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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA June 2005
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA June 2005
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From the Rector
Whom would you invite to All Saints’ Church?
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Recently, I have been wondering what it would be like to visit All Saints’ if I came from a very different culture. In the last few months we have had a number of visitors from different countries and cultures. We had the youth from Wolverhampton, England, the Nabakooza family from Uganda joined us a few times and a good number of folks from Sierra Leone worshiped with us when Pastor Solomon preached. These have all been pleasant visits with some good fellowship after the services. We have also had various Indian families rent our Parish Hall for birthday parties. We do live in a multi-cultural world. What has me wondering is whether we have any expectations that their experience here would so transform their lives that they would want to make All Saints’ their church. As I wonder, I realize that while I have confidence that someone “like me” could find a spiritual home here, I am not as confident of our ability to reach across cultural, economic and racial lines.
I believe that Christ preached a universal message. His message of salvation, grace and love cuts across national, cultural, social, economic and racial lines. Yet, the reality is that we are all bound by culture. The tension we Christians live with is to translate Jesus’ universal message into our culture but not let our culture define or limit Jesus’ message. One of the great joys of having a diverse congregation is that the cultural baggage can be unpacked while the message remains clear.
I invite you to wonder with me. Are you comfortable inviting a friend from a different culture to worship with us? Do you think that Christ’s universal message would be at the forefront of their experience here? In what ways might our culture enhance or hinder Christ’s message?
Peace,
Tom
Merrimack Valley Deanery Picnic
Save the Date: Sunday, June 26th, 2005, 12:30 PM
At the Brook School,
1160 Great Pond Road, North Andover
All Are Welcome
The Merrimack Valley Deanery consists of the 14 Episcopal Churches in the Merrimack Valley. This will be an opportunity for us to gather as a parish for a picnic as well as a chance to meet and play with folks from other parishes. Bring your own food. There are no tables so bring blankets or lawn chairs.
Stewardship of Energy Consumption – Greenup
Last October, the Environmental Stewardship Commission invited you all to hear a speaker from Massachusetts Interfaith Power and Light talk about alternative sources of power – through Greenup.
We had been struck by the fact that homes accounted for nearly 35% of electrical use in the USA in 2003, and that this electricity comes from oil, coal, or natural gas. Therefore it releases green house gases, just like the gasoline at the pump.
We learned at the meeting that it was possible to connect with alternative sources of energy for our homes. Articles reporting on this meeting appeared in Saints Alive for the next three months – November, December, and January, and are available on the All Saints’ website.
We threw out a challenge: could we find 50 parish families willing to participate? To invest a small amount of money in alternative energy each month through a small extra fee on your electric bill?
We have asked how many of you have done this, but we still have no answers. Therefore, please use the survey below (if you didn’t already do so at the 10:00 am service on May 8). We don’t need your name. We just want to know how close we are to meeting our goal. You can e-mail the church office, leave a message on my phone, or leave your copy in the collection plate the next time you are in church.
__ Yes, we have signed up.
__ We have been meaning to do it and WILL with payment of the next electric bill.
__ We would do it if we knew how. *
__ No – we don’t see the point.
* Check the website for articles, or Narthex table for info.
Liz Marshall
for the Environmental Stewardship Committee.
PS:
Are you familiar with compact fluorescent light bulbs? They use up to two-thirds less energy. I have found them at Sears and Home Depot, for starters.
Liz Marshall
THANK YOU! Did our parish family answer the call for financial support of Project Bread’s Walk for Hunger? With a roar! Your generosity contributed to our raising three million dollars for area feeding programs. You made the steady rain that day feel like liquid sunshine.Thank you one and all.
Chris Mills
Remember Christmas...
Christmas FairSaturday December 3, 2005, 9 am to 2 pm.
Possible activities for this year's Christmas Fair:Food SalesTable (Decoration) IdeasChoir Christmas CDOrnamentsWreathsPoinsettias saleFancy Appetizers/Sauces for saleSilent auction itemsKids’ thingsOther IdeasWine & Cheese preview the night beforeCombine with Music Event at 10:30AM
Please contact the office 978-256-5673 if you can help with any of the items listed above.
Lowell Spinners baseball game - Our annual trek to see the largest diamond in Lowell is on Sunday, July 31st. Game time is 5PM, and tickets are $4.50. To reserve your tickets, please see Matt Hickcox at church or email him at matt@odic.com. These games are always popular, so tickets go fast!
