2 Minah Sinangil
6 Bill Rohrbach
17 Eric Jones
21 Javved Persaud
21 Lisa Windish
25 Lara Sinangil
26 Fiona Celli
29 BJ Mistick
From the Parish register:
Baptized: Savanna Arienta Beinert 8/7/05
Many have been working all through the many heat waves this summer helping to keep the Church and grounds looking good. Our thanks especially go to Bill Perks and Jim Gaines who have worked tirelessly on maintaining the Memorial Garden. A huge “thank you” goes to Ranji Persaud who took care of all the bramble bushes around the playground –wow! Thanks also to Dave Sica who worked on fixing drips and leaks and bolting back radiators in the nursery. Truly, it takes a village to keep this place going!
The following is the current list of people for whom we are praying. Please take a moment to review the list and let Cathy Burns know if we should continue to intercede for them.
Ann Chromoko, Marion and
Thomas Coulter, Hilda Fedirkiewicz, Jim Gaines, Phyllis Kapamas, Eleanor
Keener, Brian and Jen Keith, The Rt. Rev. John P. and Marilyn Croneberger,
Richard Noyes, Heidi Windish and Lisa Windish, Dennis Keith, Wendy Smith, Donna
Mate, Debra and Doug Ryan, Pam Schaeffer, Helen, Teresa Frigeri, Jackie Kelly,
Margaret Lee, Corporal Joseph Ayala, Helen Sickler, Joe and Ruby Sammarco, Dee
Harrison, Mike Stoia, Jean Jack, Alan Culp, David Battistuta, Philip Barber,
Karen, Dorothy, Michael Cataldo,
Vincent and Adeline Sica, Dorothy Davis, Lee Hess and Elizabeth Kneis.
What a surprise it was! Our hearts go out to you, however you contributed to our joy on that day --whether by keeping a secret, making a donation to the food pantry or simply joining in the fun—you made the day truly memorable! “Love is all around us” says the signature song played by the band. We hope you felt it too!
Fondly,
Where Are You Going in Time?
By Karen Eberhardt
Take a moment to reflect on the time that is yours right now. Is it a time of birth to new thoughts or the dying and letting go of old ways of being? Is it a time to weep or a time to laugh? Are there others who could share with you in your weeping or your laughing? Is it a time of transition, when you’re not sure how to go on? God's time is always a time to love us, each as wondrous, unique creations of God.
This is the theology under girding ReGenerations, a program for all ages, where we take all the experiences of our life, good and bad, and place them in the light of God’s love and grace so that we are healed and made well and whole within our bodies and our souls.
ReGenerations is about looking at one’s life and discovering that life has been worth living, and is a way to resolve past conflicts, find one’s worth and value, and help us to understand how we coped with difficult issues in the past.
ReGenerations is about helping older people, who have had many losses simply because of the number of years they have lived, learn to share those losses with each other in a group setting in order to let the joy that we have been promised in.
ReGenerations It is about listening to and hearing each other’s life stories and helping to shape those stories in such a way that we learn how important we are, how vital we are to this world, and to discover our wisdom that has come with our aging.
ReGenerations It is a way to help all of us find joy and a life worth living until our physical bodies no longer inhabit this earth. It is about learning to live joyfully, peacefully and expectantly, until we die.
ReGenerations is about finding a way to have “life more abundantly.”
ReGenerations, a non-profit program founded at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Millburn, On Sunday morning, September 25th, Karen Eberhardt be with us to talk more about this ministry and how we might benefit from it.
Harvest Fair
Plans are underway for our annual Harvest Fair to be held on Saturday, October 8th. If you are doing any fall cleaning and getting rid of the white elephants that have accumulated in your closets, attic and basement, please consider donating them to our rummage sale. (Only a few more items can be stored at the church, so please to hold on to your ‘treasures’ until the week before.) WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! No amount of time is too little. Pricing, selling, cleaning, cooking, etc., etc. Please see Don Dunsmore for details. Vendors and crafters wanted!!
The Feast of St. Francis will be observed this year on Saturday, October 1st at 6:00 PM in the Memorial Garden, weather permitting. Plan on bringing your pets for a blessing –tell your friends.
This is advance notice that there will be an Evensong Celebration to welcome our new Assisting Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Carol Gallagher on October 2nd at 4PM at Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral. Please let Pastor Susan know if you are interested in attending.
Pastor Susan has been asked to serve on the Transition Team for the new Diocesan Bishop. The work of the Transition Team is to get everything ready for the new Bishop, from finding housing to planning the liturgy for the bishop’s consecration. Details of Susan’s actual responsibilities aren’t in place at the time of this writing, but keep her in your prayers –this will mean major multi-tasking!
