Our
Response to the Current Situation of Coronavirus/COVID-19
Illness:
A Message From the Rector
Alleluia! Christ
is Risen! … The Lord is Risen Indeed!
Alleluia!
Dearly Loved Ones in
Christ,
I am very happy to announce
the vestry’s decision to resume full in-person
worship at St. Mary’s By The Sea
effective June 1, 2021. Starting
on the first Sunday in June, we will hold all
our regular Sunday services indoors, in the
church. As has long been our custom, the 8 am
will be a Rite I service with pre-recorded music
at Communion time, and the 10 am will be a Rite
II service with organist and cantor or choir.
Most Sundays there will be adult faith formation
provided between the services in the format
of a Bible or book study.
Read
more...
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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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Sunday's at Saint Mary's by the Sea
 8:00
am Rite I Service of Holy
Eucharist, Indoors in the Church.
9:00 am Book Study in the Jones
Room.
10:00 am Rite II Service of
Holy Eucharist
Friends, per order
of our diocesan and government officials,
St. Mary's will observe the following
COVID-19 guidelines:
For those who are fully vaccinated
against COVID-19, face masks
and social distancing are no longer
required
at any indoor or outdoor parish activities.
For those who are not fully
vaccinated against COVID-19,
face masks and social distancing requirements
will remain in effect at all indoor
and outdoor parish activities.
If you are fully vaccinated and wish
to continue wearing a mask regardless,
we fully support your right to do so,
no questions asked.
The parish is required to keep
vaccination records on file for all
worship leaders, choir members and lectors.
Please be sure to provide a copy of
your vaccination record to the office
asap. Until these are received, please
continue to mask and
observe social distance while in church.
The parish is NOT required
to keep vaccination records for any
other members of the congregation.
Masking and social distancing are still
required for any and all children's
activities, including Church School.
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Book Study
Sundays at 9:00 am.
“Learning to Pray”
A Guide for Everyone
by James Martin, SJ
Join us every time and/or any time. Sundays
at 9:00 am.
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It’s
Back!
St. Mary’s by-the-Sea CASH Calendar Raffle!
 Our
latest raffle was a terrific success!
Several players won more than once and one lucky
player won FIVE TIMES! Your purchase helps us
support so many within the community through our
outreach ministries. It’s a WIN WIN!
If you are not familiar with
a CASH Calendar raffle, here is how it works:
The raffle will run for a three-month period (March,
April and May of 2021). For $25
you will receive one numbered calendar which will
be mailed to you. Each weekday has a dollar amount
associated with it. On the day of the drawing
numbered balls corresponding to each calendar
sold will be drawn one at a time at random. The
first ball drawn will be for the first Monday
on the March calendar. If that number is your
calendar number, YOU WIN! That winning ball is
immediately put back in the drum and the next
winner for Tuesday is drawn, and so on. This gives
you MULTIPLE CHANCES TO WIN!
It’s that simple! Winners do not need to
be present to win. There is nothing for you to
do but watch for the mail!
If you would like to purchase a calendar(s), please
respond to Cherisse at stmssecretary@verizon.net
with your name, complete
address and indicate how many
calendars you would like to purchase or contact
the parish office or @609-713-8813.
A separate order form for each calendar you request
will be mailed to you. Fill out the coupon on
the bottom, detach and mail in with your payment.
(The coupon is numbered to coincide with your
numbered calendar, so you MUST fill out a separate
coupon for each calendar you request). Retain
the top half which indicates your individual calendar(s)
numbers. If you are purchasing multiple calendars
you can pay for them with just one check. Checks
should be made payable to: St. Mary’s by-the-Sea,
804 Bay Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742.
Congratulations to the winners
of the CASH
Calendar Raffle for MAY.
Checks will be mailed by the end of the
month.
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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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FROM THE TREASURER
If you have not turned in your 2021
pledge card,
please do so as soon as possible or
send a private email to
our treasurer Gary
(gary.smerillo@smerilloassociates.com)
informing him of your planned support
of St. Mary's for the coming
year. We are short of our goal for 2021
and your Pledge may be the
one to help us reach that goal!!! God
bless you!
Gary Smerillo
Treasurer
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OFFERING ENVELOPES
Offering envelopes for 2021 are now
available for pick up.
The building is open during Mary's Table
on Thursday evenings
between noon and 6. Envelopes will be
on the table in the Jones
Room. If you are unable to stop by please
to my email at stmssecretary@verizon.net
and I will put yours in the mail to
you.
Thanks, Cherisse
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THE ST. MARY'S CHALLENGE IS
BACK!!
Once again, an anonymous donor will
match every dollar that is
donated above the regular pledged amount
and identified as St. Mary’s Challenge
up to $5,000. Each of the past 2 years
we have had the Challenge, all of you
stepped up and met the challenge. In
fact, in both years you exceed 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.
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CHURCH SCHOOL ONLINE LEARNING
Church School will be utilizing remote online
learning only for the foreseeable future.
Families who are interested in online Church
School should please contact the office to let
us know of their interest.
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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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Check out our
Calendar of Events
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MARY'S TABLE
Message
from St. Mary’s Emergency Food
Project
For over 9 years Mary's
Table has provided hot meals and warm
companionship to the community. Continuing
to serve our guests has been particularly
challenging this past year but the need
has never been greater. The volunteers
of Mary's Table recognize none of this
would have been possible without the
vision, compassion and determination
of Lois Lyon.
Lois, along with her
parish friends Chuck Reagan and Joan
Bryant, saw a role for St Mary's to
feed the bodies and spirits of those
who hunger, and since that time Lois
has lead the Mary's Table family of
volunteers, greeting guests, celebrating
birthdays, and making every guest feel
at home. We wish to honor Lois's unending
commitment to Mary's Table by dedicating
the meals served during the month of
February to her, as a symbol of our
love and gratitude. Read
more...
Hello everyone!
Mary’s Table
is looking for a volunteer on Thursday
mornings to pick up boxes of goodies
and a case of bananas at the Stop and
Shop in Point Pleasant Boro (Bridge
Avenue). It would take about 30 minutes
to pick up and deliver to the church.
Please contact Kathy at 732.600.3916
if you are interested!
Peace, Kathy
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First
Sunday after Pentecost
Trinity Sunday
May 30, 2021
Almighty and everlasting God, you
have given to us your servants grace, by the confession
of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal
Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to
worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith
and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your
one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son
and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Isaiah
6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty;
and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs
were in attendance above him; each had six wings:
with two they covered their faces, and with two
they covered their feet, and with two they flew.
And one called to another and said: “Holy,
holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth
is full of his glory.” The pivots on the thresholds
shook at the voices of those who called, and the
house filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe
is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips,
and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live
coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair
of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and
said: “Now that this has touched your lips,
your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted
out.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
Romans
8:12-17
So then, brothers and sisters, we
are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh-- for if you live according to the flesh,
you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death
the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall
back into fear, but you have received a spirit of
adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it
is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit
that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--
if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also
be glorified with him.
John
3:1-17
There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus,
a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and
said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a
teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these
signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”
Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God without being born
from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How
can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one
enter a second time into the mother’s womb and
be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly,
I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without
being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the
flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is
spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You
must be born from above.’ The wind blows where
it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you
do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things
be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher
of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we
speak of what we know and testify to what we have
seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have
told you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has ascended into heaven except the one who
descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so
must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes
in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send
the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in
order that the world might be saved through him.
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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.
