Newsletter: November News

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St Andrew’s Day falls on November 30 every year, but we don’t often celebrate it because the Sundays closest to St Andrew’s Day are taken up by the Reign of Christ and First Advent. Since all the other Sundays in November are used for major feasts (All Saints, All Souls and the Reign of Christ), I thought we might as well make the other Sunday a feast day too! So we’ll celebrate St Andrew’s Day a bit early.

Here’s a little bit about St Andrew from the book For All the Saints:

Today we honour the memory of an apostle named Andrew. The Gospels say that he was a fisherman and the brother of Peter, and his name always appears near the top in the lists of the twelve apostles. The Fourth Gospel pairs him with Philip in answering the Lord’s questions at the feeding of the five thousand and later in acting as an intermediary for some pagans who wished to meet Jesus. But that is all: Andrew’s story is no sooner begun, than it is swallowed up in the greater story of Jesus.

The people of the Church later invented legends about Andrew, to give their memory more than just a name to honour and more than just a single episode to recount. These legends gave Andrew exotic adventures travelling and preaching in many different places until he was martyred, crucified on a cross in the form of an “X.” Some of these legends may indeed be true, but biographical truth is not their purpose or function. So we come back to the gospels and their brief account of Andrew’s calling.

Andrew was a Galilean fisherman minding his own business, mending his own nets, when along came Jesus. The Lord called him, and Andrew got up and walked — he walked into the story of Jesus. From that moment on, his life was no longer his own; Andrew had no other story but the story of Jesus, the story that is told about Jesus, the story that Jesus himself tells.

And that is how we honour the memory of the apostle named Andrew: by remembering his name as we tell the story of Jesus, the One who called both Andrew and us into the story of salvation.

Family Eucharist - Saturday, 4:30-6:30pm

Come join us to celebrate the End of the World!

We’ll read the story of the Sheep & the Goats, and have a little friendly competition, Sheep vs. Goats. We’ll also have a chance to practice some weaving skills. Pizza and communion will be provided.

Spiritual Practice Retreat: Advent Retreat - the Women of Matthew’s Genealogy

November 25th, 2pm-4:30

In preparation for Advent, this year we’ll spend some time reading, singing, and wondering about all of the women’s names that appear in the Jesus’ genealogy as told by Matthew:

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David…

The retreat will run from 1pm-3:45pm and we’ll have a Sung Evening Prayer Service at 4pm. Please mark your calendar!

Welcome back to the Orpheus Choir!

As part of our contribution to this event, we are creating baskets and other prizes to be part of a SILENT AUCTION. If you have anything you would like to contribute to this, or if you know OF a store or a vendor who might be willing to donate, please be in touch with Cathy Barnes.

Care Home Ministry

We will visit Harrison Landing at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, December 13th. Please note the time is 2:30 rather than 2pm.

We will visit Harrison Pointe at 2pm on Thursday, December 21st.

For both of these December services, it would be great to have some strong singers join us to help with the Christmas Caroling!

As always, please let me know if you or anyone you know would like a visit from the clergy!

Love from,

Andrew