[Bergen.com] St. Paul's Church in Englewood celebrated their 150th anniversary with a Mardi Gras concert and supper this past weekend, featuring members of the St. Paul's Choirs along with local musicians.
For the fourth year in a row, Episcopal congregations in towns across northern New Jersey will take to the streets on Ash Wednesday, February 18, marking the beginning of the Christian holy season of Lent by giving “Ashes to Go.”
For the last three years we've invited congregations to share their stories of mission and transformation along with their parochial reports, in a new format we called the Parochial Report "Page 5." It was a good experiment. We learned a lot, and we gathered some great stories.
Each congregation is required by The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Newark to file the annual Parochial Report for the year 2014 by March 2, 2015. This report contains information regarding church statistics (attendance, number of services, baptisms, and other statistical data) and financial information, as well as information regarding clergy serving the congregation.
In this Mission Minute, Church of the Messiah in Chester/Long Valley relates how several years of parish mission trips have served a variety of neighborhoods. You’ll also see the Tri-parish youth of St. Alban's in Oakland, Trinity Church in Allendale and St. John’s in Ramsey bringing youthful exuberance and spirit to their mission program.
In this Mission Minute you’ll see how three congregations – St. Mary’s in Belvidere, St. Luke’s in Hope, and Church of the Redeemer in Morristown – brought issues of gun violence to the attention of their neighborhoods through creative observances of the Gun Violence Prevention Sabbaths in March and December 2014.
In this Mission Minute you’ll see how the three Jersey City congregations – St. Paul’s in Bergen, Grace Van Vorst and Incarnation – brought healing to their neighborhoods through a Good Friday Stations of the Cross that prayerfully visited the sites of violent crimes; how All Saints’ Church in Millington brought healing and support to their neighborhood after a neighbor went missing; and how the rector of St. Paul’s in Chatham led an impromptu public service of healing after a suicide in a local park left their neighborhood reeling.
In this Mission Minute you’ll see how two congregations used public prayer to build bridges in their neighborhoods: Church of the Good Shepherd in Fort Lee through an outdoor procession in which they learned about and prayed for neighboring organizations and entities; and Church of the Atonement in Tenafly by giving “Blessings to Go” to commuters on the anniversary of 9/11.
With sadness we share the news of the passing of the Rev. Grahame Gordon Butler-Nixon, 82, on January 19, 2015 in Columbia, SC. He served as the 14th Rector of Grace Church in Newark from 1971-1977, and on the diocesan Standing Committee from 1975-1977.
With sadness we share the news of the passing of John Timothy McGirr on Tuesday, January 20 in Norwood. John was the husband of the Rev. Joyce McGirr, who was ordained to the Priesthood on January 10 and is serving as Priest Associate at Church of the Atonement in Tenafly.
Visitation will be held Friday January 23 from 4-7 p.m. at Barrett's Funeral Home, 148 Dean Street, Tenably, NJ. The Celebration of John's life and Funeral Mass will be held on Saturday January 24 at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Holy Communion, 66 Summit Street, Norwood, NJ.
