St. Martin's Newsletter
   Weekly E-News July 29, 2016
Worship Schedule
(This schedule will begin again September 11)
Sunday  
   8:00am  Holy Eucharist
   8:45am  Bible Study 
   9:15am  Nursery
   9:30am  Holy Eucharist with choir
and sermon 
     10:45am   Christian Formation 
Tuesday-Friday
9am Morning Prayer in the Chapel
Wednesday
                                                              7am service with Holy Eucharist

(see box below for summer schedule) 


This coming Sunday will be the last Sunday for Jay MacCubbin, Director of Music. We celebrated Jay's 30-year tenure on June 5th, but July 31st is actually his last Sunday, and many of us will want to say a final farewell to him on Sunday.
 
Last Friday, Nicholas Voermans accepted our appointment as Jay's successor in the post of Director of Music, which from now on will be known as Minister of Music. Nick is a young man who brings a skilled and enthusiastic experience to the vital ministry of music, a ministry we value as one of the central planks of our community renewal.
 
Nick is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He began his organ studies at the age of six and began serving his home congregation at the age of twelve. He completed his undergraduate studies at Iowa State University studying organ under Dr. Lynn Zeigler and Dr. Tin-Shi Tam. Nick holds a Masters degree in Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College where he studied organ and choral conducting. In the Summer of 2010, he was invited to serve as a Choral Scholar at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan. At St. John the Divine, Nick was given the opportunity to regularly conduct The Cathedral Choir of Girls, Boys, and Adults. Prior to his appointment at St. Martin's, Nick served congregations in Wisconsin, Iowa, Alabama, New Jersey, New York, and North Carolina. Additionally, he has attended and participated in both public and private masterclasses led by Joseph Flummerfeldt, Weston Noble, Bruce Chamberlain, and Charles Bruffy. Nick has also participated in organ masterclasses led by JanettFishell and Tom Trenney. You can see a fuller version of his biography here. 
 
Nick is a man of energy and is committed to his membership of the Christian Community. In his previous post he was involved with the development of an outreach project to build a community garden for the purpose of community education in healthy eating as well as making fresh produce available to low income families. We are delighted to have him join our staff team. His first Sunday will be September 4th and the choir will return September 11th.
 
There are two groups I especially want to thank. Firstly, thank you to the members of the music discernment team, who since the end of April have worked tirelessly on the task that has led to Nick's appointment. Cheryl Bishkoff, Evon Burge, and Gordon Partington provided sound professional music guidance, Fla Lewis and Beth Shearer represented the choir perspectives, Pat Whitman and Denny Scott brought a congregational wisdom to the search, and Laura Bartsch represented the Vestry. I am especially appreciative of the way Mary Gray chaired the team. Having been the chair of the discernment team that led to my appointment, Mary is skilled in supporting my strengths and balancing my enthusiasms. Secondly, I want to thank the members of the choir who generously gave of their summer time to attend practice sessions with two of the candidates for the post; a huge thanks to both our choir volunteers and the professional section leaders.
 
During August the Rector's Epistle will be taking a holiday.
 
Numbers have been holding up well over the summer despite the escalating heat inside the church. Thank you to all who endure the discomfort. I hope to see many of you again, this Sunday in Church.

Mark+
Tomorrow, Saturday, July 30th...

Memorial Service for Frances Ferry Dennison
4pm at St. Martin's Church
Summer Schedule 

JULY 3rd through SEPTEMBER 4th:

9:15am Nursery 
ONE SERVICE of Holy Eucharist Rite II at 9:30am 
Office Hours  M-F  9am to 12noon

NO: 
Morning Prayer on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday 
Gander meetings 
News & Notes 
Christian Formation (starts again Sunday, September 18th) 
+
YES:
Wednesdays
Holy Eucharist at 7am 
Morning Prayer at 9am 
+
Sundays, July 17th & August 21st 
Christian Formation - ' The Story ' 
10:45am
+
Our guest organist for the month of August  
will be Diana-Norton Jackson. 

Please click here for Participants list for Sunday, July 31st.   
READINGS THIS WEEK

 
Hosea 11:1-11 (OT)
Colossians 3:1-11 (NT)
Luke 12:13-21 (Gospel)
 Click here for this Sunday's readings.
     THIS SUNDAY
9:15am  Nursery   
+
9:30am Holy Eucharist Rite II 
+
Healing Prayers during Communion
( this and every Sunday)
 +  
Gluten Free Hosts available at the altar rail. 
MORNING PRAYER
    
Morning Prayer is said in the Chapel of the Church at 9am on Tuesday through Friday each week. All are welcome!
               Mark+

