The Episcoal Election Committee has announced that the Online Survey is available at www.zplink.com/NJdiocese. They encourage everyone in the Diocese to participate. The Survey is their only way to hear your opinion regarding the bishop you want. Please take the time to complete the survey and let your voice be heard!

Scrabble, Monopoly, Bridge, Chess, Checkers & Wii! Game Night was a lot of fun! Thanks Parish Life and everyone who brought snacks & games to share.

Next up is our annual Parish Picnic at the Cape May County Park on Sunday, June 10th. Worship under the trees will be held at 10 AM followed by the picnic. Please plan to join us at Shelter #3. In the event of rain, the picnic will be moved to St. Mary's Parish Hall.

Upcoming activities to look forward to include: our summer outdoor concerts -Thursdays on the Lawn, Seafood Fest to be held this year on July 27th, a Sidewalk Sale at the end of August, Harbor Hoedown in October at the Stone Harbor School, the annual Christmas Luncheon at The Lobster House, and we'll wrap up the year with a Covered Dish Supper, carols & greening of the church.

St. Mary's and St. Barnabas joined together to supply 110 food boxes filled with all the fixings for Easter dinner and extra pantry staples for our neighbors in Cape May County on Saturday, March 31st. Click on the picture to see.

Mosquitos have invaded the parish hall, fake ones that is, to illustrate the need and value of Nets for Life. Our Church School children have decided to join the Diocese of New Jersey's Nets for Life Campaign and they are asking you to join with them. "There are an estimated 250 million cases of malaria each year, resulting in nearly 800,000 deaths. The majority of these deaths are children younger than five years old." For more information, see www.netsforlifeafrica.org; also the Episcopal Relief & Development site - www.er-d.org. The Diocese of New Jersey has undertaken a Nets for Life Campaign with a 10,000 net goal. Our Church School children have been learning about malaria and what can be done to help. They are collecting quarters every Sunday until May 20th to give to the Diocese as St. Mary's contribution to the 10,000 nets.

Thank you to everyone who supported our Church School kids! They collected $250 plus 98 cans of food. They used some of the cash to purchase additional food items and then packed 26 lunch bags for the homeless who visit Legal Aid. The balance of the money was used to purchase food for St. Barnabas' Food Pantry, Villas, NJ. To read about the Souper Bowl of Caring, click here. 
On April 11, during their spring break, our Church School kids will be hosting a soup & bread lunch for our neighbors in Rio Grande who visit The Branches.  Click here for a picture video of the event. We are very proud of St. Mary's Church School children.

Click here to read a sampling of St. Mary's growing outreach.

Grocery Gift Cards have been a successful new fundraiser that has helped us to meet our budget. They are available in various denominations at Sunday coffee hours for Acme and Shop-Rite. For every $1,000, St. Mary's makes a profit of $50. To date, St. Mary's has realized a profit of $4,666.25. Please keep these cards in mind for your holiday grocery shopping - buy your groceries and help St. Mary's at the same time!

In July, our Vestry endorsed the formation of a Recovery Ministries Team to heighten awareness of the problem of drug / alcohol addiction through education and information dissemination and to make St. Mary's a leader in the area of addiction awareness and treatment resources. The Committee is now seeking volunteers to join the team. We will be exploring the effects of addiction, in all of its forms, in relation to the church's mission, building awareness of the problems of addiction, and helping the addicted and those who love them connect with spiritual resources. If you are interested in being a part of the committee or have questions, please contact the church office.

At the Easter Vigil we read from the book of Genesis the account of creation..."and God saw that it was good..." Good Friday coincidentally was Earth Day. Mike Schut, economic and environmental affairs officer for the Episcopal Church, noted: "To fully honor Earth Day, we need to reclaim the theology that knows earth is 'very good,' is holy. When we fully recognize that, our actions just may begin to create a more sustainable compassionate economy and way of life."  
We are excited that St. Mary's Vestry has decided to pursue Green Faith certification. This will be our focus for the next two years. Please read the letter from our Rector here.

On Sunday, February 5th, Roy L. Jones of GreenFaith joined us at the 10 AM coffee hour to discuss Environmental Justice Issues in Southern New Jersey
What defines an Environmental Justice issue? Dirty Air  -  Unclean Industries    Incinerators  -  Toxic Dump Sites  -   Lead Poisoning  -  Excessive Truck Traffic
Consistently, communities of color and poor communities suffer from more than their share of environmental health threats. GreenFaith is committed to fighting environmental injustice. As part of our GreenFaith certification program, the St. Mary's community is asked to make itself aware of environmental injustice in our region and select a project for advocacy.