Sunday School and Nursery Care

Teaching and nurturing children is part of who we are at Old North. There will be Sunday school and nursery care every Sunday during the 10am service.

Our nursery is open for children three months to 4ish year, starting at 9:50, but you may bring your little ones there at any point in the service. Sunday school (for kids aged four through 12) begins partway through the church service, following the "Moments with Children" during worship.

You can register your children for Nursery Care and Sunday School online at bit.ly/ONCkids

Introducing Old North's New Associate Pastor Rev. Christine Hribar

It was a unanimous and joyful vote last Sunday to affirm Christine as our new Associate Pastor! She will be leading worship, preaching once a month, and taking leadership over our children and family programming. Rev. Christine is a Designated Term Associate Pastor, which means she has a contract with us that ends in 2 years. You can reach Christine at revchristinehribar@gmail.com or by phone at 781-631-1244 x105. Please join us in welcoming her to the church!

Here is a photo of Rev. Lindsay with Rev. Christine following the successful candidating vote!

Sunday's Mission Moment with Guest Speaker, Sara Stanley, Esq., Executive Director of HAWC

We will be joined at the 10 A.M. service this Sunday by Sara Stanley, Executive Director of Healing Abuse-Working for Change (HAWC). HAWC has provided lifesaving and life-changing services on the North Shore for over 40 years to women and children who are survivors of domestic abuse. HAWC provides such services as an emergency hotline and shelter, advocacy including legal, children’s services, support groups and workshops, and community outreach and education across 23 cities and towns on the North Shore. Old North Church has been a longstanding supporter of HAWC, dating back to its early years when it leased space from the Crombie Street Church in Salem.

Currently with your donations provided through the Outreach Ministry Board, Old North is an Ambassador Sponsor and will be represented at HAWC’s Working to Heal Breakfast at the Danversport Yacht Club, Thursday, October 3rd, at 7:00 AM by a number of our members. If you would like to attend this fundraising breakfast or provide a donation to support HAWC’s work, please go to HAWC’s website at https://hawcdv.org.

Sara will give a “Mission Moment” Sunday about HAWC and what we can do to further support its mission, and then she will also make herself available to talk individually with church members at the coffee hour in the Parish Hall following the service. 

Men’s Group Breakfast - tomorrow

The Men’s Group will meet for breakfast tomorrow, September 27, in the Stacey Street Great Room starting at 7:30 am.

Please contact Dave Hostetter at davehracer@gmail.com for more information and to get on the group’s email list. Please let Dave know if you plan to attend the breakfast and if you can bring something to share. Newcomers are always welcome.

Pastor Lindsay off Sept 29--Oct 5

Pastor Lindsay and her family are moving to Salem this coming week! She'll be off from work from Monday--Saturday but *will* be here to preach on Sunday, Oct 6. She's excited to be much closer to church and grateful for your patience with her while she deals with the chaos of moving with a toddler! 

Service of Installation for Pastor Lindsay

Sunday October 27, 3pm

Our church will hold a Service of Installation for our new senior minister on October 27 at 3pm. This is a time for us to join with clergy from other area churches to celebrate with our congregation as we embark on our shared ministry. Please plan to attend! 

North Shore Youth Ministry (NSYM)

Jess Easter (She/Her) has started as the new youth pastor serving the Marblehead Youth Collaborative Ministry. Based on initial meetings, the youth have chosen to rename the group the “North Shore Youth Ministry” or NSYM for short. If finding a ride to any youth events is ever an issue, please reach out to Jess as she can make connections between families to make sure our youth have the opportunity to join!

Next NSYM Meeting this Sunday, September 29

This Sunday the “North Shore Youth Ministry” (NSYM) group will meet for Clifton’s Fall Fest (1-3pm) and have one combined group meeting from 3-5:30 pm. Weather permitting, we will walk over to the Forest River Trails for some light hiking. Pick up will be at Clifton.

The NSYM will meet Sundays and will rotate Church host locations. Middle school age youth (6th-8th grades) typically meet from 3:30-5:30pm and High School (9th-12th grades) from 6-8 pm.

The schedule location is as follows:

·  9/29: Special Group! We will meet at Clifton’s Fall Fest (1-3 pm) and have one combined group meeting from 3-5:30 pm. Weather permitting, we will walk over to the Forest River Trails for some light hiking. Pick up will be at Clifton.

