Special thanks to all of our volunteers who helped prepare the church for Christmas (and take down afterwards) . We truly appreciate the help we get from our volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved in 2021, please email Vicki in the office @ office@ststephensarmonk.org for more information.
Upgrading our streaming services
Father Nils and Music Director, James Turner have put many hours into upgrading our streaming capabilities.
Daniel Turner and other parishioners are learning to run the AV equipment. Contact us if you are interested in volunteering to help with this responsibility.
The Blessing of the Animals
Due to Covid-19 concerns, the Blessing of the Animals was held in our parking lot on a Drive Through basis this year.
Only one or two people brought their pets to the church service.
The rest brought their pets to the parking lot after the service.
So many well behaved pets attended!
Pets who couldn't appear in person were blessed in absentia.
Some came specially dressed for the occasion!
We even streamed the animals being blessed online, and we hope you enjoyed it!
The Blessing of the Backpacks
St. Stephen's adapted our usual start-of-the-school-year blessing to a drive though event this year.
We offered the children miniature backpacks as favors.
We pray that all the children will learn and grow during this unusual school year ahead!
Maintaining distancing as we reopened in July
St. Stephen's reopened services to the public on July 5th. One challenge was how to keep the congregation socially distanced in the church.
Fr Nils decided we should measure out appropriate distance and install "people" to indicate where parishioners should sit! Yes, before you saw these cutouts at baseball games we had them at St. Stephen’s!
Grace Lunder glued pictures to backing, and cut out the figures.
Then she glued each figure to a dowel to stand it up.
Aren’t they lifelike?
Come join us on Sunday and choose your pewmate!
Father Nils celebrates his Silver Jubilee
On July 1, 1995, Fr Nils was ordained. He says, "Twenty-five years ago, I was ordained a deacon by Michael Turnbull at Durham Cathedral to a curacy with Martin Jackson at St Cuthbert, Benfieldside. I give thanks for the many people who helped me on the journey toward ordination, and all those who have traveled these 25 years of ordination with me in the Diocese of Durham, the Diocese of North Carolina and, now, the Diocese of New York.
In honor of the occasion, Fr Nils preached a sermon about Durham Cathedral and how it is a metaphor of God's redemption. We encourage you to read this inspiring sermon at this link.
Where is that "choir" singing on Sunday coming from?
When you log on to our streaming Sunday service, or when you attend in person, one of the first things you notice is the beautiful music. Somehow we have an organ playing and a choir singing, yet there is no choir or organist present in the church!
The full choir that you hear is a technological marvel that is put together each week by our Music Director James Turner (pictured above) and his wife Claire Turner, usually a soprano in our choir. They have produced music for our streamed services EVERY week since the official shutdown in March. We asked James and Claire to describe how we are hearing such a glorious sound each Sunday. Here is Claire’s description:
Step 1: James heads to church armed with a tripod, his cell phone and a high quality digital recording device (called a Zoom). He practices and records his prelude and postlude using both video on his phone and sound on the Zoom.
Step 2: Practice and record the hymns and anthem, again using video and Zoom. Steps 1 and 2 take approximately six hours.
Step 3:We learn all the parts to the hymns and anthem.
Step 4: We head to the best acoustics in the house -- the garage! We play back the video of the accompaniments to the hymns and anthem (so we can see when to start and stop), using ear buds attached to an iPad. We then use the Zoom to record ourselves singing. We record each part two or three times so that we get the effect of a whole choir instead of just one singer per part.
Steps 3 and 4 take about two hours.
Step 5: James downloads the audio recordings onto the computer and imports them into an editing program called Audacity. He then has to manually line up all eight (or more) voice parts, plus the organ, so that we are all singing and playing at the same time. Then he adjusts the volume of each part to get the perfect balance.
I (Claire) really don’t have the voice range to sing alto so the alto recordings are usually quite quiet and need to be boosted!
Step 5 takes approximately two hours per piece, so for two hymns, an anthem and pre-and postlude that's another ten hours or so.
Step 6: For any recordings that are also posted to Facebook, the sound track created in Step 5, the cell phone video created in Steps 1 and 2, and various photos of the church are pulled together using Adobe Premier Elements.
Step 6 takes another two hours per piece.
Since we both work full time and this has to be fit in "after hours", we go to bed very late in the Turner house!
