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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2007
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2007
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Blessed Advent and Merry Christmas
It is hard for me to take in the fact that we are in Advent again and Christmas is soon to follow. As I think about this on the first few cold days of November, I hope to pay attention to the season of waiting and preparing. I already know that I am not quite ready-- but how can I be ready for something as momentous as the birth of my Lord and Savior? So this year I resolve, not for the first time, to be alert, to watch and to wait as I prepare for Christmas. I pray that we all might find time to have a moment or two of quiet, to pray for and hold those we love, and to remember those who are least and last among us.
Peace,
Tom
Our annual service of Lessons and Carols will take place on Sunday, December 16 at 4 p.m. and will feature all three vocal choirs as well as the handbell choir. Our seasonal “poinsettia” singers will be joining the choirs for that service, and may even be at the 10 p.m. Christmas Eve service.
It's the 30th Anniversary of Winter Weekend.
February 1st - 3rd.
Look for more information in the January, 2008 issue of Saints' Alive!
We have some parishioners who need rides in order to participate in worship and programs. Would you be willing to participate in this ministry within your parish community? If so, contact Amy Hunter at fifimom@juno.com or 978-256-5673 ext. 14. She will put drivers and passengers in touch with one another.
Research has been done, people have been met, Killer Bunnies have been observed, and now we are ready to begin planning a program for youth in 6th grade and up at our first YOUTH TASK FORCE MEETING!
This will take place on Sunday, 9th December, at 6pm. Food will be served (of course!).
If you have previously shown an interest, you will receive a letter of invitation soon. If not, email me and say, Yes! I want to join the Youth Task Force and help ASC build a plan for satisfying, spiritually uplifting, fun, long-lasting youth programs in our church!
If you would like to support us in a smaller way by providing / preparing food for the meeting, it would be much appreciated. Call me!
Fiona Vidal-White
Youth Missioner
vidalwhite@comcast.net
781 449 1436
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.
For the fundraiser, we’ve asked 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.
All building materials are edible, by request!
There is a Builders’ Challenge for those participants who chose to build replicas for a central “Village” display.
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.
Important Village Express Dates to Remember
Dec. 1st Gingerbread Village Display
Display open from 9am until 4pm
Dec. 2nd Gingerbread Village Display
Display open from noon until 6pm
On Saturday, January 19th at 6 pm there will be a ham and bean supper held at Central Congregational Church to benefit the West Virginia Workcamp. This dinner is a celebration of the previous year’s workcamp and a kickoff and fundraiser for the upcoming workcamp. It will feature a slide show from the 2007 workcamp and a chance to hear what it was like from those who went. If you supported the 2007 workcamp by buying shares of $25 or more you will receive an invitation in the mail which gives you free admission. Tickets for all others are $6.00 and can be bought in the narthex or the parish hall after church on December 30th, January 6 or January 13. Tickets can also be purchased from Dave Kuzara by calling 978-256-5484 or at the door. If you have any interest in going on the 2008 workcamp or would just like to support this worthy project, please consider attending.
Dave Kuzara
Mary: But how can this happen? I’m not even married!
Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will make it happen, and God’s power will protect you. The child is going to be holy.
Mary: I am the Lord’s servant. Let it be as you’ve described it.
Adapted from Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 1
The Annual Meeting is our gathering as a parish to review the past year and to elect vestry members, delegates to diocesan convention and the deanery, and members of the nominating committee. Even more it is a time for us to recognize and celebrate all the ways All Saints’ Church has been and is a people in mission.
We ask that all reports from the different ministry areas be sent into the office by Sunday January 13, 2008 so that we can we can have the reports available the week before the Annual Meeting.
All Saints’ will host a diocesan Safe Church Training on Saturday, January 19, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
The new All Saints’ Church Safe Church Policy requires all those working with children and those participating in Pastoral Care to take the Safe Church Training. We also recommend the training for everyone in leadership positions in the parish. If you can not make the January 19th date, the training will be offered in other parts of the diocese in the winter and spring. Please see the flyer on the bulletin board for future dates. The cost for the training is $40.00 payable to the Diocese of Massachusetts. Scholarships are available through the Rector. The deadline for registration is two weeks prior to the event (January 4, 2008).
