WELCOME HOME!
Worship with us:
Sunday at 9:00 am in person and Live on Facebook
Saturday 5:30 pm, July 9 to August 27 - 101st Street Beach Pavilion
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Dearest family and friends of St. Mary's,
As Jesus’ disciples, we are taught to pray the Lord’s Prayer and to be persistent in our prayers. United to Christ in baptism, we must seek and persevere in seeking. We must knock and keep knocking until the door is opened to us. We should ask our heavenly Father for what we need and do so consistently. In the Gospel this Sunday, Jesus teaches us to be people of faithful prayer. Too often, people will turn to prayer only when their situation is hopeless. Jesus wants disciples who know they are children of God by their baptism and are confident to approach God as his beloved sons and daughters. Too often, we forget that when we made promises at our baptism or our parents made them for us, the Lord also made promises to us. We are cleansed and adopted by the power of that holy sacrament.
Our Gospel this Sunday does not teach us that we will always receive what we want. Sometimes we ask selfishly for comforts, or we are unable to see the Lord’s plan in our lives that may require some suffering or lack. This Gospel is not meant to turn the Lord into a genie that grants all our wishes. We are called to seek God first in our lives. If he is the goal of our seeking, then we will certainly receive what we seek. If we seek only fame or fortune, the Lord will need to convert us more deeply so that our asking, seeking, and knocking is according to his will. In baptism, we surrender our lives to the Lord. If we belong to Jesus, we seek and ask for the things that matter.
Jesus expects his people to pray, teaches us how to pray, and calls us to be constant in our prayers. As children of God through baptism, we can be confident that our prayers are heard and answered by a God who is merciful and truly wants what is best for us.
Blessings in Christ,
Mo. Allison+
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Important Dates to Note
July 9th - August 27th - Summer Worship at the Beach 5:30 pm 101st Street Pavilion
July 28th - The Quietmen
August 4th - Marnie and Nate
August 11th - Three & One
August 14th - ADULT FORUM BOOK STUDY begins -Lost Christianities
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Adult Forum - Book Study- Starting August 14th |
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Lost Christianities: The Battles of Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew
by Bart D. Ehrman, Matthew Kugler, et al.
The early Christian Church was a chaos of contending beliefs. Some groups of Christians claimed that there was not one God but two or twelve or thirty. Some believed that the world had not been created by God but by a lesser, ignorant deity. Certain sects maintained that Jesus was human but not divine, while others said he was divine but not human. In Lost Christianities, Bart D. Ehrman offers a fascinating look at these early forms of Christianity and shows how they came to be suppressed, reformed, or forgotten. All of these groups insisted that they upheld the teachings of Jesus and his apostles, and they all possessed writings that bore out their claims, books reputedly produced by Jesus's own followers. Modern archaeological work has recovered a number of key texts, and as Ehrman shows, these spectacular discoveries reveal religious diversity that says much about the ways in which history gets written by the winners.
Ehrman's discussion ranges from considerations of various "lost scriptures" - including forged gospels supposedly written by Simon Peter, Jesus's closest disciple, and Judas Thomas, Jesus's alleged twin brother - to the disparate beliefs of such groups as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites, the anti-Jewish Marcionites, and various "Gnostic" sects. Ehrman examines in depth the battles that raged between "proto-orthodox Christians" - those who eventually compiled the canonical books of the New Testament and standardized Christian belief - and the groups they denounced as heretics and ultimately overcame. Scrupulously researched and lucidly written, Lost Christianities is an eye-opening account of politics, power, and the clash of ideas among Christians in the decades before one group came to see its views prevail.
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The kids are here and having hands-on fun at St. Mary's with Science Explorers. In the coming weeks they will build a planetarium in the parish hall and a rocket launch (not in the parish hall!)!
A few openings are available for the camps for Children ages 4 to 11.
Call 877-870-9517 or go to www.ScienceExplorers.com to find out more.
"If it's not fun, we're not doing it!"
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We will be serving refreshments this year at the Thursdays on the Lawn intermissions. Please sign up to help with cookies, lemonade, or to hostess. A sign up sheet is on the parish hall bulletin board, or call the church office.
Thank you!
