Thursday Memo: October 2015

October 29, 2015

This Sunday, the 1^st of November, is All Saints’ Sunday, with a Festal Eucharist of Thanksgiving at 9 o’clock, at which we will offer our pledges to God. Our liturgy will begin with the solemn reading of the names of the departed. If you have names that you would like have read, please call or email the office by Friday noon. The service will be followed by a celebration breakfast hosted by the Stewardship Committee to which you are warmly invited!

GRATITUDE UNLOCKS THE FULLNESS OF LIFE! Don’t miss our Annual Stewardship Celebration Breakfast following the service on Sunday. And if you haven’t yet turned in your pledge card, please bring it on Sunday so that it can be included in the total that will be announced at the breakfast. Many thanks to each of you has already responded. We are encouragingly close to our goal!

Daylight Savings Time ends Saturday night, so … REMEMBER to set clocks back 1 hour. The effect of this is that the “new” 9 o’clock will actually feel like the “old” 10 o’clock!

The readings for this Sunday are Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9, Psalm 24, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44.

The liturgy at which Bishop Michael Bruce Curry will be installed as the next Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church will occur this coming Sunday at noon, at Washington National Cathedral. Bishop Curry is the first African-American to be elected Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. If you would like to read more information on Bishop Curry please visit http://www.episcopalchurch.org/posts/publicaffairs/bishop-michael-curry-north-carolina-elected-27th-presiding-bishop-episcopal. No media streaming information for the liturgy is available as of this date.

Last chance for donating unused Christmas and other greeting cards to be given to the residents of the Goffstown Women’s Prison for their use! Our delegation will be taking them to Convention next week. Many of you have responded very generously already! Thank you! Any unused cards – blank, birthday, sympathy, humor, and holidays – and envelopes are welcome! The collection basket is on the table in front of the parish bulletin board.

We hope you will join us for the Saint Andrew's Harvest Supper and Pie Auction, to be held on Friday, November 20th: 6 o’clock for the meal, 7 o’clock for the pie auction. Tickets (adults $10, children $4) will be available at the door. Plan to come and invite your friends! We are hoping that many of you will provide your delicious baked pies (pies that can be frozen for Thanksgiving feasts are especially welcome) to be auctioned following the meal, beginning shortly after 7 o’clock.. We also need help delivering flyers. Please pick them up in the Parish Hall. Note: Pies should be delivered on the day of the dinner/auction by 3 p.m. Please contact Carol Tubman (651-8230) or Christine Mills (452-4049) with questions or offers of help.

St. Andrews Church is the Chartering Organization for Boy Scout Troop 151 and has been for many years. Our Troop consists of boys from the local area including Tamworth, Madison, Effingham, Ossipee and Moultonborough. The Scouts have been working very hard on rank advancement and earning merit badges. We plan to hold a Court of Honor at St. Andrews Church on Monday, November 2nd at 7:00 pm where the boys will be presented their awards. All are welcome so please attend if you wish.

Great work on the ChIPs Project! Special thanks go to the Bunker household for their clear communication of the need! We brought in $463! Kathy and her team of young people will go shopping on Saturday to purchase suitable gifts, then the gifts will be taken by our Diocesan Convention Delegates to Convention next week. From that gathering point they will be wrapped and distributed to incarcerated parents to give to their children at their Annual Christmas Party.

Five of us from St. Andrew’s walked last Sunday, with about 25 others from area churches, in the Church World Service annual CROP Walk for World Hunger. Thank you to the many sponsors from St. Andrew’s who together contributed about $800 in support of our walkers – Gretchen, Sammie, Beverly, Grete, and Heidi. (David also raised money but was unable to walk.) We were blessed with a beautiful afternoon! A significant portion of the funds raised in the walk will be directed to the support of Dinner Bell and our Community Food Pantry.

Food for thought for All Saints’ Day…
God calls us to do God's work in all times and places. We have before us the examples of prophets and apostles, servants and martyrs, ordinary men and women who took their baptism seriously and let God's grace change their lives. The celebration of All Saints' is a celebration of our faith that we are counted in their number. —Donald S. Armentrout.

I hope you will be with us we celebrate this powerful time of continuing connection in Christ together.
See you in church!

Blessings, Heidi+

October 22, 2015

Here's Thursday MEMO ... with apologies for the many computer glitches that are making the formatting of this document awkward!

Services for this coming Sunday, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 AM. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship. This is ChIPs Project contribution Sunday. (See last week’s MEMO for details on the ChIPs Project.) Special thanks to the Bunker children who have agreed to take initiative and will invite your contributions (in cash or by check made out to St. Andrew’s with ChIPs in the memo line) during coffee hour.

