Dear Friends in Christ,
I hope those of you who have had days off from school this week have enjoyed them! There are a few new or expanded items in this week’s e-letter:
• Family Promise Homeless Shelter, see below
• Dining for Alla (fundraiser for a woman in Gillette), see below
• The Other Wise Man performance, see below
• Advent Wreath Making
• Prayers for Veteran’s Day
Take a look!
+ + + + + + + + +
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. Written by Henry Van Dyke, 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. We’ll need a few people to staff the box office and serve some simple refreshments afterwards.
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.
STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship Pledge Cards for 2015 are due back; thank you for your commitment. You may place your card in the offering plate or mail it to the Parish Office If you did not receive the pledge materials they are available in a basket in the Narthex. We hope that you will prayerfully consider your support of All Saints’, and return your card in the coming week. You are vital to funding the mission and ministry in this parish. Thank you!
WORSHIP and MUSIC
Celebration! December 7, 4 pm. We will have a festive Advent Evensong to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mother Vicki’s ordination to the priesthood. There will be a Festival Choir (All Saints’ and friends) at the service. A Parish Pot-Luck Supper will follow. Sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex to bring an appetizer, side-dish or dessert. Hope you can come to this festive event!
All God’s Children, third Sundays at noon service for special needs kids and their families. It meets the third Sunday of each month (Nov. 16 is next service). We welcome the community to this non-denominational Christian service designed to engage children with a wide variety of developmental, emotional or physical challenges. Please extend an invitation to those who might be interested; all are welcome! Contact Mother Vicki with questions.
Altar Guild is the ministry group that sets up the altar for worship and cares for the linens, vessels, etc. Members serve on a team once a month, and for special services. New members are welcome and encouraged. In particular, the Altar Guild is looking for someone to oversee maintaining our stock of candles (ordering, replacing, cleaning the candlesticks and processional torches). If you are interested or want more information please speak to Liz Gorny.
FORMATION
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.
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.
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.
Women’s Book Group meets Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. The book for discussion will be Love Anthony by Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist and novelist. Te book is a story about autism and unconditional love. Come for a fun evening of friendship and discussion.
Wednesday Bible Study Group, 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. This fall we are 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.
HELPING HANDS
Family Promise Homeless Shelter will be hosted by the Shrine of St. Joseph the week of November 16, and All Saints’ night to serve is Thursday, Nov. 20th. We need volunteers cook a meal, serve a meal, spend the night; these are each different positions. Please check the sign-up sheet in the Narthex for further information and to volunteer, or speak to Kathy Pfeil. Thanks!
Dining for Alla – Alla Vignes, a Gillette resident, has been diagnosed with very serious breast cancer. Her husband died very suddenly this summer and they have two school age children. Millington Station Café is holding a fund-raiser for Alla and her family Friday night, Nov. 14 to raise funds to pay for a caregiver while she is undergoing treatment.The Café will serve dinner (eat-in or take-out) from 5-10 pm. There are flyers with more information on the Narthex table. Please take one and find out how you can help.
Food for Kids – our annual Sunday School ingathering for the food pantry at St. John’s will take place Sunday, Nov. 23. Children should bring non-perishable foods that appeal to kids. They will offer their donations as part of the opening procession for worship at 10 am, gathering at 9:55 in the Narthex and going to Sunday School after the procession. A list of needed items is here and can also be picked up on the info table in the Narthex. Food for Kids Shopping List: peanut butter, jelly/jam, boxed macaroni and cheese, canned fruit and vegetables, granola bars, whole grain crackers, dried cereals, canned juice/juice boxes, rice, fruit leathers, dried pasta and noodles, spaghetti sauce in jars, canned soups and stews, tuna fish, canned meats, powdered milk (box of 8-10 packets)/ parmalat milk, raisins and other dried fruit, beans: black, red, kidney, navy, etc. , simple, unfilled cookies: oatmeal, sugar cookies, chocolate chip; any non-perishable food! Please remember to check the expiration date on items; if you wouldn’t want to eat it, neither would anyone else.Thanks! Your donation will help feed hungry kids!