What is it?
Safe Church Training is a six-hour training session designed to increase awareness regarding sexual misconduct and abuse of power, to outline steps toward preventing abuse, to offer ways to intervene when misconduct occurs and to equip anyone in a position of parish leadership with ways of healing and rebuilding the body of Christ.
On-line registration at http://www.diomass.org/inside/learning/safe_church or use the forms found the Narthex.
For more information please speak to the Rector or contact Grace Elson at the diocese, (617) 482-4826, x205 or gelson@diomass.org
Thank you so much for the gratifying response to the Pie Workshop. After a long morning of hard work we made about 120 pies, followed by another 15 on the following Monday morning. We truly had an intergenerational gathering doing the many jobs involved with making pies. Probably the most tedious is peeling the apples and I am especially grateful to all of the good folk who set to and speedily dispatched this onerous job.
Thanks to all who donated money toward the purchase of ingredients:
Millie Adams, Carol Cannistraro, Margie Lane, Barbara Lindberg, Joy Chadwick, Melissa Dawson, Carol Douglas, Vi Flumerfelt, Tara Greaves, Madeline and Don Pattershall, Barbara Willman, and Midge Wilson. Your thoughtfulness means a bigger profit from the sale of the pies.
Thank you to all the saints who came to the workshop on Saturday: Chris Baron, Andy, Bruce and Kelly Bray, Carol Cannistraro, Dora Carr, Joan Clement, Joan and Peter Dechane, Carol Douglas, Vi Flumerfelt, Derrick Gates, Danielle Grant, Fay Hebert, Amy Hunter, Liz Landers, Margie Lane, Donata Pater, Don and Madeline Pattershall, Adrienne Spear, Carol Stys, Barbara Willman, and Midge Wilson. These pies could never have been made without you.
Special thanks to Vi Flumerfelt for being my right hand person and to Dora Carr, Midge Wilson and Vi Flumerfelt for coming back on Monday to finish making the apple pies. Also special thanks to Derrick Gates for supplying us with a second freezer that has so much more shelf space. Thanks to Melissa Dawson for making 10 pies at home which she graciously brought to add to those we made at the church, and also thanks to Edith Parekh who donated 50 pounds of flour.
This is always a fun day for me and I hope you all enjoyed the day as much as I did. I know we have more than met our goal of clearing $1,000 for the general fund. I think when the rest of the pies are sold we will clear somewhere around $1,300.
And last but not least thank you to all who have bought pies.
Thanks and God Bless,
Esther Davenport
Our annual service of Lessons and Carols is on Sunday, December 16 at 4 p.m.
This special service tells, through scripture and song, the story of the birth of Jesus. I will be joined by my UU friend, Cyndi Bliss, on the organ, and the Children’s, Junior, Senior, and Handbell choirs will sing and play for this service which has become an All Saints’ tradition. We hope that you will make time in your busy season of preparation to invite a friend to join you, as we remember the reason for the season!
Maggie Marshall, Minister of Music
Do you have a hard time throwing things out? Do you have a collection of many small things? I hope that some of you do! I am looking for things like used Christmas cards, buttons, feathers, material scraps, interesting stones, scraps of wrapping paper or other interesting paper, pieces of ribbon, pieces of polished glass, magazines with interesting pictures like National Geographic and all sorts of other supplies to go into a special workshop next October.
This past October, Melissa Flewelling and I had a wonderful day at St. John’s, Gloucester, attending their Wake the Dead workshop. For the past two years, this church has featured tributes to special people, occasions, or animals as part of their All Saints’ Day celebration. Two years ago, I was able to view all of these completed shrines and was very moved by their contents, thought, and level of detail. Some of you may have seen Melissa’s and my finished projects. Melissa’s shrine is a tribute to her two grandmothers, and mine is a tribute to my colleague and friend, Wayne Ashford.
