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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2006
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2006
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From the Rector
Kenya and Mission.
Pray Now, Stay Tuned, Act Soon
In October, we held three sessions on my trip to Kenya. For the first I showed slides. In the second I shared what I learned about welcoming, greetings and waiting. The last session we reflected on what a partnership with a Kenyan congregation might consist of. Specifically we talked about what folks in Kenya might have to offer us as well as what they might need. Equally, we explored what we might have to offer them and what are our own needs.
The Kenya and Mission session ended with a lot of thoughts but no clear course of action. We agreed to pray thoughtfully as to how we might proceed. On Wednesday, December 13th at 7:00 PM all those interested in continuing the conversation are invited to gather and share what has come up their prayers.
I realize that this is not a very efficient way to plan a church program. Efficiency dictates having a small team decide what we are going to do, then announce it while recruiting individuals to implement what is going to be done. I did not want to do this for a couple of reasons. First, the resulting partnership would in all likelihood be permanently tied to me. There is a world of difference between the Rector’s parish partnership and All Saints’ Church’s parish partnership. The second reason is to use this as an opportunity to build spiritual leadership in the church. To be a spiritual leader does not mean that that you are elected to vestry or serve as a committee head. Spiritual leadership comes out of everyone’s baptism. It is allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us and then test that spirit in the community of faith. When we pray, when we wait upon the Lord, we are asking God to work through us. As we speak of how God is leading us, we are exercising spiritual leadership.
I honestly do not know what will come out of the meeting on December 13th. Yet, I do know that as we prayerfully gather, we will discover possibilities that we could not even imagine without God speaking to all of us.
Peace,
Tom
Adult Confirmation and Reception
We will be offering an Adult Confirmation and Reception class beginning in January. The time and content of the class will be designed around the interests and schedules of the participants. So, if you are interested, please contact Tom Barrington or Amy Hunter as soon as possible.
Confirmation is an adult affirmation of one’s Baptism.
Reception is for those already confirmed in another Christian church who now wish to live out their baptism in the Episcopal Church.
Both Confirmation and Reception are conferred by the laying on of hand and prayers of the Bishop. The service will be on Saturday, March 31st here at All Saints’ when our parish hosts the Deanery Confirmation Service. We will be joined by participants from a number of other congregations.
Kenya & Mission: Reflecting on a Future Partnership
Wednesday, December 13th, at 7:00 PM
In the Cranberry Room
All Are Welcome
Stop the World – I Need a Little Break, Please!
Have you ever felt like this? Things are going way too fast and I am booked back to back and even some of the things I want to do are good, healthy noble things—but still I can’t keep up. Is this how I choose to live my life? What am I saying to my creator? Yikes!
It’s presently a personal spiritual issue for me. How do I find the space and time to attend to my relationship with God in daily practice and prayer? How do I make time for reading and resting? How do I find space for recovery? How do I make sure there is time for my most important relationships? How do I TAKE BACK MY TIME?
And there it was. It’s like God sent the email article about the Massachusetts Council of Churches program to my email inbox. So I figured I had better take this seriously since I was asking the question and now I had the sense I was getting some kind of answer. I asked Amy and Tom about this program called “Take Back Your Time.” They connected me to some resources and here are some things I found out that I thought I’d share.
First of all, this is really big. There are several websites with a lot of ideas about taking back my time. This program is a national movement to help counteract the overwork/over-schedule of our culture. The idea is to take some time (between the national Take Back Your Time day October 24th and the end of the year) and “engage in slow, simple life-renewing activities” to allow us to spend time with God or one another to reclaim our time. I feel like this idea supports my need to be intentional. This idea gives me pause to take thought of how I spend my time – to resist the hamster wheel running and really honor this gift of life that I have received. I have come to believe that how I spend my time is the greatest statement of my values and who I am. I believe that I want the activities on my calendar to reflect what is important in my life and “who” is important in my life. Sometimes honestly it is easier to just go and do and follow the list of the day, but I may be giving away my time. I want to TAKE BACK MY TIME.
