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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA November 2007
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA November 2007
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Welcome to Elphas Wambani who will be our guest preacher on Sunday, November 11th. Elphas is on the faculty of St. Philip’s Theological College in Maseno, Kenya and is currently working on a Doctorate of Ministry at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass. I got to know Elphas when I was at St. Philip’s during my sabbatical in 2006. He was a kind and gentle guide as I tried to understand Kenyan culture. I am delighted that I now have the opportunity to reciprocate.
Being a guide provides a unique opportunity to look at the familiar with fresh eyes and to notice both the strengths and rough edges. Showing off our New England fall foliage reminds me that our brilliant reds, yellows and oranges are unique and replicated in few other parts of our planet. Elphas has marveled at our road, which I take for granted. I am in the process of teaching him how to stay warm as the weather turns colder than he has ever experienced.
Elphas has also provided me an opportunity to reflect again on the spiritual culture in which we live. When he visited All Saints’ in October, he noted how we include children in the service. I had been thinking it is just what we do. In another context he noted that we tend to compartmentalize our religious lives. In Kenya the language of faith as used in worship is often the day-to-day language. Talking about God’s mercies and grace is as common in the store or at work as it is on Sunday morning. Here it is different. We do not tend to use the language of worship outside of church. However, we must be careful to not rush to judgment. Learning about another culture or having the chance to see our own culture with new eyes is something to be held gently. We may be invited to see the value of what we take for granted. And indeed, there may be some things we need to challenge about how we live and our values, but having the wisdom to change appropriately often takes time.
After the coffee hour on November 11th, all are invited to join the PRIAH Partnership Committee for a simple lunch with Elphas. After lunch there will be an opportunity to share stories, ask questions and take the time to learn from each other. We see this as part of our partnership with Nyahela Parish in Kenya. While we have had difficulty establishing direct contact with the members of that parish, hearing Kenyan voices can help us to hear and understand better. Likewise, it is an opportunity for us to learn more about ourselves.
Peace,
Tom
Advent is a season of waiting and preparation. For the choir, preparing for Advent and Christmas begins in November. As always, the senior choir welcomes “poinsettias”to join the ranks for the season, beginning Thursday, November 15 at 7:45p.m.
Our annual service of Lessons and Carols will take place on Sunday, December 16 at 4p.m., and will feature all three vocal choirs as well as the handbell choir. Our “poinsettia” singers are particularly needed for that service, and are also welcome to sing at the 10p.m. Christmas eve service.
To the community of Christians
at All Saints Episcopal Church Chelmsford – Greetings!
My name is Fiona Vidal-White (Note: “Vidal” rhymes with “tidal”!) and for this academic year I will be your Youth Missioner Consultant. I came to you through working in a series of ever-widening fields in my vocation. For some people, God gradually helps them move into clearer and smaller areas of calling – for me, I am allowed to get to know one field, and then sent off like a shooting star into the next universe! Until my twenties, my only desire was to be an opera singer, and wear stunning evening gowns. Then I taught singing for a while, and worked in the arts, for orchestras and planning community festivals. Finally I discovered church music, and came to this country in 1992 to do the Masters in Sacred Music program at Boston University School of Theology, greatly supported in my marriage to my American husband. A period of five years as a children’s music director followed, then a break to bring up my two children, Zoë (aged 7 and a half) and Aidan (aged 10). After that I produced another “child”, a hymnal and teacher’s guide so that adults and children could enjoy singing together in church. From there I became connected with “Children at Worship” and began to see the bigger implications of my hymnal work – that children should be fully incorporated in worship. And as I worked with young people, I realized that they needed support and encouragement to fully contribute to the church’s worship – and adults needed support to allow them to be involved. So here I am. I want to thank Tom, Amy and the whole interview committee for taking a leap of faith in someone whose background is so diverse, and I look forward to working with all those who know that young people are an essential part of the community of faith.
