Newsletter, March 29

Rev. Sheelagh’s Thought For The Week

If there is ever a moment in a story when you can look back and say “That’s it,” Jesus raising his best friend Lazarus from the dead is it. This is the scandal that tips the balance, and the drum beat towards the cross intensifies. This is miraculous – beyond any healing. This is outrageous, and as presented in the gospel of John, it is entirely orchestrated by Jesus. God will be glorified as Lazarus emerges from the tomb. This paves the way not only to the cross, but it also prefigures the Easter miracle too.

Events

Serving at the Altar  4/2 & 4/9

REMINDERS

First Sundays Family Friendly Service This Week
We continue to tweak our worship to include all God’s children (big and small). We will hear a short children’s version of our Gospel reading and a children’s message (you can take the full text with you). Our children will sing the poignant Kyrie after our corporate confession, and a special song at communion. Don’t miss it. They bring such life to our parish.

Kid’s parking lot at St John’s Whitchurch – 800 years on they still come seeking.

St. Stephen’s Grocery Gift Card Fundraiser – This SUNDAY!
April orders for Shop Rite and Kings gift cards will be taken this Sunday to support our operating budget. If you shop at either Shop Rite or Kings, please consider purchasing gift cards. Order forms are available in church, on the website http://ststephensmillburn.org or can be emailed to you. Cash/checks (payable to St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church) only, please.

Won’t be able to get to church? No problem, send me an email or call and I’ll place your order! Forgot your checkbook? Just drop a check in the mail (attn.: Grocery Cards c/o St. Stephen’s) or pop it through the mailbox slot at the rectory during the week. If you haven’t considered using gift cards, ask how this easy and no-cost fundraiser may be right for you! More info: contact Blair Majtyka, 973-801-1471, blairmajtyka@me.com. Get into the habit of shopping with gift cards!!

Celebrating Easter
How wonderful it will be to celebrate Easter with beautiful Spring flowers! You will find small envelopes in the pews which can be used to make donations to be used to purchase them for decorating the church. These may be made in memory of someone.
Please print legibly the names on the envelopes. The names will be included in the Easter Sunday bulletin. Place the envelopes in the collection plate or turn them into the office. In order to get the names in the bulletin, please return the envelopes by this Sunday, April 2. Thank you for your assistance.

Alex Cole, Altar Guild Directress

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

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.

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, contact Margo Greenfield greenfieldmargo@gmail.com or Blair Majtyka blairmajtyka@me.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 Feldor  Dorn at  fdorn231@aol.com

The Papermill Broadway Show Choir  –  Sunday, April 23, 7pm
Save the date for a wonderful evening of song and dance! The Papermill Broadway Show Choir will perform a benefit concert at St. Stephen’s Church on Sunday April, 23 at 7pm. Tickets will go on sale April 2, and will be sold after church during coffee hour, and also available at the door. The congregation provides snacks (savory and sweet) during the intermission. If you would like to contribute food or drink please let Susan know by emailing her at sdinan@pace.edu.

To reserve tickets in advance call St. Stephen’s Church at 973-376-0688. Or e-mail us at church@ststephensmillburn.org

Save The Date, June 25, 2017 At 7:30pm
Once again, as warm weather approaches, let’s do something fun – a picnic on the banks of the Hudson River in Garrison, NY, followed by an outdoor performance of one of Shakespeare’s plays under the great tent. This year the offering is “Twelfth Night” (Sunday, June 25 at 7:30pm.) Ticket discounts are available for those 65 and older and while all seats are good, the sooner we order, the better. Garrison is a little over an hour away and across the river from West Point. Shows go on, rain or shine, and arrangements can be made for those who have difficulty walking. Let me know how many tickets you would like or if you have any questions. There is a 15% discount on adult tickets if we purchase before April 15. Theresa Scharff: 908-686-5489.

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.

Thank You.