For both of us, spending the day creating, preserving, and reliving memories was a wonderful time out from the normal business of everyday life.
These shrines are made out of boxes of varying sizes that we will collect and prepare. No artistic ability is needed (believe me!) to participate, and we will be inviting you to join us on a Saturday in October 2008.
The person leading the workshop in Gloucester is an artist and has been collecting interesting stuff for years. We hope that you will keep an eye out for us, and put aside interesting objects as you find them. Anything that you have can be given to me at a regular Sunday church service (or dropped off at the church office with my name on it).
Maggie Marshall
In June, there were several additions to the church grounds, which we somehow didn’t get properly recognized. A note was written for Saints’ Alive but somehow not sent. Probably a senior moment. (Ed: or else it was a super-efficient editorial glitch as draft succeeded draft and the copy was lost prior to publication!) Our apologies.
In the Memorial Garden, we have had the addition of a beautiful granite birdbath. This was donated by the Adams and Macentee families. They have been a part of All Saints’ Church since the 1920’s and continue to worship with us on a regular basis.
In the Lower Garden, there is a granite bench which was donated by Carol and Ron Cannistraro in memory of their son, Ted. (Mentioned in Oliver Chamberlain’s article last month)
In the area called the Meadow along the Parish Hall, there is a granite bench, which was donated by Judy Robinson in loving memory of her parents, Helen and Jack Robinson. This is a companion to the Kousa Dogwood also located in the Meadow.
We would like to formally thank and acknowledge these generous donations to our facilities.
The Garden Committee
Upcoming Formation Dates and Events
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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 begins |
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Dec 9 |
Book Discussion Group |
noon, Blue Room |
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Dec 11 |
Prayer as First Resort: Praying for the World |
7:30pm, Blue Room |
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Dec 16 |
Service of Lessons and Carols |
4:00pm |
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Dec 22 |
Advent Quiet Day |
9am - 2pm Blue Room |
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Dec 24 |
Christmas Eve |
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Dec 25 |
Christmas, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ |
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Jan 08 14,21,28 |
“Connect?” Part 2 |
Blue Room 7- 9pm |
I recently read an article by Diana Butler Bass, who has been doing research into successful mainline Protestant congregations for the past few years. Her ongoing conclusion is that churches which are thriving, regardless of whether they are labeled as conservative or liberal, evangelical or progressive, are those that are intentional about their Christian faith, engage in practices of prayer, outreach and devotion, and are vita-- that is, places with a strong sense of identity and vision. As congregations explore, own and practice their Christian worship, service, learning, and community, those places both draw in people and offer God’s reconciliation to the world.
This Advent I invite all of us to be intentional about preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ, to participate in Advent in hands-on, practical ways, and to look for God’s presence and life in this season. The calendar above and my Advent suggestions later in the newsletter offer some ideas of how All Saints’ can support you in these goals.
“A Bidding Prayer” for Advent invites us, “Dear People of God: in the Season of Advent, it is our responsibility and joy to prepare ourselves to hear once more the message of the Angels, to go to Bethlehem and see the Son of God lying in the manger.” I hope you will seek to have a holy Advent. Come to the Blue Room and play with the crèche set. Join us for calm and fellowship for an hour or more on the Quiet Day. Worship with your community at Lessons and Carols, a Christmas Eve service, or even Christmas morning.
O come let us adore Him!
in peace,
Amy Hunter, Associate for Adult Christian Formation
This autumn the Prayer as First Resort group has delved into the riches of the Prayerbook, using the Prayers and Thanksgivings (pp. 810-841 in The Book of Common Prayer) as a way to deepen our prayer lives as a community and as individuals of faith. Please join us on Tuesday, December 11 as we look at “Prayers for the World and for the Natural Order.” Lynne and Amy chose this topic as the final installment in our Prayerbook series in the hope that we might reflect once again this Advent on the coming of Jesus Christ not simply to us, but to all people and to the whole creation. Make December 11 a part of your Advent. We will explore the theme of praying for the world, look at particular prayers connected with that theme, and discuss ways to pray.
