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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2008
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA December 2008
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“O come, o come, Emmanuel”
Advent is the season of waiting and preparing. As we wait for the arrival of the Christ child, we prepare for a great festival to celebrate Emmanuel, which means, God among us.
Waiting and preparing for God among us is not limited to this short season before Christmas. The Vestry and others leaders here at All Saints’ have been spending time this past fall thinking about how All Saints’ might be more explicit in recognizing and celebrating that fact that God is among us. We have been doing this through the study of the book, Transforming Congregational Culture by Anthony Robinson and through a process called The Mutual Ministry Review.
Anthony Robinson writes:
A key challenge facing congregations and leadership today is the need to restore spirituality to religion and to church, that is, focusing on relationship with a living God, sharing the God message, and speaking ‘less about us; more about God’ or ‘less anthropology and more theology.’
Amy Hunter summed up the challenge before us with the question: What might the vestry do to lead and support this parish as a place where people come to experience God and to open their lives to being transformed by God? I would then add, How can we then continue to move towards joining God in God’s mission?
One of the facts that continually came up as we thought, talked and prayed about these issues is that All Saints’ is already doing a great deal of the above. It is not that we need to create something new, but that we need to adjust the way we think about what we are doing so that we might be more intentional and explicit that God is among us.
Amy Hunter offered four steps for us to continue this work.
· Knowing our purpose so that it offers us a basis for making decisions and keeps us from trying to be all things to all people.
· Setting priorities in order to keep us from falling into experiencing everything as important and ending up reacting to that which seems urgent at the moment.
· Defining definitive actions we need to take to achieve our priorities—so that we are not left with only an intention.
· Identifying our standard objectives, that is those regular, basic responsibilities that we have. We need to keep our heads above water doing the basics of our congregational life but not let these basics distract us from our deeper purpose.
We will be continuing this process through the Annual Meeting in January as well as in the coming year. Meanwhile, let us fully experience this Advent season of waiting and preparing so that we can truly know that God is among us.
Peace,
Tom
Before King David…
God saw the misery of Hannah, a childless woman, who prayed to have a child. If it were a boy, she pledged, the child would be given to God’s service in the Temple. People had begun to think that she could not have children at all.
So, after she had a son, and when she had given her baby Samuel to the priest Eli, she prayed a long prayer that included: “The Lord … makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts… he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes” … and in time her baby Samuel got to anoint David as King of Israel. Many years later, David’s descendant Joseph became father to God’s own son, Jesus Christ. (See 1 Samuel 1 and 2:1-10).
Our annual service of Lessons and Carols is on Sunday, December 14 at 4 p.m. (snow date 12/21). 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; 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.
Maggie Marshall
Minister of Music.
Christmas Worship Schedule
Christmas Eve, December 24, 4 p.m. –
Holy Eucharist, participatory Christmas
pageant, and music by Children’s, Junior,
and Handbell Choirs.
Christmas Eve, December 24, 10 p.m. –
Holy Eucharist with music by the Senior Choir.
Christmas Day, December 25, 10 a.m. –
Holy Eucharist in the chapel.
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 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 also 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 prayer 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, celebrating her 102nd birthday on January 29th
· Bea Iams, in rehab at Sunny Acres
· Grace Wardell, Sunny Acres Nursing and Rehab Center
· Dora Smith, Betsy Eisenmann’s mother
· Priscilla Smith at Willow Manor in Lowell
· Doug Grant at home, chronic back pain
· Chaz Freeman, Lois Freeman’s son
· Debbie Anderton, Dora Carr’s daughter
· Bob Moorehouse at Nashoba Park in Ayer
Ministering at Nyahela Sub-Parish in Kenya:
Rev. Paul Onyoyo, Dorcus Esilaba, Shem Bwonya, Elizabeth Osiolo, and Phanice Otenyi, Chairlady of the orphan feeding program.
Nyahela sub-parish currently receives SaintsAlive. If you would like to write directly to them, please note their address:
ACK: Anglican Church of Kenya
ACK NYAHELA PARISH
P.O. BOX 201
LUANDA - KENYA
CODE : 50307
So Mommy and Daddy, where do priests come from?