We at St. Stephen’s are thrilled with the results of this weekly effort, and offer our thanks to the Turners for maintaining this stellar level of music that lifts our spirits throughout this austere period!
Candlelight Vigil for America
Spearheaded by Fr. Nils, the Armonk Faith Alliance organized a candlelight vigil for racial justice on June 9.
Members of our youth, Harrison Fontaine and the Lunders, set up welcome tables with masks, sanitizers and candles.
Community members arrived masked, and maintained social distance by sitting in family groups.
Fr. Nils offered prayers, as did the other Armonk clergy — Fr. Thadeus Aravindathu of St. Patrick’s RC Church, Fr. Mardiros Chevian of St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, Rev. Beth Graham of Hillside Church, and Rabbi Josh Strom and Cantor Lilah Sugarman of Congregation B’nai Yisrael.
About 150 people attended…
…to join in prayers for racial justice.
Church during a pandemic
St. Stephen's faced the same troubles and stresses as local businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the additional challenge of how to provide religious services and spiritual comfort at a time of quarantine and lockdown. But thanks to our dedicated staff, we were able to stream services online and offer music throughout the pandemic.
We mailed palms for Palm Sunday to our parishioners.
Our streamed services offer our bulletin online as well as the service, so everyone can follow along!
We’ve been pleased to hear from former parishioners now living elsewhere who have “attended” St. Stephen’s online. As always, all are welcome!
"A Spiritual View" in The Examiner
Our local newspaper, The Examiner, has launched a new column called A Spiritual View. The column will be written by the local clergy on a rotating basis. The first column in the series was written by Father Nils.
Holy Week Baking
FOR MAUNDY THURSDAY EVENING AND/OR EASTER DAY 2020
In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the neighborhood called ‘Old Salem’ is one of the oldest continuous religious communities of America: The Moravian Church. Although that's a denomination found across America, Old Salem, NC is one of its principal locations. Its eighteenth century church building is still in use, as are many of its traditions, which came from the Czech/Slovak area of central Europe.
A few times a year, the Moravians celebrate what is called a ‘love feast’ as part of the church service. In other parts of the world this is also known as an ‘agape’ from one of the four Greek words for different kinds of love – agape being akin to Christian love for one’s neighbor.
This is how one Moravian describes the ‘love feast’ and how it differs from that other Christian ‘meal’, the Eucharist:
“Crumbs, coffee, sugar, bread, milk, mugs, chewing, slurping, singing, spilling, visiting,laughing, feasting. The Love Feast, a ritual meal based on the ancient Christian agape meal, occurs several times a year during Moravian worship. While the Eucharist, the sacrament of Christ’s body and blood, focuses on the relationship between God and humans, celebrating our redemption in Christ and Christ’s presence in our lives, the Love Feast continues the Eucharistic blessing and celebration by connecting humans with each other so that for a few minutes, we may see Christ in each other — even the dirty, difficult other.
Made with mashed potatoes, flour, sugar, lemon juice, lemon and orange zests, the Love Feast bun is a cross between a sweet roll and a hamburger bun.”
Because we are all apart from each other this Holy Week and Easter during this pandemic, and because we cannot celebrate the Eucharist together during this time, I encourage you to consider celebrating this very short form of prayer service with Moravian ‘love feast’ buns, coffee and each other around the dining table. You can do this any time, of course, but on Maundy Thursday or later during Holy Week, why not do this as part of your family meal time, echoing the way in which Jesus gathered with his nearest and dearest around a meal table in the Upper Room to share both conviviality and his hopes and fears with his friends. Then, on Easter Day, we celebrate the new light and life of Christ and what better way to do this than with the conviviality of sweet dessert and laughter!
So.... here’s what to do:
1. Bake some Moravian Love Feast Buns! The recipe is below, adapted from the Winkler Bakery recipe from Old Salem, NC, baked there since 1800 in their wood stove!
2. Bring enough buns for everyone to have one, placed on a platter and set on the table, with a lit candle and, if possible, placed atop a small cloth.
3. Going around the table, each person says one thing which they are most hopeful about / hopeful for, right now.
4. The platter of buns is passed from person to person, each taking one. One person, acting as host, or leader, receives their bun last and offers a few very brief words of reflection.
