Milford church seeks organist and choir director

Good Shepherd and St. John the Evangelist is seeking an organist and a choir director OR an organist/choir director.
We are in Milford, PA, one hour East of Scranton at the tri-state juncture of NJ/PA/NY.

PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Works well with people.
Understands the place of mission and ministry in his work with the Church.
Works collaboratively with parish staff members, choir and parishioners.
Understands the importance of the integration of direction with team effort.

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS:
Education and experience in organ music.
Significant interpersonal skills.

ACCOUNTABILITY:
The organist/choir director for Good Shepherd will be directly accountable to the Rector
and will keep the rector informed on the ongoing activities of the choir. 
Compensation is within the guidelines of the AGO.

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITIES:
Plays the organ for all 10am Sunday services and all services of Holy Week.
Plays the organ on alternate Sundays at the 8 am service.
Directs the choir during worship services.
Arranges for the worship music in collaboration with the Rector and worship committee.
Will be asked first when there is a request for an organist for funerals, weddings or other special liturgies.
Will complete all diocesan requirements for Safeguarding our Children.
Adheres to the Employee Handbook, the Constitutions and Canons of the
Episcopal Church and of the Diocese of Bethlehem as they relate to lay employees.

Please contact:
The Rev. Mary Ellen Dolan
Interim Rector
Church of the Good Shepherd and St. John the Evangelist
110 W. Catherine Street
Milford, PA 18337
570-296-8123
[email protected]

Diocesan Life for October 2011

Open publication - Free publishing - More 9-11

You can download the 2.4 MB .pdf here: Download October2011_DiocesanLife_SMALL

September 11 Services of Remembrance in the diocese

September 11 Services of Remembrance from around the diocese in chronological order

St. Anne's, Trexlertown:  8:00 and 10:15 A.M. During both services on September 11 we will have special prayers and remembrances to commemorate the lives that were lost on this dreadful day and to seek God’s guidance and wisdom as we live with the ramifications and impact of this national tragedy on our country and on the world. Please come to church prepared to stop whatever you are doing when you hear the sound of the drum and the cymbal. It will be a sacred moment of silent prayer. When you arrive at church on September 11, the greeters will remind you about keeping silence at these significant moments of September 11.

Christ Church, Forest City: 9:00 A.M. service with special hymns, prayers, and will host "first responders" from the surrounding communities.

Church of the Good Shepherd and St. John, Milford: 10:00 A.M. "Eucharist in Remembrance of 9/11" Church bells will be rung 10 times each on the times of the four plane crashes - 8:46am, 9:03am, 9:38am, and 10:03am. After a silent processional the service with continue with special prayers, hymns, and anthem. The church will remain open from 12:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. as a sanctuary for those who wish to observe a reverent silence, hosted by the Daughters of the King.

Trinity Church, Carbondale: 11:00 A.M. service with special hymns, prayers of the people and remembrances for the victims and their families.

Providence Place Retirement Home, Drums: 1:00 P.M. Members of a Gospel Quartet will lead the hymns, members of the staff and resident will assist with the readings. Lead by Deacon Marion Meiss of St. Peter's, Hazleton

Trinity Church, Easton: 1:30 P.M. organ voluntary followed by the service at 2:00 P.M. An Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Hope  to be webcast live on Sunday, September 11. The service will be streamed live at live.trinityeaston.org. A Service of Remembrance and Hope will include interfaith prayers and hymns. In addition, music will be provided by: a double quartet of members of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus of New York City, a local Chamber Orchestra and the Easton Area High School Choir. Scheduled selections will include: Faure's "Requiem in d minor, Op 48" (Intoit and Kyrie; Sanctus; Pie Iesu; Agnus Dei and Lux Aeterna; In Paradisum.), Bach's "Cantata 106: Gottes Zeit ist dis Allerbeste Zeit" movement III a & b. Participating congregations include: B'nai Abraham Synagogue, Easton; College Hill Presbyterian Church; 1st Presbyterian Church of Easton; 1st United Church of Christ of Easton; St. John's Lutheran Church of Easton; Temple Covenant of Peace, in Easton; The Muslim Community of Easton/Phillpsburg and Trinity Episcopal Church.  Go to www.trinityeaston.org and click on the link to the webcast.. Read more about it, including compatibilities with your computer, smartphone or tablet here. You may also go to Trinity's UShare page, live.trinityeaston.org. For information, call Trinity Church at 610-253-0792

Grace Church, Honesdale: 2:00 P.M. Service of Remembrance for 9/11 Meditation, inter-faith prayers, music and sharing will all be a part of the service as we remember all who were affected by the tragedies, especially within our community.  A time to remember those who were killed in New York City, southwestern Pennsylvania and Washington DC will be an important part of the service.  Grief counselors will be on hand should anyone need to talk privately.  “It is our hope to move forward bringing God’s peace into our community,” commented Ms. Frances Hlavacek of Grace Church who has been a member of the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem’s Peace Commission. The service will be held in the handicap-accessible Parish Hall of Grace Church, located on the corner of Church and Ninth Streets in downtown Honesdale.  For more information, you may call the parish office at (570) 253-2760.  All are welcome to attend.

