OpShop News. When: August 1-5, 2016 (9am to Noon)

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1 St. Peter s Episcopal Church 271 Roseland Avenue Essex Fells, NJ (973) www. Stpeters-essexfells.org Andersen.stpete@gmail.com Onward A newsletter for and about the people of St. Peter s Church JUNE 2016 OpShop News OpShop will be open Thursday, June 2nd, 16th & 23rd. Closed June 30th. The OpShop will be closed Saturday, May 28th for Memorial Day. OpShop will be closed Thursday, June 9th & Saturday, June 11th for the Street Fair. When: August 1-5, 2016 (9am to Noon) OpShop will be closed Saturday, July 2nd. Call the OpShop at for additional summer hours. OpShop will be CLOSED in AUGUST. OpShop will open again Thursday, September 15th. Who: Campers: ages 3 entering 3 rd grade (*must be potty trained*). Campers-in-Training: entering 4 th grade and older Info: 2016.cokesburyvbs.com/spef

2 REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR ST. PETER S VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL! Check Saint Peter s website to download registra on form. Please register early, SPACE IS LIMITED!! $50 per child; $45 per each addi onal child in the same household. Registra on for counselors in training is just $25! Needs based scholarships available on request. Please make checks payable to St. Peter s Episcopal Church and mail form and payment to 271 Roseland Avenue, Essex Fells, NJ or drop off at the church office. Volunteers are a crucial part of VBS and are greatly needed. If you can help at all during the week, please sign up as soon as possible! For more info or any ques ons, please Julia and Chris ne Corso at: Summer Schedule The weekday Daily Of ice services have already taken a break for the summer so no more Morning Prayer or Evening Prayer for now. The 9am Wee Believers Service and the 5pm Last Chance Mass end June 26 also scheduled to resume in September. The 12 noon Wednesday healing services continue through July 27. Both the 8am and 10am services on Sunday continue uninterrupted. Thanks to our two priest staf ing, we will continue with a celebration of the Holy Eucharist (also known as the Mass, the Lord s Supper, or Holy Communion) every week To raise money to support the Mission Trip to Virginia Beach! This summer we are taking 16 youth and 3 adults on a mission trip to Virginia Beach. These trips are life changing spiritual experiences for our youth and adult chaperones. There is a way in which you can help. We need Sponsors and Prayer partners for each of the participants on the mission trip. This is a great way for you to foster relationships between the SPY and members of the parish. It is also a great way for YOU to be part of this endeavor. Sponsor and Prayer Partner $50 donation Pray for your sponsored traveler each day of the mission trip Invitation to the Mission Trip Lunch I want to be a Sponsor and Prayer Partner ($50 donation) In addition to the donation, I pledge my prayer daily for my prayer partner during the mission trip (July 10 16) NAME: ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP: Please make checks payable to Saint Peter s Episcopal Church You will be notified of your prayer partner and you will receive a note from her/him at the end of the mission trip. Please return the form to Saint Peter s Episcopal Church, 271 Roseland Avenue, Essex Fells, NJ 07021

3 Music Ministry June 12 will be Choir Recognition Sunday. Our sincere appreciation is extended to all participants in the Music Ministry: Chancel Choir, Youth Choir, Children s Choir, Bell Choir, instrumentalists, and all who take an active role in getting children to choir or general support, including supporting staff members. Congratulations to several choristers on their mostly musical and academic achievements this year: Julia Corso - acceptance into the music program at The College of New Jersey. Julia and Peter Corso - Cedar Grove high school performance of Oklahoma. Amanda Luke - acceptance into the Children s Outreach Choir of Caldwell University Evan McLaughlin - acceptance into the Golden Key National Honors Society, Phi Alpha Theta History Honors Society, and membership in the Team James Madison Fellows who work to improve Civic Education, and independent thesis presentation at Drew University s Dean Hopper Academic Conference. Brittany Hill - attending a choral conductors (Artist in Residence at Ithaca College) seminar with members of Children s Choir of Sussex County and performing with the Kittatany Regional High School Touring Choir at the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee. Michael Barretti - tenor section leader, teaches private voice lessons locally. Joanna Hoty-Russell - alto section leader; Music