The Epistle The Newsletter of St. Paul s Moravian Church 8505 Heathermore Blvd. Upper Marlboro, MD 20772, Phone: 301-627-4200 * www.spmoravian.org * spmoravian@gmail.com * Facebook: St. Paul s Moravian Church Rev. Bill Andrews e-mail: stpaulspastor@gmail.com OFFICE HOURS: Tues Fri, 9:30AM -4:30PM November 2013 COMMITMENT SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3 Praise the Lord for he is good! On November 3 rd, you will have the opportunity to present your commitment to Jesus Christ and St. Paul s for 2014. For six Sundays we have been learning more about how to live a more faithful and blessed life through the program 6 Words to Build On and Live By. The six words are live, gather, connect, serve, give, and multiply. Now it is time to act on what we have learned. How will you live in the next year that will make these practices come to life? During the worship service on the 3 rd you will be invited to present your completed card to the Lord as your pledge to live more faithfully in 2014. A card is included in this Epistle. Join us on November 3 as we take a step forward in our faith together! FALL BACK AN HOUR Daylight savingss time ends on Sunday, November 3 rd, and you willl turn your clock back one hour. Please remember to set your clocks the night before, and then you will be on time for Sunday School and Worship! THANKSGIVINGG BASKETSS The churches of Upper Marlboro have banded together to provide Thanksgiving baskets for the needy. The Upper Marlboro Food Bank provides Thanksgiving baskets and St. Paul s is part of that ministry. St. Paul's has been asked to provide dinner rolls for 100 food baskets. We will need help from many people to reach our goal! We want to provide fresh rolls so we are asking they be delivered to St. Paul s on November 22. Sister Trudy Smith will deliver them for us. If you can help provide rolls please contact the church by phone or email thank you for your generosity! COMMUNITY THANKSGIVING SERVICE St. Paul's has proudly participated in the Upper Marlboro Community Thanksgiving Service for many years. This year we will gather at Unionn United Methodist Church in Upper Marlboro on Monday, November 25 at 7:00 pm to give thanks to God for all His blessings. A highlight of the servicee is our choir willl be singing. We will also enjoy the participation of the clergy of the many churches sharing leadership of the worship. Union United Methodist Church will host a fellowship hour at the conclusion of the service. Join us as we give thanks together! SHOE BOX POTLUCK LUNCHEON We re planning a potluck luncheon to be held after worship on November 17! You re invited to bring some food to share and to help us wrap our shoeboxess for Operation Christmas Child. We ll enjoy good food for a good cause. Tamara Brooks is coordinating this event. Contact her at 240-949- 4913 or tinkabinkpiglet@gmail.com. ADVENT CANDLE LIGHTERS NEEDED! St. Paul s Church invites members and friends to participate in lighting Advent candles at the beginning of worship each of the four Sundays in Advent. Would you and your family or group, like to assist us this year?! We will provide the script, you provide the people!! Please prayerfully consider this honor and contact Kendra in the Churchh Office, 301-627-4200. Advent begins on Sunday, Dec. 1. SPECIAL DATES IN DECEMBER December 8 - Invite-a-Friend Sunday December 24 Christmas Eve Services, 7PM & 9PM 1
~ Learning and Growing in Faith ~ ADULT EDUCATION Women s Bible Study I Tuesdays, 10:30 AM Ladies who have free time in the mornings are invited for Spiritual Food and good Fellowship. Lead by Sister Dorothy Thomas, the group is studying the book of Mark. Women s Bible Study II Sundays, 8:45 AM - Coffee and Conversation, led by Sister Tamaraa Brooks, studying the book of Ephesians. Adult Class Sundays, 8:45 AM Led by Pastor Bill, a class for all adults. Join us for a study of the book of Genesis. SUNDAY SCHOOL Classes for children aged three (and potty trained) through high school start each week at 8:45 A.M. sharp! Our teachers are ready and eager to shape the hearts of our children. ST. PAUL S FELLOWSHIP GROUPS Name and Format of Fellowship Group Meeting Date Contact Person Meal and the Word: Postponed Martha Enjoy a meal at Martha until after Lane Lane s home and be fed by the new God s Word. year. Location: Martha Lane s home Food and Fellowship: Using the same format as the Lenten Program we will begin with a simple meal and have a time of guided sharing. Location: parsonage. Women s Bible Study #1: For women only with a focus on deepening fellowship. Location: the church Hands of Grace: Sewing, 6:30 PM Wed. Nov 6 Tuesdays, 10:30-11:30 AM 7 PM Wed Gail & Bill Andrews Dorothy Thomas Kendra Knitting, Crochet or your November Miller project. Bring your bible! 