November 10, 2021 Highlights Newsletter

November 10, 2021

ADVENT WREATH MAKING PARTY FOR ALL AGES!

Join us for a family-friendly afternoon of fun, crafts and Advent Wreath Making on Saturday, November 20th from 3:00 - 5:00pm. Paper crafts will be available for all children and supplies will be available for adults/families to make and take an Advent wreath home.

This event is free and open to ALL, but registration is required by Tuesday, 11/16 so we can ensure adequate supplies for everyone.

Please let us know to expect you. Call the office at 973-376-0688, Ext. 32, or email childrenandyouth@ststephensmillburn.org.

Happening at St. Stephen's This Week...

Please join us for our Second Sunday of Advent worship on November 14 at 10:00am.

ALL are welcome!

WELCOME!

Join us as we continue our observation of an extended Advent of seven weeks, rather than four. This is a return to the Advent observance of the Church from its beginnings until just a few hundred years ago. Extending Advent in this way moves it from the "season of preparation" for Christmas to an observance of the full promise and realization of God's dream, helping us to engage more fully in Christ's mission of peace, justice, and the integrity of creation. We enter the new year mindful of God's work in creation through all time as we look ahead with hopeful anticipation to a more peaceful and just world and the fulfillment of God's promise to all people.

REMINDERS: We continue to follow safety precautions and lovingly require that you wear a mask over your nose and mouth at all times while in the building and maintain physical distance. Enter at the Narthex door (Christian Education building). Someone will welcome you and take your temperature. An usher will assist you with seating in the church.

Live-streamed to YouTube, Facebook, and via Zoom. Bulletins are available on the St. Stephen's website. All links can be found at the bottom of the newsletter.

Zoom passcode is SSM119.

The Sunday service will also be broadcast on HTTV (Comcast TV 36 and Verizon TV 33) on Tuesday at 6 AM and 3 PM.

ADVENT TO EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS

St. Stephen’s is a member of the Evelyn Underhill region- a small group of congregations in a geographic area gathered together by a bishop to support and care for one another in their ministry. This year, the congregations of our region are collaborating together in a shared Advent Devotional: Advent with Evelyn Underhill, edited by Christopher L. Webber. Daily during Advent and Christmas (November 7th – January 5th), a recorded devotional will be emailed out to everyone in our parishes via a special email group, so that we may pray and reflect together, wherever we may be. These will be about five minutes long. If you don’t want the daily devotions, let us know. For those who wish to purchase the devotional to follow along, you may do so through Church Publishing at www.churchpublishing.org or from Amazon.

In addition to the daily devotion recordings, our region’s clergy will host a weekly Zoom group to discuss and reflect on the week’s reflections. These Zoom gatherings will occur on the last four Thursdays of Advent (Dec. 2nd, Dec. 9th, Dec. 16th, and Dec. 23rd) from 7pm-8pm. To access the Zoom meeting, please use the link provided in the weekly newsletter.

READING WITH THE RECTOR

On November 14 at 11:30am, we will be discussing:

Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

Mitch Albom lost track of his mentor, College Professor Morrie Schwartz. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Their rekindled relationship turned into one final “class”: lessons in how to live.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift with the world.

