The Eagle. April S T. JOHN S M E M O R I A L E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H S e e k S e r v e C e l e b r a t e. Christ is risen! Alleluia!!

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1 April 2018 S T. JOHN S M E M O R I A L E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H S e e k S e r v e C e l e b r a t e The Eagle Christ is risen! Alleluia!! I am thrilled that I was here with you, traveling the spiritual journey of Lent with you, and walking the path of Holy Week, sharing in the remembering and retelling of our story of salvation and love. Now it s spring. Now it s Easter! Like the buds and seeds that sprout and bloom, bringing forth bounty, Easter is our time as Christians to feel new birth, new life, new hope, and the renewal of God s love for the world. We heard Jesus words on Maundy Thursday, Love one another as I have loved you. Easter day we renewed our baptismal vows, recommitting ourselves to do just that love the world. God s love for us is unconditional, and our love for the world must be also. We don t have to do anything to earn God s love. It s freely given open your heart and be abundantly filled with love divine, all loves excelling. Filled with this love, we can t help but to go forth into the world, blooming and beautifying our communities as the flowers and trees of spring, warming the hearts of others as the sun warms the earth causing life and love to grow and multiply. As Bishop Mark said in his Easter message, Love does not exist unless it is given away. To follow Jesus and be people of The Way, we must give love away unconditionally. Christ died and rose, showing us that love is stronger than death, that love conquers evil, triumphs over powers and principalities, and love is the way God created us and the world. Easter is not one day. In fact every Sunday is Easter when we celebrate together the Thanksgiving Feast together. Easter is also a liturgical season, the 50 days until Pentecost. We count this time as the weeks of Easter, rather than the Sundays after, as we do with Pentecost and Epiphany. We have 50 days to celebrate Easter. This whole season to bloom and grow with God s love and share our joy and gladness with others. We have seven weeks to give away God s love with abandon. Thomas Merton s words resonate with me: To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. Our task is to show the community that Love is our name. As we plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land, let us thank our God for all the love we receive. Let s thank our God by loving unconditionally and abundantly. Let s make God s garden grow. Easter blessings for a spring of Love. See you in church! Fr. Bill

2 PRIEST IN RESIDENCE The Rev. William Cruse ST. JOHN S WARDENS Ken Bledsoe, Sr. Warden Janice Hardy, Jr. Warden VESTRY Nancy Abbott Kristin Canty Jason Farrar Carolyn Greenberg Lynda Hammond Kevin Haas Barry Hardy Pat Tarbutton John Woods CLERK OF THE VESTRY Barry Hardy FINANCE CHAIRPERSON Nancy Abbott TREASURER John Greenberg BOOKKEEPER Ellen Joyce The Eagle Ellen Joyce, Editor Articles can be submitted in writing, or by to: ellen.joyce@ stjohnsramsey.org You may already know that April 4th was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We at St. John's joined with other churches, schools and institutions and remembered Dr. King last night at 7:05pm EDT. To help publicize our civic action, Fr. Bill became a Poster for the Ramsey Patch and his story is now on the Ramsey Patch site. Below is the article by Fr. Bill Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. St. John s Ramsey to toll steeple bell to honor MLK, Jr Parishioners of St. John s Memorial Episcopal Church will join the national remembrance of the assassination of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, 1968 by tolling the steeple bell at the church 39 times to honor the number of years Dr. King dwelled on this earth and to pay homage to his legacy. This is a simple, yet meaningful way for our nation to acknowledge the loss but more importantly the great contributions Dr. King gave to the world stage, said the MLK50 website. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis TN also wrote on its MLK50 website, Since the news rippled across the country, the bells will first ring at the National Civil Rights Museum at 6:01 p.m. CST. Bells will chime in the City of Memphis at 6:03 p.m. CST, 6:05 p.m. CST nationally and 6:07 p.m. CST internationally. Please join us in this solemn reflection. St. John s will join other institutions across the country and around the world, including the Washington National Cathedral, Boston s Old North Church, UC Berkley and thousands of churches, schools and institutions across the country. Fr. Bill, priest at St. John s said, The bell will toll at 7:05pm to honor Dr. King s legacy, help us remember the struggle for social justice that continues, and propel us forward with hope to build the dream and vision of beloved community Dr. King gave us. St. John s Memorial Episcopal Church is located at 301 E. Main Street, at Arch Street, in Ramsey NJ.

This seemingly straightforward verse has underlying complexities that are the basis for our spiritual journeys. All parish women and friends are invited to attend.

3 Episcopal Church Women (ECW) 2018 Film Fest The theme of St. John s 2018 ECW film and book season is Discrimination and the Christian Response based on Mark 12:31: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. This seemingly straightforward verse has underlying complexities that are the basis for our spiritual journeys. All parish women and friends are invited to attend. On Monday, April 2, we will meet at 7:00 pm in the parish hall to discuss the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. A bestselling novel, Hotel is a story of love between Chinese-American Henry Lee and Japanese-American Keiko Okabe in the backdrop of the discrimination and internment during World War II and the conflicts in their families original countries. The story explores their relationship from the perspective of both their childhood and the present. Our remaining 2018 season: April 2: May 7: June 4: Book discussion Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford The Help End of season dinner Please join us at St. John s on Monday, April 2, 2018 at 7:00 pm for an evening of camaraderie and thought-provoking discussion as we support each other in our spiritual journeys. For information, contact ECW co-chairs Marilyn Bartholme and Janice Hardy (HardyCJR@aol.com or ).

