Newsletter, September 30

Reverend Sheelagh’s Thought for the Week: September 30, 2015

“Lord make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.  For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Prayer attributed to St. Francis (BCP 833)

Saint Francis Day is traditionally celebrated on the first Sunday in October, and we will hold our Blessing of the Animals service at 1pm in the Church yard, or if wet, in the Parish Hall.  It offers us a moment to consider the comfort that our animals and pets bring to us.  We have a new addition to our cat family, “Other”.  He is (we know this now) a feral cat, who showed up on our doorstep at the end of the winter snows.  Very soon he wormed his way into the hearts of the two softies in the family. Now he is neutered, and vaccinated and given a clean bill of health.  He is indoors, learning(!) to use the litter tray, and has become less skittish.  His only problem is a tendency to over-groom giving himself skin issues.  Stress, the Veterinarian tells me. Stress! I ask you, how can a cat who has landed on his four paws like he has,  have stress! Needless to say, when he burbles at me, and runs to greet me in the early morning, he makes me smile.  He is the keeper of my secrets, and he knows way too much about what goes on, – maybe that’s where his stress is coming from!  Anyway, let us all thank God for the gift of unconditional love of our faithful keepers of secrets. And don’t forget to bring them for a blessing on Sunday.+

Coffee hosting and flowers needed
Thanks to those who stepped up to host coffee hour! There is only one date
open in October, (October 25), so please sign up we’re on a roll!

Please let Eugene or Claire know if you want to donate flowers.  All dates are open after October 11 – 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 10/4  & 10/11

UPCOMING EVENTS

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!
It’s Grocery Gift Card Sunday
October 4th is the first Sunday of the month – you know what that means – Kings and Shop Rite gift cards will be available for purchase after the 10am service. Your purchase of these gifts cards supports St. Stephen’s!  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 (made out to St. Stephen’s Church). 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

FRIENDS OF MUSIC AT ST. STEPHEN’S & ORGAN RECITAL SERIES
Our acclaimed Beckerath organ, designed for and installed at St. Stephen’s by the noted German organ builder Rudolph von Beckerath, has provided a long tradition of musical outreach now entering its 46th year.   With your help we can continue that tradition.   Please join us at this season’s three recitals, beginning SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18, AT 4 pm, with a Bach-centered program by international recitalist DAVID ENLOW.  Also please consider joining the Friends of Music, where contributions start at $30, and provide admission to all 3 recitals plus a program listing.   See details in our September email and in the organ recital brochures at the church entrance.   Questions?   See Peggy Thompson.

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

We now have an active online giving button on our website.  You can use this to make a one time donation (in case you are away from church), or set up your regular contributions.  See Rev Derek for more information.

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