WSM Spring Outing - Wednesday - June 4

All women in the parish are invited to join the Women of St. Mary’s for their annual spring outing on Wednesday, June 4th. We will be going to Pickity Place in Mason, NH. It is a beautiful garden with a lovely restaurant. We will be leaving in carpools from St. Mary’s (or other locations as needed) around 9:00am and returning to St. Mary’s by 2:30pm. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board or you may RSVP to Alicia Bowman at Alicia.Bowman@comcast.net. If you could please RSVP by May 30^th that would be greatly appreciated.

For more detail on Pickity Place: http://www.pickityplace.com

For more detail on the restaurant: http://www.pickityplace.com/dining.htm

From their website:

A Hidden Gem in the Foothills of NH - Pickity Place is a total sensory experience that you should plan to spend the entire day exploring. You'll find vast gardens, wonderful gifts and a history that dates back to the 17th century. Our main house at Pickity Place was the illustrative site for the 1948 English edition of Little Red Riding Hood, by Elizabeth Orton Jones. Our Old English gardens are bursting with flowers and fresh herbs. In season, you'll find just about any herb, perennial or scented geranium you can imagine, plus many other varieties that will inspire you!

Dining -- Our 5-course gourmet luncheon draws guests back to Pickity Place time after time. From appetizers to dessert, the delightfully different luncheon dishes are accented with herbs and edible flowers grown and harvested from our very own culinary garden, served in a quaint, comfortable atmosphere.

Thank you from The Esperanza Academy

St. Mary's Outreach and the Women of St. Mary's contribute over $15,000 every year to different worthy causes. Many of the thank you notes we receive are posted on the bulletin board. Below is one of our editor's favorites, from the Esperanza Academy, an all-girls school in Lawrence, Massachusetts. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

Photos: Memorial Day Weekend and Blessing of the Gravestones

It is fitting that this Memorial Day weekend we blessed the four gravestones recently placed in our parish cemetery. As described here and here, these gravestones dating to the 1820s and 1830s were recently discovered in a Newton garage.

Following the Sunday service, our churchyard superintendent Bev Hurney talked about what is known about the gravestones and families, and Peter Chase gave a blessing.

El Salvador 2008: More Photos

Enjoying Sunday lunch at Santa Maria Virgen

Mary Erickson challenges two eight year olds to a soccer game

Mark gives Ann a lesson on coffee plants

It takes an experienced mission team member to run a wheelbarrow through a newly paved section of road

The Santa Maria Virgen soccer team

Peter thought this would make a great gift for his wife Abbie, who works for Delta Airlines

Walking Tour of St. Mary's Cemetery - June 8

On Sunday, June 8, there will be a walking tour of St. Mary's Cemetery sponsored by the Newton Historical Society and led by Beverly Hurney. The talk will include history of the graveyard and interesting facts about some of the people and families buried there. Meet at the church for 2:00pm tour.

Annual Picnic, Sunday, June 15 - After 10:00am Service

This is a time when we celebrate the end of the school year, the beginning of summer and take time to enjoy one another’s company. We need volunteers to bring salads or desserts, or to assist with setting up tables, cooking and clean up. Please sign up if you are attending so that we can plan food purchases. This is a great opportunity to introduce friends and neighbors to the Saint Mary’s Community. Sign-up list soon to be on bulletin board.

Photo: Junior Choir Step-up Sunday on May 18

[Thanks to Steve Oles, who was visiting St. Mary's, for this picture.]

Celebration of Music - Sunday, June 1 at 11:15AM- Performers Needed!

The annual Celebration of Music will be held on Sunday, June 1 at 11:15 a.m. A brunch will be served during Coffee Hour, followed by the opportunity to hear musicians from St. Mary’s. Performers of all ages and levels are invited to share their music. The Adult Choir will be performing music from the cabaret fundraiser held earlier this spring. Also, on this Sunday, members of the congregation will be given a chance to contribute to the Special Music Fund, which makes possible guest musicians and special musical programs held throughout the year.

Please plan to join us, and speak to Kirsten Johnson if you are willing to perform. Kirsten can be reached at jkmnjohn@aol.com or call her at 978-443-3472.

