St. Martin's Newsletter
   Weekly E-News   April 24, 2015

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 
 +This Sunday

The Episcopal Charities committee is grateful for so many donations. 
We will be available this Sunday in the Great Hall after the 10am service. We hope to finish up this portion of our fund drive shortly, and start calling previous givers some time in late May or early June.          
 
                                            Thanks again, Kurt

  

 

Parish communities flow through cycles that roughly follow the aging of the membership. It was only a decade or so ago that we boasted over 100 children in the Sunday school together with a strong and active youth group. The youth are now in early adulthood, and the youngest children from that period are moving towards the end of high school with many now either in college or recently graduated.  So, the cycle begins again as at St Martin's we enjoy new life among our steadily growing group of parents with young children. 

 

The organization of many parish activities and ministries seems tilted towards those whose children are old enough not to need baby-sitting and those whose children are now off their hands - as the expression goes. For instance many meetings take place in the early evening time frame, a time of day, which is the most hectic in families with young children. During Lent, we had a regular high attendance at the Lent formation evening. Yet, the timing of the program - 5.30 to 9pm resulted in no one from our young family demographic attending.

 

This coming Sunday, we will be holding a parents with young families forum following the 10am Eucharist. Our intention is to brainstorm about the needs of folk in this demographic. I would like to share two issues at the front of my mind.

  1. Our social structure of the nuclear family places enormous pressure on two parents and in some cases a single parent. The old adage that it takes a village to raise a child remains a truism. What are the ways that the parish can better facilitate the support needs of people with young families? I think the answer to this question will have a strong self-organizing focus, by which I mean people in this demographic deciding on needs and supporting one another with the logistics of managing the increasing demands on family life. However, it seems to me that as a parish all of us have an interest in facilitating our young families to develop a self-organizing culture of greater mutual support.
  2. There might be a temptation to view the phase of parenthood with young children as fallow-time, spiritually speaking. It's the easiest thing in the world to let the pressures of daily life crowd-out any thought of time with, or for, God. Part of the solution undoubtedly lies in spiritual reflection and practice becoming a part of the self-organizing culture of mutual support. I encounter a strong desire for child-centered spiritual formation among parents with children of all ages. However, sending children to Sunday school and youth group has very limited formational success unless spiritual life is part of daily home life where the kids sense that their parents also take their own spiritual formation seriously. Incidentally, we live in an age when smart phone and tablet apps can help hugely with more portable and flexible models of spiritual reflection and practice.

If you are part of our growing demographic of families with young children, or if you are someone who cares deeply about how we all might better meet the needs of this part of our membership, I will look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday at 11.15 in the Stearns Room. Please note that ongoing childcare will be provided in the Washburn Room during this time.

 

Mark+


I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to Allison Spooner, our LEGO Angel, who has graciously donated a collection of the wonderful little bricks to KidZone for our new Building Faith Brick by Brick curriculum! Thanks to Allison and another prospective gift we are ready to set Brick by Brick in motion next year. Stay tuned for more information as our plans begin to take shape!   Linda

In Your Neighborhood...
+

Central Congregational Church has invited us to join them and other community members to a showing of the film Traces of the Trade on Thursday, April 30 from 7-9 pm at Wheeler School's Gilder Center for the Arts.                                                                                                                        

This documentary looks at the experiences of the DeWolf family of Bristol, RI and their understanding of how the slave trade affects their perspectives on their ancestors and on their own lives.  Filmmaker, Katrina Browne discovers that her ancestors were the largest slave traders in US history.  A trained facilitator will lead a discussion following the film.

READINGS THIS WEEK


Acts 4:5-12 (OT)

  1 John 3:16-24 (NT)
  John 10:11-18 (Gospel)
Click here for this Sunday's readings.
     THIS SUNDAY
Church School at 9:45am

Episcopal Charities in the Great Hall after the 10am service
Parent Coffee in the Stearns Room at 11:15am  (see 'Save the Date' below)
+
Youth Group at 11:30am
  
Gluten Free Hosts available at the altar rail

**Coffee Hour host this Sunday is the Ballou/Tyler Family.
 

MORNING PRAYER
    
It is my practice to endeavor to say Morning Prayer in the Chapel of the Church at 9am   on Tuesday through Friday each week I look forward to seeing you there!
           Mark+

+FYI


Applications are now available for grants from St. Martin's Outreach Committee
Grant amounts generally range from $250-$1000.  The deadline is June 1st.  If you are interested in applying, please contact the church office.