In the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know All Saints, through surveys, reports and parish history, and in beginning meetings with parents and leaders of different age groups. Very soon we will be putting together a Youth Ministry Task Force. This group will meet regularly through the winter and spring so that adults and youth can together write a mission statement, and plan a youth ministry program that relies on volunteer leadership and support, that is sustainable, and that can be assessed periodically against the original goals.
This means we need You! We need you if you are a parent, if you have skills in teaching, or child psychology, or after-school programs. We need you if you feel strongly that Youth ministry must thrive in this church. We need you if you are a leader in this church. We need you if you are a youth who can cope with adult meetings in order to have your voice heard. This is a wonderful opportunity for ASC to do this well, and I hope that you will enter into the process with hope and faith, believing that with God’s help we can do so much more than we can do ourselves.
Peace and Joy!
Fiona
There will be special services to mark All Saints not only on All Saints’ Day (November 1) but also on All Saints’ Sunday (November 4).
On All Saints’ Day, Thursday, November 1, 2007, we will be having a service of Baptism and Holy Eucharist at 7:30 pm. We are inviting everyone to bring photographs of the saints in their lives to be placed around the altar. In place of a sermon, you are encouraged to say a few words about them. These photos of “Our Saints” will serve as a reminder that we are united with them through the Body of Christ. This will be a contemplative service, with the Senior Choir.
You are welcome to bring in photos of saints at any time after Thursday until Sunday.
On All Saints’ Sunday, November 4, 2007, as photos of the saints surround us, we will have special remembrances of some of the exceptional saints who have made All Saints’ Church into the community that we have grown to love. We will also be celebrating baptism, having special music and enjoring a grand fellowship hour after the 10:00 am service.
Come join us for a pie making workshop on Saturday, November 3. We have been doing this for a number of years and have a lot of fun making pies to sell to enhance the church budget. The workshop starts at 9:00 a.m. and usually ends at 2:00 p.m. Coffee and sticky buns are available in the morning and a light lunch is also available. We need people to peel apples, put ingredients together, crimp crusts, bag the finished pies for freezing, etc. If making crust has always seemed like a mystery to you, come learn the easy way and get to know some parishioners you might not have had the opportunity to meet before.
Donations toward buying ingredients for making the pies are always welcome. We need flour, sugar, apples, frozen blueberries, aluminum pie plates and large frozen food bags, and money to buy these things is always welcome. The past few years we have been able to add $1000 to the general fund and let’s see if we can do that again.
Esther Davenport and Vi Flumerfelt
Come to a day of exploration at St. Anne's in-the-Fields, Lincoln on Saturday, November 17, 2007
The Rev. Joseph Duggan, a former postulant for Jesuit and diocesan priesthood in the Roman Catholic church and recently ordained Episcopal priest, will lead a day-long workshop for Roman Catholics who are exploring making a change to the Episcopal Church at St. Anne's in-the-Fields, Lincoln (147 Concord Rd.).
The workshop, Roman Catholics Drawn to the Episcopal Church - Exploring their Lifelong Faith Identities, will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost of the workshop is $70 and includes lunch. Scholarships are available. To register (deadline, November 14), send your name, address, phone and e-mail address with a check for the workshop fee (payable to St. Anne's in-the-Fields) to:
St. Anne's in-the-Fields
P.O. Box 6
Lincoln, MA 01173
For more information, call St. Anne's parish office at
781-259-8834, or go to, www.stanneslincoln.org.
Want to purge your basement, attic, garage, or shed of stuff you'll never use again? Bought some new garden tools or furniture and need to get rid of the old? Instead of letting stuff end up in a landfill, let the Internet help. "Freecycle" is a world-wide effort to reduce waste in our landfills. It's all about re-use. The concept is simple, but it took the power of the Internet to make it a reality.