Yes, this question could come up at your dinner table from any one of your children at some point - and will you be prepared to answer?
It’s a great question! Actually, priests are raised up from the individual churches and brought forward to the bishop. Sometimes a parishioner in the church might notice a person who demonstrates particular gifts around leadership, commitment to following Jesus Christ and building up the body of Christ (to name a few). Sometimes a person him/herself senses a “nudge” from God. In both cases, it is the job of the parish to help the person at the base level to explore the possibility of pursuing toward ordination to the deaconate (deacon) or the Priesthood (priest). Then, they move on to the diocesan level and work with the bishop and his office to continue education (Master’s in Divinity), training, internships and reviews to continue to find out if God is truly calling the person to be ordained.
In our very midst, we have such an occasion. Our very own Christen Mills is in the process to consider if she is being called to ordination to the priesthood. It’s a very exciting exploration! As you recall from your own Baptism: Everyone is called by God. Our Baptismal Covenant makes that clear. In Baptism, we promise to “proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.” This is so very true for us all and every call from God is sacred no matter where we are led or “called” by God. And, in our work with Christen, we are opening to clarify if indeed there may be a call to leadership in the church as a Deacon or Priest.
Rev. Tom, as the “sponsoring priest,” has been working with Christen as she has been getting going with the process. Tom has helped to assemble our “discernment committee” of five members of the parish who are working with Christen to help her “discern” about this possibility. Our members are Margie Lane, Linda Barrington, Lynne McSheehy, Derick Gates and Lynne Grillo.
With Christen, our team is working with a very structured exploration plan and specific well-guided directions from the diocese. Our group attended a diocesan daylong meeting in the winter to learn about the process and our obligations (as the discernment team). We have met regularly with Christen since the summer. The goal is to work through the process and in the Spring (2009) we would expect that Christen, along with the committee, would have a strong sense of whether Christen is being called forward in the process. It is possible that in the discernment process a person, such as Christen, could come to a conclusion that ordination is not the intended path. As the discernment team, we believe that whatever the outcome, it will be a seriously and prayerfully conclusion. We trust God to lead us where we need to be.
We ask you, the parish, to join in prayer for Christen in her discernment and for the team as they work to help and clarify with Christen. This is challenging work for everyone involved, but it is very important work and a true privilege.
Here is the Prayer for Mission that the diocesan handbook has which our group likes.
O gracious and loving God, you work everywhere reconciling, loving, and healing your people and your creation. In your Son and through the power of your Holy Spirit, you invite each of us to join you in your work. We, young and old, lay and ordained, ask you to form us more and more in your image and likeness, through our prayer and worship of you and through the study of your scripture, that our eyes will be fully opened to your mission to the world. Then, God, into our communities, our nation, and the world, send us to serve with Christ, taking risks to give life and hope to all people and all of your creation. We ask this in Jesus’ name
Amen.
Lynne Grillo (lynne@odic.com; 978 846 4300)
p.s It is quite a process, and I’ve just given you a taste. If you are curious or have questions, please do speak with Tom or me.
Prayer – from a prayer of Sir Francis Drake:
O Lord God, when Thou givest Thy servants to start on any great matter, grant to us also to know that it is not the beginning but the continuing of the same until it is properly finished that bringeth the true glory.
For Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen.
This year’s Gingerbread Village Display to support Greater Lowell Habitat for Humanity will be on Dec. 6th and 7th here at All Saints’ Episcopal Church. This is a community celebration of creativity and joy with the commitment to supporting fair and just housing for all.
This year’s theme is inspired by Illumination Opera’s performance of Hansel and Gretel the same weekend. We will be building a replica of the Witch’s cottage that children can walk through. Teams were asked to choose a fairy tale that inspired them and to have fun with it.
So—How Do Gingerbread Houses Raise Money for Habitat for Humanity? When all of the houses are gathered in one place it makes for an amazing display. We ask for a $5 donation per family to visit the display. Builders also have the option of donating their house for sale via silent auction.
Nov. 28th Registrations Due (late entries are accepted, up until Dec. 4, but please try to register so that we can plan a beautiful display)
Dec. 4th House Drop-Off times are 10 am until 6 pm. If you cannot drop off during these times please make arrangements in advance with event organizer.