So I invite you to find a time period, maybe it is a few hours on an evening, to TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. Advent is a time of anticipation and new beginnings and it seems a perfect time to consider this concept of holding some time apart. Perhaps these ideas I have found may strike your fancy. I’ll share them. Maybe my husband Steve and I agree to extend the dinner conversation – wait, maybe we’ll even “have” dinner together. Maybe we’ll decide to listen to some music and reflect a little about the joys in our life. Maybe we’ll play a game together one evening. Maybe I’ll take an hour one day and meet my good friend for coffee to restore my energy. Maybe I’ll give myself a thirty-minute gift of time to read something enjoyable to relax. Maybe I’ll take some quiet time for twenty minutes one night just to thank God for the gift of TIME.
And please God; help me to reclaim my time to use it to your glory in all I do.
Lynne Grillo
After God created the heavens and the earth, God rested.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Websites:
www.masscouncilofchurches.org; www.ldausa.org; www.timeday.org
Thank You for Supporting All Saints'!
I wanted to personally thank you (OK so it's not as personal as I'd like, but it's still heartfelt) for your continuing financial and personal support of the many important ministries of All Saints'.
Next year is an important one for All Saints'. I think we're in transition, and are moving toward more outwardly-focused spiritual energy. Your financial commitments help tremendously to allow the parish to do this, as well as to maintain the health of the parish and have appropriate staffing levels, etc...
Thanks again for everything you do at All Saints', on behalf of the stewardship commission.
Peace,
Steve Grillo
PARISH PRAYER LIST
December 2006
In the Sunday Bulletin under the section on “those in our parish in need of healing,” we list those with more acute needs. Saints Alive now carries a list of more “on-going” concerns to bring to God in prayer.
We will make the description you provide as general or specific as you indicate. Please let us know what you would like included. We encourage you to clip out these names and keep them in your prayers.
If you would like your name to be added or removed from any of the prayers lists, please contact Darlene in the Church Office.
Those who are at home, in nursing homes or living with chronic illnesses
· Gladys Stephens, Palm Manor Nursing Home
· Eleanor Ferreira at home
· Millie Adams at home
· Mary Buote at home
· Grace Wardell, Sunny Acres Nursing and Rehab Center
· Dora Smith, Betsy Eisemann’s Mother
· Priscilla Smith at home
· Doug Grant at home, chronic back pain
· Chaz Freeman, waiting for placement
· Debbie Anderton, Dora Carr’s daughter
· Alistair Redman, son of Edwin and Janet Redman, missing
Vacancies in the Parish:
Leadership positions to be filled for
Fellowship, Endowment, Youth Group, a representative for United Thank Offering.
Bottle and Can Annual Report
It is with pleasure that I announce the total income from your generous contributions of recyclable bottles and cans. Over the past year, we have redeemed $400.25. With this total, we have contributed $2099.55 over the last 9 years!
I would like to thank all those who have participated and encourage everyone to save your bottles and cans for the coming year. Please leave them in the closet just outside the Parish Hall kitchen.
Carol Douglas
Coming Soon to the
Parish Hall Near You!
The Outreach/Mission Committee is sponsoring a showing of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in January. We plan to show this well reviewed documentary on Wednesday January 10th in the Parish Hall with an extended discussion to follow on the next Wednesday, January 17th in the Meeting Room.
Won’t you mark your calendars now and invite your friends from other churches to join us on Wednesday January 10th at 7:30 p.m.
Liz Marshall
Worship Assistants Needed
Have you ever thought of being part of the dedicated team that assists in our weekly worship services? Opportunities available at both services include reading the lessons, leading the prayers of the people and other parts of the service, and assisting with the distribution of wine and bread. Training is available for all of these areas. Please speak to Maggie Marshall or Tom Barrington if you feel called to serve in any of these capacities.
Our December Worship Schedule
Advent is our season of preparation and begins on December 3 with worship at 8a.m. and 10a.m. and a special children’s chapel service at 9:30 in the chapel.
Advent 2 and 3, on December 10 and 17 are also Holy Eucharist at 8a.m. and 10a.m. Our annual Candlelight Service of Lessons and Carols is on December 17 at 4 p.m.