Please join us December 11 and any second Tuesday evening. For more information, contact Lynne Grillo or Amy Hunter.
What: Prayer as First Resort: Practicing our Faith
When: Second Tuesday evenings of each month, 7:30- 9:00 PM
Where: Blue Room
Episcopal Divinity School, December 1
On Saturday, December 1 parishioner Lynne Grillo, Youth Missioner Fiona Vidal-White, and Associate Amy Hunter plan to attend the third workshop in an amazing series on Transformational Leadership for individuals and parishes. The focus of the December session, offered at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, is looking at how God uses our gifts and passions to call us into connection with and service to the world. Even if you did not attend the September and October sessions, you are welcome to participate. Join us for an experience of knowing yourself as someone cherished by God and called to be part of God’s reign of justice and love. The class is 9:00 am- 2:00pm. We carpool (parking is very limited!), leaving All Saints’ by 8:00am. The cost is $60. For registration information or to learn more, please contact Amy at 978-256-5673 ext. 14 or fifimom@juno.com.
On Sunday, December 9, the Book Discussion group will meet at noon in the Blue Room to discuss chapters 1-3 of Compassion as a Subversive Activity: Illness, Community, and the Gospel of Mark by David Urion, a pediatric neurologist who is a member of our Diocese. Several members of our parish have heard him speak and have found him compelling.
Urion’s book “…contemplates the miraculous healings in the Gospel of Mark as subversive political acts of power that restore the wholeness of the community. The kingdom of God that is at hand is just this: the poor, the sick, the outcast. Their integration into the community restores creation to the radical inclusiveness with which it began and that heals us all.” (blurb from amazon.com)
In our December gathering we will discuss compassion and Jesus’ call to community. We plan to follow up in Lent with a series using Compassion as a Subversive Activity to explore the healing stories in the gospel of Mark and what Jesus’ teachings might mean for us today.
I have several copies of the book available for $11 apiece. Please contact Amy Hunter in person, at fifimom@juno.com or at 978-256-5673 ext. 14 if you would like a copy.
I am so grateful to and for the many parishioners who participated in “Connect?”, our fall adult formation program. For three consecutive Monday nights twenty folks turned out for food, conversation and learning. The “Connect?” curriculum looked at community, prayer, and redemption through the lens of the Eucharist. We learned about some of the many ways God invites us into relationship through Christ with one another and with God. “Connect?” urged us to make God’s profound love for all people and for all creation the starting point for our faith explorations—whether we were exploring the meaning of being Church, exploring prayer, or even exploring our limitations, failures and sins.
Deepest thanks to Katie LaRochelle, Donata Pater and Tom Barrington who led the discussion groups each week. And appreciation and gratitude to Lynne Grillo, Carl Clark, Janet Redman, and Tom Barrington for offering hospitality and delicious food each evening. And thank you to everyone who attended the classes.
Part 2 of “Connect?” will run 7:00- 9:00pm in the Blue and Cranberry Rooms January 14, 21, and 28, all Monday evenings. I hope that you will mark your calendars now and plan to participate, even if you did not attend this fall. If you want to learn more, please contact me at fifimom@juno.com or 978-256-5673, ext 14.
in peace,
Amy Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
This month there will be a train in the building, in connection with the Gingerbread Village fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity. Travel is a big part of life, as we travel to reach distant family, or visit new friends in Germany (see elsewhere in this issue!), or study at universities in Boston, or even further afield.
In the story of the Little Blue Engine, there is a train break-down that leaves a clown as the seeming spokesman for all the toys who need to be taken by train to “the other side of the mountain,” for all the boys and girls who will be disappointed if the toys do not arrive.
