
Summer rhythms are in full swing, and many of us are traveling, visiting friends and family, taking a break from our usual activities, and enjoying all the things we can do outdoors in the summer time. This is a particularly good opportunity to be aware of the way we encounter God all around us – in the Created order and the beauty of nature, in the love of friends and family, in new experiences and people we meet, in worshiping in different churches and places. Summer is also a good time to remember that rest and re-creation are holy time to be taken and enjoyed. So, a blessed summer to you all!
Here are this week’s announcements. Please see especially:
- BBQ with the Bishop (Parish Life Events)
- Parish Baseball Outing (Parish Life Events)
- Rummage Drop-off (Fun & Fundraising)
- Property News (Stewardship)
- Hymn Sings (Worship)
PARISH LIFE EVENTS
Parish Baseball Outing, This Sunday, July 9 @ 5:05 pm – We still have a few tickets! Come for a fun evening with your fellow Saints and watch the Somerset Patriots play at the TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater. Tickets are $9.50 per person and we have field box seats reserved right behind home plate! Checks should be made out to All Saints’ Church. Email Mother Vicki if you still need tickets.
B-B-Q with the Bishop, This Thursday, July 13, 6 pm Bishop Beckwith will be here for a dinner picnic, conversation, and friendship. This is an event for the whole family – spend some time with your fellow parishioners. The main dish is provided; you bring sides, salads, and desserts. Sign-up sheet in the Narthex. Hope to see you there! Questions? Speak to Susan LeVan or Barbara Barbeau.
Summer Refreshments are available after the 10 am service on the Parish House lawn. Please join us! Here is Sunday’s Coffee Hour Conversation Question: What do you find restful and restorative? Share your answer with a parishioner, or someone at home.
FUN & FUNDRAISERS
RUMMAGE DROP-OFF Aug. 6: 11:30 am-2:00 pm in the Parish Hall. The First Sunday of Rummage Collection. What do we take? Dishes, linens, costumes, boutique, furniture, yard & garden, tools, small appliances, toys...anything clean and usable. What can’t we take? Tires, cribs, clothing, shoes, books for grownups, tube TVs, & large entertainment consoles. What help do we need? Sorting and pricing in August and September. The sale is September 23. This is an event you want to be part of – our largest community event of the year, as well as our biggest fundraiser! There is a poster in the Narthex with all of the various ways to help – we need all hands on deck.
For more info speak to Kimberly Celeste.
“Sponsor-a-Hymn” - dedicate a hymn in honor of a birthday, anniversary, baptismal anniversary, graduation, or other special event. Cost is $35 per Sunday for one hymn, and your dedication will be printed in the bulletin, and the person being remembered will be included in the prayers. All the money raised will go toward the Choir Room Piano Fund. Please speak to Director of Music Alison Siener Brown for details. Thanks!
AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Wednesday Walkabouts
We are asking questions and learning more about the neighborhoods where we live, work, play, and pray.
What did we see and learn on our walk in Meyersville this past week? Ten of us – ages 7 to 87 – walked from the Circle, through some residential streets, and ended at the Long Hill Tavern. Sights included: the cemetery at the Presbyterian Church, sharp changes in the terran, great variety of architecture, evidence of the geological events that created the Great Swamp.
The cemetery has many German headstones dating from the mid-1800s, including young children, who sadly died the same year. Another stone listed the person’s birthplace as Hanover and death place as Long Hill – in the days before the town had this name. If anyone knows this mid-1800s history (outbreak of illness, or where “Long Hill” was in the township), please share!
The archiecture ranged from quaint cottages (the bungalows of the old summer colony) to stone barns to brand new McMansion style houses. Hugh Wallace shared his considerable knowledge of the geology of the area. We also noted the changing businesses close to the Circle.
We ended our walk with a delicious meal at the Long Hill Tavern. The fellowship and sharing our experiences were a sign of the Holy Spirit’s presence among us.
Our next walk is Wednesday, July 19 at River Walk in Basking Ridge at 6:30 pm, with dinner afterwards at LingLing. These ‘Walkabouts’ are an experiment of our Going Local Guiding Team. Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex. Questions? Ask Hugh Wallace, Afsaneh Thursfield, Pam Lewis, or Jane Hayden – members of the Guiding Team.
STEWARDSHIP
Property News – The parking lot lights are finished, along with a new timer for the front outdoor Church lights! We are so glad to have this safety work done. There is also some safety pruning and removal of two trees around the Church and parking lot that is on the agenda. The Vestry will also finish the replace the Church side door steps and sacristy door steps, and is looking at replacing stormwater drainage between the Church and the Rath House that is causing underground erosion and sinking. We’ll have more updates as we go along. Please thank our hard-working Vestry!
WORSHIP
Come join the fun and sing in the All Saints' Summer Choir! Two different opportunities! No experience or commitment is needed. Meet in the choir room at 9:15 to learn a simple anthem then help lead worship at 10:00.
- THIS SUNDAY, July 9 we'll sing a setting of "Morning Has Broken"
- August 6, a setting of the tune Noel Nouvelet with the text "At the Name of Jesus.”
Summer Hymn Sings - We are starting our 10 am service every Sunday during the summer with an informal hymn sing. Come a few minutes early, find the number of your favorite hymn in the hymnal, and we'll sing the first verse! We'll do four or five every week...a different flavor to our worship. And Alison has now posted on the main Nave door a list of all the favorites we have sung so far. See if you share a favorite with anyone else.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION
Bible Study – Wed, 10:15 am, in the Rath House. This week, 7/12, we are continuing our study of the parables in Matthew 13. We’ll end with a simple pot-luck lunch. You are invited to join us! This is the last Bible study until September.
Gentle Yoga Class in July and August, taught by Lori Vigliotti. Thursdays, 2 pm, July 20 and 27; Aug. 3, 10 17. Price is $15 per session payable on the day to Lori. This is for both men and women, and combines chair yoga with meditation! Each week is completely different. Invite your friends. For information speak to Louise Easton from the Christian Community, or call the Parish Office.
PARISH CALENDAR
7/9 Baseball Outing TD Bank Ballpark
7/11 Finance Committee Rath House, 7:30 pm
7/12 Bible Study & Lunch Rath House, 10:15 am
7/13 Holy Eucharist Church, 7:00 am
BBQ with the Bishop Parish House Lawn, 6:00 pm
For a full schedule of our buildings check the website calendar www.allsaintsmillington.org.
CHRISTIAN PRACTICES
Song of the Builders, by Mary Oliver
On a summer morning
I sat down
on a hillside
to think about God -
a worthy pastime.
Near me, I saw
a single cricket;
it was moving the grains of the hillside
this way and that way.
How great was its energy,
how humble its effort.
Let us hope
it will always be like this,
each of us going on
in our inexplicable ways
building the universe.
~ from Why I Wake Early (2004)
Blessings, Vicki+