Advent 4 and Christmas Eve fall on the same day. This is always a conundrum for worship committees. At All Saints’, we will celebrate Advent 4 at 8 a.m. with Holy Eucharist and at 10a.m. with Morning Prayer and Sunday School. Christmas Eve services will be a Holy Eucharist with pageant, Children’s, Junior, and Handbell Choirs at 4 p.m., and Holy Eucharist with the Senior Choir at 10 p.m.
Our Christmas Day Eucharist will be celebrated in the chapel at 10 a.m.
Esperanza Academy, Lawrence
Esperanza Academy, a new tuition-free Episcopal middle school for girls in Lawrence, officially opened its doors on Sept. 6 to its first 42 students. “We started with a dream three years ago, and it has become a reality, thanks be to God,” reports the Rev. Jeffrey Gill, member of the school’s board and the rector of neighboring partner parish, Christ Church in Andover. The school’s board and supporters raised just more than $2 million before opening day and completed a thorough capital renovation of the building at Grace Church in Lawrence where the school has a 10-year lease. “We’re eager for people across the diocese and beyond to share in our joy at this work of the Spirit here in the poorest city in our diocese,” Gill says.
View a video clip about Esperanza Academy at their web-site, esparanzaacademy.org. Learn more about this “School of Hope” at Esperanza’s Web site. (Esparanzaacademy.org) Esperanza’s “Opening Doors to Learning” benefit dinner and auction took place on Oct. 13 at the Wyndham Andover Hotel, and it was announced at the Diocesan Convention that this benefit raised approximately $300,000.
Information is available by calling 978/686-HOPE.
Candlelight Service of
Lessons and Carols
The choirs of All Saints’ extend a warm welcome to all of you and your friends to attend our annual service of Lessons and Carols on Sunday, December 17 at 4 p.m.
This family friendly service features all of our choirs, guest organist Cyndi Bliss, and tells the story of the birth of Christ through story and song. We hope to see you there!
You are reminded that it is possible to support more sustainable energy providers (wind; hydro; solar; biomass) by signing up to “GreenUp” through your National Grid electricity supplier.
Obtain details from www.masselectric.com/greenupenergy or www.CommunityEnergy.biz or communityenergy@NewWindEnergy.com or
call 866-WIND-123 or 800-689-7957 or 800-287-3950 or 800-473-1362 before you make your selections.
Every year, we are invited to select names of and gift requests for Angel Tree children. All Saints’ participates in this national program that matches churches with the families of men and women from our area who are in prison, working through their chaplains. The children of prisoners are innocent victims of crime, and we seek to express God’s love and to strengthen the bond between the children and the incarcerated parent by purchasing and delivering gifts in the name of the absent parent. Often this program is a big help also to the parent, grandparent or other relative who is the children’s caregiver.
For more information, please contact Stephanie Ackert at 978-663-5188 or sackert1@comcast.net.
Pantomime Play-Readings
in December
Play readings will be held on Monday evenings in the Blue room at 7 pm on the following dates:
Mondays December 4, 11, 18, 2006
Tuesday December 26, 2006
Tuesday January 2, 2007
The play will be on January 6, 2007.
Please contact me if you would like to take part in this world premiere play (No pressure: lines not learned can be read instead!) Contact Patrick Blumeris at 978-256-9638 or by e-mail at blumeris@comcast.net.
So: keep the date free for Kurt and Cherry at the parish hall on January 6, 2007.
The Outreach Team is now meeting regularly.
Dec 3 Habitat for
Humanity recovenanting
Someone from Greater Lowell Habitat will be here to bring us up to date on
their progress and to renew our covenant relationship with them. (This was
previously scheduled for November 12).
Dec 2- 3 Christmas
Fair
There will be a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity at the Christmas Fair
centered around the creation and auctioning off of gingerbread houses.
If you are interested in more details, contact Dave Kuzara at 978-256-5484 or djkuzara@mail.com.
Christmas Boutique
A Christmas Boutique, to benefit All Saints' Church, will be held on Saturday, December 2 from 9 to 4 o'clock and on Sunday, December 3 from Noon to 4 o'clock. The Boutique will also be open on Friday evening from 8 to 9:30PM during the Gingerbread House Preview.