This is also CROP Walk Day. If you’ve been wanting to sponsor one (or more) of our walkers, now’s the time!

Readings for this Sunday: Job 42:1-6, 10-17, Psalm 34:1-8, 19-22, Hebrews 7:23-28, Mark 10:46-52.

GRATITUDE UNLOCKS THE FULLNESS OF LIFE!
Our fall pledges continue to grow with 34 pledges totaling $115,225.00 for support of this church for 2016 having been offered! Thank you to those of you who have pledged! The gourds are beginning to overflow from our altar cornucopia and 10 bottles of oil, symbols of pledges that have been offered as well! Is yours among them? We hope it will be soon. We have set a pledge goal of $140,000, so we are doing well … but we’re not there yet! There are additional pledge packets on the piano and in the Parish Hall.

Our ingathering celebration is just over a week away, so please mark your calendars for All Saints’ Day (November 1) when the 9:00 service will be followed by the All-Parish Celebration Brunch.

Do you have names of people who have died whom you would like to have remembered on All Saints’ Day? Just jot them down. There are slips on the bulletin tables which may be dropped off in the office, placed the offering plate this Sunday, or emailed to Debra at office@standrewsinthevalley.org.

Is your desk drawer full of unused greeting cards that, frankly, you probably will never send? They would be happily received by the residents of the Women’s Prison in Goffstown. Look for the basket on the table in front of the parish bulletin board, and bring in your extras. Birthday, Christmas, other holidays, and blank cards and envelopes are all welcome. Please have them to the church by November 1^st so that can be collected at Diocesan Convention.

Treat yourself to a concert in celebration of All Saints and All Souls, Friday, October 30^th at 7 pm at the Little White Church in Eaton. Silver Lake Singers, a choir for hospice and healing, will present Crossing the Bar: Songs of life and death and other gentle mysteries. (Duane and I sing with this choir, so if you have any questions, you know whom to ask!

A hearty thanks you to all who braved the chilly fall weather and helped out last Sunday with our Fall Work Day! To David for general organizing of tasks, Dale for organizing food to feed us and all who brought food, to Hettie, Jonathan, Dave, Sammie, Duane, Beverly, Chris & Carolyn, and Ann. (My apologies for the incomplete list. I was immersed in the back garden.) And to a shout out to Dave & Pat Adams for signing up to do all the windows during the week, and to the Fun-Raising committee who have agreed to clean out and straighten both the kitchen attic and the tablecloth collection. If you would like to with any of the remaining items on our list, please see David on Sunday. Our combined efforts make a big difference!

Food for thought on the word Value…
This is what Christ calls us to do by his own word and example: to affirm the worth and dignity of every human being we come in contact with. Not to label others, not to dismiss them with a category and demean their humanity, but to call others by name as our God calls each of us by name. To value with compassion every other human being.
from Br. Robert L’Esperance SSJE

Blessings, Heidi+

October 15, 2015

GRATITUDE UNLOCKS THE FULLNESS OF LIFE!

Our fall pledge season is now well underway … and already 27 pledges totaling $38645 for support of this church for 2016 have been offered! Thank you to those of you who have pledged! The gourds are beginning to overflow from our altar cornucopia and 10 bottles of oil, symbols of pledges that have been offered as well! Is yours among them? We hope it will be soon. Our ingathering celebration is two weeks away, so please mark your calendars for All Saints’ Day (November 1) when the 9:00 service will be followed by the All-Parish Celebration Brunch.
There are additional pledge packets on the piano and in the Parish Hall.

Services for this coming Sunday…. This is our Come-to-Church-in-Your-Work-Clothes, Fall Work Day! There will be hearty snacks to fuel us for the work of closing up the grounds for the winter and for the inside chores to be done as well. All skill levels available. And if you’re unable to be part of the Sunday team, there will be other jobs posted that could be done mid-week. Your help is needed and appreciated. Thanks go to David in advance for posting the jobs and getting supplies together. If you have rakes or other favorite tools, please bring them along.

Readings for this Sunday: Job 38:1-7, 34-41, Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b, Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 10:35-45.

ABUNDANT THANKS TO ALL who worked on the Sandwich Fair! To Carol, Chris M, and Sally, our leadership team; to Tom, Vic, and Duane, our construction team, Gretchen, Phil, Carol, and Caroline, our chief jam-makers; Sally, Barbara, and Caroline, our chief craft artisans; to all of you who baked goodies and tended the booth; and (with apologies) to anyone I’ve accidentally overlooked! The booth was gorgeous and appreciated by many, many people. The final total is yet to be posted. See the Gallery of Photos below!

