Dear Friends in Faith,
All Hallows’ Eve is almost upon us. Gary and I enjoy seeing the neighborhood ‘ghosts and goblins’ as they come to our door trick-or-treating! To all our Faith family youngsters heading out ~ Have Fun and Be Safe!
This is also the time of year that we remember the saints who have departed ~ church members, family and friends. This Sunday we will have a time of remembrance of those we have lost since last year. Below you will find a prayer for All Saints Day. Please scroll down further to read about the upcoming activities of our Faith community.
Your Friend in Faith,
Pastor Krista Beth
A Prayer Meditation for All Saints Day
by Safiyah Fosua
We give you thanks, O God, for all the saints who ever worshiped you
Whether in brush arbors or cathedrals,
Weathered wooden churches or crumbling cement meeting houses
Where your name was lifted and adored.
We give you thanks, O God, for hands lifted in praise:
Manicured hands and hands stained with grease or soil,
Strong hands and those gnarled with age
Holy hands
Used as wave offerings across the land.
We thank you, God, for hardworking saints;
Whether hard-hatted or steel-booted,
Head ragged or aproned,
Blue-collared or three-piece-suited
They left their mark on the earth for you, for us, for our children to come.
Thank you, God, for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who have gone before us.
Bless the memories of your saints, God.
May we learn how to walk wisely from their examples of faith, dedication, worship, and love. Amen.
Pastor Krista-Beth’s Schedule
Next week I will be keeping my regular Office and Open Hours.
Sunday Service November 2 ~ All Saints Sunday
Theme: Saints and Servants
Scripture: Matthew 23:1-12
Sermon: How Not to be a Saint
Communion & Healing Prayer
Day Light Savings Time ends this weekend. Remember to turn your clocks back on Saturday evening, before you go to bed, and enjoy an extra hour of sleep!
We will be publishing an Updated FUMC Contact List in November. If you wish to have your phone number or e-mail address removed (or added) please respond to this e-mail. (Those e-mail addresses not published last time will not be published this time, either.) Thanks!
Leaf-a-palooza – Take 2
The weather forecast for Sunday looks to be cool but dry. Let’s see if we can’t get those leaves raked once and for all. Please come dressed for the weather and bring a rake (or leaf blower!) for you and a friend. The gardens are ready for winter thanks to the hard, wet work of the FLOCK and their dedicated spiritual guides and mentors. So it will be all hands on deck for a fun morning of leaf raking, hauling, and best of all jumping. Come join the fun!
Holiday Bazaar Saturday, November 8th ~ How Can You Help?
Our annual Holiday Bazaar right around the corner! We need donations of cookies, cakes, pies, candies, jams, crafts and white elephant items, especially Christmas items and children’s toys and clothing. We also need helpers to work Wednesday through Saturday of the bazaar week setting up tables in Brand Hall on Tuesday evening and help taking down tables and box items for Goodwill on Saturday afternoon. The sign-up sheets are on the kiosk. All proceeds from the Bazaar will go to the United Methodist Women to support local and worldwide mission projects.
Last Sunday we Celebrated the One Year Mark of our Forward in Faith Campaign! Unfortunately our PAS friend, Kim Yeasir, had food poisoning and was unable to be with us. She did send a statement of “Thanks” from the retired clergy currently living at Wesley-By-The-Sea, the clergy retirement community our Forward in Faith mission dollars support. Below is a picture of some of the residents sharing their gratitude!
A Note from Maggie Holt:
To my friends at Faith, in Faith: I have been the Spiritual Development Team Leader at FUMC for 4 years. I have enjoyed getting to know how the church works at a deeper level, and I have been happy to be part of the leadership at Church Council. However, I am going to step down at this point, to create more time for my own family and for my own personal faith journey. I’ll still teach in FLOCK, I’ll work alongside of you all, and I will always offer to share my own faith journey to anybody interested in hearing it. But for now, there is an opening in the church structure for the next person who wants to help lead the congregation as spiritual development team leader.
Thank you for allowing me to serve. Finding ways to spread God’s love is surely one of the most important jobs any of us have, and this has been an opportunity to do that on a bigger scale. I do hope to come back to the role at some point more refreshed and prepared to continue. As a church, I know we will continue to search for and discover more ways to live God’s love and to show it in our community and in the world.
With Love,
Maggie Holt
Announcements! Announcements! Announcements!
We will be doing ‘announcements’ a little bit different on Sunday mornings. Moving away from verbal announcements, we will take better advantage of our Power Point, bulletin inserts, Horizon, and this Update. Instead of sending me Sunday morning announcements to read, please send them to Joe and Dan to be included in the Sunday morning Power Point presentation. The Sunday morning Power Point announcements will start running at 9:20am and will be repeated at the end of the worship service. I will only share the most “late-breaking” news verbally. Thanks! And let me know if you have any questions.
We are the Deodorant Church! JUMP (Joint Urban Ministries Project) depends on us to provide deodorant to share with members of our community in need. (The Dollar Store is a great place to buy deodorant.) There is a basket on the Outreach Table in the Gathering Space where donations of deodorant can be placed. Thank you!
Faith Church Yoga Class Continues
Yoga class meets at 8:30am every Saturday in the Gathering Space or Sanctuary. All ages and experience are welcome. Bridget Kimsey is our talented and spirited yoga instructor. The fee per class is $10. (Yoga will not meet on Saturday, November 8th which is the day of the Bazaar.)
News for the Update
If your Team has news of an event or opportunity you would like to share through the “Update,” please e-mail me with the information by Tuesday. I will be happy to get it out. Thanks!
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Rev. Krista Beth Atwood
Faith United Methodist Church
899 Dorset St.
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 863-6764
www.faithsbvt.org
Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:30am (Tuesday 10:00am) -12:00pm (Off on Friday)
Open Hours: Monday 3:30pm-5:30pm Barnes and Noble Cafe on Dorset St.
“What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8
