SAINTS Alive! THE NEWSLETTER OF THE PARISH All Saints’ Church Chelmsford, MA June 2011

I have had great fun re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the Harry Potter series organized by Laura Marshall. The discussion and activities have been wonderful. A special thanks to Laura for organizing this for us.

As I read the story, I remember the feelings of growing up. It was wonderful and amazing, but also confusing, scary, and sometimes lonely. I remember longing for a grand adventure but the things I did seemed to me very ordinary. As I look back I realize that my growing up was both very ordinary and a grand adventure. No, I did not discover that I was a wizard and get involved in a cosmic battle of good against evil. I did however discover friendship and betrayal. I had opportunities to do good as well as bad; sometimes I chose the former and other times the latter. I found there were consequences to both and the consequences were not always what I expected.

What I truly yearned for was to have a place where I could be known and accepted for who I was. Harry Potter found this somewhat at Hogwarts, but more fully in the friendships with Hermione and Ron. For me, I found it partially in Boy Scouts, running track and playing football, and in the jazz band. However, I most fully felt that sense of acceptance and belonging in a Bible study group. It is the place I was accepted unconditionally, even though I had not always been kind to some of the other kids. It was also the place where I discovered my baptism. I learned that in Jesus I was known fully and loved completely.

As I look back, growing up was a grand adventure. It might not be made into a best-selling novel, but it is mine. All of us can reflect on the ups and downs of our coming of age and know that it truly is a grand adventure. I pray that there have been times

and places where you have been truly known and accepted. Best of all, the story continues for there is more to come.

Peace,

Tom

 

Annual Meeting & Dinner June 7, 2011

Keynote Speaker

The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori,

Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 5 PM

At the Boston University’s George Sherman Union,

775 Commonwealth Ave.

Tickets purchased:

• By May 13th $35.00 each.
• After May 13th & before the 26th, $50.00 each.

For more information about ECM and to register go to www.EpiscopalCityMission.org

 

Many of you are so wonderful; you have remembered to bring in your pennies to the penny basket in the Narthex. Thank you so much. In January we were hoping to better last year’s intake for the St. Paul’s Feeding Program which was $93.00. You have already passed that goal and have donated $105.00 so far this year with half a year to go. Keep those pennies coming and we can have a banner year, I’m sure. Many thanks for remembering.

Barbara Willman

 

Saturday, June 11, at 7 PM

Cathedral Church of St. Paul

(138 Tremont Street), Boston

 

Let the Spirit move you...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Παράκλητος

esperanza

l’esprit

heilige geest

roh kudus

tenzi

healing

omwooyo

One Spirit Many Voices

 

This is your invitation to “Pentecost Eve Voices United,” a musical and liturgical celebration of various voices and cultures of the diocese. The event is sponsored by the diocesan Clergy of Color group, Antiracism Ministry Team, Hispanic Ministries Committee, Lift Every Voice/Diversity in Leadership Committee, Slavery and Reconciliation Task Force, the Union of Black Episcopalians, and the Episcopal Boston Chinese Ministry along with our Cathedral Church of St. Paul.

Bishop Shaw invites us to end our Easter season as gloriously as we began: with a festival vigil to send us out, like the first disciples, full of the Holy Spirit, to witness to God's transforming power in the world. We hope every congregation will be represented.

Join the bishops and all of your brothers and sisters from across the diocese, telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God!

 

Announcement based on Art and poster design by June Santosa; (apologies for two missing lines of non-alphabetic script).

 

Beginning Sunday June 12, 2011

Beginning 15 minutes after the end of the 10 AM service, join us for conversation and exploration of various topics. The 30-45 minute sessions will be led largely by members of the parish.

In June we plan on having sessions on how and why music feeds the soul, led by Jon Mills. Also coming up: ministry, youth and All Saints’ Church, and what are the Christian implications around the death of Osama Bin Laden?

Grab a cup of coffee and a few goodies, say hi to friends and then join us in the youth group room off the Parish Hall.

