The Messenger
Growing together in God's Love
April, 2018
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Dear Friends in Christ,
Alleluia, Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen indeed, Alleluia!
We began our Easter celebration this year at dusk on March 31. A small group gathered in the Memorial Garden to kindle the new fire and light the Paschal Candle. The service gave us an opportunity to recall that the earliest disciples learned of the Resurrection at the tomb. After a candle-light procession into the church – and a reading of the Gospel – we left St. Andrew’s with the anticipation of gathering again on Easter Sunday for a fuller celebration with others, a celebration we hope to continue throughout the entire Easter Season.
The fifty days of the Easter offer us multiple occasions to explore the joy of Christ’s Risen glory. During this period the Scriptures appointed for worship help us meditate on the encounters the first disciples had with the Resurrected Jesus. These accounts invite us to open our eyes more fully to the encounters Jesus offers us, every day, as we go about both the sublime, and mundane, aspects of our lives.
The Easter Season is also a time when we might consider our dual roles as disciples (followers of Jesus) and apostles (those who are sent out by Jesus). The Good Book Club journey through the Gospel according to Luke during Lent helped many of us delve more deeply into our discipleship – and for the fifty days of Easter we may lean more completely into our apostleship with daily readings from the Acts of the Apostles.
May the joy of the Resurrection bring you, and those you love, much delight!
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Coming up at St. Andrew's . . .
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Calendar Highlights
Saturday, April 7
9-4: ECCT Spring Training
Tuesday, April 17
7:00 PM: Vestry meeting
Saturday, April 21
9 - 1: Southeast region convocation
Saturday, April 28
9 - 2: Vestry retreat
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Good Book Club
Schedule of Readings
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SOS Waits for a family. . .
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The Saints on the Shoreline (SOS) team is officially green light status. What does that mean? It means we are (mostly) ready and waiting! After many months of discernment, organizing, fund-raising, training, researching and preparing, we are now waiting to receive a family. We could literally get a call by the time this goes to print. Yes, there is anxiety in its truest definition. Where will the family be from? When will they arrive? How many family members will there be? What language will they speak? Will they speak any English? Will they arrive with any health issues needing to be addressed? The list of questions continues. Think about their anxiety! What is this new place where we will live? Will there be anyone who speaks our language? Will they be accepting of us and our ways? How will we support ourselves? We can only imagine their questions and feelings.
Most of you know we are sponsoring a refugee family through IRIS – Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, a non-profit organization based in New Haven. These are challenging times for refugees, for immigrants and for non-profit organizations who fight for their cause. IRIS has never experienced such a roller coaster ride of flow and resources. Many such organizations are closing due to these circumstances. Year to date for this fiscal year, the U.S. has received fewer than 10,000 refugees, mostly Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) status. The target is 20,000, which is down from previous years of over 70,000. IRIS has settled only 116 so far this year, which is more than 90% of the refugees settled in CT. There are 2 other agencies based in CT.
The family we receive will likely be an SIV family and we will likely settle them in either Branford or Clinton. It will be our responsibility to help them with housing, medical insurance, learning English, enrolling in school, and getting employment. Our goal is to help them help themselves and be self-sufficient. Time and again immigrants prove to be the hardest working among us, to be successful, contributing U.S. citizens. We don’t yet know their path. We only hope to help them find their way.
Continue to pray for us, for our mission, and most importantly for our future family and for refugees around the world. If you are interested in joining our team, we are in need of day time driving volunteers. Please contact Jaime Polk at
jaime.sue@hotmail.com.
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The
Hymn of the month
for the 9:30 am service is the “Still Speaking” Sanctus. The first part of the Sanctus, the adaptation from Isaiah 6:3, describes the prophet Isaiah's vision of the throne of God surrounded by six-winged, ministering seraphim. A similar representation is found in Revelation 4:8. The text of the second part, beginning with the word
Benedictus
(Latin for "Blessed") is taken from Matthew 21:9, describes Jesus' Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, which is based on the first half of Psalm 118:26. The “Still Speaking” Sanctus blends this portion of our Eucharistic Prayer (originating from the 5
th
century) with a 21
st
century aesthetic that allows us to worship simultaneously with the old and the new.
Come and Sing!
If you carry a tune, consider enjoying singing with the choir for the Easter liturgical season. We rehearse at 6:30 pm on Thursdays and 8:45 am on Sundays. We have both experienced and emerging sight-readers so there will be a spot for you regardless of where you are on your musical journey. It’s a truly wonderful opportunity to honor God through song while supporting – and being supported by – our parish family. During the Easter season we’ll rehearse a blend of old and new anthems and works.