Say you want to buy a larger wheelbarrow, but the old one is still usable. All you do is go to the Freecycle website that covers your area and tell everyone about your used wheelbarrow. It will only take you a minute or two to post your listing. Then you check your email and watch the requests come flying in. You'll be amazed how many responses you get, sometimes within minutes. Once you pick your favorite request using whatever criteria you wish, you email that person and tell then where to get wheelbarrow. Just leave it in the driveway on the agreed upon day, and presto, it's gone.
The caveat is that everything offered must be free. The reward is feeling great about not contributing something that still has use to a landfill, and you get a kick out of someone being excited about something you were otherwise going to throw away. I received at least 5 requests for my old wheel barrow within a day. When I posted a set of ten Hardy Boys books, a dozen or so people asked for it. I have even given away a piece of framed art that is appropriate for young boys, a commodity I no longer have at home. And of course you can use Freecycle to find things as well. Maybe you need a wheelbarrow for occasional use, but don't want to buy one.
To find your local Freecycle website, go to www.yahoo.com, click on "groups" in the left hand column, and then enter "Freecycle" and your town name in the search field. Looking through the search results, pick the one that sounds most appropriate. For Chelmsford, I saw one called "NewEnglandFreeStuffNetwork"; for Groton, I use "freecyclegrotonma".
If you have problems or questions, email me at matt@odic.com.
I'll be happy to help. Happy (f)recycling!
Matt Hickcox
This December, All Saints’ Episcopal Church is hosting our 2nd Annual Gingerbread Village Display to benefit The Greater Lowell Habitat for Humanity. The theme this year is, “All Aboard the Gingerbread Express!” There will be a train display as well as a central “village” replica in the main parish hall. We are encouraging everyone to participate by making an entry to the Village and then to come visit the display the weekend of Dec 1st and 2nd.
Last year’s event had over 80 entries and ranged from elaborate professional houses to the no-less-beautiful graham cracker cottage. All of the gingerbread builders donated their time, talent and their houses to help raise over $3,500 for Habitat for Humanity.
Here’s how the fundraiser works. We start by asking as many people as we can to make an entry to the Gingerbread Village. We encourage you to be creative – all entries are gratefully accepted. There is no charge to participate in the display. We ask you to consider the following “building codes”:
All building materials should be edible.
All buildings should be built on a stiff foundation such as foam core or cardboard so that the house can be moved for display.
Try to estimate the size of the base of your building and notify the event organizer prior to the event if you need to make modifications to your estimate.
Notify event organizer if your entry requires electrical outlets or special handling.
There will be a Builders’ Challenge for those participants who want to build replicas for a central “Village” display. Anyone can choose to take on the Builders’ Challenge. To participate in the Builders’ Challenge you need to register the building you would like to build with the event organizer.
Entries can be on loan just for the display or donated to be sold by silent auction. More details about entries can be found and pictures of last year’s event can be seen online at www.allsaintschelmsford.org.
All Saints’ Shops
All Saints’ will also be raising money through specialized Christmas Shops and food service. There will be a Whistle-Stop Lunch Counter with delicious soups, breads, and other tasty treats. There will also be the Gingerbread Express Café, where you can get a pot of tea or cocoa and fresh gingerbread or other sweets. There will be an even bigger cookie walk this year. We will need help with baking, staffing shops, and crafts, etc. Please contact the event organizer if you can help with All Saints’ fundraising for this event.
Habitat for Humanity
We will be asking for a donation of $5 per family to walk through the display. There will also be some entries for sale by silent auction- so you could end up going home with one of these wonderful houses. All of the proceeds from the admission and sale of gingerbread entries will go to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell.
Please consider joining us for this major event – we need all the help we can get!
Important Village Express Dates
Nov. 24th Registrations Due
(late entries are accepted, up until Nov. 29th, but please try to register so that we can plan a beautiful display)
Nov. 29th House Drop-Off
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Nov. 30th Builders’ Preview
Friday night 7:30-9 pm. All builders and contributors to the event are invited to a preview of the display. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP if you will be attending.