If you have a craft or handmade item(s) you would like to donate to the Boutique please call Carol Cannistraro, 978-256-0929. I also need volunteers to help with setting up and selling of the items, if you would like to help out please give me a call or speak to me in Church.
From the Associate for Adult Christian Formation
Upcoming Formation Dates and Events
Dec 1- 3 “Build a House to Help Build a House” Gingerbread Event for Habitat
Dec 3 Season of Advent begins
Dec 5 Bishop Tom Shaw meets with leaders 7:30PM Blue Room
Dec 9 Advent Quiet Day -- Blue Room 9:00AM- 2:00PM
Dec 12 Silent Night, contemplative gathering 7:30- 8:45PM Blue Room
Dec 17 Lessons and Carols service will be at 4:00PM
Dec 24 Christmas Eve Pageant and Service
Dec 25 Christmas
We are back to the beginning… the beginning of the Church year that is. With the first Sunday of Advent on December 3, we start again the cycle of the seasons in the Church calendar. We begin with waiting and preparation, getting ready for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God.
I believe that this year, and every year, God invites us to be aware of the peace and the joy that lie at the heart of this season. What will help you be open to that invitation? Can you come to the Advent Quiet Day on Dec 9 for one hour or several and work on your Christmas cards or a gift you are making for someone… or maybe just allow yourself to enjoy some quiet time with God? Can you come to the services that help us observe this holy season, the four Sundays of Advent, Lessons and Carols, Christmas Eve and Christmas morning? Can you find just a minute once a week, maybe even once a day to stop and give thanks to God for just one blessing in your life?
In Advent we live in the paradox of preparing and waiting. Preparing is active and organized and busy, playing our roles in preparing for the birth of Christ in our own lives, in ushering in the Kingdom of God in this world. But waiting involves knowing the limits of what we can accomplish and requires that we relinquish control, being open and trusting as we expect God to act.
Welcome to the new year! May our preparations and waiting be blessed by God.
in peace,
Amy Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
Buildings & Grounds:
Energy, from Inside-to-Outside
After the 10 a.m. service on November 19, 2006, Rich Jerome presented an outline of where the parish’s energy has been going for the last three years. Costs varied by month; consumption varied by season.
It is important that we should be comfortable during services and, for the parish staff, that the offices should be comfortable, adequately lit workspaces. This has led to expenses for heating, cooling, and electric power. One of the easier energy-saving, and therefore cost-saving, options was to replace incandescent with fluorescent light bulbs. Discussion ranged to tee-shirts, windows, circulating fans, water heaters.
Greater detail will be in the B&G 2007 budget request; for more information, e-mail richjerome@comcast.net.
Diocesan e-Newsletter
The Diocese of Massachusetts has a monthly e-newsletter which is sent to people on a database. You can receive this newsletter by signing up for future issues at:
To ensure that you continue to receive e-news, add enews@diomass.org to your address book.
Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts
What to Do? Where to Start?
Many concerns are on our minds incessantly. Lynne Grillo has pointed out on Page 2 of this issue that even the worthy concerns seem to take up so much time that we are constantly battling to find peace.
In early November, I received an e-mail, forwarded from relatives in the USA, that seemed to have been forwarded from Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa, and Zambia. Time zones being what they are, it arrived the day before it was originally sent! It was a call to fast on November 10, 2006.
The current flurry of pre-Christmas activity does include valid purposes, but it’s not always clear how to expect a fast to help a country far away with diminishing economic prospects, and limited coverage in the world press. In this case, the country was Zimbabwe.
The call to fast ended with an implied call to prayer:
All Zimbabwean Christian to fast for Zimbabwe Friday 10 November 2006 from morning until 1600 hours wherever you are.
Zimbabwe is our country and there is only one Zimbabwe for you, me and the next generation (our children and our children’s children.
REMEMBER {The} fervent supplication of the righteous {man} has much power. (JAMES 5 v 16)
Whatever we are going through, GOD is still seated on his throne and '' GOD IS LOVE''
In Tanzania, Tom Shaw our bishop has spent time in mission. In Kenya, Tom Barrington our rector has spent time in mission. In Zimbabwe, the Diocese of Massachusetts has had formal companion diocese ties and numerous ties remain.