Sunday, May 25 - Services and Events

Sunday, May 25

8:00am Holy Eucharist - Peter Chase

9:45am Childcare

10:00am Morning Prayer - Peter Chase

No Church School

11:00am Blessing of the Memorial Stones and Coffee

Blessing of Gravestones - May 25, 2008

The Journey of Four Slate Gravestones

Please join us after the 10:00am service on Sunday, May 25. Peter will be blessing four early 19 century slate gravestones which were recently returned to St. Mary’s cemetery by John Rodman, a member of the Board of Directors of the Newton Historical Society. John was cleaning out a garage in Newton and found the stones. He realized the probable significance of the stones, photographed the, and brought the photos to Susan Abele, Curator of Manuscripts and Photographs at the Jackson Homestead for identification. Susan did research on the family names of Neal, Daniell, and Mills, but could find no tie to any burials in the three historic Newton Cemeteries.

Beverly Hurney, our cemetery superintendent recognized the names as belonging to Lower Falls families. Why the stones were removed from, or never set in, St. Mary’s cemetery will remain a mystery. What we do know is that they were discovered in 1965, in the house at 2321 Washington Street by the Gale Construction Company. The house, adjacent to the church property, was being razed for the development of an apartment building on the lot owned from 1837 to 1905 by the Neal family. Two of the stones had the family name of Neal. From the house on Washington Street the stones were removed for safe keeping to the garage where John Rodman found them more than 40 years later.

Of historic and genealogical interest to St. Mary’s: Mrs. Eunice (Daniell) Neal is sister to Mr. Jeremiah F. Daniell. Mr. Benjamin Neal was the first organist at St. Mary’s and served for fifty years.

El Salvador 2008: A Change to the Front of Santa Maria Virgen

This year I noticed a small, subtle addition to the front of Santa Maria Virgen...




...this was a coaster that had been left at Santa Maria Virgen on our last mission trip nine years ago.

El Salvador 2008: Day 10 - A Point of Light

On our way to the airport for departure Monday morning, we stopped at a shop recommended by Vince to purchase hand-crafted ceramics for souvenirs. However we did not appreciate fully what we would find until we arrived there.

ACOGIPRI de R.L. is a cooperative founded in 1981 by a group of physically disabled people concerned about the lack of economic opportunities for disabled people in El Salvador. Today the coop employs eighteen people with substantial disabilities who would otherwise find it difficult to find work. The employees are involved in all aspects of making the ceramics. They can be purchased in the small gift shop at coop, or through several outlets in the U.S. including Cristosal (an Episcopalian foundation supporting church efforts in El Salvador) and Ten Thousand Villages in Brookline.

We were given a complete tour of the facility by Janet, who also manages the cash register. She gave us access to the back store room of completed products to purchase. Mary Erickson from Natick purchased two boxes of these ceramics [Editor’s Note: … making us 40 minutes late to the airport!] She will be selling these at St. Paul’s.

El Salvador 2008: Day 10 - A Sobering Moment, and an Affirmation of our Work Here

On Monday May 19 we will be returning back to Massachusetts. Our flight will arrive into Logan airport after midnight tonight. We will continue to post additional photos from our trip over the next week, and post reflections and thoughts over the coming weeks and months.


Tom Riley succinctly summed up life in El Salvador when he commented that the margin between life and death, safety and tragedy is a mere sliver. We had a reminder of this past Friday morning.

While waiting at Santa Maria Virgen on Friday before starting our work project, three of us (Mark, Joan, Tim) were taking a walk through the neighborhood with a parish member, Alex. They were only a few hundred yards away from the church building when they saw two trucks stop, people step out, pull out guns and begin firing at each other. Everyone got back to the church building without harm, and Alex called the police. But it was a sobering reminder to us about the realities of life in El Salvador.

The street connecting to Santa Maria Virgen where we witnessed the shooting

When Larry Walton was rector of Santa Maria Virgen in the early 1990s, he led an effort to establish pre-schools here and in other urban poor neighborhoods in San Salvador. The start-up financing was provided by generous contributions from members of Saint Mary’s. When Peter Chase first visited El Salvador fourteen years ago, he thought that these schools would never survive without continued outside financing. He was wrong. Although five of them are no longer in existence, seven of them are and continue not only to exist but to thrive. Several have expanded beyond a just pre-school and offer classes from grades K to 8. Others have purchased their own buildings. Hearing this was a welcome affirmation of the value of the work we do here, helping provide hope and support in a place where there is often too little of both.