 

Thank you to my dear friends in our parish family for the outpouring of concern on the passing of my father. You have been so thoughtful to me, Abby, and Emily. I am truly grateful for your compassion, cards, hugs, and tender smiles.

On Maundy Thursday my Dad didn't die in the mere "hope" of the resurrection. He died with the sure conviction that his Redeemer lives and he would see God as a friend and not as a stranger. The strength of that belief provides a great comfort. In our community of faith we are blessed to share that certainty, even during our sadness.

We have prayed together throughout the past year for many things: healing, understanding & patience and more recently a peaceful release. Those prayers worked! Thank you all so much.

Sincerely,

Sally (Mawhinney) Warren

 

I have become involved in two very rewarding feeding projects and I am looking for company with both of them.

As you may know, Chelmsford now has its own feeding program on Tuesdays at the Unitarian church, which is called Table of Plenty. This program is less than one year old, and has grown steadily to the point that they are feeding 60+ people weekly. Most of these people have homes, but enjoy the community and wonderful, home-cooked meal. I now co-lead a team with Trinity Lutheran’s Nancy Groves, which means another ecumenical experience for us. This team serves only on the 5^th Tuesdays of the month, which include 5/31, 8/30, 10/31, and 11/29. This program differs in format from both the Middlesex Shelter and St. Paul’s in that we do not prepare the food. Team members help to set up tables, set the tables, plate the food, serve the people, wash dishes, and clean up. My favorite thing to do is to serve the guests, since I love to schmooze. If you are interested in helping me with this ecumenical endeavor, for all or some of these dates, please let me know. The time commitment is roughly 4-6 p.m.

The other opportunity to serve is at the Epiphany School in Dorchester, which runs a “B-Safe” program for city children in the summer. All Saints’ participated last summer for the first time, and all who went enjoyed the experience. Our dates to prepare and serve lunch are 7/25 and 7/26. I will be the team leader, and will coordinate the menus for each day with the B-Safe staff. We need people to prepare the food that morning at All Saints’, and then need people to go into Dorchester to deliver the food, which is served family style. They also ask that the people from our parish read to the kids after lunch. If you are interested, you can be just a food preparer in Chelmsford, or you can do both. We can carpool and last year, I drove a van full of food and people and am happy to do so again. The time commitment for the day is roughly 9-3, and the food preparation commitment only is roughly 9-11.

Please contact me with any questions you have, or if you are willing to jump on board any of these rewarding experiences.

In Christ,

Maggie Marshall,

maggie@ccc.com

 

As chief musical shepherd, I would like to thank all of have contributed to the music program this past year. My three volunteer co-shepherds, Debbie Psilopoulos, Connie Pawelczak, and Leah Cole make my job manageable. Debbie leads the Handbell Choir, and under her direction, this group has grown in talent and ability. On Pentecost, June 12, they will be finishing the year with their hardest piece ever; I hope you’ll be there to hear them!

Connie continues to accompany the Junior Choir, and has also been a willing contributor to our fall dedicatory piano recital, our Three Choirs Festival, and filled in for me one recent Sunday. Leah has just finished her 12^th year as a choir member, and her 6^th year as the Children’s Choir accompanist. Somehow, she has gotten old enough to graduate from high school, and will be going to Carleton College in Northfield, MN in the fall!

Every Thursday night without fail, there is a steady stream of parents, children, and adults coming for their weekly rehearsals. I thank all of you for your dedication and beautiful music week in and week out.

All choirs welcome new members, but I will need, especially, young sheep for my smallest flock. The Children’s Choir had five amazing girls this year. Two of them will be joining the slightly older flock, which leaves three amazing girls. These three amazing girls will need some more young sheep to join the fold, and the sheep can also be boy sheep. All sheep should be first grade or older, and must be able to read words. Children’s and youth choirs are a great first introduction to music, and a wonderful way to stay connected with the church.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank my many volunteer musicians, which include David Shochat, Matt Hickcox, Scott Bempkins, Leah Cole, and Matt Cole. You will be hearing some of them throughout the summer.