We should not forget troubles such as genocide in Darfur and Rwanda, as well as corruption in many government offices on the continent. And we need to remember that we will accomplish very little of value without God’s support.
It might help us to pray:
This is the only world we have for ourselves and our children. God, help us to find what it is that we, in our individual lives, as families, as a parish Family, and in our communities, need to do to make a better parish, a better diocese, a better nation, a better World.
Amen
and, echoing the Zimbabwe e-mail message, to remember:
The fervent supplication of the righteous man has much power. (JAMES 5 v 16)
Whatever we are going through, GOD is still seated on his throne and '' GOD IS LOVE''
Patrick Blumeris
Editor
Churches and institutions we are asked to consider especially during the month of December are listed in this section.
Dec 1 Habitat for
Humanity recovenanting
Someone from Greater Lowell Habitat will be here to bring us up to date on
their progress and to renew our covenant relationship with them.
Sunday, December 3, 2006 The First Sunday of Advent
Church of the Good Shepherd, Acton
St. Luke's & St. Margaret's Church, Allston (Boston)
Charles River Church, Allson
St. James' Church, Amesbury
Christ Church, Andover
Jubilee Ministry
Sunday, December 10, 2006 The Second Sunday of Advent
Church of Our Saviour, Arlington
St. John's Church, Arlington
Order of St. Anne, Arlington
All Saints' Church, Attleborough
Congregational Support & Development Ministry Area
Alewife Deanery
Sunday, December 17, 2006 The Third Sunday of Advent
Parish of the Messiah, Auburndale (Newton)
St. Andrew's Church, Ayer
St. Mary's Church, Barnstable
St. Paul's Church, Bedford
The Church Home Society
Sunday, December 24, 2006 The Fourth Sunday of Advent
All Saints' Church, Belmont
St. Andrew's Church, Belmont
St. Peter's Church, Beverly
The Episcopal Times Board and Staff
Ministries with the Aging
Monday, December 25, 2006 Christmas Day
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Sunday, December 31, 2006 The First Sunday after Christmas
St. John's Church, Beverly Farms
St. Anne's Church, (North) Billerica
Church of the Advent, Boston
Emmanuel Church, Boston
Hispanic Ministries
Church Periodical Club
Sunday, January 7, 2007 The First Sunday after Epiphany
Christ Church (Old North), Boston
St. Augustine's & St. Martin's Church, Boston
Church of St. John the Evangelist, Boston
St. Stephen's Church, Boston
Boston Harbor Deanery
Current Vestry Members
David Cahill Beth Anne Economou Lois Freeman
Derick Gates Steve Grillo Doug Hausler
Deb Dutton (note-vestry is filling two openings)
Adrienne Spear, Senior Warden
Melanie Hickcox, Treasurer
Meredith McElroy, Clerk
Church Office................................... 978.256.5673
Senior Warden....... Adrienne Spear
Junior Warden........ Ron Cannistraro
Treasurer............... Melanie Hickcox
Clerk..................... Meredith McElroy
Acolyte Director.... Clem Cole
Adult Education...... Amy Hunter
Altar Guild............. Liz Landers
Buildings and…….. Rich Jerome
Grounds
Christian School..... Laura Marshall
Michelle Thomas
Elizabeth Danieli
Coffee Hour.......... Cindy Dussault
Endowment ........... to be filled……...
Environmental Stewardship
Committee............. Liz Marshall
Fellowship.............. to be filled
Finance.................. Clem Cole
Music Minister....... Maggie Marshall
Outreach............... Dave Kuzara
Pastoral Care......... Joy Chadwick
Saints Alive............ Patrick Blumeris
SaintsAlive e-mail:.. ... saintsalive@yahoo.com
Stewardship........... Steve Grillo
Thrift Shop............. Carol Cannistraro
Youth Group.......... to be filled
Webmaster............ Richard Coles
Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org
… for the January 2007 Saints Alive! is
December 17th, 2006
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com. Thanks.