El Salvador 2008: Day 9 - Santa Maria Virgen

Today is Sunday and our last full day in El Salvador. We returned to Santa Maria Virgen this morning to worship with our sister parish. Father Julio and Mark co-celebrated, with assistance from three Yale Divinity School students who are also visiting El Salvador.

Father Julio welcomes us

The Sunday School at Santa Maria Virgen

Following the service was a special program for the mothers in the parish, including live music and performances by the children.



Three hours later we said our goodbyes to Santa Maria Virgen, but not before renewing the spirit of friendship our two parishes have shared for nearly twenty years.

On our drive back we stopped at two sobering places. One was at the edge of a shantytown in the center of San Salvador.


We also stopped at a cemetery to view the tomb of the father of our driver, Arselio. His father was shot dead by government security forces on the steps of the Roman Catholic cathedral in May 1979, during a protest about labor conditions.


We arrived back at our home base mid-afternoon for a lunch. Most of our group will take a tour of a museum this afternoon, while a few others will remain behind to start to organize for our departure. This includes packing clothes, medical supplies, and other materials we are leaving behind to be used by the Diocese.

Tonight we will reconvene as a group at 6pm for a team meeting to debrief on our week, followed by a last dinner. The main dish will be papusas, the national dish of El Salvador.

El Salvador 2008: Day 8 - Volcano Climb

Saturday was our scheduled “day off” to relax, refresh, and have an opportunity to enjoy El Salvador. We broke into three groups for the day – one group went swimming, a second toured some historic sites, and a third group – Mark, Ron, Paul, Tom, and Vince (from the Diocese) - climbed a volcano.

The Parque Nacional Los Volcanes contains three main volcanos, including Volcano Izalco, the youngest volcano in the world. It was merely a hole in the ground until 1770, when is began to erupt and grew to nearly 6000ft high. It stopped erupting in the 1950s, and today can be hiked bottom to top and back in four hours.

Volcano Izalco

The park is high enough that it is noticeably cooler, and today there was significant cloud cover obscuring the normally magnificent views. We first needed to hike down a steep slope through rain forest to get to the base of the volcano, and then hiked nearly straight up to the top. As we approached the top we noticed it was getting warmer – the cool cloud cover was starting to mix with steam for vents near the top.

Hiking down to the base of the volcano

Tom at the base of the volcano

Paul at the summit - steam vents in the distance

Vince, Paul, Mark, and Tom at the summit

The hike back down the volcano

Heading back to the edge of the rainforest

Ron and team stop for a water break

A view from the hike back through the rainforest to the starting point

El Salvador 2008: Day 7 - Diocesan Convention

After our work day at Santa Maria Virgen and tour of Suchitoto we rushed back to our base camp at San Juan Evangelista. Tonight was the start of the annual convention of the Diocese of El Salvador, and the opening service started at 6pm.

In addition to the local priests and lay leaders, guests from Episcopal Dioceses from San Diego, Los Angeles, and New York were in attendance. Our group (of course) represented the Diocese of Massachusetts.

After the service we had a late dinner and a talk from Jose, the Diocesan staff lawyer who also runs the Diocesan program on Human Rights and Social Justice. Jose was raised on a rural farm in El Salvador and knows first hand how difficult it is for the poor to subsist there. He became a driver for the bishop of El Salvador, and used his salary to put himself through law school.

El Salvador 2008: Day 7 - Work Day at Santa Maria Virgen

Friday morning was our first day to sleep in, as we didn’t need to be at Santa Maria Virgen until 9am.



After we arrived, Father Julio walked us to the property two blocks from the current church where we spent the morning maintaining the lot. We used machetes, shovels, and pick-axes to clear grass and pick up trash to burn. This property was originally purchased for the church by our former rector, Larry Walton, to be the site of a new church building.





In the afternoon Father Julio took our group on an excursion to Suchitoto, a small town north of Santa Maria Virgen with colonial buildings and cobblestone streets. After a relaxing lunch we took a boat ride on the Embalse Ceron Grande, a lake that is also a major bird migration zone.

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - More Photos

Here is a picture of Ricardo, one of our hardest site workers, and his home behind the church building.




A fun and effective way to bond with the children is to take their picture with a digital camera, and then show the picture back to them on the screen.




Our tech saavy rector shows Juan Carlos how to take photos using an iPhone.

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - Holy Eucharist Service at San Marcos

As mentioned in a previous post, we finished our last day in San Marcos with an impromptu Holy Eucharist service, co-celebrated by Father German and Mark.

