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The Call
The Newsletter
of
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
Centered in God, Focused on Others
office@standrewshanover.org
www.standrewshanover.org
781-826-2062
The Reverend Amy Whitcomb Slemmer, Esq., Rector
Linda Gelinas, Sr. Warden
Sean Glennon, Music Director
Joanne Bibeau, Administrative Assistant
Jesse Avellino, Sexton
Courtney Hill, Sunday School Director
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New Date/New Time – Same Great Newsy Info!
Welcome to the New Wednesday Edition of St. Andrew’s weekly e-mail communique, The Call. We are excited to communicate with this community twice a week – every week! We will circulate The Call before the close of business on Wednesdays and will post and circulate our weekly Sunday Bulletin, with announcements and the outline of our service by the end of the day on Thursdays. Joanne and I are committed to giving this schedule a good try between now and the end of the year. Your feedback is welcome! This change in schedule also means that announcements and information that you would like to include in The Call must be in the office, or sent to Office@standrewshanover.org by 1pm on Wednesday afternoon for inclusion in that day’s community e-mail. Thanks for giving this a try.
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Dear Beloved St. Andrew’s Community,
This morning’s sunrise was breathtaking. Here is a snapshot of the sun’s impending arrival taken this morning in Hull. It was such a gorgeous show that I received TWO crack-of-dawn e-mails from my neighbors with their own pictures and videos of the same event.
This bodes well for a full and productive day. It has also reminded me to look up from my lengthy “to do list” and see God’s handiwork. I’m happy to share this with you.
Thank you so much to each of you who made our service on Sunday particularly special. I continue to be moved by the Prayers of the People that represent the joys and burdens of people who joined us for our Christmas Fair and A Prayer, as well as other visitors and members of our congregation. Our readers did a superb job – Thank you! and it felt as though we were engaged in the work God has given us with the tools Jesus taught us. I will continue to pray that list and am wondering about continuing or enhancing this part of our community activity. I wondered whether, just as some communities and neighbors build Take-A-Book/Give-A-Book street libraries, we might build, or create a couple of church replicas that would act as prayer boxes at each of our entrances – by the big parking lot and on Church Street. “Say-A-Prayer/Leave-A-Prayer Request”? Even if we offered to collect and pray prayers temporarily during the holiday season this year, it feels connected and like a grace filled opportunity. Perhaps this is one of the ways that we might embody being peacemakers? I welcome your thoughts particularly as we have so much going on. We will definitely have the opportunity to collect prayers again or invite prayer during the Four Corners Winter Festival on Friday, December 6th! I’m looking forward to my first town festival!
As you approach Thanksgiving, with joy or trepidation, I hope that a similar olive branch will be extended your way, or that you will find yourself offering the peace-intending first step. Then let us return to our sanctuary to reflect on the experience, well nourished, or perhaps challenged so that we can mark the beginning of the season of Advent together.
May God bless you as you prepare to host or attend a shared Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. May your meal include a glimpse of God and an opportunity to reflect on the blessings and challenges of this holiday season.
Amy+
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Stewardship Update
THIS SUNDAY IS IN-GATHERING SUNDAY! WITWIT?? (what in the world is that?) It is the day we mark the beginning of our brand new year – Welcome to liturgical Year C! Settle in for a boat load of gospel readings from Luke with some key additions from John. In gathering Sunday is also the day you are invited to bring your stewardship pledge cards that reflect your financial support for St. Andrew’s for the upcoming year. This is such an important moment in our shared life that your pledge cards are placed in the collection plate and will be blessed with the rest of the Sunday collection. (If you forget your pledge card, we will have extra copies available in the Narthex. The total number of pledging units as well as the financial commitment that they convey is a covenant between you, your family and this community. These pledge cards reflect our intentions but are not chiseled in stone. Pledges can be modified during the year if you experience a change of circumstance. Please know that your commitment and your presence on Sunday is a blessing. The pledge cards provide the Vestry with the opportunity to plan for the year ahead. Thank you in advance for your participation in this campaign!
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*BLUE Christmas Service “What is it?” or witwit...see above – for anyone grieving, bereaved or having difficulty finding the joy and mystery of Christmas, we set aside a service during the holidays to make space for the broken hearted, doubting or anyone who has lost a loved one. It is traditionally a quiet service with the opportunity to express the grief or pain that community members are experiencing. These services are held during the Season of Advent as a reflection of both feeling out of step with the festivities surrounding people and symbolically as a reflection of the literal darkness of the season. This year, we will gather for our Blue Christmas service on Sunday, December 22nd at 5pm in the St. Andrew’s sanctuary. All are welcome!