Knitting for Seafarers – All Saints’ donated 22 knitted items in our last shipment to Seaman’s Church Institute for their Christmas at Sea program! SCI’s thank-you note is posted in the side hallway. If you are interested in knitting for this ministry, please speak to Janet Mansfield. She can give you directions and yarn, and then you work on the project on your own time. Your gift will help keep a seafarer warm this winter.
PARISH CALENDAR THIS WEEK
Tues 11/11 Finance Committee 7:30 PM, Rath House
Wed 11/12 Bible Study 10:15 am, Rath House
Thur 11/13 HE & Healing Prayer 7:00 am, Church
Choir (kids) 5:00 pm, Church
Choir (adults) 7:30 pm, Church
And please check the calendar on our website for the full listing of groups and events in our buildings.
+ + + + + + + + +
For All the Saints – Martin of Tours, Bishop - November 11.
“Martin, one of the patron saints of France, was born about at Sabaria, the modern Szombathely in Hungary. His early years were spent in Pavia in Italy. After a term of service in the Roman army, he traveled about Europe, and finally settled in Poitiers, whose bishop, Hilary, he had come to admire.According to an old legend, while Martin was still a catechumen, he was approached by a poor man, who asked for alms in the name of Christ. Martin, drawing his sword, cut off part of his military cloak and gave it to the beggar. On the following night, Jesus appeared to Martin, clothed in half a cloak, and said to him, “Martin, a simple catechumen, covered me with this garment.”
Hilary ordained Martin to the presbyterate sometime between , and Martin, inspired by the new monastic movement stemming from Egypt, established a hermitage at nearby Ligugé. To his dismay, he was elected Bishop of Tours in He agreed to serve only if he were allowed to continue his strict, ascetic habit of life. His monastery of Marmoutier, near Tours, had a great influence on the development of Celtic monasticism in Britain, where Ninian, among others,
promoted Martin’s ascetic and missionary ideals. The oldest church in Canterbury, which antedates the Anglo-Saxon invasions, is dedicated to St. Martin.
Martin was unpopular with many of his episcopal colleagues, both because of his manner of life and because of his strong opposition to their violent repression of heresy. He was a diligent missionary to the pagan folk of the countryside near his hermitage, and was always a staunch defender of the poor and the helpless.
Martin died on November 11, 397. His shrine at Tours became a popular site for pilgrimages, and a secure sanctuary for those seeking protection and justice.” ~ Holy Women, Holy Men
+ + + + + + +
History of Veterans Day
“World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars."
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.” ~ from the US Veterans’ Affairs website
A Collection of Prayers for Veterans’ Day,
especially in this Centennial year of the start of World War I:
A responsorial prayer of commemoration
Remember, Lord, those whose stories were unspoken and untold.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom.
Remember, Lord, those whose minds were darkened and disturbed by memories of war.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom
Remember, Lord, those who suffered in silence, and those whose bodies were disfigured by injury and pain.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom.
Father of all, remember your holy promise, and look with love on all your people, living and departed. On this day we especially ask that you would hold for ever all who suffered during the First World War, those who returned scarred by warfare, those who waited anxiously at home, and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned; those who mourned, and those communities that were diminished and suffered loss. Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion, those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades, and those who in the aftermath of war, worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world. And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord; grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day when people of every language, race, and nation will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom. This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~ from the Church of England website
For those in the Armed Forces of our Country
Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~ Book of Common Prayer
For Peace
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen. ~ Book of Common Prayer
Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+
I hope those of you who have had days off from school this week have enjoyed them! There are a few new or expanded items in this week’s e-letter:
• Family Promise Homeless Shelter, see below
• Dining for Alla (fundraiser for a woman in Gillette), see below
• The Other Wise Man performance, see below
• Advent Wreath Making
• Prayers for Veteran’s Day
Take a look!
