St. Stephen's will hold an Open House following the town's annual memorial service for 9/11 at 5:30pm in Wampus Brook Park. After the commemoration, St. Stephen's has invited all in attendance to come across the street to see the renovations. Refreshments will be served. Please join us.
St. Stephen's on the path to renewal!
Starting this fall, St. Stephen's will begin an inspiring program called "Renewal Works". This nationally accredited program calls on us to discern where God is calling us, and will help us to focus on our spiritual vitality. Neal Baumann has agreed to facilitate the "Renewal Team", which consists of Charity Lunder, Ray Pouder, Caroline Eickelbeck, Robert Lunder, Renate Golden, Dawn Carroll, Sue Brown, Doug Campbell, Annlee Milani and Father Nils.
Renewal Works is a way to learn more as a parish about where God is calling us. This process will yield steps to help us to better organize staffing, buildings, programs and worship toward our goals.
The first parish-wide step of the process will take place on Sunday 18 September. The sermon will be replaced with an introduction to Renewal Works, and a description of the Spiritual Life Inventory, a critical part of the process.
“Renewal Works is a way to learn more as a parish about where God is calling us.”
Members will be receiving a letter from Neal Baumann in the next few days, describing the program in further detail. Please look for this email, and join us on September 18th at 10am!
Help the Chiro Mission to help refugees.
Here at St. Stephen's, we're in the midst of our annual drive for school supplies for the Chiro Mission.
As you shop for back to school, please remember we are collecting supplies for the Chiro Mission in the Dominican Republic. These Haitian refugees don't receive funding for supplies, and are short of all essentials.
They are especially in need of:
- School supplies, new or lightly used (pencils, pens, notebooks, rulers, calculators, crayons, glue sticks, erasers, backpacks)
- Electronics, new or used (laptops, tablets, smart phones)
- There is a collection bin in the parish hall. Thank you all for your annual generosity to the Chiro Mission.
Joe with Don: Is America the Shining City on a Hill?
St. Stephen's offers its next Joe with Don, a spirited and non-partisan discussion about important issues of our day, over a cup of coffee, led by church member - and former US Ambassador to South Korea, Donald P. Gregg.
Our next morning discussion group led by Don will take place on Saturday 27 August at 8:30 am at Café Gruener. Please join us!
St. Stephen's Annual kick-off barbeque
Save the date for our annual Kick-off Barbecue, which will be held on the church lawn after the 10 am service on Sunday, September 18. Renate Golden will be emailing the details to members in the weeks to come. We hope to see you all there! If you'd like to contribute sides or beverages, or help with grilling, please email the office.
Help those flooded on the Gulf Coast
Episcopal Relief & Development is supporting diocesan leaders along the Gulf Coast to coordinate flood response efforts after several days of heavy rainfall across the region. According to FEMA, the slow-moving storm brought 10-20 inches of rain to the area, 40,000 homes are impacted, and flooding continues. Louisiana and Mississippi are both under a state of emergency. Read more.
The Lousiana National Guard assists in the relief efforts.
To Donate to Episcopal Relief efforts in the area, click here.
Anthony Newman performs Bach's Goldberg Variations
Described by Wynton Marsalis as "The High Priest of Bach", and by Time Magazine as "The High Priest of the Harpsichord," Newman continues his 50 year career as America's leading organist, harpsichordist and Bach specialist. Newman has recorded more than 170 CDs and has appeared at the Lincoln Center more than sixty times, collaborating with many of the greats of music, including Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, Itzhak Perlman, Lorin Mazel & Mstislav Rostropovich.
Join us at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Bedford on Saturday, September 10th at 7pm.
May 22, 2016: Trinity Sunday
Benefit Concert for our Church Organ Fund
St. Stephen's is excited to offer an organ concert on Monday, June 13, at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Bedford, in support of the Organ Fund here at St. Stephen's. Funds raised will be applied to upgrading our organ, making it more versatile to serve us into the future.
Father Nils' brother, George, is the music director at a cathedral in New Zealand, and an in-demand organ recitalist. We are fortunate to have such a gifted musician visiting and supporting our efforts. The concert will be followed with a reception.
Please purchase tickets from Charity in the office, and bring friends! We hope to sell many tickets and enjoy an evening of beautiful music.
Weekly Images
Last Saturday, 14 May, at 10.30 am, fifteen members of our parish community were confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church by the Bishop of New York.
If you are wondering about the difference between confirmation and being received, those who previously have been confirmed in another denomination are received, whereas those who have never been confirmed in any denomination receive the Rite of Confirmation. This service was a time for great celebration, as we joined with the candidates and their sponsors!
Our twelve confirmation candidates were: John Diaconis, Meagan Eickelbeck, Kristin Eickelbeck, Bella Fasano, Sophia Fasano, Harrison Fontaine, Calvin Fontaine, Cole Kaiser, Isabella Matra, Valentina Ramirez, Fabiani Ramirez and Daniel Turner.
Our three reception candidates were: Peter Fasano, Rich Fontaine and Trina Fontaine.
Please continue to keep all of them in your prayers. And join us to celebrate them this week after our 10 am Sunday service.
