JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
THIS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 21st, Pentecost 22, there will be two services at 8:00 am and 10:00 a.m.
Book Group will meet at 11:15 following services on October 21 and 28.
CENTERING PRAYER
Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m.
MORNING PRAYER
Wednesday mornings at 9:00 a.m.
COFFEE HOUR HOSTS NEEDED!!!!!
Please check the sheet in the Parish Hall and ask someone to “team up” with you for Coffee Hour. Hosts are needed for all dates for remainder of Oct and all of Nov and Dec.
WE HOPE YOU WILL JOIN US FOR WORSHIP
READINGS FOR SUNDAY
Sunday, October 21, 2018
22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 24, Year B
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Psalm 104:1-9, 25, 37b
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45
FROM THE RECTOR
I can’t remember
definitively, but I suspect I have at least touched on the importance of
keeping the Sabbath in one of my sermons. It is a topic that comes up regularly
in scripture, and it is something with which I often struggle in my own life.
So I was excited to learn that the topic of our fall clergy retreat this week
was “Resting in God: The Spiritual Practice of Keeping Sabbath”. It was led by
Brother David Vryhof, one of the monks of the Society of St. John the
Evangelist in Cambridge, MA. The Brothers are very intentional about keeping
their own Sabbath on Mondays, when they close their guesthouse to the public,
and I knew what David had to share would be pertinent.
Indeed, what he had
to say was most helpful, and in the context of a retreat, something we could
practice in short periods right there. Keeping the Sabbath is about more than
taking a day off or worshiping on Sunday morning or resting from our work. As
the title of our retreat indicates, it was about resting in God – knowing ourselves
to be not only created in the image of God but beloved by God. As he said to us
at one point, he wasn’t telling us much we didn’t already know. But I needed
the reminders, and I suspect we all did.
I’d like to pass
along one of the gems he shared with us. It had to do with prayer, and came
from his training when he first arrived at the monastery years ago. He said
that until then he had always struggled with prayer, never feeling that he was praying
frequently enough, or hard enough, or in the right way. He, like most of us,
saw it as something that he initiated with God, rather than the other way
around. But at the monastery he learned to see prayer as something that God
invited him into, and to approach each day with an expectant attitude – wondering
how God would appear that day, how God might surprise him. He learned to look
for God in everything he did and in everyone he met, and found himself more and
more likely to recognize God’s presence in his life. As his prayer life
expanded in this way he realized that he no longer felt guilty for not praying
well enough, or long enough or often enough.
A shift in his approach to prayer opened him to God’s presence in a new
way. What struck me most about what he shared was that when we put the onus of
praying on ourselves, seeing it as something we must do, it can become simply another task on our to do list and
a place where we feel we come up short.
Prayer and keeping
the Sabbath are both central to our spiritual lives, and essential to our well
being. I invite you to take a little time to consider these things in your own
lives, and to give me a call if you’d like to learn more about either.
Caroline
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From Rest: the gentle art of doing nothing – Br.
Nicholas Bartoli, SSJE
There is within us
all a very sacred place, a gift of stillness, light, and love central to our
being. We could call it our “heart” or our “soul” or “the indwelling of
Christ.” It is at once a point of utter nothingness and the point which gives
birth to all things in heaven and on earth. It is a place capable of holding
both incredible beauty and terrible pain. It is the place where Christ is born,
and from whence we can share Christ’s love and compassion in the world. It is
God’s eternal Kingdom within us and our common inheritance as children of
light. Against all reason, it is the place God chooses to call home, and so it
is our home, too.
However, it very
often seems difficult to even visit this place, let alone claim it as our
inheritance and home. We sense its existence most often in a feeling of
restlessness, the nagging feeling that there’s something we have forgotten or
have missed….
As hard as it can be
to describe this place, we can become more receptive to it. And the way is
truly very simple. I can sum it up in just one word: rest.
To read more, go to: https://www.ssje.org/monasticwisdom/#monthly. The second section on the page is called
Monastic Wisdom Monthly, and “Rest” is one of the topics there. Use the left or
right arrow to find “Rest”.
RAISE THE ROOF
Your help is needed to sell Quilt Raffle Tickets
Please sign-out a packet of tickets to sell to your family, friends and neighbors. See Hettie Buck after the 10:00 am service on Sunday or call 603-253-5035. There will also be packets of tickets in the office.
CHURCH BILLBOARD
DINNER BELL
Dinner Bell cook team for this Sunday October 21st
WILCOX-JACOBSON
Dinner Bell cook team for next Sunday October 28th
Sandwich Community Church
~
Thank you for your volunteer
work in this special Outreach program!
In
my note last week about the Call and Response Foundation's team at Dinner Bell
on 10/7, I failed to mention that Joyce Carter was also present for their
delicious meal and Joyce with her kindness as always made Scott Whitmore and
his team feel very welcome. Also Joyce reminded me that their meal also
included delicious grilled veggies.
On
Sunday 10/14 which was a lovely fall day with vibrant foliage colors, I
participated for Gretchen-Behr Swenson who could not walk this year in the
annual Crop Walk through the beautiful Sandwich countryside. Many thanks
to all who generously donated to the Walk. Our donations from the St. Andrew's
community were $400!!
Beverly
Hammond
COMMUNITY FOOD CENTER
The Food Pantry thanks you for your contributions throughout the year.
The monthly item for October is deodorant for men/women.
FORWARD DAY BY DAY
Thursday, October 18
Ecclesiasticus 38:1-3 Honor physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king. The skill of physicians makes them distinguished, and in the presence of the great they are admired.
My doctor and I are not friends, but we need each other. I need her care to maintain good health, and she needs me to support her practice. I do not know whether my doctor is a person of faith, but she is a member of God’s community of healers.
Many scholars believe that Saint Luke was a Greek physician. In Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians, the author refers to him as “Luke, the beloved physician,” and some faith traditions venerate him as the patron saint of doctors. As evangelist and doctor, Luke followed in the footsteps of our great healer.
Becoming a doctor entails many years of study and training, but the author of Ecclesiasticus reminds us that it is God who first bestows the gift of healing. Rather than seeing doctors as usurping God’s role, we should instead honor and admire them for their deep understanding of the substances the Lord has placed in the earth for our health and well-being, and for their skill in using them to heal.
MOVING FORWARD: Thank your health care provider today.
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
THIS MONTH AT ST. ANDREW’S
Sunday
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21st
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8 & 10 am
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Pentecost 22
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11:15 am
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Book Group
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28th
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8 & 10 am
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Pentecost 23
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11:15 am
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Book Group
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Every Sunday
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5:00 pm
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Dinner Bell
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Monday
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9:30 am
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Quilt Group
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29th
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7:00 pm
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Vestry Meeting
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Tuesday
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Every Tuesday
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10:00 am
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Community Food Center
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5:30 pm
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Centering Prayer
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8:00 pm
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AA Meeting
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Wednesday
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Every Wednesday
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9:00 am
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Morning Prayer
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Friday
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Every Friday
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10:00 am
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Community Food Center
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Saturday
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Every Saturday
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8:00 pm
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AA Meeting
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8:00 pm
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Al-Anon Meeting
| ||||
FROM THE OFFICE
The attic cleanout that was planned for today, Friday 19th has been cancelled for now,
Deb has to go out of town. Thank you and will keep you posted on a reschedule date.
ChIP’s and 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 3rd 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.
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 2018 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 2018 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.
For more information click on this link:https://www.episcopalchurch.org/files/documents/uto_2017_grants_brochure.pdf
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.
PHOTO GALLERY
