. St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 31 Rider Avenue Patchogue, New York 11772 Bulk Rate US Postage Paid Permit No. 00000 ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED Mailing Address Street Number and Name City, State 98765-4321 Vestry Wardens: Conni Still and Cathie Pliszak Emeka Azinge, Diane Butler, Barbara Greco, Charles Klagges, Martin Immel Jr., Maurine Jacobs, Teresa Julian, Ronnie MacDonald, Nancy Western Clerk: Conni Still Treasurer: Barbara Lapinski Editor: Conni Still Parish Office Phone: 631-475-3078 Thrift Shop Phone: 631-307-9154 E-mail:[email protected]Website:www.stpaulspatchogue.com Office Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 9:30 AM- 1:00 PM Office Closed on Mondays Rector: the Rev. Elisabeth E. Tunney Parish Administrator: Ronny Pliszak Parish Ministers: All the People of St. Paul’s
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St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
31 Rider Avenue
Patchogue, New York 11772
Bulk Rate
US
Postage
Paid
Permit No.
00000
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED Mailing Address
Street Number and Name
City, State 98765-4321
Vestry
Wardens: Conni Still and Cathie Pliszak
Emeka Azinge, Diane Butler, Barbara Greco, Charles Klagges, Martin Immel Jr., Maurine Jacobs, Teresa Julian,
St. Paul’s Parish Mission Statement: to be a thriving, loving,
Christ-centered parish; a parish who knows Christ and
makes Christ known.
We take seriously our Baptismal Covenant that says we will
respect the dignity of every human being.
You are welcome to worship with us, to join with us in
fellowship, and in our ministries, regardless of age, economic
status, marital status, nationality, race, sexual orientation or
gender identity, ability or disability, and wherever you are in
your spiritual journey.
the dignity of every human being.
JULY 2020
A Word from Mother Liz
As you know, on June 17 the vestry voted not to
reopen beginning on July 1 but to wait until
September 1 to resume in-person services.
This decision was focused on protecting our
parishioners, many of whom are in the “vulnerable”
category by virtue of age or health.
As I write this update, our reopening task force is
meeting to decide what will need to be done. The
task force is comprised of Dee Laffin, Conni Still,
Cathie Pliszak, Gail Davis, and Barbara Greco. They
will be determining where we hold our services once
in-person worship resumes and how to go about
designating seating, installing hand sanitizer
stations, directing traffic flow, and cleaning. The
task force met on the verge in the parking lot, and it
was wonderful to see live people, masked and
gloved, but live people. We will keep you updated
on their progress.
Please consider logging in or dialing in to our Zoom
services at 10:00 on Sunday. People are longing to
connect and this is a great way to do a check in on
those you haven’t seen in a while. The service takes
place in the Kinder Care Room because we do not
yet have WIFI in the church.
Last Sunday in place of Morning Prayer I presided
over a Eucharist, the first since March. Since it was
a virtual service those on the other end of the camera
couldn’t receive the elements themselves. Instead
they were offered a prayer for Spiritual Communion
In union, O Lord with the faithful at every altar
of your Church, where the Holy Eucharist is now
being celebrated, I desire to offer you praise and
thanksgiving. I present to you my soul and body
with the earnest wish that may always be united
to you. And since I cannot now receive you
sacramentally, I ask you to come spiritually into
my heart. I unite myself to you, and embrace you
with all the affections of my soul. Let nothing
ever separate you from me. May I live and die in
your love. Amen.
Some have found this to be a deeply moving
experience. For those with a sacramental piety, the
Eucharistic drought has been most painful and this is
a way to provide a sip of comfort.
We also added a hymn to our liturgy. Michael Daly
played his guitar and everyone was placed on mute
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so that they could sing along and aloud to their
heart’s content. I confess that it felt good to sing
again. The mute feature in Zoom is very useful!
Because of different transmission speeds from each
of our internet connections Zoom doesn’t handle
multiple voices at once (it sounds like a discordant
crowd) so we mute everyone except those who are
leading or reading during the worship service and
you can sing along without fear of being heard.
We will definitely do another Eucharist the first
Sunday of August and may do so more frequently
depending on the feedback that I receive.
Please contact Mother Liz if you have questions
about how to begin your life on Zoom.
Those of you who don’t have internet access will
continue to receive paper copies of the liturgy and
Mother Liz’s sermons.
Please reach out to each other and know that you are
in our prayers.
VESTRY HIGHLIGHTS
Parish pledges are being faithfully paid.
Expenses are less than budgeted. We did not have to
use any of our snow removal budgets. The use of
paper towels and toilet paper is down and cleaning
services have been cut back.
The proposed fall fundraisers have been postponed
for this year and the tag sale is still on the back
burner for the fall.
Before we can reopen our buildings we have to have
a plan what we need to do to reopen.
Vestry voted to postpone opening the church until at
least September 2020 for parish worship and group
meetings and thrift shop. Mother Liz will continue
with Zoom services and asks vestry to reach out to
encourage more parishioners to participate.
Beauty springs up in the most unusual places.