· 10/6: Old North Church

We will also be having Friday Night hangouts for both Middle and High Schoolers. The next one will be a Movie Night at First Church Swampscott on Friday, October 4. from 6:30-9 pm! We’ll have pizza and snacks.

Rehearsals for the 44^th annual Festival Chorus Holiday Concerts are underway! 

There is still time to join the Festival Chorus – all singers are welcome! Auditions are not required, but previous choral experience is expected. Singers need to purchase their musical scores (provided at rehearsal) and there is a nominal registration fee.

Rehearsals will take place from 7:30pm-9pm every Wednesday and will extend to 9:30pm as the concert dates approach. This year’s program is highlighted by Magnificat in D, by Jan Dismas Zelenka; other choral works include Felix Mendelssohn’s Christmas Cantata, Vom Himmel Hoch (From Heaven on High), and for the colorful, fun, and “pops” portion of the concert, International Carol Suites: Carols of the Americas arranged by Mark Hayes, The Bellringer’s Holiday arranged by Randol Bass, and other seasonal favorites. 

High school students in grades 9-12 are encouraged to join our adult singers of all ages. Each section is led, and encouraged by, our wonderful professional soloist/section leaders from the regular Old North Church music program.



For more information or to download a Registration Form, please visit the Festival Chorus Website at: www.oldnorthfestivalchorus.org or contact Maria vanKalken, Director of the Old North Festival Chorus, at: vankalken@gmail.com.

See You at the Fair

The Old North Church Holiday Fair will be held on November 23rd from 9:30 - 1:30 in the Parish Hall. This is an ALL CHURCH event and we're hoping that everyone will participate in some way to make this Fair a success!!!!

Food is always an enticement, so to start things off - breakfast will be served starting at 9:30 followed a bit later by our ever popular lobster roll or chicken salad roll lunch. If you desire something to satisfy your sweet tooth, meander over to the Bake Table and select the solution and/or take something home for your Thanksgiving spread. 

Bring your children and grandchildren and their friends as we'll have lots for them to do. In addition to the Children's Book Exchange, there will be opportunities to create Thanksgiving cards for the fire, police and EMTs, and big crafting area with many unique projects to keep them busy.

Ginny von Rueden will be offering crafts and jewelry at the Africa Table the proceeds of which will be going to the Outreach Ministry Board.

The Fair Flyer lists areas where your donations would be appreciated and the person/people to contact with questions and offerings. Since the church has limited storage capability, we would appreciate if you deliver your donations to the Parish Hall on the 21st of November. If that isn't possible, please contact the appropriate person to make arrangements for an earlier drop off.  

Thanks so much to everyone for their help, contributions and support. The ONC Holiday Fair will not succeed without your help!!!!!!

Church Fair, Personal/Home Services

A popular service offering from past fairs were rides to Logan Airport, and rides to and from North Shore area appointments. We would like to offer these again, but we need driver volunteers. All rides will be limited to daytime hours (no early morning or late evenings). To signal your possible willingness to volunteer to provide one of these worthwhile services in connection with our Church Fair, please contact Dave Hostetter via text to 781-631-3216 or email to daveh.racer@gmail.  

Scrabble Group



The Scrabble Group meets weekly on Wednesdays from 2-4pm in the Great Room at the Stacey St. office building. Newcomers are always welcome to join in the fun!

Prayer Shawl Ministry

Knitters! Please join us to make shawls for the ONC community. Basic knit-purl is all you need. The prayer shawl knitters meet on the following dates at Stacey Street, 10:30-12. 

Oct 9 , Nov 13 , Dec 11

Yarn and needles are provided for the adult + baptism shawls. For more information contact Alexandra Garfield: Alexandradane@me.com or 781.929.0540.

Green Tip of the Week

This week’s “Green Tip of the Week” comes from Barbara Day:

Keeping food scraps out of landfills can help fight climate change! Two easy ways to compost food scraps (and other things such as tea bags, coffee grounds and filters, lobster shells, bones and fat, etc.):

1)     Collect food scraps at home and take them to the Black Earth bins at the Marblehead transfer station.

2)    Arrange for weekly curbside pick-up from Black Earth Compost. See the Black Earth Compost website for details.

