SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA                                                                        June 2009

A Rule for Real Life

There is a new congregation meeting at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Boston called The Crossing.  They describe themselves as

a community of sisters and brothers offering a compassionate, progressive, creative, generous, radically welcoming expression of God’s life and love in the city of Boston.

Led by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, author of Radical Welcome, the community includes a large percentage of members in their twenties.  I have been privileged to worship with them twice in the last two months.  What has struck me about The Crossing is the deep commitment and ownership the participants have in their community.  It is not Stephanie Spellers’ church but a church in which she is a part. 

When I attended recently on a Thursday (their regular worship time), the members of the congregation led most parts of the service including the prayers, the sermon and music.  The worship was informal, contemporary and especially reverent.

One thing that struck me more than anything else was their attention to their Rule of Life, or as they call it, Rule for Real Life.  There were six points and the service included reading one of the points and then giving us time to reflect upon it.  In their rule they commit themselves to

• the practice of radical welcome,
• to be deeply engaged in personal spiritual practice throughout the week,
• to nurture the life of God in our community by gathering regularly with others members outside of worship,
• to live in responsible, loving relationships with self and others,
• to discern and live out the core Christian values of peace and justice, and
• to practice economic discipleship, giving generously and spending well.

They had obviously spent a lot of time writing these rules.  It got me thinking about what rules I use to guide my life, as well as what are the rules that govern our lives here at All Saints’ Church.

This summer, as thing slow down, I hope to spend some time reflect on our rules for real life.  I will also visit The Crossing again.  They worship on Thursdays at 6:30 PM.  All are welcome.  For more information on the Crossing, see their web site http://www.thecrossingboston.org.

 

Peace,

Tom

 

On Aug 9-15, Paige Dussault and Christie Brodeur are going to Maine for a mission trip.  People who work in blueberry fields can't always afford clothes. They need new socks since they go into buggy fields a lot.  During the month of May, we'll be collecting new socks for the people who work in blueberry fields.  There will be a box in the narthex, and sometimes during coffee hours.  If you include your name with your sock donation, we will bring you some blueberries when we get back!

Thank you!

Paige Dussault & Christie Brodeur

This month we’re highlighting some mission opportunities for youth and adults that will be offered this summer and fall.  If you’re looking for a way to help others, take a look at the following opportunities being offered at All Saints’. 

West Virginia Workcamp – June 20th to 27th – for high schoolers (waiting list) This is a mission trip to Huntington, West Virginia to help fix the homes of those who cannot afford repairs themselves.  All Saints’ participates in this project in partnership with Central Congregational Church.  Youth will join work crews for projects that include repairing and replacing roofs, walls, windows and floors, painting homes and adding skirting to trailers.

Downeast Maine Mission Trip – August 9th to 15th – for junior high kids Central Congregational Church has invited All Saints’ to participate in their summer mission trip to Maine.  Last year, they built a handicap ramp for a family and helped renovate a garage into a home for a single mom.

Deanery Mission Trip to New York City - August 9th to 14th – for high schoolers The Merrimack Valley Deanery is sponsoring a mission trip for youth to NY city.  They will take part in the Youth Services Opportunities Project (YSOP) doing activities such as: prepare and serve meals at soup kitchens; help at clothing and furniture banks; provide recreational activities and companionship to young children; distribute food and supplies at food pantries; socialize and bring snacks to people in drop-in centers.

Mission Trip to Nyahela Sub-parish in Kenya – early 2010 – for adults All Saints’ is planning to send a group of parishioners to Kenya in early 2010 to visit our partner parish.  We have several people who are interested in going but could accept more if you feel called to join this mission trip.  We also urgently need people to help plan and prepare the trip.

If you want to support these efforts but cannot go yourself, there will be many opportunities in the near future to support those who are going with money, effort and prayer.  Some upcoming fundraisers for the West Virginia workcamp are:

• On May 2 there will be a talent show and pot luck supper at Central Congregational Church.

