St. Martin's 
Episcopal 
Church

Weekly E-News
August 8, 2014

Worship Schedule

Sunday        
8am and 10am
Holy Eucharist 
 
9:45am  Nursery 
 
Tuesday-Friday
9am
Morning Prayer in the Chapel

Wednesday 
7am service with Holy Eucharist        
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'Participants in Worship'
Click here for list of 'Participants in Worship' for this week and next.
Calendar Events
       
LAST Summer Barbeque
at 
St. Martin's
 
 Wednesday
August 20th at 5:30pm in the Great Hall. 
(rescheduled from May 13th)
 
Children are welcomed!!
 
Questions contact Gail Peet
  Thank You
To our August volunteers
Rick and Blythe White

for helping to maintain

St. Martin's Memorial Garden.

News from the CLOAK
hangers

We have started a new relationship with Harrington Hall and PICA to provide a monthly donation for both women and men.   

 

Delivery dates for the rest of the year:
8/15, 9/19, 10/17, 11/14, 12/19

 

Mary

 

**If you would like to volunteer with the Cloak please contact Mary Gray here.

Morning Prayer

It is my practice to endeavor to say Morning Prayer in the Chapel of the Church on Tuesday -Friday each week at 9am.
I would be interested in knowing of anyone who would like to join me. Morning Prayer takes about 25 minutes. 

 

I would also like to hear from those of you working downtown, which I believe is referred to as downcity here, who might be interested in saying Evening Prayer and or celebrating Eucharist at least one evening a week at around 5.30PM.

 

       Please email me with your                            thoughts. 

 

Best wishes.

Mark+


 

The Rev. Mark R. Sutherland

Rector

St Martin of Tours

Providence, RI

You Are Invited!

  

 

To a 'get to know you' gathering with  
Father Mark Sutherland
and Al Marcetti

 

The New Rector Welcome Committee is pleased to announce a series of small gatherings where parishioners can get to know Mark and Al. A variety of dates are available this summer and fall. We will gather at parishioner's homes and at church for summer barbeques. Please call or email the church to reserve a date and location that suits you. 

 

The Welcome Committee and Vestry extend a 'hearty thanks' to all who have offered their homes for these gatherings.

 

RSVP [email protected] or (401) 751-2141


   Volunteer!
VolunteerHands 

To volunteer for these ministries please contact:

CLOAK 
(Mary Gray)
 
       THRIFT SHOP           
(Karen Bracken) 
 
(John Lawlor)
LINKS
All the latest news and information on the:

'Thrifty Goose' 
 
Epiphany Soup Kitchen
  
                     and CLOAK 
 
can be found here
 
Rector Recap

  

    

Dinner at Jane Taylor's house on the bay at Narragansett was the occasion for the fifth (I think not counting the two parish cookouts) Meet and Greet the Rector. I have been amazed at how different each of these intimate dinner evenings is. The chemistry of those attending clearly has a lot to do with this and sets the tone for the feel and content of the discussion. What has surprised Al and me is that no one seems to want to grill me on policy or plans, although at the second event Carol Tucker made a valiant attempt, but we seemed to be having too much fun to get really serious.   Al and I are looking forward to a change of pace with the next event being a scheduled brunch at the Brookharts this coming Saturday.  My overall impression from these encounters is how fortunate we are in the St. Martin's community to enjoy such an incredible depth in human experience, and sheer human expertise. I am excited as we move forward, to not only stimulate and tap our potential but to also find ways of making this reservoir of experience and wisdom as the engine for our community to make a bigger difference in the life of the world around us.

 

This last Sunday I ventured into the immigration debate (some will think a foolish thing to do) as a way of finding new meaning in the parable of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. You can see my reflections at http://relationalrealities.com/ .

 

These maybe famous last words, but it is my hope and my intention not to parade politics from the pulpit but to open up the connections between our response to Scripture and the integrity of our day-to- day challenges we face. This process can be likened to standing in a place of real tension. A key to our identity as Episcopalians lies in our tradition's insistence on there being no easy answers, no blacks and whites as we sit in the tension between the Tradition we inherit and the demands of our own day and age. The pearl of discipleship emerges from the rubbed-raw irritation caused by the grittiness of living lives that are both faithful to Tradition and responsive to the needs of the time.

