Hi, Everybody:
This Sunday, September 17, is the 16th Sunday after Pentecost and Fill the Food Barrel Sunday. There is an Altar Guild Meeting at 9 am for those interested in helping out with communion set-up, clean-up, and other various altar-related tasks (part of the job is repeatedly pouring wine into glasses – I’m pretty sure some of you are very adept at that). Worship is at 10 am as usual, and Sunday School is at 11:15 am as usual.
Tuesday Bible Study is returning this week! It meets each Tuesday at 10 am in the Activity Room. They will be reading and discussing “A People’s History of Christianity.” Historian Diana Butler Bass sheds new light on the ways that many Christians have refused to conform to a rigid church hierarchy and sought to recapture the radical implications of Jesus’ life and message. All are welcome to come to this lively group to discuss, learn, and laugh (no, really!).
Carmen Blair is planning to have Worship Assistant Training next Sunday, September 24 at 9 am. Anyone interested in helping out as an acolyte, communion assistant, lay liturgist, or reader please come and see just what is involved.
The first Bell Choir rehearsal has been postponed to Sunday, October 1, at 11:30 am. Don’t show up a week early or you’ll look like a ding-a-ling. If you are interested in joining a bell choir in the future, please contact Dot Westerhoff.
October 1 is also our annual Animal Blessing Sunday. Bring your stuffed toy animals to worship service for the Blessing of the Stuffed Animals during Children’s Time. Then, join us on the patio at noon with your pets for the Blessing of the Live Animals – a short ceremony and blessing for those animal companions who give us so much. (real toy poodles should come to the live animal blessing)
Save the date! Oktoberfest is planned for Saturday October 14 from 4 pm to 8 pm this year. It’s similar to the Spaghetti Feed, but with worse music (i.e. karaoke). Watch for upcoming details on how you can help with this annual fundraiser/funfest!
Trunk or Treat is coming up on Tuesday, October 31. Bring your vehicle to our parking lot and decorate it, or just take over a parking spot and decorate that. Bring enough treats to hand out from 6 pm to 8 pm. Kids go from car to car collecting treats. It’s a free, fun, safe way for them trick-or-treat! There will also be hot dogs and nachos for a free-will offering. If you are decorating a car or space, plan to arrive early so that you can be ready in time for the onslaught of urchins. A sign-up sheet to decorate a car/space is on the Media Table in the narthex.
The October – December editions of the devotionals “Christ in Our Home” and “A Word in Season” are now available on the Media Table in both regular and large print (we stopped ordering the ones in tiny irregular print).
HTLC Financial Update: In an effort to keep everyone better informed of our current finances we are going to begin trying to provide “real time” updates of our situation. The good news, and a huge thanks to all of you, is that we have received an average of $22,000 per month from March through August. This slowed the growth of the deficit that we began the year with. However, in order to eliminate that deficit we need to push the monthly giving average closer to $25,000. To date in September, we are already at $14,149. Over halfway!
Many monthly gifts are made at the beginning of the month, so we are asking that you consider a second smaller gift to make up this $3,000-ish difference. Finding $20 in your washing machine*, winning a football pool at work, finding a coin jar buried in the backyard, etc. – all are great ways to make an additional gift to HTLC without adding stress onto your household budget. Many thanks for all of the gifts you share with HTLC. They are appreciated and enrich the community we worship in and community we serve.
*The preceding message was from Erik Holland, your Stewardship Liaison – I personally do not approve of laundering money.
– Keith
your friendly Parish Life Coordinator (i.e. Church Secretary)