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"Open Mic Lent"- Bring your questions and/or comments about religion, faith and living. We will break bread together, discuss, share and pray.
Lenten Soup and Discussion schedule:
Where: St Cecilia Room
When: 6:00
soup;
7:00
discussion; see dates below
What: A vegetarian soup and non-vegetarian will be offered on all evenings. Fresh bread and a delicious salad will be offered as well. (The salad is Chris Cutting's famous greens with Craisins, walnuts, oranges with raspberry dressing.) This will be followed by our "open mic" discussion and prayer.
Ellen Shields
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Sunday School and Youth Group News
Thank you for coming to show your support for the Girl Scouts last Sunday.
They really are a GREAT group of girls and they make such a difference in our community.
THERE IS SUNDAY SCHOOL THIS SUNDAY MARCH 19th.
ENJOY OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL ARTWORK:
Please take a look at the wonderful artwork in the main hallway, just up the stairs from the parish hall.
IMPORTANT INFO FOR March 26th
The Youth and
Sunday School will be rehearsing the Passion in the church during coffee hour from
11:30-12:30. Rehearsal will also be
Sunday April 2nd at the same time. The Passion play will be on Palm
Sunday, April 9th, during the
10 AM service.
I will be giving out parts within the next week via email.
Also March 26th will be the last day to donate "Caps for Kids."
All the caps will be blessed by Father Gary during the
10AM Service.
Thanks for your donations!
There is still time to donate; baskets are located at both entrances of the church.
Please mark these important dates on your calendar for April:
Friday night April 7th, Hot Cross Buns Bake
The
Sunday School kids are welcome to come and help bake Hot Cross Buns in the Parish Hall from
5PM-6:30PM.
There will be pizza for dinner.
Sunday, April 23rd- Helen's Walk
in Sands Point. Please contact
Rhonda to register.
Have a great week!
Rhonda
Children and Youth Group Minister
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Some of you have heard this story before --it has been making the rounds the last couple of weeks. It's about a congregation that undertook a long and diligent search for a new minister - and at last settled on one.
On the first Sunday, the new minister went into the pulpit and delivered an absolutely amazing sermon. Everyone was deeply moved. They laughed, they cried, they were filled with awe. On the way out the door at the end of the service they congratulated the minister on his wonderful sermon, and when they got to the parking lot they congratulated each other on the wonderful choice they had made when they selected the new minister.
On the second Sunday, the new minister went up into the pulpit and delivered exactly the same sermon has he had the week before. Again people were deeply moved - but some scratched their heads and wondered what was going on. But, they gave the new minister the benefit of the doubt - perhaps he had just picked up the wrong notes on the way to church that morning - and they didn't say too much.
On the third Sunday the minister once again gave exactly the same sermon as he had on the first and second Sundays. This time there was widespread consternation. The elders immediately called a meeting with the minister and asked him what was going on.
"Pastor", they said, "The sermon you preached today is a really great sermon - and we all are deeply impressed by your ability - but you've delivered it three times now. Don't you know any other sermons?"
"Oh, yes!" replied the new minister, "I have scads of them - and they are all just as good as the one you just heard."
"Well then," replied the elders, "why don't you preach one of them next week?"
"I'm not going to do that," the minister replied, "until all of you have started following the message of the first one."
Today I have a new sermon, but I have an old message, a message each one of us needs to hear and to accept. It's the message of salvation. And it is found in the Bible- and especially it is found in the New Testament passage we heard read this morning-- the passage concerning Jesus's conversation with Nicodemus - where, and I quote, he says to Nicodemus:
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the
kingdom of God unless they are born again."
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Announcements
Episcopal Ministries of LI 2017 Annual Appeal is underway!
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The Episcopal Ministries of LI's mission is to respond to Christ's call to care for our neighbors as if directly for Christ, through establishing, nurturing and funding parish-based services and community partnerships which affirm the dignity of all people. For more information about the programs and ministries they support, or if you would like to make a donation, please pick up a brochure and donation envelope located at each of the church entrances.
Volunteers for Food Drive, Port Washington Stop & Shop, Saturday, April 8th:
Island Harvest, a fantastic local food bank that serves low-income families in Nassau and Suffolk, is having a food drive at Stop & Shops around LI, including in Port. When: Saturday, April 8th, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM (broken into two 4-hour shifts). Needs: Shift Captain to be at the drive and check in with Island Harvest a few times during the shift to convey amount of food collected. Need 2-3 volunteers to staff the tables. Volunteers can include kids age 7+! For more info: contact Jordan Buffa, Food Drive Coordinator at 631.873.4775 x 243 or Jordan@islandharvest.org.
For Whom the (Carillon) Bells Toll!:
St. Stephen's has a brand new carillon, which will be installed by Neill Carillon Service. The bells will resound once again on Palm Sunday. Many thanks to Elisa Delaney and Alan Dinn for their efforts on this project, and to Justin Newby, whose generous $15,000 donation has made this possible.
Help Team LI #103 celebrate Grace Church of Massapequa's New Food Pantry Ministry!
:
They are collecting non-perishable, easy to prepare food items at each of their team meetings and ask all outside communities to match their donation by donating 4 or more of the above items per person. Drop off is at Montfort Chapel, 26 S Saxon Ave in Bay Shore, on Saturday April 1st (Serenade @ 8pm) and Sunday, April 2nd (Closing @ 4pm).
See flyer here.
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Serving March 19th at 10 am:
Eucharistic Ministers:
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Donna Blankman and Gy. Dioguardi
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| Lectors: |
Dolores Kazanjian O'Brien and Bob Persons
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| Acolytes: |
Megan Day, Thomas Day, Milan John |
| Altar Guild: |
Laura Richards, Mary Lou Pedersen, Karen Lee
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| Coffee Hour: |
Matthew Bendix and Bob O'Brien
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| Counters Schedule: |
Maria Whisenand and Sue Mittelstaedt
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Parish March Calendar
Throughout March:
The Youth will be collecting items these months to send to the troops, and the Sunday School will be collecting "CAPS FOR KIDS" for Cohen's Children's Hospital. Leave your donations in the baskets located at the church entrances.
Tuesday, March 21st, 8pm:
Vestry Meeting in St. Cecilia Room.
Wednesday, March 22nd:
Noon Healing Service.
Wednesday, March 22nd, 6pm-8pm:
Lenten Soup with discussion in St. Cecilia Room.
Wednesday, March 29th:
Noon Healing Service.
Wednesday, March 29th, 6pm-8pm:
Lenten Soup with discussion in St. Cecilia Room.
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Easter is coming!
Please see Father Gary's Easter Letter here.
Holy Week and Easter schedule:
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Ministry Schedule
Find out if you're on the schedule
here.
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Coffee Hour
Thanks to our Coffee Hour volunteers!
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For Our Prayers
Dick & Jean, Virginia, Peter, Bob, Ann, Gerry, Carol, Jo, Tom, Gerry, Darlene, Jeanne, Steve & Debbie, Valerie, Nancy, Frank, Sue, Nina, Karen, Ian, Richard, Donna V., Lisa F., Kitty, Justin, Tony, Mary M., Ross, Sue, Hank, Howard, Charles, June, William, Carolyn, Elizabeth, Erica, Ann Alletta, Don, Sally & Ed, John P., Officer Mike, and Jamie & Jennifer.
To have someone entered onto our Prayer List please send an e-mail with the person's name & the requester's name to: office@ststephenspw.org. Your prayer request will be included for 4 weeks - please submit another request if you wish to have prayers continue after this time.
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