October 19, 2017




-               JOIN US FOR WORSHIP             -

THIS SUNDAY, October 22nd, The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, there will be two services at 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
There is a service of Morning Prayer on Wednesday mornings at 9 a.m.
There will be a Taize service on Wednesday, November 1st at 5:30 p.m.
We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.
-              READINGS FOR SUNDAY            -
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Proper 24, Year A
Exodus 33:12-23
Psalm 99
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:15-22

-          ALL SAINTS SUNDAY & PLEDGE INGATHERING        -
All Saints’ Sunday is November 5th.


Do you have names of people whom you would like to have remembered on All Saints’ Day?  Please fill out a form from the bulletin table or email them to Debra at office@standrewsinthevalley.org by Thursday, October 26th.

Stewardship Brunch following the service.


-            FROM THE INTERIM RECTOR          -


First Evening Taize Service

As I mentioned in a Thursday Memo several weeks ago, I have wanted to begin holding a once a month evening service that might appeal not only to our own members, but also perhaps to the wider community. These will be quiet services, featuring prayer, silence and music. Val May and I have talked about this ever since she played for the Maundy Thursday service last spring, and we are both excited to offer the first service on Wednesday, November 1 at 5:30 pm. November 1 is All Saints' Day, when we remember all the saints of the church, as well as those who have been saints in our lives. (We always commemorate this day on the first Sunday after November 1, and will do so again this year, on November 5.)

Our first Wednesday evening service will follow the form of prayer services offered at the Taize Community in France. It's a very simple, contemplative service, with scripture readings, intercessory prayer and Taize chants, interspersed with silence. Val will lead us in the chants with her harp and beautiful voice.

Please mark your calendar and spread the word to your friends!

-          BISHOP'S VISIT         -

Bishop Hirschfeld will preach and preside at both 8:00 am and 10:00 am
services on October 29th. He looks forward to an informal Q & A following the 10 am service.

-          PLEDGE PROGRESS          -

Help us reach our Goals!


Rector Search Fund 
Goal ~ $ 20,000
30 pledges $ 8,449.00


2018 Stewardship Pledge 
Goal ~$ (to be determined)
15 pledges $ 41,109.00

-          ChIPs & United Thank Offering          -
It’s that time of year for giving!

Over the next two Sundays we will collect gifts for ChIPs and United Thank Offering (UTO).  Each October we invite contributions which will be taken to the Diocesan Convention on November 4th by the Delegates.

The CHiPs program (Children of Incarcerated Persons) collects gifts and monetary donations ($25 this year) to be given to the children of those who are in prison. If you would like to purchase gifts, please click 2017 ChIP’s Gift Guidelines or find them in the bulletin, or on the parish hall table on Sunday.

UTO: The first priority of The United Thank Offering is to encourage the spiritual practice of gratitude and then to give grants from the abundant collection of coins and bills given each year to our Blue Boxes. In 2017 the United Thank Offering annual grant recipients, seminarian and young adult grant recipients are working towards evangelism and reconciliation as a part of the Jesus Movement. The United Thank Offering of the Episcopal Church awarded 47 grants for a total of $1,169,969.55 for the mission and ministry of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The 2017 grants were awarded to 34 Episcopal Church Dioceses, 8 Companion Relationships, 4 International Dioceses/ Provinces and 1 to continue our tradition of supporting Episcopal Church missionaries.



If you are giving by check to St. Andrew’s, please mark in the memo line “ChIPs or UTO”. You may leave your contributions in the office or drop them in the collection plate.

Thank you for your generosity to these very important outreach programs.

-              “FUN” RAISING              -
A favorite event is coming soon! 
 The Harvest Supper and Pie Auction 
is scheduled for Friday, November 17th with supper at 6 pm followed by the pie auction at 7.  Volunteer help is always needed.  And of course pies, those are definitely needed. 
  
-            DINNER BELL           -

Dinner Bell cook team for this Sunday October 22nd
SANDWICH COMMUNITY CHURCH

Dinner Bell cook team for next Sunday October 29TH
UUFES
~
Thank you for your volunteer
work in this special Outreach program!

