Dear Friends in Christ,
There is much to be thinking about, planning for, and celebrating, with Thanksgiving this Thursday, and the season of Advent and new Church year starting on Sunday. There is lots of good and helpful information in the material below.
Here are this week’s announcements, along with a reminder of our snow procedures. Please pay particular attention to the following:
Thanksgiving Day Worship
The Other Wise Man performance, see below
Advent Wreath Making
Stewardship Pledge Cards
Festive Advent Evensong and Pot-Luck Supper
Snow Procedures – if we have to cancel one or both Sunday services due to snow or ice, here’s how we’ll get the message out: by 6:45 am there will be a message on the church answering machine, an e-mail will go out to the parish, and there will be an announcement on the church’s Facebook page. As always, please use your best judgement about road conditions and getting dug out. Be safe!
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WORSHIP and MUSIC
Thanksgiving Worship – Thursday, November 27 at 10 am. November 27 at 10 am. Come and give thanks to God for all your blessings on this Prayer Book holy day. Communion, hymns, piano and organ music. Then there is still time to put your turkey in the oven, or get on the road to wherever you are going. Blessing to you and your family!
St. Nicholas Sunday – Our high school youth will present a St. Nicholas skit (scripts in hand!) on Sunday, December 7 as part of the 10 am service, as part of our St. Nicholas celebration. All children will be in church starting at the Peace that day. Come and find out why St. Nicholas is an Advent saint, and how he can help us prepare for Christ’s birth.
Celebration: Festive Advent Evensong, December 7, 4 pm to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mother Vicki’s ordination to the priesthood. The Rev. Anne Bolles-Beaven will be the guest preacher, our choir will be augmented by some friends, clergy from the diocese have been invited, and Alison has written a new hymn for the occasion – a wonderful celebration! It will be followed by a Parish Pot-Luck Supper. Sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex to bring an appetizer, side-dish or dessert. Hope you can come to this festive event!
Christmas Flowers and decorations may be donated in memory of loved ones and/or in thanksgiving for God’s blessings. Flower donation envelopes are in the pews. They need to be returned (along with the names to be included in the Christmas bulletins) by December 15.Thanks!
All God’s Children is our monthly service for special needs kids and their families. December’s service will be on the second week: 12/ 14, at 12 noon. Please extend an invitation to those who might be interested; all are welcome! Contact Mother Vicki with questions.
HELPING HANDS
Adopt-a-Family – this is our annual program to provide new clothing and household items to a struggling family, as identified by Union County Social Services. There is a board in the Narthex with envelopes containing the needed items. Please take one and return the gifts wrapped and labeled by 12/15. Thank you for helping make this family’s Christmas a little happier.
Ditty Bags – every December we collect travel size toiletries, playing cards, cosmetics, jewelry trinkets, small note pads, etc. to go to the residents of Morris View, the county nursing home. Contributions may be left in the marked box in the Narthex. Questions? Speak to Pru Peterson (see Pru’s Ditty Bag article below!).
STEWARDSHIP
Thank you to everyone who has made a pledge of financial and time & talent support to All Saints’ for 2015. If you have not yet done so and need pledge materials, they are available on the table in the Narthex. It is important to have everyone on board with God’s mission through this parish as we head into next year.
And a note from the Finance Committee – if you are interested in making a gift of appreciated stock (either as a year-end donation or in fulfillment of your pledge) we are equipped to help you with that. It would be very much appreciated, and be a tax advantage to you. Speak to David Thursfield for details.
COMMUNITY HOSPITALITY
Advent Theater Production The Other Wise Man, Friday, Dec. 5, 7 pm . Tickets are $10 /$5 for kids age 12 and under. This is a Christmas tale in which a fourth Wise Man goes in search of the Christ Child, but at every turn encounters people in great need. It’s a story for adults that kids will enjoy as well. Written by Henry Van Dyke (the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London in the 1920s), it has been adapted for the stage by William Ward, specifically for All Saints’. This costumed reading by professional actors will take place in the Church. There will be an opportunity to meet and talk with the performers during refreshments following the play. We’ll need a few people to staff the box office and usher; please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex, or respond to this e-mail. Please take a flyer and post it in a store or business in your neighborhood. Thanks!
