Welcome back! With summer over, we hope you had time to rest and to reflect. St. George's official Homecoming Sunday will be on September 16 -- also the start of Sunday School. This fall we also will welcome Olivia Pope, our new Youth Minister.

There are many wonderful activities planned in the upcoming months, including a new chamber concert series, Dinners for Eight and the formation of a new Men's Group. There are numerous opportunities for everyone to get involved and to be engaged. Please read on to learn more.

See you in church! 

Rector's Message

The Rev. Bernie Poppe, Rector

We have an exciting autumn planned. It will include new visions for our community life, new programs, and people to get to know.

When we were preparing for our Capital Campaign in 2005, we had a community-wide exercise of visioning and dreaming about what we would like our life to be in the near future. We've had a tradition of being open to diverse groups of people, a love of education and spiritual exploration, and a wide range of social, artistic and cultural events. We wanted to continue this, and, as we dreamed of renovating and upgrading our facility, we wanted to grow what we had and also become more available to the community. We wanted to house programs that reflected our priorities of ministry to children, social justice and the arts.

Slowly, but surely, over the years we accomplished many of our goals, even those that we thought were beyond our reach. The two largest goals were air conditioning the church buildings and hiring a youth minister. (Olivia Pope, the new youth minister, is an intern with NEWARK ACTS, a program sponsored by the diocese, and will be with us for a year. An article introducing her is below.)

As we enter the fall, the Vestry is going to do some visioning and invite the parish to join in looking ahead to new ideas and facets of our worship and life together. Since our last Community Visioning, many new members have joined us. They bring added vision, perspectives and talents to the work of God in St. George's, and it's exciting to see where we might go.

The Vestry will meet on Saturday, September 22, for a morning of conversation about our work together, what we've done well and what areas still need work in the process of administration. The next day, Sunday, September 23, after the 10:30 a.m. service, we'll have a parish lunch and visioning meeting to brainstorm together in small groups and as a full community. In October, after the Vestry has collated the information, the full leadership of the Parish Council, which includes Vestry and leaders of the various parish organizations, will map out some strategies.

Jesus calls us to love one another as He loved us. We do that in a variety of ways that reflects the gifts and passions of each of us. The goal of all that we do is the glory of God and the building up of God's people. From the services of worship, to classes, to children's programs, we hope to reflect God's love and delve deeper in to the mystery of God. If at any time someone doesn't see a class or program that reflects an interest or spiritual need, I hope you'll feel comfortable enough to say so and work together to bring it about. Many of our activities came from someone who followed an idea.

One of the strengths of St. George's has always been our creativity, courage and humor. These are good tools to use when building the kingdom of God. Roll up your sleeves, we're getting started!

John Ayer, Organist & Choirmaster

I trust that you all had a wonderfully fun and relaxing summer break. It's hard to believe that the program life of the church will start up anew in less than a month's time. We in the music department are looking forward to an invigorating and inspiring season of music making.     

As you are already aware, Homecoming Sunday takes place on September 16. The choir will be there adorned in their full ecclesiastical finery, leading us all on with their glorious singing. It will be a grand day, and one which you will NOT want to miss. So, come one and all, and bring all your friends, too!

We always have room in both our adult and youth choirs for more members. If you know of anyone who may have an interest in singing in one of these two groups, please have them contact me ASAP. It's NEVER too late to join! Thank you.   

Olivia Pope,  Youth Minister

Olivia Pope, a resident of Austin, Texas, is a recent graduate of Kalamazoo College where she majored in religion. She has long been involved with the Girl Scouts, continuing as a counselor and mentor even after her own camping days. She has a passion for working with children and youth and social justice and this combined with her developing spirituality led her to the Episcopal Service Corps, a national program of the Episcopal Church based on other volunteer organizations like the Peace Corps.

The Episcopal Service Corps has a branch in this diocese called NEWARK ACTS, a service-learning program for young adults that emphasizes social justice, community service, spiritual formation and communal living.

Each year, up to 9 interns live in community at two separate urban sites located in Newark and Jersey City. Young adults who have been out of high school for at least four years, will come to the Diocese of Newark for ten months to work in direct-care positions for local agencies and organizations with a social justice mission.