Dec. 5th 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. 6th Gingerbread Village Display, open from 9 am until 4 pm
Dec. 7th Gingerbread Village Display, open from noon until 6 pm
The Silent Auction will start at 9 am on Dec. 6th and end at 5 pm on Dec. 7th. The highest bid at that time wins. All houses must be picked up between 6-7 pm on Sunday night. All proceeds from the Silent Auction go to benefit Habitat for Humanity.
Event Organizer: Laura Marshall laura.marshall@comcast.net
I have been overwhelmed and grateful and “yes” humbled by your willingness to come to the pie workshop and your devotion to performing all of the mundane tasks that are required to turn out a pie. Peeling apples is one of those jobs that can seem endless. Three and a half bushels of apples were peeled in no time at all. Before 1 p.m. we had 109 pies put together, crimped, bagged, and put in the freezers.
This couldn’t have happened without the help of everyone who came to lend a hand. Even little Nathan cooperated by sleeping away in his car seat so that his Mom, Aline, could help with the pies. Thank you to everyone: Chris Baron, Andrea Bray, Bruce Bray, Mary Bray, Carol Cannistraro, Dora Carr, Joan Clement, Aline Davis, Kevin Davis, Hope and Rachael also, Diane Coles, Richard Coles, Carol Douglas, Vi Flumerfelt, Laura Geary, Amy Hunter, Margie Lane, Marilyn Livingston, Lillian Martin, Linda Ouellette, Raj Pola, Rohini Pola, Sakhi Pola, Carol Royal, Adrienne Spear, Carol Stys, Kiley Williams, Kim Williams, Barbara Willman, Midge Wilson, and Margie Lane.
I am also grateful to all who donated money to buy ingredients. This enables us to realize a larger profit from the sale of the pies, and grateful also for any donations such as flour, sugar, butter, and spices.
To Vi Flumerfelt who does double-duty by helping to make pie crust on the day before the workshop all I can say is a heartfelt “thank you.” We would never get so much done on Pie Workshop Day without that wonderful head start.
With grateful heart
Esther Davenport
Hope-Filled Promise:
The Lord shall be the judge amongst the nations; and he will rebuke strong nations far off. They shall have peace. They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up swords against nations, and they will not learn any more how to make war.
Every man of them shall sit safely under his own vine and his own fig-tree, and no one shall make them afraid. For so the Lord has given his promise.
(from Micah 4.)
Upcoming Formation Dates and Events
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Dec 6-7 |
Gingerbread Village to support |
Parish Hall |
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Dec 9 |
Prayer as First Resort |
Blue Room |
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Dec 14 |
Lessons and Carols |
Sanctuary |
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Dec 20 |
Advent Quiet Day |
Blue & Cranberry Rooms |
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Dec 21 |
Service for the Longest Night |
Sanctuary |
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Dec 24 |
Christmas Eve services |
4:00 pm |
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Dec 25 |
Christmas service |
Chapel |
From the Associate for Adult Christian Formation:
I am writing at the end of a busy and surprising month, one marked by intensity but even more by grace. Throughout the autumn, I have enjoyed the deep conversations about faith and church that took place here at All Saints’, as Tom led a 4-week discussion of Tony Robinson’s Transforming Congregations and as the vestry did some Mutual Ministry review work. Then at the end of October, our younger son Sean called us to say that he was terribly ill. I ended up going out to the Seattle area for almost two weeks, finally pulling him out of school and bringing him home. Lots of doctors’ appointments and an initial scary diagnosis, but then learning that Sean will be able to recover with some rest and care and hopefully return to school in May. That was the intense part!
The grace—Being upheld by the prayers of this community first and foremost. Experiencing Christian community in a concrete way when Sally Warren’s sister Debbie, who lives 15 minutes from Sean’s college, gave me a bed and a car and a GPS and great coffee for the duration of my stay. And then returning to the life of All Saints’—seeing the names and pictures and icons of our saints on the walls of the sanctuary, discussing Christian service at Prayer as First Resort, preparing pies at Esther and Vi’s yearly pie-making morning, watching the Gingerbread House in the Parish Hall come together, and learning about prayer with Elphas Wambani. Walking through the halls of All Saints’ on Sunday morning, I was filled with a sense of how blessed this parish is, of God’s gifts lavishly given to us, and God’s invitation to us to join God in being faithful, joyous, hospitable people.