Trinity, Mt. Pocono: 2:00 P.M. Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Prayer. Representatives and members of our global community, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh, will gather together to speak about our lives as one in community and to pray together as one for a world of peace and community which can only be gained through the gift of open dialogue as sisters and brothers who seek to move forward beyond the smoke and ashes and offer healing in order to embrace a renewed life together. Please contact the Parish Office at 570 839 9376 for information or go to www.tinitymtpocono.org for directions.

Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem: 5:00 P.M.  9/11 Interfaith Service of Remembrance and Reconciliation, Nativity, Bethlehem 5:00 P.M. Clergy participating are: The Rt. Rev. Paul V. Marshall, Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem; The Very Rev. Anthony R. Pompa, Cathedral Dean & Rector; Rabbi Allen Juda,  Congregation Brith Sholom; Metin Bor, Muezzin, Lehigh Dialogue Center; Mohamed Rajmohamed, Al-Ahad Islamic Center; The Rt. Rev. Hopeton Clennon, Bishop of the Moravian Church, Northern Province and Chaplain, Moravian College; The Rev. Canon Mariclair Partee, Cathedral Canon, Ministry of the Baptized; Cantor Ellen Sussman, Temple Shirat Shalom; and The Rev. Canon George Loeffler, Deacon and Bishop's Chaplain. Music provided by the Cathedral Choir under the direction of Canon Russell Jackson will present selections from Faure’s Requiem, with Naoko Cauller as soloist. A reception will follow in Sayre Hall, and all are welcome.

St. Paul's, Montrose: 5:00 P.M. Vesper Service to Remember 9/11will be held at the Second Sunday Vesper Service on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Church Street Montrose, PA  The solemn service will provide a time of deep spiritual reflection and include scripture readings, prayers, and music prepared especially for the anniversary.  The Rev. Canon Charles Cesaretti will welcome the congregation; the greeters are Linda and George Gardner.  The Lector will be Amy Johnson.  Sarah S. Bertsch will be the organist.  MaryAnn DeWitt will be at the piano.  A buffet supper will be served immediately following the service in the Parish House.  The cooks are Ed and Barbara Schmidt and John and Sharon Siedlecki.  Gail and Doug Overfield will be the servers. All are welcome on this special day to remember the victims and those who miss them, as well as the rescue workers and all responders.

Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit: 7:00 P.M. Service of Remembrance with two church joint choir, psalms and prayers

Diocesan Life for September 2011

Download the September issue of Diocesan Life as a .pdf
Download September2011_DiocesanLife_SMALL (3.3 MB file)

The Man on the Park Bench

By Bill McGinty
June 23, 2011

There is a man sitting on the park bench, I think he has been there all night. He smells awfully like the storm drain and his face is masked in pain. The children say that he is crazy, they want to stop to call him names. They don’t know that he was famous once or the source of his fame.

There is not a waterfall, a single lake or stream that does not have a picture painted by his hand. He has recorded Pike County with all its color and beauty and dressed in every season and for all time. You cannot name a building with any historic significance that has not been detailed in all its complexity in the town of Milford by so fine an artist. His paintings number in the thousands, illustrations in so many publications, but there were no shows or exhibitions. This was a journeyman artist, grinding out a living with his raw talent. Famed at West Point where his oil paintings were purchased by Colonels and Generals and traveled to the furthest corners of the land.

He is the last of the Hudson Valley School of artists, whose fine detail recorded the beauty of our finest places from the Hudson to Lake George, Pike County to Yellowstone Park.  His eyes are failing now, his health declined, he can’t remember anymore and his balance is unsure.

There should be a place for him; some shelter from the storm, but he lost his health and then his apartment, so now the bench is his home. Welfare say they can do nothing. He falls between the cracks! He is too young for Medicare, too old in wear and tear. Last week he went to the hospital, right to the ER. They told him he had cracked ribs and deep congestion; then sent him out through the door into the night. He tried to walk home to Milford, but fell upon the road. Two cops picked him up and dropped him at the park. There he spent the night. He’s the man on the park bench, without any place to go. He’s the Jesus of Milford, I just thought you’d like to know.