 

Sheepishly yours,

Maggie Marshall

On June 11, we remember Joseph (renamed Barnabas or “son of encouragement”), who gave all he had to the church and accompanied Paul on a trip to Antioch, where the mission lasted long enough that the growing community of followers of the risen Jesus were first called Christians.

But when we dig a little deeper into the history of Barnabas, it seems he was a man of great faith and courage. When the converted Saul was preaching in Jesus’ name, there was a real resistance in the early church to accept Saul as a genuine follower … until “Ambassador” Barnabas took him by the hand into the company of the Apostles and introduced him.

Sadly, it seems that there was still a hesitation to trust this new convert Saul (renamed Paul), who soon found himself back home in Tarsus, while Barnabas discovered a growing band of “Easter people” in Antioch. So Barnabas, realizing how much pastoral work was needed in this growing community, and foreseeing the value of Paul as a fellow-shepherd, went in person to find Paul and bring him into the Antioch “fold.” Once again, “Ambassador” Barnabas made some key introductions. This was good news (and Good News) for the people of Antioch where Luke the Evangelist may have been in the early followers.

For a year, the congregation grew, and the name “Christian” was first used of this congregation. When Barnabas’s missionary work took him on the road, Paul went with him. After seven stops, the team returned to Antioch. Paul and Barnabas then split up; Paul consolidated the new congregations, starting in Syria and Cilicia, while Barnabas set off to Cyprus. Paul’s later companions included Luke, who documented Paul’s travels in Acts; Barnabas went with the “outsider” John Mark, to do his evangelism. Once again, Barnabas backed the lesser-known new shepherd to do good works in the future.

Luke then tracked the travels of Paul, and so we may know less about Barnabas after this parting as a result, but we may be sure the work of Barnabas was faithfully pursued!

See Acts, esp. 4:36-37; 9:26-31; 11:20-26; 15:36-41

Patrick Blumeris, Editor

 

High School

 

Chelmsford High

Christopher Cahill

Leah Cole

Meredith Kuzara

 

Dracut High

Julie Hudzik

 

Groton School

Jocelyn Hickcox

 

Innovation Academy

Naomi Gossement

Chantelle Somers

Middlesex Community College Adult Ed (GED)

Brianna Laundry

College & University

Bentley University (cum laude)

Andrew Turocy B.S. – Accounting

Emerson College

Julia Jerome BFA – Theater Design &

Technology

Lesley University

Meaghan Chadwick B.S. – Secondary Mathematics Education

Smith College

Alison Kuzara B.S. – History, German Studies

UMass Amherst

Lauren Coles B.S. – Civil Engineering

UMass

Whitney Chagnon B.S. – Political Science

University of New Haven

Gregory Sparks B.S. – Fire Science, Arson Investigation

Minor – Criminal Justice

In the Sunday Bulletin 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. 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 prayer lists, please contact Darlene in the Church Office.

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

·         Eleanor Ferreira at home

·         Chaz Freeman, Lois Freeman’s son

·         Al Gorham, at home

·         Doug Grant at home, chronic back pain

·         Bea Iams, Sunny Acres

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

·         Evelyn Kacavas at home

·         Josephine Krasnecki at Sunny Acres

·         Bailey and Janet Laughlin at Newbury Court, Concord

·         Bob Moorehouse at Nashoba Park#2 in Ayer

·         Dora Smith, Betsy Eisenmann’s mother

·         Ruth Sullivan, Steve Sullivan’s mother, at the Atrium

·         Phyllis Page, at Chelmsford Crossing (from Amherst, MA)

·         Priscilla Smith at Willow Manor in Lowell

·         Gladys Stephens, Palm Manor Nursing Home

 

 

 

Ministering in Nagoya, Japan this school year:

Christen Mills, at

http://christeninjapan.blogspot.com

Ministering at Enyahera Sub-Parish in Kenya:

Vicar Alex Ondumbu, alexwise2001@yahoo.com

Phanice Otenyi, Chairlady of the Orphan feeding program

Caroline Nyawili, Evangelist

Jackson Saunya, Senior Warden

 

Enyahera sub-parish currently receives SaintsAlive. If you would like to write directly to them, please note their address:

ACK: Anglican Church of Kenya

ACK ENYAHERA PARISH

P.O. BOX 201

LUANDA - KENYA

CODE: 50307

 

Christen Mills, our postulant on a year-long mission program in Nagoya, Japan, has reported that she will be studying at Virginia Theological Seminary after her Japanese mission “year” is done.

