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Events at St. Mary's The Vestry will meet on Tuesday, May 6 at 5:30 PM. All are invited. Pentecost and Mother's Day will be celebrated next Sunday, May 11. The Rev. Chloe Breyer will be our preacher and we will celebrate the power of the Holy Spirit and the nurturing gifts of motherhood here at St. Mary's Church. "God and Empire" a seven week Bible study, Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm, for Eastertide, following John Dominick Crossan’s book. Please see Rev. Kooperkamp for details, or pick up the schedule from the back table. Parish Directory: St. Mary’s is ready to publish a directory for our members. We have collected all the information, but if you did not get a chance to look at your entry, please let Liz Mellen, Gwen Walker or Mario Clemenzio know or call the Church Office. Look for the Directory to be published soon!
Weekly Activities Daily Noonday Prayer, Monday to Friday, 12 Noon to 12:15 PM
Center for Urban Community Services, Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM
Neighborhood Pantry, Mondays, 5 PM to 7 PM
Choir Practice, Wednesdays, 5 PM to 7 PM
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Saturdays Monthly Activities
ECW Prayer Committee, 1st Sunday of each month, led by Irene McKenzie
Episcopal Church Women, 3rd Sunday of each month after the 10 AM Service, Deborah Mack, President
Miriam, Mark and Marx - 4th Thursday of each month, 7 PM, led by Jim White
Men's Prayer Group - 4th Saturday of each month, 8 AM Community Events
Housing Here and Now: "Repeal Vacancy Decontrol" Tenants to meet with elected officials on Thursday, May 15 at 7 PM, St. Jerome's Church, 230 Alexander Avenue at 138th Street, Bronx, NY. For more information, please call Joya at 917-734-8050.
Have you been stopped and frisked by the NYPD? The New York Civil Liberty Union (NYCLU) is documenting police conduct during stop and frisk actions. If you, or someone you know, had contact with the police in this way and would like to help the NYCLU with their research, please let Rev. Kooperkamp know. Confidentiality can be assured.
Letters From the Rector
The Good News
Lent and Easter, 2008 Dear Sisters and Brothers: The Holy Season of Lent is drawing to a close. We have had a very good Lenten season here at St. Mary’s Church. We had great Black History Month celebration in February, with poetry from the African American tradition and wonderful poems written by St. Mary’s members. We hosted the Harlem Episcopal Churches for a special service of Evening Prayer, with inspirational music by St. Mary’s Choir. We held our Annual Meeting last Sunday and heard about our efforts during the past year and our plans for the coming year to serve our community and to make the love of God in Jesus Christ known throughout our neighborhood. Now we prepare for the celebration of Holy Week and Easter. We will remember Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, reflect on Jesus’ passion and death on the Cross on Good Friday and joyfully praise God for the resurrection of Jesus on Easter morning. I hope to see you soon during Holy Week. Meanwhile, many good things keep going on here at St. Mary’s Church. We are still working with others in the West Harlem community to make sure that the Columbia University expansion will be a benefit to all in our neighborhood and not force out long-time residents. We are still struggling to re-open the Manhattanville Health Center to fight for improved health care for people in our community. We will continue with our "Appreciative Inquiry" process of "Becoming Church Together" to enhance our worship life, our outreach to the poor and dispossessed in Harlem and strengthen our service in the Name of the Risen Christ. My prayer is that we will all grow in a deeper spirit during these upcoming weeks as we experience the unbound love of God. Faithfully, the Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, Rector
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:
The summer is now over, but it was a great summer for St. Mary’s Church. Under the direction of Ms. Pearl Harris and with the great assistance of Debra Snyder-Ebron-Mitchell and Gwen Walker, we had one of the best St. Mary’s Summer Camp programs in recent years. The children all had a great time!
As we head into the Fall, there are lots of great things happening here at St. Mary’s Church. As you will see from the announcements below, it will be a busy time as we work together to make God’s love and God’s justice known in West Harlem.
