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.
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.
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 be sure they have not been written on.
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
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