+ + + + + + + + +
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. Written by Henry Van Dyke, 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. We’ll need a few people to staff the box office and serve some simple refreshments afterwards.
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.
STEWARDSHIP
Stewardship Pledge Cards for 2015 are due back; thank you for your commitment. You may place your card in the offering plate or mail it to the Parish Office If you did not receive the pledge materials they are available in a basket in the Narthex. We hope that you will prayerfully consider your support of All Saints’, and return your card in the coming week. You are vital to funding the mission and ministry in this parish. Thank you!
WORSHIP and MUSIC
Celebration! December 7, 4 pm. We will have a festive Advent Evensong to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mother Vicki’s ordination to the priesthood. There will be a Festival Choir (All Saints’ and friends) at the service. A Parish Pot-Luck Supper will follow. Sign-up on the sheet in the Narthex to bring an appetizer, side-dish or dessert. Hope you can come to this festive event!
All God’s Children, third Sundays at noon service for special needs kids and their families. It meets the third Sunday of each month (Nov. 16 is next service). We welcome the community to this non-denominational Christian service designed to engage children with a wide variety of developmental, emotional or physical challenges. Please extend an invitation to those who might be interested; all are welcome! Contact Mother Vicki with questions.
Altar Guild is the ministry group that sets up the altar for worship and cares for the linens, vessels, etc. Members serve on a team once a month, and for special services. New members are welcome and encouraged. In particular, the Altar Guild is looking for someone to oversee maintaining our stock of candles (ordering, replacing, cleaning the candlesticks and processional torches). If you are interested or want more information please speak to Liz Gorny.
FORMATION
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.
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.
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.
Women’s Book Group meets Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm in the Rath House. The book for discussion will be Love Anthony by Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist and novelist. Te book is a story about autism and unconditional love. Come for a fun evening of friendship and discussion.
Wednesday Bible Study Group, 10:15-11:30 am in the Rath House. This fall we are 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.
HELPING HANDS
Family Promise Homeless Shelter will be hosted by the Shrine of St. Joseph the week of November 16, and All Saints’ night to serve is Thursday, Nov. 20th. We need volunteers cook a meal, serve a meal, spend the night; these are each different positions. Please check the sign-up sheet in the Narthex for further information and to volunteer, or speak to Kathy Pfeil. Thanks!
Dining for Alla – Alla Vignes, a Gillette resident, has been diagnosed with very serious breast cancer. Her husband died very suddenly this summer and they have two school age children. Millington Station Café is holding a fund-raiser for Alla and her family Friday night, Nov. 14 to raise funds to pay for a caregiver while she is undergoing treatment.The Café will serve dinner (eat-in or take-out) from 5-10 pm. There are flyers with more information on the Narthex table. Please take one and find out how you can help.
Food for Kids – our annual Sunday School ingathering for the food pantry at St. John’s will take place Sunday, Nov. 23. Children should bring non-perishable foods that appeal to kids. They will offer their donations as part of the opening procession for worship at 10 am, gathering at 9:55 in the Narthex and going to Sunday School after the procession. A list of needed items is here and can also be picked up on the info table in the Narthex. Food for Kids Shopping List: peanut butter, jelly/jam, boxed macaroni and cheese, canned fruit and vegetables, granola bars, whole grain crackers, dried cereals, canned juice/juice boxes, rice, fruit leathers, dried pasta and noodles, spaghetti sauce in jars, canned soups and stews, tuna fish, canned meats, powdered milk (box of 8-10 packets)/ parmalat milk, raisins and other dried fruit, beans: black, red, kidney, navy, etc. , simple, unfilled cookies: oatmeal, sugar cookies, chocolate chip; any non-perishable food! Please remember to check the expiration date on items; if you wouldn’t want to eat it, neither would anyone else.Thanks! Your donation will help feed hungry kids!