Fundraisers for other mission trips will be announced as they are planned.  Please contact the church office or Dave Kuzara at 978-256-5484 if you want to participate in any of these mission trips or want more information

Dave Kuzara

for the Mission/Outreach Team

 

 

We have blocks of 30 seats for the Sunday August 2nd (5PM) Spinners baseball game at LeLacheur Park in downtown Lowell.  All tickets are $5.  The seats are in section 119 along the third base side, which is the end of the stadium that is shaded from the late afternoon sun.  If interested in tickets, send
an email to matt@odic.com, call 978-340-7677, or see me after church.  Go Spinners!

Matt Hickcox

We’re getting even closer!

All Saints’ Quilters have collected 110 signature squares from parishioners here in 2008.  We have a few more to go.  We are now into the final phase.  Hopefully, we will be set up in the Parish Hall on Sunday mornings after the 10 am service to receive your signature, until June 14, six weeks to finish our project of collecting squares and to give everyone that wishes, a chance to sign their square for the quilt.  During the summer we will be putting all the squares together and begin to quilt.  All these processes take time but the most important part is to get everyone’s signature on a square to be sure all are included.  Come on by our table and sign so phase one can be completed on time.  Thank you so much.

Carol Cannistraro,

Esther Davenport

Barbara Willman

The Jackson Mississippi airport is named for Medgar Evers, and it contains a small memorial center that includes a copy of a letter sent from President Kennedy to Evers’ wife after he learned of Evers’ death on June 12, 1963. The following is taken from the biography of Medgar Evers on the notablebiographies.com website.

Born: July 19, 1925

Decatur, Mississippi

Died: June 12, 1963

Jackson, Mississippi

 

African American civil and human rights activist

Medgar Evers, field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was one of the most important figures of the African American civil rights movement. He paid for his beliefs with his life, becoming the first major civil rights leader to be assassinated in the 1960s. His death prompted President John F. Kennedy (1917–63) to ask Congress for a national civil rights bill, which President Lyndon Johnson (1908–73) signed into law in 1964.

A course in racism

Medgar Evers was born on July 19, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi, the third of four children of a small farm owner. In The Martyrs: Sixteen Who Gave Their Lives for Racial Justice, Jack Mendelsohn quoted Evers on his childhood. "I was born in Decatur here in Mississippi, and when we were walking to school in the first grade white kids in their schoolbuses would throw things at us and yell filthy things," the civil rights leader recollected. "This was a mild start. If you're a kid in Mississippi this is the elementary course."

...

The young Medgar Evers was determined not to cave in to hardship. He walked twelve miles each way to earn his high school diploma and then joined the U.S. Army during World War II (1939–45), a war that involved countries in many parts of the world. He was discharged from the army in 1946.

 

Joining the NAACP

After the war Evers returned to Decatur, where he was reunited with his brother Charlie.  The young men decided they wanted to vote in the next election.  Since the aim of discrimination was to keep power in the hands of the South's white population, preventing and discouraging African Americans from voting was a major tactic of white racists.  When Election Day came, the Evers brothers found their polling place blocked by an armed crowd of whites, estimated by Evers to be two hundred strong.

Evers and his brother did not vote that day.  Instead they joined the NAACP and became active in its ranks.  Evers was already busy with NAACP projects when he was a student at Alcorn A&M College in Lorman, Mississippi.  He entered college in 1948, majored in business administration, and graduated in 1952.  During his senior year he married Myrlie Beasley.  After graduation the young couple lived on his earnings as an insurance salesman…

In 1954 he witnessed an attempted lynching during a time of great personal sorrow.  His father was dying in the hospital, and while visiting him Evers went to get a breath of air outside.  As he later related in The Martyrs, "On that very night a Negro had fought with a white man in Union [Mississippi] and a white mob had shot the Negro in the leg.  The police brought the Negro to the hospital but the mob was outside … armed with pistols and rifles, yelling for the Negro.  I walked out into the middle of it.… It seemed that this would never change."

