Hello Church Family,

I have tried several different times today to try and sit and write this weekly email to you all. And the cherry start that I usually do, does not seem right today.

We are a church that is grieving. We have one less member in our midst, Mary Hopewell has gone onto join the church eternal. You all have been in my thoughts and prayers since the news of Mary’s fall was announced on Friday. Please know that I am here, if you want to talk or share your favorite Mary memory, I would love to hear them all.

The weather has grown colder and the leaves have almost all changed and fallen from the trees. The tree outside my church office window is a beautiful shade of yellow. And the one flowering bush right under my window is trying to hold onto all of its pink blooms. Take some time this week to step outside and see how nature is changing all around us.

I do have a few announcements to share with you all.

November 1^st: we will be celebrating All Saints Sunday. If you have a name of a saint that you would like read on that Sunday, please send me an email and I will be honored to read them on November 1^st.

November 8^th: Stewardship Sunday, please have pledge cards returned to the church by November 4^th. If you have not received the Stewardship Letter and Pledge card by Sunday October 25^th, please let me know and one will be sent to you.

November 12^th: we will have our Church Charge Conference at 7pm. This will be hosted over Zoom with several other churches in the area. More information will come in the following weeks on how to join this if you would like too.

December 2^nd: Starts our Advent Bible Study. We will meet over Zoom for about an hour and discuss the book “Almost Christmas”. If you would like to be a part of this, please email me and let me know by November 10^th so that books can be ordered and mailed to you.

Our scripture for the week is: Deuteronomy 34:1-12, 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8, and Matthew 22:34-46

Our Prayer for the week is again from Ash & Starlight: Prayers for the chaos & grace of daily life. It is called “When I have a hole of loss in my heart”

Comforting God,

You know my empty space.
You find the gaping holes of loss
and bury yourself right there.

You make a home in
my broken heart
and go about the
work you do best,
which is healing…
which is hope-creating…
which is resurrection.

You do not make
the hole go away.

No, you honor the hole.

The hole is precious,
because that hole was
something important to me…
a person, a relationship, a dream,
a season of life to which
I’ll never return.

But, you whisper there are
things you can do
in and through that
hole I now have;
that sometimes spaces
form the perfect place
for beauty to birth and emerge.

So, in this moment, God, let my
holes be known and ask
you to do that healing,
hope-creating,
resurrection-filled
work in them.

You are my restoration.

Amen.

May this week be gentle with you all.

Grace and Peace,
Pastor Megan

Almost Christmas video link
What ‘Almost Christmas’ is all about: In John Wesley’s famous sermon, “The Almost Christian,” he encouraged people to follow Christ wholeheartedly. In Almost Christmas: A Wesleyan Advent Experience, author and pastor Magrey deVega leads a group of authors in exploring how we can make the same commitment to Christ during Advent, and connect our Wesleyan heritage with the traditional Advent themes of Love, Hope, Joy, and Peace. Additional components for a four-week study include a DVD and a comprehensive Leader Guide, as well as Nativity hymns by Charles Wesley, litanies for lighting the Advent wreath, and prayers that can be incorporated into both worship and small group settings. A daily devotional and a Youth Study Book are also available.