Feast of All Saints
This Sunday, November 3
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8:00 a.m.
Rite I Holy Eucharist
9:15-10:15 a.m.
Christian Formation
Sunday School classes for children in kindergarten through grade five. Youth Christian Formation for grades 6-12 meets in the parish library with Youth Minister Sam Nixon.
Adult Series, A Holy Death, facilitated by Mtr. Kellan, meets in the Foyer.
10:30 a.m.
Rite II Holy Eucharist with Holy Baptism
Incense will be used.
The names in the Book of Remembrance will be read
during both services on All Saints' Day.
Childcare for infants through age four is available during Sunday School and the 10:30 service.
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Dear St. James,
We need to remember what time it is.
I know it’s November. I know the election is soon – days away. I can feel both the tension and the exhaustion in the fabric of our shared life.
And for this reason, it’s even more important for us Christians to remember what time it is.
This will require seeing a bigger calendar, a different sort of clock. Is there a calendar big enough to tell the story of God’s salvation history? Is there a clock complicated enough to show us where we land in such a sweeping epic? Because that’s the calendar and the clock we need to look toward.
The theologian James K.A. Smith, drawing on that great theologian Augustine, says we should determine time based on the Christ event – his incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. He says, “Our time is in the parentheses between God’s incarnation in history and the eventual second coming.” We live in the shadow of the cross waiting for the kingdom to come. We live in the time of the Holy Spirit, the unfolding of the Church, the season of laboring in the fields in anticipation of that heavenly kingdom. The light of the resurrection propels us forward.
What are the implications for our political life? Smith reflects, “While God’s Spirit has been unleashed in history and in the church, the kingdom is not here yet. And so politics is the hard work of forging a life in common despite the fact that we, as fellow citizens, might be animated by fundamentally different visions of the good.” For Augustine – and Smith – politics is not a means by which the kingdom arrives. Only God, through the Spirit, is the inaugurator of such blessed justice and perfect peace. But politics can and must be an arena where Christians practice “the good” – where we learn how to give our lives away through love of neighbor and love of enemy. Our earthly kingdoms can reflect some of the Spirit’s movement and grace. And so, we are never to give up on the “earthly city.” We are to work for our public life: strengthening trust, seeking the common good for all people, building and administering institutions, cultivating economies, maintaining libraries, stewarding our political speech, etc. God cares about our earthly city and so it makes sense that we, too, would care. It makes sense that we might be anxious and tired after years of fraught and frustrating political discourses.
We need to know what time it is so that we can cultivate a kind of dogged patience. A patience that will help us bear with one another. Bear with our larger community. Bear with our nation. And we should do everything we can to plant seeds of the kingdom through our own lives, our own votes, and our own service. But we keep in mind the time: we will not be able to engineer our way out of the world’s brokenness. We are in desperate need of a Savior. This Savior came long ago, a little child in a manger. His arrival threatened the rulers of the earthly city. His life confounded the empires of his age. He was put to death by the kingdoms of this world. And now, through his resurrection, we have hope.
And we need hope, dear ones. Not shallow optimism but deep hope. Hope in the God who has dominion over all past, present, and future earthly cities.
Until our King’s dominion arrives in its fullness, we tend to our earthly cities with care and patience, with intrepid commitment and risky love. Remember the time, people of God.
Almighty God, only in you can we live in safety. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Quotes taken from James K.A. Smith’s article in The Christian Century entitled “Wisdom from Augustine in an Election Year” (Published October 17, 2024). | |
New Presiding Bishop: The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe
After nine years of faithful and joy-filled service, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is stepping down. The House of Bishops elected the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe to replace Curry as the new Presiding Bishop. Bishop Rowe will be installed as the Presiding Bishop on Saturday, Nov. 2. For more information, click here.
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Wednesday Eucharist
A Celtic Eucharist with Anointing for Healing will be held on Wednesdays, November 6, 13, & 20, at 5:45 PM. You are invited to join us as we pray and worship together.
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Thanksgiving Eve Service
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
5:45 PM
Holy Eucharist Rite II with Hymns
Let us give thanks to the giver of all!
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Advent Save the Dates
- Intergenerational Advent Wreath Workshop: Sunday, December 1, at 9:15 AM
- Advent Lessons & Carols: Sunday, December 8, at 6:30 PM
- Advent Quiet Day: Saturday December 14 from 9:00 AM-12:00 PM
- Service of Light with Holy Eucharist: Wednesday in Advent (December 4, 11, & 18) at 5:45 PM
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Interested in Baptism?