So now—Welcome to the new church year! Welcome to Advent! December offers us so many ways to prepare to enter into the mystery of Christmas, into the grace of God incarnate in Jesus Christ. Come and marvel at the Gingerbread Village and support the work of Habitat for Humanity. Come and nourish your faith and your spiritual life at the adult Bible study on Sunday mornings at 9:00 in the Blue Room or by joining the discussion about Christian service at Prayer as First Resort on December 9. Or come to the Advent Quiet Day on December 20—for an hour, for lunch, or for the day. Above all, come and worship! Come to Lessons and Carols on December 14, to a contemplative service for the Longest Night or “Blue Christmas” on December 21, and of course to the Christmas Eve services on December 24. And at 10:00 am on Christmas morning, come to a quiet service in the chapel, once again to rejoice in the gift to the world of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Come, let us adore Him!
in peace,
Amy Hunter
Prayer as First Resort December 9
You are invited to join Prayer as First Resort on Tuesday, December 9 and on any second Tuesday of the month, 7:30- 8:45 in the Blue Room. This group offers support, safety and sanity to folks who are seeking to live their Christian faith in their day to day lives, at home, in the community and at work. Each month we explore an aspect of Christian spiritual practice and then discuss how we are doing that practice or might try to do that practice as individuals and as a parish.
In December we will be wrapping up the fall focus on Christian service as a spiritual practice. Our conversations have been rich—we have prayed The General Thanksgiving (on page 101 of the Prayerbook) as a way to hear God’s invitation to us to serve. We have learned that service is not about fixing things and that service is not about garnering attention and appreciation for ourselves. We have looked at how serving others is a way of seeking God and how hearing the call to serve can transform a dreary or even scary situation into a graced experience. On December 9 we will discuss serve as God’s desire to be made manifest in us and for the world. Please join us!
Looking ahead to 2009: For a while now, Lynne Grillo and I have been reading and discussing the idea of holiness. In our explorations we have come across words like purity, mysticism, devotion and simplicity, words we have found to be challenging, nourishing and exciting. In the months after Christmas, Prayer as First Resort will look at Holiness as part of God’s invitation to each of us and as a relevant, real part of our daily lives.
Advent Quiet Day
Take some time on Saturday, December 20th for prayer and preparation, for some rest and restoration. Join us in the Blue and Cranberry Rooms for time and space set apart to draw us into Advent, this season of preparing for and watching for the coming of Christ into our world and onto our lives.
People may come for just an hour, even just for lunch, or for the whole day. We will start each hour with a brief reflection and then invite participants to be silent and present in whatever way they wish. Bring your Christmas cards to write. Make a grocery list for Christmas dinner. Pray. Read. Do some sewing or knitting or another craft. Even sleep.
Then at 10 minutes before the hour we will pray together and let folks move, talk, get a snack. This simple, nourishing event is easy to linger in as well as to slip into and out of.
8:30 coffee, tea and pastries
9:00- 9:50 1st reflection and time of quiet
10:00- 10:50 2nd reflection and time of quiet
11:00- 11:50 3rd reflection and time of quiet
12:00- 12:30 lunch (soup and bread—all are welcome to join us!)
12:40- 1:30 final reflection and time of quiet
1:30- 2:00 closing conversation and prayer
December 21, 5:00 pm, Worship Service for the Longest Night
For many folks, the holidays are a tough time, highlighting a sense of loss and exclusion at what can feel like a relentlessly cheery time. The service for the Longest Night or “Blue Christmas” creates a space for us to bring those feelings and our losses before God and into community and prayer. Please join us for a simple, quiet service for the acknowledgement of loss and the desire for hope.