Two capable and self-important engines come by – a Passenger Engine and a Freight Engine – but, having carried important machinery to print newspapers for grown-ups, and having even carried grown-ups themselves, these self-important engines do nothing to help the clown’s companions.
The Little Blue Engine that comes by next is much more helpful to the clown and his friends, and eventually succeeds despite her own misgivings about whether she is truly equipped for the job. While the story is often told with emphasis on efforts yielding success (“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”), it is a remarkable echo of the story of the Good Samaritan, who stopped to help a traveler who had been robbed and beaten and left to die on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho (See Luke 10:25-37). Samaritans were people whose views about religion were regarded with suspicion by the Jews. A priest and a Levite chose to do nothing to help the stranded traveler.
The clown presented the engines with a wonderful opportunity for self-fulfillment; the Little Blue Engine, the Samaritan of the parallel story, took up the challenge to grow.
How Blue are you?
Patrick Blumeris
Editor
At that time a royal command went out from Augustus, the Emperor of Rome: all the people were to be registered for taxation. For this everyone had to go to his own home town, and among others there went from Nazareth in Galilee the man Joseph. He was a descendant of David, and so he went to Bethlehem in Judaea, for that was David’s city, taking with him his betrothed wife, Mary, who was soon to have a baby. While she was there the child was born, her first baby. There was no room for them at the inn, so she wrapped him in baby-clothes and put him to sleep in a manger where the cattle had fed.
Adapted from Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 2.
December 24, 4p.m. – Holy Eucharist, participatory Christmas pageant, and music by Children’s, Junior, and Handbell choirs.
December 24, 10p.m. – Holy Eucharist with music by the Senior Choir. Organ preludes and carol singing begins at 9:30p.m.
December 25, 10 a.m. – Holy Eucharist in the chapel.
One night, this fabled bishop secretly left a purse of money for a man who was very poor, so that the man would not need to sell his own little girl into a life of slavery.
The next night, he gave the same man more money so that the man’s second daughter would not need to be sold into slavery.
The man had one other daughter, and she too was going to be sold into slavery. Determined to thank the giver of the two purses, yet still hoping to avoid selling his third daughter into slavery, he waited up to find out who the generous donor was.
When Nicholas threw a third purse of money for the family, Nicholas kept the third girl from slavery, but his secret charity became known.
The season of Advent begins on Sunday, December 2. Intentional attention to Advent can deepen your experience of Christmas, can create some calm in a hectic holiday time, and can remind you what the whole season is about in the first place. All Saints’ offers many different and wonderful ways to enter into this time of holy preparation.
· Come to the Parish Hall on December 1 and 2 to behold what happens when the whimsy of gingerbread meets service to those in need of homes when we have our second Gingerbread Village in support of Habitat for Humanity.
· Worship! In addition to our regular Sunday worship services, we have special Advent and Christmas services. Come on December 16 at 4pm to Lessons and Carols to hear the story of Salvation in readings and music. On December 24, Christmas Eve come to the family service at 4:00pm or the late service at 10:00pm. At 10:00am on Christmas day, there is a service in the Chapel.
· Do some devotional reading. There are lots of choices here—participate in the Book Discussion group on December 9 or ask Amy for some Advent reading from her stash in the Blue Room. You are also invited to join Amy in reading Sam Portaro’s meditations for Advent (see Amy or contact her at fifimom@juno.com for more information).
· Use an Advent calendar. Amy has a limited number of calendars that offer suggestions for individuals or families on the Advent journey. They are free for those who are interested—first come, first served.
· Pray. Join Prayer as First Resort on December 11 as we pray for the world and the whole creation. Take time for prayer, fellowship and calm at the Advent Quiet Day on December 22.
· Prepare joyfully—seek to remember the love of God in Jesus Christ as you shop, write cards, and entertain.
“Partnership” was the word of the weekend for the 600 members of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts gathered for the 222nd annual convention held Nov. 2-3 at the Royal Plaza Hotel in Fitchburg.
