We are a loving and inclusive community of believers
and seekers who know that God is love (1 John 4:16), mercy
triumphs over judgement (James 2:13), and being a Christian
means living and loving like Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke &
John). Come and see!
|
|
| |
|
| |
 A
CELEBRATION FOR DEACON JANET
On Sunday February 10th we
will celebrate the ministry and retirement of
Deacon Janet Daniels with a
single service of Holy Eucharist at 9
am followed by a festive brunch potluck
in Farnsworth Hall. Stay tuned for further details,
and please mark your calendars to join us as
we gather to thank Deacon Janet and celebrate
her heartfelt ministry at St. Mary's! On the
occasion of her retirement, we would like to
present Deacon Janet with a couple of gifts
from the parish. In addition to buying her a
keepsake cross, we would also like to present
her with a monetary token of our gratitude.
Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated.
Please use the special envelopes provided in
church or simply send checks to the office noting
"Deacon Janet" on the memo line. Thank
you very much!
|
PLEDGE FOR 2019
If you have prayerfully decided to make an
annual pledge to support St. Mary's By The Sea
in 2019, please return your pledge card to the
office as soon as possible so that we can plan
ahead for ministries and expenses in the new
year.
 
WE COULD USE YOUR HELP
If you have any experience in fundraising or
special event planning we would love to pick
your brain! Please reach out to Mother Victoria,
Mike Mercuro, Suzanne Jorgensen, or phone the
parish office and speak to Cherisse.
|
2018 Stewardship: Many
Hands One Heart!
If you have prayerfully decided
to make an annual pledge to support St. Mary's
By The Sea in 2019, please return your pledge
card to the office as soon as possible so that
we can plan ahead for ministries and expenses
in the new year. |
MLK DAY OF SERVICE
On January 21 at 10am, the
diocese is holding a Day of Service in honor
of Dr King. After a Eucharist, participants
will join in simple projects serving the needy.
The event takes place at the Cathedral
in Trenton. Contact the church office
or Suzanne Jorgensen (732 779 4411) if you are
interested. We can carpool from church.
Please consider hosting a HOME
CHURCH GATHERING. We will bless your
home with Love, Laughter, food, scripture and
Eucharist. A fun and casual way to worship like
the early church did! Sign-up or call the parish
office for details.
|
Eucharistic Ministers are available to
bring Communion to those who are not able to get
to church for extended periods of time due to
illness or mobility issues. We are grateful to
Robin Henry for stepping forward
to co-ordinate this vital parish ministry. If
you know of someone who needs home, hospital,
rehab, or nursing home visits, please let us know.
If you would like to be trained to participate
in this beautiful ministry, please contact
Robin or Mother Victoria. |
CHAIR YOGA
For the next 6 weeks (Jan 9-Feb 6)
chair yoga in Farnsworth Hall will be
held on Wed. morning at 9AM rather than
Thurs. morning. Thursday mornings will
resume on the 13th.
|
2019
OFFERING ENVELOPES
are now available for pick-up in Farnsworth
Hall. |
|
|
|
SUNDAY SCHOOL FAMILIES It's
that time of year again and we're very excited
to see our students for another fun-filled year!
Registration forms will be in the back of the
church each Sunday through the first day of
classes, Sunday, September 16th. Please return
completed forms (which can be found at the back
of the church) to Cherisse in the Parish Office.
If you have questions or would like to volunteer
your time for Sunday School or Nursery, please
call Laurie Clayton at 732-600-5454.
Thank you!!
Download
Registration Form here
CALLING ALL FAMILIES WHOSE TEENS, 6TH
GRADE AND OLDER, WILL REGULARLY BE ATTENDING
CHURCH SCHOOL THIS YEAR. We are planning
and need your input to create an effective program.
Specifically we need to know if your teen will
regularly attend on Sunday mornings or if an
alternative meeting time might be preferable.
Please contact Laurie Clayton
either by phone or email to discuss alternatives
for the coming year.
732-600-5454 or claytombs1961@hotmail.com
|
BUS TRIP TO AMISH COUNTRY
BUS TRIP TO AMISH COUNTRY,
Saturday, May 4th, 2019, to
the Amish Country for some light shopping, a
visit to the Sight and Sound production of The
Life of Jesus and dinner at the Shady Maple
smorgasbord. We still need 17 people to sign
up. Cost is estimated to be between $125 to
135 per person depending on numbers ($75-$80
for a child under 13).
Contact Cherisse in the parish office
if you plan on attending.
|
|
SAINT MARY’S WILL BE COLLECTING
BARS OF WRAPPED BATH SOAP!
Mary’s Table, Seamen’s
Institute and St. Gregory’s Pantry
have all received donations from Soap S.A.C.K.
(Supporting a community with kindness). Soap
sacks are crocheted soap holders for homeless,
seniors, and anyone in need. People all over
the country are crocheting these beautiful sacks!
When donated, each sack contains a wrapped bar
of soap. It can be used as a wash cloth and
hung to dry. Please consider donating bars of
wrapped soap to supply this wonderful Mission!