Director [2nd season]: The Larks, sponsored by the Jr League of Summit; Music Director: Footlights of Martinsville, children's theatre; Stage Director and Featured Soloist: Light Opera of NJ; Upcoming! Director of Vocal Intensive Camp at Wharton School of Music, June, 2016; Upcoming! Music Director: Footlights of Martinsville. Judy A Himes soprano member of Oratorio Society of NJ for 25 years performing twice yearly. Judy Moresco alto Member of Oratorio Society of NJ, Seton Hall University Chorus, Woman SONG- Intergenerational Chorus, and Archdiocesan Chorus with NJ Symphony at Sacred heart Basilica Laura Zuppa D Avella soprano section leader, vocal instructor and featured soloist with Light Opera of NJ Anthony Alberti bass section leader, featured soloist with Light Opera of NJ. The entire Music Ministry provides approximately 3800 people hours to support Saint Peter s liturgies in a program year, September to June. Their dedication and ongoing support provides a vibrant and enriching atmosphere for worship. I enjoy being responsible for and leading a group that is willing to give back the talents with which they have been blessed! Taking an active role in the Music Ministry is a gift and offering that we will all carry forward in our lives and hopefully pass on the legacy of great sacred music to others. My personal thanks to Saint Peter s Choir: Michael Barretti, Duffy Bell, Valerie Conrad, Vince Corso, Laura Zuppa D Avella, Judy Himes, Diane Kazimir, Anthony Alberti, Judy Moresco, Betsy Patton, Esther Pivarnik, Joanna Hoty-Russell, Carl Sturcke, Cathy Swanson, Evan McLaughlin, Saint Peter s Youth Choir (now part of the Chancel Choir): Peter Corso, Julia Corso, Brittany Hill Saint Peter s Children s Choir: Jake Watkinson, Amanda Luke, Elizabeth Green, Sofia Seaman, Jocelyn Dilkes, and Saint Peter s Bell Choir: Judy Himes, Margot Dockrell, Karen Mosher, Helen Pulitano, Knadya O Kelly. End of Summer Choir Camp Summer choir camp for children will be offered again from August 29 through September Children entering third grade in September and older are invited to participate. Rehearsals are held daily in the Choir Room from 10:00 11:30 a.m. with the children participating in learning to read musical notation, rhythm exercises, pitch matching and recognition, note learning, vocal skills, and group and individual singing. Exercises will also include how to navigate the Hymnal 1982, service music, and the Book of Common Prayer. No prior musical training is required. Last summer the choristers learned 8 new anthems which were offered during the church year. Daily activities include a short snack at half-time. For more information contact johnpivarnik@optonline.net. lic: THE REVEREND DOCTOR J. BARRINGTON BATES St. Peter s Episcopal Church 271 Roseland Avenue, Essex Fells, NJ fr.barrie.saintpeters@gmail.com Cell: crux est mundi medicina Name Date Spiritual signature Office Congratulations! From Your Interim Rector Do you need a prescription? Remember that I am not only a priest (and I ve played one on television!) but also a doctor a Ph.D., to be exact. If by chance, you have need of a spiritual prescription, please let me know how I can help. No copays, deductibles, or co-insurance here just a clear offer of a listening heart, prayer, and spiritual advice. I have some free time on Sunday afternoon, June 19 and there are many other times we could meet, at your convenience. You can schedule your spiritual check up online ( doodle.com/fatherbarrie), or you may schedule by e mail (fr.barrie.saintpeters@gmail.com), or phone ( ). Father Barrie The Diocese of Newark presents the David Paul Hegg II Lifetime Achievement Awards annually to recipients in recognition of their many contributions to church and community. This year, four St. Peter s members will receive the award: Alice Cotton, Gloria Kelly, and Jim & Henrietta Spry. The awards presentation will be conducted by our Bishop at a service of Evensong at St. Peter s Church, Morristown (121 South Street) on Sunday, June 12. A reception will be held at 3pm, and Evensong follows at 4. All are welcome. The Bible Challenge Continues A small group of us have been reading snippets from Scripture each day, with the hope of reading the entire Bible in the course of a year. You are welcome to join us sort of like sitting down in a movie theatre after the feature has already begun! We will gather again on the evening of Wednesday, June 29, in the Upper Room to discuss our progress, share what we ve learned so far, and igure out how to proceed. All are welcome. It s kind of like walking into a movie already in progress you can just start from where we are and then catch up with what you have missed the next go around.