Instead of a traditional address, Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE, offered three meditations during the course of the convention that provided prayerful reflection, encouragement and challenge around the convention theme of “Holy Partners in a Heavenly Calling,” taken from Hebrews 3:1.
Throughout the two days, convention-goers learned, through presentations, videos and discussion, about local, national and global mission partnerships. Bishop Suffragan Bud Cederholm announced a new program of $3,000 challenge grants to help deaneries launch or develop such partnerships.
The diocese’s evolving Gulf Coast partnerships, devoted to post-Hurricane Katrina relief, were spotlighted at a high-spirited benefit dinner Nov. 2 that raised more than $22,000 to help fund the second year of Massachusetts priest Jane Bearden’s residency at the Church of the Redeemer in Biloxi, Miss. Bearden coordinates mission trips and supports parish and community programs in Biloxi and New Orleans.
An offering of $4,678 was taken up during the convention Eucharist for St. Luke’s Anglican Hospital in Nablus, in Palestine’s northern West Bank.
“Holy Partners in a Heavenly Calling”: The representatives discussed how they might be called to join local, national and global mission partnerships.
“The continuing political difficulties and their effect on the economic situation have placed a stranglehold on St. Luke’s Hospital, and it is struggling to function,” Bishop Suffragan Gayle E. Harris told the convention. “Let us remind our sisters and brothers in the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East that we have not forgotten them.”
Longtime convention secretary Leon A. Brathwaite II, Elisabeth Keller and the Rev. Maggie Geller, co-leaders of diocesan Jubilee Ministry AIDS-response projects in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, were honored during the Eucharist for their leadership and service.
During its business session, the convention approved three of the five resolutions submitted for its consideration.
One opposes the expansion of gambling in Massachusetts, where the potential legalization of casino gambling is currently a topic of state political debate. (While the diocesan measure received the necessary majority, the substantial minority appeared to be evenly split between those against the resolution and those abstaining.)
Another resolution endorses the development of a Spanish-language antiracism training program.
The third asks that resolutions be submitted to the next General Convention of the Episcopal Church to change the June 18 designation for Bernard Mizeki, catechist and martyr, to read “Zimbabwe” instead of “Rhodesia” in the church calendar, Lesser Feasts and Fasts and any other Church Publishing Company publications.
Two resolutions not voted upon were referred back to committees for more work.
Elected as deputies to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church were Byron Rushing of St. John St. James Church in Roxbury; Samuel Gould of St. Stephen’s Church in Lynn; Richard H. Vanderlippe of Trinity Church in Concord; Rebecca A. Alden of St. David’s Church in South Yarmouth; the Rev. Ian Douglas of St. James’s Church in Cambridge; the Rev. Jane S. Gould of St. Stephen’s Church in Lynn; the Rev. Mally E. Lloyd of Christ Church in Plymouth; and the Rev. Gale Davis Morris of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Acton. Alternate deputies will be elected next year.
In other business, the convention:
· approved a balanced budget of $7.7 million for 2008;
· approved, on second reading, a constitutional amendment entitling each congregation to two convention delegates;
· approved, on first reading, constitutional amendments to clarify when amendments become effective and to allow lay members of Diocesan Council to vote at diocesan convention;
· created a diocesan review committee to investigate charges filed under the Episcopal Church’s disciplinary canons (to date the diocesan Standing Committee has acted as the review committee); and
· sent condolences to the bishops of Ohio and Colorado, both formerly priests in Massachusetts, on their respective local teams’ recent American League championship and World Series losses to the Boston Red Sox.
Tracy J. Sukraw
This article was abridged from the Diocesan e-newsletter. The Mizeki resolution originated here in All Saints’ Parish. As adopted, it now reads:
Resolved, that the 222nd Convention of the Diocese of Massachusetts submit a resolution to the 76th General Convention to change the designation in the Church Calendar for Bernard Mizeki (June 18th) to read “Zimbabwe” rather than “Rhodesia,” and be it further
Resolved, that the 222nd Convention of the Diocese of Massachusetts submit a resolution to the 76th General Convention to instruct Church Publishing Company to change the designation in Lesser Feasts and Fasts and any other publication under their control for Bernard Mizeki to read “Zimbabwe” rather than “Rhodesia.”