Campaigning for civil rights

Evers soon went to work for the NAACP full time.  Within two years he was named to the important position of state field secretary for the organization. Still in his early thirties, he was one of the most well-known NAACP members in his state.  With his wife and children, he moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he worked closely with black church leaders and other civil rights activists.  Evers spoke constantly of the need to overcome hatred and promote understanding and equality between the races.  It was not a message that everyone in Mississippi wanted to hear.

Evers was featured on a nine-man death list in the deep South as early as 1955.  He and his family endured many threats and other violent acts, making them well aware of the danger surrounding Evers because of his activities. Still he persisted in his efforts to end segregation (separating people based solely on their race) in public facilities, schools, and restaurants.  He organized voter-registration drives and demonstrations.  His days were filled with meetings, economic boycotts (to make a stand against a person or a business by refusing to buy their goods, products, or businesses), marches, prayer services, picket lines, and bailing other demonstrators out of jail.

A fallen leader

On June 12, 1963, President Kennedy made an address to the nation.  Kennedy believed that whites standing in the way of civil rights for blacks represented "a moral crisis" and pledged his support to federal action on integration, or ending segregation.  That same night, Evers returned home just after midnight from a series of NAACP functions.  As he left his car, he was shot in the back.  Evers died shortly thereafter at the hospital.

When the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) looked into Evers' murder, a suspect was uncovered, Byron de la Beckwith (1920–2001), who was an outspoken opponent of integration and a member of a group called the Mississippi's White Citizens Council.  A gun found 150 feet from the site of the shooting had Beckwith's fingerprint on it.  Several witnesses placed Beckwith in Evers' neighborhood that night… Beckwith, too, produced witnesses who swore that he was some sixty miles from Evers' home on the night of the murder.

Beckwith was tried twice in Mississippi for Evers' murder during the 1960s, once in 1964 and again the following year.  Both trials ended in hung juries.  After the second trial, Myrlie Evers took her children and moved to California.  However, her strong belief that justice was never served in her husband's case kept Mrs. Evers involved in the search for new evidence.  In 1991, Byron de la Beckwith was arrested a third time on charges of murdering Medgar Evers.  He was finally convicted of the crime in 1994.

The Evers legacy

In some ways, the death of Medgar Evers was a milestone in the hard-fought civil rights war that rocked America in the 1950s and 1960s.  While Evers' assassination foreshadowed the violence to come, it also inspired civil rights leaders and their followers to work for their cause with still more dedication.  Above all, it inspired them to work with the courage that Evers himself had shown.

For More Information

Altman, Susan. Extraordinary Black Americans from Colonial to Contemporary Times. Chicago: Children's Press, 1989.

Brown, Jennie. Medgar Evers. Los Angeles: Melrose Square, 1994.

DeLaughter, Bobby. Never Too Late: A Prosecutor's Story of Justice in the Medgar Evers Case. New York: Scribner, 2001.

Nossiter, Adam. Of Long Memory: Mississippi and the Murder of Medgar Evers. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1994.

Ribeiro, Myra. The Assassination of Medgar Evers. New York: Rosen, 2002.

 

The items listed below are from the May 2009 Episcopal News, a journal of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts:

June 6: Deacons’ Ordinations, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston, 10:30 a.m.

Jun 9: Episcopal City Mission Annual Meeting, George Sherman Union, Boston University, 5 p.m.                                        

Jun 9: Refreshment Day, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 9 a.m.

Jun 9: Introduction to Centering Prayer, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m.

Jun 11: Feast of Corpus Christi, Church of the Advent, Boston, 6:30 p.m.

Jun 11: Poetry As Prayer, Bethany House of Prayer, Arlington, 7 p.m.

