Changes and Additions to Current Events All Saints Sunday is being celebrated with a candle lighting in remembrance of our loved ones who have gone before us. In addition, you are invited to bring pictures to create a collage of our family of saints. Join in worship on November 4 at 10 a.m. Covenantal Restoration dates in the newsletter were wrong. We meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays, so November 13 at 7:30 p.m. we will be at St. Paul for The Idol of Whiteness with Jim Wallis and November 27 we will be at Faith Lutheran for Stone Catches with Bryan Stevenson. We re sorry for the confusion! An updated November calendar is included in this document. The online newsletter [at http://stpaul-el.org/wp-content/ uploads/2011/10/oct-nov-spirit.pdf] has biographical links about the speakers. Please come and learn from these short videos and share in the rich discussions. Worship Committee is meeting on its regular date, November 6 at 7:30 p.m. (the first Tuesday of the month). This is election day, so be prepared for cars in the lot, but we should be fine meeting in the choir room. Mutual Ministry is meeting on Wednesday, November 7, at 6 p.m. We need to talk about Goals - both a review of 2018 and planning for 2019. Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship is on Monday, November 19, at 7 p.m., at University United Methodist Church. Community Choir meets for rehearsal at 6 p.m. Imam Sohail Chaudry will preach, and we will enjoy fellowship time following the service. Thanksgiving Eve Worship at St. Paul is on Wednesday, November 21, at 7 p.m. Choir Rehearsals are on Thursdays at 6:30, except for Nov. 15 at 6, because Council.. Praise Team meets on Tuesdays, Nov. 6, 13, and 20, at 6 p.m. The Gather Women s Study meets on Thursday, November 28, at 10 a.m.
St. Paul s Praise Team will participate in this concert, along with several other area musical groups. Please plan to attend, enjoy wonderful music, and support the essential gift of water for residents in Flint. In response to tragic shootings at Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pastor Carolyn Gillette wrote words for a traditional Hebrew melody, Leoni, which our praise team offered in worship on October 28. Here are those words. O God, This Day We Grieve O God, this day we grieve your children who were lost, And we, as one, are horrified by hatred s cost. For people loved by you your children, called and blest Were murdered on their Sabbath Day of prayer and rest. We grieve for those who died, for families left behind, For those who wonder if this world can still be kind. So many lives were changed, so many dreams were crushed. There s so much hatred! God, what has become of us?
We thank you, God, for ones who bravely entered in, To serve and to protect, so hatred would not win And for the ones who lead, we offer you this prayer: May they be good examples of respect and care. God, teach us all to love and may we understand That hatred cannot have a place in this good land, And guns cannot secure the peace we pray will be. May we together build a true community. O God, unite us all, no matter how we pray, And may we work together for a better day Where all may safely live and have no cause for fear. May we together seek your peace and justice here. In our final temple talk this fall, Kathy Griffin shared her story. We have heard about Gratitude from Jon, Abundance from Stacy, and now I was asked to talk about journey. We all have different journeys as we grow in our faith and in our stewardship of that faith. Here is my stewardship journey. I am not sure that anyone said directly that we should give money, time, or service to the church, but somehow the message got into our hearts. When I say our hearts I am talking about my three siblings and myself. All of us are involved in our churches today. not that we were always there. As children, we never even thought to ask, meaning that on Saturday night we knew, without question, that Sunday morning we would get up and go to church. As children, church meant that we got our Sunday school envelope and a quarter to put in the envelope; we went to Sunday school, gave our offering, learned about Jesus, spent time with our friends; then we went to worship. When it was time for the sermon, we all went to Junior Church, where we sang songs, learned bible stories and did crafts.
