“You are a blessing to a church. Help yourself, to help others, to help the church.”
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Truer words have never been said, and this phrase comes from a credit coach and guru who has developed her own system and strategies to lessen the finical strain that plagues so many Americans today. Germiane Miller-Summers, credit-coach and entrepreneur, provided an outline to a step-by-step plan to help alleviate anyone from their finical burdens so that they could later share their blessings with their parish or other groups. Michael Ball financial adviser and member of Germaine’s team was a well-received addition to her team and for that morning’s presentation. His knowledge and words were useful and impactful and only went to reinforce all the points made in the presentation by both speakers.

​​This past Sunday, St. Edmund’s Church was more than a place of worship but also a platform for receiving the keys to being financial free; thanks to our guest speaker Ms. Summers. On March 4th Germaine presented a well-researched and factual business proposal with budgeting tips for the members of St. Edmunds church. In hopes of not just in bettering our lives and that of the church but by giving us the tools to be finically free, and in us taking what we learned that day and passing it on to others to help our parishes more greatly.
                It was stated that Germaine and Priest-In-Charge Father Ben Nnaji had been speaking in length about the churches finances and overall sustainability. Through that conversation Germaine was invited to speak in front of the congregation to bring some much needed knowledge about finances, credit, debt, and general money saving tips. In addition she announced two goals/initiatives that we as a parish should strive towards for the month and rest of year. The first being a short term plan, a $2 Challenge; in this month of March all parish member’s set aside $2 a day for the entire month and then donate that to the church in hopes of meeting their long term plan. Reaching $150K by the end of the year in December is goal number two. Germaine explained that by using the power of 5 we could much more realistically reach this goal. Power of 5, is getting five people informed, in support, or donating. Then from those five individuals they take it upon themselves to then go recruit five more people, after they have provided you with whatever it is that you were in search of.
                Germiane and Michael too talented, well-educated individuals rattled the minds of some members with their modern advice about financial stability. There Keys to Finical Freedom presentation was enlightening and brought much clarification to the finical status of our parish. With their Financial Fitness Assessment they got the gauge of the crowd’s knowledge on finances and also brought their take on the importance of credit, saving, balancing and planning in any stage of one’s life. The pair was well received and are expected to return to lead a workshop later on in the year.

On July, 2nd St. Edmund's Episcopal was pleased to welcome Veteran newsman Dominic Carter.
Carter has been described as one of the best political reporters in New York television today, and has been a fixture in the industry for the last 30 years, currently working at Verizon FiOS News/RNN TV. Carter also released a book on his life, No Momma’s Boy, in which he chronicles his triumphant struggle to succeed while growing up in a Bronx Housing Project. Dominic has moderated debates with Hillary Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He has also appeared on Face the Nation, Hardball with Chris Matthews, CNN, and the Fox News Channel. Among his numerous exclusive interviews, they include former President Bill Clinton, Caroline Kennedy, and even Nelson Mandela during Mandela’s historic visit to the United States.

Dominic has also reported extensively from abroad. In 1993 he was the only television journalist in Japan with then-Mayor David Dinkins at the time of the first World Trade Center terrorist bombing. He twice traveled to Israel to cover visits to the region by then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani; he has reported on the famine from Somalia; and he has spent time in the Persian Gulf.

Carter received a B.A. in journalism from the State University of New York at Cortland, then attended graduate school at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications before starting his career in radio.

Reverend Mary Douglas Glasspool delighted St. Edmunds with a powerful and uplifting sermon, which was humorous and inspiring. She shared stories and real life lessons that related to multiple persons at different stages in their lives, but despite those differences and hardships we must remember --The Lord. She prompted her listeners to get closer to God and reflect on ones self especially with the 2017 Lenten season.