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Volunteer Opportunities
During the Season of Advent
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ISO supplemental office assistance: If you have 2-10 hours per week and enjoy administrative tasks like filing, scanning, reducing the amount of extraneous paper around us, organizing and processing parish mailings (i.e. You are gifted with label & stamp affixing and paper folding) please e-mail Joanne Bibeau, office@standrewshanover.org. Our work ahead includes mailings, cleaning up our media contacts list, decluttering and creating electronic parish files, and creating newcomer welcome baskets.
Usher Corps: Job description – Want to be on the front lines of Making Kindness Loud at St. Andrew’s? Join our Usher Corps/Greeters Team and be the first to welcome all who spend time with us on Sunday’s. This role is critically important as both an opportunity to build and expand our community, as well as to help make sure we can follow up with our friends and neighbors who cross our threshold on Sundays. We are in search of a group of 10 volunteers willing to take on this vital ambassadorship and support the worship efforts underway.
Help connect visitors and longtime parishioners with a warm invitation to the treats at coffee hour, ensure that newcomers who would like to join our mailing list write down their names and addresses and let us know if they would like a name tag created for them. You will assist in passing the usher’s plate, bring up the gifts during the Doxology, and help with any mobility assistance or let the clergy and servers know if anyone needs communion brought to their seats. This crew will act as our spiritual flight attendants, before, during and after services. Look for next week’s Call for the date of our first on-line info session about this vital ministry – and thank you so much for discerning whether this is part of your call in the St. Andrew’s community.
Yard Work : Want to burn off some Thanksgiving calories? How about helping us rake the space around St. Andrew's? You can make a difference in as little as 15 minutes or feel free to invest a couple of hours. We want to makes sure our space is welcoming and safe, and that we share this opportunity for holy yard work. No age limits or prior experience is required! 😊
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ADVENT BOOK GROUP
NOTE: RSVP TO OFFICE IF YOU ARE GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN PERSON OR ON ZOOM. WE WILL EMAIL YOU ZOOM LINK .
Advent is around the corner (Begins Sunday, December 1st) and you are warmly invited to participate in our Advent Book group which will meet each Wednesday during Advent. You can participate in this group by Zoom (Wednesday mornings at 7:30 am) or in person on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m., which will include discussion and dessert. These sessions will be an hour. The focus for this year’s Advent Book Group is Practicing Peace with All Your Heart, Soul, Strength, and Mind.
Please RSVP to the office so that we can send you a Zoom link for the 7:30 am on-line gatherings. office@stanadrewshanover.org
Copies of the reading materials will be available on our website with hard copies available for anyone who needs them. I am looking forward to spending some intentional time together -- to navigating the season of waiting with you, and to injecting a weekly opportunity for shared breath, reflections on peace, and the modern impact of our savior’s birth.
Amy+
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CHILDREN'S CHAPEL AND SUNDAY SCHOOL & ADVENT WREATH LIGHTING
Parents and grownups are invited to drop children off at Children's Chapel in the Parish Hall anytime after 9:15 a.m. Our kiddos will draw their name tags, enjoy a bible lesson and then join everyone in Big Church for communion. THIS Sunday, our young people will join us at announcements and will be invited to join Rev'd Amy at the altar to bless and light our Advent Wreath!
YOUTH GROUPS:
South Shore Episcopal Middle School Youth Group: November meeting to make Bags of Comfort for the homeless postponed until January, 2025. Save the date: Christmas Party at St. John’s in Duxbury on Dec 15th!
High School Youth Group (9th-12th grade)
Save the date: Christmas Party at St. Stephen's in Cohasset on Dec 15th!
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HANOVER FOOD PANTRY: St. Andrew’s collects items for the Hanover Food Pantry. Please drop off in the narthex. Our current needs are: baked beans; raisin bran; pudding cups; relish; liquid dish soap; chips; strawberry jam; peanut butter; cookie mixes; applesauce (jars); mayo; chicken broth; grape jelly. | | | |
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2024 Holiday Collection for Rehoboth House Shelter/Collection Deadline December 22
Once again it's time to start collecting blankets and laundry detergent for our friends at Rehoboth House. The laundry detergent should be large jugs (no pods please), and they request that the blankets be twin size if possible. Donations can be dropped off at the stage in the parish hall. The team at Rehoboth House wants to thank St. Andrew's in advance for our continued generosity and kindness.
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HELP MAKE COOKIES on Thursday, December 5th at 10 am in the parish kitchen in advance of:
CHRISTMAS COOKIE SALE December 6, 5:30-8:30
PLEASE GET OUT THOSE RECIPES, MAKE THE COOKIE DOUGH & FREEZE IT, AND THEN AFTER THANKSGIVING GET OUT THE COOKIE SHEETS AND BAKE!
