St. Paul s United Church 308 King St Midland, on L4R 3M6 Sunday October 28th, 2012 John 4: 1-30 Rev. Karen Ptolemy-Stam 308 King St, Midland, ON L4R 3M6 Office hours Mon-Fri 9-12 & 1-4pm Phone 526-6077, Fax 526-4020 Email: stpaulsunited@ rogers.com Website: stpaulsmidland.org
Sunday October 28, 2012 *When you see this sign, please stand as you are able. WE GATHER IN GOD S NAME *PROCESSIONAL HYMN # 222 Come, Let Us Sing WELCOME AND ANNOUNCEMENTS MINUTE FOR MISSION Cathy Metzgar CALL TO WORSHIP (responsive) One: We are the community of faith that has been created by the love of God. All: We are the people who have been set free by the word of forgiveness in Jesus Christ. One: All: We have come not to parade our own goodness but to praise the holiness of God. We have come not to boast of what we have done but to proclaim the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. With all our being, we will praise you, O God, and tell of all your kindness toward us. Amen LIGHTING OF THE CHRIST CANDLE As we light this Christ candle, may it remind us that Christ is in us and in Our world. INTROIT: Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place, I can feel God s mighty power and God s Grace. I can feel the brush of angels wings I see glory on each face, Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place. OPENING PRAYER *HYMN # 401 Worship the Lord THEME CONVERSATION LORD S PRAYER (children can go up to Sunday school now) PRAYER OF CONFESSION (unison) O God, you call us this day from our busy lives and ask us to follow the ways of Jesus. You make the promise that you are here with us. And so, we come to you, promising to love and serve just as you love us. We come ready to hear again the call you offer, a call to be and become your disciples of love. But just as we come to you, we also turn away. We are afraid that we might not live up to your high calling. Forgive our hesitancy, forgive our lack of commitment, and fill us with the desire to serve you fully. Show us, through Jesus, the way to respond to your calling. Amen ASSURANCE OF FORGIVENESS WE HEAR THE WISDOM OF THE WORD PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION (SAID BY ALL) May we hear these ancient scriptures with trusting faith and gentle hope, with creative enthusiasm and honest doubt, rooted in the teachings of Jesus and grounded in your love. May we hear your call in scripture today. Amen
SCRIPTURE READINGS: John 4: 1-30 ANTHEM: What Brings Us Together! Jay Althouse SERMON WE RESPOND TO GOD S WORD GIVING OF OUR GIFTS HYMN # 577 I ve God Peace like a River *DOXOLOGY: #VU 541 Praise God from whom all blessings flow; praise God, all creatures high and low; give thanks to God in love made known: PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE WE GO FORTH TO SERVE * HYMN VU# 626 I Heard the Voice of Jesus *COMMISSIONING/BENEDICTION *SUNG BLESSING Go in love; have no fear. God will guide you, God is always near. Go in Love; take God s hand. God will hear you and will understand. May God s light forever shine upon you. May God s peace be always in your heart. Go in love; face each day. God will lead you, and will show the way. Go in love and live in faith. Amen. (Reproduced with permission under license #c607447) POSTLUDE Please allow the choir to recess before leaving the Sanctuary. The Ron Klusmeier Concert is at St. Paul s on Saturday November 17 th at 7:30pm, Tickets are $20, Children/Youth: $5. A portion of monies raised go to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Tickets are available in the church office. Large Print Bibles: we are going to place another order for large print bibles, if you are interested in getting one, please call the church office at 705-526-6077. The cost is around $28.00 dollars. IF YOU KNOW SOMEONE AT HOME OR IN THE HOSPITAL THAT NEEDS A VISIT FROM OUR MINISTER, PLEASE CALL OUR CHURCH OFFICE AND LET KAREN KNOW. (705-526-6077) Prayer Matters: We are no longer posting the prayer requests in the bulletin, but each week we are sending a list of people that prayer requests have come in for to people in our church who have volunteered to keep these people in their prayers. If you have a prayer request, write it on the pieces of paper provided at the entrance area s to the sanctuary where our greeters are and put in the pottery vessel on the back window provided for this. Are you new to the church, if so we would love to hear from you, make you a name tag, set up a visit from the minister if you would like, and just get to know you! Please call the church office at 705-526-6077 and talk with Judy.
Bible Study The Gospel of John The Wednesday morning (11:30-1:00) bible study has started on Wednesday mornings from 11:30am to 1pm in the parlour. We are studying the gospel of John. Bring your bible and a bag lunch. Tea and coffee will be provided. Nurture your spirit, challenge your mind, grow your faith and meet new friends as well. All are welcome. Diabetes: from Head to Toe - on Monday Oct 29 th at the North Simcoe Rec Centre. Doors open at 6pm and speakers begin at 6:45pm. Tips and advice from 4 local specialists! See poster for more information. Unity United Church Celebrating their 4 th Anniversary on Sunday Nov 4 at 10am. Guest Speaker, David Wilson, Editor of the United Church Observer. November 2 Victor Denise George Nayduk 6 Clint Truax 7 Brenda Fleming Virginia Nihill Louise Reynolds 8 Linda Thornhill 10 Marie Bonner 11 Lee Livingston Gary Price 12 Joan Sovey 13 Kaw Lah Shee 15 Morris Steffler 16 Jean Lalonde 19 Heather Wilson 22 Bill Coveyduck 26 Yvette Todd 27 Susan McNeil 28 Alexandria Todd Mary Weaver NOVEMBER BIRTHDAY S Happy Birthday from your family At St. Paul s Congratulations to Lori & Gerry Payne as they celebrate their 25 wedding anniversary!! A little birdie told me that Colleen Stocker celebrated a birthday on October 12 th. Happy Belated Birthday Colleen!!!
