St. Stephen's Weekly Touchstone
 
August 23, 2011
 
The Week Leading up to The Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Thought of the Week

 

When Bishop Roskam preached at the 15th anniversary of her consecration, she proclaimed that education is one of the most important factors for overcoming injustice in the world. Her assertion was that providing children the opportunity to be educated allowed them a much greater chance to overcome poverty and oppression. It is for this reason that she started the Carpenter's Kids foundation which St. Stephen's supports with some of our outreach funds. Through this program we supply 50 orphans in the Anglican Diocese of Central Tanganyika in Tanzania, Africa the supplies needed to participate in school. You can see more about the program here: http://www.dioceseny.org/pages/86-carpenter-s-kids.  

This is a central issue to our call to care for the poor and the oppressed. Our Baptismal covenant articulates this clearly by stating that we seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves...and strive for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being. Thus, this fall we are engaging in a second effort to help children with their education. Last year we started collecting school supplies for children in the Dominican Republic after hearing that a regular occurrence was for several children to have to share one pencil.

 

We are collecting school supplies again this year.

 

As we prepare for our Fall kick-off on September 18 when we will have the blessing of the backpacks (more to come on that event), I invite you to donate supplies for us to send to children in the Dominican Republic.

 

Some people find that as they shop for their own supplies it is easy to also pick up an extra pack of paper or pencils. This might be a good way to nurture a compassionate heart in your children for fellow students in need. Simply place the supplies in the baskets in the back of the church as seen below. Last year, some familes found it was fun to sit down with their children and pick out things online (through somewhere like Staples) and have them sent directly to the church. If you would like to do this, our address is 50 Bedford Rd. Armonk, NY10504.

 

However you would like to participate, please make sure your supplies arrive by September 18th. We will send them all together through our local contact at www.chiromission.org.

 

Lastly, I ask you to pray for all those children in the world trying to fight their way out of poverty and oppression. May our efforts make a difference in the lives of those in need.

 

See you in Church!

Fr. Josh

 
Picture of the Week

Donation basket in the back of the church awaiting school supplies!
photo by Fr. Josh
 

Special Announcement

 

 

 St. Stephen's Church, Armonk

presents

 

                                    FAURÉ

 REQUIEM

 

                                                 Baritone ~ Howard Davies

 Conductor ~ James Turner

 Soprano ~ Claire Turner

 Piano ~ Preston Smith

 

                                                            Also featuring

 Organ Music

 Organists ~ Preston Smith & James Turner

 

and

 

The Renaissance Vocal Ensemble

 ~

 Thursday, September 22, 2011

 at 8:00pm

~

 St. Stephen's Church,

 50 Bedford Road, Armonk, New York 10504

 Free Admission

Weekly Announcements

  

TREASURES OPENING

Treasure will be opening on Tuesday, September 6th for their 43rd Year!   Please stop by and see all the items that are for sale! Treasures hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday 10 - 2 PM.You may drop off donations during shop hours or call 273-2051 to schedule other arrangements.

 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 CONCERT OF CHORAL AND ORGAN MUSIC Please join us here in church at 8pm on Thursday, September 22, for a performance of Fauré's Requiem by our greatly expanded choir. The concert will also include organ music from our guest organist and accompanist, Preston Smith, and choral items sung by The Renaissance Vocal Ensemble.

 

FALL SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE SCHEDULE RESTARTS SEPTEMBER, 18th

On September 18th we will go back to our 10 am service. 

 

SATURDAY EVENING SERVICE TO MOVE TO SUNDAY EVENING

In lieu of our Saturday Evening Services, we will be starting a Sunday Evening Service at 5:30, and September 18th will be our first Sunday Evening Service.

  

BLESSING OF THE BACKPACKS

Because many of our young people will be running the race accross the street on Sunday morning September 18th, we will be Blessing the Backpacks at the Evening Service on the 18th and immediately following the service we will be having our Welcome Back to St. Stephen's Fall Cookout.  If you wish to donate a side dish or dessert, a sign up sheet is on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall.

 

COLLECTING SCHOOL SUPPLIES

We will once again be collecting for Dr. Todd Herold's foundation and we ask that you bring in school supplies for children of the Dominican Republic by September 18th. For more information about where the supplies go, visit Dr. Herold's foundation website, www.chiromission.org.

 

 

12 NOON SERVICES ON WEDNESDAY DISCONTINUED

Wednesday noon Services have been canceled for the near future.

  

SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ADULTS AND CHILDREN WILL BEGIN ON SEPTEMBER 25th

Sunday school for the children will begin at 9:45 this year.  Please meet downstairs in the Sunday school classrooms prior to Services on  September 25th.   Adult Education will also begin on September 25th.  We will meet at 9am in the Bethany Room.  Fr. Josh will be leading a class about stained glass windows!  More to come about our Adult Ed offering.

Weekly Readings

 

Our first reading of the week will be Exodus 3:1-15

See the reading here:   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=181117827

 

Our Gospel reading of the week will be Matthew 16:21-28

See the reading here:   http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=181117782

 

 Sunday Servers 

 

Ushers:   Craig Ramsey and Carolyn Billet
Acolyte:  Robert Lunder

Chalicist:  Sue Brown

Reader:  Carolyn Billet
Altar Guild:  Tina Wolf
Flower Guild:  Gail Sarfati
Sunday Iced Tea on the Lawn:  TBA
Saturday Refreshments on the Lawn:   Corey
For any questions or needs, you may contact Fr. Josh Condon;  office - 914-273-3812, rectory - 914-273-4570, cell phone - 917-753-1997 or by e-mail:  jcondon.ststephens@gmail.com. You can also contact MaryBeth Weisner in the office at office.ststephens@gmail.com.