NORTHEAST REGION ENEWSLETTER

MAY 2019
Please Join Us!
What is a Convocation? I hear you asking! Convocation is an opportunity to gather as a wider and more diverse community than any single parish can be. Convocation offers all of us a chance to get to know folks from other parishes in the NE Region, as well offering some familiarity of liturgy and an opportunity to flex our creative muscles.

Saturday, May 4th, is our 4th Annual NE Region Convocation - a day where we can be together, all 18 parishes, worshiping, singing, playing & rejoicing in new and old friendships. We invite each parish to bring ONE SMALL item that represents that parish to be used as an icon and placed on or around our altar for the day.

The leadership team of the NE Region hopes that you will consider attending this event. We look forward to seeing you! Please be sure to click the link above to register! Walk-ins are always welcome, we just want to make sure we have enough materials for everyone.
Iconography at St. John's, Vernon
I’ve been writing icons for a year and have made sixteen so far. I have each one blessed at the altar when they are finished. Once, when after one had been blessed, a member of the Altar Guild, JoAnn D’Amoto, said that we needed an icon on right side of the wall behind the altar to balance the aumbry door on the left side. That’s all the inspiration I needed.

My first problem was to find an appropriate subject. The icon would be located over the credence table where the elements for communion are placed for preparation. My first thought was the last supper, which is called the “Mystic Supper” in Orthodox iconography. Unfortunately, these are configured in landscape mode, but the aumbry door is landscape. This did not balance. 

I finally came up with an icon with several names,  The Hospitality of Abraham (ἠ φιλοξενία του Αβραάμ), The Holy Trinity (ή Αγία Τριάς), or The Old Testament Trinity. It  is based on the incident referred to in Genesis 18 which in Orthodox belief prefigures the mystic supper. It must be remembered that in earliest Christian history, most of the believers were illiterate.. stained glass windows and icons were used to “write” the Biblical stories so that the unlettered could “read” them. That means that the icons have a language that can be interpreted. 

Rev. Virginia Army prefers the term “Praying” the Icon over “Writing” the icon. There is a lot of truth to this. I start each painting session with a special prayer or a short service (based on midday prayer from A New Zealand Prayer Book modified somewhat and containing the special prayer). The special prayer is traditional among iconographers, and goes as follows:

Prayer Before Writing An Icon

O DIVINE LORD of all that exists, You have illumined the Apostle and Evangelist Luke with Your Holy Spirit, thereby enabling him to represent Your most Holy Mother, the One who held You in her arms and said: “The Grace of Him Who has been born of me is spread through the world!”

Enlighten and direct my soul, my heart and my spirit. Guide the hands of Your unworthy servant so that I may worthily and perfectly portray Your Icon, that of Your Mother, and all the Saints, for the glory, joy and adornment of Your Holy Church.

Forgive my sins and the sins of those who will venerate these icons and who, kneeling devoutly before them, give homage to those they represent. Protect them from all evil and instruct them with good counsel. This I ask through the intercession of Your most Holy Mother, the Apostle Luke, and all the Saints.  Amen .

The icon was hallowed (blessed and dedicated) on the last Sunday before Lent. The Gospel reading of the Transfiguration fit well with the appearance of Christ foreshadowed in the icon.  

Article written by David Clarke, St. John's, Vernon - if you would like more information about writing icons, or the process of blessing an icon, please contact David at davec1066@icloud.com
From Maggie, your Region Missionary
Spring is upon us, Saints! As if waking up from a dream, the flowers are breaking the surface of the earth and the air is full of the joyful noise of birds. While seemingly slow in coming, Spring always shows up in a spectacular way!

The slow and contemplative flow of Holy Week gives way to the wonderful surprise and delight that is Easter morning! For on Easter morning we are all born again - new creations in the Risen Lord. Good news indeed! In the suspended moment that is Easter morning, for me, is a glimpse of a perfect day in creation - this moment in time where I am part of the worship in my home parish AND the worship in every church building, or house church, or open field, or any other part of creation that is pausing to worship and give thanks to the Risen Lord. Where I find myself exactly the right size in front of God, at peace within myself and so profoundly in love with all the parts of creation I am connected to.

Lent and Holy Week may be my favorite times in the Liturgical calendar (who doesn't love a good minor hymn about dying?), it is Easter that renews my purpose in Christ. It is with Easter that I reclaim myself as a beloved creature of God. And so I hope this Easter season you also experience a call to reaffirm your self as a beloved part of creation. Join with me and proudly proclaim: "The Lord is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!"


Photo by Bishop Laura Ahrens
One Kind Of Prayer Practice
At St. Peter's, Hebron, a new kind of prayer practice was started in Lent. This was the idea of one of the people on the prayer/pastoral care ministry, and the congregation was quite excited and enthusiastic to participate!

Each Sunday we put out a bowl full of slips of paper - each one has the name of a parishioner on it. Everyone draws a name out of the bowl and prayers for that person each day during Lent.

At Easter, we sent the person we have been praying for a card or a note telling them that they have been prayed for all throughout Lent.

