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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA October 2009
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SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA October 2009
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Welcoming Children, Welcoming God
[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” (Mark 9: 35-37)
When we welcome children, we welcome God. What a provocative idea the gospels offer us!
On September 13, the first Sunday of the program year, Rev Tom asked the children and youth and their teachers to gather in front of the altar rail for a commissioning and a blessing. The chancel and the steps were filled with those attending our Church School program, ranging from preschoolers through highschoolers. God very definitely has set children in our midst.
A week later, I participated in the first worship service for families with infants and toddlers. Nearly 30 of us gathered to hear the gospel told as story, to pray and to celebrate the Eucharist. Afterwards we moved down to the Meeting Room for supper, play and conversation: a definite experience of welcoming children.
Being a parish with youth and children is both a key part of who we are and a call from God to be part of God’s mission. Our youth and our children are not other, are not an imposition, and are not the concern only of their parents. They are the concern of the whole parish; they are integral to this parish.
I encourage All Saints’ to welcome our children, whether or not we are parents of young ones or of teens. We can greet families in the pews on Sunday mornings. We can pray for the many young people in our parish. Especially if we are not parents of those in our Church School programs, we can discern whether we can teach or be support staff or share an interest or expertise with the Church School. We can come on third Sunday afternoons to a family worship service to remember what worship feels like from the vantage point of a child and to get to know some of our youngest parishioners better.
Jesus challenged his followers by breaking down the hierarchies and expectations they took for granted. God has blessed us by setting many children in our midst, has given us an identity and has called us to a ministry. May we respond by welcoming our children… and welcoming God.
Amy Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
News and thoughts from the rector are included elsewhere in this issue. – editor
Come and celebrate the gift of God’s creation!
Learn ways to care for the world we share.
Pet Adoption/Environmental Awareness Faire SATURDAY OCTOBER 3, 11:00am-3:00pm:Free and Open to the Public
Come and explore pet care, adoption options, environmental awareness and energy conservation.
Scheduled Venders include:· Canine Magic Dog Training
· Chelmsford Police K-9 Unit & Animal Control
· PetSmart
· Pets In Need: Pet adoption
· Lowell Humane Society: Pet adoption
· 4-H Organization
· Wignall Animal Hospital: Pet care
· Best Friends Pet Care: boarding, grooming
· Heifer Project
· Aesthetics Solar Power
· Chelmsford Office of Recycling & Solid Waste
· Climate Action Day: Information & Advocacy
Eucharist Service & Blessing of Animals
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4, AT 10:00am:
In the Main Sanctuary
Bring your pet, a picture of your pet, or a stuffed animal to the 10:00 AM service. We will have an animal friendly celebration Holy Eucharist and blessing of animals.
Animals should be on leashes, in carriers or held securely in the owner’s arms. Participants are asked to register for this service at 9:30 a.m. in the Parish Hall so certificates may be issued in the name of each animal. Weather permitting, pets and owners will walk in procession on the church grounds to enter the sanctuary through the front entrance. Pets will receive individual blessings during the service. A pet-friendly coffee hour will follow the service. Voluntary donations of pet food and supplies for area shelters will be accepted at the service.
Contact Melissa Flewelling at 978-430-4969, m.flewelling@comcast.net / or visit http://www.allsaintschelmsford.org/news/ for additional details.
Coming up on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at 7:00 PM in the Parish Hall will be the Cornucopia Auction. The Cornucopia or Horn of Plenty signifies the abundance of opportunities for having fun, bidding on fine items and contributing to a good cause that this adult-geared evening will offer. Admission tickets are $15 until October 18 or $20 at the door, including hors d’oeuvres and beverages. You may buy advance tickets after services each Sunday, and parishioners are encouraged to take some extra tickets to sell for this important fundraiser. Come and bring your friends!
We are very much in need of donated items in every price range in order to offer a variety of attractions for the live and silent auctions. Auction items from past events have included stays in vacation homes, restaurant and spa gift certificates, original art, catered desserts, fine china, jewelry and services such as car washing and cooking and knitting lessons. Please take stock of nice things you have at home but no longer use, and consider donating them. Think about your own talents and skills, and offer something of that type. Think also of soliciting a donation from a merchant whose services you use.