We also have some new faces around the parish. First, we have five new interns in the New York Intern Program for the year; Jackie Clark from Chicago, Pam Martin from Connecticut, Amanda Akes from Texas, Emily Beal and Andrew Goldhor both from Boston. They are wonderfully talented young people who will add much to our life here.
Rev. Chloe Breyer is beginning doctoral studies at Union Seminary and so Sarah Nazimova-Baum will coordinate the intern program on a daily basis. Also, Deacon Yvonne Logan will be ordained priest on Saturday, September 23 at 10:30 am at the Cathedral and will join St. Mary’s as a Priest Associate this month. Every Week So as you can see, we have many activities, new people and an exciting Fall ahead of us. We hope to see you soon and look forward to our ministry together seeking God’s holy peace and shalom for our city. Stewardship Corner St. Mary’s Church was the first “free pew” Episcopal Church in New York City (and possibly the entire nation). This means that from an early date, we have served God by the freewill offerings of the congregation.
Your giving helps to meet our operating budget. St. Mary’s does not receive support for our operations from the Diocese of New York or the government (except for program support for the Soup Kitchen and Summer Camp). It is your generous contributions that keep our doors open and God’s mission alive here. Thank you for your gracious pledges & contributions and please help with continued support that the love of Jesus will be known in our neighborhood for years to come. As God so richly blesses us, let us bless others in God’s holy Name. Faithfully, the Rev. Earl Kooperkamp, Rector
The Good News September 2006
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2008 At St. Mary's
Sunday, January 20, Guest preacher John Shango Conyers of the Redemption Center, Brooklyn, NY.
Mary Our Mother Educational Series
Sunday, December 30, there will be a film on "Mary in Art through the Ages". Discussion sessions in this series of talks will be led by Liz Mellon, Miguel Escobar, and Irene McKenzie.
Sunday, January 27 - Mary In Church History
Sunday, February 24 - Mary, advocate and intercessor, friend of the poor
Sunday, March 30 - Mary and our personal devotions
Sunday, May 30 - Mary and our personal devotions
Annual Meeting 2008 At the Annual Parish Meeting Sunday, March 3, 2008, we re-elected Delores Jones to serve another term as Church Warden. We also elected three new members of the Vestry; Lisa Rivers-Mazza, Thomas Sayee and Sheryl Patterson. We extend our thanks and gratitude for the service of our retiring Vestry members; Deborah Snyder-Ebron-Mitchell, Gewn Walker and Yves Ngabonziza. We also passed a Budget for 2008 and heard reports from our important ministries of the Women’s Prayer Committee, the Food Pantry, the Choir, and the Evangelism, Education, Empowerment and Outreach Committee. Copies of the reports are on the bulletin board at the back of the church and on the back table.
Thursday, January 31, 7 PM. "Agents & Assets" - a theatrical production followed by panel discussion. Based on congressional hearings on the US government's War on Drugs. Panel members include Deborah Small, Executive Director of Break the Chains, an organization devoted to fairness for communities of color in the war on drugs; and Nellie Hester Bailey, co-founder and director of the Harlem Tenants Council. Free Admission.
2007 At St. Mary's Sunday, December 23. Solo by April Armstrong and guest sermon by Rev. Kevon Bean.
Sunday, December 16. Sunday School Advent Pageant. An extraordinary performance by St. Mary's Sunday School, dramatizing the meaning of Jesus' birth for our world today. Executive Producer, Jim White with solo by Ellen White. Well attended despite bad weather! Wednesday, December 18. Meeting for Faith Based Organizations on Columbia University Expansion Project. October 31. The Episcopal Church Women sponsored a Halloween party for the neighborhood children. Sunday, October 14 Representative from Union 32BJ Security Workers presented testimony. Friday, October 19, 7 PM "A Broken System, Crying Out For Justice" As part of Amnesty International's "Weekend of Faith", the Harlem Chapter of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty held a forum here at St. Mary's Church. Sunday, October 21 Congregation decided to join the New Sanctuary Movement to stand for justice for all immigrants in our country.
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