Our annual Christmas Cookie Sale is part of the Hanover Four Corners Celebration. We ask that the cookies are placed in zip-lock bags in groups of 2 or 3. The cookies are sold by the pound. We sell out every year, so we need MANY, MANY cookies.
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Bishop Carol Gallagher Retirement Celebration! Sunday, December 15, 2024 from 4pm - 6:30 pm at St. Elizabeth's Church, 1 Morse Road, Sudbury, MA. Bishop Julia E. Whitworth and the Farewell Committee for the Assistant Bishop warmly invite the diocesan community for a celebration of Bishop Carol Joy W. T. Gallagher on the occasion of her retirement.
| AFRICA RECAP WITH STORIES AND PICTURES | |
You are warmly invited to dinner and a travel talk with Reverend Amy on Thursday, December 12th at 6 pm at St. Andrew's. All are welcome for dinner and a discussion about Rev'd Amy's 2024 travels which included two trips to Africa. She spent January and February walking about southern Africa (Cape Town, Hermanus, Johannesburg, then Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia) and she made her first trip to West Africa in October when she visited Ghana as a member of the Echoing Green All Fellow's Conference 2024. Bring your appetite, questions and curiosity! RSVP to reserve your spot by Tuesday, December 10th at NOON! Office@standrewshanover.org. ALL ARE WELCOME!
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Next Tuesday (December 3rd) is GIVING Tuesday! If you would like to make a charitable donation on Tuesday as part of your Post-Thanksgiving ritual, please donate on-line, and if your employer has a gift matching program, please use this link donate here
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of radical generosity. Created in 2012 it began as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Since then, it has grown into a year-round global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Join the movement and give, whether it’s some of your time, a donation, or the power of your voice in your local community.
It’s a simple idea: whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to contribute toward building the better world we all want to live in. We are blessed with a community that gives in multiple ways throughout the year, investing time, talent and financial treasure. Thank you for giving and for being part of the St. Andrew’s community that has modeled generosity and resiliency for nearly 300 years!
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LINK to November LINK to December
DECEMBER 2024 CALENDAR UPDATES:
*Gather to bake cookies in the Parish Kitchen on Thursday, December 5th at 10 a.m.
*Please RSVP by 12/10/24 to the office if you plan to attend Rev. Amy's Africa Recap.
*GIVING TUESDAY is December 3, 2024!
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 Cohasset Community Fair & Youth Group Fundraiser 10-3
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Happy thanksgiving - we miss Joanne Bibeau! Any errors, factual, design or text are the sole responsibility of your new rector....we will be back in Joanne's skilled hands next week. God's peace and grace, and administrative patience for all..... | |
LINK to Rev. Amy's blog --- MORE THAN JUST GHANA STORIES. See her post-election self care & more.
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PRAYER LIST
Each week this prayer list includes requests we have received through publication (Thursday, noon). If you wish to add people to this list, please submit names by email to office@standrewshanover.org or call the office or place a note on the offertory plate or give to an usher or to Rev. Amy at Sunday service.
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PRAYER LIST
Bill MacLellan – Nicol Family – Joan Macleod – John – Tracy Sprows – family of Amy Motta— Dennis – Joyce – Dave N – Lee G – Don S – Pam E – Jan B – Leah – Katrina & Darren – Marina Key and her family – Paul Nicol – Mark D -- Art J
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Joan MacLeod
(October 18, 1936 - November 24, 2024)
Dear Siblings in Christ, I am sorry to write that much loved, long time parishioner Joan MacLeod passed away very peacefully on Sunday morning. We will celebrate Joan's life and remarkable legacy next Wednesday at 10 am at St. Andrew's. All are welcome. Details for Joan's arrangements are below. In this difficult time, we send our love and prayers to her husband Keith and their remarkable and large family. May God's comforting hand be experienced through the friends and loved ones who gather and share memories for a life beautifully lived.
Visitation
McDonald Keohane Funeral Home - South
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
4:00 - 7:00 pm (Eastern time)
Funeral Service
St Andrew's Episcopal Church
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
10:00 - 11:00 am (Eastern time)
Joan's Obituary
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OFFICE HOURS:
TUESDAY, 9:30 A.M. TO 3:30 P.M.
WEDNESDAY, 9:30 A.M. TO 3:30 P.M.
THURSDAY, NOON TO 6:00 P.M.
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 24TH, THE OFFICE WILL BE CLOSED AS OF NOON, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26TH THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK.
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Hybrid Worship Service
Sundays 9:30 A.M.
Please note the following updated worship guidelines:
- Hand sanitizer is available at the entrance to the church, and for use before and after Holy Communion.
For those participating in the service from home, please join us on our Facebook link:
www.facebook.com/standrewshanover
We want to thank you for your patience during this time. As always, the safety and health of our members is paramount.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak with a member of the Vestry.
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