5. All, together, around the table, pray this prayer before eating the buns:
Be present at our table, Lord;
Be here and everywhere adored;
Thy creatures bless, and grant that we
May feast in paradise with Thee.
John Cennick (1718-1755)
6. Having eaten the buns, all bless each other in the words of The Grace:
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
And the Love of God,
And the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
Be with us all, evermore. Amen.
OLD SALEM MORAVIAN LOVE FEAST BUNS
INGREDIENTS (makes about 15 buns)
1/2 cup hot mashed potatoes, unseasoned, without milk or butter
1/4 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup butter, room temperature
1 egg, beaten
3/4 pounds flour
1⁄8 tsp (pinch) nutmeg
1 package yeast
1⁄4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. orange rind, grated
1 Tbsp. lemon rind, grated
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1⁄4 tsp. mace or nutmeg
DIRECTIONS
1. Cream butter and sugar; add potatoes, mix well. Add lukewarm milk, then egg, mix well.
2. Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to mixture.
3. Combine seasonings and rind. Add enough flour to make a soft dough.
4. Knead on a well-floured surface. Form into ball, place in a greased bowl. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until double in size.
5. Punch down; let rise again five to ten minutes. Flouring hands well (dough will be sticky)form in to small balls (about three ounces)
.6. Place on a cookie sheet. Slash tops with a knife (to release air). Cover. Let rise untildouble in size.
7. Bake at 350 degrees till golden brown all over (15 to 20 minutes).
A 63rd Wedding Anniversary!
Beloved longtime parishioners Ray and George Pouder celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary last Sunday!
Many parishioners gathered around to watch them cut their cake. Congratulations, George and Ray!
Father Nils' Fifth Anniversary at St. Stephen's
On January 19 we celebrated the Fifth Anniversary of Father Nils and Kelly joining us at St. Stephen's. Our Warden John Benson offered words of appreciation for all Nils and Kelly have brought to our church, and they received an ovation from the parish.
The celebration included a delicious gluten-free cake from By the Way Bakery in Greenwich.
Happy 5th Anniversary, Nils and Kelly!
The Blessing of the Animals
In October, on the Sunday closest to the Feast of St. Francis, we hold the Blessing of the Animals.
Dogs outnumbered other pets.
And they were amazingly well behaved.
It was an opportunity to wear themed attire!
This cockatiel was an eye catching presence.
Cats were shy in the company of all the dogs.
Father Nils’ dog Paddy stood by to conclude the blessing.
The Blessing of the Backpacks and Annual Picnic
Each September, as school begins anew, St. Stephen's holds The Blessing of the Backpacks.
We ask students and teachers to come forward...
...and they are blessed and prayed for.
The annual parish picnic follows the service.
There were activities for the children.
And there are cozy spots to recline, for anyone who needed a moment alone!
St. Stephen's hosts a Prayer Booth at the Fol de Rol
St. Stephen's set up a Prayer Booth at the Fol de Rol.
People submitted their prayers on sticky notes which they pinned to the board. Then they poured colored sand into a vase, to represent their prayer.
We brought the vase and the sticky notes to church the following Sunday, and the congregation chose notes to pray.
Youth Group Leader Trina Fontaine makes case for Youth Minister
Youth Leader Trina Fontaine made the case for St. Stephen's getting a Youth Minister.
Youth Group raises funds for Cystic Fibrosis
Members of the Youth Group from St. Stephens', and want-to-be youth, took on the challenge to climb over 2,800 steps to raise funds and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Cystic fibrosis is a progressive, genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections and over time it limits the ability to breathe.
The rain held off, we completed the climb successfully and after a yummy BBQ were able to venture onto the football field and into the Giants and Jet's locker rooms which was a cool experience. (In case you are wondering, the Jets' was more impressive). At press time, we raised $1,647. Thank you to everyone who supported us!
Easter at St. Stephen's
St. Stephen's Hosts the Emergency Shelter Partnership
As part of the Emergency Shelter Partnership, St. Stephen's hosted 10-14 men overnight from March 25-31.
Our Youth Group organized and served one night.
St. Stephen's volunteers (pictured) thank our friends at DeCicco's for generously providing hot dinners.
Participating with us were St. Nersess Armenian Seminary...
the Hillside Church...
and Congregation B'nai Yisrael.
Thank you to all participants for their support of ESP, and many thanks to John Bernson for a stellar job organizing the effort!