Proceeds will benefit North Porch, which provides emergency supplies to babies and toddlers. We’ll also be collecting jars of baby food for all ages: fruit, veggies and first foods.
FORMATION
Advent Wreath Making – Sunday, November 30 at 11:15 in the Parish Hall. Make an Advent Wreath to use at home – a simple green wreath, with four candles to mark each Sundays in Advent. The cost is $7 which includes the wreath form, fresh evergreens, ribbons, candles, wire, etc. And we’ll give you a brochure with prayers for a simple home-based Advent liturgy. Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex to reserve your materials. This way we know how much to order. Note – you may pick up your materials on the 30th and then assemble them at home. Questions? Speak to Kimberly Celeste.
Daily Advent Meditations – Each day during the season I will be sending an e-mail with a reflection on the season of Advent as we prepare to make room in our hearts for our celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. Please look for it (check your spam folder!). They will also be posted on the church’s Facebook page. Blessings on your spiritual Advent preparations. ~ Vicki+
Advent and Christmas Mini-Ministries are the way All Saints’ gets ready for our parish worship and celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus. There is an info flyer and a sign-up sheet in the Narthex, outlining the different roles, jobs and opportunities for service during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Take a look, and see how you can help. Thanks.
Wednesday Bible Study Group is a great way t make some room for God in your life this Advent season. We meet from 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. We are currently reading the Gospel of John. Newcomers to Bible reading are welcomed and encouraged. We’ll provide you with a Bible if you need one. Come and try us out! Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
Coffee Hour hosts needed for Sundays after the 10 am service. What do you need to do? Provide sweet and/or savory snacks, juice, hot water for tea, and coffee. Instructions are available and John McGrath can walk you through a demo! Coffee Hour is a wonderful time to meet and greet fellow parishioners and newcomers. Please sign up on the sheet in the narthex.
Want to Know More About Advent and How to Celebrate it at Home? This website has some wonderful resources for parents, children and families: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/advent/
Here is a quote from the site: “Advent begins the Church Year; it always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This is time to pay attention. GOD IS COMING! Advent is the time to prepare for the all the COMINGS of Christ into our lives—all three. 1) As the babe born in Bethlehem long ago 2) Coming into our lives through Word and Sacrament now 3) Coming again in the fullness of God's reign in the future.
Focus - The focus in Advent is in expectation of God's presence with us—incarnation—more than with the past event of Jesus' birth. Advent is not sentimental. It is a time to live in the tension between the "already" of Jesus' birth and the "not yet" of God's full reign.”
Sunday School Pageant of the Nativity – December 21 at 10 am. All parish children are invited to take part in our annual pageant; shepherds, angels, Magi, Mary and Joseph, birds and animals – there’s a part for everyone! The rehearsal will be Saturday, 12/20 at 9 am in the Church. Please sign-up your child on the sheet in the Narthex so we’ll know they would like to participate.
+ + + + + + + + +
PARISH CALENDAR NEXT WEEK
12/3 Bible Study 10:15 am, Rath House
12/4 Holy Eucharist 7:00 am, Church
Junior Choir 5:00 pm, Choir Room
Adult Choir 7:30 pm, Choir Room
And please check the calendar on our website for the full listing of groups and events in our buildings.
+ + + + + + + + +
For All the Saints – November 28, Kamehameha and Emma, King and Queen of Hawaii ~ 1864, 1885
Within a year of ascending the throne in 1855, the twenty-year-old King Kamehameha IV and his bride, Emma Rooke, embarked on the path of altruism and unassuming humility for which they have been revered by their people. The year before, Honolulu, and especially its native Hawaiians, had been horribly afflicted by smallpox. The people, accustomed to a royalty which ruled with pomp and power, were confronted instead by a king and queen who went about, “with notebook in hand,” soliciting from rich and poor the funds to build a hospital. Queen’s Hospital, named for Emma, is now the largest civilian hospital in Hawaii.