Please join us in celebrating the newly confirmed at this Sunday's Enhanced Coffee Hour in their honor!
Announcements
MOUNT KISCO FOOD PANTRY CELEBRATION
This Sunday, May 22, the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry is celebrating its 25th anniversary of serving the community from 1 pm - 4 pm at the United Methodist Church. The event will include representatives from all 13 sponsoring congregations, including clergy. It will also include clients, neighbors, volunteers, and others who have been instrumental in helping the Pantry continue to feed the hungry of northern Westchester. It is family-centered, with snacks, activities, tours, and fun.
St. Stephen's has been a valued sponsoring congregation for many years, supporting the Pantry in myriad ways. We are a big part of the Pantry's success, and the Pantry wants to express its thanks! Please consider joining in the commemoration of so many years of building a stronger, healthier community.
Please bring a non-perishable food item to donate to the Pantry. They are in need of cereal and black beans. Thank you!
FOOD PANTRY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We need two more volunteers to staff the Food Pantry on Tuesday, May 24, 4:30 to 7:15 pm. Please let Laura Desmarais at jjdesmarai@me.com know if you can help on that day.
Save the Date
Our Annual Pool Party will take place on Friday, June 17 at 6 pm at the home of Sharon Kane and Petrie Verma. It's always a fun evening as we celebrate the school year winding down and the coming of summer. Please let Renate Golden know how many will come and what you will bring: Side dish, salad, dessert or beverage, at rennieg@optonline.net.
Service Time Change
Our Said Eucharist, a quiet service with no music, now takes place on Sundays at 5 pm, rather than 8 am. Our sung Eucharist continues at 10 am as usual.
Weekly Readings
- First Reading: Proverbs 8: 1-4, 22-31
- Second Reading: Romans 5: 1-5
- Gospel: John 16: 12-15
Sunday Servers 10 am
- Ushers: Charity Lunder and Annlee Milani
- Acolyte: Harrison Fontaine
- Torch Bearers: Dale Kaiser and Erica Kaiser
- Lay Eucharistic Minister: Laura Desmarais
- First Reader: John Diaconis
- Second Reader: Rich Fontaine
- Altar Guild: Renate Golden
- Flower Guild: Meg Gregg
- Enhanced Coffee Hour in honor of our confirmation class and newly received members of the Episcopal Church: Confirmation Families
Sunday Servers 5 pm
- Usher: Sharon Kane
- Reader: Neal Baumann
May 29th 2016: The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Weekly Flowers
Every week our Flower Guild prepares lovely arrangements for our altar. Did you know these flowers may be donated in honor or in memory of someone or an occasion? The honoree will be mentioned in the prayers in the bulletin. We are happy to coordinate colors or flowers to suit people's preference.
We encourage you to sign up to donate flowers for a $40 donation. The sign up board will be on display after the service, or you can email the office at office@ststephensarmonk.org.
Weekly Images
Meg and Don Gregg's grand-daughter Cat Buckley was married last weekend to Mike Leavey. The ceremony took place in the city
at the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers.
Announcements
Jodi Campbell Memorial Service
The memorial service for Jodi Campbell will be held on Friday, June 3 at 11 am at St. John's Episcopal Church, 4 Fountain Square, in Larchmont NY. Jodi grew up attending St. John's, where her father was a warden, and where her parents are interred. Father Nils will conduct the service. There will be lunch after the service at the Larchmont Yacht Club.
Save the Date
Our Annual Pool Party will take place on Friday, June 17 at 6 pm at the home of Sharon Kane and Petrie Verma. It's always a fun evening as we celebrate the school year winding down and the coming of summer. Please let Renate Golden know how many will come and what you will bring: Side dish, salad, dessert or beverage, at rennieg@optonline.net.
Organ Fundraiser
Please buy your tickets now to our organ fundriaser on Monday 13 June. George Chittenden is rgw music director at a cathedral in New Zealand, and an in-demand organ recitalist, in addition to being Father Nils' brother. We are fortunate to have such a gifted musician visiting and supporting our efforts. The concert will be followed with a reception.
Please purchase tickets from Charity in the office, or send in the booking form you received in the mail. And bring friends! We hope to sell many tickets and enjoy an evening of beautiful music.
Service time change
Our Said Eucharist, a quiet service with no music, now takes place on Sundays at 5 pm, rather than 8 am. Our sung Eucharist continues at 10 am as usual.
Weekly Readings
- First Reading: 1 Kings 8: 22-23 ,41-43
- Second Reading: Galatians 1: 1-12
- Gospel: Luke 7: 1-10
Sunday Servers 10 am
- Ushers: Annlee Milani and Ed Woodyard
- Acolyte: Denis Clohosey
- Torch Bearers: Hester Turner and Daniel Turner
- Lay Eucharistic Minister: Sue Brown
- First Reader: Cynthia Barger
- Second Reader: Don Gregg
- Altar Guild: Sue Brown
- Flower Guild: Meg Gregg
- Coffee Hour: Sellers/Fasano
Sunday Servers 5 pm
- Usher: Neal Baumann