We had a very productive discussion of our last selection, however, if history repeats itself, with the start of the school year many of you don’t have time to keep up with the monthly schedule. The Book Club discussions will re-emerge in Advent. In the meantime, here’s what’s on my current reading list if your want to read along: The Commercialization of intimate life, A.R. Hochschild; Awed by heaven, rooted in earth, W. Bruggerman; The face of the deep, C. Keller. Let me know what you’re reading! Pastor Susan.
Your presence is requested on Saturday, September 10th at Pat Brown’s in Ortley Beach. Don’t forget to sign up for a day at the beach –our way of saying goodbye to the summer and to show our appreciation to all our volunteers for their hard work! Sign up sheet and directions are on the bulletin board.
This year we have decided to bow to reality and push back the day in which all fall activities officially begin again. (The reality: too many people were exhausted after the Day at the Beach –see above). Our worship will also change slightly because we will welcome back the choir and with them, additional singing. Please note the schedule below:
Sunday, September 4, Labor Day weekend
Sunday, September 11, Church School registration
Sunday, September 18, Start up Sunday
A recent article in Newsweek (September 5, 2005) on Spirituality in America, states that “the vast majority of Americans describe themselves as either spiritual or religious.” I thought that to be an interesting distinction, that people see a distinction between religion and spirituality, and that they consider themselves more ‘spiritual’ than ‘religious’ I think this means that most people have an individual approach to the divine, rather than a communal one.
That’s not good news for the Church as an institution. It is not good news for churches like ours that have made a commitment to grow. It is not good news for communities that see their members and their resources dwindling.
The article goes on to describe a quantifiable ‘flowering of spirituality’ everywhere (even in some churches). This spirituality, defined as, “the impulse to seek the divine” is “thriving.” And it goes on to say, “there is a streak in the United States of relying on… ‘individual visceral experience’ to validate religious ideas. American faiths have long been characterized by creativity and individualism…rather than being about a god who commands you, it’s about finding a religion that empowers you… empowerment requires intensity of effort; Americans like the idea of taking responsibility for their own souls…” Does this describe you?
This summer’s vacation took me home. There I had the opportunity to worship at the church my parents now attend. The church, physically, isn’t much bigger than St. Gregory’s, but the contrasts are significant: this is a place where even in the summer, people arrive early to get a seat. It is a place where people know the prayers by heart, where they sing lustily, say the responses loudly, where there’s no way to greet everyone at coffee hour.
I thought about these differences a lot since I have been disappointed in our most recent ‘numbers.’ Attendance is off and though everyone keeps saying the old mantra, “what do you expect, it’s the summer.”
What makes the difference, I believe, is that the town they live in has a huge population of retirees. This means that most of the people who belong to that church also belong to a time when church was virtually the only thing to do on a Sunday. They grew up with the expectation that the best possible utilization of time, resources and energy were devoted, at least once a week, to the church. In the kind of statistics I keep, I have found that ‘regular attendance’ for someone usually means that a person shows up, on average, once a month.
Granted, we live in a much different time. Ours is a 24/7 existence with demands that won’t quit. Blue Laws are a thing of the past and many are required to work every weekend. This may be what supports the division between spirituality and religion. We don’t get to be part of community unless we intentionally decide to do so.
I think being ‘spiritual’ is somewhat of a cop-out. For as much as we are about supporting the journey of each and every individual, organized religion believes that we find the deepest expression of our faith, not alone, but together: together at worship, at service, at fellowship. Our life of faith takes place as a delicate balance between individual and community. It is the community as a whole that is able to guide, test, challenge, support, nurture the individual insight.
How does this separation between spirituality and religion play out at St. Gregory’s? Well, it means that there’s a gap between those who attend church more frequently and those who don’t. Those who are weekly attendees get a fuller picture, feel more connected, have a deeper understanding, they learn the words and sing the songs. This works in reverse, I think, from the sense of commitment. It’s not that the committed people are more devoted, it’s that devotion builds commitment.
Think about your own life of faith. Is it spirituality? Is it devotion? Are you getting what you need from your relationship with God? Are things a little distant between you two?
In September we begin again. We shrug off the lethargy induced by the heat of the summer. We can take time and discover the richness of our religion, of our corporate worship, of our life together. We have the opportunity to start over. We are asked to commit once again, to a full –not a part time- life in Christ.
Always in Christ,
Susan+