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - Art in San Marcos

One of our team members, Mary Erickson of St. Paul’s, brought a cache of art supplies to give to the churches that we visited. At San Marcos, several children took paper and markers and colored pictures for us while we ate lunch.

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - The Clinic

Over the past eight years Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has funded the construction of several new churches in rural areas in El Salvador. A typical project includes not only a church building but also an open air community center and a building with offices for the parish priest and a health clinic.

The Diocese maintains a staff of health professionals including a medical doctor that makes regular visits to each of these health clinics. The doctor provides both acute and preventive care to communities that would otherwise not have access to it.

The doctor's office

Daniella (the doctor) also conducts health education courses

Weekly Update, May 18

The Reverend Kathy McAdams is our preacher on Sunday, May 18 and will lead an Adult forum after the 10:00am service.

From Ecclesia Ministries Website:

“Ecclesia Ministries began in the spirit of being present to, and praying with, those who are homeless, in order to learn about their struggles and hopes and to offer spiritual support. Thus Ecclesia provides companionship and community to homeless people, a sustaining fellowship that distinguishes Ecclesia from other social service agencies serving homeless people. By offering caring, predictable communities that come together through common activities, Ecclesia seeks to end the isolation homeless individuals face. The relationships that are forged provide a foundation of spiritual comfort and trust and provide room for meaningful change.”

Junior Choir Step-up Sunday, Sunday, May 18 at 10:00am service

Recognition of the Junior Choir will be held Sunday, May 18 during the 10:00am service. Singers will be recognized for their participation in this important ministry and they will “step up” to the next year of the choir program. Junior Choir members are:Charlie Blank, Camille Bowman, John LaViolette, Kate LaViolette, Ford Leonard, Katie Pyzowski, Catherine Williamson, Robert Williamson, Anayis Wright, and Andrew Ramsey, who joined us for the Babson Night presentation. Thanks you to Lucille Rossignol for her assistance with the Junior Choir, and to all the parents for supporting this important ministry.


Babson Night Program at 6:00pm - Sunday, May 18

Babson Night is an annual program for religious institutions in the Wellesley area. The Grace Night Babson Fund for Religious Education sponsors this program which is held at the Knight Auditorium at Babson College. Young people representing the churches and temples in the area each give a brief presentation (song, skit or story) that is based on a Scripture text. The program begins and ends with hymns accompanied by the large Wurlitzer theater organ housed in the auditorium. Institutions receive a monetary gift from the Babson Fund for their participation. Everyone is welcome to attend.


Celebration of Music – Sunday, June 1 Performers needed!

The annual Celebration of Music will be held on Sunday, June 1 at 11:15 a.m. A brunch will be served during Coffee Hour, followed by the opportunity to hear musicians from St. Mary’s. Performers of all ages and levels are invited to share their music. The Adult Choir will be performing music from the cabaret fundraiser held earlier this spring. Also, on this Sunday, members of the congregation will be given a chance to contribute to the Special Music Fund, which makes possible guest musicians and special musical programs held throughout the year. Please plan to join us, and speak to Kirsten Johnson if you are willing to perform.

Sunday, May 18

Sunday, May 18 at  Saint Mary's

Step-up Sunday

8 & 10am Holy Eucharist - Celebrant: The Reverend Gwen Buehrens                                     

Preacher: The Reverend Kathy McAdams from Ecclesia Ministries

   9:45am     Childcare    

10:00am     CGSI & II     

 11:00am     Intermediate Class   

 11:00am      Adult Forum on led by The Reverend Kathy McAdams

  6:00pm   Babson Night

For More information on Ecclesia Ministries click link below:

www.ecclesia.org

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - Road Work Photos

El Salvador 2008: Day 6 - Izalco

Thursday was our third and last day at the community of San Marcos. Most of the work today involved finishing sections of the road started yesterday, and paving new sections - mixing, moving, and laying concrete. Our team was more efficient today, as we had a better intuition about the flow and pace of the work involved, as well as in pacing ourselves in the hot and humid climate.

By the time we finished work for the day, we had completed nearly 100 feet of finished road. We had purchased enough supplies for the community to completed even more road after we leave.

We experienced some "extras" on our last day here. First, the Diocesan medical team made a scheduled visit to the clinic adjacent to the church. The Diocesan medical team provides preventive and other medical care that the people here wouldn't otherwise receive. It was gratifying to have the Diocesan doctor, Daniella, thank us for working on the road. She said that before the road section that was built last year was completed, she often could not make visits in rainy season.

