Newsletter, September 23

Reverend Sheelagh’s Thought for the Week: September 23, 2015

The new school and church year always brings much activity and joy to our campus.  Our Preschool is full! –  Yes, full!  It is wonderful each day to see the children riding those little yellow trikes around the driveway.  It is wonderful to see their creative artwork so beautifully displayed each month in the hallways.  Sometimes we need to see the very good things that happen around us and count our blessings. Our church, cemetery and buildings are beautiful; our outreach ministries touch many lives and make a real difference.  We have a magnificent organ, and gifted organists who come and play it; we have a whole crop of young children enjoying God’s word through Godly Play; our high school kids are still with us,  active in our youth mission work, our drumming outreach, food programs and our church life.  We are truly blessed, with each other and by each other.  Let us give thanks for all the good things we find around us. In our over-scheduled, over-busy lives, Let us be intentional, and take an hour each week on a Sunday to count our blessings, and come together as a community to rejoice and be glad!The family of Dickinson Debevoise
The family of Dickinson Debevoise want me to express their deepest gratitude for the dignified and moving Memorial Service on Saturday at the Cathedral. Dick was a wonderful man, and we honored him.  Thanks to all who participated and attended.

Coffee hosting and flowers needed
There are quite a few open dates for coffee hour and we are currently in review of the process.  An idea is to scratch the “sign up sheet” and simply have coffee and cookies each week.

Please let Eugene or Claire know if you want to donate flowers.  There are only 40 weeks in the year that we need flowers for the altar – please consider taking ONE Sunday in memory of a loved one, or in thanksgiving for an event.  Flowers are priced at $40, $50 or $60 for the two vases.

Reminders

  Serving at the Altar Sunday 9/27  & 10/4

UPCOMING EVENTS

Vestry Forum

On Sunday September 27, the vestry will be hosting coffee hour and holding a forum to update the congregation on ongoing business items.

History and Harvest Celebration

History and Harvest Celebration on Saturday, October 3 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The festival has been reinvented a bit and will included living history, characters dressed in 1920s garb (some you many even recognize), cooking demonstrations and much more.
More detail is available on the website, www.greenwoodgardens.org
A fun day for all, family and friends.  Please join us!

Buy Groceries and Support St. Stephen’s!

I am pretty sure we have all bought groceries before.  Only now you can buy groceries and support St Stephen’s at the same time by making a donation.  On Welcome Back Sunday we will be selling gift cards to Kings and ShopRite.  For every card purchased, 5% of its value is donated to our church.   Cards will be available in $25, $50 and $100 denominations and you can pay with cash or a check.  Going forward, cards will be for sale at coffee hour on the first Sunday of every month.
Please see Blair Majtyka to purchase the cards and email or call me with any questions, blairmajtyka@me.com/973-801-1471.

BLESSING OF THE ANIMALS at 1:00 PM
Sunday October 4, 2015

St. Stephen’s will hold our annual Blessing of the Animals at 1:00 PM on Sunday October 4, on the Parish lawn (or inside if it rains). As always, we will have a brief ceremony to celebrate the joy our pets bring us and then bless each animal individually. “Hambone Kelly” will provide music and there will be refreshments for animals and for people.
Each pet will receive a “certificate of blessing” to commemorate the event.
For the safety of the pets, we ask that they come in appropriate carriers and containers or on a secure lead.

Annual Fund Raising Breakfast

You are invited to the annual fundraising breakfast for the Interfaith Hospitality Network, October 14 from 8-9 am at Mayfair Farms. Learn more about the agency’s programs for the homeless and enjoy a continental breakfast. Please contact Tina Kelley at tinapetekate@yahoo.com or 917 439 9484
if you would like to attend. Thanks!
Tina Kelley co-author,
Almost Home: Helping Kids Move from Homelessness to Hope
(Wiley, Oct. 2012) on Twitter, on Facebook, on poetry

Come for a Book Discussion: From Micro to Macro.

Wednesday October 22 at 7:30 in the Common Room.
Several of us have been reading The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander,  and want to learn more about the circumstances shaping the families whose children attend our drumming programs. Alexander examines the centrality of race in the war on drugs and the creation of a caste system targeting communities of color as changed forms of social control in response to the civil rights movement.

St. John Baptist on December 5, 2015

An Advent retreat, 10:00 – 4:00. Lunch provided. Contact Theresa Scharff 908 686 5489 if interested.

Cemetery Tour 2016

Mark Your Calendars
The next tour of St. Stephen’s Cemetery will be on Sunday afternoon, October 16, 2016, with a rain date of October 23. 2016.  This is over a year’s notice and is given to make sure that you avoid any conflict.

Our cemetery is a historic gem, and past tours have brought to life (through impersonators at grave sites) our township founders, a broadway actress, two Episcopal bishops, opera singers, a poet, local residents who served in the Civil War, area residents who served in  World War II, and other folks who played a part in our past. The 2016 tour will bring back some of these people and some other cemetery residents who will be new to the tour.
Many of you will be asked to help as our plans develop, but your immediate task is to see that the tour is on your calendar (and that no conflict
worms its way into your schedule)!

July 2016

Dear Friends,
I’m writing to ask you to consider an exciting opportunity for young people to travel to Taizé, France next summer.  The tentative dates for this trip are June 25th-July 3rd, 2016. This trip will provide people with a chance to meet Christians from all over the world, experience moving worship, meaningful service and an enriching time away from their everyday routines. We’ll hold an interest meeting on Tuesday, September 29th at 7PM at Christ Church (66 Highland Ave. in Short Hills).  At this time people can learn what the trip would entail, what travelers get out of their journey and how much it might cost.  This is also an opportunity to ask questions of people who’ve traveled there recently.  Please contact Denise Price for more information. denise.price75@yahoo.com 

PARISH DIRECTORY

The new year brings an opportunity to update our parish directory and databases.  Claire has prepared a simple form that will help us check names, addresses, contact numbers and email.  It would also help us to have dates of baptism and confirmation (if applicable) to check the database.

Confirmation and Reception preparation:  Reverend Sheelagh is happy to provide Confirmation preparation to anyone wishing to be confirmed (must be a 9th Grader or older) or received into the Episcopal Church.  Even though the Episcopal Church regards Baptism as full initiation into Holy Communion, Reverend Sheelagh  is always willing to provide preparation for younger children prior to receiving Holy Communion if desired.
Please contact her at rector@ststephensmillburn.org for more information.
Our roving photographers will be snapping new pictures of us all for the Parish Family Board.

NOTICE

If you would like an article put in the e-news, please e-mail Claire in the office atchurch@ststephensmillburn.org