Look for the basket in Farnsworth Hall to place
your wrapped bars of soap in! Thank you!!!!
|
St. Mary’s 13th Annual Gift Auction
Saturday, February 23rd, 2019
at the Brick VFW
373 Adamston Road Brick. NJ
Doors open at 5:00PM and calling begins at 7:00PM
Our Theme this year is
The Grand Prize will be a $2000 Travel
Voucher with a Mystery Suitcase filled
with Travel Extras Valued at $1000.00
ONLY 80 TICKETS
REMAINING
Please contact Cherisse in the office ASAP with
the number of tickets you would like to reserve
FROM YOUR GIFT AUCTION COMMITTEE:
Before we know it, Saint Mary’s 13th Annual
Gift Auction will be fast approaching! Many
preparations are already well underway! As we
get ready for the holidays, please consider
how you can help ensure the success of our largest
fundraiser. While you’re out shopping
for loved ones, if you see a bargain but no
one on your list would really want or need it,
please think about purchasing the item and donating
it to the gift auction. Gift cards also go a
long way in enhancing the value of our baskets.
Thank you for your kind consideration and supporting
the fundraiser that helps Saint Mary’s
continue to touch the lives of many in need.
With the hustle and bustle of the holidays
behind us, if while re-organizing and re-grouping
you happen upon gift(s) or gift card(s) you
will not have a need for, please consider donating
them to the gift auction. Would you also please
check in with family and friends regarding the
same? Thank you for your kind consideration
and supporting the fundraiser that helps Saint
Mary’s continue touching the lives of
many in need.
Cash Only - ATM next door
Cash Bar - No Outside Beer, Wine or Alcohol
Must be 18 to attend and play
|
FROM THE ALTAR GUILD
This year, in light of all the
recent fires, storms and natural disasters that
have caused suffering for so many people around
the country, we would like to make a Christmas
donation to Episcopal Relief and Development.
Our plan is to keep our Christmas flower display
beautiful but simple and donate the remaining
funds to ERD. Your Christmas flower donations
will help beautify our sanctuary AND help those
in need. Please give as generously as you are
able. Thank you!
|
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
For the Soup Kitchen in Asbury
Park. We need a few more volunteers for 1 or
2 Saturday mornings a year. Please contact Laura
Grodewald (ldunn06@gmail.com
/ 732-948-3186) for more information.
SINGERS NEEDED The
choir is in need of a few singers, especially
females (altos and sopranos). If interested,
please speak to JoAnn Roy, our choir director/organist.
|
CENTERING PRAYER
Please help yourself to Centering Prayer pamphlet,
located at the back of the church. Centering
Prayer is a beautiful form of Christian meditation
that has, for centuries, drawn people into deeper
intimacy with God. If you have any questions,
or would like to discuss your prayer life and
the possibility of trying Christian meditation,
please speak to Mother Victoria
any time.
|
GOOD NEWS FROM THE ESM!
Please try extra
hard to avoid plastic bags and packaging this
Holiday Season! With busy shopping
days ahead, please have your reusable shopping
bags handy. Keep them in your car and take them
with you into retail shops and food stores.
Even large department store cashiers are happy
to place purchases into these bags especially
when you tell them why you are using them! You’ll
be surprised how powerful leading by example
can be!
Let’s face plastic pollution together,
help raise awareness and make personal and collective
choices to protect humanity and wildlife.
|
TO THE CURRENT USERS OF PARISHPAY
Welcome to the WeShare family!
Following this week’s transition, here
are several things to keep in mind as you familiarize
yourself with WeShare.
We take the security of your website seriously.
We take the security of your website seriously.
Your recurring donations will continue as scheduled.
But you must authenticate your account and email
to receive WeShare emails to make any changes
to your account or receive WeShare emails. The
first time you enter the system-you will have
to go through a onetime validation requiring:
• Your ParishPay user name, The last
4 digits of the bank account or credit card
used with
ParishPay And ONE of the following two options:
• Your email address
• A collection name and the specific amount
donated within the last 6 months
Please feel free to contact the WeShare
customer service team for assistance at WeShare@4lpi.com
or call 1 (800) 950-9953 and select Option 1.
https://saintmarysbythesea.churchgiving.com
|
MARY’S TABLE
is in need of someone to deliver meals
every third Thursday anytime between
4 and 5 PM. It takes approximately 1/2
hour of your time to deliver meals to
three different addresses in Point Pleasant
Beach. Read
more...
Mary's Table is the
recipient of a grant to
support our feeding ministry from the
Hurricane
Sandy New Jersey Relief Foundation
|
|
|
SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE
In October, a box will be taken to the
Seamen’s Institute. Many seamen
are away from their families and not allowed
to leave their ships. To help brighten
their holidays, please donate comfort
items to help them through the season.
|
|
| |
|
First
Sunday after the Epiphany
January 13, 2019
Father in heaven, who at the baptism
of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved
Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that
all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant
they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and
Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and
reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with
you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm
you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, "Give them up,"
and to the south, "Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth--
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
Isaiah 43:1-7
When the apostles at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent
Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed
for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for
as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they
had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).
Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and
they received the Holy Spirit.
Acts
8:14-17
As the people were filled with expectation,
and all were questioning in their hearts concerning
John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered
all of them by saying, "I baptize you with water;
but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am
not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing
fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor
and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the
chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."
Now when all the people were baptized,
and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying,
the heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended
upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came
from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with
you I am well pleased."
Luke
3:15-17, 21-22
|
|
|
St.
Mary's by the Sea is a Christian community
that
strives to create a sanctuary for ALL
seekers
and believers alike
to
come and experience the Love of God through Jesus Christ,
to
share that love with those around us
and
in the wider world,
and
to grow in faith
as
part of a caring Christian family.