As we got older, we still went to church on Sunday morning, no matter what we had done the night before or how late we had been up. In fact, from the ages of 10 to 16 my younger brother and I would get up at 4 a.m., prep Sunday newspapers, deliver our routes, come home and got cleaned up, walk a little over a mile and a half to acolyte at first service, then go to Sunday school... and in high school we added adult choir at the second service. Some of the things that I remember, things that helped me to share my self and my money with my church, were watching the adults around me making a priority of the ministry of our congregation. I also remember that no matter how tight things were at home, there was always an envelope to put into the offering plate on Sunday. Mom was the Sunday School Superintendent, so we were often drafted to clean out closets, set up Sunday school rooms, help with vacation bible school, and anything else that was needed. She was also in the church adult choir, a leader in what we called Youth Club, the drama teacher, and directed the children s choir. Youth Club was a time for not only the children and youth of our congregation to come together for bible study, choir, handbells, wood shop, drama, dinner and crafts, it was a time for us to invite our friends, and we did. Dad was an elder, on the property committee, and was an usher (we called them deacons back then), so we also got drafted to help pick up bulletins, put hymnals back, clean up the pews after Sunday morning worship...and then there was Grandma: she was on the finance committee, she would open the envelopes with a group of people after worship, they would make sure that the amount was on the envelope and get the deposit ready my job was to help open the envelopes but then each of the committee members would take home the envelopes of the members that they took care of, they would record the giving into each family s record. It was a very different way of doing things, but common at the time since there were no computers. I have to tell you that we spent a lot of time at the church. When I was a teenager I continued to participate in Youth Club, Luther League, High School Choir, the drama group, handbells, help with vacation bible school and spend time with my church friends. There were 33 of us that were active out of the 99 potential high schoolers. This was the beginning of my stewardship Stewardship is not only about the money that we give it is about the ministries that we support and participate in.
What is your story? As you consider how you will be stewards of the gifts that God has given you, remember your journey think of what the children around you see as they begin their journey of faith. ST. PAUL RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE Friday, November 16, 12:30 to 6:15 Sign up now for an appointment in the narthex. You will be helping to save lives! The need is constant! Sign up at church or call Jim Cramer. Notice of Annual Meeting Sunday, November 18, following worship All members are invited & encouraged to attend Per our bylaws, the Annual Report should be available Nov. 4, two weeks before the meeting. As of this writing, Nov. 2, the budget is not done. We hope to email the Report Nov. 6. We are also waiting on a few committee reports - please submit them. Thank you.
November 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 4 All Saints Sunday 11:15AM Fellowship 11:30 AM Finance Cmte 5:30 PM Beer & Hymns 11 11:15 AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour 1:00 PM Roller Skating 18 11:15 AM Annual Meeting 4:00 PM Praise Team Concert at Bethlehem 6:30 PM Bar Theology 25 11:15 AM Fellowship/ Coffee Hour 4:00 PM Vespers @ B.H. 5 Chorale Rehearsal 12 Council Reports Due 7:00 PM Property Cmte Chorale Rehearsal 19 Newsletter Deadline Chorale Rehearsal 7:30 PM Interfaith Thanksgiving Worship 26 Chorale Rehearsal 6 Election Day 1:00 PM Visitation Cmte 2:00 PM Pastor @ GT Pie 6:00 PM Praise Team 7:30 PM Worship Cmte 13 10:30 AM Food Pantry Cmt 2:00 PM Pastor @ GT Pie 6:00 PM Praise Team 7:30 PM Covenantal Res- 20 Distribution 2:00 PM Pastor @ GT Pie 6:00 PM Praise Team 27 2:00-4:00 PM Pastor @ Grand Traverse Pie Co. 7:30 PM Covenantal Restoration @ Faith Luth. 7 6:00 PM Mutual Ministry 14 21 7:00 PM Worship 28 1 5:30 PM Finance Cmte 6:00 PM Choir 8 Distribution 6:30 PM Choir 15 Distribution 6:00 PM Choir 7:00 PM Council 22 Thanksgiving Day 29 10:00 AM Gather Women s Bible Study Distribution 6:30 PM Choir 2 3 9 10 9:00 AM Quilt Group 16 Red Cross Blood Drive 12:30-6:15 17 23 24 30