When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.
Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 5:1-3
The Sermon on the Mount is nothing less than Jesus' blueprint for Christian life. In order to even begin to understand its wisdom we must sit at Jesus' feet with an open heart and a beginner's mind. Only then can our Epiphany hope - that the light of Christ be manifest in us - come true.
Image: Statues of Jesus teaching his diciples on the peak of the Mount of the Baetitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Domus Galilaeae, Chorazim, Israel.
8:00 AM - Holy Eucharist - Rite I
10:15 AM - Sunday School (The Story of the Good Shepherd & World Communion)
10:15 AM - Holy Eucharist - Rite II with Music
The Sunday Bulletin for Epiphany4 is available HERE.
Thank you to all who attended last week's Annual Meeting
70 people attended the Annual Meeting to share all that God worked among us in 2022 and to see just how many give of themselves for the ministry of St. Peter's.
PleaseCLICK HEREto read St. Peter's 2022 Annual Report.
We also celebrated the launch of interactive phase of our Centennial Renewal and announced that we are more than half way to raising our goal of $400,000.
Packets went out this week encouraging your donations and pledges toward the Centennial Renewal - Extending God's Embrace. Please prayerfully consider what you are able to give. Your contributions and/or pledges can be brought to church, put in the collection plate or mailed to the parsih office. There is also a landing site for "Extending God's Embrace" right on the homepage of the website. You can find that HERE.From those links, pledges and contributions can be conveniently made online. Thank you!
Fun, Food & Fellowship in February!
Save the dates to ward off the mid-winter blues with fun, food and fellowship with your fellow St. Peter's parishioners and friends.
Monday, February 6. In a returning tradition, St. Peter's parishioners are invited to take-out or eat at Gourmet Cafe, 136 Baldwin Road, Parsippany (973-316-0088). Lunch is served from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, Dinner from 5:00 to 8:30 PM. BYOB. Call for reservations. Gourmet Cafe will donate 10% of its income from our parishioners that day to St. Peter's.
Sunday, February 12. St. Peter's Youth Group will be selling chili after both Sunday services for the "Souper Bowl" Day of Caring. Both Meat and Vegetable Chili will be available for $15 per quart. All proceeds will be given to the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains.
Tuesday, February 21 - 6:00 to 8:00 PM - Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper in the Parish Hall. Our Youth Group and Men's Breakfast Group combine to give us a surge of calories before our Lenten observance begins on Ash Wednesday. Come enjoy a scrumptious pancake, bacon & sausage dinner. Costs are $10 per person and $20 per family. All proceeds will go to support the local youth mission trip this July.
Saturday, February 25 - 5 to 7 PM - St. Peter's Fish Fry - Take-out or dine in at the Parish Hall provided by Tastefully British. CLICK HERE to purchse your Fish Fry tickets online via St. Peter's donation page.
North Porch Collection at Dioceasn Convention.
The 149th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Newark is next week, Friday Feb. 3 & Saturday, Feb. 4.
North Porch Women and Infants' Centers, provider of urgently needed baby supplies to women with infants 3 and under, will be collecting donations of diapers, baby wipes, formula, and baby food at convention. Donations may be dropped off in our collection bin at the Convention. Thank you for your continued support of our ministry!
Please bring donations of diapers, baby wipes, formula and baby food to church this Sunday or drop them off next week in the parish office and our delegates to Convention will bring them down to East Rutherford.
Something New - Something Old!
At last year's Annual Meeting, as the beginning plans for the Centennial Renewal were presented, some parishioners including Kevin Edwards and Deacon Nancy expressed a wish that our church chimes might be resurrected. (The speakers of our church chimes were struck by lightening in the 90s and we have been without bells since then.)
Well, this Annual Meeting we had another little miracle and at 12 noon our church bells rang out again. Unbeknownst to all of us, little by little, John Garrison had been lovingly restoring the analog system all these years. Now restored and with the help of our electrical engineering team of Tom George, Clive Knowles and Doug Sonn the chimes were installed in our A/V closet, wires run and a new speaker installed on the roof of the parish offices.
Daily two verses of our beloved hymns will be played at 12 Noon and at 6 PM. On Sunday a one minute peal of the bells will sound at 10:10 AM as our call to worship.
It is quite a sight to see our 21st century digital technology sitting above the 1960 era analog technology of the chimes. In all ways we reach into treasures of something new and something old so that God's praises may ring out for all to hear!
Regional Faith Community in February
Our ususl pattern for our weekly Word Celebarations on Wednesdays at 7 PM is: 1st Wednesday at COTS, Denville, 2nd at St. John's, Boonton & 3rd at St. Peter's, Mountain Lakes. On the 4th Wednesday we have Eucharist. All are welcome.
Here is the schedule for February:
2/1 at COTS - Word Theme "Wisdom"
2/8 at St. John's - Word Theme "God" in the Hebrews Scriptures
2/15 at St. Peter's- Word Them "God" in the Christian Scriptures
2/22 - ASH WEDNESDAY - No Regional Community that day
Diocesan News
The Voice Online - January 25, 2023
CLICK HEREfor a link to this week's edition of the diocesan newsletter, The Voice Online.
From the Bishop: What's next in the Strategic Visioning process?
As we approach Diocesan Convention, Bishop Hughes talks about the Strategic Visioning process launched last fall – what's happened so far and what's next, including the Visioning team's Convention presentation. (Time: 4:02.)
Diocesan Convention News
The 149th Annual Diocesan Convention will be held Friday and Saturday, February 3 and 4, 2023 at the Hilton Meadowlands in East Rutherford.
The Convention live stream will be available on the diocesan YouTube channel, including Bishop Hughes' address at the Friday evening dinner.
Convention reports are being posted on the Convention webpage as they become available (scroll down to "Convention Resources" in the right sidebar).
Voting will once again be done electronically via Election Runner. There will be Voting Stations for those who need assistance. Deputies can prepare now by downloading the Election Runner app to their phones:iPhone | Android
A special pre-Convention e-newsletter will be sent next week to all Deputies and all subscribers to The VOICE Online with more details about what to expect at Convention.