In 1860, the king and queen petitioned the Bishop of Oxford to send missionaries to establish the Anglican Church in Hawaii. The king’s interest came through a boyhood tour of England where he had seen, in the stately beauty of Anglican liturgy, a quality that seemed attuned to the gentle beauty of the Hawaiian spirit. England responded by sending the Rt. Rev. Thomas N. Staley and two priests. They arrived on October 11, 1862, and the king and queen were confirmed a month later, on November 28, 1862. They then began preparations for a cathedral and school, and the king set about to translate the Book of Common Prayer and much of the Hymnal.
Kamehameha’s life was marred by the tragic death of his four-year-old son and only child, in 1863. He seemed unable to survive his sadness, although a sermon he preached after his son’s death expresses a hope and faith that is eloquent and profound. His own death took place only a year after his son’s, in 1864. Emma declined to rule; instead, she committed her life to good works. She was responsible for schools, churches, and efforts on behalf of the poor and sick. She traveled several times to England and the Continent to raise funds, and became a favorite of Queen Victoria’s. Archbishop Longley of Canterbury, remarked upon her visit to Lambeth: “I was much struck by the cultivation of her mind ... But what excited my interest most was her almost saintly piety.”
The Cathedral was completed after Emma died. It was named St. Andrew’s in memory of the king, who died on that saint’s day. Among the Hawaiian people, Emma is still referred to as “our beloved Queen.” ~ Holy Women, Holy Men
+ + + + + + + + +
The Collect for Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ~ BCP
Happy Thanksgiving, to you and those you love!
Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+
There is much to be thinking about, planning for, and celebrating, with Thanksgiving this Thursday, and the season of Advent and new Church year starting on Sunday. There is lots of good and helpful information in the material below.
Here are this week’s announcements, along with a reminder of our snow procedures. Please pay particular attention to the following:
Thanksgiving Day Worship
The Other Wise Man performance, see below
Advent Wreath Making
Stewardship Pledge Cards
Festive Advent Evensong and Pot-Luck Supper
Snow Procedures – if we have to cancel one or both Sunday services due to snow or ice, here’s how we’ll get the message out: by 6:45 am there will be a message on the church answering machine, an e-mail will go out to the parish, and there will be an announcement on the church’s Facebook page. As always, please use your best judgement about road conditions and getting dug out. Be safe!
+ + + + + + + + +
WORSHIP and MUSIC
Thanksgiving Worship – Thursday, November 27 at 10 am. November 27 at 10 am. Come and give thanks to God for all your blessings on this Prayer Book holy day. Communion, hymns, piano and organ music. Then there is still time to put your turkey in the oven, or get on the road to wherever you are going. Blessing to you and your family!
St. Nicholas Sunday – Our high school youth will present a St. Nicholas skit (scripts in hand!) on Sunday, December 7 as part of the 10 am service, as part of our St. Nicholas celebration. All children will be in church starting at the Peace that day. Come and find out why St. Nicholas is an Advent saint, and how he can help us prepare for Christ’s birth.
Celebration: Festive Advent Evensong, December 7, 4 pm to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mother Vicki’s ordination to the priesthood. The Rev. Anne Bolles-Beaven will be the guest preacher, our choir will be augmented by some friends, clergy from the diocese have been invited, and Alison has written a new hymn for the occasion – a wonderful celebration! It will be followed by a Parish Pot-Luck Supper. Sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex to bring an appetizer, side-dish or dessert. Hope you can come to this festive event!
Christmas Flowers and decorations may be donated in memory of loved ones and/or in thanksgiving for God’s blessings. Flower donation envelopes are in the pews. They need to be returned (along with the names to be included in the Christmas bulletins) by December 15.Thanks!