To donate an item for the auction, please complete a donation form on the website www.allsaintschelmsford.org and submit it. Alternatively you may also take a form from the narthex or print one out from the website, complete the form and send by U.S. mail to Kevin Ackert, 20 Carline Drive, Billerica, MA 01821 or drop it off in the church office. Donation commitments will be accepted through October 17. All items must be delivered to the church by October 21. As donations come in, an updated listing of items will be posted on the website.
This is a fundraiser for the programs of the church, particularly those involving outreach, such as the St. Paul’s Feeding Program in Lowell, the Mothers’ Union Orphan Feeding Program in Kenya, Habitat for Humanity and the West Virginia Work Camp.
For more information about the Cornucopia Auction, please contact Lois Freeman at loissf@comcast.net or the church office at 978-256-5673.
Sponsored by ASC Youth Group
On Saturday October 17th the Youth Group will again be hosting a Pasta Supper! Please come support our youth by joining with fellow parishioners and family and friends at this "all-you-can-eat" family-style dinner. The cost is $5/person ($20 family cap), and tickets WILL BE SOLD IN ADVANCE in the parish hall after the 10:00 service on 9/27, 10/4, and 10/11.
All are welcome to join us, regardless of age.
Is it possible to worship and praise God… while sitting with a toddler or infant? Yes!
This fall All Saints’ has begun offering a monthly gathering geared towards families with very young children on third Sundays afternoons at 4:30. Children with their parents and siblings begin in the sanctuary with worship, telling the gospel story, and receiving the Eucharist in a friendly, safe atmosphere. Afterwards all are invited to stay for supper and playtime. Please bring a dish to share if you are able.
Our next service-and-suppers will be October 18 and November 15.
Want to know more? Please contact Katie LaRochelle at Kate2323@aol.com or talk with Rev Tom.
Wednesday, October 7 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM here at All Saints’ Church.
We will serve a light dinner at 6:30 and the program will begin at 7:00.
Helen Daley, a business consultant and Episcopalian from the South Shore will be joining us to lead a work shop on welcoming newcomers to our parishes.
The Merrimack Valley Deanery consists of the 15 Episcopal Congregations in the Merrimack Valley. They range from Westford, through Lowell and Lawrence to Newburyport and Amesbury. The Deanery Assembly is an opportunity to gather with other local Episcopalians for fellowship as well as learn together how we can more effectively do the work God has given us to do.
Kenya Connections
Early in the summer we sent a package of drawings and letters to the children and leaders of Nyahela Parish in the diocese of Maseno North in Western Kenya. We have been in partnership with them for three years but it has been slow to build relationships because most of our communications have been hand-delivered by people traveling from Massachusetts to Kenya and back. I had written a letter to them asking for more information about the orphan feeding program and the micro-loan they had recently taken out. This loan was funded by All Saints’ through Jubilee Ministries of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
In August I received a one page note from Nancy Hardison, the Episcopal missionary in Maseno, along with two photographs. The pictures were of a group of men and women from Nyahela Parish posing with the mosaic of Jesus we had sent them last January. What caught my eye was that the mosaic was sideways. It seemed a little odd but they all appeared to be pleased.
I had the pictures propped up by my computer and suddenly, last week I realized what they were telling us. They were sitting in blue plastic chairs and next to them was a stack of chairs. They were telling us that they have purchased the chairs that will be rented out at funerals, weddings and other events so that they can raise money to support the feeding program. I was distracted by the one thing that I recognized in the picture, the mosaic of Jesus. They were so excited about showing us their new chairs that I think they did not even notice that the picture was sideways.
Our partnership with Nyahela is a window into the power of God’s love. The reports I have gotten from individuals who have visited Maseno this past summer is that conditions are hard to grim. They are in the middle of severe drought, and political instability continues to undermine many good efforts. However, they report that the spirit of the women running the orphan feeding programs continues to be high. They realize that they are able to do something good for the children of their community. Through the micro-loans they are beginning to take steps to make their program self-sufficient. They also know that in a faraway place called Massachusetts, Christians are praying for them and supporting them. In the same way, we can know that they are praying for us.