The ChIP’s (Children of Incarcerated Parents) Project, a program of the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire, provides Christmas gifts for incarcerated parents to give to their children. Each October we invite contributions of cash or gifts to this hugely-needed and much-appreciated project. Please mail cash contributions to the church or put them in the plate.

Announcing the 2015 ChIP’s Program

Christmas comes to children of incarcerated parents every year with your help: you and sponsors like you who donate gifts and funds to make it happen! Both the families and the incarcerated parents themselves are deeply grateful for the opportunity that the ChIPs program affords them. The prisons count the number of gifts needed for each age and gender group. Volunteers collect your gift donations, and use your monetary donations to supplement the gifts provided. Once the presents are sorted, they're brought to the prisons, and the inmates get the chance to choose one gift for each child on their list. Usually the inmate is a parent . Sometimes a grandparent. Sometimes even a big brother or sister.

Children of prison inmates can live lonely lives. It's easy to believe that a parent you never see just doesn't care. Inmates also find themselves feeling isolated and abandoned, unable to provide for or to be a part of their families. Being able to offer their children a gift at the Christmas visit gives the inmates an opportunity for connection, for a sliver of normalcy in their family relations.

Studies have shown that parolees are significantly more likely to integrate back into society if they are able to maintain relationships with their families. The ChIPs program creates positive experiences on which to build a foundation for those relationships.

Treat yourself to a concert in celebration of All Saints and All Souls, Friday, October 30th at 7 pm at the Little White Church in Eaton. Silver Lake Singers, a choir for hospice and healing, will present Crossing the Bar: Songs of life and death and other gentle mysteries. (Duane and I sing with this choir, so if you have any questions, you know whom to ask!

Sandwich Fair Photo Gallery

Setup!

October 8, 2015

Don’t miss the pictures from the Animal Blessing at the end of this MEMO.

GRATITUDE UNLOCKS THE FULLNESS OF LIFE!
Our fall pledge season is now underway … and already 21 pledges for support of this church for 2016 are being offered! There is a growing number of gourds in our altar cornucopia and a 8 bottles of oil, symbols of pledges that have been offered as well! Is yours among them? We hope it will be soon.
There are additional pledge packets on the piano and in the Parish Hall.

Services for this coming Sunday, the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, will be at 8 and 10 am, followed by coffee hour. We hope you will join us for worship and fellowship.

Readings: Job 23:1-9, 16-17, Psalm 22:1-15, Hebrews 4:12-16, Mark 10:17-31.

Invite your friends, and come visit our booth at the Sandwich Fair October 10th through 12th! We are located in the Farmers’ Market section of the Fair, at the corner near the entrance to the Craft Vendors’ building.
Thanks go to our hard-working set-up crew of Vic, Tom, Sally, Carol, Chris & Bob Mills, and Duane who heroically did their work in the drizzle of Friday.

REMINDER TO BOOTH TENDERS: We are counting on you. Please allow sufficient time for traffic tangles and parking so that you arrive on time. Also, come comfortably equipped for the weather. The rain is expected to clear by Saturday, but the forecast is for temperatures in the 50s and 60s, so hats, gloves, and a cozy jacket would be in order. If you have any questions about your time or entrance procedures, please call Carol (651-8230).

Women’s Lunch Bunch will meet this coming Wednesday at noon at the Mountain View Restaurant in Center Ossipee. Call Dale (539-3761) if you need a ride or have questions.

Please plan on lending a hand with our Fall Workday next Sunday (Oct. 18) after the 10 am service. If outdoor work appeals to you, dress accordingly and bring along rakes, gloves, and other tools. If you’d prefer to team up inside with window-washing, organizing, and/or some deep cleaning, there’s work to be done there as well. And if you’re unable to be part of the Sunday team, there will be other jobs posted that could be done mid-week. Your help is needed and appreciated.

Special thanks to Ray Walker and Lisa Thompson for their photographs of the animal blessing, and to the Rev. Susan Ackley for covering in my absence.
Duane and I had a delightful visit with our niece, her husband, and their 8-week old daughter, Nora.

Food for thought from David Vryhof, SSJE…
Poverty
The poor are blessed, Jesus says, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We are likewise blessed, when the circumstances of life compel us to recognize our poverty and need and turn to put our whole trust in God.

See you in church, Blessings, Heidi+

Animal Blessing Picture Gallery

Kaitlyn, Welcome back! We've missed you!