All God’s Children is our monthly service for special needs kids and their families. December’s service will be on the second week: 12/ 14, at 12 noon. Please extend an invitation to those who might be interested; all are welcome! Contact Mother Vicki with questions.
HELPING HANDS
Adopt-a-Family – this is our annual program to provide new clothing and household items to a struggling family, as identified by Union County Social Services. There is a board in the Narthex with envelopes containing the needed items. Please take one and return the gifts wrapped and labeled by 12/15. Thank you for helping make this family’s Christmas a little happier.
Ditty Bags – every December we collect travel size toiletries, playing cards, cosmetics, jewelry trinkets, small note pads, etc. to go to the residents of Morris View, the county nursing home. Contributions may be left in the marked box in the Narthex. Questions? Speak to Pru Peterson (see Pru’s Ditty Bag article below!).
STEWARDSHIP
Thank you to everyone who has made a pledge of financial and time & talent support to All Saints’ for 2015. If you have not yet done so and need pledge materials, they are available on the table in the Narthex. It is important to have everyone on board with God’s mission through this parish as we head into next year.
And a note from the Finance Committee – if you are interested in making a gift of appreciated stock (either as a year-end donation or in fulfillment of your pledge) we are equipped to help you with that. It would be very much appreciated, and be a tax advantage to you. Speak to David Thursfield for details.
COMMUNITY HOSPITALITY
Advent Theater Production The Other Wise Man, Friday, Dec. 5, 7 pm . Tickets are $10 /$5 for kids age 12 and under. This is a Christmas tale in which a fourth Wise Man goes in search of the Christ Child, but at every turn encounters people in great need. It’s a story for adults that kids will enjoy as well. Written by Henry Van Dyke (the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London in the 1920s), it has been adapted for the stage by William Ward, specifically for All Saints’. This costumed reading by professional actors will take place in the Church. There will be an opportunity to meet and talk with the performers during refreshments following the play. We’ll need a few people to staff the box office and usher; please sign up on the sheet in the Narthex, or respond to this e-mail. Please take a flyer and post it in a store or business in your neighborhood. Thanks!
Proceeds will benefit North Porch, which provides emergency supplies to babies and toddlers. We’ll also be collecting jars of baby food for all ages: fruit, veggies and first foods.
FORMATION
Advent Wreath Making – Sunday, November 30 at 11:15 in the Parish Hall. Make an Advent Wreath to use at home – a simple green wreath, with four candles to mark each Sundays in Advent. The cost is $7 which includes the wreath form, fresh evergreens, ribbons, candles, wire, etc. And we’ll give you a brochure with prayers for a simple home-based Advent liturgy. Sign up on the sheet in the Narthex to reserve your materials. This way we know how much to order. Note – you may pick up your materials on the 30th and then assemble them at home. Questions? Speak to Kimberly Celeste.
Daily Advent Meditations – Each day during the season I will be sending an e-mail with a reflection on the season of Advent as we prepare to make room in our hearts for our celebration of the birth of Christ at Christmas. Please look for it (check your spam folder!). They will also be posted on the church’s Facebook page. Blessings on your spiritual Advent preparations. ~ Vicki+
Advent and Christmas Mini-Ministries are the way All Saints’ gets ready for our parish worship and celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus. There is an info flyer and a sign-up sheet in the Narthex, outlining the different roles, jobs and opportunities for service during the Advent and Christmas seasons. Take a look, and see how you can help. Thanks.
Wednesday Bible Study Group is a great way t make some room for God in your life this Advent season. We meet from 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. We are currently reading the Gospel of John. Newcomers to Bible reading are welcomed and encouraged. We’ll provide you with a Bible if you need one. Come and try us out! Questions? Speak to Mother Vicki.