13 Sandy Location: the church Casey Our theme for this quarter is unity. Come and explore this essential part of every community! All fellowship groups are open for new participants. Contact the leaders to get connected. Take one small step forward for Jesus and see what He does in and through you! NEWS OF THE CHILDREN S CENTER At St. Paul's, we meet the needs of children and families in a variety of ways through several programs with a Christian basis. We offer Full-Time Care, Before/After School Care, and Full-Time Care for School-Aged children in the summer. In each of these programs, our dedicated staff works diligently to provide the highest quality care. Our programs address the many ways in which children learn whether it is building in the block area or investigating the changes in the fall foliage. We provide individual as well as large and small group activities. We welcome special visitors from the community to help expand on our teaching themes. Some of our visitors include Firemen from Croom, Dental Hygienists and people from Clearwater Nature Center as well as Echoes of Nature. As we look forward to the Thanksgiving Holidays the children will learn about sharing and being thankful for all the wonderful things God provides for us each day. We have several openings in our Full-Time pre-k program. If you would like your child's first school experience to be a positive one please give us a call at 301-627-4202. We pray you will take time to stop and reflect on the beauty of the fall season. -The only footprints on the sands of time that will really last, are the ones made after knee prints. (C. W. Renwick) ~Ms. Virginia Anthony, Director ONLINE LEARNING COMMUNITY A discussion group focused around the Moravian Daily Texts! You can receive the Daily Texts for free by email by subscribing at: http://www.moravian.org/daily_texts/. To find the discussion group go to: http://groups.google.com/group/st- today! pauls-daily-text-discussion- Join the conversation group?hl=en. 2
2013 MORAVIAN DAILY TEXTS Copies of the Moravian Daily Texts (a daily devotional guide) for the year 2013 will soon be available for purchase. The cost this year is $10.00 per copy, with a few large print editions available for $12.00, and Daily Texts Journals for $14.00. Watch for the display in the church narthex. R.E.A.L. WOMEN Our next meeting is on November 16 th. This is an opportunity for you to build relationships with other women and to develop friends and sisters in Christ. R.E.A.L Women (Relating, Exalting, Affirming, Loving, Women). Come share your joys, sorrows, trials, let down your guard and be real. Open to all women 18 and older, members and non -members. Come to be encouraged and to encourage. ~ Tamara Brooks ~ Opportunities for Service ~ FALL FEST A HUGE SUCCESS!! The Fall Fest was a huge success! What can I say about the Fall Fest? I don t know that I have the words to describe this event. I have only one word or should I say one name to describe the Fall Fest and that is GOD. To talk about this event and not put God in the forefront would be beyond wrong. I watched God s hand on this event from beginning to end. He worked in us and through us from conception to completion. He provided perfect weather. He touched the hearts of our congregation and inspired giving of finances, time and other resources. He helped us to die to ourselves and work together for His glorification and St. Paul s mission. Finally, he kept us and our event in the minds and hearts of the community. We had a day beyond our expectations. Together for one day, every age, different races and denominations, we saw the presence of love. Glory be to God for this event and for the St. Paul s congregation, well done you good and faithful servants. ~ Tamara Brooks DECK THE HALLS Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and that means Christmas is too! Come out and join the Sacristans on Saturday November 30 to decorate the church for the season. No special skills or experience needed, all are welcome. Please contact Brother Larry Sinn to let him know you are coming. MARLBORO CHURCHES FOOD BANK The Food Bank will distribute Thanksgiving Baskets to the food bank clients on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. St. Paul s will provide the rolls for the Thanksgiving Baskets. Please bring your donation of rolls to St. Paul s by Friday, November 22nd. All the rolls will be taken to Trinity Church at 6 PM on Friday, November 22nd. Please bring your regular food donations to church by Thursday, November 7th. We currently are in need of peanut butter and spaghetti sauce. This is one of our staples that we are currently out of for this month. This food will be distributed on