Endowment Committee Meeting
A quick note from Jean McCaffrey: Endowment Committee meeting Sunday, June 19, after the 9 AM service.
Can and Bottle Update
As we enter the summer drinking season (soft drinks of course), we have accumulated $143.75 since January! At this rate, we will double the amount we took in for 2003. We were up in 2004 and we would love to keep that trend going. Could you please keep bringing bottles and cans to church? If you place them in the storage area just outside the kitchen in the Parish Hall, I'll pick them up and get them redeemed for cold hard cash!
Thanks for your continued support.
Carol Douglas
Ryan Daniel Davis May 2005
In the week of May 17, 2005, the parish learned with great sorrow of the death of Ryan Daniel Davis. We extend our condolences to his parents, Kevin and Aline Davis.
O God, source of our being, shower all your saints on Earth and in Paradise with your light and heavenly comfort; and allow us to share, with those who are now at rest, in the knowledge of your unbounded peace.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
AMEN
June 3: In the year 1886, thirty-two young pages of the court of King Mwanga of Buganda (in today’s Uganda) were executed for their refusal to renounce Christianity. The effect was a rash of further converts, as martyrs went to their deaths praying for their persecutors.
Churches and institutions we are asked to consider especially during the month of June 2005:
Sunday, June 5, 2005 - The Third Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 119:1-6 Acts 5:12-16
GIVE THANKS for the Diocese of Northern Malawi - (Province of Central Africa) The Rt Revd Christopher John Boyle.
Malawi has 12 million people, with gross domestic product, per person, of about US$560, as opposed to just over $10,000 in the U.S. (Source: The Economist, 2004). The average age is just seventeen. Alexandra Fuller, in Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight, describes Malawi as “a skinny slice of a country, over one fifth of which is a lake ... The air almost anywhere you go in Malawi is salty and rich with the scent of smoked fish”.
Grace Church, Medford
Christ Church, Medway
Trinity Church, Melrose
St. Andrew's Church, Methuen
Chaplaincy at Tufts University, Medford
Sunday, June 12, 2005 - The Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 119:17-32 Acts 6:1-7
GIVE THANKS for the Diocese of Northwest Texas - (Province VII, USA) The Rt Revd C Wallis Ohl
Church of Our Saviour, Middleborough
St. Paul’s Church, Millis
Church of Our Saviour, Milton
St. Michael's Church, Milton
Wider Mission Ministry Area
Sunday, June 19, 2005 - The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 26 Acts 7:17-22
GIVE THANKS for the Diocese of Nyahururu - (Kenya) The Rt Revd Charles Gaikia Gaita
St. Paul's Church, Nantucket
St. Paul's Church, Natick
Christ Church, Needham
Grace Church, New Bedford
Prison Ministries
Sunday, June 26, 2005 - The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 119:33-49 Acts 7:54-8:3
GIVE THANKS for Okinawa - (Japan) The Rt Revd David Shoji Tani
St. Andrew's Church, New Bedford
St. Martin's Church, New Bedford
St. Paul's Church, Newburyport
Church of the Good Shepherd, Waban (Newton)
Congregations: Wardens, Treasurers & Clerks
Adult Christian Formation
Upcoming Events
June 1 via media program 7:00- 9:00 Cranberry Room
June 8 via media program 7:00- 9:00 Cranberry Room
June 14 Silent Night 7:00- 8:30pm in Blue Room
June 15 via media program ends 7:00- 9:00 Cranberry Room
June 19 Book Discussion Group 10:30 in Blue Room
From the Associate for Adult Christian Formation
As I write, I am amazed to find myself contemplating the end of another program year. I look back with satisfaction at many classes and activities—Adult Sunday School, Book Discussion Group, Inquirers’ Class, Silent Night, Quiet Days, an EFM Group… and I look forward to the future, believing that the Holy Spirit has deep yearnings for All Saints’, for this parish’s growth as Christ’s Body, as a community knowing and living out God’s mission. I am hopeful about the process we are engaging in using Alice Mann’s Raising the Roof and I look forward to that journey and its outcomes. So many things are possible in this parish in terms of community, ministry, and spiritual growth. So much depends upon our openness to the many ways God is tugging at us, individually and corporately.