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Middle Schoolers in New Haven
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A small yet mighty army of MSYG-ers headed to New Haven on March 10. We prepared a warm meal for the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, as well as some activity bags for the kids. We also toured their new facility, which is beautiful!
Next up
Cybersport and Laser Tag at the CT Sportsplex on Friday, April 6.
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Mark your calendar:
April 6 - Cybersport and Laser Tag at the CT Sportsplex
May 11 - end of year celebration at the Butler’s with potluck supper, 9 Square-in-the-Air, tag, and manhunt.
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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. Give it a try!
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Student Leaders Needed for this Summer’s H.O.M.E. Trip!
Is your son or daughter ready to take the next step in helping to plan and lead during this summer’s H.O.M.E. trip? Student leader applications are out. Please see Mary if you are interested in helping out with this summer’s trip in this capacity. Student leaders help organize and lead fundraisers, games and offer ideas and mentoring to younger students. Applications are due by March 15th.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/14-m3wlcWie1lpziL1uYZ3xY5ZiH4Nfzf75EBJ6F0p4s/prefill
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H.O.M.E. Pancake Breakfast
will be Sunday, April 29, from 8A - 11:30A.
This is one of our largest fundraisers and all H.O.M.E. participants are expected to help out. Join the fun and SAVE THE DATE! Thanks in advance for your support. Save the date for our H.O.M.E. car wash on June 10th, from 11A - 3P.
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Click on any of the images below to see a video or album with more pictures.
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At our annual meeting our now retired Treasurer, Cathy Golden, suggested some easy ways for parishioners to increase their support of St. Andrew’s. Here’s a reminder of what she said:
First
, buy Stop & Shop cards on Sunday or in the church office, and use them to pay for your groceries. The church earns 5% of the face amount of the card, and there is no cost to purchaser-parishioners. Stop & Shop customers who participate in the Gas Rewards program will continue to collect points!
Second, in today’s cashless, digital world more and more of us are fulfilling our pledges using electronic payments instead of putting cash or checks into the plate. Cathy suggested that parishioners who miss having their contributions blessed when the plates are brought forward might consider
putting $5 in cash into the plate. She pointed out that if 40 people made an additional $5 contribution each week, it would add up to an additional $10,000 in annual income for the church!
Ideas to think about!
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Summary of March Vestry Meeting
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Treasurer’s Report.
Treasurer Colleen McHugh reported that all the church’s bookkeeping accounts except those for the pre-school had been moved into PowerChurch. McHugh has been asked to investigate obtaining a credit card in the name of the church. She also reported that the church was running a $1,600 pledge shortfall.
Proposed donation programs.
John Armstrong said he was working on getting the church included in the Amazon Smiles program that allows people making purchases to
donate 0.5% of the purchase price to a selected charitable organization. Armstrong also said that St. Andrew’s should provide a link on its website that would allow parishioners to make donations through PayPal. Mark Auletta said he would work on getting the church’s website updated.
Septic.
The Rev. Shariya Molegoda reported that the church continues to have issues with its septic system and that fluid is leaking from the leach field. She said that she has met with a representative of Kyttle Sanitation who told her that the leach field was breaking down because it was built to accommodate the needs of a large family, but now has to deal with the equivalent of 150 flushes a day due to the growth of the pre-school.
Fallen Tree-Pepin.
One of the recent Northeaster storms left a tree on St. Andrew’s property overhanging the fence surrounding the home of famed chef and St. Andrew’s neighbor Jacques Pepin. Pepin asked that the tree be removed before it crushed he fence. The vestry agreed that a professional be employed to assess and correct the problem as soon as possible.
--Louise Beecher, Vestry Clerk
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St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
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Staff
Rev. Shariya Molegoda,
Rector
Barbara Gibbons,
Parish Administrator
Grant Underwood,
Music Director
Mary Merkle-Scotland,
Youth Minister
Shelby Auletta,
Church School Coordinator
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Officers
Gary Naegel,
Senior Warden
Gary Cimmino,
Junior Warden
Colleen McHugh,
Treasurer
Louise Beecher,
Clerk
Vestry
John Armstrong
Mark Auletta
Laura Downes
Ray Hencir
Nancy Karas
Anastasia King
Jane Kraus
Maeve Merkle-Scotland
Mark Tardie
Matt Valentine
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