Dec. 1st Gingerbread Village Display
Display open from 9am until 4pm
Dec. 2nd Gingerbread Village Display
Display open from noon until 6pm
Upcoming Formation Dates and Events
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Nov 1 |
Feast of All Saints. Baptism and Holy Eucharist. All-Saints Sermon: Bring photographs of the Saints in your life. Introduce them to the congregation. |
7:30pm |
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Nov 4 |
All Saints’ Sunday. Eucharist with Baptism and review of the Saints in the history of the parish. Grand fellowship hour after the service. |
10 am. |
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Nov 5 |
Connect program, Connect with God: Praying Freely |
7- 9 pm, Meeting Room |
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Nov 12 |
Connect program, Connect with God’s Story: The Good News! |
7- 9pm, Meeting Room |
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Nov 13 |
“Prayer as First Resort”: Praying for the Church |
7:30-9pm Blue Room |
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Nov 22 |
Thanksgiving Day |
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Dec 1 |
A Vocation Worthy of Our Calling workshop at EDS, 9:00am- 2:00pm |
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Nov 30- Dec 2 |
Gingerbread Village for Habitat for Humanity |
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Dec 2 |
Advent 1 |
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I have recently returned from 8 days of retreat at the Mercy Center in Madison, CT. While I was there I worked with a spiritual director who had the gall … I mean the wisdom to point out that I am approaching the time of life in which I am asking “What is essential?” Even without the challenges of middle age, I find that question grounding for me in my Christian life. What matters here? What is God’s call, what is God’s invitation at this particular place and time?
I invite you to gather with your parish community for worship, for Connect, for gingerbread, for fellowship hour to live into this question, What is essential?
in peace,
Amy Hunter,
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
In November and December the Prayer as First Resort group will continue to use the Prayers and Thanksgivings (pp. 810-841 in The Book of Common Prayer) as a way deepening our prayer lives as a community and as individuals of faith. Please join us-- whether you want to learn how to pray, if you want to pray with others, if you want to know more about the resources offered to us out of our Anglican tradition, or even if the whole subject of prayer terrifies you. Each session will have time for teaching about the evening’s prayer theme, looking at the prayers of our faith tradition, group discussion and prayer (folks are invited to pray either silently or aloud), and some ideas to try at home in the month ahead. Come and pray!
What: Prayer as First Resort: Practicing our Faith
When: Second Tuesday evenings of each month, 7:30- 9:00PM
Where: Blue Room
November 13 – Prayers for the Church
December 11 – Prayers for the World and for the Natural Order
For more information, contact Lynne Grillo or Amy Hunter.
Transformational Leadership series
Edith Parekh, Lois Freeman and Amy Hunter have been attending a wonderful series on Christian vocation and transformation this fall. The third and final session with teacher extraordinaire John de Beer will be Saturday December 1 at Episcopal Divinity School. This final session will address discerning one’s personal call to mission by looking at where one’s passions and commitments and gifts meet the deepest needs of the world. I urge you to attend, even if you have not come to the first two sessions.
We can carpool into Cambridge (parking is very limited), leaving at about 7:45am from the church parking lot. The sessions cost $60 per person if we have 3 or more attendees ($75 otherwise). Please speak with Amy Hunter if you need financial aid.
Connect? What Does It Mean to be part of a Eucharistic Community?: an exploration of what it can mean to connect to a Eucharistic community:
Part 1 of Connect began at the end of October and continues Monday evenings, 7:00- 9:00, November 5 and November 12! Connect is an adult formation program in which participants consider Jesus’ invitation to a new life in God’s reign of love and justice. Come and take part in the fellowship and conversation. There will be an opening time with food, fellowship and discussion, followed by a presentation to the whole group and small discussion groups. We will gather together again for closing worship.
Connect is intended for those outside the church, those on the fringe of the church, and those who have attended for years. The focus of Connect is on the Eucharist in order to help participants to make sense of their experience of worship. Participants build relationships in small groups that provide support, encouragement to grow, and a sense of connection with the parish. We began on October 29 with Connect with Jesus: An Open Invitation
We will offer Part One this fall and Part Two in January 2008.