Amy Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
and Education
Have you taken advantage of having your signature along with those of your family appear in the signature quilt? We are keeping the opportunity open until sometime in January. The cost is $10 for each square. Proceeds from this endeavor will go toward helping to solve the problem of the acoustics in the Parish Hall. Opportunities are available at coffee hour in the Parish Hall, or call Carol Cannistraro 978-256-0929, Barbara Willman 978-256-4224, or Esther Davenport 978-256-0638 if you need someone to come to you.
When Mary realized the importance of the baby that she would be having, she cried out:
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
His mercy is on those that fear him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever.
Luke 1: 46-55
At the Diocesan Convention in early November, there were seven tabled resolutions, dealing with immigration, transgender rights, slavery and reconciliation, nonviolence, two resolutions for the institution of a Feast Day for Saints Andronicus and Junia, and one resolution confirming the diocese’s support for the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. The Bishop of Jerusalem, the Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, and his wife Shafeeqa, were our guests. Rev. Dawani described how difficult it would be to have an annual diocesan convention in which his diocese spanned five different national entities.
Bishop Tom Shaw introduced a theme of the Holy Spirit, and a sense of how we might be called to pray to any one specific “part” of the triune God: but particularly, at the Convention, to the Holy Spirit.
The budget was cut back, so news of new programs is mixed with news of consolidations. The resolutions were debated; amendments were offered; and near-unanimous positive votes followed, less than a week after the more rancorous national presidential elections. It had been a two-plus-year journey for some of our resolutions, marking a mid-point in a process intended to make changes in the church calendar or offer new ways to honor the dignity of our neighbors, both near and far.
We will be examining the founding finances of many of our parishes, to establish how indebted our diocese is to the slave trade. We will be talking to Jewish and Muslim religious leaders in Massachusetts about how Israel and Palestine should achieve a lasting peace.
In our own diocese, we marked the creation of a new parish in the Church of the Holy Spirit in the City of Fall River, and in a crowded room it was appropriate that Bishop Gail Harris should have called for us to “Make Way for the Holy Spirit” (their whole parish was marching behind their new banner). It was a solid new parish, but there was a twinge of sadness in the “loss” of the parishes that combined to create the Holy Spirit.
Afterwards, there was the drive back to Chelmsford, with the car radio telling how elsewhere dioceses had chosen to spurn the Episcopal Church of the United States, and either had voted, or were expected to vote, to join overseas Provinces because of the ECUSA stands on issues of sexuality (women priests and acceptance of homosexuals). This is no small issue: this year the Lambeth conference avoided a “resolutions-based” format which might have accentuated the problem, and in our diocese, in a Q&A session from African students now helping in the Diocese, this source of division was a clear concern for them.
The next morning came the news of a tussle at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as rival Christian groups (Orthodox and Armenian) found that through imperfect preparations they had created unintentional snubs in a shared sacred space. Where the angel said “Why seek ye Him that is living among the dead?” Jewish police were forced to break up a fight and make arrests of well-meaning senior Christian clergy, 1980 years later (give or take). This was Bishop Dawani’s “territory,” although the Episcopal Church was not involved.
It was a heady time for “Full Circle” debates, and “Work-in-progress” debates. For a second consecutive year, Tom Barrington was unable to be at the very start of the convention, owing to parish work. This year, “parish work” was a funeral for Jasmine Noel Corliss, sister of Mark and Ariel Corliss and daughter of Kristine and Bob Corliss. Jasmine had died at 28 months of age on Sunday November 2nd. Tom noted: “In her short life she brought great joy to so many of us.”
While we remember the life of this little girl with Christmas in her middle name – Jasmine Noel Corliss – with expressions of sympathy (in her name) to Children’s Hospital Cardiac Center, 1 Autumn St., #731, Boston, MA 02115-5301, we should remember also Jonathan J “Jack” Powers, born prematurely that same November 2 morning, and expected to spend several weeks in neonatal intensive care at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. As his grandmother Ellen Jewart noted, “He’s got a long road ahead.” It is a fragile beginning, and we will need to pray for him.
Being in the church suddenly means so much more than having a great gathering every now and then. Elsewhere in this issue, Amy Hunter tells her own story of how a reflective quiet time can become urgent and intense (Her son Sean is expected to recover after a rest at home, away from college).