Saturday, November 9th. The Boy Scouts will hold their annual food drive on Saturday, November 9th at St. Paul s. Scouts will place empty bags at homes throughout Marlton on Saturday, November 1st and will pick up filled bags on November 9th. Please help the Scouts help the food bank! We are in need of volunteers to help pack the bags on the Friday morning before the 2nd Saturday at 8 AM. We also need volunteers to help carry the bags for the clients on the 2nd Saturday at 7 AM. November s volunteer schedule for food bank activities at Trinity Episcopal Church in Upper Marlboro is: Sorting Food on Thursday, November 7th @ 7 PM Packing Food on Friday, November 8th @ 8 AM Distributing Food on Saturday, November 9th @ 7 AM To help with packing and distribution, just show up, or you may call Sister Trudy Smith, 301-627- 8039. To offer your help and support to Sister Jacquie Payne-Borden, cooking and serving a Food Bank breakfast, please contact her at 301-952-6472. 3
SHOE BOX TIME It starts with a simple gift filled with fun, packed with love and sent with prayer to children all around our world. It carries a powerful message that God loves you and your greatest journey is still to come. When you pack a gift box you join with people in over a dozen sending countries and territories and a corps of more than 500,000 volunteers to reach out to children in over 130 receiving countries. OCC also offers a discipleship program to children in 60 countries. What a powerful way to transform the lives of children and to impact families with the love of Christ. Please join us in this worthwhile project by packing a shoebox, giving your financial support and praying these gifts will bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to children all over our world. All gift boxes must be delivered to St. Paul's by Sunday November 24, 2011. Look for more information in the church bulletin or check out http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/oc C/index/. Please contact Gail Andrews if you have any questions, gailandrews@verizon.net. GIFT IDEAS TOYS: small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky, etc. SCHOOL SUPPLIES: pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc. HYGIENE ITEMS: toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth, etc. OTHER: Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries) DO NOT INCLUDE: Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; aerosol cans. KITCHEN CLEANING GET-TOGETHER Grab your buckets, old towels and cleaning products and head over to St. Paul s kitchen on Monday, November 11th at 9 AM (this is Veteran s Day holiday and the children s center will be closed). We will be cleaning the kitchen thoroughly and we will need a lot of help! Contact Trudy Smith for more information. BUDGET UPDATE AND OFFERING REMINDER As St. Paul s moves into the last few months of the calendar year the Trustees want to thank everyone who has given generously and helped with our fund raising events during 2013. There is still more to do. As of the end of September expenses have exceeded offerings and revenue by $2300. We have worked very hard to stay close to our budget while providing significant ministry in Christ s name. We ask everyone to consider this and help St. Paul s make a strong finish over the next few months. With your financial help we can once again complete the St. Paul s fiscal year on a positive note. We also want to remind everyone that Sunday, December 29, 2013, is the last day that gifts may be received by the church to ensure they will be recorded for tax purposes. Again, we want to thank-you for your continued stewardship and generosity. God bless you as you serve Him! Board of Trustees 4
A HOLY DAY? Did you ever stop to think about the meaning of the word holiday? What does it mean for a day to be holy? It means special as opposed to ordinary. God calls the Sabbath holy and makes it a day to refrain from our normal work. Work can mean physical labor but also economic activity that brings us gain. We call Thanksgiving Day a holiday and keep it as a day of feasting and family (football too!). On October 16 it was reported that Macy s decided to open its stores on Thanksgiving Day. We will be encouraged to make our way to the mall so we can get those bargains! John Murray Cuddahy notes that modernization is a process that has sundered the unity between economy and ethics. So the devil will wait for us on Thanksgiving Day at Macy s (and other stores) to see if he can tempt us to put 20% or 30% off above the blessing of spending time with family and doing nothing in particular. The ~ A Word From the Pastor ~ Macy's is all about Thanksgiving, and now it wants to own the day for shopping. Macy's is hoping you watch its Thanksgiving