish Cookbook: All Saints’ Can Cook! Over a Century of Faith, Fellowship and Food. The books are here! The cookbook includes 250 recipes from our parishioners in eight different categories. There are also some fun vintage recipes from each decade of our history. It will be available for sale at the Rummage Sale and costs $15. It makes a great gift for Christmas, birthdays, etc. Come check it out! If you can’t be at the Sale, you can purchase one by outing your name on the Cookbook sheet in the Narthex. They are also available in the Parish Office on Mondays and Thursdays. Thanks to our cookbook committee for a great job!
Fall Fish & Chips – October 6! Argyle of Kearney will be back on Thursday, October 6 for a great Fish & Chips Dinner! Save the date! Tickets are $18 for adults/$9 for kids. They will be ready for Sale on Thursday. Please save the date and tell your friends and neighbors! And take a look at the sign-up poster in the Narthex to let us know how you can help. Thanks!
Thank you to Steve Kowalik for organizing some volunteers from the V.A. Hospital in Lyons to spread all the wood chips in the parking lot. Looking good; thanks, Vets!
WORSHIP
Baptism on Sunday – Quinn Jean Beyer will be baptized at the 10 am service. Please pray for Quinn, and her parents Amy and Nick, and her godparents Liz and Fox as they prepare for this very important sacrament and step in Quinn’s journey of faith in Christ.
The Adult Choir is looking for a few good men! We need tenors and basses in our choir. The only requirement is a love of singing, and wanting to offer your time in the service of God and the Church. We can teach you the rest! Choir Rehearsals are on Thursdays at 7:30 pm. Want to know more? Please speak to our Director of Music Alison Siener Brown.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Bible Study this Wed., September 21 at 10:15 am in the Rath House. We’ll be reading Acts, Chapter 3 – the story of the first Christians and the way they learned to listen to the Holy Spirit as they followed Jesus in their communities and beyond. Come learn and grow!
And coming soon... Pilgrim - a Course for the Christian Journey. Christian formation is the lifelong process of growing in relationship with God, self, others and all creation. In this process, we are transformed into the people God wants us to be, equipped and strengthened to serve Christ in the world. This new resource from the Episcopal Church meets in six-week segments and covers the following broad questions: What do Christians believe? How do Christians know and worship God? How do Christians live? What is the Christian vision for the world? More information will be available in September. For now it would be helpful to know if Monday or Wednesday evenings would work best for you. Please indicate your availability on the sign-up sheet in the Narthex.
Episcopal Church Bumper Stickers are available in the Narthex. They say: “We Are the Episcopal Branch of the Jesus Movement” and have the Episcopal shield on them. The saying is a quotation from a short and very inspiring video that our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry made about the Episcopal way of being Christian in God’s world. Take a sticker and display it proudly!
Do you know the date of your baptism and/or your child’s? We are collecting these baptismal anniversary dates for a parish project. Please take a few minutes to look for this information and send it in to the office via e-mail, with the subject line: Baptismal Anniversary. Thanks!
Sunday School – we are always happy to have adults and teens who are interested in helping with this ministry, working with the children of our parish to help support their spiritual development and growth in faith. Think you don’t know enough? This is a great way for adults to learn and grow also! Speak to Jackie Sullivan for more information!
HELPING HANDS
Twelve Baskets Food Pantry Ministry - our next day to assemble take-out meal bags for the homeless is Sunday, 9/25 during Coffee Hour. Need info? Speak to Afsaneh Thursfield.
COMMUNITY HOSPITALITY
Musikgarten for Young Children Looking for parent/child music classes or group piano for beginners? Alison Siener Brown offers a range of Musikgarten classes here at All Saints’. For information, please speak with her, or go to the Music in the Somerset Hills website: http://musicsh.org/musikgarten/
Yoga
- Mondays at 6:15 pm - Bring your own mat and wear comfortable clothes. Cost is $15 per session. No need to register in advance; just come to class.
- Thursdays at 5:30 pm - Chair Yoga and Meditation for Seniors. No floor work, no mats needed. Starts 9/22 and runs for 6 weeks. Cost is $15 per class. Both classes are taught by Lori Vigliotti and meet in the Lower Room of the Parish House.
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
V.A. Dinner – Sept. 24 at 5:30 pm in the Lower Room of the Parish House. We’ll be serving dinner for Vets from Lyons and some from our Long Hill community. Want to know more? Can you help? Peak to Candy Pecoraro, Afsaneh Thursfield, Steve Kowalik, Jane Hayden, Betsy Wallace, or Hugh Wallace. Thanks.
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PARISH CALENDAR
9/20 Vestry Rath House, 7:30 pm
9/21 Bible Study Rath House, 10:15 am
9/22 Holy Eucharist Church, 7:00 am
9/22 Small Saints & Junior Choirs Choir Room, 5:15 pm
Adult Choir Choir Room, 7:30 pm
9/24 Dinner for Vets Parish House, 5:30 pm
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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CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Generosity
"We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give." — Winston Churchill.
We often think of generosity as an adjective, describing a person, their attitudes, their personality. But in fact, generosity is a noun – as in, “an act of generosity.” But it’s a noun that finds all its meaning as a verb, an action. And generosity is a hallmark Christian practice. It’s not what we hope to feel; it’s what we actually do. Generosity is giving to others without the expectation of return or repayment.
As Christians, we know the generosity of God in creating us, sustaining us; in Jesus giving up his life for us – pure gift, sheer grace.
The first Christians understood this, and practiced it as they began to live the Way of Jesus after his resurrection, as we hear in Acts 2:42-47 – “42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
Generosity is a practice, something we do on a regular basis; some we do again and again until we get good at it, and until it becomes part of our identity and nature. It hard work; our culture always wants us to act and think about our own self-interest first and foremost. But we give to others because God gives to us; and part of our faith is learning to be like God, learning to be Christ’s agents in the world.
Towards whom does God want you to be generous today?
Blessings,
Vicki+