STEWARDSHIP
Participating in our community of faith through
giving
Sometimes, things can come up in life that may
seem insurmountable, which is when our prayers are
so important. The variables are not always as terrible
as life and death importance; you can faithfully pray
for just about anything. We can also pray in
thanksgiving for our deliverance from danger or
sickness. We pray grateful thanks to our Heavenly
Father.
These last several months have certainly been a test
to the faithful, what with church having to be closed
for so long. Thankfully, the people of Saint Paul’s
are keeping the faith with their pledges, and brighter
times are sure to come. The Lord will surely
continue to provide for us.
The one particularly sweet thing that is missing from
our lives is the blessed company of each other on
Sunday mornings. The Zoom services and coffee
hours are not bad, but it isn’t the same as actually
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being with each other in the church. We all need to
stay safe by distancing from each other. It will be
wonderful when we can all be together again some
time soon. I hope everybody stays healthy. I look
forward to seeing everyone again.
Scott Harris
From St. Paul’s Stewardship Committee
Laura Cooley, Scott Harris, Martin Minogue,
Conni Still, Phyllis Voegeli
Hello All,
Last night at a meeting of the Village Board of
Trustees, as requested by our Chamber, the Village
of Patchogue has approved weekly Sunday closures
of East Main Street, between Maple Avenue &
Ocean Avenue and West Main Street, between
Ocean Avenue & West Avenue, 11am-8pm. This
will begin this Sunday, June 28.
As of now, we do not know how long this will last,
but it is anticipated it would last through the
remainder of the summer at a minimum.
Please keep in mind that all North /South running
roads will remain open at all times. North & South
Ocean will remain open as normal during Sunday
dining closures.
Please also know that any business in the Village
that wants to use sidewalk space to conduct business
is allowable, with Village permission, on any day,
including for the Sunday dining nights. I encourage
everyone to take advantage of this. A permit and
permission from Village is required, but if you reach
me I can get that process started.
As always, anyone needing to reach me can at
631-793-6172.
Thank you,
David Kennedy
Executive Director
THANKGIVINGS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
All of you who continue to fulfill your
pledges. I have been so impressed with your
faithfulness. Although some of our expenses
are down some have increased or stayed the
same and without the income from our
outside groups and the Thrift Shop every
penny counts.
Dee Laffin and Gail Davis for their ongoing
care for our grounds.
The members of the Food Pantry who
continue to serve those in need.
Martin Minogue, Sharon Minogue, and
Laura Cooley for counting and keeping on
top of our pledges.
Martin Minogue for rescuing our internet
service when it was down.
Dee Laffin for her work on the Diocesan
Reopening Task Fore
Conni Still for keeping up with the
newsletter even when I am late with my part.
Cub Scout Pack 177 for their successful food
drive for the Food Pantry
BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS
More plantings and weeding have been done. The
basement has had more cleaning and discarding old
signs and materials no longer used.
Respectfully submitted: Dee Laffin
Bill Beebe, Diane Butler, Gail Davis, Scott Harris,
Teresa Julian, and Dee Laffin
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Irises in bloom
Raise the Roof
Thank you to all who have contributed to this and to
those who continue to do so. We have sent out an
update since we only have one year to go. It’s not
too late to begin to pledge, the work is ongoing, see
the office for a pledge card.
Please include in your prayers this month: Craig, Dylan & Family, Ed, Linda, Mike, Marcy, Janis, Nikki, Martin, Bill, Jeannine, Pauline, Dawn, Joanne, Kenny, Janine, Tony, Mother Liz, Peggy, Robert, Marilyn, Matthew, Liz, Val, Kim & Family, Margaret, Linda, Bob, John, Buddy and Mary, Zoey, Alice, Tony, Matt and Jessica, Jim, Jack and Ada, and for those we name now.
Prayer for the Parish
Almighty and ever living God, ruler of all things in
heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish
family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless,
and restore the penitent. Grant us all things
necessary for our common life and bring us all to be
of one heart and mind within your holy Church;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Pray For Those Who Have Died
Thrift Shop Doings
The Thrift Shop is closed for the duration. I am
submitting reminder notices to the local papers. We
are planning how to reopen with wearing masks and
gloves, keeping social distancing, and limiting the
numbers of customers shopping, and requiring them
to wear masks also. We have been in touch with our
volunteers. Please keep your clean, virus-free
donations until we reopen.
We look forward to reopening soon and pray that
everyone remains healthy. God Bless Us All.
Respectfully Submitted,
Conni Still
Food Pantry
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The Food Pantry needs food. Please
contact Judy Celauro or Diane Butler if you are able
to contribute. Please consider making this a regular
stop after shopping. Meat is particularly scarce so
picking up an extra package of hamburgers, hot
dogs or chicken, could be really helpful.
Remember that God's abundance really overflows
when we trust it.
Bags of food collected by our Pack 177!
SAVE THE DATES!
The 154th Convention of the Diocese of Long
Island will be held virtually and will convene
on Saturday, November 14, 2020, 9:00 am – 3:00
pm.
Our newest resident!
From the Editor
Mother Liz has been able to get our Sunday Service
hooked up for Zoom. It is excellent to have so many
participate and enjoy the coffee hour afterwards.
Please encourage your friends to log in and join us