The remaining fall sessions are:
Nov 5 Connect with God: Praying Freely-- Jesus teaches us to connect openly with God. The Lord’s Prayer is central to every celebration of the Eucharist and is a primary resource for our prayer as individuals and in households.
Nov 12 Connect with God’s Story: The Good News!-- There are many ways in which Christians (including biblical authors) have viewed the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but as Christians we agree that Jesus is the best lens through which we can read the story of God’s love of the world. In the liturgy of the Eucharist we retell this story, from the goodness of creation through the ending we anticipate – the messianic banquet.
We invite you to take this opportunity to Connect!
Paul Onyoyo is the seminarian pastor of Nyahela Parish. He has asked us to pray for the following church and staff needs for the parish of Nyahela in the Diocese of Maseno North.
Paul Onyoyo – Seminarian and Pastor of Nyahela Parish
Dorcus Esilaba - Assisting in St. Paul’s church.
Shem Bwonya - Assisting in ACK Munyenyi church.
Elizabeth Osiolo - Assisting in ACK Mwinyelo church.
Specific Nyahela Needs:
a)- Pray for the sick people especially those affected with HIV AIDS.
b)-Pray for the widows and widowers
c)-Financial status to improve (poor giving of offerings)
d)-Development within our church compounds
e)-Wisdom of leadership for the parish
f)-Orphan program good management and governance.
g)-Education system within the project.
ACK: Anglican Church of Kenya
ACK NYAHELA PARISH
P.O. BOX 201
LUANDA - KENYA
CODE: -50307.
e-mail address: onyoyo_06@yahoo.com
After about five years in planning, the Courtyard is almost done! On Saturday, October 20, Joe March, Richard Coles, Peter Duschene and Oliver Chamberlain cleared the weeds and grass, filled in the area that had previously been scooped out, under the direction of Rich Jerome, with underlayment and soil, and set out forty pieces of granite that had been obtained by Rich with advice from Norm Douglas. After the soil has settled, more will be added and grass seed planted around and between the parts of the design. We will be able to walk over and use the area for gatherings. The design with a central cross was inspired by the cornerstone of the Rector's office, placed a little more than one hundred years ago. An abstraction of that design, it nicely ties together the old and new parts of ASC. The specifications for the granite can be seen inside the doors to the Courtyard. The central cross is a darker stone, the rest in lighter "Chelmsford" granite.
The Courtyard was funded by Kevin and Aline Davis in memory of their son, Ryan. A bench for children in his memory will be placed at one corner; another bench funded by Ron and Carol Cannistraro in memory of their son, Ted, will be placed in another corner. The Courtyard now becomes a positive place for use and a decorative addition to the church grounds.
When the Parish Hall Renewal project was concluding in 2003,
Sylvia Appleton, who had a business that planned, planted and maintained
a number of gardens on Beacon Hill in Boston, was engaged to design an overall
plan for landscaping the church property. At the time she was completing
graduate studies in landscape design at Harvard and the Arnold Arboretum. She
used the All Saints’ plan as her final project, meaning that we had the benefit
not only of her experience and professional training in Boston, but the Harvard
faculty overview as well. You can view Sylvia's plan on the wall just inside
the doors to the Courtyard.
Congratulations to Parishioner Mark Danieli!
One of our parishioners, Mark Danieli recently competed in the Long Course Triathlon US National Championship held in St. Louis, MO. There were participants from 44 states plus Canada represented at the race. The triathlon covered a distance of 70.3 miles over three events - a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run. Mark finished fourth in the 45 - 49 year age group and 39th overall; in a total time of 4 hours, 42 minutes and 3 seconds which was a personal best.