Jun 12-14: "Wilderness:  Scriptural, Contemporary, Personal": Silent Weekend Retreat, Sisters of St. Margaret, Duxbury

Jun 14: Youth leaders training, All Saints' Church, Chelmsford, 3 p.m.

Jun 15: St. John's Church, Sandwich Golf Tournament, New Seabury Country Club, 10:30 a.m.

 

First, I would like to pay tribute to two extraordinary young women – Julia Teele and Diane Coles.  They are not only graduating from CHS this year, but are also the first seniors to “graduate” from our Junior Choir. I’ll come back to them later!

I’m sure you all have memories that are crystal clear.  I remember a time, about 10 years ago, when my former colleague, Wayne, and I took our Interim Rector, Wally Gober, to breakfast at the Owl Diner.  We had an ulterior motive, which we kept to ourselves until we got there.

At this time, we had only one choir for children at All Saints’, and it was popular and successful, but unwieldy, since it was for grades 2 – 8ish.  It was a large group, and Wayne and I found it increasingly difficult to find music that wasn’t too hard for the youngest and too boring for the oldest.  We were also having a hard time keeping everyone engaged and interested. 

Wayne and I had discussed our shortcomings with this choir, and had decided to propose to Wally and the Vestry that we split this choir into two.  We were willing to add a third rehearsal to our Thursday nights, but were asking for additional compensation.  I guess you can figure out how this all turned out!

Having two groups has worked better than I had ever dreamed.  The Children’s Choir, our younger group, is often a child’s first introduction to choral singing.  Often, they are barely able to read words, and have never read music.  Over time, their abilities increase, and this year’s Children’s Choir is our best ever, due to the mix of seasoned older members and enthusiastic, adaptable younger members.  This year, they sang in different languages and in two parts, which is a milestone.  This choir is also a feeder for the Junior Choir.  Leah Cole, as volunteer accompanist, is an added bonus because she is a musical role model for this group, and helps keep me sane at times!

When we had just one choir, kids used it more as a rite of passage, and aside from Josh Christian, no one stayed past middle school.  Our Junior Choir, intended for unchanged voices through grade 8, has evolved into a treble choir that goes through high school.  Most of our current Junior Choir members have been with us since first or second grade, so have many years of singing under their belts.  They have also built themselves a wonderful church community.  Their level of expertise has increased through the years, and it has been a delight to give them all types of music and have them succeed.  Connie Pawelczak, my volunteer accompanist for this group, and I really enjoy our time with them.

This brings me back to Julia and Diane.  Julia has been with us since second grade and has been the backbone of the alto section for most of that time.  She is a quiet, faithful, and very talented presence that will be sorely missed.  Julia will be going to U Mass Amherst for their Honors Program.  Diane has been with us for most of the way, too.  It has been fun to watch Diane grow into her voice, and she has been a strong presence in the soprano section.  When Diane got to CHS, the drama bug bit her, so she has been with us whenever she wasn’t in a Drama Club production. Diane is also going to U Mass Amherst, and hopes to be in their Communications Program.  One reason we’ve been able to hold on to these older kids is to accept the fact that they have other interests and obligations, so we work hard to accommodate everyone.

Although it’s hard to say goodbye to Julia and Diane, we know that others are moving up.  You know you’re in good shape when you have two 6^th graders – Kelly Bray and Patricia Blumeris – volunteer to do a solo, and then do it quite well!

Thank you, Julia and Diane, for your years of faithful service.  Thank you also, Teele and Coles drivers for your integral part in this! Connie and I have been grateful for the gift of your children.

In Christ,

Maggie Marshall, Minister of Music

 

Ruth Canonico would like a lift to the 10 am Eucharist on Sundays.  She is without a car, and lives in at Delany Terrace, Senior Housing, 8 Sheila Avenue, Apt. 217, North Chelmsford, behind the Senior Center.  If you can offer a lift to and from the 10 am service, even on a once or twice a month basis, please phone and leave her a message on 978-319-9517.