Baptism is the beginning of our life in Christ and our entrance into the church. Would you like to learn more about baptism? Please contact Mtr. Kellan.
The four baptismal feast days for 2025 are:
- January 12 (The Baptism of our Lord)
- April 19 (Saturday Evening - Easter Vigil)
- June 8 (Pentecost)
- November 2 (All Saints' Sunday)
Click here to learn more about membership at St. James.
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Stewardship Pledge Blessing
Sunday, November 10
Pledge forms have been mailed to the Parish along with a letter from Mtr. Kellan (see link below). Please prayerfully consider how you will support the ministries and mission of St. James in the coming year. You may submit your pledge online or at church.
Mother Kellan's Stewardship Letter
2025 Pledge Form to print and complete
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Quarterly Financial Update: Please see the financial reports below showing the activity through the third quarter of this year. For more information, please contact Christopher Brotherton, Finance Committee Chair, or Jim Ghrist, Treasurer. Thank you for your support of the ministries and mission of St. James! | |
Our Ecuador Mission Experience | |
From October 7-15, a group of parishioners and Mtr. Kellan visited our partners in mission in Ecuador where they entered into friendship, learned about the ministry of Education Equals Hope (E=H), and served alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ. | |
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Excerpts from Lee Plumblee’s Travel Log
Day 3 – Wednesday
No pain, no gain. Or so the adage goes. I have spent a lifetime trying to prove it wrong. It ain’t wrong. I don’t believe that Jesus said these words, but he certainly lived them. I also don’t know if God believes in karma, but, if he does, today, I worked off the entire decade of the 1970’s, which is good, because that one had me kind of worried about the Judgment.
After another great breakfast (they know how to tie on the feedbag here in Quito. More about that later), we spent some time with Cameron in orientation for short-term mission and the infamous Five F’s (no, the one you’re thinking isn’t in there). The Five F’s pertain to the reaction of those who have experienced short term mission and then have returned home to learn that not much has changed, even though the missionary probably has. The Five F’s are Fun (it’s fun to be home and to sleep in your own bed), Flee (we just flee the mission field and indulge our inner Starbucks), Fight (we feel guilty and fight the inner Starbucks), Fit-in (we just give up on the whole transformation surrounding mission and just go back to life the way it always has been), and Fruit (if the mission experience has been successful, the missionary returns transformed in a way that bears fruit that will last in their communities). To these five, I would add a sixth. Fatigue. I haven’t been this dog-tired since two-a-day football practice chased me into being basketball player in the 9th grade. But again, I have the cart out in front of the mule.
After our session with Cameron, we went to Cristo Liberador where we were greeted, as always, by Lourdes, Jose, and their parishioners who shared their warmth and grace…
This light and cheerful diversion was followed by five hours of light work that only involved moving bags of Sacrete and rock that didn’t weigh much more than your average linebacker, all of which we piled on the floor of Cristo’s new church. We then dug a moat, mixed and shoveled, shoveled and mixed, mixed and shoveled … well, you get the idea, and built the platform for the church’s altar, which turned out to be pretty good. We only had three or four casualties. I’m pretty sure I died. I didn’t expect them to speak Spanish in Heaven, but here we are.
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Our reward for our efforts was a fabulous lunch of chicken, rice, and vegetable salad. This chicken needs to have its own name, something like “taste-nirvana” would be appropriate. Brace called it the best he had ever eaten, and, when it comes to eating, you don’t trifle with him.
Mother Lourdes and Mother Kellan discussed their roles in their parishes, and it truly was moving to see these two women find such common ground and to connect about their calling and their passion for those whom they pastor. Really cool moment.
Then, back shoveling and mixing, mixing and shoveling ….
After our exhausting work, John Allen, Brenda, and Sebastion took us to a restaurant where they served Minestra, which is beef, chicken, or pork, with rice and lentils and served what they call a plate. I call it a trough. We cleaned the trough. Nobody spoke. It was a feeding frenzy the likes of which I haven’t seen since my great Uncle Clyde forced Sally Ann’s Calabash Seafood Restaurant into bankruptcy at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Truly impressive gobbling.
We finished the day with a short debrief in which, through the power of the Holy Spirit, nobody fell asleep, and we actually experienced some small epiphanies as we tried to sum up our day’s experience in three words. Mother Keallan’s were, “Prepare the way,” which we had done. It was back-breaking work, but what we actually were doing is what God’s people have been doing since God called his people, building an altar to him. Pretty good pay-off for a little sweat and a sore back that only took five Advil to remedy.
