Activities at St. Paul's

 

Pastoral Care

A committed pastoral care team of Licensed Eucharistic Ministers (LEMs) and laity of St. Paul's regularly nurtures members of our parish who cannot attend church. Sometimes this means bringing the consecrated elements to the hospital or nursing home. Often it takes the form of visiting, holding the hand of someone who is having difficulties. It may mean bringing a meal to a family or an individual. This commitment creates a link to our parish family and helps us address needs in our community. For example, two of our LEMs now minister to a small congregation of men and women in a local assisted living facility by conducting a communion service every month.

Hospitality

We consider hospitality to our neighbors part of our pastoral care. We share our sanctuary on Sunday afternoons with a small Korean congregation and for several years hosted a large Reconstructionist Jewish community while they were building a synagogue. Our hospitality extends to daily and nightly AA and other recovery groups who meet in our church facility every week.

 

Environmental Stewardship

St. Paul's strongly supports environmental stewardship, inspired by our previous rector, the Rev. Franklin (Skip) Vilas, who recognized our interest and led our parish in environmental concerns. Our efforts resulted in the clean-up of a local brook and an awareness of our role as a faith community and its effect on the environment. Currently, St. Paul's is seeking GreenFaith certification. This two-year commitment integrates various elements of environmental stewardship into our worship, education (adults and children) and operation of our church building and grounds. GreenFaith was founded in the mid-1990s under the leadership of Skip Vilas, with a substantial grant from St. Paul's capital fund drive.

 

Partners in Ministry

St. Paul's congregation believes in partnering with our rector in parish ministry, both in the church and the community. Parishioners willingly offer their time, talents and treasure to serve each other and people in need. With a strong interest in liturgy, music and preaching, we actively participate in all elements of the Sunday services, from ushering to lay reading, singing in the choir and distributing the elements during Holy Eucharist. St. Paul’s has always played a leadership role in the Diocese of Newark, exhibited both by our Diocesan pledge and commitment of time and energy by our priest and laity.