Thank you.

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.

Those who are at home, in nursing homes or living with chronic illnesses

·         Gladys Stephens, Palm Manor Nursing Home

·         Eleanor Ferreira at home

·         Mary Buote at home

·         Bea Iams, Sunny Acres

·         Dora Smith, Betsy Eisenmann’s mother

·         Priscilla Smith at Willow Manor in Lowell

·         Phyllis Page, Chelmsford Crossing

·         Doug Grant at home, chronic back pain

·         Chaz Freeman, Lois Freeman’s son

·         Debbie Anderton, Dora Carr’s daughter

·         Bob Moorehouse at Nashoba Park#2 in Ayer

·         Al Gorham, at home

·         Lillian Doris Johnson, Loisann Grant’s mother, at D’Youville Manor

 

Ministering at Nyahela Sub-Parish in Kenya:

Rural Dean Rev. Jacob Mbunjiro, 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

Upcoming Formation Dates and Events

June 9	Prayer as 1st Resort	7:30- 8:45pm Blue Room
June 14	End of Sunday School Strawberry Shortcake Celebration	10:00 worship service Fellowship Hour
June 14	Training for Ministry with Youth workshop followed by light supper	3:00- 6:00pm Parish Hall
June 19- 27	West Virginia Workcamp Trip	Pray for Rev Tom and other workcampers
June 21	Worship times shift to summer schedule no Adult Sunday class till Sept	8:00am Chapel 9:00am Sanctuary
June 28	W. VA Workcamp sermon	9:00am service

 

From the Associate for Adult Christian Formation:

We celebrated the Feast of Pentecost on the very last day of May, and we are now in Ordinary Time, the season after Pentecost, which will continue until the beginning of a new church year with Advent in late November.  For the past six months we have heard and remembered the stories of Jesus’ life, his birth, his ministry, his passion, death and resurrection.  On Ascension we joined the apostles in letting go of Jesus’ earthly presence with them and heard the invitation to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  Now our story meets Jesus’ story; we are God’s people, we are the Body of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Sunday Morning Adult class goes on summer hiatus when we switch to the summer schedule on June 21.  Summer is a quieter, slower time at All Saints’, but opportunities for Christian formation continue.  Prayer as a First Resort continues on second Tuesday evenings – please join us for conversation and encouragement for the nurture of spiritual practice in our daily lives.  Tom and I are hoping to work with parents of children and put together some events this summer for the encouragement and refreshment of families.  Most important is the continued worship life of All Saints’.  I hope you will make it part of your summer to gather on Sundays with your faith community.

 

in peace,

Amy Hunter

 

Prayer as First Resort June 9

You are invited to join Prayer as First Resort on Tuesday, June 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.  Our conversations are always rich and rewarding, and the group welcomes newcomers.  For more information, please talk with Lynne Grillo or Amy Hunter

 

Quotations compiled by David Davis during review of a recent Gospel reading in John’s Gospel.  Dave wrote:

These are an interesting collection of metaphors. In John, whenever Jesus says "I am...” it seems to matter....a lot.

"I am the bread of life." John 6:35, 41, 48-51

"I am the light of the world." John 8:12, 9:5

"I am the door of the sheep." John 10:7, 9

"I am the good shepherd [who] gives his life for the sheep."  John 10:11, 14

"I am the resurrection, and the life." John 11:25

"I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 14:6

"I am the true vine." John 15:1, 5

And the big one – “Before Abraham was, I am." John 8:58

David Davis

 

ILLUMINATION OPERA

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CUPID’S ARROW:

A QUIVER OF LOVE SONGS

 

from PURCELL to the 21st CENTURY

FREE CONCERT

DONATIONS GRATEFULLY ACCEPTED

JUNE 20, 7:00 PM,

ALL SAINTS’ EPISCOPAL CHURCH

10 BILLERICA ROAD, CHELMSFORD