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!
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BISHOPS STOKES APPEAL
Collection for the Diocese of the Bahamas
“Rejoice
in hope, be patient in suffering, contribute
to the needs of the saints,
extend hospitality to strangers.”
--
Romans 12:12-13
We’ve all been heartbroken to see the
devastation visited upon the Bahamas by Hurricane
Dorian. As of Friday morning, more than 30 are
confirmed dead, with that number expected to
rise significantly. Large areas have been completely
leveled. Lives, homes, and basic infrastructure
have all been destroyed. The blessing of diversity
all across our diocesan community also means
that the vast majority of our congregations
are grieving family members and friends who
have been impacted, or have community connections
with those whose loved ones have been affected.
Bishop Stokes has pledged the support of our
Diocese to relief efforts led by the Anglican
Diocese of The Bahamas & The Turks and Caicos,
and is offering us the opportunity to respond
in solidarity by asking congregations to take
up a second collection every Sunday in September
to benefit storm victims in the Bahamas. Checks
should be made out to St. Mary’s (please
note: Diocese of the Bahamas in the memo) At
the end of the month a check for the total will
be forwarded to the Diocesan House which will
then be forwarded to the Discretionary Fund
for Bishop Laish Zane Boyd Sr. in the Bahamas.
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DONATION TO THE ALTAR GUILD
A Coronation Tapestry pall has been donated
to the Altar Guild in loving memory of James
Murtha by Kathleen Blood.
 
SPECIAL THANKS to
John Wesson
and Rich Wood
for cutting and trimming the church lawn all
summer
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COMMUNITY
FRIENDSHIP DINNER
COORDINATOR NEEDED
Each year in October, St. Mary’s
hosts the Friendship Dinner held at Harvey United
Methodist Church. This year the dinner will be
held on October 6th. We are in need of a coordinator.
There is an established menu of baked Ziti, salad,
bread etc. and also detailed notes explain other
details for the day. If you would be willing to
coordinate, please contact Cherisse in the parish
office ASAP. |
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.
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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. |
Welcome to the WeShare family!
Want a more convenient way to support St. Mary’s?
Want to support St. Mary’s consistently
throughout the year?
Want to make sure your pledge is there when
you can’t be?
Switch to electronic giving – simply
click on the heart below or go to
https://saintmarysbythesea.churchgiving.com
Please feel free to contact the WeShare
customer service team for assistance at WeShare@4lpi.com
or call 1 (800) 950-9952 and select Option 1.
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 IHN
Social
All are welcome to join us for food,
fellowship and a brief IHN volunteer
meeting on Tuesday, September
24th, starting at 6:30pm,
at the home of Mike and Jessie Mercuro
(1110 Burnt Tavern Rd, Point Pleasant
Boro). Our get-togethers are a relaxed
and pleasant way to get to know the
Interfaith Hospitality program at St.
Mary's and to visit together. Please
RSVP to the church office, or let us
know you can make it. We are actively
seeking to welcome new volunteers! Mike
Mercuro 732-272-6828, Lynn
Schambach 732-403-9708, Jessie
Mercuro 732-272-6828.
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BLESSING
OF THE ANIMALS
We welcome all family
pets to come to either worship service
on Sunday, October 6th
as we celebrate the Feast of St.
Francis with a Blessing of the
Animals. Well behaved pets, pictures of
pets and toy pets are all welcome to attend
the services with their people. For those
animals a bit too skittish to come into
church, Mother Victoria will be blessing
them in the parish hall or church’s
parking lot following either service.
Friends’ and neighbors’ pets
are welcome to come for a blessing as
well! |
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SUNDAY SCHOOL FAMILIES We’re
nearing the start of another fun Sunday
School year and we look forward to
seeing the children of St. Mary’s. Copies
of the calendar and registration form are attached
here and can also be found at the rear of the
church. Please complete the registration form
and return to teachers on the first day of class
in September (the 15th).
Download
Registration Form here
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WHAT IS THE ST. MARY’S CHALLENGE?
Simply stated, for every dollar that is donated
above the regular pledged amount  and
identified as St. Mary’s Challenge, an
anonymous donor will match that donation dollar
for dollar, up to $5,000. Each month we will
give an update on the status of the challenge.
To donate just indicate on your check St. Mary’s
Challenge or if a cash donation, use any envelope
and write St. Mary’s Challenge on the
envelope.
