B-Safe (Epiphany Middle School) and Table of Plenty

The Chelmsford All Saints’ dates to work at the B-Safe program at Epiphany Middle School in Dorchester will be 7/25 and 7/26. Food preparation is 9-11 on these days; the full commitment for the day is 9-3. If you would like to help, please contact Team Leader Maggie Marshall at Maggie@ccc.com.

The Chelmsford Table of Plenty crew from All Saints’ and Trinity Lutheran is committed to serving on 8/30, 10/31 and 11/29. Assigned duties are to help set up tables, plate the food, serve the people, wash dishes, and clean up, approximately during the time window 4-6 pm. If you would like to help, please contact Maggie Marshall at Maggie@ccc.com.

 

Just a Thought

There was a concern raised during the last parish meeting that many parish projects go ahead through the efforts of hard-working people who, nevertheless, feel little parish support.

This is not a new concern: Jesus Himself noted that there was a distinct difference between the son who promised to work, but didn’t, and the son who declared his preference not to work, but ultimately did the work out of a sense of duty.

The concern might be made of more than just the elected vestry: we are all leaders in our own way, so we too need to think in terms of being there, whether it’s supporting a fund-raiser, helping at the July 4 booth, checking in with Rebecca Haberl to see how you could help with Sunday School, or calling Maggie Marshall to see how you might be able to help with our commitment to the B-Safe work at Epiphany Middle School. You might wind up in Maine, instead, or Kenya, or plugging the choir’s need for real tenors, or acolytes, or after-communion-coffee-sponsors, or arranging flowers, or even talking at the new speakers’ forum. Or doing something that we as a parish have never even thought of doing before.

Just a thought, spurred by a pang of guilt, spurred in turn by the many announcements that this newsletter compiler has seen coming in!

Patrick Blumeris, Editor

 

The endowment fund was conceived 15 years ago when the Capital Campaign of the 90’s was started. One of the goals was to make reserve funds available for replacement or repair of church property. Due to many generous donations (donors are members of the Anna Eliza Hunt Society), the endowment fund was established and the church is starting to see some tangible things being made to the property with the help of the endowment. Did you know that the masonry work done in 2010 was partly financed by a loan from the endowment fund? Each year a portion of the endowment income can be used to help maintain the church property. The funds can be used for church maintenance not only years from now, but also in the present.

When the endowment committee met last February, it was clear to us that we needed to not only review past performance and past contributions but most importantly we saw a need to let the parish know how one can be “a member of the society” now. Yes, the committee had an epiphany during Epiphany!

Part of my epiphany was realizing that I could make a contribution to the fund now instead of when I’m dead. How can I do that? Here are a few things we thought of:

-          When someone you know passes away and you want to make a donation to a cause that has meaning for you, you can make a donation in memory of that person to “All Saints’ Church Endowment Fund.”

-          If you are invited to a function the invitation states “No Gifts Please,” but you want to do something to acknowledge the event, you can make a donation in acknowledgement of the event.

-          When you don’t know what to give that special person who seems to have everything, you can make a gift in honor of that person.

What we are trying to say is that there is no dollar amount too big or too small. All of the funds donated are for the same cause – to continue to make All Saints’ a healthy and holy dwelling in which to worship the Lord!

Scott SanJurjo

For the All Saints’ Endowment Committee

 

Spring Scrapbook 2011

Late April and May have been very busy! On Good Friday (April 22), high school youth from All Saints’ and St. Mark’s participated with adult parishioners from St. Mark’s in the 13-mile Greater Lowell Good Friday Walk for Hunger. We were blessed with good weather and good fellowship!

 

 

Also on Good Friday was the Good Friday Liturgy and Stations of the Cross Tableau at All Saints’ led by the joint All Saints’ / St. Mark’s Confirmation Class with help from other high school and middle school youth and the choirs of St. Mark’s and All Saints’. It was a moving and reverent liturgy well-received by those who attended.

 

May 14-15 was the High School Youth Group Lock-In Overnight at All Saints’. We cooked dinner together, made lots! of egg salad, and PB&J sandwiches to bring with us the next day to Common Cathedral, hung out, talked, watched a movie, and had a nighttime candlelit Eucharist led by the Rev. Tom Barrington on the theme of homelessness in preparation for the next day’s visit to Common Cathedral.