Article and photo by Cathie Litwin, St. Peter's, Hebron
The Spirit is not contained within our church. We are called to step out in order to bridge church life and ordinary life, Sunday worship and everyday worship. We are called to be a people of relationships, not of outcomes. - The Missional Network
Disaster Relief & Recovery Opportunity
Have you heard the saying, “build your bridges before you need them?” This is part of what the Disaster Response Ministry Network does for our communities. Using Episcopal Churches as hubs, the Disaster Response Ministry Network would like to engage with the Regions to ensure we are well connected and prepared to care of our communities when Mother Nature disrupts our business as usual.
 
If you would like to help the Northeast Region become a “Disaster Ready Region,” please email Mike Corey at mpcorey@gmail.com . For more information check out the website .

Our goals include:
·       Getting a point of contact for each parish, so if disaster hits there is a clear line of communication
·        Organizing Region wide trainings, including CPR/First Aide/AED/Stop the Bleed, and other basic first aid techniques
·        Identify public safety chaplains

Love isn’t always a warm and fuzzy feeling. Let us Love our Neighbors by being prepared to care for one another when things go awry.  
Crafting As Spiritual Practice - A Wonderful Day
What a wonderful day! 27 people came with 7 Episcopal parishes and 2 Lutheran parishes represented! Enjoy these photos, and if you recognize someone ask them how the day went!

We experienced an exercise in theological imagination, had free time to craft, cruised a swap table and a show and tell table, prayed at noon, ate lunch as a family, and crafted some more!

What a wonderful crafting community! The planning team will be getting together soon and perhaps another day will be planned soon! Many thanks to St. Mary's, Manchester, who hosted us and provided snacks and beverages!

Article and photos by Maggie Breen, NE Region Missionary
Community Involvement - Maple Festival, Hebron
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church joined with Andover, Hebron and Marlborough Youth Services (AHM) to sponsor the Third Annual Nature and Adventure Day as part of Hebron’s Maple Festival.

Joel Rosenberg of AHM reported they had 464 attended and $1,007 was netted after expenses to assist Mental Health Services program at AHM. Some 300 of the attendees made their way into the St. Peter’s Nature Preserve.

St. Peter’s nature preserve was originally given as a land gift to the church some 200 years ago. It is an undeveloped 20-acre property that runs behind the entire little downtown of Hebron. It contains walking trails that parishioners, scouts and AHM have been created for community use, and especially youth activities like the one we sponsored with AHM. It also contains a small outdoor chapel for church in the woods similar to the chapel at Camp Washington.

Volunteer parishioners were tapping maple trees and boiling sap into syrup using traditional methods at the event where samples of syrup were distributed.  Other volunteers staffed a host of exhibits in the AHM Center including live raptor visit; reptiles and amphibians, making plaster wildlife prints, animal bones and fur displays, geocaching in the nature preserve, American Indian Studies Museum presentations and other exhibits by area organizations.
 
AHM’s Rosenberg said, “From all feedback collected so far from guests, exhibitors, staff and volunteers this event is a win-win for everyone involved. It was great to see so many new faces on the AHM campus and the number of people that were requesting information from our towns about programs and services, which was one of our goals for the day. We had more exhibitors than ever. They made this event one to remember and we thank each and every one of them.” 

Article and photo by Rev. Ron Kolanwoski, St. Peter's, Hebron

Calendar of Events
APRIL:
4/27 - 7th Annual Spring Training - Click here to register
4/28 - Trinity, Brooklyn: Healing Service, 2PM


MAY:
5/1 - St. Mark's, Storrs: Brombaugh Restoration Concert Series featuring Clara Gerdes, 7PM $20
5/3 - Grace, Stafford Springs: Men's Breakfast - Open to all men in the NE Region - Vernon Diner, 6AM
5/3 - NE Region Leadership Team Meeting - St. Peter's, South Windsor, 6PM
5/4 - NE Region Convocation - Click here to register
5/6 - Trinity, Brooklyn: Hope After Loss Grief Group, 7PM
5/7 - NE Region Confirmation - St. John's, Vernon, 6:30PM
5/8 - St. John's, Vernon: Brotherhood of St. Andrew Chapter Meeting, 7PM
5/11 - "What it means to be church in Make America Great Again Times" - Christ Church, Hartford - Click here to register
5/11 - St. Mary's, Manchester: May Fair, 8AM-12PM
5/18 - St. Mary's, Manchester: 20th Anniversary of the Richard J. McElreavy Concert Series featuring pianist Paul Bisaccia, 7PM
5/19 - ECCT Celebrates 50th (or more) Wedding Anniversaries! Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, 3PM - click here for details
5/20 - Clergy Conference - Speaking Truth to Power - Click here to register (Clergy Only)
5/26 - Trinity, Brooklyn: Healing Service, 2PM
You can reach Maggie Breen, NE Region Missionary, the following ways:

MAIL:
Maggie Breen, NE Region Missionary, St. John's Episcopal Church, 523 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT 06066

PHONE: 860-214-0085
From Cappuccino: We are sooooo happy that Spring is here and the snow has gone away! Your favorite Missionary has been giving us apples, but not nearly enough...would you send her a note? Every time you do, she gives us cookies! But don't mention Jude, ok? He's greedy...

Photo by: Karin Hamilton