Coffee Hour hosts needed for Sundays after the 10 am service. What do you need to do? Provide sweet and/or savory snacks, juice, hot water for tea, and coffee. Instructions are available and John McGrath can walk you through a demo! Coffee Hour is a wonderful time to meet and greet fellow parishioners and newcomers. Please sign up on the sheet in the narthex.
Want to Know More About Advent and How to Celebrate it at Home? This website has some wonderful resources for parents, children and families: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/advent/
Here is a quote from the site: “Advent begins the Church Year; it always begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. This is time to pay attention. GOD IS COMING! Advent is the time to prepare for the all the COMINGS of Christ into our lives—all three. 1) As the babe born in Bethlehem long ago 2) Coming into our lives through Word and Sacrament now 3) Coming again in the fullness of God's reign in the future.
Focus - The focus in Advent is in expectation of God's presence with us—incarnation—more than with the past event of Jesus' birth. Advent is not sentimental. It is a time to live in the tension between the "already" of Jesus' birth and the "not yet" of God's full reign.”
Sunday School Pageant of the Nativity – December 21 at 10 am. All parish children are invited to take part in our annual pageant; shepherds, angels, Magi, Mary and Joseph, birds and animals – there’s a part for everyone! The rehearsal will be Saturday, 12/20 at 9 am in the Church. Please sign-up your child on the sheet in the Narthex so we’ll know they would like to participate.
+ + + + + + + + +
PARISH CALENDAR NEXT WEEK
12/3 Bible Study 10:15 am, Rath House
12/4 Holy Eucharist 7:00 am, Church
Junior Choir 5:00 pm, Choir Room
Adult Choir 7:30 pm, Choir Room
And please check the calendar on our website for the full listing of groups and events in our buildings.
+ + + + + + + + +
For All the Saints – November 28, Kamehameha and Emma, King and Queen of Hawaii ~ 1864, 1885
Within a year of ascending the throne in 1855, the twenty-year-old King Kamehameha IV and his bride, Emma Rooke, embarked on the path of altruism and unassuming humility for which they have been revered by their people. The year before, Honolulu, and especially its native Hawaiians, had been horribly afflicted by smallpox. The people, accustomed to a royalty which ruled with pomp and power, were confronted instead by a king and queen who went about, “with notebook in hand,” soliciting from rich and poor the funds to build a hospital. Queen’s Hospital, named for Emma, is now the largest civilian hospital in Hawaii.
In 1860, the king and queen petitioned the Bishop of Oxford to send missionaries to establish the Anglican Church in Hawaii. The king’s interest came through a boyhood tour of England where he had seen, in the stately beauty of Anglican liturgy, a quality that seemed attuned to the gentle beauty of the Hawaiian spirit. England responded by sending the Rt. Rev. Thomas N. Staley and two priests. They arrived on October 11, 1862, and the king and queen were confirmed a month later, on November 28, 1862. They then began preparations for a cathedral and school, and the king set about to translate the Book of Common Prayer and much of the Hymnal.
Kamehameha’s life was marred by the tragic death of his four-year-old son and only child, in 1863. He seemed unable to survive his sadness, although a sermon he preached after his son’s death expresses a hope and faith that is eloquent and profound. His own death took place only a year after his son’s, in 1864. Emma declined to rule; instead, she committed her life to good works. She was responsible for schools, churches, and efforts on behalf of the poor and sick. She traveled several times to England and the Continent to raise funds, and became a favorite of Queen Victoria’s. Archbishop Longley of Canterbury, remarked upon her visit to Lambeth: “I was much struck by the cultivation of her mind ... But what excited my interest most was her almost saintly piety.”
The Cathedral was completed after Emma died. It was named St. Andrew’s in memory of the king, who died on that saint’s day. Among the Hawaiian people, Emma is still referred to as “our beloved Queen.” ~ Holy Women, Holy Men
+ + + + + + + + +
The Collect for Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. ~ BCP
Happy Thanksgiving, to you and those you love!
Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+
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