-           SEARCH COMMITTEE         -
The Parish Profile is completed!
Click on “Parish Profile” button to read!
 
With joy at the completion of the Parish Profile, the Search Committee now begins a new phase of its work: the receiving and reading of applications from our prospective candidates. The applications, vetted by the Bishop and The Rev. Canon Hannah Anderson, will be sent to us from Diocesan House in Concord. After this, we will conduct Skype interviews with each of the candidates. We think, with time given to prayerful reflection, that this phase will occupy us through November. If so, we will start scheduling visits to parishes in Advent.
We continue to be encouraged by your prayers: keep them coming!
Lisa Thompson, Search Committee
SEARCH TIME-LINE for 2017
October-November: Begin receiving names and applications of candidates.  Reading and reviewing applications.
Prayer for St. Andrew’s during the search process.
Everliving and everloving Lord, as we are in the midst of your challenging task to search for our new rector, we pray that you continue to lead your parish to be in one mind and spirit through the conclusion of this journey.  May we be strong in the assurance that you are guiding us and carrying us safely to calling the person you have chosen to be our rector.  In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

Search Committee
Pat Adams, Betsy Hess, Tom Huckman, Cathie Lewis, 
George Rau, Lisa Thompson.
-          COMMUNITY FOOD CENTER          -

The Food Pantry thanks you for your contributions throughout the year.
The monthly item for October is Deoderant for men/women.

-                 FOOD FOR THOUGHT             -
 There is so much that is wrong in our world today, and it's easy to think there is nothing we can do. But there are two opportunities to reach out to others coming up, and I invite you to give to one or both of them. Collections for both programs are due at St. Andrew's by Wednesday, November 1st. Delegates will take your gifts to Diocesan Convention on Saturday, November 4.
See the Article “Chips and UTO” above.
-      FORWARD DAY BY DAY FOR TODAY     -
THURSDAY, October 19th
Jeremiah 38:4 Then the officials said to the king, “[Jeremiah] ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.”

Nobody likes that guy who goes around saying, “We’re gonna lose. You might as well give up now.” At the siege of Jerusalem, Jeremiah was that guy. So, the prophet who once spoke on behalf of the Lord is thrown into an empty cistern—to sink into the mud and into the silent oblivion of death.

In my own life, it has often been the stranger who ensures that I cannot compartmentalize God’s challenging word away so that it remains unheard. The self-giving love of the student who rearranges her life to raise funds for her disabled father’s rehabilitation care shows me that I need to change the way I love and honor my own family. The stranger sets God’s insistent and unyielding word of judgment before us, so that we might turn away from idolatry and toward love.

MOVING FORWARD: Offer comfort to a person in your community who may have recently either received bad news or been the bearer of bad news.

-             FROM Deb IN THE OFFICE            -

 If you did not receive my email from Tuesday, there was a problem with the office “reply” for the in-box during my vacation.  All of the emails that were sent to the office were lost in the server from last week.  If you had sent something important for me to respond to, please resend it and my apologies for the inconvenience.

and this from Betsy Hess:

The prison art program is looking for art to sell at Diocesan convention. If you create art or have art you no longer need, please contact Betsy Hess so she can take it to convention.
This program provides art lessons at all the prisons in NH.

For more information, contact Betsy at 915-0094 or betsyhess@gmail.com.

-   OCTOBER BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES   -

If you do not see your birthday or anniversary listed, please make sure Deb in the office has an information sheet on file for you.
     
Birthdays
5        Ray Walker
9        Joan Wright, Peter Thompson
11      Barbara Worcester, Rob Walty
20      Lois Brady
22      Sally DeGroot, John McGowan
27      Larry Grace
28      Dick Wakefield, Dwight Baldwin

Anniversaries
8        Judy & Larry Grace


LINKS FOR MOBILE VIEWERS:


The Rev. Peg and Lee Custer's family