 +

United Thank Offering's (UTO) mission is to invite people to offer daily prayers of thanksgiving to God and outward and visible signs of those prayers which will benefit others.  If you would like to participate, blue envelopes and boxes are at the back of the church. 
The Spring Ingathering is on 
Saturday, May 2 at 9:30am at Saint Augustine's 
on the URI campus. 

Contribution Statements


The first quarter 2015 contribution statements have been mailed. Any questions please call the office and speak with Missy.

 
Save the Date!
 

Saturday, April 25 starting at 10am

The Memorial Garden Clean-up

The Memorial Garden Caretakers are having their annual Clean-up (weather permitting).
 
Interested in helping? Call Rosalind Ditson at 508-336-5116.

 +
Sunday, April 26 - 11:15am-12noon
Parent Coffee
Join us in the Stearns Room for a discussion and brainstorming session relating to the needs and concerns of the parents of our youngest members, and how the St. Martin's community can serve those needs. Childcare will be provided.
+
Sunday, May 3  - 7am to 12noon
St. Martin's May Breakfast! 

Come celebrate our magnificent May Breakfast. It's an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. Tickets are $10 for adults (presale $9), $6 for children under 12 (presale $5). All proceeds will go to the Epiphany Soup Kitchen and the Episcopal Conference Center.  

Lots of hands are needed - folks to set-up on Friday and Saturday, cooks, servers, clean-up help on Sunday.  We also need donations of homemade baked goods.  Chris Izzo is overseeing it this year.  Contact him at [email protected] or 401-828-0207 or call the office, if you can help.  Tickets on sale in the Great Hall after the service.  Buy early and save a dollar!
+
LAST CALL! Saturday, May 9 - 10am
Diocesan Confirmation

St. Barnabus, Warwick, RI

If you would like to be confirmed, received, or affirmed, please contact Father Mark or the church office as soon as possible.

Time for your Annual Spring closet clean-out!

                                  
 D
onations for Saint Martin's Thrifty Goose and The Cloak closet are always welcomed!  (And they are tax deductible).                                                                                                                 

               The CLOAK is looking for blue jeans for men/women/children.                                                         

The Thrifty Goose is in need of summer items: clothes for the family, all things for the beach, sun hats and umbrellas!                                                                                                                              

              Make your spring closet clean-out a win-win situation!!                         

For the Cloak please contact Mary Gray at [email protected]
 
For the Thrifty Goose please contact Karen Bracken at [email protected].

Participants in Worship
April 26, 2015
May 3, 2015
Reading Link 
8am:
Reader/EM: Denny Scott
Altar Guild: Al Howes 
10am: 
Readers:
Sean Mulholland (OT)
Pat Nolan (NT)
Elke Moonan (Prayers)
Altar Guild:
Susan Rodgers
Tom McDonnell
Eucharistic Ministers:
Meg LoPresti (Verger)
Al Anderson
John Condon
Acolytes:
Elizabeth Blake
Diana Blake
Gabrielle Ellicott
Greeter:
Kathy Good
Ushers:
Peter Dennehy
Peter Lofgren
Allen Dennison
Jane Dennison
Michael DiSandro
 
8am: 
Reader/EM: Missy Bennett
Altar Guild:  Karen Bracken
10am: 
Readers:
Jane Dennison (OT)
Rebekah Potter (NT)
Allan Dennison (Prayers)
Altar Guild:
Jane Taylor
Beth Ellis
Eucharistic Ministers:
Robin McGill (Verger)
Rich Gruber
Hal Conner
Acolytes:
BG Goff
Erin Welshman
Rebecca Loell
Greeter:
TBA
Ushers:
Charlie Bodell
Sarosh Fenn
Ray Esposito
Peter Gray
Eric Gustafson


Copyright � 2015. All Rights Reserved.