Newsletter, March 15
Rev. Sheelagh’s Thought For The Week
Wasn’t a snow day just such a gift? Even though we paid it forward and will pay it back, there is such a blessing in being able to wake up and know that it would be irresponsible to go out. A freedom indeed. Consider also the wonder of snow. Each snowflake is unique-totally. Just like you and me. Water is the source of life, and is finite in that the only supplies are already here on the planet. It is not a renewable resource. Jesus tells the woman at the well this week, that the living water that he provides to those who believe is infinite, and we will never thirst. We need both kinds to live fully and let’s smile and rejoice at the beauty of this wonderful earth we share.Reminders
Date | Time | Event |
March 15 & 22, Wednesday | 7pm | Lenten Pilgrim Program |
March 19, Sunday | 11:30am-5pm | Vestry Meeting & Retreat St. Stephen’s Rectory |
| March 25, Saturday | 9am-3:15pm | Vestry University St. Elizabeth’s Church 169 Fairmount Road, Ridgewood, NJ |
| March 26 & April 2, Sunday | 11:15am | Cake & Conversation Parish Hall |
April 8 – 14 | IHN Week | Interfaith Hospitality Network Contacts: |
| April 9, Sunday | 8am & 10am | Palm Sunday Services |
| April 13, Thursday | 6.30pm-9:30pm | Maundy Thursday Supper & Service |
| April 14, Friday | 10am Noon 8pm | Good Friday Services |
| April 16, Sunday | 8am & 10am | Easter Sunday Services |
| April 16, Sunday | 11:30am | Easter Egg Hunt |
| April 23, Sunday | 7pm | Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir |
Serving at the Altar 3/19 & 3/26
Mar 19, 2017 8am Reader: N. Sieffert | Mar 26, 2017 8am Reader: A. Walker |
10am Readers: 1. B. Churchill 2. F. Dorn 3. K. Wade | 10am Readers: 1. J. James 2. P. Wick 3. O. Owolabi |
| Chalicist: S. C. Clarke | Chalicist: J. Soughan |
Ushers: F.L. & M. Priddy | Ushers: O. & P. Moore |
| Altar Guild: N. Sieffert & A. Cole | Altar Guild: A. Walker & J. James |
Coffee Hour: Rev. Sheelagh & Heloisa Rooney | Coffee Hour: Cake & Conversation |
Altar Flowers: No Flowers During Lent | Altar Flowers: No Flowers During Lent |
NOTICES
Scholarships
There are a number of scholarships available to college bound students. See link below. Deadlines are approaching fast. Please contact Rev. Sheelagh if you need a letter of support. http://dioceseofnewark.org/funding/scholarships
Food Barrel
A meaningful project for the season of Lent for families and individuals is ready and waiting right outside the church door that opens into the narthex. It is our FOOD BARREL, waiting to be filled with nonperishable food that will be distributed by Apostles’ House in Newark to help alleviate hunger in our county.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Lenten Pilgrim Program, March 15 & 22, at 7pm
Join us for our spring spiritual study group “Pilgrim.” A study guide aimed at introducing our faith to newcomers and going deeper for those already on the journey. Wednesdays every week in the Rectory.
Cake & Conversation!
March 26 & April 2.
It’s Lent – so no cake, except that every Sunday in Lent is a feast day. So we will celebrate it by having cake and conversation at coffee hour, where we listen for what God has been up to; is up to; and is calling us to become as St Stephen’s. The children’s table will do this too – in their way.
The questions and the emerging thoughts will be shared each week – so don’t worry if you miss a Sunday. Join us on March 26 and April 2. Where? After church in the Parish Hall.
Vestry University, Saturday, March 25, 2017
(Today is the last day for sign up)
To Register Click on the link below:
HOSPITALITY IS WHO WE ARE
Join us in our 29th year of offering hospitality to homeless families supported by the Interfaith Hospitality Network for the Homeless.
In 1987 St. Stephens became one of a few dozen congregations involved with a new ministry to homeless families – IHN – the Interfaith Hospitality Network for the Homeless. Since then, another 6,000 congregations have done the same, involving more than 160,000 volunteers and collectively serving more than 600,000 children and adults. Volunteer congregations host families for a week offering food and shelter while the case management team helps them move toward permanent housing and self-sufficiency.
We host next from April 8 to 14. This year we will vary our normal hosting schedule. With Passover and Holy Week only days apart and in partnership with Temple B’nai Jeshurun, we will host from Saturday morning April 8 to Friday morning, April 14 – Good Friday.
We will be on hand on Sunday, March 19, to share more about IHN, family homelessness and how small acts of kindness can support families in distress and enrich our own. If you are newer to the church and the program, come to learn how simple things like cooking a lasagna, reading to a 3 year old and sleeping overnight, help families stay together at a time of crisis – changing the course of their, and their children’s lives. If you’re an old hand at IHN, come and share your experiences and expertise.
Volunteers are needed to stay overnight, to cook and serve meals, to entertain children, to run errands and for the set up and take down work to convert classrooms to bedrooms. To learn more, talk to Margo Greenfield or Blair Majtyka.
greenfieldmargo@gmail.com
To sign up, click this link. https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/20f0845a4ac2ba02-ststephens1
As always, Meal Coordinator Sara Ruth Dorn will conduct signups during coffee hour for volunteers to prepare and serve dinners and purchase the necessary breakfast and snack staples.
Meal Plans for IHN Guests
When we host the guests from the Interfaith Hospitality Network in April, we have the following opportunities for this special ministry:
1. Donate food items and supplies
2. Cook a meal at home or at the church
3. Serve a meal to the guests, the overnight hosts and to you the server(s).
A server for the dinner hour needs to arrive to set the tables at 5:30 p.m. to be ready to serve the meal at 6. We learn the number of guests with the ages of the children usually the week before their arrival. The network staff has been helpful in letting me know of any food allergies. I pass this information to anyone who cooks.
Sign-up sheets for donations will be available during coffee hours.
Questions? Telephone Sara Ruth Dorn (973-467-9847) or email fdorn231@aol.com
Save The Date For A Wonderful Evening Of Song And Dance!
Paper Mill Playhouse Broadway Show Choir
7:00pm, Sunday 23 April 2017
Tickets will go on sale in April, $20 adult, $15 senior, $10 child
Please contact Susan Dinan with questions.
Dates & Deadlines
If you have any dates or events that need adding to the St. Stephen’s Calendar please send them to Claire, and all articles and e-mails for the newsletter by NOON on Tuesday to church@ststephensmillburn.org.