And in the midst of the medical emergencies at the time of Convention, there was a wedding and a happier childbirth: Jon Mansfield married Holly Hamilton; and in Anchorage, Alaska, Harper Katherine Willman was born to Don and Holly Willman. In response to the Willman birth, on Sunday the 9th November, a proud grandmother (Barbara Willman) made sure the sanctuary candle was burning!
It may be a two-plus-year journey to see the current diocesan resolutions play out in action (The Andronicus/Junia resolution explanations point to approvals in 2013). It may take decades! Ecclesiastes Ch 3 (see below) does indicate there is a time for everything (not only sorrow, but joy, too). We in the Diocese have some bold plans that will need some critical reviews: let’s hope that in another 1980 years the fruits of our here-and-now labors meet with some sign that we did indeed discern God’s will for us and for His Church.
Patrick Blumeris, SaintsAlive Editor and
Diocesan Convention Parish Lay Delegate
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace
….
Ecclesiastes 3:13-15:
… moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever: nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe of him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.
All Saints’ Episcopal Church and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell invite you to join in the ….
Gingerbread House Display 2008
RFG
(Request for Gingerbread)
Please join us by making
a Gingerbread House to Display
All ages and experience levels
encouraged to join in!
Houses will be on display Dec. 6th and 7th
(This is the weekend of the tree lighting and the Opera performance of Hansel and Gretel)
The display is hosted at
All Saints’ Episcopal Church
10 Billerica Rd., Chelmsford
MA 01824
www.allsaintschelmsford.org 978-256-5673
All proceeds from the display and sale of houses goes to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell to promote just and affordable housing for all
-All levels of “builders” are invited to submit a house for display- from the elaborate professional house to the sincere graham cracker cottage - we would love to have you join us. There is no cost for participating.
-All builders are invited to the “Builders’ Preview Party” on Friday night.
-Please register your entry online by Nov. 28th to assist our planning of the display
-To learn the full details and “specs” for building, please visit www.allsaintschelmsford.org
This year’s Gingerbread Village Theme and Builders' Challenge
This year, we are inspired by the performance of Hansel and Gretel. We are attempting to build the Witch’s cottage to scale for children to walk in. In this spirit, we suggest the theme of Fairy Tales…. Maybe you want to pick your favorite fairy tale and depict it in gingerbread….We love all the entries, so feel free to make anything you like. We will display it joyfully!
For more information on the builder’s challenge, please email the co-coordinator, Laura Marshall at laura.marshall@comcast.net
When the respected old man Simeon saw the baby Jesus, he just knew he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. He exclaimed:
“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel.”
Luke 2:29-32.
Vestry Members
Vestry Members
Carl Clark Diane Coles Deb Dutton
Derick Gates Liz Landers Edith Parekh
Harry Taplin
Lois Freeman, Senior Warden
David Cahill, Junior Warden
Melanie Hickcox, Treasurer
Scott Bempkins, Clerk
Church Office.......................... 978-256-5673
Senior Warden....... Lois Freeman
Junior Warden........ Dave Cahill
Treasurer............... Melanie Hickcox
Clerk..................... Scott Bempkins
Acolyte Director.... Clem Cole
Adult Education...... Amy Hunter
Altar Guild............. Liz Landers
Buildings and…….. Deb Dutton
Grounds
Christian School..... Laura Marshall
............................. Michelle Thomas
............................. Elizabeth Danieli
Coffee Hour.......... Matt Hickcox
Endowment ........... to be filled.
Environmental Stewardship
Committee............. to be filled
Fellowship.............. to be filled
Finance.................. Mike Brodeur
Handbell Choir……Ellen Jewart
Music Minister....... Maggie Marshall
Outreach............... Dave Kuzara
Pastoral Care......... Joy Chadwick
Saints Alive............ Patrick Blumeris
SaintsAlive e-mail:.. ........ saintsalive@yahoo.com
Stewardship........... to be filled
Thrift Shop............. Carol Cannistraro
Youth Group.......... Nancy March
Webmaster............ Richard Coles
Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org
… for the January 2009 Saints Alive! is
December 21st, 2008
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com. Thanks.