Day Parade and then head to its stores to kick off the holiday shopping season. The American retail stalwart will open on Thanksgiving Day this year for the first time in 150 years. Many of the company's department stores will open at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 28, including all Macy's locations in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Posted by Danna Walker (Editor), October 16, 2013 Moravian Covenant for Christian Living gives us helpful guidance as we seek to resolve this dilemma: We, therefore, will be careful to avoid unnecessary labor on Sunday (or holidays) and plan that the recreations in which we engage on that day do not interfere with our own attendance (or celebration) or that of others at divine worship (or family celebrations). (Italics added by me) Shopping may be fun and diverting but it is not holy activity. If you can say with a straight face that you need to make an emergency purchase of a watch on sale on Thanksgiving Day then go ahead. But as you do remember that you are giving away the blessing of a holy day, a special day, a day when you are not controlled by economics. You may be forgetting that you are made in God s own image, the God who designed and practiced Sabbath a holy day. My prayer for you is that you enjoy a very special Thanksgiving and that you get absolutely nothing productive done that day! Thankfully, Pastor Bill ~ Invitation to Fellowship ~ MORAVIAN WOMEN S FELLOWSHIP At the September meeting for Women s Fellowship Kathy Lacey, our dear leader for over 10 years, resigned as President. We are deeply grateful for the devoted leadership and service Kathy has provided and look forward to her participation as a member of the Women s Fellowship in the future. The Women s Fellowship will meet on Sunday November 3 to reorganize and plan for the following year. All women are invited to attend. MEN S BREAKFAST All men are invited to attend the Men s Breakfast, Saturday November 9, 8:00 AM, Brother Horace Russell s home. MEN S GROUP The Men s Group will meet on Monday November 18 at 7:30 PM at the church. All men are welcome. PRAYER AND HEALING SERVICE You are invited to join us as we pray for one another on the FIRST Friday of each month. Services are scheduled for: November 1, 7:30 PM December 1, 7:30 PM There is power in prayer! O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me. Psalm 30:1-3 5
WALKING GROUP Walking group meets every Tuesday at 7 PM at St. Paul s. Once the time change occurs we will move indoors and mix it up with a walking DVD and line dancing. If you are interested in keeping in shape and enjoying good fellowship join us! Contact Trudy Smith for more information. Compassion International Update St. Paul s Moravian Church actively sponsors FOUR children in need, through Compassion International: Fernandito, Joan, Hilarius, and Karen. They would love to hear from YOU! Although the church sponsors them, you can send gifts or sponsor a month or two if you are so moved. Sponsorship is only $38 a month for each child. Contact Kendra for the Commpassion.com log in information to write or donate easily or mark on your envelope for Compassion. Please pray for each of these children, that the small part we are doing helps them with their education and spiritual growth. It is so simple to send a letter to these beautiful children, and it means so very much to them to hear from us! YOU can make a positive impact on those in need TODAY! 6
Christmas Poinsettia Order Form We will be ordering Christmas Poinsettias very soon! The plants will cost $15.00 each. They will be placed in the Sanctuary for Christmas Eve services, and may be taken home after the late service that night. Please complete this order form and place it, along with your payment in the offering or in the church office by December 15, 2013. Dedications will be listed on an insert for both services on December 24 th. Name: Phone: Dedication: Number of Red Plants: Number of White Plants: Total Plants Ordered: x $15 = $ St. Paul's Moravian Church 2013 Stewardship Commitment WORDS TO BUILD ON & LIVE BY MY PERSONAL COMMITMENT I, (print name) commit to these words to live by in each area checked below. I realize this church and congregation will support me in these efforts through modeling, teaching and offering regular opportunities to help me grow in each faith discipline. Live a life transformed, renewed and blessed by God Gather with the Church for worship. Connect with others to grow in faith. Serve others, using the gifts I have been given. Give financially to God s work. I estimate to contribute $ each month to support the financial needs of our ministries. I am tithing. I am working toward tithing. Multiply by helping make disciples. 7