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From Day 7 - Monday
Travel always provides perspective. It is meaningful to see and to meet and to engage in relationship with people different from oneself. But this particular journey was revelatory in so many ways that my feeble grip on the written word is inadequate to express. Joy is an overused and under-appreciated word in post-modern western life. We throw it around to describe random experiences like eating expensive chocolate. But true joy, the kind that soaks into your bones and becomes part of our soul, is fueled by love. Unconditional love. Reckless love. The kind of love that makes a tiny Ecuadoran priest dedicate her life to prodding and cajoling and encouraging and believing in a congregation that, thanks be to God, manages to come up with $33.00 a week in offering. The kind of love that makes people living in the most desperate of circumstances welcome and feed and bless a bunch of gringos who could feed their whole neighborhood for a year on one month’s salary. The kind of love that flows naturally from the grateful hearts of God’s children who have realized that real poverty doesn’t come from a lack of resources. It comes from a lack of hope.
We have experienced hope by living, and working, and praying, and laughing, and crying with our family in Ecuador. We came to Ecuador to support the education of those living in desperate and difficult circumstances. And education, it seems, truly does equal hope. But I feel as though we are the ones who have been educated. We had to travel 3,000 miles to learn the oldest lesson in the book.
God is love. And where true love is, anywhere on the planet, God, himself, is there.
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Adult Formation: Sundays from 9:15-10:15 AM
November 3, 10 & 17: A Holy Death
As people of faith, how do we die? What are the end of life concerns we need to address here and now? How do we prepare for our death, and how do we practice dying throughout our lives? This series, facilitated by Mtr. Kellan explores the theology of death and dying, end of life concerns, and practical considerations to prepare for our own deaths. We meet in the foyer.
December 8 & 15: Learning to Walk in the Darkness
Based on the Barbara Brown Taylor book, we'll discuss the lessons of darkness, waiting, and hardship.
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Book Study Group
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM
The Book Group meets at Atlanta Bread Company in Cherrydale on Tuesdays at 6:00 PM for a study of the book of Genesis. We will not meet on November 12. Contact Shannon Murphy for more information.
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Theology Circle
1st & 3rd Wednesdays at 6:30 PM
Theology Circle is a collaborative discussion space for exploring and developing our personal theologies. We are moving our meetings to the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Meet us at Piney Mountain Bike Lounge about 6:30 PM. Please text Benjamin Young (864-787-2152) with any questions or to RSVP.
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Please RSVP as soon as possible, no later than Friday, November 8! Click here to email the office with your RSVP.
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Please consider donating to a purse we are collecting for Dena. Donations to the purse may be placed in the Offering Plate on Sunday, mailed to the office, or dropped off at the office. Please note on the memo line that your donation is for Dena's purse!
- Please bring a letter or card of gratitude with you to the celebration.
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From the Music Director and Organist
Celebrations and Preparations
November is upon us! During this month we’ll celebrate All Saints’ Day, Christ the King, and Thanksgiving, and then just three days after Thanksgiving, on Sunday, December 1, Advent begins! These notices are to alert you to preparations for our observance of Advent and celebration of Christmas.
1) Call for Student Musicians for Christmas Eve: Young people who sing or play an instrument can contribute to the prelude for the 4:30 PM Christmas Eve service. Dr. Karen will meet with interested students to find music and help them prepare. Contact Dr. Karen right away if you and your children are interested.
2) Advent Lessons and Carols: The fifteenth annual service of Advent Lessons and Carols will be held at St. James on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 6:30 p.m. This Advent service was inspired by the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols created at King’s College in Cambridge, England in 1918, and by the similar Advent Carol Service, also created at King’s and first sung on Advent Sunday, 1934.
Advent Lessons and Carols is quite different from a Christmas lessons and carols service. The lessons for Advent include Scripture readings about John the Baptist in the wilderness, Mary and the Annunciation, and the Second Coming of Christ, but nothing about Bethlehem or the manger. The readings, including a few poems and other writings, focus on themes of hope, justice, reconciliation, and peace, among other Advent themes, and these are interspersed with congregational carols and choir anthems. The elements of this beautiful candlelit liturgy provide us with respite from our overly busy and materialistic preparations for Christmas, and allow us to spend an hour reflecting on the mystery and anticipation of Christ’s coming. Come and bring your friends to this free event! A reception follows the service.