They said last week we give Pakistan 20 billion a year. It seems like a lot. Makes you wonder why we can’t look after our own poor, so they don’t  live their days on a park bench. I asked a lot of questions this week, about what is available in Pike County for the homeless. Apparently, the answer is ‘nothing’. There is no homeless shelter, no place for them to go. There is no half-way house or any place that will care for the poor, the lost and the homeless. That makes me wonder about the endless stream of politicians, who year after year promise so much, but perhaps not for the poor and not for an old artist living on a park bench.

There are empty houses all over Pike County owned by the banks. They lie empty, many falling into decay. No one lives there. No one wants them. I hope there are a thousand voices from the good people of Pike County reading this article who this week will shout: “Give us a house and we will shelter our poor! Give us a roof and we will do the rest!”

There’s a man on the park bench. His face is lined in pain. I think that he’s my brother!

I feel we are all to blame.

[Bill McGinty is the pastor of the Good Shepherd, Church in Milford. You can contact him on 570-296-8123. or 110 W.Catharine Street, Milford. 18337.]

Milford Jewish-Christian Community to share Passover Seder

[Received from Good Shepherd/St. John's Milford]

April 20^th, 2011 is going to be a very special night, at the Church of the Good Shepherd and St John the Evangelist in the middle of Milford. For on that night, the three thousand year old Hebrew question will ring out: “What is it that makes this night different from all others?”

Wednesday, April 20th, a traditional Passover supper will be shared by members of the Jewish and Christian communities in the parish hall of the Good Shepherd Church at Fifth and West  Catherine Streets in Milford, at 7:00 p.m.

The idea was first conceived by Chefs Peter and Sharon Daniels of the Fork Restaurant in Shohola, and the Rev. Canon Elizabeth R. Geitz of the Good Shepherd Church, following a joint Healing Service in the fall. As hosts, Peter, Sharon and Elizabeth are sponsoring the event and refer to it as the ‘First Annual Interfaith Passover Seder’, in Milford. 

The goal of the evening is to bring local people of different faiths together to share a real Seder meal, which will comprise several courses of traditional Passover foods prepared by Chefs Peter and Sharon Daniels and wine. Participants from both communities will gather for what will be both a social and deeply religious event.

The Passover Seder is a ritual held at the beginning of Passover, the Jewish holiday which marks the Exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in ancient Egypt. Passover begins this year at sundown on Monday, April 18, and continues through April 21. 

The word “seder” is Hebrew for “order.” It relates to the order of events during the evening. The story of the Jews’ Exodus from Egypt is told with foods and stories. The Seder celebrates the triumph of freedom over bondage. Through ritual, readings, song, and a shared meal, the Seder offers a message of hope, justice, transformation, and light.  

“It’s beautiful to see members of both Jewish and Christian communities come together to share a Passover Seder, a ritual which seems to stand at the very intersection of the two great religions.  God calls all people out of darkness into light.” 

While Jews will be affirming their beginnings as a Chosen People, Christians  will recognize the oneness of God’s salvific plan for all people, culminating with their own story.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Ecumenical Food Pantry, a local cause supported by all sections and denominations in the community.

Elizabeth Geitz joins Milford church team

[From Good Shepherd & St. John's Milford PA]

Renowned author and  speaker Elizabeth Geitz officially joined the clergy team as priest associate of the Good Shepherd and St John’s Episcopal Church, Milford on March 23, 2011. An Episcopal priest, retired of the Diocese of New Jersey, the Reverend Canon Elizabeth Geitz now lives in Shohola. Vice-Chair of the board of trustees of the General Theological Seminary in New York, and a spirituality faculty member of the Credo Institute, Canon Geitz is a recognized expert in women’s spirituality.

A native of Clarksville, Tennessee, she brings a wealth of experience to the pastoral work of the church that stands on the corner of Fifth and West Catharine. With a firm grasp of social and community issues, Elizabeth has been a unifying factor for people of many cultures and faiths in the area. Like so many authors and writers in Pike County, she is inspired by the beauty, tranquility and ageless grace of the Delaware Valley, its wildlife and ecology.

The congregation of the church and so many sections of the greater community are excited to welcome Elizabeth to Milford and the church of Good Shepherd and St John’s. “We are all so please to welcome Elizabeth," said rector Father Bill McGinty. "She is interested in so much more than denominational church matters and brings a whole new dimension to the outreach of the greater Milford Community. For too long, we in Pike County have been aware of what divides; Elizabeth is all about what unites and binds people together, with a healthy respect for their diversity and richness of their stories. We are very blessed to have her on board.”

Locally, Elizabeth serves on the Board of The Biondo Foundation and is a member of the Chefs Do Dinner Event Committee of the Center for Developmental Disabilities. She is also co-chair of the U.S. advisory board for the Good Shepherd Home for Orphans, Cameroon, West Africa.