If you have not yet had the pleasure of seeing Christen’s blog, please check it out http://christeninjapan.blogspot.com/! She has photos and stories and wonderful thoughts to ponder about life and faith.

Thank you for your prayers for Christen during this year of mission work in Nagoya, Japan!

The Discernment Team:

Lynne Grillo, Lynne McSheehy,

Margie Lane, Linda Barrington,

Derick Gates

Beginning on June 19^th All Saints’ Sunday service times will change to our Summer hours:

8:00 AM in the Chapel

9:00 AM in the Main Church

On the afternoon of Sunday May 15^th the All Saints'/St. Mark's Youth Group participated in the Common Cathedral services of Ecclesia Ministries on the Boston Common, and Rev. Tom also talked about Common Cathedral in his sermon on that day.

If you would like more information about this amazing ministry please see their web site at http://www.ecclesia-ministries.org/.

 

No Gift Too Small…

Do You Know About All Saints' Endowment Fund?

All Saints' is growing an Endowment Fund with your help. We began this effort in 1999, with $10,000. from a previous campaign. Since then there have been donations, large and small, and with interest we now have $208,365 00. This money is mainly for the preservation of All Saints’ Church.

In the past, the fund has given, three times, one-half the yearly interest to the Vestry for church repairs. This past year the Fund loaned the Church $26,000 for major repairs. This amount will be paid back to the Fund in five years, plus five percent interest.

The Endowment Committee would love to see this Fund grow and grow for All Saints' to be here for all our children and their children.

No gift is too small.

Sincerely,

Barbara Lindberg

 

Bob Bishop Erik Forsberg Joan DeChane

Laura Geary Frank Ouellette Edith Parekh

Sean Seyffert Matt Castle Mike Thompson

Scott Bempkins, Senior Warden

Liz Landers, Junior Warden

Cynthia Bennett, Treasurer

Anne Ludlow, Clerk

 

(All phone numbers are area code 978 unless indicated)

Church Office 256-5673

Senior Warden...... Scott Bempkins 877-8966

Junior Warden...... Liz Landers 256-9681

Treasurer.............. Cynthia Bennett 256-5673

Clerk..................... Anne Ludlow 256-5484

Acolyte Director... Clem Cole 251-1296

Altar Guild............ Liz Landers 256-9681

Buildings and…….Scott Bempkins 448-6872

Grounds Dave Cahill 250-3592

Coffee Hour......... Matt Hickcox 448-0931

Director of

Religious Ed………Rebecca Haberl… 914-564-1098

Endowment.......... Connie Pawelczak . 996-9944

Environmental Stewardship

Committee............ Bill Moreau............. 250-4028

Fellowship............ (Open) 256-5673

Finance Interim..... Derick Gates 250-1569

Handbell Choir …. Debbie Psilopoulos 256-0797

Music Minister...... Maggie Marshall 251-1296

Outreach............... Dave Kuzara……… 256-5484

Pastoral Care......... Ann Kirk 251-4547

Saints Alive.......... Patrick Blumeris 256-9638

Shawl Ministry...... Deb Forsberg 256-5673

Stewardship.......... (Open) 256-5673

Thrift Shop........... Carol Cannistraro… 256-0929

Youth Group…… Meghan Sweeney 857-255-0243

....................... …..Nancy March 250-1695

Webmaster............ Richard Coles 256-1311

Web site................ www.allsaintschelmsford.org