Dear Friends in Christ,
I hope that you are all getting some time to relax, get outdoors, and maybe even visit family and friends. This will be the last regular e-letter for the next few weeks. I will be taking vacation, including getting to meet our new granddaughter in Boston!
WORSHIP
Worship for the next four weeks will be led by our officiants/preachers Sister Monica Clare and Fr. Shawn Carty. We’ll also have parishioners participate as readers and prayer leaders, as well as having a sung psalm and a hymn. Parish Administrator Susie Harris will send out the service bulletin each week. On August 9 there will not be music as Alison Siener Brown will be starting her vacation then. I’ll be back and ready to lead worship on August 16.
Outdoor Evening Prayer – on August 23, 30 and September 6 we’ll have a service of Evening Prayer at 5 pm (as well as our Zoom worship in the morning). Instructions for this service on 8/23 (including how to sign up for it) will be sent out on August 17.
OUTREACH
Elks Donation to Twelve Baskets Food Pantry – we’ve received a grant from the Stirling Elks for $2,000 for our food ministry – with the understanding that we will divide those funds and share them with the pantries at St. Vincent’s in Stirling and St. Bernard’s in Bernardsville. The larger Elks granting organization would only issue one check, but our local Elks Club wanted to support several efforts. Thank you, Stirling Elks! Their donation is helping us to continue to assist local families and many of the nearly-100 Vets in the Valley Brook housing at the VA in Lyons.
Pop-up Thrift Store Plans – our annual Rummage Sale will be taking a break this year, due to COVID safety concerns for our volunteers and shoppers. Instead, we are exploring the possibility of a smaller, longer term Pop-up Thrift Store. Kimberly Celeste and her team will be letting you know more about this. Stay tuned!
DIOCESAN NEWS
Lay Conversation with Bishop Hughes - Bishop Carlye Hughes is eager to once again spend time in conversation with the members of the diocese, to reflect and consider what we, our churches, and our communities have learned and experienced as we have adjusted to the changes this time has demanded of us. On Tuesday, July 21 at 6 PM we will hold the third monthly Lay Conversation with Bishop Hughes. Scheduled for 90 minutes, this Zoom conversation is open to all members of the diocese. An email invitation will be sent Monday, July 20 to recipients of The VOICE Online with sign-in instructions for this Zoom meeting. You can register for The VOICE Online here: https://dioceseofnewark.org/publications
PARISH LIFE
Summer Parish Mailing – on Friday a letter was sent to the parish. Please be on the lookout for it…and read it! It includes a pledge/donation statement for 2020 year-to-date if you have made a pledge or contribution to All Saints’. It also outlines some of our in-person worship plans. If your letter did not come, please e-mail Susie Harris at allsaints_church@hotmail.com and she will send you one.
Banking Changes – this past weekend Millington Bank, with whom our Church has all its accounts, became Kearny Bank. Kearny had bought Millington some months ago, but the changeover became complete on July 11. This is a big change for All Saints’. Not only have we been with Millington Savings Bank since it opened its doors in 1911, but some of the bank’s founders were our parishioners! There are bound to be a few adjustments along the way, but we anticipate a good working relationship with Kearny Bank. And we are grateful for all the years of service that Millington Bank gave to us and to the wider community.
Parish Prayer List - during the next month is you have a prayer concern, or would like to have a person added to the parish prayer list, or updated in some other way, please send an e-mail to allsaints_church@hotmail.com.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Between the middle of July and the middle of August there are four Prayer Book holy days, remembering and honoring three different saints and one event in the life of Christ. We don’t often get to celebrate these days in person, but we can mark them at home in our own awareness and prayer. Here are the Collects and Scripture references for each of the days.
Saint Mary Magdalene - July 22 (John 20:11-18)
Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Saint James - July 25 (Matthew 20:20-28; this is James, the brother of John – sons of Zebedee)
O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Transfiguration - August 6 (Luke 9:28-36)
O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Saint Mary the Virgin - August 15 (Luke 1:46-55)
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Blessings, Vicki+
I hope that you are all getting some time to relax, get outdoors, and maybe even visit family and friends. This will be the last regular e-letter for the next few weeks. I will be taking vacation, including getting to meet our new granddaughter in Boston!
