This Sunday is All Saints’ Sunday – our parish feast day. We’ll chant the Necrology, renew our baptismal vows and have a family
service at 10 am. At the end of the 10 am service we will inter the ashes of Deacon Bill Bailey in our Memorial Garden. Deacon Bill served here at All Saints’ from 2004-2010, and died earlier this year. It was Bill’s desire to have a portion of his remains here at All Saints’, a place and a people he loved and served so well. Please be sure to welcome his wife Evelyn on Sunday as we give thanks for Bill’s life, ministry and friendship.
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FUN & FUNDRAISING
All Saints’ Sunday Pot-Luck Lunch - Come feast on our Parish Feast Day this Sunday, November 3 at 11:15 am.
Gather with your fellow parishioners in the Parish Hall on this, our parish feast day! Please bring a main dish; salad/side dish; dessert; juice or lemonade; etc.
STEWARDSHIP
Annual Pledge Campaign: Following Jesus Generously – materials for 2014 Stewardship have been mailed out. Please take the time to read the materials, pray about how you can return thanks to God for the ways that you have been blessed, and how best to support God’s mission in the world through All Saints’ Church. We hope to hear from every parish household by November 3rd. Thank you.
All Saints’ Stewardship Prayer for 2014 - Holy God, giver of life, we thank you for all the ways you have blessed us and
been faithful to us. Help us to follow your Son Jesus with glad and generous hearts wherever the Holy Spirit leads. Guide us in offering the financial resources, time, and talent you have given us so freely; that they may be used to do your work in the world about us, to gladden the hearts and lives of those who share this earthly pilgrimage with us. Accept these prayers and praises through Jesus Christ, our Master and our Friend. Amen.
Parking Lot Landscaping – after consulting with David Welch of Cascade Tree (who has pruned and cared for many of the trees on our property) it has become clear that the parking lot trees were put in a stressful situation by our recent paving project. Many roots were cut and heavy clay soil was filled to close to the tree trunks. David is concerned that if we leave the trees as they are now we will lose some of them. So David has given us a “prescription” to properly care for the trees and
finish the landscaping. This includes laying down a drip irrigation system hooked up to garden hoses (the trees need water very badly), hand digging around the tree trunks to remove the clay, back-filling where necessary, hay and seed on the corner of the Parish House lawn and the grassy area next to Taff Drive, putting wood chips on the islands, and removing the last of the debris. The work will be done by Regency Landscaping –our snow removal contractor – on November 4 and 5. Thank you for your patience while this work is being done.
We are looking for a new Clerk for the Vestry. The job entails taking the minutes at monthly Vestry meetings (3rd Tuesdays of the month) and the Annual Meeting, then e-mailing to the Vestry. This is an important role. If you are interested, please speak to Tom Day or Mother Vicki.
HELPING HANDS
Homeless Shelter - All Saints’ is a supporting congregation for the Family Promise Homeless Shelter when it is housed at the Shrine of St. Joseph. This month the shelter will operate the week of Nov.17-24. We will need volunteers to cook and serve dinner one night, shop for supplies and spend the night at the Shrine. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex (as of 10/31 we were waiting to hear from the Shrine about our assigned date).
WORSHIP
Time Change – please remember to set your clocks back one hour when you go to bed Saturday night. Otherwise you’ll arrive at Church an hour early on Sunday morning!
Hand Bells – The hand bells have arrived! The bells will be blessed on All Saints' Sunday - Nov. 3 - and played during the
chanting of the Necrology. We are thankful for everyone who made this wonderful addition to our worship and music possible, as interested adults and children learn to play them.
All God’s Children, our monthly service for special needs kids and their families at 12 noon on the third Sunday of the month. Next service is on November 17. Please extend an invitation to others in the wider community who might be interested; all are welcome! Contact Mother Vicki with questions.
FORMATION
Women’s Book Group will meet on Wednesday, November 20th at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. We will be discussing Call the Midwife: a Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times, by Jennifer Worth (Vol. 1 of her trilogy). It’s the true story of a group of young nurses and Church of England nuns who work as midwives and community nurses in London’s East End in the 1950s. Drop in, we’d love to have you join the discussion!
Trunk or Treat – Thanks to everyone who decorated their cars and distributed goodies for our parish kids last
Sunday. Everyone had a great time! If your child took a UNICEF box for Hallowe’en, they can return it in the offering plate this
coming Sunday. The funds will be used for clean water, food and medicine for children in struggling areas around the world.
The Bible Challenge /Bible Study - November 4 is Day 267. The readings are Lamentations 5, Psalm
69, 2 Peter 2. Wednesday morning group meets each week at 10:15 am. Wednesday evening group meets at 7:45 pm on the 2nd & 4th weeks, preceded by Evening Prayer at 7:15 pm. Both groups meet in the Rath House and welcome newcomers.
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A Trio of Prayers for All Hallow’s Eve and All Saints’ Day
From the Old Scottish Litany
From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!
A Collect for Aid against Perils ~ Book of Common Prayer, page 70
Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Collect for All Saints’ Day ~ Book of Common Prayer, page245
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+