Based on his fourth place finish, Mark has qualified to be a member of the USA Triathlon team. Team USA is a team of age group/amateurs who will represent the United States next August at the International Triathlon Union's Long Course Triathlon World Championship in Almere, Holland. The ITU World Championship attracts the best amateur athletes from over 50 countries. The race will consist of a 4K swim, 120K bike and a 30K run.
Mark has been competing in triathlons for nearly 17 years and averages about eight races per year. He has received triathlon All-American honors each of the past two years.
Mark also recently suffered a compound fracture of his arm, sustained while riding his bike. So let us continue to hold him and his wife Elizabeth and their children Christopher and Kathryne in prayer and celebration.
The Mystery Club has challenged all kids and adults in the parish to see how well they know their church and how well they can sleuth out interesting objects and places. We created this scavenger hunt so that anyone can do it at any time. Instead of finding and collecting things, participants need to answer simple questions that will prove they found the object or place. Individuals, teams, and families can work together.
We will score the results as they come in, but folks can take their time. It's not over until Advent.
Some objects are easy. Some are hard. Some may be nearly impossible!
All are in common safe areas (no furnace room or attic craziness). The Mystery Club invites everyone to check it out. Paper copies are available in the Narthex and electronic versions on the parish website.
Brian Hunter can provide more information for those interested.
For the Feast of All Saints, we will celebrate with a baptism service, a larger-than-usual Eucharist service, and a commemoration of saints past. The Church is made up of living people, too. Saint Paul has allowed us some insights into God’s fellowship in his letter to the “congregation of God’s people at Corinth” (1st Corinthians):
“…Christ is like a single body with its many limbs and organs, which, many as they are, together make up one body. For indeed we were all brought into one body by baptism, whether we are Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free men, and that one Holy Spirit was poured out for all of us to drink.
“A body is not one single organ, but many. Suppose the foot should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’it does still belong to the body. If the body were an eye, how could it hear? If the body were an ear, how could it smell? But, in fact, God appointed each limb and organ to its own place in the body, as he chose. If the whole were one single organ, there would not be a body at all; in fact, however, there are many different organs, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I do not need you’; nor the head to the feet, ‘I do not need you.’ Quite the contrary: those organs of the body which seem to be more frail than others are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we regard as less honorable are treated with special honor … God has combined the various parts of the body … so that … all its organs might feel the same concern for one another. If one organ suffers, they all suffer together. If one flourishes, they all rejoice together.
“Now, you are Christ’s body, and each of you a limb or organ of it.”
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.
· 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, transition to new home
· Debbie Anderton, Dora Carr’s daughter
· Dorothy Eaton, Willow Manor
At Nyahela Sub-Parish in Kenya:
ACK NYAHELA PARISH
P.O. BOX 201
LUANDA - KENYA
CODE: -50307.
e-mail address: onyoyo_06@yahoo.com
Specific Nyahela Needs:
a)- Pray for the sick people especially those afflicted with HIV AIDS.
b)-Pray for the widows and widowers
c)-Financial status to improve (poor giving of offerings)
d)-Development within our church compounds
e)-Wisdom of leadership for the parish
f)-Orphan program good management and governance.
g)-Education system within the project.
Churches and institutions we are asked to consider especially during the month of September are listed in this section.
Thursday, November 1, 2007 All Saints’ Day
New Beginnings: Baptism service at All Saints’ Church, Chelmsford.
All Saints' Church, Belmont
All Saints' Church, Brookline
All Saints' Church, Chelmsford
All Saints' Church, Dorchester (Boston)
Cathedral of St. Mary and All Saints, Harare, Zimbabwe (transition process for a new bishop)
All Saints’ Church, Marondera, Zimbabwe
All Saints' Church, Stoneham
All Saints' Church, West Newbury
All Saints' Church, Whitman
Saints we have known: memorial service at All Saints’ Church, Chelmsford.
