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January 10 - 16, 2021 with St. Martin's
Sunday's Service and Parish Annual Meeting

Here is a link to: Sunday's Bulletin.

We are eager to re-gather for in-person worship, but we want everyone to be safe and healthy. See the reopening Committee's notes in this newsletter.

Here is the Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/408114126
Parish Annual Meeting
Please mark your calendars. The Parish Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 17 after an abbreviated Morning Worship. Please try to attend so we can have a quorum.

An agenda and other materials will be sent out to you before the meeting.

Because of Zoom restrictions, the meeting will be abbreviated. Instructions for speaking or asking a question will be given before the meeting begins.
Remembering our loved ones who have departed

This year during the Annual Meeting, we want to pause to name before God our loved ones who died in 2020 and offer prayers for them. Please send an email to Father Rob with the names for whom you desire prayer.
Coming Soon- Noonday Angelus and Healing Mass

Noonday Healing Mass will be celebrated on Wednesdays at Noon, preceded by the Angelus, beginning on Wednesday, January 20th. This will be a virtual only Mass, livestreamed on Facebook Live from the Lady Chapel. You do not need to have a Facebook account in order to watch the service. The Mass will also be recorded and posted online for those who can not be present to watch it live. In order to view the livestreamed Mass on Wednesdays at Noon, click the following link on Wednesdays a few minutes before Noon:


Holy Day Masses will continue to be celebrated on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm and they will be announced in advance.
Lay Servers at In-Person Mass

The Reopening Committee has been working hard to plan for our reopening and to prepare the forms requesting permission from the Bishop to reopen. I can not at this time give you a date, but we should be able to resume in person worship soon.

As you can imagine, the Mass will look somewhat different. One difference will be that we will only be able to have one Lay Server due to social distancing and other safety protocol. The duties of the Lay Server will be as follows:

 - Read the Lesson
 - Lead the Psalm
 - Lead the Prayers of the People
 - Ring the bells during the Eucharistic Prayer

If you would like to serve as a Lay Server as we regather for public worship, please send me an email and let me know of your desire to serve. A training session will be scheduled before we reopen and new servers will be required to attend the training before they begin serving. You may serve as a Lay Server if you have previously served as a Lay Reader, Intercessor, or Lay Eucharistic Minister. You may also serve as a Lay Server if you have never served at the altar before, but you feel God calling you to begin serving in this way.

Thank you all for all that you do for God and the parish.
Contact information for Fr. Rob
Fr. Rob can be contacted at rectorstmartinsnj@gmail.com or fatherroblaws@yahoo.com
Thank You!
Fausto, Zac and I want to thank you all for your warm welcome, hospitality and kindness to us. You have made us feel so welcomed and at home. We are thrilled to be here, and looking forward to the good work that God has in store for us all.
It was great to meet so many of you in person in your cars on Sunday. I look forward to meeting everyone when is safe to do so.

God bless you all!
Father Rob+
Outreach
Outreach is asking parishioners to make casseroles for SHIP during the month of January. Any and all types of casseroles are welcome but those that contain protein are greatly needed. In addition, SHIP is requesting pop top cans of meats, particularly sardines, Vienna sausages, beef hash or any other type of canned meat you find. They receive many cans of tuna but not other meats. They must be the pop top type of cans. If you can drop your donations at the SHIP office (87 E High St. Somerville) please tell them you are from St. Martin’s. They close their office at 2:00 p.m. If you would like your donation picked up and delivered to SHIP please call Marlene at 908-704-9527.
 
In February St. Martin’s will be delivering Valentine cards to Complete Care at Green Knoll. Outreach is asking that parishioners, young and old, participate in this activity. If you are artistic, please feel free to make some cards. If not, inexpensive Valentine’s cards or blank note cards with a message written inside will be equally appreciated by the nursing home residents. A box will be at the church on February 7th for your donations. More information to follow.
Covid Vaccine Registration
You can sign-up to receive the Covid 19 vaccination by using this link:
Stewardship
Thank you to all who have continued to send in your pledge cards. We are currently at $149,124. This is still short of our predicted budget of $200,000. Please continue to send in your pledges and remember you can also pledge on our website by using the Donate button on the top of this newsletter. Any questions, please contact Kelly Slye: kelly@slye.us Thank you for your continued support of St. Martin's.
Keeper of the Light
There is a light at St. Martin's that never goes out. We call it the "Sanctuary Light". It reminds us of the presence of Christ who is with us always. During this time when we are not able to be in our building, members of the parish have been taking turns caring for the light in their own home and then passing it on to another member for the next week, until we can all be together again in the church building. If you would like to be the "Keeper of the Light" for a week, email Philip with the subject "Candle" at philip.muniz@gmail.com.
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
1350 Washington Valley Road,
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
www.stmartinsnj.org

Call Us: 908-526-1350