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Placing flowers on the altar in memory or honor of a loved one is a great way to remember someone special. Just fill in your information on the chart on the parish hall bulletin board and place a donation in the plate, noting it is for altar flowers. Flowers are available for you to take after the service. |
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Membership at St. Mary's consists of several different groups of "members." Some are Confirmed Communicant Members or who have transferred their membership by Letter of Transfer to St. Mary's. Some are Baptized into St. Mary’s or have requested that their names be entered in the Parish Register. Others are “members” by virtue of the fact that St. Mary’s is their church—the Christian community of which they are a part and where they worship regularly. Still, others are “summer members" or friends of St. Mary's. Many are part of St. Mary’s life, worship at St. Mary’s when in town, and support St. Mary’s financially. Canonically, they are not members in the legal sense, but they are every bit as much members of our parish family as those who are official members.
Please contact the church office if you would like to become a member of St. Mary's and be added to our data base.
We welcome you to join us!
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Checking on our Job as Stewards
A young boy walks into a small drug store and asks the druggist, “Could I use the telephone?” The druggist replies, “You certainly can,” and shows him where the telephone is. The boy calls a grocery store and asks the man who answers the phone, “Is your grocery store looking for someone to stock the shelves?” The man says, “No, we already have a stock boy.” The boy inquires, “If he isn’t doing a good job, maybe you need to get someone who will do a better job.” The man replies, “No, we are pleased with the work the boy is doing,” so the boy hung up the telephone.
The druggist hears the conversation and says to the boy, “I’m sorry you didn’t get the job.” The boy says, “I don’t need a job, because I am the stock boy. I was checking to see what they thought of my work.”
What if we could call God to ask about the job we are doing as his stewards? If it were possible to call, what kind of response would you expect to hear? Would God see you as a person who acknowledges all that you have as having been given to you by him and yourself as a manager, not an owner? Would God tell you that you are using your time, talents, and treasures in ways that please him? Would God commend you for feeding the hungry, for sheltering the homeless, for giving generously to those in need? Would God be pleased with what you are giving to his church? Would God tell you, “Well done, good and faithful steward?”
Unfortunately, we all fall well short of God’s standards, but, because of what Christ did for us on the Cross, we are forgiven for all the times that we have failed to be faithful stewards. With God’s grace given to us through his Son, we can be molded and transformed into God-pleasing stewards. In Christ, we can be stewards who do God’s work well.
Some Ways to donate are:
- The Sunday collection plate
- Send a check payable to St. Mary's to:
St. Mary's Church,
9425 Third Ave., Stone Harbor, NJ 08247
(Your envelope and number is not necessary, only your name.)
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Setting up a personal online banking "bill pay" option. The bank will mail the check for you to the church office.
Please note: Offering envelopes have been discontinued. Only your name is needed in order for the counters to record your giving.
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St. Mary's This 'n That Thrift Shop |
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One man's trash is another's man's treasure.
Please remember St. Mary's This 'n That Thrift Shop. Your donation of clothing and household items in good useable condition is welcome!
St. Mary's Thrift Shop has become a valuable presence in the Rio Grande community. As an outreach of St. Mary's, it provides assistance in vital ministry and mission by offering quality clothing and household goods at affordable prices to the community, along with jobs and work experience to those in need. Proceeds help to support The Branches, and other ministries and outreach of St. Mary's.
Store Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm
Donation days: Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am - 3 pm
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Happy Birthday to
Tyler Mericle on July 24th, Joselyn Rich on
July 27th, and Sebastian Tobias on July 29th!
If you would like your birthday or anniversary to be listed, please contact the church office with your dates.
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July 9th - August 27th - Summer Worship at the Beach 5:30 pm 101st Street Pavilion
July 28th - The Quietmen
August 4th - Marnie and Nate
August 11th - Three & One
August 14th - Adult Forum Book Study begins - Lost Christianities
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12 Step Meetings in the Church Hall
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Monday at 8:00 pm
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Tuesday at 8:00 pm
Alanon on Friday at 10:00 am
A seasonal additional Alanon meeting will be coming this summer on Tuesday at 8:00 pm in the chapel
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Seventh Sunday after Pentecost:
Proper 12
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Tuesday - Thursday 8:30 am Morning Prayer via Zoom
Saturday 5:30 pm, July 9 to Aug. 27 - 101st St. Beach Pavilion
Sunday 9:00 AM in person (church)
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