St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church - Elizabeth, NJ
8:00 AM In Person Low Mass/ Liturgy of The Eucharist - 10:00AM Service Via Zoom
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  • Home
  • Welcome
    • History >
      • Historical Sizzle
    • I'm New
    • Let's Get Acquainted
    • Rev. Canon Andy J. Moore
    • Leadership
    • Mission
    • Habits of Grace: Prayer into Action
    • Bishop Curry Who is my Neighbor
    • Bishop Curry
    • Make a Gift
    • Services
    • Sunday Service Aug 30th 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 23rd, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 16th, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 9th, 2020
    • Zoom Service Aug 2nd, 2020
    • Gallery >
      • Harvest Sunday
      • Sunday School Father's Day 19
      • Men's Club Community Flea Mkt
      • Community Christmas Party
      • Thankgiving Baskets
      • Celebration for High School Gradates
      • Homecoming 2018 >
        • Homecoming
      • Music in the Garden
      • Mother's Day 2018
      • Mother's Day 2018
      • Sunday School Youth Sunday
      • Maundy Thursday
      • Christmas Mass St. Elizabeth's
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Christmas Eve Mass
      • Community Christmas Party
      • Frist Presbyterian
      • Feast of All Saints
      • Sanctuary Sunday 2017
      • International Food Festival
  • Get Involved
    • Sunday School
    • Sunday School Lift Ev'ry Voice
    • Moments in Black History 2019
    • Black History - MLK
    • Sunday School Black History
    • Sunday School Black History ii
    • Youth Ministry
    • ESL Fall 19 Classes
    • ESL Cerificate of Achievement
    • Computer Literacy
    • Episcopal Church Women
    • Mens Club
    • Outreach
  • Hall Rental
  • Calendar
    • News & Events >
      • Free Testing for COVID-19
      • Robin Pierre DCN
      • Pastoral Letter April 24th
      • Holy Week Schedule
      • Church Services Suspended
      • Reading Lent4 - Mar 22nd
      • Lift Ev'ry Voice & Sing Challenge
      • Absalom Jones Service Sunday 2/16
      • Brad Kleiman in Concert
      • Annual General Meeing
      • Christmas Service
      • Cathedral Day 2019
      • Bern Nix Jazz Festival
      • All Saints Sunday, 3rd, November
      • Sight & Sound 2019
      • Int'l Food Festival July 13th
      • UMHA - Workshop Canceled 6/15
      • Prayer Breakfast Mar 16th
      • MLK Day of Service
      • UMHA - Sunday Dec 16th
      • New Year Eve Service
      • Christmas Celebration Fun Night
      • ECW Trip to Lancaster PA
      • Homecoming 2018
      • Music In the Garden
      • Saxophone Recital
      • Elizabeth Homeless Coalition
      • From Your Door to Heaven's Door
      • Urban Garden
      • Black History Events
  • Contact
  • Realm E-Giving Launch
  • Harvest Baskets Giveaways
  • Rector's Harvest Message
  • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala
    • 25th Years of Priesthood Gala
  • 25 Years of Priesthood Gala
  • Sunday May 5th
  • Lent 2019
  • Living Like Job
  • Operation Warm Heart
  • 9th Annual Food Festival
  • it's Friday....but Sunday Comin!!
  • Bishop Curry
  • Poor People's Campaign
  • Zoom Sunday Service Oct 4th
  • Stewardship Sunday 10/18/2020

Merry Christmas!

12/21/2017

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Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  

One of the recent phenomenons that has engaged me recently is teaching my children about dead ends. On many streets in our community they would see the signs and attempt to understand their meaning. Dead ends are about streets where there are no other exits so one is forced to stop and turn around. “And what if you cannot turn around?” they may asked. Christmas can be captured as a story of how God works when life proclaims a dead end. At the heart of the Christmas story is the culmination of the work of God when numerous persons encountered dead end situations.
We witness Mary struggling to cope with an unexpected pregnancy at a young age. We witness Joseph struggling to accept fatherhood of a child that he did not conceive. We witness a community struggling to pay taxes to an unjust system. We witness wise men who may have known the spice routes from India to Europe but struggling to find a star that leads to an offbeat city called Bethlehem and we witness shepherds struggling to maintain their families in a dead end job. This culminates when they all gather at a dead end place, an animal shelter with a cradle made out of the most rudimentary of material. It is within the midst of this portrait of dismal dead ends that God declares his omniscient presence.
My friends at the heart Christmas story is the junction where faith in an active and loving God collides with the indomitable human spirit. The outcome is an outpouring of thanksgiving, hope and renewal. When the world says dead end God declared fresh starts with a dynamic shift in trajectory.
The urban church is located at that same junction within our communities. That is what makes us not only unique in terms of ministry but having that effervescence faith that cannot be quenched.
At St. Elizabeth’s we share in that holy collision through the many new and exciting collaborations which allowed us to bring hope and joy to many within our communities. We collaborated with “Be the Change NJ”  based at Kean University, The Pingry School in Bernardsville, Union County Drug Court and Mountainside Presbyterian Church who together donated toys and food in order for us to host the biggest Christmas party ever for the children in our community. We also donated food to over 300 families and a local Food Bank. This year for our parish Christmas concert the Elizabeth High School jazz band takes center stage and for our Christmas worship we would be joined by the choir of First Presbyterian of Irvington, N.J
St Elizabeth’s is physically and spiritually located at junction where hopelessness and dead ends collide with spirit of the living God who declares “Joy overcomes pain, hope conquers despair and light shines into darkness. Our message to our community, to the many dispirited , disheartened and discouraged in our communities many of whom are still struggling with the scourge of mass incarceration is simple this “God is waiting for you at the junction, come and have a fresh encounter.”
Join us as we celebrate Christmas “Emmanuel is Here!”

Elizabeth High School Jazz Band Concert    
7:00 P.M. , Thursday, December 21, 2017

Holy Baptism               
 10:00 A.M., Sunday December 24, 2017

Christmas celebrations    
7:00 P.M., Sunday December 24, 2017
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    Rev. Canon, Andy Moore 

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St Elizabeth’s
305 N. Broad Street
Elizabeth, New Jersey 07207

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