Salvation Army Coat Drive - Donations of winter coats and winter wear can be dropped off at our Coat-Drive unit at Mountain-View Mall. (the old arcade unit opposite The Brick) The unit is now open and will be until December 19th. It is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 2-5 pm; Saturday 10-1 pm. There are also drop off bins in Tay township libraries and at the Village Mall in Penetang. Ministers: All the People of God with the Rev. Karen Ptolemy-Stam Lay Reader Sharon Foster Director of Music Paul Sloan Pre-Service Music Rick Taylor Administrator Judy McConnell Custodian Mary Ellen Petticrew Phone 526-6077 Fax 526-4020 Email: STPAULSUNITED@ROGERS.COM, Minister s: minspucmidland@gmail.com Website: stpaulsmidland.org Office hours Monday thru Friday 9-12, 1-4pm NEWS AND UPCOMING EVENTS A special welcome to all new friends as we gather to celebrate God s presence in our lives. If you are a guest, visitor or newcomer, please make yourself known to us. If you have any questions, our greeters would be delighted to help you. Please put your name, mailing address and email address in our guest book so we may have a record of your visit. Coffee will be served in the gym following the service compliments of the UCW. Today the Lay Visitor's Workshop and Luncheon which will begin following our worship service and in the Parlour at 11:15. Theological Studies Group will not meet Oct. 31 but will resume again Nov. 7th. November 11 th Change to time of service - we will be starting our service at 9:30am for that Sunday, so that anyone interested can attend the cenotaph service which starts approximately 10:45. The service will return to 10am on the following Sunday November 18 th when we will be having our Newcomers Luncheon and welcoming of new members to the family of St. Paul s. Canadian Foodgrains Bank: Envelopes are on the back window of the church, you can use them for your donation to the Canadian Foodgrains. Cheques should be made out to St. Paul s and will be matched 4.1 by the federal government. Don t forget the Ron Klusmeier concert of Nov 17 th as another avenue to donate to this very worthy cause, see more information in the bulletin. Fellowship-November 6-7 PM Do you or someone you know have hearing issues?? We have Leo from the Hearing Rehab Center in Midland coming to speak on the topic. He himself is profoundly deaf, and knows intimately what it's like not to hear. There will be a short presentation, and then a question period. Hearing problems impact the whole family. 2013 is coming budget sheets, fundraising plans and 5 year work sheets are in the mailboxes of committee heads, please have them back into the office by the end of November. Thanks METHODS OF GIVING: Envelopes or PAR (Pre-Authorized Remittance) If you would like to start using the PAR program or get a set of envelopes for the 2013 year, please call the church office at 526-6077 or email at stpaulsunited@rogers.com If you are presently using
envelopes or PAR and wish to continue doing so then you do not need to contact the church office. The new envelopes will be out for the beginning of November. 2013 Counters List: The list for 2013 has been emailed to those with email and mailed to those who do not have email. If you are a counter and have not received your new list by email, please contact the church office. Thank You! Gail Wilcox will be in the office this week, Judy will return on Nov 5 th. Thank you Gail for your help. ***Nursery - Our Faith Formation committee is looking for volunteers to care for infants and toddlers in the nursery during worship on a rotating basis. We have families with young children attending St. Paul's and we'd like these parents to have the opportunity to be able to stay in church for the service. You can volunteer as little as once per month or more if you are able. Volunteers are needed in the nursery by 9:45, and if no children attend, you can return to the service. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know the newest members of our faith family. Please contact Sheila at 705-526-2186 if you would like to help in this way. Are you a reflective writer: Have you ever contemplated sharing your thoughts on your own sense of spirituality? The Online Weekly Reflections site is routinely visited by thousands of people both from within the United Church and from the larger society, from all across Canada and from around the globe. The reflection you share may be the very words someone else is seeking. Each reflection is based on a verse from scripture see HTTP://WWW.UNITED- CHURCH.CA/EXPLORING/PRAYERS/REFLECTIONS). The scripture you choose does not have to be lectionary based, though you might want to keep in mind seasonal words and special Sundays. We look forward to hearing from you and hope you will be able to meet our deadline on Friday, November 16 th for the reflections of the month of December. These reflections will be for the weeks of December 2 nd -8 th, 9 th -15 th, 16 th -22 nd, 23 rd - 29 th and December 30 th to January 5 th. If you are interested I have a copy of the Guidelines for Writers of Online Weekly Reflections, along with a sample which you can pick up in the church office or contact the office and we will email you a copy. Canadian Foodgrains Bank It is fall time, and it is time to think about the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFGB) again. The CFGB is a partnership of 15 different Canadian churches, whose purpose is to reduce hunger around the world. This is accomplished by either providing emergency food to starving people affected by famine or floods or earthquakes, or by organizing food-for-work projects to help hunger people to help themselves such as digging wells, building proper irrigation for much needed crops, etc. Due to the 4:1 matching from the federal government and the 1: 1 matching from the St. Paul s Special Project Fund, every dollar you donate to the CFGB will grow to $10 worth of food for the hungry. Please write your cheques payable to St. Paul s United Church and designate it as a donation to CFGB. In addition, this year there will be a concert by Ron Klusmeier on Saturday November 17, from which a significant portion of the proceeds will go to support the CFGB. Ron is doing a cross Canada tour of United Church churches and he is very well known and highly regarded. He has written hundreds of hymns over the years, and several are in Voices United. Tickets are $20 for adults and only $5 for children under 16. Tickets will available from Outreach Committee members during coffee time after church, or can be purchased from Judy in the church office. We greatly appreciate your support in helping CFGB to reduce hunger in the world.