Books Draw
Eager Readers
Bibliophiles like this one, willing even to crawl under tables to find new reading matter, were a big reason why the book sale was, as always, a big draw at Harvest Festival.
Such eager readers brought a smile to the face of Buchmeisterin Anne Evans:
+++
|
Altar Flowers
Open Sundays for donating flowers are October 4 and 11. Please sign up in Whitaker Hall.
Summer heat sears me --
yet with a meager trickle
tea trees grow and bloom.
-- haiku by John Heyes
|
Meditation Moment
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything; but in every
thing,
by prayer and petition, with thanks
giving,
present your request to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all
understanding,
will guard your hearts and
your minds in Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 4: 4-7
+++
|
Festival Fotos

Julie Victorine and Mary Ellen McTamaney spiced up the day with a bumper crop of jams, jellies, pickles and such.
Margretta Dollard presided over a new outdoor children's section.
Church pew baskets were a big hit as always.
And kitchen cleanup remained a most important task.
-- Nancy Jo Lopp
Safe baby
|
|
|
Harvest Festival Midway was a lively place - see results below.
Minister's Column
Skyland and Laudato Si'
Most of you know that I preached a summer sermon series on Pope Francis's encyclical "Laudato Si'," which takes a strong stand on climate change and care for the poorest people in the world.
Like many o
ther non-Catholics,
I
have found myself appreciating the leadership of a Pope for the first time in my life. Not long ago, I met with Father Eugene at Christ Child Church and we celebrated our common appreciation of Pope Francis and his work. We decided to have a potluck and di
scussion for the members of our two churches at 6 PM on October 25th at his church.
I had intended to have more information for you about that, but Harvest Festival, a last minute vacation to visit my mother (September 21-28) and a fast approaching deadline for this newsletter has put me in the position of inviting you to set aside the date and to take, on faith, that we will come up with an interesting evening for you.
If you wish, please read the encyclical itself, which is easily available online (see footnote [1] below).
I feel that we are at a crucial time in our world's history and the decisions we make will have very long term effects on the planet and the quality of life for humans and other living things for eons to come. I also believe that Pope Francis is one of our best hopes to guide us to the best possible outcome for our planet's future. Let's meet, eat and converse with our Catholic brothers and sisters on the mountain and perhaps God will inspire us to some kind of group endeavor to support the most sustainable future for Mother Earth. More details will follow!
-- Cheers and thanks,
Stephen
[1] One of these websites, the Vatican's own, is here.
The text can be read online or downloaded (free) as a .pdf file. The 70-page English text is just over 40,000-plus words long, including 162 footnotes. There are many shorter summaries available on the web as well; search Google for "Laudato Si' summary"). The full title, Laudato Si', mi Signore (Praise be to you, O Lord), is from St; Francis of Asssi's Canticle of the Sun. The Vatican has released the text in
Italian, German, English, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese and Arabic.
|
|
-- Nancy Jo Lopp
Babies and kids are stars of
every Harvest Festival
Harvest Festival Results
|
Director Larry Cooke
checks crew
at opening of Festival.
|
Aided by boosts from bakery, books, clothes/jewelry, jams and jellies, and above all the wall and basket auctions, the 2015 Festival brought in only slightly less then last year's, despite a smaller crowd; and it looked quite sprightly, with a new children's section and a repainted Whitaker Hall.
The festival set was struck the following Saturday, and the invaluable PODS will be gone shortly. Excess clothes and books are now being disposed of.
Proceeds (compiled by Gerry Alonzo):
Booth Donations
|
2015
|
2014
|
Accessories
|
225.75
|
Included in Clothes
|
Auction Baskets
|
3,381
.00
|
8,175.43
|
Auction Wall
|
3,826.52
|
Included in Auction Baskets
|
Bakery
|
860.05
|
714.66
|
Books
|
581
.50
|
511.75
|
Clothes
|
1,572
.55
|
1,576.35
|
Coffee
|
Included in Luncheon
|
53.72
|
Face Painting
|
13.19
|
To special Outreach
|
Jams & Jellies
|
1,137.00
|
1,217.39
|
Jewelry
|
319.00
|
Included in Clothes
|
Kitchen
|
381
.75
|
210.58
|
Luncheon
|
1,208.20
|
973.50
|
Odds & Ends
|
601.26
|
371.65
|
Plants, Garden & Produce
|
416.25
|
601.51
|
Toys
|
289.57
|
433.50
|
Total Booth Donations
|
14,813.59 |
14,840.04 |
Miscellaneous Donations |
100 |
200 |
Total HF Donations
|
14,913.59
|
15,040.04
|
+++
|
Farewell to T'Shala Oct. 25
Rev. T'Shala Olivieri, who was ordained at Skyland Church and who is in Four Way Covenant with us, will be moving her membership an
d Four Way Covenant to our sister UC
C church in La Selva Beach near her current home. We will wish her well at our service on Oct. 25 with a prayer of blessing and words of appreciation. Please join us.
|
NOTE from your treasurer:
September 2015 financial report.
Harvest Festival donations are detailed above. The total of $14,863.59 is $1,000 less than planned, but additional donations may still be received.
We are now able to accept credit card payments for pledge, general and special offerings. If that is more convenient than check or cash, see either Jan Swayne or myself after service to utilize these transactions.
Here are our operating finances for
September 2015
as of
Sept. 23.
Summary of Operating Finance
Sep
2015 | Jun 1,2015 to Sep 23
Actual Planned | Actual Planned
Income $ 26,037 $ 25,873 | $ 64,132 $ 63,985
Expenses $ 21,346 $ 22,860 | $ 59,274 $ 61,704
Net $ 4,691 $ 3,013 | $ 4,858 $ 2,281
Gerald J. Alonzo,
Treasurer
+++ |
|
|