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Update: Great Vigil of Easter via Zoom, Saturday, April 3, 8:00 pm
(note time change)
This year, Grace & St Peter’s will offer an adapted Great Vigil of Easter via Zoom. Bob has invited me (Gretchen Pritchard) to lead it. Participants will gather online to light candles in our darkened homes; to listen to stories and renew our baptismal vows, then proclaim Christ’s victory, turn on the lights and make noise, and bring out some festive foods (and maybe flowers and Easter baskets) each in our own homes, as we anticipate the completion of our worship on Easter morning.
I hope a goodly number of folks will plan to participate. We can even invite friends and family from afar to join us!
Taking advantage of the capabilities of digital gatherings, we are inviting parish members (individuals, households, groups) to present the various readings in creative ways, such as a slide show (whether of original art, children’s drawings, photographs, or images taken from world art), or a dramatic reading by several voices, or a video, or some other interpretation.
Cindy Turner and John Anderson have offered to present the Vision of the Dry Bones, with Cindy reading and John providing percussion sound effects. The other Biblical readings include
- The Six Days of Creation
- The Flood
- Abraham’s Offering of Isaac
- The Crossing of the Red Sea
- Several prophecies of God’s restoration of right relationship between God, the people, and all creation.
Depending on the interest shown, we can use four or more of these choices; one of them has to be the Red Sea.
Our video Christmas pageant showed how effective this kind of endeavor can be to bring us together at this time and remind us of the permanence of God’s promises.
If you would like to present one of these readings, please get in touch with me (203-624-2520 [home phone] or sundaypaper@snet.net).
Thanks-
Gretchen Pritchard
Holy Week Services
Passion Sunday: Rev. Bob and Father Joseph will lead the blessing of the palms together at the beginning of the service, with Father Joseph presiding for the remainder of the liturgy. Blessed palm fronds can be distributed at both parishes on a drive through basis at the end of the service.
Monday and Tuesday of Holy Week: There will be virtual evening prayer or compline services hosted by Grace and St Peter’s each of these evenings.
Wednesday of Holy Week: Paul Hocking will lead compline in the sanctuary at 8pm. Limited attendance will be allowed, please let the office know if you would like to attend in-person.
Maundy Thursday: Rev. Bob and Father Joseph will lead a Maundy Thursday worship service (minus the foot washing and dining) that will conclude with the stripping of the altars in both parishes.
Good Friday: St Johns will host a traditional Good Friday liturgy, while Grace and St Peter’s will go on a prayer tour of our neighborhood. You are invited to join the tour this time—masked and distanced, the recorded version of which will be posted later in the day.
Holy Saturday: Virtual Easter Vigil organized by Gretchen Pritchard (see announcement below). There will also be a brief liturgy and Easter hymn sing outdoors (social distanced and masked) at St John’s beginning at 7PM.
Easter Sunday: Plans are being made for outdoor, in person Easter morning service in the side yard of St John’s, North Haven.
Please stayed tuned for more details about, and links for, all of these Holy Week and Easter activities.
Reminder!
Please Donate to G&SP Black History Scholarships
To donate, you may mail a check to Grace and St. Peter's with 'scholarship' in the memo portion of the check, or use the donate button on our graceandstpeters.org website. For those using the website, a follow up email to the parish office notifying of the donation would be appreciated, as the program does not allow you to designate the intent of the donation.
February Vestry Minutes
You may access the minutes HERE
ECCT Spring Training
9th ANNUAL
SPRING TRAINING & GATHERING
VIRTUAL EVENT
Tuesday, April 6 through Saturday, April 17
Gather with Episcopalians from across Connecticut for learning, prayer and fellowship. All are welcome-from people in the pews and vestry members to parish leaders and staff.
This year Spring Training will take place during the two weeks immediately following Easter when a variety of engaging workshops will be offered via Zoom. Each workshop is 90-minutes long and most are offered on two different days and times. The closing plenary session will take place on Saturday, April 17, from 9-11 a.m. and is entitled "Parish Life After COVID: Psychological and theological reflections as we gather in new ways." Learn more about the various workshops on ECCT's Spring Training and Gathering page.
Camp Washington Summer Sessions 2021
Summer Camp 2021 will be a “different” kind of summer for us all- and- we are getting pretty good at being flexible.
As we continue to live with COVID-19, we also learn more as we try-on new things and listen to the science and guidance of experts.
The safety and well-being of our campers and staff is the #1 priority as we design plans and programs for this summer. We have shortened the number of sessions available, and have reduced our registration capacity, allowing us to create more space in the cabins and common areas. Campers will travel in cabin pods with established protocols for each pod.
We are following the guidance of the American Camp Association (ACA), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Episcopal Camps & Conference Centers (ECCC), and the State of CT to determine the layers of protection Camp Washington will need to implement this to insure the safest summer possible. Some activities will look and feel different, some will be new, and some may simply not be possible this summer. However, we believe that creating a summer camp experience for our families is perhaps more important this summer than ever before.
In the coming months, we will share our new guidelines with you once you have registered, and will ask you to take an active role with your camper in understanding your responsibilities in making this summer successful. Many rules, policies and protocols will be different- one thing will not change: the opportunity for your camper to come home to Camp Washington to have fun, reconnect with friends, staff, and our creator in the beauty of this amazing campus.
We are here to answer your questions, and look forward to welcoming you back home this summer to Camp Washington!
Register Here
Dinner for a Dollar
On March 12th, our Chef Sue O'Connell served a meal of Cowboy Stew (ground beef, beans, potatoes, corn and tomatoes) rice pilaf, and apple bread. Cake was served for dessert. Many thanks to Sue, and all the Dinner for a Dollar volunteers for continuing this ministry every Friday!
PRAYERS
We pray for our ministries at Arden House and Whitney Manor. We pray for our Friday night dinner ministry. We pray for the ministry of Christian Community Action in New Haven, and the families they serve. We pray for our own parish of Grace and St. Peter's.
We pray for those in need of healing:
Andy, Frank, Sharon, Dan, Glenn, Peter, Mary, Mac, Alice, Bernadette, Marge, Sandi, Micki, Matthew, Peter, Nancy, Judy, John, Chukky, Elsie, Joan, Charles, Fiona, Marion, Dan, Debbie, Ellen, Nicole, Cassie, Phillip, Anthony, Mary-Anne, Margaret, Gwennie, Christy, James, Pat L., Ed, Alicia, Sean, Diane, Debbie, Esther, Candice, and Verna. We hold in our hearts all those who mourn.
Joining the Episcopal Church of Connecticut in the cycle of prayer, we pray for: Grace Church, Hartford; St. Martin’s, Hartford; and St. Monica’s, Hartford. We also pray for ECCT Joint Leadership members of the Mission Council, Missionary Society, Standing Committee, Commission on Ministry and Donations & Bequests.
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