Sunday, November 4, 2007 The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
St. Peter's Church, Weston
St. John's Church, Westwood
Trinity Church, Weymouth
Union of Black Episcopalians
The Officers of the Diocese
Sunday, November 11, 2007 The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
All Saints' Church, Whitman
St. Elizabeth's Church, Wilmington
Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester
St. John's Church, Winthrop
The Diocesan Staff
Taunton River Deanery
November 13: Prayer as a First Resort: Prayers for the Church
Sunday, November 18, 2007 The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Trinity Church, Woburn
St. Chrysostom's Church, Wollaston (Quincy)
Chinese Ministry, Wollaston
Church of the Messiah, Woods Hole (Falmouth)
Trinity Church, Wrentham
Postulants and Candidates for Holy Orders
Thursday, November 22, 2007 Thanksgiving
Sunday, November 25, 2007 The Twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston
Ecclesia Ministries & common cathedral
The Cathedral Chapter
Deputies to Provincial Synod
Canonical & Administrative Ministry Area
Friday, November 30, 2007 Feast of St Andrew the Apostle
St. Andrew’s Church, Methuen
Chelmsford Flu Clinics
The Chelmsford Board of Health will sponsor two flu clinics – November 15 from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. and November 29 from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the Senior Center, 75 Groton Road in North Chelmsford. These clinics are for Chelmsford residents only.
The first clinic is for those age 65 and over and for those younger than age 65 only if you have a chronic illness. The second clinic is for anyone else while supplies last. For those 65 and over please bring all insurance cards with you. For those under age 65 – a $1 donation is appreciated.
Pneumoccoccal vaccine will also be available for those not previously vaccinated, if you are over age 65 or have a chronic illness.
Opportunies abound for turning something bad into something good. Often, our own busy schedules and lack of insight keep us from seeing how to make this happen. The story of Androcles and the Lion (or of the mouse and the lion) is told again here, with the animals’ identities changed in the interest of telling a good story. Aesop, a Greek slave, also told the following story:
“There was once an ant who stopped at a fountain to drink of its waters, but leaning over too far, it tumbled in and would have drowned. By chance, however, a dove was seated in a tree near by and saw the danger. It plucked a leaf from the tree and dropped it into the stream, so that the ant, scrambling on it, was soon floated safely to land. A little later a snarer was spreading his net and would
have caught the dove, but the ant bit his heel. This made him drop his net, and the dove, hearing the noise, saw the man and flew safely away.”
We don’t often have such clear opportunities to save people from death, but we do from time to time have people call on us to do specific things to help them. Jesus taught us to ask persistently for God’s grace. He said: (Luke 11: 3-13) “Suppose one of you should go to a friend’s house at midnight and tell him, ‘Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread. A friend of mine who is on a journey has just come to my house and I have no food for him!’ And suppose your friend should answer from inside, ‘Don’t bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up to give you anything.’ Well, what then? I tell you, even if he will not get up and give you the bread because he is your friend, yet he will get up and give you everything you need because you are not ashamed to keep on asking. And so I say to you: Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, and he who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to him who knocks. Would any of you give your son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or would you give him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, the Father in heaven will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
David Cahill Tom Decker
Deb Dutton Beth-Anne Economou
Liz Landers Edith Parekh
Rebecca Ricard Harry Taplin
(One vacancy to be filled)
Derick Gates, Senior Warden
Melanie Hickcox, Treasurer
Kevin Meyers, Clerk
(All phone numbers are area code 978 unless indicated)
Church Office........ 978-256-5673
Senior Warden....... Derick Gates
Junior Warden........ Lois Freeman
Treasurer............... Melanie Hickcox
Clerk..................... Kevin Myers
Acolyte Director.... Clem Cole
Adult Education...... Amy Hunter
Altar Guild............. Liz Landers
Buildings and…….. to be filled
Grounds
Christian School..... Laura Marshall
Michelle Thomas
Elizabeth Danieli
Coffee Hour.......... Cindy Dussault
Endowment ........... Oliver Chamberlain
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 December 2007 Saints Alive! is
November 18th, 2007
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com. Thanks.