Looking Ahead

PLEASE CHECK WEEKLY BECAUSE EVENTS MAY BE ADDED OR CHANGED

NOVEMBER

NOV 14

2nd Sun of Advent

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Reading with the Rector

NOV 17

7:30pm - Finance Committee Meeting

NOV 18

7pm - Preschool Committee Meeting

NOV 20

Advent Wreaths for ALL ages, time TBA

NOV 21

3rd Sun of Advent

Communion for All

Turkey Boxes Due

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Vestry Meeting

2pm - Interfaith Thanksgiving Service

NOV 28

4th Sun of Advent

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30 am - Advent Series

NOV 30

5pm - Women's Lectionary Study

DECEMBER

DEC 3

9am - Interfaith Bible Hour

DEC 5

5th Sun of Advent

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Advent Series

DEC 7

5pm - Women's Lectionary Study

DEC 12

6th Sun of Advent

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Advent Series

DEC 14

5pm - Women's Lectionary Study

DEC 15

7:30pm - Finance Committee Meeting

DEC 16

7pm - Preschool Committee Meeting

DEC 19

7th Sunday of Advent

Communion for All

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Vestry Meeting

DEC 21

5pm - Women's Lectionary Study

7:30pm - Blue Christmas

DEC 24

Christmas Eve Services

5pm & 9pm

DEC 25

10am - Christmas Day Service

DEC 26

10am - Sunday Worship

DEC 28

5pm - Women's Lectionary Study

JANUARY

JAN 2

10am - Sunday Worship

JAN 7

9am - Interfaith Bible Hour

JAN 9

10am - Sunday Worship

11am - Epiphany Open House at the Rectory

JAN 11

7pm - Worship Committee Meeting

JAN 16

Communion for All

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Vestry Meeting

JAN 19

7:30pm - Finance Committee Meeting

JAN 20

7pm - Preschool Committee Meeting

JAN 23

10am - Sunday Worship

11:30am - Reading with the Rector

JAN 30

10am - Sunday Worship

Other Happenings...

ANNUAL TURKEY BOX COLLECTION FOR OUR DRUMMING CAMP FAMILIES

Due: Sunday November 21, 2021

If you would like to participate in the St. Stephen's Annual Turkey Box Collection, please email Maryalice at maryalice_chech@yahoo.com if you are able to donate and bring a turkey box to the church on Sunday, November 21st.

Recommended items for each donated dinner:

(1) sturdy box

(1) 10 - 15 lb. FROZEN TURKEY

(1) disposable aluminum foil roasting pan

(2) boxes of stuffing

(1) 5 lb. bag of potatoes or (2) cans of sweet potatoes

(2) cans of vegetables (corn, green beans, peas)

(2) cans of turkey gravy

(2) cans cranberry sauce

(1) package rolls or corn muffins

½ gallon of apple or cranberry juice

Dessert-cookies, brownies, pies (no frozen pies)

+++

If you are unable to provide a full Turkey Box but would still like to contribute, you may bring non-perishable items from the list above to the Parish Office.

WEEKLY WOMEN'S LECTIONARY

STUDY

Please join us for a weekly study of a new lectionary available to the Episcopal Church and approved by Bishop Hughes. Beginning November 30th, we will meet on Tuesdays via Zoom from 5:00 to 6:00 pm to study A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W by Wilda Gafney.

This thought-provoking lectionary invites and challenges us to explore

differently the familiar stories of Scripture and how they shape and inform our faith today, while also expanding our understanding of what

it means to be made in the image of God through the use of non-gendered language for God.

The Gafney lectionary YEAR W is available at BN.com, Amazon, and ChurchPublishing.org. If you want to participate in this discussion and find the cost of the book prohibitive, please talk to Rev. Paula. No one should sit this out because of the cost of purchasing the book.

Prayer List

Please keep the following St. Stephen's family

members and friends in your prayers...

Peggy Thompson

Felder Dorn

Donna Riggi

The Blanchard Family

The McManus Family

Bernard & Nathan

The Fitzgerald Family

Lucille B.

Jack Moreno

Jim Freeman

The May Family

Mary Jo Zarance

Joseph G.

Kelly Olson

Linda Moran

Jane Rossiter

Greg Shuss

Nicole & Emma

Ningyu Liu

Jamie Stack

KT Thalin

Mike Losito

Kathleen Wheeler

Cara Lynn Cavin

Evan D. & Family

Alexandra Shuss

Harold & Paula Williams

If you would like to add someone to our prayer list, please email us at church@ststephensmillburn.org, or call (973) 376-0688 Ext. 32.

Anyone for whom we are praying will be on our prayer list for six weeks. If prayers are still needed beyond that time period, please let us know. Thank you.

Sunday Lectionary

November 14, 2021

Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

1 Samuel 1:4-20

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25

Mark 13:1-8

If you'd like to read the full lectionary for the week, you may do so here.

Giving with Tithe.ly

TITHE.LY

Giving with Tithe.ly is easy with options for recurring donations or one-time use for when you are away or not able to be in church (like all of us now due to COVID restrictions).

You can access Tithe.ly via their website or their app on your smart phone. Be sure to search for the correct account - "St. Stephen's Church Millburn." Once you have accessed the account page with our address, you will be instructed to follow the prompts.

Office Notes

Due to COVID restrictions, only teachers and staff are allowed to be in the building during school hours. If you need to visit the parish office/building for any reason, please contact us for an appointment. Thank you.