Second, one of our team members (Mary) donated art supplies to the church. During lunch a group of children colored pictures for us.

Third, we stopped work early today for what we thought would be a short prayer service with a few members of the community. Instead, at 2:30pm it was announced on the community loudspeaker to come to the church for a service of Holy Eucharist. During the sermon, Father German offered his thanks for our visit. He also told us that as our visit was during the week, many of the people from the thirty-two families at St. Marcos were working today and unable to attend. Following the service, we said our goodbyes to the families, work crew, and community of San Marcos.

Photos will follow in later posts.

El Salvador 2008: Day 5 - Peter Makes a Friend

Peter poses with his new friend Victor, who is an excellent worker, but has poor taste in baseball teams.

El Salvador 2008: Day 5 - Back to Izalco

This morning was another 7am start to reach San Marcos in Izalco by 8:30am.


Today we start building the road on the surface we graded yesterday. The general process is to first lay down a foundation of rock, then cover the rock with cement. The rock was delivered by truck to the work site, but we needed to move the rock from the pile to the road, and then place the rocks to follow the plum lines. One efficient way to move the rocks is to use the "chain gang"...




...although Tom and others also moved rocks by wheelbarrow.

The cement is mixed on the ground using shovels. Three wheelbarrows of sand, one bag of cement mix, and six buckets of water are mixed in a multi-step process that takes about fifteen minutes to insure the three ingredients are thoroughly mixed.


The mixed cement is moved to where it is needed by wheelbarrow. Cement is put down in two steps. First, cement is poured to cover the rocks, and trowels used to make sure cement goes between the rocks. This is left to dry for a few hours, and a second layer cement put down to form the top of the road. Our team concentrated on the first layer, while the Salvadorian engineer supervising the project, named Salvador, made sure the second layer was straight and level.





We had help from the community as well - below are pictures of two helpers, Jennifer and Ricardo.


Tomorrow we will be returning to Izocal.

El Salvador 2008: Day 4 - Izalco

Peter, Ann, Tim and the rest of us in the van for the 90 minute drive to San Marcos

Father German (wearing blue t-shirt on left) explains the project to us. We will building a road in front of the church. In the rainy season, this section of road becomes impassable.

The first step is to grade the dirt road, placing sand where needed and pounding it down

Tim, Tom, and Ann shoveling sand

The bags of cement are stored in the church until we need them

Unloading rocks from the delivery truck

Joan shoveling excess dirt and gravel into a wheelbarrow

El Salvador 2008: And the Road Held

This blog entry is dedicated to the other members of the 2007 Massachusetts Diocesan Mission Leadership Team to El Salvador - Ted, Jeff, Jeff, Jon, John, Gay, Diane, and David. The title says it all. Mark and Paul arrived back in Izalco today and experienced 100 yards of smooooooth driving on the way to San Marcos.


The other side of the road remains unfinished, although they did finish edging the side (see picture above.) Our group this year is working on repaving the road in front of the church.

- Paul and Mark

El Salvador 2008: Team Picture with Bishop Barahona

El Salvador 2008: Day 4 - To Izalco

This morning we depart early for a ninety minute ride to Izalco and the community of San Marcos, where we will spend the next three days working with the church there on various projects, including road construction.  This community is in an isolated region up in the mountains west of San Salvador.  The Episcopal Church has constructed a community center and clinic next to the church to support the people there.

El Salvador 2008: Day 3 - Life at Base Camp

Pictures from the Anglican Residence in San Salvador, our home for the next ten days...

Our dorm rooms are on the top floor; the eating area is on the bottom

At play behind our dorm room

Mary makes another friend

Searching for a better wireless internet signal...

Bunk Sweet Bunk

Three generations in the kitchen

El Salvador 2008: Day 3

After a breakfast of eggs, beans, and rice, we had an 8AM meeting with Bishop Martin Barahona, Bishop of El Salvador and the Anglican Primate for Central America.

From left: Mary, Mark, Peter, Vince (with the Diocese of El Salvador) and Bishop Barahona

The Bishop spent over an hour talking with us about the work of the church in El Salvador, and about the strong relationships between the Diocese here and various groups in the U.S. including Massachusetts.  He remembers Peter Chase and St. Mary's fondly, having visited our church when he was first ordained as Bishop.

