The Messenger
Growing together in God's Love
June, 2018
From the Rector . . .
Dear Friends in Christ,

The Gospel lesson for the first Sunday of June this year offers us the opportunity to consider Jesus’ invitation to Sabbath-keeping. Resisting the restrictive impulses of the religious authorities of the day, Jesus reinterprets God’s intention for the Sabbath. We are invited, by such observance, to rediscover our radical dependence on God. Sabbath is a time to rest in the assurance that God is God, and we are not. It is a time to be available – and to surrender to God’s re-creating grace and power. It is a time for renewal and refreshment.

One of my Sabbath practices in recent years is my annual journey back to the land where I was born, and into the arms of my family. Somehow firming up those roots, plumbing those earliest formative influences, makes me more available to explore new horizons. It readies me for greater adventures as I seek to cooperate in God’s mission.

This year I will be away from St. Andrew’s from June 4 – July 1. With few exceptions, we will keep the three-service Sunday morning schedule throughout the summer. Supply clergy will cover some of the worship services while I am away, ensuring regular celebrations of the Eucharist. Other services will be lay-led Morning Prayer. Clergy in the area are available for pastoral emergencies that may arise – please contact our wardens (Gary Naegel or Gary Cimmino) or the parish administrator (Barb Gibbons) should you need pastoral care.

I pray that the summer brings each of you the opportunity for the restoring grace of some intentional Sabbath time.
Coming up at St. Andrew's . . .
Calendar Highlights

Sunday, June 3
10am: Worship at Surf Club
11am: Annual Picnic

Sunday, June 10
11am-3pm: H.O.M.E. car wash

Tuesday, June 12
LifeLine Health Screening

Tuesday, June 19
7:00 pm: Vestry meeting

Wednesday, June 27
10--11:30: Summer brunch for church seniors provided by VBS middle schoolers in Farmer Hall

Saturday, June 30
8am-3pm: Raise the Roof
in New Haven

Sat-following Sat, June 30-July 7
Mission trip
to Dominican Republic

On Sunday, June 3
Outdoor worship and picnic
Our annual Parish Picnic will be held on Sunday, June 3 at the Surf Club in Madison. We will celebrate eucharist at the Flag Pole by the Sea at 10:00am.
The picnic will follow immediately afterwards.

Please bring a salad, side dish or dessert. You will need to bring the Parking Pass below for admission, if you are not a Madison resident with your own beach pass. Please contact Mark Auletta ( aulettamda@gmail.com , 617-877-6550) if you are interested in volunteering with setup or cleanup.
Shop AmazonSmile via our website
Earn $$ for St. Andrew's
Alert to all Amazon shoppers!! St. Andrew’s is now enrolled in AmazonSmile. If you launch your shopping expeditions from the AmazonSmile website, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of your purchases to St. Andrew’s. The AmazonSmile website is operated by Amazon with the same products, prices and shopping features as Amazon.com. 

The easiest way to access the system is to go to St. Andrew’s website ( http://www.standrewsmadison.org/ ), scroll down a bit and click on the AmazonSmile box. It takes you straight to the Amazon website where you can shop just as you normally would. Periodically Amazon will credit St. Andrew’s bank account with half a percent of purchases made. And spread the word to friends and family—anyone can participate!
Healing Prayer Workshop in July
Consider joining the ministry of healing prayer
St. Andrew’s has a long tradition of healing prayer. At our Wednesday morning eucharist, for example, the rector lays her hands on worshippers and offers a prayer to address whatever concerns are on their hearts. On Sundays, during the eucharist, a two-person healing team huddles one on one with individual worshippers at the back of the church and prays for healing, reconciliation, renewal, acceptance—whatever concerns are laid down before them.

Praying with others for healing is a lay ministry, but our ranks have thinned in the last few years and on many Sundays we have not had healing teams. To attract parishioners to this ministry we are having a workshop on Saturday, July 14 in the afternoon. Michele Kinrade, a member of Zion Episcopal Church in North Branford, will lead the workshop. Michele has taught Christian healing prayer for various groups, including the Diocesan convention, Hartford Seminary, the Annand Program for Spiritual Formation at Yale, Global Awakening, and numerous churches. She believes that a healing prayer ministry can enhance the spirituality of any church by helping to develop a growing trust in God and by deepening the bonds of love within a congregation.

The workshop is open to all parishioners and there is no charge. To sign up, or for more information, contact John Armstrong.
LifeLine Screening here on June 12
Catch health risks early
Life Line Screening will be here at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 offering safe, painless, non-invasive preventive health screenings that may not be part of a routine physical. To be more proactive about your health and to stay healthy longer for yourself, your family and your community, register for these five potentially life-saving tests that assess your risk of stroke, cardiovascular disease and bone fractures.
Flyers in the back of the church explain how to sign up and receive $10 off the suite of tests regularly priced at $149.
Refugee Family from Afghanistan
Hussaini family settles into life in the United States
It has been a busy month for the Saints on the Shoreline (SOS) team! The Hussaini family arrived on May 1 at JFK. They have two uncles who reside in Clinton so they knew they would be residing there. They didn’t know anything else! They didn’t know anything about IRIS or about SOS. It was a beautiful day for them to arrive and a welcome committee greeted them at the airport to bring them safely to their new home. Thus, began their first whirlwind month in the US! 

After one month, I am happy to report they have met many friendly volunteers who have helped them get on their feet. Father, Tariq, speaks very good English. Mother, Maryam’s, English has already improved immensely. Son, Taha, is already going to school and after a week of rides to and from school, he is now riding the bus to school! The medical team has been very busy indeed with many doctors, dentists, and specialists’ appointments. Thankfully the family is all healthy. 