4 Vince s Journey At its April meeting, the Vestry formally nominated Vincent Corso. Although this is called the ordination process, Vince won t be ordained, but have his Roman Catholic priestly ordination formally recognized. This will allow him to serve as a priest in the Episcopal Church. Vince has accepted the nomination and so the journey begins. We won t know the exact timeline until after a meeting of what is called the Commission on Ministry in November, but we know it will be long and, most likely, complicated. For now, the good news is that the process has formally begun. Lectio Divina Bible Study When: The first and third Wednesday of every month at 11AM. June 1st and 22nd. Where: In the main church. Lectio Divina (Divine Reading), is an ancient, monastic approach to praying the Bible, in which one encounters the Word of God through prayer, silence, and contemplation. Though sharing in similarities to the traditional bible study, Lectio Divina puts a greater emphasis on listening for God's presence in one's life, than by analyzing or studying the scriptures. The beauty of Lectio Divina is found in its simplicity and accessibility for people wherever they may be on their faith journey. At St. Peter's we offer group Lectio Divina, in which we share in discussion, prayer and silence in experiencing God's transforming love. No prior experience is necessary to enjoy this simple, yet profound form of prayer. Caldwell Food Bank At this busy time of year with graduations, confirmations, the end of the school year don t forget that there are still families in our community that need your support all year long. Although there is a monthly request for a particular item of food there is always a need for any kind of useable food, toiletries or juices or just be creative and share our good fortune with others less fortunate. Episcopal Church Women The Episcopal Church Women (ECW) would like to thank the parishioners that donated items for North Porch in April. Thank you to the soup makers, bread bakers and parishioners that purchased at our sale. This will help send a child to Crossroads Episcopal Camp this summer. Sue Mazur and Jennifer Jackson Sunday School Our last Sunday School class for the program year is June 5th. We have had some really thought provoking questions from the children this year. Our children are really THINKING about the lessons they hear. And many are TALKING about them. You should all be so proud of your children and their desire to further investigate and understand their faith. We will have a special time during the peace to recognize our dedicated teachers, for whom I am extremely grateful! Jennifer Jackson, Kimberly Butler, Jasmine Barbour, Serena Watkinson, Kathy Vacca, Mary Beth Weber, Michelle Spell, Lauren Evers and Eebie Zobitz; along with regular greeters from unit 1, Jennifer Vonderahe and Caroline Kamper. Please take a moment to join me in a special prayer of thanksgiving for these caring, special people! And come to church on the 5th to help me thank them personally! Family Church Another FABULOUS Family Church in May! For the second month in a row we have been blessed with a Priests' Assistant; this month it was Rachel Vitiello - way to go Rachel! Many thanks to our readers who all read so clearly and slowly, Casey Wescott, Sally Cutting and Sean Wescott. Our elements were carried up carefully by Liliana D'Avella and Samantha Vitiello. We appreciate and offer our thanks to our ushers, Krystal Rudder, Imani Barbour, Rehanna Barbour & Ivana Barbour. Also, thanks AGAIN to Charlie Cutting & Nicholas Brown who LOVE to help with family church! Our last Family Church together for the program year is June 12th. Please come and enjoy this time together. The children have done such a spectacular job during the year with their various rolls in Family Church! I have had SO MANY complements on how well our children read and serve and I know the parish joins me in being proud of our young people's commitment to this special ministry. I am excited to continue this monthly service next year. A million thanks to ALL the children who have participated throughout the year!!! And to those who have been quietly watching but weren't ready, I can't wait to have you help next year! FINALLY I want to say how much I love the children of St. Peter's! Thank you for making a point of bringing your children to church. St. Peter's is a special place and I am thrilled by how we in Sunday School are growing together. Just because there is no Sunday School during the summer doesn't mean you can't come to church. Our children are all growing in their faith (as are we all) and are welcome in "big church" any time. I hope to see you on the 5th & 12th for our last official times together, but I also hope to see you during the summer! Call me or if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, want to become part of Sunday School, or would like to chat. I'm feeling so very blessed by all of you! Dana Leach (973) , scottdanal@aol.com.