The Anglican church has three main missions: bringing people to the church, education (youth and adult), and health.  For example, the Diocese has a doctor and program to bring medicine and primary preventative health care to its members, who are mostly poor.

The Bishop and Father German from San Marcos (St. Mark's) in Izalco also reviewed the work projects that the team will be supporting this week.

After the meeting with the Bishop, we took a short the Diocesan offices, and then spent the afternoon visiting key historic sites in San Salvador related to Roman Catholic Archbishop Romero and the Salvadorian civil war.

Tim, Mary, Joan, and Sandy in the Roman Metropolitan Cathedral

Ariel interpreting a talk at the University of Central America.  Pictures of Oscar Romero are hanging on the wall in the background.

El Salvador 2008: Day 2 - Santa Maria Virgen

Sunday morning came early with 7am breakfast and Sunday worship at Santa Maria Virgen.

Santa Maria Virgen, San Bartolo

Father Julio Rivera and Rector Peter Chase

Father Julio Rivera invited Peter Chase to co-celebrate the Pentecost Sunday service with him. Mark McKone-Sweet assisted with communion, and Ariel Acuna acted as a translator as needed. In addition to Pentecost, this Sunday was also American Mothers’ Day (Salvadorian Mothers’ Day was the day before) and also Mary Erickson’s birthday – and Father Julio celebrated them all! The highlight may have been when Father Julio pulled four roses out of the altar flowers and presented one to each of the mothers in our group.

Mark and Father Julio at Communion

A very special Mothers' Day

Near the end of the service, St. Mary’s presented to the parish a plaque commemorating fifteen years of continued friendship between the two parishes.



After the hour and a half service, Father Julio walked us two blocks to a plot of land owned by the church that had been purchased for them by Father Larry Walton nearly fifteen years ago where they plan to someday build a new church building. (Larry was the former rector of both Saint Mary’s and Santa Maria Virgen.) Father Rivera also gave us a tour of an adjacent plot of land and shared his dream to someday purchase the plot and build both a church and a school to serve the people in this working poor community.

A tour of the property

We then walked back to the church where a lunch of grilled meat, rice, and tortillas was awaiting us in the church courtyard.

Mary Erickson celebrates her birthday

Plaque Presented to Santa Maria Virgen

El Salvador 2008: Day 2 - We Made It! (Updated)

We arrived into San Salvador last night at 8:30pm local time, after two flights of more than 10 hours. At the airport were two old friends of Mark and Paul - Vince and Arsie - who had accompanied them on last years' trip. 

Forty minutes later we were at the residence at San Juan Evangelista in San Salvador, with a welcome dinner prepared and waiting for us.

We have only intermittent Internet access but we will post when we can.

El Salvador 2008: Day 1, At the Airport

While checking in at the counter, we find Tricia Blank checking in too. She is also flying south, but to visit her daughter Perry in South America...

...last minute attempts to have her join the trip to El Salvador were unsuccessful.

Here we are at the gate awating boarding. Back row: Joan, Ron, Ann, Tim, Sandy, Ariel (who out-dressed us all.) Front row: Mary, Tom, Paul, Mark.

El Salvador 2008: Day 1, Departure

Our team will be meeting at Logan airport in four hours, to check in ourselves, our luggage, and eight boxes of computers, school supplies, and first aid equipment.  Our first flight departs at noon, with a three hour layover in Dallas before flying on to San Salvador.  We our scheduled to arrive into San Salvador just before 8PM Saturday night.

We may or may not internet access while there, but if we do, we will try to provide updates on our trip during the week.  Please check back.

El Salvador 2008: T minus 1 day

The computers and medical supplies are being packed for transport to San Salvador as checked luggage.  The team will be heading to the airport Saturday morning for departure.  

WSM Annual Meeting & Women's Potluck Tuesday, May 13

All women are welcome to join us on Tuesday, May 13 at 6:30pm for the Annual Women of St. Mary's Annual Meeting and Potluck Supper. The hostesses will be Pat Warner, Gail Jessup, Phyllis Campbell and Judith Haycock.  A presentation will be made on the Altar Guild and the Altar Guild garden. More information to follow.  Sign up list is on the bulletin board.

Sunday, May 11- Pentecost

Sunday, May 11 - Pentecost (and Mother's Day)

Please wear Red this Sunday to celebrate the fire of the Holy Spirt on the apostles that day.

