The VOICE Sept. 2011

NEWARK ACTS, the young adult urban internship program of the Diocese of Newark, began its second year last month with the arrival of nine new interns, and the return of one. Like the class preceding them, this year’s interns bring with them diverse backgrounds and rich experiences. They’ve traveled from as far west as California, many hail from the Midwest, and for the next 11 months, they will work together for social change and personal transformation within our diocese. Join us in extending a warm welcome!

The Women’s Commission breakfast at Diocesan Convention is always worth getting up for, and 2011 was no exception. The entire deputation from St. Peter’s, Livingston attended in order to hear speaker Cecilia Zalkind from Advocates for Children of New Jersey. With budget cuts looming, this is an important time for children and families in New Jersey. But what can one (small!) congregation do to make a difference?

Several days last spring, the people of the Diocese of Newark gathered to witness a moment of transformation. What they were about to see had been done countless times in countless places around the world, a simple action that nonetheless had the power to affect not only the lives of those who undertook it, but those who saw it, and even those yet unborn.

While September 11 will forever conjure up images of the terrorist attacks of 2001, that date has another association for the congregation of St. Barnabas’ Church in Newark. For on September 11, 1961, an interracial group of 27 Episcopal priests boarded a bus in New Orleans, and headed north to General Convention held in Detroit. En route this group, known as the “Prayer Pilgrimage,” made history by ending segregation in all bus and train terminals throughout the South.

When Leroy May was searching for a way to honor his wife’s memory with a meaningful tribute, he did not have to look further than the parish hall at All Saints’ Church in Millington. Both Leroy and his wife, Delano, had been members of the congregation for many years. And since her retirement, Delano had played a very active role in the life of the parish.

Editor’s Note: Whether it’s traveling to Panama to improve the living conditions at a companion diocese or driving to a local soup kitchen to feed the homeless, members of the Diocese of Newark are discovering ministries around the world or around the corner. And sometimes a ministry can find you, no travel required, because it’s been within your heart forever. Such is the case with Mary McManus, who founded a ministry for kids with special siblings. Here is her story.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow once penned the verse, “For bells are the voice of the church, for they have tones that touch and search the heart of the young and old.” With the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on our nation upon us, that passage is especially poignant to those at All Saints’ Episcopal Parish in Hoboken, as that congregation takes time to remember the day, to honor the memory of those lost, and to continue to rebuild their lives.