In June, All Saints’ offers several resources for nurturing your spiritual life and to gather with others.
o June 5 and 12 will be the final adult classes at 9AM until we resume the 8 and 10 service time in the fall. If you haven’t checked out this very accessible way of studying the gospel lesson for the day, I invite you to come and see.
o Silent Night, All Saints’ monthly gathering for contemplative practice meets Tuesday June 14. Take a break in this season of graduations, finals and summer rapidly approaching!
o On June 19, the Book Group will discuss Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s No Future Without Forgiveness. This book is Tutu's memoir about his time as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. amazon.com writes that “It records his insistence of the need to discover a "third way" in the healing of the national psyche and his powerful belief that ‘we can indeed transcend the conflicts of the past, we can hold hands as we realize our common humanity.’” All are invited to get a copy (easily available at the library or bookstore) and join us for brown bag lunch and conversation.
If you missed participating in our pilot of the via media program, I encourage you to take part in the full eight-week program next October and November. “via media invites those who are seeking spiritual community into a journey of study, prayer and action surrounded by radical hospitality and grounded in traditional Anglican perspective. Balancing scripture, traditions and reason, the course content is rooted in the Trinity and offers diverse, compelling witnesses to the unique way of being Christian that is our Anglican heritage.” (from via media materials) We are excited about being able to offer this resource in our parish and hope many folks will take advantage of it.
Finally, I continue to recommend that you consider joining EFM (Education For Ministry) next year. EFM is a four-year program based out of the Episcopal seminary in Sewanee, TN that covers the Old Testament, New Testament, Church history and theology. Participants sign up for one year at a time. Our group meets 7:00- 10:00, September through June, Monday evenings in the Blue Room for worship, discussion and theological reflection. Group members spend an additional two to three hours weekly reading to prepare for the classes. Such a commitment of time, money ($340 yearly) and energy is not for everyone, but I have found my connection with EFM to be one of the most rewarding parts of my faith life. EFM offers an unparalleled opportunity to explore your faith and the Christian tradition while building deep connections with other students.
Please talk with me to learn more.
in peace,
Amy Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian FormationVestry Members
Scott Bempkins Robb Dussault
Beth Anne Economou Lois Freeman
Steve Grillo Karine Marino
Joe Sala Sally Warren Anne Whitaker
Adrienne Jerome, Senior Warden
Kevin Davis, Treasurer
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The church at St Augustine’s in Penhalonga near Mutare in the Diocese of Manicaland.
Even in the 1890’s, this church building was considered a safe place for a missionary who was advised to seek shelter there from the revolt of the Shona people against the newly arrived white men. But Bernard Mizeki, in obedience to his bishop, went to his mission home and wife in Marondera, in the June winter, when the sun sometimes hides behind clouds for weeks at a time. And so the prolific translator of the Bible and prayer book into the language of the Shona people remained an easy assassination target for the enemies of the new order. He was martyred in Marondera on June 18, 18 96.
The photograph is from the new website of the Diocese of Manicaland. In 1896, both Mutare and Marondera were in the Diocese of Mashonaland.
Summer Sunday Service Times
Beginning June 19, 2005:
8:00 AM service in the Chapel
9:00 AM service in the Main Church
(All phone numbers are area code 978 unless indicated)
Church Office...................................... 256-5673
Senior Warden....... Adrienne Jerome
Junior Warden........ Ron Cannistraro
Treasurer............... Kevin Davis
Clerk..................... Jeremy Ahouse
Acolyte Director.... Clem Cole
Adult Education...... Amy Hunter
Altar Guild............. Liz Landers
Buildings and…….. Rich Jerome
Grounds
Christian School.....Ellen Twitchell
Laura Marshall
Sharon Cornellier
Coffee Hour.......... Cindy Dussault
Endowment ........... Jean McCaffery
Environmental Stewardship
Committee............. Liz Marshall
Fellowship.............. Meredith McElroy
Finance.................. Clem Cole
Music Minister....... Maggie Marshall
Outreach............... Dave Kuzara
Pastoral Care......... Joy Chadwick
Saints Alive............ Patrick Blumeris
Stewardship........... Steve Grillo
Thrift Shop............. Carol Cannistraro
Youth Group.......... Brian Hunter
Webmaster............ Steve Sullivan
Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org
… for the July 2005 Saints Alive! is
June 19th, 2005
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com
Thanks.