by

Elsie Walker

Each Sunday, Andrew Piccirillo of Hillsboro drives to Roxbury for services at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Succasunna.  “St. Dunstan’s had such an amazing impact [on my life], “ shared Piccirillo in explaining why he makes the long drive.  Piccirillo has been attending there since childhood and is a member of the leadership of the church, Junior Warden.  Recently, Piccirillo shared about the church’s history, its Sunday service, its outreach, its upcoming booth at Olde Suckasunny Day and, with Michelle Doremus of Succasunna and Kim and Scott Sargent of Flanders, shared what makes St. Dunstan’s special.

In the early1960s, a group of Episcopalians from a church in Dover, plus others scattered throughout the Roxbury Township area, met to organize a mission of the Diocese of Newark which would serve Episcopalians and other Christians in a portion of northwest Morris County.  According to the St. Dunstan’s website, “the mission was given the name of a tenth century Abbot of Glastonbury and Archbishop of Canterbury: Dunstan.” Succasunna was selected as the site.  At first, the congregation met at what is now Eisenhower School.  A couple of years later, the church building. which is on Hillside Avenue, “was built by hand by the original parishioners,” noted Piccirillo.  It was supposed to be a temporary building but stayed on with additions made to it.  Thomas Henry was its first priest   From 1967 – 1996, Rev. Robert Mason was the priest/rector of the church. After that, the church had a series of other priests.  However, to have a full-time priest, a church must be able to support them.  It happened that St. Dunstan’s size became one that could not support a full-time priest.  So, now it uses supply priests for Sunday services and needs such as baptisms, visitation, etc.  Supply priests are retired priests who still want to serve, just not on a full-time basis and are part of a network from which churches can draw.  St. Dunstan’s has lay leadership over its finances, outreach, fellowship, Christian Education, building and ground, and overall community.  That lay leadership is Wardens (who are like CEOs), Vestry (the governing body), and a Treasurer. 

Michelle Doremus has been a member of  St. Dunstan’s for close to 37 years and is its Senior Warden.  She started coming when her children were little. She shared that she and her husband have been involved with keeping up the building and grounds for many years. “I do have an extremely handy husband who can repair anything. I enjoy working outside of the church, to make it the best I can,” she said.   She added, “ I enjoy going to church every Sunday. Our congregation is small; but, we have the best people.”

Sunday worship at St. Dunstan’s is at 9:30am (held on site and on zoom).  Piccirillo described the  service as “relaxed traditional atmosphere”.  He noted that the congregation, “loves the sound of babies crying in the pews.  We welcome life into the church”.   Music for hymns is provided by a multi-instrument piano with special music brought in a few times a year.   Bulletins guide the congregation through the service.  Nursery care is available and there is Sunday School for elementary age children during the service. After worship, there is a fellowship time of coffee and dessert for the adults and juice and cookies for the children.  The first Sunday of every month, fellowship time is a potluck brunch with people bringing in a variety of items.  “…we love to eat, “ shared Piccirillo. In addition to the service, there is a twice a month bible study for adults held during a weekday evening led by a member of the church.

St. Dunstan’s empowers its youth by providing them with the opportunities to share in their interests.  One youth plays piano during fellowship;  another has been an assistant Sunday School teacher and another tends the grounds.   “It’s important to make youth feel valued and feel like they make a difference,” noted Piccirillo. He shared that St. Dunstan’s is a place where adults, who are not their parents, are telling the youth that they did a good job.

St. Dunstan’s is involved in a number of outreaches supporting Roxbury Social Services.  The church collects back to school supplies for needy students for the social services backpack program.  It  collects turkeys for Thanksgiving and hams for Easter.  It has a mitten tree (a plywood tree with clothespins on its branch) which it fills with pairs of mittens and then gives the mittens to social services.  Piccirillo noted that a favorite outreach of his is the Soup Cross.  

The Soup Cross is an outreach that was started about 50 years ago.  It is held each February. It starts with the children in the Sunday School receiving a cup of soup and learning how one can of soup can be the foundation of a meal for a family of four.  In the sanctuary, a five- foot cross is put up which is hollow inside with no covering in the front.  Each Sunday, for four Sundays, the children bring in cans of soup and start filling the cross. Once the inside of the cross is filled, cans are put on top and at the base of it.  The congregation enjoys watching the cross slowly being filled.  “It is an ever- present symbol of giving, “ shared Piccirillo. At the end of the month, the donated cans of soup go to Roxbury Social Services.

In addition to helping Roxbury Social Services, the church helps the community by providing space for AA, Weight Watchers and exercise and dance classes. Also, the church provides formula to North Porch  (an organization which helps needy families with babies in times of emergency) and collects money for Nets For Life (a project which is helping to prevent the spread of malaria in Africa).

Kim and Scott Sargent, of Flanders, have been attending St. Dunstan’s since 1985.  Kim Sargent is a, Vestry Member and Sunday School Coordinator and Scott Sargent is the church Treasurer.  Scott Sargent reflected that outreach is their favorite part of the church:    “For Kim and I, the favorite part of St. Dunstan’s is the tremendous outreach support we provide to Roxbury Social Services and North Porch Women and Infants Center.  This outreach truly demonstrates the outward sign of compassion and kindness that the people of St. Dunstan’s display in caring for the less fortunate in the local community.  As we say each week in our concluding prayer: ‘And now, Father, send us out’.” 

Looking ahead, St. Dunstan’s will be at Olde Suckasunny day on September 19th from 10am – 3pm.   It will be giving out bags for Roxbury Social Services which have lists of food items needed for its pantry which people can fill and return.

St. Dunstan’s will also be doing a fundraiser to benefit the church.   There will be a fishbowl with a shot glass in it. The top of the bowl will have a cover on it with three slots in it.   For a quarter a try, people can try to get the quarter in the shot glass.  If they do, they get a push-pop.  For those who don’t come prepared, the church will be able to exchange four quarters for a dollar.

St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

179 S. Hillside Avenue
Succasunna, NJ  07876
(973) 927-1485
Email:   stdunstansuccasunna@gmail.com

Website:    https://www.stdunstansuccasunna.org

The church can also be found on Facebook. Look for St. Dunstan’s Succasunna.