Our
Response to the Current Situation of Coronavirus/COVID-19
Illness:
A NOTE FROM THE RECTOR
I hope and trust that you and
your families are all staying safe and healthy.
You are constantly in my prayers! Though Governor
Murphy has started to loosen up public health
restrictions, our church leadership continues
to be deeply concerned for the health, well-being
and protection of us all, especially those who,
like our dear elderly members, are at higher
risk for illness. Bishop Stokes has convened
an advisory counsel consisting of church and
medical professionals to help us find our way
forward through this pandemic crisis. Though
most dioceses are planning phased re-openings,
there are as yet no firm dates being communicated
in our highly-affected area. Out of love for
the People of God, our church leaders will likely
continue to proceed with great caution.
In the meantime, St. Mary's
is continuing to hum along behind the scenes!
We are feeding more people than ever through
Mary's Table and the newly established St. Mary's
Emergency Food Project. Farnsworth Hall is getting
a freshen-up makeover with fresh paint and new
carpeting. Our church grounds have been tended
by gracious volunteers. Church staff and vestry
are working together ... remotely ... to keep
our ministries and finances not just surviving,
but thriving. We are SO VERY GRATEFUL to all
of you for your continued spiritual and financial
support of our beautiful little church!
Even when we are apart, we
are always held together in the Sacred Heart
of God. As always, if you or your loved ones
need anything at all, please don't hesitate
to call any of us on our cell phones.
With hope, love &
prayers,
Victoria+
Rector Victoria Pretti: 609-827-8231
Senior Warden Marie Lucier Woodruff: 713-673-5817
Parish Administrator Cherisse Petruzzi: 609-713-8813
Bishop
Stokes has ordered that all public worship services
be suspended. Therefore, there will be no Sunday
services held at St. Mary’s until we receive
permission from the Bishop to resume them.
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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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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.
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.
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NEW CARPET IN FARNSWORTH HALL
Farnsworth Hall is getting new carpet this
coming week! Help is needed moving items. Please
let Marie Lucier -Woodruff
know (text or call 732-673-5817) if you are
available to help at noon on Friday or Saturday
morning at 10 for about an hour. Help will also
be needed one evening (Monday or Tuesday evening
to be determined). We only want a few volunteers
at a time so please let Marie know before you
come to church.
Check out our 
Calendar of Events
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ST. MARY’S CHALLENGE 2020
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.
St. Mary’s Challenge envelopes
are available at the back of the church.
Please indicate ‘St. Mary’s
Challenge’ in the memo if you
are donating by check.
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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.
A NOTE FROM THE
TREASURER
I would like to thank everyone who is sending
in the Pledge support during this most uncertain
and difficult time.
To that end, we are only down 19% from our budget
pledges to date. So a very big and heartfelt
THANK YOU to all of you.
Additionally, donations to Mary’s Table
and our Emergency Food Project are remaining
strong.
Finally, the St. Mary’s challenge is at
$4,928 with the match; we are halfway to our
goal (well almost).
I can’t say thank you enough to all of
you, our Parishioners, for you continued and
strong support!
Be safe and stay the course,
Gary Smerillo, Treasurer
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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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HANDBAGS TO HELP
Vincent’s Legacy is seeking ‘like
new’ designer handbags for its new fundraising
initiative. The 100% volunteer-driven ministry
is in its 10th year.
Please help by contacting handbags.to.help@svdptrenton.org.
17 bags
have been collected and are currently for sale
at Selective Seconds in Belmar.
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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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SOUP KITCHEN SPRING FUNDRAISER
Get your tickets! The annual fundraiser show
for the Soup Kitchen at Trinity Church in Asbury
Park will be "Monty Python's Spamalot",
Friday March 20th at 6:30pm at Spring Lake Community
House Theater. Tickets are a minimum donation
of $30, and checks should be made out to Trinity
Church with “Food Justice” in the
memo.
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MARY'S TABLE
Mary’s Table
provides food and fellowship to all
who hunger or seek companionship in
a loving environment of acceptance.
Started by parishioners of Saint Mary's
by the Sea Episcopal Church in Point
Pleasant Beach, and located there, Mary's
Table opened her doors on November 1
of 2012. Volunteers from other churches,
communities and businesses quickly became
involved in this worthy mission. Thank
you so much for all you do for this
wonderful ministry.
Read more...
A NOTE
FROM KATHY LYON ON BEHALF OF MARY'S
TABLE
AND THE EMERGENCY FOOD PROJECT:
Hello all,
I hope those of you we
have not seen are well! It cannot be
overstated how much we miss you!!! Please,
if you are in need of anything, reach
out! Last Thursday, Patty Camme, her
husband Anthony and their friends, Laurie
and Pete, worked the kitchen to serve
the meals that were donated. Red's Lobster
Pot donated 10 trays of chicken and
pasta in vodka sauce AND we received
50 individual chicken parm and ziti
from Maria's Pizza in Point Pleasant!
Overall, we delivered
222 meals to surrounding areas! Laurie
has been coordinating volunteers who
are delivering the meals and it has
worked out so well. I don't know if
I mentioned that we are including a
small bag of cookies as dessert because
packing 200 desserts in those clamshells
is very expensive and they take up a
lot of room. Every week it seems we
are adding people to Mary's Table guest
list to receive food. We have been so
blessed that donations are still being
made during this difficult time.
As for St. Mary's Emergency
Food Project, it is going well. We have
received so many non perishable items,
the Jones room is overflowing! We are
now directing people to purchase gift
cards so people can get the extras they
may need. As an example, we know an
individual who needs adult diapers,
but cannot afford them! Can you imagine
having to ask someone you don't know
for these types of products? All in
all we are very busy, but loving every
minute of it!
Know that we are thinking of all of
you and want you to stay well!
Peace and love, Kathy
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Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 24, 2020
O God, the King of glory, you have
exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph
to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless,
but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and
exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has
gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
When the apostles had come together,
they asked Jesus, “Lord, is this the time
when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
He replied, “It is not for you to know the
times or periods that the Father has set by his
own authority. But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.” When he had
said this, as they were watching, he was lifted
up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While
he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven,
suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They
said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking
up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken
up from you into heaven, will come in the same way
as you saw him go into heaven.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,
a sabbath day’s journey away. When they had
entered the city, they went to the room upstairs
where they were staying, Peter, and John, and James,
and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,
James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and
Judas son of James. All these were constantly devoting
themselves to prayer, together with certain women,
including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his
brothers.
Acts
1:6-14
Beloved, do not be surprised at the
fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test
you, as though something strange were happening to
you. But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ's
sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout
for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled
for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the
spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting
on you.
Humble yourselves therefore under
the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in
due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he
cares for you. Discipline yourselves, keep alert.
Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls
around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him,
steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers
and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same
kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for
a little while, the God of all grace, who has called
you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore,
support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be
the power forever and ever. Amen.
1
Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Jesus looked up to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son
so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given
him authority over all people, to give eternal life
to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal
life, that they may know you, the only true God, and
Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on
earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.
So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with
the glory that I had in your presence before the world
existed.
”I have made your name known
to those whom you gave me from the world. They were
yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept
your word. Now they know that everything you have
given me is from you; for the words that you gave
to me I have given to them, and they have received
them and know in truth that I came from you; and they
have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their
behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but
on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they
are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine;
and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no
longer in the world, but they are in the world, and
I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your
name that you have given me, so that they may be one,
as we are one.”
John
17:1-11
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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.