We will be celebrating with our birthday cakes for the church at 11:00am.

8 & 10am Holy Eucharist Service

Preacher & Celebrant: The Reverend Gwen Buehrens

9:45am Childcare

10:00am CGSI & II

11:00am Intermediate Class

11:00am Middle School Class

11:00am Coffe Hour & Pentecost Cakes

Upcoming Events in May and June

Special Music Program for Choirs and Percussion, Dan Foote, Drummer, Sunday, May 4 at 10:00 a.m. Service

Walk for Hunger, Sunday, May 4
“Team Turtle” i.e., Anne Rippy Turtle and John Turtle, will be joining others from St. Mary’s for their 17th year. Donations in support of this important cause are most welcome, before and after the event.


St. Mary’s Outreach Committee Meeting, Monday, May 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Elisabeth Comer is hosting the committee meeting at her home, 32 Chestnut Street, Wellesley (781-772-2220.) Anyone interested in outreach at St. Mary’s is invited to attend. At the meeting, outreach opportunities will be reviewed and disbursement decisions (current pool is approximately $2,400) will be made. By way of background, this committee meets and disburses funds semi-annually. In addition, other outreach funds, otherwise disbursed, include $2,000 from the Barbara Robinson Fund, which is restricted to educational purposes, and the proceeds from the Foods ‘N Fancies Bazaar (approximately $10,000) which have already been disbursed by the Women of St. Mary’s for 2007.

The Reverend Kathy McAdams, Ecclesia Ministries, to Preach, Lead Adult Forum on Sunday, May 18



By way of background, McAdams writes:

“We very much enjoyed having groups from your congregation visit Common Cathedral last April. It is relationships with congregations like yours that help us continue our vital ministry with the poorest people of Boston. We hope that your visits were valuable to your Confirmation or Outreach program, or simply to raise the consciousness and compassion of your congregation about the many and complex causes of homelessness. [It is my hope that we] strengthen this partnership begun by our two congregations, and continue Ecclesia's many programs for people experiencing homelessness, as well as our educational/formational offerings to housed congregations.”

Junior Choir Step-up Sunday, May 18 at 10:00 a.m. service; Babson Night program at 6:00 p.m.
Babson Night is an annual program for religious institutions in the Wellesley area. The Grace Night Babson Fund for Religious Education sponsors this program which is held at the Knight Auditorium at Babson College. Young people representing the churches and temples in the area each give a brief presentation (song, skit or story) that is based on a Scripture text. The program begins and ends with hymns accompanied by the large Wurlitzer theater organ housed in the auditorium. Institutions receive a monetary gift from the Babson Fund for their participation. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Annual Celebration of Music on Sunday, June 1 at 11:15 a.m.
Musicians of all ages are invited to perform at the program which will be held in the Parish Hall. A brunch will be served followed by the music. If you are willing to perform please speak to Kirsten Johnson.

Annual Church Picnic and Recognition of Acolytes on Sunday, June 15
We plan to recognize our wonderful, dedicated team of acolytes during the 10:00 a.m. service. All acolytes are asked to attend. Following the service, St. Mary’s annual picnic will be held in the churchyard. All are invited to attend; guests are encouraged. A sign-up sheet will be posted in the parish hall.

The Journey of Four Slate Gravestones

After the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday, May 25, Peter will be blessing four early 19 century slate gravestones, which were recently returned to St. Mary’s cemetery by John Rodman, a member of the Board of Directors of the Newton Historical Society. John was cleaning out a garage in Newton where he found the stones. He realized the probable historic significance of the stones, photographed them, and brought the photos to Susan Abele, Curator of Manuscripts and Photographs at the Jackson Homestead for identification. Susan did research on the family names of Neal, Daniell and Mills, but could find no tie to any burials in the three historic Newton cemeteries.

Beverly Hurney, our cemetery superintendent, recognized the names as belonging to Lower Falls families.

Why the stones were removed from, or never set in, St. Mary’s cemetery will remain a mystery. What we do know is that they were discovered in 1965, in the house at 2321 Washington Street, by the Gale Construction Company. The house, adjacent to the church property, was being razed for the development of an apartment building on the lot owned from 1837 to 1905 by the Neal family. Two of the stones had the family name of Neal. From the house on Washington Street the stones were removed for safe keeping to the garage where John Rodman found them more than 40 years later!

