Holy Week Services

The following is a quick update regarding St. Stephen's Holy Week services.




Due to technical difficulties with Zoom and Facebook Live, Rev. Paula has been working on the Holy Week services that will now be available via YouTube. 

The YouTube links for each service will be posted on the St. Stephen's website calendar as well as on our Facebook page.  

An update has been added to the website in the "Living Our Faith in a Time of Pandemic" section under "Holy Week and Easter in Communion" which you can find right here.  Links to the bulletins can be found there and on the website calendar as they become available. The Maundy Thursday and Good Friday bulletins are available now.

Links to all of the week's lectionaries are also listed towards the bottom of this newsletter.

Upcoming St. Stephen's Services:

Maundy Thursday service link will be available at 7:30 PM tonight.
Good Friday service link will be available at 12 noon on Friday.
Easter Sunday service link will be available at 8 AM on Sunday.

Thank you so much for your patience as we try to keep you informed with information that is changing daily!

IHN Update

Excerpted thanks from Jackie Baillargeron, IHN Interim Executive Director:

We are happy to report that  all four of our current families were successfully placed in permanent housing at the end of last week.

Going forward, we will not be bringing new families into the shelter program until the "shelter in place" orders have been lifted and it is safe to congregate again. Our goal is to keep both our families and our staff safe. Case management for current clients will continue to take place via phone and internet until face to face contact is appropriate again.

Huge thanks to those congregations who have already sent donations in lieu of hosting. It is a difficult time for all non-profits because expenses, such as salaries and rent do not cease even when viruses shut down much of the world.   We are also so grateful to those individuals who have reached out and been so generous.  

So dear fellow travelers, on some level we are always all walking each other home. We hope and pray that each of you are safe and stay healthy. Thank you for being part of IHN's extended family. 

From Bishop Hughes
This is the most recent edition of the now bi-weekly diocesan newsletter.

To read Bishop Hughes' Covid-19 guidelines, as well as other news from around the diocese, look here.
Behind the Scene at St. Stephen's
Most of our work is focused on planning worship for Holy Week and Easter.  Staff and lay leadership are meeting more regularly than usual via Zoom to stay on top of day-to-day activities and our financial stability.  We continue to explore ways to stay connected to each other, the diocese and beyond.
Resources from the Diocese and Beyond
There are many, many resources available to parishes and individuals to help sustain our faith practices during this unprecedented time.  This is by no means a complete list, though it does cover many areas of need.

The Diocese of Newark has a page dedicated to pastoral messages, informational updates and directives, and resources for use by parishes and people of faith.  You'll find it here.

The Episcopal Church, nationally and internationally, has information on its website, including pastoral messages from Presiding Bishop Michael B. Curry.  You'll find it here.  

The National Cathedral livestreams worship and hosts podcasts, all of which can be accessed here.

The Church Publishing Group has made available a free downloadable copy of The Book of Common Prayer.  This is a wonderful way to encourage both a personal prayer discipline and as a support to online worship in which the liturgy is from the BCP.

Church Publishing has also made available until April 15th a wonderful children's book about Compline, Candle Walk by Karin Holsinger Sherman.  If you listened to Rev. Paula's very first Facebook Live event the evening of March 20th, you heard her read this story.  You'l find these and other resources on the company's website or here, an Episcopal News Service link.

Now might be the right time to sign up for a daily, weekly, or monthly devotion.  A couple of our favorites are:
  • The Society of St. John the Evangelist.  The brothers offer wisdom in many ways so please do explore their website.
  • The Center for Action and Contemplation, home of Richard Rohr.  As with SSJE, this is a rich offering of resources so it is best to explore the website.
Lectionary

This Week:  Holy Week

April 9 - Maundy Thursday
April 10 - Good Friday
April 11 - Holy Saturday
April 12 -  Easter Sunday

Next Week:  April 19


Links to the Wider Church

The Episcopal Diocese of Newark







The Episcopal Church









The Presiding Bishop








Giving with Tithe.ly
Giving with Tithe.ly is easy, with options for one-time or recurring donations.  We encourage you to consider it at all times, but especially when you are away for any reason, like all of us now with the restrictions due to coronavirus.

There are two ways to do it:  thru  tithe.ly.com  or the  tithe.ly  app on your smart phone.  You'll want to search for St. Stephen's Church Millburn.  Be sure to have the correct punctuation. You'll know you're there when you see: St. Stephen's Church Millburn and the address. Once you're at the church's page, follow the prompts.  
Office Hours and Contact Information

Office hours: Until we are through this public health emergency, there are NO office hours.  Please call Rev. Paula to arrange for pastoral care or if you have any reason to come to the office. She'll work with you to figure out a safe way to manage this.

Phone: 973.376.0668  
Fax: 973.376.4002
Website: ststephensmillburn.org
Main email: church@ststephensmillburn.org
Follow us on:  Facebook, Instagram and  Pinterest

Doreen Schindler, Parish Administrator can be reached at ext. 32 or
church@ststephensmillburn.org.

The Rev. Paula J. Toland, Rector can be reached at ext. 21 or 
rector@ststephensmillburn.org.
She is an occasional blogger at fromthestillness.