WELCOME HOME!

Worship with us:

Sunday at 9:00 am in person and Live on Facebook

Third Sunday in Lent

Tuesday - Friday 8:30 am Morning Prayer via Zoom



Healing services are held at St. Barnabas and

St. Mary's on a rotating schedule every third Thursday.

The next service will be at St. Mary's on March 16th at 6 pm.

A long time ago, a Frenchman incurred the displeasure of emperor Napoleon. He was put into a dungeon. He was forsaken by his friends and forgotten by everyone in the outside world. In loneliness and near despair, he took a stone and scratched on the wall of his cell, "Nobody cares."

One day a green shoot came up through the cracks in the stones on the floor of the dungeon. It began to reach up toward the light in the tiny window at the top of the cell. The prisoner kept part of the water brought to him each day by the jailer and poured it on the blade of green. It grew until at last it became a plant with a beautiful blue flower.

As the petals opened in full blossom, the solitary captive crossed out the words previously written on the wall and above them scratched, "God cares." Christ himself is like that plant and that flower, reaching out to us in the darkest recesses of our souls.

He is the water of grace flowing in the desert of this fallen world.

And because we believe in his unwavering love for us, we call ourselves Christians.

Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday at 2 AM so remember to set your clocks ahead by one hour before retiring on Saturday night!

Love is time

A family counselor’s favorite bit of advice is, “Love is a four-letter word spelled T-I-M-E.” She maintains that the best way to prove your love for anyone is to spend time with them ... and for them. 

The greatest of all commandments is this: “Love the Lord your God.” That too involves our time.

God loved us first, the Bible records. It is good for us to remember that God proved his love by giving us his time ... time to share our sorrows, time to teach, time to pay the supreme sacrifice, time for everything we needed. As always, God gave in generous measure.

How sad then, for us to give so little time in return. We, of course, are the losers! Someone has quipped: “We are now stuck with a sixty-minute God.”

It would be another matter if we didn’t much need God’s company, or if this world of ours didn’t require more loving acts of Christian service. Everywhere empty hearts and broken lives beg silently for some help. The sixty-minute God can hardly begin to deal with all these problems, but the real God can do it.

Spend some time where it counts. Spend some time in God’s presence to have your own empty heart filled, and spend some time in God’s service filling the needs of people.

Some ways to support St. Mary's

• Become a member
• Volunteer
• The Sunday collection plate
• Send a check payable to St. Mary's to:

St. Mary's Church,

9425 Third Ave., Stone Harbor, NJ 08247

(Your envelope and number is not necessary, only your name.)

• Setting up a personal online banking "bill pay" option. The bank will mail the check for you to the church office.
• Online giving through our website at https://www.stmarysstoneharbor.org/

Membership at St. Mary's consists of several different groups of "members." Some are Confirmed Communicant Members or who have transferred their membership by Letter of Transfer to St. Mary's. Some are Baptized into St. Mary’s or have requested that their names be entered in the Parish Register. Others are “members” by virtue of the fact that St. Mary’s is their church—the Christian community of which they are a part and where they worship regularly. Still, others are “summer members" or friends of St. Mary's. Many are part of St. Mary’s life, worship at St. Mary’s when in town, and support St. Mary’s financially. Canonically, they are not members in the legal sense, but they are every bit as much members of our parish family as those who are official members.

Please contact the church office if you would like to receive membership forms to be added to our data base.

email: [email protected]

OR

You may sign up on our website here.

We welcome you to join us!

Happy Birthday to

Stanley Lane, Audrey Buckingham and Stanley Ziemba on March 16th and Kaitlyn Greenberg on March 18th!

Happy Anniversary to

Stephen & Leslie Haines on March 16th!

If you would like to be remembered on your birthday or anniversary, please give us your information so we may add you to our data base. Email the church office: [email protected] or call 609-368-5922

Episcopal Community Services

in Partnership with the Diocese of New Jersey

Requests the Honor of your Presence at a

Farewell Gala

In Honor Of

The Right Rev. William “Chip” Stokes

Canon Ann Notte & Canon Mary Ann Rhoads

Sunday, May 21, 2023

at 5 O’Clock in the Evening

Doubletree by Hilton

2349 Marlton Pike West

Cherry Hill, NJ

Featuring Keynote Speaker

The Most Rev. Michael Curry

Please RSVP by April 28

Purchase Tickets Here

The Branches Outreach is celebrating National Nutrition Month by having a healthy, non-perishable food drive to supply their pantry.

