This Week on the Mountain for Sunday, February 21st

This Week on the Mountain

Sunday, February 21, 2021

The First Sunday in Lent

February 21: The First Sunday in Lent

Holy Eucharist, Rite I, 8 am

Sung Morning Prayer, 10 am

Please join us at

8 am Holy Eucharist, Rite I, Church & Livestream
10 am Sung Morning Prayer, Church & Livestream

You are welcome to attend the 8 or 10 am services in-person or virtually. We urge you to do whatever feels safest to you!

The 8&10 am liturgies are held in the Church where social distancing and safe procedures are maintained.:

+ Every other pew is available for seating. Persons sit more than 6 feet apart.

+ Doors remain open to allow air to circulate.

If you are joining us at the 8 or 10 am in-person, please read the guidelines here before responding. Your reservation is acknowledgment that you have read and agree to conform to them.

The 8 & 10 am liturgies will continue to stream in the SJOTM Zoom Room as well.

All are welcome to and encouraged to join our Sunday Zoom Room Coffee Hour at 10:45 am.

This is the Zoom link

This is the Youtube link for the 10am Liturgy

The 8 am Service Leaflet is available here

The 10 am Service Leaflet is available here

The Great Litany

Sunday, February 21

The Great Litany was the first liturgy translated into English by Thomas Cranmer at the request of Henry VIII in 1544. The practice at the time was for litanies to be offered in procession through public neighborhoods. Henry was disappointed that people were not responding and joining in the prayers and so wanted something in their language. It is the only service that remains in its original form from the First Book of Common Prayer (1549).

Traditionally sung or said at every Episcopal Church on the first Sunday of Lent, on the Mountain we normally chant it in procession at 10am. In fact, it was one of the last things we did before lockdown last Spring.

The setting of the Litany is by composer Henry Loosemore, organist of King's College, Cambridge until his death in 1670. We will make this beautiful setting available for private prayer and reflection throughout the season on our parish YouTube channel.

Click HERE to go to the Lenten Booklet

God's Co-Op Pantry

God's Co-op Pantry feeds our hungry neighbors in Bernardsville, Basking Ridge and Peapack-Gladstone. The pantry primarily serves three distinct and growing populations: veterans living on the grounds of the VA Hospital, local seniors and our underserved Hispanic neighbors. There are over 1,500 people living below the poverty line in Bernardsville, 800 in Basking Ridge, and 110 in Peapack-Gladstone. (Poverty is defined as living on or below $45,510 a year for a family of four.)

Last year, volunteers prepared 3636 bags of food for distribution. The Pantry is a seasonal recipient of fresh veggies and greens from the Giving Garden.

All throughout Lent, you can feed our friends by contributing to Co-op Pantry. There is a large waterproof container outside the Parish House (church offices) that is emptied daily. Here is the list of what is needed:

Maseca flour,
Vegetable oil (28 oz)
Pasta
Pasta Sauce (no glass jar)
Dried Black Beans
Canned Chicken
Rice (5lb bag)
Tomatoes (28 oz can)

On-line Contributions for Outreach

Please check your Lenten Booklet for descriptions of all of the initiatives. Remember that you may be generous any time you want and as often as you want even though each initiative is listed for a specific Saturday in the booklet .

FOOD for God's Co-op.

SOCKS for Grace Church, Plainfield.

DIAPERS for CASA SHaW.

CHOCOLATE for Somerset Foodbank.

Sunday School

Check out our Facebook page as Mrs. Mitchell reads bible stories. Each week is a new story and lesson....this is a fun way to continue religious education at home.

This week, Mrs. Mitchell reads Lent is for Remembering by Donna R. Rathert.

Also, don't forget to drop by the SJOTM office and pick up a craft bag.

New bags for February are in a bin on the front porch of the parish office building.

Listen to Sunday's Music

As we transition to in-person liturgies again, music of the day will continue to be posted on our SJOTM YouTube Channel. You can listen anytime throughout the week with this link . You can also Subscribe to our channel here for automatic updates and notifications.

Check out Our YouTube Channel

We are trying to get to 100 subscribers on our SJOTM YouTube channel so we can have a custom domain. Will you and your friends please SUBSCRIBE to our channel? You will receive automatic updates about our virtual liturgies, just in time for Christmas.

The Open Table Men's Group continues to meet

Wednesday, February 24, at 8:15 am

The group will begin reading Making Sense of Paul: A Basic Introduction to Pauline Theology by Virginia Wiles. The book is available at Amazon for $24 with delivery by February 7.

If you receive it before next Wednesday morn, try to read the Preface, Getting Started and the first chapter, through page 22.

Please contact Rich McGlynn here for more information. Especially contact Rich if you want to receive a reminder and the Zoom link early on Wednesday morning.

Good News in the Garden State

Click here to read the Diocese Of New Jersey Weekly Newsletter