-Karen Eshelman
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From the Youth Minister
EYC & Youth Formation Highlights:
Last Month's Highlights:
Two Sundays ago, we had EYC in the Sanctuary! Mtr. Kellan came and spoke to us about the Liturgy of the Eucharist and Celebrated with us! This past weekend, Seamus Young and I attended the Middle School Converge Retreat at St. John’s Episcopal in Columbia. We had such a blast and hope to have more attend in the spring!
What’s Coming Up This Week:
This coming weekend we will have Youth Formation on Sunday morning in the library and we will have EYC at St. Peter's! We will be playing some games and eating a meal with other youth in the upstate. If you can help carpool to St. Peter’s on Sunday, please let me know ASAP!!
Diocesan Events:
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Happening #91: is a Christian experience presented by teenagers, for teenagers (with the help of clergy and lay adult leaders). The Happening program is meant to be one of the instruments within the Anglican Tradition of renewing the Christian church in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the church may more readily respond to its call to spread the Kingdom of God throughout the world. It seeks to achieve this purpose by bringing young persons and adults to fuller personal knowledge of and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to a deeper level of commitment and apostleship.
Volunteer Opportunities:
We still need volunteers to support our EYC and Youth Formation programs! Your involvement makes a big difference, so please consider signing up:
Exciting Upcoming Events:
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November 3rd: Youth Formation and EYC (at St. Peter’s)
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November 22-24: Happening #91
Photos from EYC and Converge:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FZG9NWirTvWfjZBu8
Sam Nixon
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DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING
It's the season of scary. It's the special time of spooky. It's the go-time of goblins. The Day School hallways and classrooms are filled with teachable moments based on old Halloween favorites. Costumes come out. Pumpkin patches are played in. Cookies in the shapes of ghosts are served up with orange punch to the tunes of kid-friendly versions of Monster Mash and other favorites.
We hear a lot about a "culture of fear" in today's society. We have come to recognize that changes based in fear may not be the healthiest ones or the longest-lasting. So how, exactly, is it that a preschool child can embrace ghosts and monsters and vampires with giggles and squeals? Our belief in teaching is that these things are only scary if you are alone and unprotected. Crafts, stories and songs are introduced with friendly faces and funny lyrics. Even the "Spooky Walk" song which is done with half of the lights on is done with laughter and dancing. Children know that grown-ups are nearby. They know the space they are learning in is protected. They know that even though these things might be a little scary, they are under the wing of someone who has a plan and who brings the plan just for them.
The challenge to being a Christian adult living in a culture of fear is to have that same trust, even when the monsters are real. We are challenged to remember that, no matter how moonless the night or how creaky the stairs, we are protected and loved. God tells us this over and over, yet it is so hard to believe when fear is tangible, and goosebumps are anything but funny.
This week was filled with Halloween fun but life ahead will always hold things to be scared of. We are challenged to teach these little ones to hear God's word from Isaiah 41:10. "Fear not for lo, I am with you always". Maybe we grown-ups can hear it and be brave as well.
Caring For Yours,
Miss Katie
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Note from the Vestry regarding Rise Against Hunger
and Hurricane Relief:
As we hope you saw in the bulletin, a decision was made to postpone the Rise Against Hunger event which was scheduled for Sunday October 27. We are exploring dates in the spring to again bring us together for this very worthwhile experience. These meal packaging events serve as a great outreach ministry here at St James and we did not come to this decision lightly. We did however feel that the funds we would have allocated toward this event (~$8,500) could be utilized to support our brothers and sisters to our north (in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina) who are rebuilding after the devastating hurricane and flooding events over the past month.
The vestry and the parish administration are working together to determine the best way we can use these funds to support our brothers and sisters. Please continue to pray for the communities and the individuals that have been impacted by these events and we will be sure to share out the approach we are taking to lend support.
The Vestry of St. James Episcopal Church
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Men's Group Dinner Meeting
Monday, November 4 at 6:00 PM
The St. James Men’s Group will meet in the Parish Life Center, dinner is included. All men are invited to attend. Please RVSP to Ken Littlejohn (864-420-4621).
Golf Tournament Postponed
The St James Men’s Group golf tournament previously scheduled for November 16 has been postponed till spring 2025 due to the effects of Hurricane Helene on local communities. More information will follow from the organizers Bob Chance and Eric Grinstead.
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Thanksgiving Meal
The Men's Group will be cooking turkeys and hams for Thanksgiving again this year. Click the image for more information and to place your order.