4 Music Notes Throughout the seven weeks of Easter, a different trumpet tune will be offered as the prelude each Sunday. Trumpet tunes are a type of organ work in which the "trumpet" stop from the organ is in dialog with the "principal" stops, alternating back and forth in conversation. Today's trumpet tune is by Craig Sellar Lang ( ) a New Zealand -born British organist, composer and music teacher. It's peculiar title refers not to an actual tuba, but rather the "tuba" stop on an English organ, known for its strength and warm sound. On our organ you hear it played with the "tromba" stop, both from the reed family of organ pipe sounds. Pedals for Progress (P4P) DID YOU KNOW? - "Pedals for Progress" bicycles not only transform the economic and social condition of recipient families but these bikes are not adding to our New Jersey landfills! P4p works with partner organizations in the countries to which they ship bikes. The current partner organizations are listed on the P4p website. Most partners have a bike shop which fixes bikes, providing jobs in the community. The bikes are sold for a nominal amount because people not only take better care of something for which they paid but handing them out free is problematic because there are not enough bikes for everyone who needs one. St. John's will be collecting bikes & working sewing machines for P4p on May 5th 9-noon. Please see the signup lists in the church hall. We have tasks for people from 8 to 80 and we cannot do this without you. THANK YOU.

5 Church School Following Easter Sunday (April 1) the Bible stories used in Church School class sessions will be taken from the New Testament. Our children will explore stories in the gospels about Jesus appearances to the disciples after the Resurrection and the ways in which Jesus friends and followers shared the good news of the risen Christ. During the Easter seasons we will learn from Jesus teachings and the witness of the disciples how we too can live as a faithful community of people who share God s way of love. You might like to read to read these stories together at home: John 20:19 31, Luke 24:36b 48, John 10:11 18, Acts 8:26 40, John 15:9 17, and Acts 1:15 17, April 1 April 8 April 15 April 22 April 29 No Church School Easter Sunday No Church School Easter Vacation Schedule Family Service: 10:00 AM with Choristers and Cherubs, No Church School Church School 9:45 AM Church School 9:45 AM - *Prepare Meal for St. Paul s Men's Shelter *All children will be meeting in the Parish Hall on Sunday, April 29th, at 9:45 AM, for the preparation of a meal for the St. Paul s Men's Shelter. For this Church School Outreach project, each class will prepare a specialty dish for the men to enjoy on May 2nd.

S T. J O H N ' S M E M O R I A L E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H A House of Prayer for All People 301 East Main Street Ramsey, NJ 07446 Phone: 201-327-0703 Email: ellen.joyce@stjohnsramsey.

6 S T. J O H N ' S M E M O R I A L E P I S C O P A L C H U R C H A House of Prayer for All People 301 East Main Street Ramsey, NJ Phone: ellen.joyce@stjohnsramsey.org Check us out on the Web: Worship Schedule Sunday Services Holy Eucharist 8 AM & 10 AM Church School 9:45AM Infant & Child Care Celtic Prayer Wednesdays at 7:30 PM The Rev. William Cruse Priest in Residence The Rev. Richard Louis Rector Emeritus Drew Kreismer Organist/Choirmaster Ellen Joyce Parish Administrator Megan Kendall Youth Missioner Office Hours Monday - Friday 7AM - 1PM CLOSED for Lunch from 11AM - 12:PM A Letter to the Parish from Doug Rennie My deeply felt thanks to my friends at St. John s during the past four months. Your thoughts and prayers have kept me on the path to recovery and I really needed them. My family and the support of my church have kept me alive and I am greatly in debt to all of you. Thank you again for your concerns and Prayers. Doug Rennie Spring Tag Sale Friday, May 11 & Saturday, May 12, 2018 Clean out your closets, huff and puff. Then bring in your best used items and stuff. Get ready for the Spring Tag Sale! Please take some time and recycle clothes that haven t been worn for a while, items that are not being used and toys your children no longer play with. Please be sure donations are clean, smell good and are seasonally appropriate. (Please, we cannot accept winter clothes or computer items.) You can start dropping off your donations after church on Sunday, May 6. If you can stay for a while on Sunday to set up, that would be a great big help! We will continue setting up Monday, May 7through Thursday, May 10 10:00-4:00pm. Should you have time to stop by and help, it would be greatly appreciated. We especially need help with pricing and measuring the linens. 9:30am 1:30pm. We will need a number of volunteers to help during the sale. Please contact Kathy Fede - kathyfede@msn.com or cell or Rosemary Haas cell with any questions or if you can help during the sale. Thank you!! After the sale on Sat., May 12, we will need a lot of help tearing down tables, packing up remaining items, and setting up the Parish Hall for Sunday, May 13. We also need a couple of people with SUV s or trucks to help bring leftover items to Goodwill. Thanks so much!

The Eagle. In This. January Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Eagle. In This. January Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ST. JOHN S MEMORIAL EPISCOPAL CHURCH Seek Serve Celebrate The Eagle January 2019 In This Issue January 1 Happy New Year! January 6 Epiphany January 13 January 20 Family Service with Childrenʹs Choir January