In Your Neighborhood...
Friday, August 5 at 5pm 
The Royal School of Church Music is holding a training program in Newport from August 1 to 7. The 150 assembled choristers will be in Providence for an evensong service,
at Grace Church,  175 Mathewson St., Providence, RI  0290.
The service is open to the public.
 +
Thursday, August 18 at 7pm 
In celebration of its 100th anniversary the Rhode Island Foundation presents 
"Pops in the Park"  
Featuring the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra 
Francisco Noya, Conductor 
FREE! 
(rain date August 19) 
News from the Treasurer!
Updated 7/28/16
 
Thank you all for continuing to respond to our End of Year Story appeal for additional pledges to cover our projected operating budget deficit for 2016. Since last week we have heard from an additional 9 pledging units who have pledged an additional $2,797. We currently have received $38,701 in additional pledges, which represents almost 97% of our $40,000 goal. In terms of pledging units, we have heard from 58% or 82 out of 142 pledging units for 2016.
 
We are only $1,300 shy of our goal. As a reminder, our appeal was for each pledging unit to pledge an additional $285 or at least increase their 2016 pledge by 12%. We look forward to hearing from the remaining 60 pledging units and continuing to support OUR St. Martin's community.
 
Sarosh Fenn
Biblebox
(Weekly Bible Study) 
Luke 12:13-21
To dig a little behind the Gospel text for this Sunday, take a look at this week's  Working Preacher in preparation for discussion at our weekly Sunday Bible study at 8:30am in the Church Office this week.

Last Saturday, July 23rd, seven St. Martins volunteers helped out at the Soup Kitchen 
                                                                              at St Stephens.

50 + guests enjoyed the cooking of our new Chef, Diamond - the menu: shepherds pie, fresh locally grown zucchini , fresh cucumber salad, green tossed salad, bread donated by Wayland Bakery, and assorted desserts donated by Stop and Shop on Branch Ave.

They were entertained by our resident violinists, Abby and Emma .

God Bless and thanks for the support and caring , Gail
FYI

Applications are now available for grants from St. Martin's Outreach Committee. 

Grant amounts generally range from $250-$1000.  The deadline is September 1st. 
If you are interested in applying, please contact the church office.
 
Imagine a Life In Which You Can Say:
Yes! to God; Yes! to Your Neighbor; and Yes! to Your Self
Yes! A workshop series by the  
Commission on Ministry
Beginning on Sept. 21, 2016

The Commission on Ministry will again offer the Yes! curriculum beginning on September, 21, 2016. The 7 session course will be facilitated by our Archdeacon, The Venerable Janice Grinnell and will be held at St. Columba's Chapel in Middletown, RI.

This program is in direct response to lay people who are seeking ways to discern and understand their God given purpose. The dates and times are as follow:

Session 1
September 21, 2016 from 7-9 p.m.

Session 2
September 28, 2016 from 7-9 p.m.

Session 3
Evenings of Discovery
October 5, 2016 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Session 4
October 19, 2016 from 6:30-9:30 p.m.

Session 5
October 26, 2016 from 7-9 p.m.

Session 6
November 2, 2016 from 7-9 p.m.

Session 7
(last)
November 9, 2016 from 7-9 p.m.
 
 
What is Yes!?
 
Yes! was developed to help you create that life God is calling you to live.
Rather than egotistically creating your own life, Yes! uses appreciative inquiry and conversation to help you awaken to the life-giving purpose that is already within you.

Yes! is based on several assumptions:
  • We are made for a purpose
  • We have been fully equipped with gifts and talents to fulfill that purpose
  • We most closely manifest our purpose when we are at our best, being and doing those things that flow from the core of our being and bring deep satisfaction
Life and the abundant life that Jesus' promised comes from what we deeply and profoundly say yes to, for it is in what we say Yes! to that we manifest our God given purpose.

Cost:
$100 (includes cost of materials)
Limited scholarships available. To learn more, please contact Canon Betsy Fornal, Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, at 401-274-4500, ext. 225 or email betsy@episcopalri.org.
 
[Correction to step #4 below...please take note]

St. Martin's joins the Amazon Smile Program!
St. Martin's has registered with Amazon's charitable giving program which is called Amazon Smile. Under Amazon Smile, ½ of 1% of all your purchases go a to a charity of your choice. Parishioners can now designate St. Martin's to receive ½ of 1% of their Amazon purchases.  
Here is how to participate:
  1. Go to smile.amazon.com
  2. Enroll in program by giving your email address and your regular Amazon password
  3. The next page will welcome you to the program and show a default charity such as the Audubon Society. Next to the default charity name will be a small arrow asking if you want to change the charity. Click on the arrow.
  4. Type in St. Martins Parish (exactly) in the box and our name will come up. Click select.
  5. After this, when purchasing from Amazon you must go through smile.amazon.com for you purchases to qualify.
  6. Price, service and selection is exactly the same as on the 'normal' Amazon web site. Subscribers to Amazon Prime can use the Smile program.
If you have any questions please contact the office. (And thank you!!)