The Old North Church Green Team is starting a new initiative – “Green Tip of the Week”. It is especially apt as we enter the “Season of Creation Care” that some places of worship are signing on to. It goes from September 1 to October 4.



Here’s how it works: we will have a tip of the week in our weekly church bulletin, both on-line and in print. We would very much welcome church-wide participation. Please send us a “green tip” from your household so we can pass it on to others. Send your suggestion(s) to Mimi: mimi.hollister@aol.com. We will collect them and use them over time. It’s all about sharing our piece of “creation care” in the time we are each given to walk this walk of life on earth.  

Sustainability Fair

Sustainable Marblehead will host a Sustainability Fair on Saturday, September 28 from 10a to 2p at the Brown School. Test drive EVs, learn about bike safety for children, explore green technologies for your home, discover ways to reduce waste and hear from expert speakers on environmental topics. Visit with nonprofits to learn about their efforts to protect the planet and speak to businesses that offer green solutions. Fun and engaging activities for children will also be included. 

The Pumpkins are Coming

You are invited to visit the Clifton Pumpkin Patch located at Clifton Lutheran Church, 150 Humphrey Street, Marblehead, MA.

September 21 through October 31:

Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday noon-5pm and M-F 1pm-5pm.

Self-serve option for safety and convenience during daytime hours. This year will be the 8th year that the Clifton Pumpkin Patch has been in operation and is the Church's major fundraiser.

High Holy Days Event with Temple Emanu-El

Rabbi Jenn Mangold, the new senior rabbi at Temple Emanu-El, has invited our church to participate in Selichot festivities as part of the fall High Holy Day season. 



On Saturday, Sept 28, there will be dinner (5:30), a prayer service (6:15), and an interfaith conversation led by Rabbi Jenn and Pastor Lindsay on faith and forgiveness (7). 



For more information and to RSVP, visit https://www.emanu-el.org/selichot-dinner-rsvp.html

Babysitting Assistance for Temple Emanu-El

Temple Emanu-El is looking for help with babysitting during their Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. Because it is the holiday, the teens/young adults that would normally do that are occupied during the service. It’s October 3rd (Thursday) and October 12^th (Saturday), 10am-12:30pm (high schools have off on that Thursday). If you know someone willing to help watch children during services, please contact Jaime F. Meyers of Temple Emanu-El at jmeyers@emanu-el.org.

Coffee Hour in the Parish Hall

Please join us for coffee hour after the 10am service at the Parish Hall. Don't forget to bring your travel cup so we can reduce waste and save trees.

Garden Volunteers

We appreciate the help of garden volunteers who have worked in the hot summer months. Garden maintenance will continue through the fall in the Memorial Garden , front of the church and around the parking lot. Our new Pollinator Garden is flourishing with lovely blooms. If you can help for an hour or two to keep our gardens looking healthy and beautiful Please contact Ginny von Rueden: rvonrueden@comcast.net or 781-631-7898.

Capital Campaign Projects Update

Scaffolding has been erected on the North side of the Sanctuary and portions of the front of the church to provide access to the gutter on the south side of the roof and portions of the roof trim to be repaired. This work will continue for the next two months or so. The scaffolding will not interfere with access to the building. 

Gifts of Cheer



If you know of anyone, either here at Old North or in the wider Marblehead community who is going through a difficult time, the Community Life Board would like to reach out with a little plant and a friendly note. Please contact Lynda Hare at hares8carrots@hotmail.com or 781-639-0107 if you know someone who would appreciate a little extra cheer.

Lectio Divina

A monastic practice of scripture, reflection and prayer dating back to the 4^th century, at Old North lectio divina has been adapted and practiced for more than ten years on every Tuesday morning from 9 to about 10:30 am. When Dennis was here, he led the practice. Since his leaving, we all take turns being the leader to select the readings. We have welcomed newcomers, some not from Old North, who seem to find soul food in the practice and the shared reflections that are part of it. We meet at 9 am both in person in the “Great Room” on Stacey St. and on Zoom.

We begin each meeting with a context-setting call to worship. Then we pair a scripture reading with a poem, chosen by the leader for the day and read aloud. We then move into 21 minutes of silent meditation, marked by chimes, and finally we share in “safe space” our responses – personal and intellectual. We end each session with prayers for healing and the Lord’s Prayer.



It is a rich time of being together in community and quite like no other. We invite you to give it a try.