Dear parishioners & friends of St. Edward’s,
Here we are in Thanksgiving week! We pray that all of you have a peaceful and safe Thanksgiving remembrance. For the parish office, we will be closed Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 PM and will not reopen until Monday, November 30th at 10:00 AM. But, please look for our usual Saturday afternoon email which will have the links to all service materials for our live streamed First Sunday of Advent service on November 29th at 10:00 AM, and announcements to upcoming events in our parish life.
Believe it or not, even though we are closed to in-person worship we have much going on in fellowship, ministry, and service offerings this week: Wednesday Bible Study; Thanksgiving Day Morning Prayer led by Brother David Rutledge via Zoom (details below); Jesse Tree; and preparing for Krist Kindling adventures next week; Friday Evening Prayer; First Advent Rite II Sunday service followed by our Sunday virtual coffee hour at 11:00 AM.
And. . . in the weeks to follow in December, we continue with our season of Advent Sunday services, live streamed at 10:00 AM via our YouTube Channel; a virtual Celtic Christmas concert event on December 13th at 3:00 PM; our December Scepter; A Celebration of Life service on December 5th at 3:00 PM, live streamed on our YouTube channel, for our beloved parishioner, Rose Dixon; the ability to sign up for our Christmas flowers; the decorating of our front entrance and sanctuary for the Christmas season; and various Christmas-oriented fellowship ministries led by parish groups to surprise our parish family in heartfelt ways (see below). We will also post you on our Christmas service offering for December 24th, and details of any seasonal services that you will want to tune into, via YouTube.
While it may be a few days early, we will not have our usual Thursday email, so we pass on to you this Collect for Thanksgiving Day to hold in your hearts and minds for this Thursday.
Thanksgiving Day
Almighty and gracious Father, we give you thanks for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them. Make us, we pray, faithful stewards of your great bounty, for the provision of our necessities and the relief of all who are in need, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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In case you missed it, we invite you to view our Sunday worship:
Sunday, November 22nd The Liturgy of The Word- 10:00 AM
Be well. Stay safe. Keep the faith.
Michelle
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Our gratitude to those on our Stewardship Committee for their wonderful testimonies of pledging and what St. Edward’s means to them. St. Edward’s is a special place! We thank all who have submitted their pledge forms, to date. Your commitment and generosity is so greatly appreciated. But, we need all of you! As Father Rick, and our Stewardship Committee leaders have so thoughtfully articulated these past 3 weeks, it is the financial support from you, our St. Edward’s parish family, that makes it possible to bring such vibrant ministry to you and the wider community, as well as to properly steward our wonderful church campus. Please prayerfully consider mailing in your pledge commitment by November 29th. To learn more, click here.
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Annual Jesse Tree Project Forms Due This Sunday, November 29th
For many, Thanksgiving and Christmas represents a ‘season of giving’. Giving to the foster children of COBYs during the holidays has been a long-time favorite of this parish.
This service is known as the Jesse Tree project. Jesse Tree provides gifts for children in foster care, making Christmas a little brighter. Through COBYS Family Services we obtain a list of children in foster care, their ages, and their Christmas wishes. We don’t take the place of Santa. Rather, we act as Santa’s helpers by adding another gift or two for a child to open on Christmas morning.
Click here for information and sign up form.
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Please keep the HAFP in your prayers this Thanksgiving. They are thankful for the gifts we are able to deliver to them in dry goods, turkeys, and monetary donations, and we are so thankful to have the opportunity to help them.
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St. Edward’s Virtual Christmas Card Ministry
Let’s bless our church family with some Holiday cheer!
Since we can’t wish each other a Merry Christmas in person this year, we are asking you to send a digital photo of you/your family holding a large piece of paper or sign displaying some sort of Christmas message. (Santa hats and reindeer antlers are optional). We’ll put them all together to create a virtual Christmas card.
Text your photo and names of those in the photo to Christina McLaughlin at 717-415-7043 or email them to [email protected] no later than Sunday December 13th.
– Christina McLaughlin and Ellen Milligan
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Grocery Cards
We will continue with our grocery card program and the parish office will be ordering cards for December 6th distribution by Wednesday of THIS WEEK. We can mail them to you, or you can arrange to pick them up. If you DO NOT want cards for December, please contact the office by tomorrow.
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MINISTRY, WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP CALENDAR FOR THIS WEEK VIA ZOOM
Wednesday Evening, November 25th – 6:30 PM Contemporary Bible Study
Led by Bill and Yvonne Gasperetti via Zoom. Please email Bill or Yvonne if you would like to participate.
Thanksgiving Day Morning Prayer via Zoom with Br David Rutledge
Topic: Thanksgiving Day Morning Prayer
Time: Nov 26, 2020 09:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
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Meeting ID: 853 9636 2496
Passcode: 062205
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Friday, Lunch & Learn Adult Spiritual Formation – Postponed for this week. Will pick up on Friday, December 4th at Noon.
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Friday Evening Prayer – November 27th
We invite you to Evening Prayer this Friday evening at 7:00 PM. This is a wonderful way to peacefully end our week and is led by Patrick Ishler.
Join us on Zoom:
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Join Code: 863 2710 5082