We are only
$1,045 away from reaching $5,000 and receiving
the full match!!!
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Check out our 
Calendar of Events
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SUNDAY BOOK STUDIES 2019 – 2020
Sundays Between Services in the
Jones Room 9 to 9:45 am
Join Us Anytime!
October 6 to December 15
“God
of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity
and Islam” by Mirabai
Starr
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ST.
MARY’S SOCIETY RUMMAGE SALE
ST.
MARY’S SOCIETY RUMMAGE SALE
will be held on Thursday,
October 10th from 9AM-2PM
and Friday, October 11th,
from 9AM-1PM. There
is a $5 bag sale all day Friday. Set
up is scheduled for Monday, October
8th and Tuesday, October 9th.  Please
sign up in Farnsworth Hall to volunteer.
The following items will be accepted:
clean clothing, dishes/glassware, small
appliances, jewelry, books, knick-knacks,
linens/tablecloths, bedspreads, blankets,
shoes. We do not accept these items:
Underwear, swim suits, non-working appliances,
suitcases, exercise equipment, encyclopedias
or text books. Donations will be accepted
in Farnsworth Hall from 11:30AM until
3:00PM on Sunday, 6th.
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HOME CHURCH GATHERING
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.
Our next gathering will be at the home of Liz
and Bill Bogardus on Monday, October 28th
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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.
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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.
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MARY’S TABLEMARY’S
TABLE is in desperate need
of baked items for Thursday evenings.
If you have any questions, please contact
Kathy at 732-600-3916 Thank you so much
for all you do for this wonderful ministry.
Read more...
Mary's Table is the
recipient of a grant to
support our feeding ministry from the
Hurricane
Sandy New Jersey Relief Foundation
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EVENSONG AND RECEPTION at
TRINITY CATHEDRAL
Honoring Ministries
of Older Adults
There will be an Evensong and reception on
Saturday, September 28th at 2:00PM to celebrate
the older adults in the Diocese of New Jersey,
their gifts, witness, and ministries. This year
Beverly Wilson and Alan Wagner will be honored
for the exemplary work they have done during
their continued years of service to St. Mary’s
by-the-Sea.
For more information, or to register to attend,
phone 609-394-5281 or please visit this link
Evensong
Honoring Older Adults
If you would like to carpool, please meet at
the church no later than 12:20PM. We will be
leaving the church parking lot promptly at 12:30PM.
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SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE
Traveling for business or pleasure? Please
consider bringing home the hotel’s
or ship’s toiletries to share with
the seafarer’s at SCI. SCI is eager
to receive travel-sized toothpaste, shampoo,
conditioner, lotion (hand or body), and
soap. Unscented items are preferred. Please
leave your donations in the kitchen marked
for Elaine Long.
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Fourteenth
Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 19
September 15, 2019
O God, because without you we are
not able to please you, mercifully grant that your
Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our
hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and for ever. Amen.
At that time it will be said to this people and
to Jerusalem: A hot wind comes from me out of the
bare heights in the desert toward my poor people,
not to winnow or cleanse-- a wind too strong for
that. Now it is I who speak in judgment against
them.
"For my people are foolish,
they do not know me;
they are stupid children,
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil,
but do not know how to do good."
I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and
void;
and to the heavens, and they had no light.
I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking,
and all the hills moved to and fro.
I looked, and lo, there was no one at all,
and all the birds of the air had fled.
I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert,
and all its cities were laid in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
For thus says the Lord: The whole land shall be
a desolation; yet I will not make a full end.
Because of this the earth shall mourn,
and the heavens above grow black;
for I have spoken, I have purposed;
I have not relented nor will I turn back.
Jeremiah
4:11-12, 22-28
I am grateful to Christ Jesus our
Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me
faithful and appointed me to his service, even though
I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man
of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted
ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord
overflowed for me with the faith and love that are
in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of
full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. But for
that very reason I received mercy, so that in me,
as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost
patience, making me an example to those who would
come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King
of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be
honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
1
Timothy 1:12-17
All the tax collectors and sinners
were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees
and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This
fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
So he told them this parable: "Which
one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one
of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness
and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders
and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together
his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice
with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who need no repentance.
"Or what woman having ten silver
coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a
lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until
she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together
her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me,
for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so,
I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels
of God over one sinner who repents."
Luke
15:1-10
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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.