This January a team from All Saints’ will go on a mission trip to Maseno, Kenya and the Nyahela sub-Parish. Please keep Lois Freeman, Dee Miller, Carl Cark, Edith Parekh and myself in your prayers. I expect that we will experience many things that we do not expect. However, I will be ready to see their blue plastic chairs and to thank God for God’s providence.
Peace,
Tom
Congratulations to and Blessings upon our rector Tom Barrington
September 15th marked the 10th anniversary of Tom’s arrival here as rector of All Saints’. Please hold Tom, his family and his ministry in your prayers.
A Prayer for the Blessing of a Parish Priest: Almighty God, our heavenly Father, continue to fill the heart of your servant Tom with eager love in caring for your people; joy in affirming all that is good in this community; courage in challenging all that is mean and destructive; and unceasing thankfulness in celebrating your Holy Mysteries among us. Give him vision for his preaching, faithfulness for his teaching, diligence for his visiting, sympathy for his counseling, compassion in declaring Your pardon for the penitent, and the peace that passes understanding for his daily walk with Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.
(written by John V. Taylor, missionary and bishop, 1914- 2001)
From Tom Barrington:
For the past 6 years I have had the privilege of serving as Dean of the Merrimack Valley Deanery. As Dean, I have been the Bishops’ pastoral representative to the clergy in the Deanery. With the Deanery Co-conveners, I have helped plan and support the programs and activities in the Deanery such as the assemblies, the fall workshops, joint worship services such as confirmation, and youth mission trips. I have also been available to support parish leaders as they search for new clergy.
The new Dean is the Rev. Ennis Duffis, Rector of Grace Church in Lawrence.
John Bowen Coburn, Bishop of Massachusetts, died August 8, aged 94.
He had studied political science in Princeton; and taught English in Harlem; English and biology in Turkey; theology and lacrosse at Amherst. He was at one time dean at Episcopal Theological School, now called Episcopal Divinity School.
Studying or teaching mission was the work of John Coburn; compassion and gentleness were at his core.
When in 1975 he was chosen to be Bishop of Massachusetts, his consecration was postponed so that he could be present at the ECUSA convention that opened up the way for women to be priests.
The Boston Globe, noting his passing, included with their write-up a photograph of him at a function in the Boston Common, where a crowd was setting off balloons in celebration of the diocese’s 200th anniversary.
What they did not mention in their article was that, following a valedictory service a couple of years later to give thanks for his service, the congregation at St Paul’s Cathedral once again crossed the street for refreshments and reminiscences with the newly retired bishop.
In a chapter on “Ending with Christ”, John Coburn, a poet himself, worked some of the words of S. Kierkegaard: “Purity of Heart: To Will One Thing” into:
Our Father, yours is the kingdom of heaven and of earth, of everything that is and shall ever be. And your son is our king. We pray that we may be loyal to him by what we do and who we are, so that all men may know that he is their king as well.
Our Father, yours is the power, so we may bear with him everything in love and obedience to the laws of love and justice which prevail in your kingdom.
Yours is the glory. Therefore in all that we do and all that we endure, in everything we create, in everything that we affirm, may we give you the glory, for the glory is yours.
So be it. Yes. Amen.
A service of thanksgiving will be held at 3 p.m. on Oct. 3 in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston.
SaintsAlive! routinely includes a column with prayers, including prayers for those "ministering at Nyahela Sub-Parish in Kenya."
We also need to think prayerfully about those preparing for Ministry in Kenya:
O God, You have made of one blood all peoples, to live in creation, and sent your blessed son Jesus Christ to preach peace to people both near and far: Help all your people to seek your will and find you; and hasten, O Lord, the fulfillment of your promise, to pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Kenya trip is scheduled for January 2010.
We are sad to report that the Four Seasons Nursery School that has rented space at All Saints’ for the last four years has gone out of business. We will miss them and the happy sound of children during the weekday mornings.