It takes a village and there surely has been a village of volunteers. Tutors, drivers, medical team, education team, employment team. We are all mentors on this journey with a goal of helping them become successful contributing citizens in our country. After one month, I have no doubt they will not only be contributing citizens, but they will bring us more than we can possibly bring them. Tariq’s desire to get a good job burns strong. Maryam’s law experience will help social justice issues for many years to come. Most importantly, they are good parents, who will bring up fine children. We are all blessed!
               
Thanks to all the volunteers! Thanks to all the contributors! 
  --Jaime Polk
Youth Matters . . .
Middle School Youth Group
The Middle School Youth Group celebrated the end of a great year with a potluck supper and dessert at the Butler’s on May 11. We built and played 9 Square-in-the-Air, tag, and gathered around the fire pit for some end of year reflections and fellowship. 

We’ve built up a good-sized group of 5-8th graders over the last few years and have met monthly through the school year. We are looking for some parents to continue the program as Sandy and Mary set their sights on HSYG .
June and July are busy months!
Wednesday, June 27, 10 - 11:30am.  The middle school VBS kitchen crew will be hosting a delicious and healthy summer brunch for our senior church members and their friends in our very own Farmer Hall. Step 1: Check your calendar and call a friend. Step 2: RSVP to Barb in the parish office.
CAMP WASHINGTON offers SUMMER FUN!  Visit www.campwashington.org for the complete schedule and fees. We already have middle-schoolers from St. Andrew’s heading to camp in Lakeside, CT the first week of July. The camp offers mini-camps of two nights for kids who have never spent a night away from home. Wilderness Camp, Leadership Camp and more - for kids 5-16 years old. Scholarships available. Give it a try!
BIG NEWS! Vacation Bible School is FULL! June 26-29. We will be operational for four full days from 9am - 12:30pm, Tuesday through Friday. Are you a teenager with free mornings? Speak to Mary or Shelby Auletta if you would like to volunteer that week. merklemaryk@gmail.com or 203-980-8175. PLEASE NOTE that should DHHS graduation be rescheduled to Tuesday morning, VBS will be held only Wednesday - Friday mornings.
NEED A JOB? College or high school students with time to spare should contact Mary or Shelby to volunteer for VBS, June 26-29, 9-12:30pm or to work with Grant for the summer ARTS CAMP, July 9-13.
The H.O.M.E. Mission Trip is in full swing. Many thanks to all who baked or donated at our bake sale on May 19!  We appreciate your support! We raised over $800!
GET SCRUBBED! A very special thank you in advance to Dennis and Rachel Salvo for coordinating this year’s H.O.M.E. car wash. Please bring your dirty car to get the wash of the summer to the Madison Service Center (across from Starbucks) from 11am – 3pm on June 10.
Seen and Heard Around the Church
Click on any of the images below to hear some of our music or see an album with more pictures.
Business Matters . . .
Summary of May Vestry Meeting
Picnic. The annual outdoor picnic will be held June 3 at the Surf Club. An outdoor eucharist will be celebrated at 10 a.m., followed by a lunch that will feature grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. The side dishes and desserts will be potluck, and parishioners are also encouraged to bring their own beach chairs to the service.
Summer Services. St. Andrew’s will continue to have three services on Sunday mornings while the Rev. Shariya Molegoda is away – a change from past summers when the number of services was reduced to two. However, some of the services will be Morning Prayer that will not be led by a priest and will not include communion.
The 8:30 and 9:30 services on June 10 will be led by the Rev. Esther Chuboff, while the 11 a.m. Morning Prayer service will be lay led by John Armstrong. On Sunday, June 17, the Rev. Chuboff will lead communion services at 9:30 and 11 a.m., with Helen Kitzman leading Morning Prayer at 8:30. All three services will be morning prayer on June 24, while on July 1, the Rev. Rachel Thomas will lead communion services at 9:30 and 11 a.m., while the 8:30 a.m. service will be morning prayer.
Septic. The Buildings and Grounds Committee is waiting for the town health inspector to provide the specifications for a new septic system capable of meeting the needs of the church and church school before proceeding to get cost estimates. The existing septic system on the front lawn has been failing and an examination revealed that it is too small to accommodate current church use.
New Mailbox. Thanks to a donation, the church has a new mailbox that opens at both ends, which eliminates the need to walk onto busy Route 79 to collect the church’s mail.
Finance. Treasurer Colleen McHugh reported that income was up, but unfortunately, so were expenses. Most of the increased expenses related to buildings and grounds and utilities.
McHugh also reported that a new tracking system had been created for the Stop & Shop gift cards. The cards – which return a percentage of purchases at Stop & Shop to St. Andrew’s – have brought in $900 so far this year.

 --Louise Beecher, Vestry Clerk     
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Staff
Rev. Shariya Molegoda, Rector
Barbara Gibbons, Parish Administrator
   Barb@StAndrewsMadison.org                    
Grant Underwood, Music Director                
     Grant@StAndrewsMadison.org               
Mary Merkle-Scotland, Youth Minister
Shelby Auletta, Church School Coordinator
Officers
Gary Naegel, Senior Warden 
Gary Cimmino, Junior Warden
Colleen McHugh-Heflin, Treasurer
Louise Beecher, Clerk
Vestry members at their April Retreat. L to r: Ray Hencir, Mark Auletta, Louise Beecher, Matt Valentine, Nancy Karas, Gary Cimmino, Laura Downes. Jane Kraus, Rev. Shariya, Gary Naegel.
Missing: John Armstrong (photographer), Maeve Merkle-Scotland, Anastasia King, Mark Tardie, Colleen McHugh-Heflin
Visit our website: www.StandrewsMadison.org