Knitting for Seafarers – All Saints’ donated 22 knitted items in our last shipment to Seaman’s Church Institute for their Christmas at Sea program! SCI’s thank-you note is posted in the side hallway. If you are interested in knitting for this ministry, please speak to Janet Mansfield. She can give you directions and yarn, and then you work on the project on your own time. Your gift will help keep a seafarer warm this winter.
PARISH CALENDAR THIS WEEK
Tues 11/11 Finance Committee 7:30 PM, Rath House
Wed 11/12 Bible Study 10:15 am, Rath House
Thur 11/13 HE & Healing Prayer 7:00 am, Church
Choir (kids) 5:00 pm, Church
Choir (adults) 7:30 pm, Church
And please check the calendar on our website for the full listing of groups and events in our buildings.
+ + + + + + + + +
For All the Saints – Martin of Tours, Bishop - November 11.
“Martin, one of the patron saints of France, was born about at Sabaria, the modern Szombathely in Hungary. His early years were spent in Pavia in Italy. After a term of service in the Roman army, he traveled about Europe, and finally settled in Poitiers, whose bishop, Hilary, he had come to admire.According to an old legend, while Martin was still a catechumen, he was approached by a poor man, who asked for alms in the name of Christ. Martin, drawing his sword, cut off part of his military cloak and gave it to the beggar. On the following night, Jesus appeared to Martin, clothed in half a cloak, and said to him, “Martin, a simple catechumen, covered me with this garment.”
Hilary ordained Martin to the presbyterate sometime between , and Martin, inspired by the new monastic movement stemming from Egypt, established a hermitage at nearby Ligugé. To his dismay, he was elected Bishop of Tours in He agreed to serve only if he were allowed to continue his strict, ascetic habit of life. His monastery of Marmoutier, near Tours, had a great influence on the development of Celtic monasticism in Britain, where Ninian, among others,
promoted Martin’s ascetic and missionary ideals. The oldest church in Canterbury, which antedates the Anglo-Saxon invasions, is dedicated to St. Martin.
Martin was unpopular with many of his episcopal colleagues, both because of his manner of life and because of his strong opposition to their violent repression of heresy. He was a diligent missionary to the pagan folk of the countryside near his hermitage, and was always a staunch defender of the poor and the helpless.
Martin died on November 11, 397. His shrine at Tours became a popular site for pilgrimages, and a secure sanctuary for those seeking protection and justice.” ~ Holy Women, Holy Men
+ + + + + + +
History of Veterans Day
“World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars."
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.” ~ from the US Veterans’ Affairs website
A Collection of Prayers for Veterans’ Day,
especially in this Centennial year of the start of World War I:
A responsorial prayer of commemoration
Remember, Lord, those whose stories were unspoken and untold.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom.
Remember, Lord, those whose minds were darkened and disturbed by memories of war.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom
Remember, Lord, those who suffered in silence, and those whose bodies were disfigured by injury and pain.
Jesus, remember them when you come into your kingdom.
Father of all, remember your holy promise, and look with love on all your people, living and departed. On this day we especially ask that you would hold for ever all who suffered during the First World War, those who returned scarred by warfare, those who waited anxiously at home, and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned; those who mourned, and those communities that were diminished and suffered loss. Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion, those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades, and those who in the aftermath of war, worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world. And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord; grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day when people of every language, race, and nation will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom. This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. ~ from the Church of England website
For those in the Armed Forces of our Country
Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping all the men and women of our armed forces at home and abroad. Defend them day by day with your heavenly grace; strengthen them in their trials and temptations; give them courage to face the perils which beset them; and grant them a sense of your abiding presence wherever they may be; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.~ Book of Common Prayer
For Peace
Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit, that all peoples may be gathered under the banner of the Prince of Peace, as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and for ever. Amen. ~ Book of Common Prayer
Blessings,
Vicki McGrath+
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