There will be ONE service, at 9 AM, this
coming Sunday, December 7th and the Second Sunday of Advent. As we
do each year on the first Sunday in December, we will be commissioning all licensed lay ministers during the liturgy. This
is an opportunity for the congregation to recognize those who faithfully assist
at the altar and provide visits to homebound members and to offer their prayers
of support. The service will be followed by coffee hour hosted by Vestry.
The
readings for this Sunday are Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:7-13, 2 Peter
3:8-15a, Mark 1:1-8
Annual Outreach Discussion: At about 10:30 on
Sunday, all who are interested are invited to gather for our annual outreach
discussion. This is the opportunity for us as a parish to review the
organizations that we have supported in the past, consider new organizations,
and make recommendation to the Vestry. We have a strong history of support for
organizations in which members of the parish take an active role, so if you
have quietly been being the heart and hands of Christ in the world and would
recommend that the parish provide some additional support, your suggestions
would be welcome. Please come prepared to speak briefly and accurately about
that project.
We currently have a parish policy that 50% of the proceeds from most of our fundraisers is directed towards mission and outreach. This year, assuming the Christmas Fair goes well, that means we will have about $3,500 to give. Come, be part of the conversation and enjoy participating in this corporate act of generosity.
We currently have a parish policy that 50% of the proceeds from most of our fundraisers is directed towards mission and outreach. This year, assuming the Christmas Fair goes well, that means we will have about $3,500 to give. Come, be part of the conversation and enjoy participating in this corporate act of generosity.
The Christmas Fair at Saint
Andrew’s … countdown to 9AM Saturday!!! Wreath decorating is taking place today
(Thursday). Cookies, candies, jams, and
jellies are due by 3:00 on Friday. We hope you are spreading the word to
you friends and plan to lend a hand in some way. Gorgeous wreaths, a variety of
guest and “home-team” craft vendors, and lots of good pre-Christmas spirit!
New special addition this year: Chowder lunch served in the Prince Room.
We’ll be going til 3:00 this year, so clean-up helpers: please show up around 2:30!
New special addition this year: Chowder lunch served in the Prince Room.
We’ll be going til 3:00 this year, so clean-up helpers: please show up around 2:30!
The service in celebration of the life of Ruth Scott Conley will held at Saint Andrew's on Saturday, December 13 at 1:30. Ruth is the great-grandmother of Aislin and Ronan Hird and the grandmother Juli Hird. She and her late husband, Ray Conley, were married at Saint Andrew's in the mid 1950s.
A prayer request and some information
from Davis and Andrea Dassori, whose lives have recently been turned
upside down. Davis writes: Andrea and I
saw her doctor [three] weeks ago because of some troubling symptoms. We learned
that there was a mass in her brain, and a week later she underwent surgery to
remove it. As anticipated, it turned out to be a glioblastoma, fortunately
located so that, unlike Ted Kennedy's tumor, it was possible to remove all of
it. With that particular type of cancer removal, while encouraging, it is far
from the end of the story; but so far everything else has gone just as well as
we could possibly have hoped.
If
you would like to send notes of support and keep posted on Andrea’s recovery more
information and background are in a blog Davis has been keeping, which you can
find it at www.caringbridge.org/visit/andreadassori
. Her
progress is very encouraging, and they look forward to seeing us soon in New
Hampshire.
Andrea, we’re holding you close in our prayers!
Andrea, we’re holding you close in our prayers!
Women’s Lunch Bunch Christmas Special!!!
The
past several years we have gathered at someone’s home for a December pot-luck
meal together. This year Judy Ward, a friend of
the parish and a regular “lunch-buncher,” has invited us to her house at 100
Deer Drive, Silver Lake. Directions will be available at church on Sunday.
We’ll gather at noon. Please bring something to for the table.
December calendar reminders:
On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 14th, our Bishop, Rob Hirschfeld, will be with us for his biennial parish visit to baptize, confirm, receive, preach, celebrate, and visit with us. We will have ONE service only at 10 o’clock. Please mark your calendars and do your best to be with us that Sunday as we welcome him to Saint Andrew’s and share the Advent season with him.
On the 4th Sunday of Advent, December 21st, we will again have a single service at 10:00 for our Greening of the Church liturgy, at which, within the liturgy, we prepare the church for Christmas. This is a wonderful opportunity for those who will be out of town for the actual Christmas holiday to share in the joys of the season here at home.
Food for thought, in the form of a
unique Advent Calendar from the brothers at SSJE (the Society of
Saint John the Evangelist, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts). We’re all
familiar with Advent calendars in which you open a door each day to get a
little picture or a scripture verse as we approach Christmas. Allow yourself to
be “prepared” for God’s gift to us with the Incarnation. This year, the
Brothers at SSJE will send, directly to your email inbox, a link to an
evocative image accompanied by a single word, followed by a brief reflection. There are interactive possibilities as well
if you sleuth around at the end of the mailing. The email will arrive by 5 AM,
so it’ll be right there for you to ponder and reflect on through the day…Maybe
even take pictures of your own that reflect the word of the day!
To subscribe, click here: ssje.org/adventword
To subscribe, click here: ssje.org/adventword
Today’s word: Thrive.
We
were made for ‘Yes’. The arts and sports are about not merely surviving in this
world, but thriving. He said that he came that we might have life—and have it
abundantly. We were made for senseless acts of beauty—and fun!” [Br. Mark Brown]
See
you in church.
Advent Blessings!
Heidi+
Advent Blessings!
Heidi+
St. Andrews-in-the-Valley, P.O. Box 436, Tamworth, NH 03886
Office hours: Tuesday-Friday 9-Noon
Phone: 603-323-8515
Office Administrator: Debra Hoyt
Office hours: Tuesday-Friday 9-Noon
Phone: 603-323-8515
Office Administrator: Debra Hoyt