The stones were made of local slate, carved and signed by A.A. Park, R.K. Park and J. Park of Groton and each bore one of the following inscriptions:

“MARY ELIZABETH/daughter of/Mr. Jeremiah F. &/Mrs. Sarah Daniell/died Feb. 16, 1832/AEt.
(aetatis, Latin for “at the age of”) 3 yrs. & 8 mos”
“ELIZABETH L./daughter of/William &/Mary A. Mills/died Nov. 11, 1838/AEt. 17 yrs”
“HORATIO/son of/Mr. Benjamin &/Mrs. Eunice Neal/died May 22, 1831/AEt. 4 yrs”
“SARAH MANN/daughter of/Mr. Benjamin & Mrs. Eunice Neal/died Aug. 30, 1826/AEt 15 mos”

Of historic and genealogical interest to St. Mary’s: Mrs. Eunice (Daniell) Neal is sister to Mr. Jeremiah F. Daniell. Mr. Benjamin Neal was the first organist at St. Mary’s and served for fifty years.

About Town

Gail Jessup is completing her move to Milton, MA. Her granddaughter, Abbi Golledge will be attending Georgetown University in the fall. Abbi’s family continues to reside in Ghana, where her father Bob is director of the Peace Corps, and was recently visited by President Bush.

Perry Blank has spent the past three months on a Gap Year semester program in Bolivia and Peru. Her experiences have included extensive home stays with rural Bolivian families, community service, trekking up to 18,000 feet, a week at a research station on the Amazon River as well as a visit to Macchu Picchu in Peru. She will be attending Duke in the fall. Perry's brother, Teddy Blank, is a sophomore at Amherst College where he is also a pitcher for the varsity baseball team.

United Thank Offering Ingathering Continues through May

The UTO’s mission is “to expand our circle of thankful people in the Episcopal Church.” This mission is accomplished through our daily prayers of thanksgiving and our donations. Each gift supports missions and the ministry of the Church throughout the world.

Gwen Buehrens has had firsthand experience with the UTO:

“When I worked at our church headquarters in Manhattan in the late 1980s, I was the point person in the States for the Anglican Children's Fund, begun after the famine in Biafra. Anglicans in both Britain and the U.S. agreed to sponsor orphaned children and to provide general funding for one orphanage, in particular. Located in a mountainous rural area, the orphanage operated an agricultural school, which trained the residents to become farmers. The school was forced to rely on an old rickety truck to transport its produce to market. Because funding a truck purchase exceeded our capability, we applied to UTO for a grant. The UTO provided the necessary funds and the training program flourished. Thanks be to God.”

A blue UTO envelope has been mailed to you. Please use it to give generously to this important cause. Donations can be placed on the collection plate on Sunday or dropped off at the church office. Contributions will be welcomed throughout May.

Good News: April 28, 2008

The Good News from April 28 is available for download:
Good_News_2008_Apr_28.pdf

This issue includes an article in memory of Krister Stendahl, noted theologian and friend of St. Mary's.

Around Town: Matt Johnson

The MetroWest Daily News has an article on how Matt Johnson, son of St. Mary's Music Director Kirsten Johnson, has restored a Model A Ford Coup.

Teen, Friend Restore Ford 1930 Model A

"Gazing at his 1930 Ford Coupe for the first time, Matt Johnson noticed the Model A had no fenders, running boards, upholstery or glass in the window frames. Duct tape held the doors shut. A metal roof was screwed to its top and the wheels - two red and two green - were not only the wrong style, but the wrong size..."

[Read the entire article here.]

St. Mary's Update for Sunday, May 4 & Upcoming Events

Sunday, May 4

  8:00 & 10:00am  Holy Eucharist - Celebrant & Preacher: Peter Chase

  9:45 am    Childcare

10:00am    Catechesis of the Good Shepherd I & II

11:00am    Intermediate Class

11:00am    Middle School Class

11:00am    Coffee Hour

  7:00pm   El Salvador Missions Trip Meeting

Stitch'n Chat to be Held on Tuesday, May 6

The next Stitch'n Chat will be held at Peggy Scott's home on Tuesday, May 6th at 7:30pm.

Pentecost Sunday - May 11 - Wear Red!

Please wear red on Pentecost to celebrate the fire of the Holy Spirit on the apostles that day.  We will be celebrating with our birthday cakes for the church.