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.
We will be offering a confirmation class for youth in the 8th grade or higher beginning on Sunday October 25th from 4:00PM to 6:00 PM. The class will meet about every other week until the Deanery Confirmation Service on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at All Saints’ with Bishop Shaw as the celebrant. The class will be taught by Rev. Tom and Maggie Marshall.
What is confirmation? On page 860 of the Book of Common Prayer it states:
· Confirmation is the rite in which we express a mature commitment to Christ and receive strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop.
· It is required of those to be confirmed that they
· have been baptized,
· are sufficiently instructed in the Christian Faith,
· are penitent for their sins, and
· are ready to affirm their confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Please contact Maggie Marshall or Rev. Tom if you would like to be confirmed.
For any adults who would like to be confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church, please contact Rev. Tom. We will be establishing a separate program for adults.
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
· Bea Iams, Sunny Acres
· 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
· 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
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Oct 3 |
Pet Adoption/Environmental Awareness Faire
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Parish Hall |
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Oct 4 |
Worship Service with Blessing of Animals |
Main Church |
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Oct 13 |
Prayer as First Resort |
Blue Room |
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Oct 21 |
Session 1: Faith and Money |
Blue Room |
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Oct 24 |
AUCTION |
Please support this |
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Oct 28 |
Session 2: Faith and Money |
Blue Room |
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Nov 1 |
FEAST OF ALL SAINTS |
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Service of Evensong with St Mark’s, Westford |
Chapel |
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Nov 4 |
Final Session: Faith and Money |
Blue Room |
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Nov 8 |
Stewardship Drive Kick-off |
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I am thinking about money. If you know me at all, you realize how unusual that is! Years ago when Wayne Ashford was our treasurer, he would joke that my habit of misplacing my paychecks—I tended to find them marking my places in various books—was All Saints’ secret for keeping its budget balanced! But this past summer I took an e-course, Practicing Spirituality with Money, through Spirituality and Practice (www.spiritualityandpractice.com, a website I highly recommend) which still has me thinking about the connection between wealth, ecology, community and faith. Oh! And me. As I spent 40 days reading a daily reflection about spirituality and money and considering practices around money, I quickly discovered that I really don’t like to think about money! I hope that it will quietly and mysteriously take care of itself. But by the end of the course I found myself convinced that our Christian faith has a lot to say about how we deal with money. I found myself as well feeling hopeful about ways I as an individual and as a Christian might deal with less anxiety and more intention with issues of money, wealth, and the economy.
I hope you will come and learn, talk and even pray about money as a spiritual issue beginning on October 21. Come, even if you are anxious, even if you’ve been taught not to talk about money, even if money feels connected with shame because you have too little or too much. Too often, we let money separate us from one another and from God. Come and find where God is with us, even in the complexities of our money and our possessions.
in peace,
Amy B Hunter
Associate for Adult Christian Formation
Sunday Morning and Second Tuesdays: Ongoing Adult Formation Opportunities:
There are so many opportunities here to worship, serve and learn! I encourage you regularly to read our new electronic weekly bulletin and to look through SaintsAlive each month to be aware of what is happening at All Saints’ and to listen for where God may be drawing you into action. In addition to a calendar full of events and programs, All Saints’ offers two ongoing adult formation opportunities:
§ Every Sunday morning at 9:00am in the Blue Room there is a Bible Study on the gospel reading for the day. This study uses an oral tradition method; the group reads the passage aloud several times, each time answering a question that helps participants articulate their personal responses to the scripture. Stay after the 8:00am service or come before the 10:00am service. Whether you have been studying the Bible for years or have never picked one up on your own, this is a study that works for all levels of experience.
§ Prayer as First Resort meets the second Tuesday of every month and is a group that comes together to look at how we practice our Christian faith in our daily lives and to encourage one another in our spiritual journeys. Themes for the coming year may include prayer, the apocalypse, and the Holy Spirit. Please watch the parish bulletin and newsletter! Lynne Grillo and Amy Hunter co-lead this group and would be happy to talk with you about it.