The All Saints’ lay delegates to Diocesan Convention were Lynne McSheehy and Patrick Blumeris. Tom Barrington, our clergy delegate, presented the Bernard Mizeki resolution. Chrissy Mills was there, helping raise funds for diocesan youth and the 2007/8 pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine later this month and through January 8 2008. For details – or to help the team cover their costs – please contact the Rev Judith Stuart, Spiritual Life Center Office (203 Ell Hall), Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02115 or send a message to info@diomasscollege.org.
Below is a report from Nancy Hardison about the Mothers’ Union Orphans Feeding Program in the Diocese of Maseno North in Kenya. It is through this program that we are partnered with Nyahela Parish. Thanks you for all of your support and prayers.
Thanks
Tom
Mothers’ Union Orphan Program
Diocese of Maseno North
Anglican Church of Kenya
Quarterly Report July-September 2007
This quarter has seen a number of activities that encouraged the program committees. Tracey Ambuka held teacher training sessions for all of the committees and teachers. The training was very much appreciated. She also revised the curriculum, provided textbooks for all 15 programs, built and delivered chalk boards, and purchased supplies for all. The management committee visits all 15 programs on a rotating but random basis, and finds that the classes are much more organized than before her training.
Under the inspiration and direction of Mary Crowley, our Peace Corps volunteer, the children receiving secondary school sponsorship were invited to a party at St. Philip’s. They enjoyed games and prizes, goody bags, and a meal. It was a lively occasion, and there was a lot of help from Sam Bonsey, Will Firestone and Cornelia White.
We have had many, many visitors this quarter, and they all participated in orphan programs on Saturdays. The visits are a great encouragement to the program committees in each parish, just as the volunteers in each parish are an inspiration to the visitors.
We are challenged by the number of parishes starting programs. We plan visits to encourage the committees, although we are not presently able to provide financial support for food or medical care to any additional parishes. Many of the new programs are one or two or more hours away from our base in Maseno which adds to the challenge. However we have identified some wonderful women to shepherd the programs in their areas. We pray for more resources so that we can help the additional 20 parishes and 10,000 children. We commend the committees who are struggling to help the children without outside help. The fruits of the program include healthier children and growing congregations.
Number of Children Attending and Fed: 72,137 meals were served to children this quarter which represents an average of 369 per parish per week.
Number of Volunteers: 3,628 volunteer days were donated this quarter. This represents an average of 19 volunteers per parish per week.
Financial Contributions by Mothers’ Union and Parishes: 12,348.50 Kenya shillings was contributed by Mothers’ Union committees and parishes this quarter, or an average of 823.23 Kenya shillings per parish for the quarter.
Amount Spent on Food: 1,124,721 Kenya shillings or $17,303 was spent on food this quarter. This represents $88 per parish per week. We are challenged by the continuing increase in food prices and the continuing slide in the value of the U.S. dollar against the Kenya shilling.
Amount Spent on Medical Care: 439,596 Kenya shillings or $6,763 was spent on medical care for children and guardians in 7 parishes, and the mobile clinic in 5 parishes of the 7. The amount spent on medical care is decreasing, which means the children and their guardians are getting healthier. We would like to be able to add more parishes to the health care service, but don’t have the money to do so.
Other Issues: Four children and two adults died this quarter.
Other Activities: Problems with times of tea and food service and numbers of volunteers reported last quarter seem to be significantly improved this quarter. We credit our visits to programs and Tracey Ambuka’s training for the positive change.
Help us, O loving Father, to keep Christmas holy. Fill our hearts with Thy great love that we may help all poor and friendless people at this time.