 

This last week I was asked if the parish would participate in two diocesan sponsored initiatives. The first and most pressing was a call from Canon Linda Grenz to join with some other central city congregations in a wider discussion of our response in the face of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Keep your eyes open for information about the next steps in this initiative. The other call came from Arch Deacon Jan Grinnell, who is forming a working group to address the seeming disappearance of the unpartnered 20 - 30 something's from our congregations. I hear many lament the fact that so many of our people in these age groups are forced to leave the State in search of jobs elsewhere. Yet the absence of this demographic from the St Martin's community is a reason for concern. Although a complex dynamic with interlocking facets, one of which we could focus on - is our lack of seeming appeal and usefulness to this age demographic.

 

This last week we learned of the death of Sonia Zell, coming close on the heals of the death of Alice Mainson-Larter. Both women have been described to me so as to bring the image of a force of nature to mind. As we lament the absence of some sections of our current community's demographic, at the same time we keenly mourn the loss of an older generation schooled in the traditions of faithful, and self-giving service. We shall not see the like of these women again, and our community and the Church more generally, is the poorer for their passing.

 

The dog days of August seem to be passing all too quickly and I look forward to welcoming many back after the summer recess - ready or not for the quickening of pace. The staff is hard at work on materials for Homecoming Sunday and the Parish Annual Renewal Campaign, which will kick-off in October.  For those of you still away, enjoy your refreshment. To those of you newly back in town, and to those who have never left - see you in Church, this coming Sunday!

 

Yours in Christ, 

 Mark+

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If you are interested in reading past or present sermons please check out relationalrealities.com
 
Also please visit our St. Martin's Facebook page where the extended reflection on last Sunday's gospel is also
posted.

 

Sunday

 

1 Kings 19:9-18
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33
Click here for this Sunday's readings

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Our guest organist this week is Diana Norton-Jackson.
Our guest oboist is Cheryl Bishkoff.


Morning Prayer

No Morning Prayer from Tuesday, August 12th through 
Friday, August 15th.
It will resume on Tuesday, August 19th.
 
Meet our new Director of Christian Formation!

 

I am so pleased to be able to announce the appointment of Linda Griggs as the new
Director of Christian Formation. 

 

Linda is married to Malcolm and with two adult children comes with experience of Christian Education, both as a parent, and as a program director and teacher in Episcopal churches in North Carolina, Cincinnati, and New York. Linda and Malcolm have recently bought a house in East Greenwich, and will be moving to Rhode Island in early September. Although she won't be physically present until September, her appointment commences August 1st and Linda is already in conversation with current teachers and parents concerning planning and ideas for the new school year.

 

Linda graduated this year from Yale Divinity School. In addition to her Christian Education experience she is coming to us with a strong theological and ministerial formation behind her.

 

I am sure you will all want to join with me in welcoming Linda into her new role, and to both her and Malcolm and their family to our St. Martin's Community. I will be able to give more information about this in August. In the meantime, please keep Linda and Malcolm in prayer as they negotiate the complexities and disruptions of moving home and preparing for a new phase in their lives.

 

Mark+

Collection Baskets


We have four (4) collection baskets at  
the back of the church designated for:   

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      Epiphany Soup Kitchen at
S. Stephen's. 
Small or travel-sized toiletries including chap stick, razors, shaving cream, toothbrushes, toothpaste, new socks and underwear.  
 
** We are looking for three volunteers for the next date which is August 23rd from 3-5 pm.
Please contact John Lawlor at 434-9769 or
[email protected] if you can help


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Food Pantries

Non-perishable food for Camp street Ministries and
Providence In-Town (PICA)

**August collection goes to PICA

 

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Bin of the Month

(August)

New underwear for men/women/children
 

 

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Backpack Express

Weekend food for the Providence School System's neediest students including: beans, tuna, peanut butter, pasta, mac & cheese, cereal, milk boxes, canned vegetables or fruit

 

For more information on all these wonderful ministries
please click here.