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Canterbury Lunch
Sunday, November 10
All college students are invited to join us for lunch following church. Meet in the Foyer following the 10:30 AM service, and we will provide the location for lunch. Lunch will be provided by Canterbury funds. We hope to see you there!
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UTO Fall Ingathering
The United Thank Offering (UTO) Fall Ingathering is Sunday, November 24. Each Spring and Fall the Episcopal Church Women take up a collection for the United Thank Offering. Our donations of gratitude will be combined with those from around the diocese and the nation to accomplish great things. The monies are distributed through grants, which over the next three years, will focus on innovative mission and ministry projects to the underserved in our society. Designated envelopes are found in the foyer along with the “little blue boxes” for coins!
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Sunday Supper Series
Connecting in friendship as family for love and service.
The Sunday Supper Series will resume in January and will take place in volunteer parishioner’s homes, who will provide a simple meal and a hearty welcome. As we break bread together, we will use the Listening Cards and format created by My Neighbor’s Voice to hear, share, and listen to stories, experiences, and insights about who we are and how we can live and thrive together. Our story topics are different for each supper in this series, and all are invited to join in at any time and attend as you are able. Everyone 16 years+ is invited! Sign-up on the sheet in the foyer or on the St James website by the Wednesday prior, and before each Supper you will be given the address of your Sunday Supper gathering.
Would you like to host a Sunday Supper in your home?
Find out more here or contact Victoria Chance (864-616-0154).
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Food Collection for United Ministries
St. James continues to collect one-pound bags of black-eyed peas and one-pound bags of long grain rice for United Ministries. Please place your donations in the wooden box in the narthex and, if possible, use a reusable grocery bag which aids UM in distributing the food to their clients. Thank you for your generosity!
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November
Sunday, November 3: All Saints' Sunday. Holy Baptism and incense at 10:30
Monday, November 4, St. James Men's Group dinner meeting (6:00 PM)
Sunday, November 10: Pledge Ingathering and Blessing
Sunday, November 17: Dena Veazey's Retirement Celebration
Sunday, November 24: United Thank Offering (UTO) Fall Ingathering
Wednesday, November 27: Thanksgiving Eve Holy Eucharist (5:45 PM)
Early December
Sunday, December 1: Advent Wreath Making Workshop (9:15 AM)
Monday, December 2: Blood Drive through The American Red Cross (11:00 AM-3:00 PM)
Monday, December 2: St. James Men's Group dinner meeting (6:00 PM)
Sunday, December 8: A Service of Advent Lessons and Carols (6:30 PM)
Saturday, December 14: Advent Quiet Day (9:00 AM - Noon)
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Office Hours
The Parish Office is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM. The office will close at noon on Wednesday, November 27, for Thanksgiving and will reopen on Monday, December 2 at 9:00 AM. After hours, small items can be left in the lock box at the office entrance.
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November Birthdays
O God, our times are in your hand: Look with favor, we pray, on your servant N. as he begins another year. Grant that he may grow in wisdom and grace, and strengthen his trust in your goodness all the days of his life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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2 Gail Tomkins
3 Kyle Richardson
3 Addie Walsh
4 Susan Smith
5 C J Petty
7 Ben Cockfield
7 Ronald Kelley
7 Karen Hill
7 Linda Osborne
8 Stephanie Holmes
9 Mary Anne Lanford
9 Nancy Gammons
9 Benjamin Young
10 Jennifer Walter
10 Dianne Jackson
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10 Erin Estep
11 Joyce Scott
12 Sue Nahm
12 Kevin Tompkins
13 Lauri Sybel
13 Sam Lyons
14 Gail Kain
14 Cecily Young
15 Bronwen Berliner
16 Steve Glover
16 Roger Mauney
17 Anna Sauerbrey
17 Vivian Tompkins
18 Jason Galloway
18 Tina Sudlow
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18 Alice Littlejohn
19 Marion Nelson
21 David Brenner
25 Lauren Stephens
27 Nancy Arness
28 Emilea Richardson
28 George Lafaye
28 Boyd Cater
28 Charles Tompkins
29 Nico Babusci
29 Gay Gaston
29 Kendall Foster
29 Mel Pfister
30 Jennifer Paul
30 Jonah Bishop-Pirrone
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7 Donna & Houston Childress
12 Dianne & Duane Jackson
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St. James Episcopal Church
864-244-6358
301 Piney Mountain Road, Greenville SC 29609-3035
www.stjamesgreenville.org
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