A list of requested donations may be found here.

Donations may be dropped off from March 1 to March 31 at The Branches Outreach Food Pantry, 1304 Rt. 47, Unit AJ, Rio Grande, NJ 08242 on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays from 9 am to 12 noon. The attached flyer gives details on location.

It’s been a very busy time at The Branches Outreach Food Pantry. As a result, we are running low on many of our staple items. If you are able to help replenish our supplies, we would be most grateful.

We are in need of the following: bread, hamburger, chicken, coffee, mayo, ketchup, peanut butter, salad dressing, juice, breakfast bars and spam. Our Food Pantry is open M-W-F from 9-12 and is located at

1304 Rt. 47 So., Rio Grande, Unit AJ.

Many thanks !!!

Come check out the GOLD Winner of the 2022 Best of the Jersey Shore thrift shops - St. Mary's This 'n That Thrift Shop! And remember the thrift shop when you're cleaning out and organizing. Household items and clean usable clothing are welcome!

Store Hours: Monday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm

Donation days: Tuesday and Thursday, 10 am - 3 pm

Location: St. Mary's This 'n That

1304 Rt. 47 So., Rio Grande, NJ 08242    609-886-7272

Follow them on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/St-Marys-This-N-That-Thrift-Shop-268676343298636/

Cape Classical Artists will sponsor a concert by Kuwento Mizik on Sunday March 19, 3:00 pm, at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. Kuwento (Filipino for "story") Mizik (Haitian Creole for "music") fuses classical, world music and storytelling into transformative concert experiences. The concert is free, and a goodwill offering will be collected at the door.

Just a reminder - the video of the previous concert of world instruments by Jamie Orfanella is available on our YouTube channel until March 19th. Here’s an overview of what you’ll see and hear:

Japanese shakuhachi flute (first 37 minutes)

Australian didgeridoo (37:00-48:00)

A variety of world flutes (48:00-1:18)

Theremin with trumpet and didgeridoo (1:19-1:30)

You can find the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uupVQo8heoo

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Cape Classical Artists Winter Concert Season continues throughout March at Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. Admission is free, and there will be free-will offering baskets at the doors. The concerts are live-streamed on our YouTube channel.

Visit our website, www.CapeClassicalArtists.com for:

• a link to our YouTube channel

• directions to the church

• a copy of the concert program

• information on becoming a sponsor for yourself or your business

__________________________________________________

2023 Winter Concert Season continues with:

Sunday, March 19, 3:00 pm

Kuwento Mizik

Baritone Jean Bernard Cerin and pianist Leena K. Kulkarni-Rankin offer a fusion of Western classical, Filipino, and Haitian music

Sunday, April 16, 3:00 pm

Music for Soprano and Piano

Soprano Judy Ann Curtis and pianist John Curtis present a program of music from Mozart to the Great American Songbook

Sunday, May 21, 3:00 pm

Beverly Trio

An exciting variety of music of oboe, viola and cello

All concerts are free of charge to the public and are produced in partnership with Cold Spring Presbyterian Church. If you would like to become a sponsor, visit our home page and click on the “Donate” button. 100% of all contributions go directly to the support of our series.

Friday, March 10th – 7 pm Stations of the Cross at St. Barnabas, Villas,

           followed by The 12 Steps to Holiness and Salvation Lenten

Study discussion

Thursday, March 16th - 6 pm Healing Service at St. Mary's Church

Sunday, March 19th - 11 am Vestry Meeting

12 Step Meetings in the Church Hall

Narcotics Anonymous (NA) Monday at 8:00 pm

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Tuesday at 8:00 pm

Alanon Friday at 10:00 am

Exodus 17:1-7

Romans 5:1-11

John 4:5-42

Psalm 95

Tuesday - Friday 8:30 am Morning Prayer via Zoom

Third Thursday's 6:00 pm Healing Service

alternates between St. Mary's and St. Barnabas

Sunday 9:00 AM in person (church)