Faith and Money: An Adult Christian Formation Program
Wednesday evenings, October 21 and 28, and November 4, 7: 30- 9:00 in the Blue Room
When consumerism reigns, the planet itself becomes a
collection of objects, not a communion of subjects. ...With its emphasis on
"being attractive, wealthy, and accomplished," consumerism neglects
the deeper spiritual needs of human beings, which are to be wise,
compassionate, and free. It taps into the human need for adventure but diverts
this need toward trivial and destructive ends: "looking pretty,"
"being rich," and "being recognized by others.” These ends do
not satisfy the deeper yearnings of the human soul, which are to be linked with
something larger and infinite: namely, God. In short, our souls are too big
for consumerism, and consumerism is too small for our souls.
— Jay McDaniel in Living from the Center
This three-session class will invite us to examine our beliefs and histories with money and how we connect, or don’t connect, our attitudes about wealth with our faith. Come and see the challenge and the hope Christianity offers in an economic time like now.
In June 2007, Scientific American described the work of Eric Vilain at UCLA. This doctor was concerned with the causes and treatments of what the Intersex Society of North America has been calling DSD: Disorder of Sexual Development. New-born babies are often born as partially male, partially female. Sometimes, the evidence is less clear, and after many years physical and psychological tests are needed. Costly surgery may then follow. And, usually, the person is shunned as a “monster”. Which reminds one of “treatment” for lepers.
This summer in Berlin, South Africa fielded a dedicated athlete, Caster Semenya, in a women’s 800m event in Berlin. When she won handily against the world’s best runners, calls went up that this was not really a female. She, and her family, were treated as pariahs. Except, oddly, in South Africa.
This November, our diocese has agreed to call to mind the ongoing struggles of all whose lives are tinged with this ambiguity of genes and surgery, with distrust in their communities. Look beyond male/female questions, and you’ll likely find people who’ve been forced to find their true selves, and often to make changes as a result.
The question for us is whether they will find the welcome that people whom God has made deserve from God’s Church.
Last month, I sat in a hotel room and hurriedly tried to write words to fill space in the September 2009 SaintsAlive! newsletter that would wrap neatly through the gaps between one announcement and another. My “diary” entry of dams I’d been visiting/studying would need a tie-in.
Developing water resources is all very well, but quenching a thirsty soul needs water from Jesus Himself. I had the principle, but did not include the reference. Here it is:
See John 4: 1-42, esp. v14.
Patrick Blumeris
Editor
Vestry Members
Vestry Members
Bob Bishop Andrea Bray Carl Clark
Liz Landers Edith Parekh Sean Seyffert
Harry Taplin Mike Thompson open position
Lois Freeman, Senior Warden
Scott Bempkins, Junior Warden
Cynthia Bennett, Treasurer
Derick Gates, Clerk
Church Office........ 978-256-5673
Senior Warden....... Lois Freeman
Junior Warden........ Scott Bempkins
Treasurer............... Cynthia Bennett
Clerk..................... Derick Gates
Acolyte Director.... Clem Cole
Adult Education...... Amy Hunter
Altar Guild............. Liz Landers
Buildings and…….. Scott Bempkins
Grounds Dave Cahill
Christian School..... Laura Marshall
Elizabeth Danieli
Melissa Flewelling
Coffee Hour.......... Matt Hickcox
Endowment ........... Derick Gates
Environmental Stewardship
Committee............. to be filled
Fellowship.............. to be filled
Finance Interim...... Derick Gates
Handbell Choir…… to be filled
Music Minister....... Maggie Marshall
Outreach............... Dave Kuzara
Pastoral Care......... Joy Chadwick
Saints Alive............ Patrick Blumeris
SaintsAlive e-mail:.. ........ saintsalive@yahoo.com
Stewardship Interim Derick Gates
Thrift Shop............. Carol Cannistraro
Youth Group.......... Nancy March
Webmaster............ Richard Coles
Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org
… for the November 2009 Saints Alive! is
October 18th, 2009
Please leave your articles in the Saints Alive! mailbox in the church office, or send them via email to SaintsAlive@yahoo.com. Thanks.