5 Dear Parish Family, SAINT PETERS EPISCOPAL CHURCH St. Peter's Church is currently facing some challenges, not the least of which is the retirement of our beloved Rector Stephanie Wethered, an interim period of transition and search for a new rector. Today's letter, however, is informational in nature and is intended to shine a light on the challenges of an interim period and how it affects the function and financial foundation of St. Peter's Church. Ultimately, our goal is to discern what we need to do together to improve our life together as a community. As each of you reads this letter and then shares it with others, let's look today at a trend that we all have to own and whose course we need to change together. Below are the actual pledge numbers to the parish for 2014 and 2015 and the amount pledged for Pledge 2014: 166 pledge units, $324, Pledge 2015: 152 pledge units, $302, Pledge 2016: 127 pledge units, $269, = $2,122 average There are many reasons the numbers are trending down, some of which we have no control over...iosing a job, a death in the family and parish members moving away. But it's the reasons we can control that we want to address today. Without your help in making a course correction we will not have sufficient funds to pay for all the services we receive from our membership in Saint Peter's Church. Saint Peter's Church is very fortunate to have endowment funds and some of the interest from those funds has traditionally been used to offset some expenses. However, the loss of pledge income has put us on a troubling path whereby the interest income earned on our endowments is not enough to cover our costs and the principal is being eroded. This is true in spite of our investments earning a higher rate of return than the markets in each of these years. Here is the challenge...saint Peter's Church, and your community family needs your help to reach a goal of a balanced budget. We must average about $3,000 per pledge family to reach our budget goal, and that is about the national average per pledge across all dioceses including wealthier and poorer churches. We at Saint Peter's Church are considerably lower than the national average. An average pledge of $3,000 per family represents an average increase of $17 per week per pledge at Saint Peter's. That is a $17 per week addition, per family x 52 weeks x 127 families is an additional $112,268, bringing the pledge total to $381,000 for the inclusion into the parish budget. Many of you are possibly thinking "there is no way I can afford $3,000 per year" or perhaps you are not pledging at all right now. We're asking you...can you manage $17 to $20 per week? For the cost of a few trips to Starbucks, 127 people or more giving $17 to $20 more (or for the first time) will put us on the path to a balanced budget. We can only budget on pledged revenue. Please check to see if you have forgotten or overlooked your pledge and join together in a solution to the budget challenge. Saint Peter's Church needs your Love, your Support and your Treasure! With our extensive volunteerism we accomplish a lot and we support many. With your increased pledge, we can pay our bills, clergy, youth minister, employees, music, choir section leaders, organ maintenance, cut the grass, clean the bathrooms, paint, air condition and heat the buildings, turn the lights on, plow snow, postage, paper, meet our diocesan mandated costs of health insurance, property taxes, insurance, workman's comp insurance, provide supplies, telephone, internet, supply clergy, payroll taxes, bank fees, accounting fees, education, church school, VBS, altar flowers, and on and on. These expenses are all real and just as vital as those expenses you have to meet at home. The interim period is temporary. Father Barrie and Father Anthony are part of the interim period and are working diligently to help us through this difficult transition until the next Rector of Saint Peter's Church has been installed. During this time we will also be engaging in extensive discussions about Stewardship. For the benefit of our stewardship at Saint Peter's, the Diocese of Newark is generously paying the expenses for a parish representative to attend the TENS Conference in Pasadena, CA. At the conclusion of the TENS Conference, the vestry will discern and communicate what we have learned as we focus on our common future and all-important mission of calling a new Rector. Our goal is to bring us all together to do the work of Saint Peter's Church. With an abundance of LOVE, SUPPORT AND TREASURE we can accomplish more, support more and grow more. With forgiveness and reconciliation we can move forward together and love one another better. Therefore, we are proposing a pledge "Do-Over". Just like when we were kids and had to restart a game for some reason...someone would yell "Do-Over". Please find a pledge card enclosed for your use. Pray over it, talk about it, call me if you need to, but please fill it out (again) or for the first time and return it/mail it to the Saint Peter's Church Office. We have a budget goal for pledging of $381,OOO...and we can't do it without you. Thank you and regards, Peter McCabe David Cowell Peter McCabe, David Cowell Warden, Warden mccpeter@verizon.net Letter reprinted from May 4, 2016

6 Street Fair June 10th & 11th 5:30-9:30pm Come YE to the Fair! It is almost time for the 85th annual St. Peter s Street Fair. Quite a tradition! If you haven t yet seen the old Street Fair pictures in the narthex and upper room you should. So many wonderful memories through the years! Help is still needed for numerous game booths. Tow of our booth with the biggest profits for the church are China Smash and Milk Bottle Throw. If we don t get volunteers to staff these for Saturday night, sadly they won t be open. We need an additional Face Painter for Friday night, also traditionally a money making booth. The 50/50 is a fun job as it involves wandering around and visiting during the Fair. We need someone for each night. There are other options as well. If you aren t already helping in some capacity or if you thing you can do a little more, please contact us! Game Booths contact Dana Leach, (973) or scottdanal@aol.com. Set up, Saturday, June 4th, come and help. Clean up, Sunday, June 12th, wear your grubby clothes to church. Then stay and, working together we can pack it all up and be done in no time! To help contact Ed Kemper, ((73) or ekpreservation@verizon.net. If you are already listed to help with a game booth, set-up/clean, chicken dinner, snack bar..thank You! We are all important members of the body of Christ and working together we keep our church strong, lift each other up, and feed each others souls. Also, Just COME to the Fair! Bring your children, your grandchildren, neighbors and friends! It is a fun, old fashioned nigh out! And PRAY for good weather:) 4th Grade Craft Trinity Pretzels May 5th Family Church Godly Play Classes 4th-6th Holy Spirit