We ask it for Christ’s sake.
Amen
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 keep 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 Eisenmann’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:
Paul Onyoyo, Dorcus Esilaba, Shem Bwonya, Elizabeth Osiolo.
Greetings from Germany. I have been in Germany for more than 2 months now and have been to many places already. I live in a town named Halstenbek outside of Hamburg in Schleswig-Holstein, which is the northernmost Bundesland in Germany. I have two host brothers named Felix, 11, and Niklas, 14 years old; their older brother Fabian is in Canada for a year with AFS. I am in the 11th class in a school of about 800 kids. The "Gymnasium" has grades 5-13, so it is like having Middle School and High School in one building. School is 2 km away so I ride a bike every day. I am taking standard classes along with other courses not available to me in my school in America, such as Geography, Politics, Philosophy, and Religion. My host family is Catholic and we go to a small catholic church. Catholicism is more popular in southern Germany but there is still a small Catholic population in the north. The church is a very small building without much extravagance. I have been practicing for two soccer teams and decided on one now that I played in one game and managed to carry my own on a team that is very good. I could go on forever (without much difficulty) about many things that I have done and places I have seen. Already I have seen Köln (Cologne), Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. My email address is adamh@odic.com, and I will be happy to hear from people.
Adam Hickcox
The Mission/Outreach Team is introducing a new monthly feature in Saints Alive called “Mission Focus.” Each month this article will feature one program or area of Mission that the parish is involved in. That program will also be highlighted during a service that month. Through this, we hope to make the entire parish more aware of the good things that are happening here. This month’s feature is the Angel Tree Program coordinated by Stephanie Ackert which is described below. Please do all you can to help Stephanie in this worthy cause and please keep the Angel Tree Program and the inmates it serves in your prayers. If you would like to suggest a Mission program to be highlighted in Mission focus or would like to bring a cause that you personally support to the attention of the parish, please contact Dave Kuzara at 978-256-5484 or djkuzara@mail.com.
The Angel Tree Program originated with an ex-inmate who had been moved by seeing fellow prisoners wrap up toiletries donated by churches in order to have something to give their children for Christmas. Nationally, Angel Tree matches churches across the country with incarcerated parents who place applications through their prison chaplains, serving over 500,000 children each year. All Saints’ has participated in Angel Tree as a part of its outreach ministry for a number of years. A major goal is strengthening the parent-child bond, in addition to relieving some of the gladly borne but often difficult financial stress of the season for the caregivers, who are frequently the grandparents, aunts and uncles. All we ask of the participating families is that they allow us to demonstrate God’s love by their acceptance of Christmas gifts for the children. We let them know they would be welcome to join us for worship, but there is no pressure on them whatsoever. We write to the prisoners to offer our prayers and to let them know how we have or have not been able to serve their families.
For Christmas 2006, All Saints parishioners assisted 11 families with a total of 22 children, and we were able to include grocery gift certificates for all. This was made possible by the contributions of many parishioners, beginning with those who made phone contact with the families for gift suggestions, continuing with others who generously fulfilled the gift requests and volunteers who sorted, wrapped and tagged gifts with personalized messages from the absent parent and finally those who made home deliveries to the families. I look forward to similar blessings for Christmas 2007!
Over the years, we have received heartfelt letters of thanks from fathers and mothers in prison. We have seen children exuberantly accepting these gifts and speaking of writing to thank their parents, and shy teenagers expressing their gratitude. Some caregivers ask us to deliver when the children are not at home to preserve the surprise, and we see how touched and grateful the adults are. We join with all these participants in witnessing God’s love in a very special way.
In peace,
Stephanie Ackert, Angel Tree Coordinator
978-663-5188 sackert1@comcast.net
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
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 Grounds …..to be filled
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 Missioner…..Fiona Vidal-White
Youth Group.......... to be filled
Webmaster............ Richard Coles
Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org
… for the January 2007 Saints Alive! is
December 15th, 2007
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com. Thanks.