 

 

 

On Sunday, May 15, members of the high school youth group went to Common Cathedral in Boston (http://www.ecclesia-ministries.org/) to host lunch and attend the Eucharist for this intentional community comprised of un-housed and housed persons. In addition to the sandwiches, we also served chips, fruit, cookies, and cake.

We were joined by a couple of students from Boston College, where Meghan Sweeney teaches. On June 11, high school youth went into Boston and had dinner at Fire & Ice, and then attended the diocesan Pentecost Eve Eucharist, which was a festive celebration of the many, many cultures and languages present within our own diocese.

 

 

It was an awesome experience of community and learning! And scheduled for June 26 is the closing event of the joint All Saints’ / St. Mark’s High School Youth Group – an afternoon Pool Party at the Chelmsford Swim and Tennis Club. Happy Summer Everybody!!!!!

 

We have strong reminders of Meghan Sweeney’s work in our parish, from her observations about the many stones (Saints’ earnest efforts) in the wall behind the altar (from an early sermon), through her active youth ministry, to her ocean-in-a-bucket explanation – from Augustine of Hippo – of how unfathomable the Trinity is (a more recent sermon). As her year with us draws to a close, our prayers go with her!

Editor

 

My Trip to the Carolinas

For over ten years, I have been fortunate enough to attend the annual conference of the Association of Anglican Musicians. This year, the conference was based in Greenville, South Carolina, but also included time in Hendersonville, Spartanburg, as well as Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina.

I drove down with my Gloucester colleague, Mark Nelson, since he was an exhibitor, and needed to transport his materials. Although it was a long road trip, I had good company, and we were blessed with good weather and no traffic issues.

We were also blessed with bearable weather, in terms of heat. While you all were cold and rained upon, we had sun all week.

Like Sarah Baker, the West Virginia work camp speaker, I use this conference to press my “reset” button. It always happens at the end of school, and is a great way to segue into the summer. I attended six church services in five days, heard a number of good speakers as well as Michael Sullivan, our dynamic conference preacher for the week, and enjoyed time spent with colleagues from all over the United States.

The congregational singing when this group gets together is amazing. Sam Batt Owens, a former member and composer, once remarked that this group sang at three levels, “Loud, stun, and kill.”

All Saints’ pays for my conference registration, and I am grateful for this support. Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our music program!

Maggie Marshall

Minister of Music

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

 

Emily and Christen Mills at St Luke’s in Nagoya

 

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

 

Ministering in Nagoya, Japan this school year:

Christen Mills, at

http://christeninjapan.blogspot.com

 

Christen Mills, tells on her blog of a visit she’s recently had from her sister Emily. Christen is our postulant on a year-long mission program in Nagoya, Japan.

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. Elsewhere in this issue is an extract from her blog, concerning issues that people in Japan are having when they try to pronounce her name.

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

Christen Mills, All Cracked Up

I have never been a person who has had many nicknames. When I was little I was called Sissy by my family and Chrissy by everyone else and I have one college nickname that’s stuck but for the majority of my life I have always been just Christen.

In Japan however, I have more nicknames than I ever had before! Most often I get called Christen-san and I always introduce myself as Christen. My last name is a little difficult to pronounce in Japanese so I usually just stick to my first name.
In church I am often called Kuri-chan which comes from the first two syllables of my name when it’s transliterated into Japanese characters (Ku-ri-su-ten). Kuri also means chestnut in Japanese.

In the office at the youth center I am often called Ten-chan. Ten comes from the last syllable of my name and means “heaven” or “dot”. A few of the women I work with sometimes call me Ten-ten.

At work I am usually Christen-Sensei although in one English class I go by the English version “Teacher Christen”. The 2 year olds in Mitsuba just call me sensei but the 4 year olds in the kinder class can’t pronounce my name or remember to call me sensei so my name usually comes out as “tisten” or “sisssin“!

I also learned recently that my name when translated phonetically into Kanji means either:
"chestnut-vinegar-heaven” or “chestnut-bird’s nest-dot” I love that my name has a meaning in Japanese even though the meaning cracks me up!

Peace,

Christen

 

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……. Nancy March........ 250-1695

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

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