NEWARK ACTS interns live together in an intentional community house, create a covenant and rule of life to guide their common life, and share opportunities for common meals, discussion, discernment and devotion. Throughout the year, interns receive ongoing support and formation facilitated by NEWARK ACTS staff, Board of Directors, spiritual directors and mentors.

Olivia will be at St. George's for the coming year working with our youth, Sunday School and initiating outreach programs to youth in Maplewood and among other Episcopal Churches. Since this program is new to us, we'll be learning as we go and there will be many opportunities for families to get involved. Please welcome Olivia to our community and help her get oriented to our church.

Bernie 

Please Join Us in Sunday School!

Amy Cox-Martins,  Sunday School Director

I am so excited for another year of Sunday School! This will be my third year as Sunday School Director and tenth year involved with the Sunday School. 

On September 9 after the Family Service, we will have Sunday School registration. You can also register online at the St. George's website.  Also, be sure to sign up to be on the parish listserv for important notifications for Sunday School. 

We have an energizing year planned with the addition of our Youth Minister, Olivia Pope. Each week the Children's Chapel begins at 10:25 a.m. on the second floor of the Resource Center. After a brief chapel service, the children then break off into groups according to their age. The children return to their parents/guardians in the sanctuary after the Peace except for the youngest (Pre-K to Kindergarten), who remain in Godly Play. 

Sunday School is a great way for our parish children to connect and feel a part of the church community. Please feel free to "test the waters" by joining us for a sample Sunday. Our official Sunday School year kicks off on September 16 with our annual "Michaelmas" Harvest Festival.I look forward to seeing all the wonderful faces this fall! 

Confirmation Preparation

Over the past ten years, confirmation classes have been held in the Rector's Office for middle school youth in two year segments. The Bishop has stated that he wants youth to be in high school when they are presented for Confirmation so, in keeping with his preference and adding a new dimension to our program, the program is going to look different and, hopefully, will be more engaging for our youth.

During the middle school years, monthly trips will be planned to a variety of locations chosen as reflections of the five Baptismal vows. The trips may be to cathedrals or religious sites, museums of cultural history, social service venues such as soup kitchens, and more. Part of the trip will include conversations on how the work or information gathered impacts our lives as Christians. While specifically aimed at the middle school youth, high school youth are also invited to attend.  Then, during the freshman year of high school, the youth will have one year of class preparation that will begin in September until their Confirmation is held, usually in May.

This is the time of year when we talk about stewardship at St. George's.For those new to the parish, "stewardship" might seem a strange term.  It comes from the Old English stieweard- literally, the keeper of the pig sty- and its secular meaning today isn't all that different:  the act of taking care of something entrusted to us.

For those who've been here for a while, however, the word takes on a specific meaning: taking care of both our parish ministries and our spiritual lives by pledging some portion of our time, our talent and, yes, our treasure to St. George's and its work in the world.  In other words, giving back to God a portion of what God has given to each of us.

You'll be reading and hearing a lot about stewardship and pledging in the weeks ahead, and why the act is central to the Christian faith.  Explanatory brochures and pledge cards are being mailed to every parish family.  People in the parish who've wrestled with what it means to be a good steward will share their experiences with the congregation.  Parishioners will call other parishioners to discuss making a financial pledge for 2013, and a parish-wide luncheon in October will be devoted to the future of our faith community and how we, acting together, can change lives.

On Sunday, October 28, all these events come together with an in-gathering at both services of the pledges of financial support for St. George's that each of you decide to make for 2013.

Stewardship is a group effort, and a stewardship committee (their names are listed below) has been formed to guide those efforts.  They will need your help, so please be generous with your time when they call!

Dan Austin and Sharon McSorley, co-chairs

The Rev. Chris Carroll

Tom Edwards

George Hebert

Peyton Jefferson

For more details and to sign up, please contact Anne de Barcza (973-477-1895). But please don't sign up unless you have already held or scheduled your dinner for 2011-12! Thanks!