WORSHIP
Worship for the next four weeks will be led by our officiants/preachers Sister Monica Clare and Fr. Shawn Carty. We’ll also have parishioners participate as readers and prayer leaders, as well as having a sung psalm and a hymn. Parish Administrator Susie Harris will send out the service bulletin each week. On August 9 there will not be music as Alison Siener Brown will be starting her vacation then. I’ll be back and ready to lead worship on August 16.
Outdoor Evening Prayer – on August 23, 30 and September 6 we’ll have a service of Evening Prayer at 5 pm (as well as our Zoom worship in the morning). Instructions for this service on 8/23 (including how to sign up for it) will be sent out on August 17.
OUTREACH
Elks Donation to Twelve Baskets Food Pantry – we’ve received a grant from the Stirling Elks for $2,000 for our food ministry – with the understanding that we will divide those funds and share them with the pantries at St. Vincent’s in Stirling and St. Bernard’s in Bernardsville. The larger Elks granting organization would only issue one check, but our local Elks Club wanted to support several efforts. Thank you, Stirling Elks! Their donation is helping us to continue to assist local families and many of the nearly-100 Vets in the Valley Brook housing at the VA in Lyons.
Pop-up Thrift Store Plans – our annual Rummage Sale will be taking a break this year, due to COVID safety concerns for our volunteers and shoppers. Instead, we are exploring the possibility of a smaller, longer term Pop-up Thrift Store. Kimberly Celeste and her team will be letting you know more about this. Stay tuned!
DIOCESAN NEWS
Lay Conversation with Bishop Hughes - Bishop Carlye Hughes is eager to once again spend time in conversation with the members of the diocese, to reflect and consider what we, our churches, and our communities have learned and experienced as we have adjusted to the changes this time has demanded of us. On Tuesday, July 21 at 6 PM we will hold the third monthly Lay Conversation with Bishop Hughes. Scheduled for 90 minutes, this Zoom conversation is open to all members of the diocese. An email invitation will be sent Monday, July 20 to recipients of The VOICE Online with sign-in instructions for this Zoom meeting. You can register for The VOICE Online here: https://dioceseofnewark.org/publications
PARISH LIFE
Summer Parish Mailing – on Friday a letter was sent to the parish. Please be on the lookout for it…and read it! It includes a pledge/donation statement for 2020 year-to-date if you have made a pledge or contribution to All Saints’. It also outlines some of our in-person worship plans. If your letter did not come, please e-mail Susie Harris at allsaints_church@hotmail.com and she will send you one.
Banking Changes – this past weekend Millington Bank, with whom our Church has all its accounts, became Kearny Bank. Kearny had bought Millington some months ago, but the changeover became complete on July 11. This is a big change for All Saints’. Not only have we been with Millington Savings Bank since it opened its doors in 1911, but some of the bank’s founders were our parishioners! There are bound to be a few adjustments along the way, but we anticipate a good working relationship with Kearny Bank. And we are grateful for all the years of service that Millington Bank gave to us and to the wider community.
Parish Prayer List - during the next month is you have a prayer concern, or would like to have a person added to the parish prayer list, or updated in some other way, please send an e-mail to allsaints_church@hotmail.com.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Between the middle of July and the middle of August there are four Prayer Book holy days, remembering and honoring three different saints and one event in the life of Christ. We don’t often get to celebrate these days in person, but we can mark them at home in our own awareness and prayer. Here are the Collects and Scripture references for each of the days.
Saint Mary Magdalene - July 22 (John 20:11-18)
Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Saint James - July 25 (Matthew 20:20-28; this is James, the brother of John – sons of Zebedee)
O gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Transfiguration - August 6 (Luke 9:28-36)
O God, who on the holy mount revealed to chosen witnesses your well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty; who with you, O Father, and you, O Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Saint Mary the Virgin - August 15 (Luke 1:46-55)
O God, you have taken to yourself the blessed Virgin Mary, mother of your incarnate Son: Grant that we, who have been redeemed by his blood, may share with her the glory of your eternal kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Blessings, Vicki+
RSS Feed