This Week from Mitch
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Happy Thanksgiving!!!! I am looking forward to spending time with family and friends tomorrow. Giving thanks is an inherently Christian thing to do. One thing that I will be giving thanks to God for is all of you. Thank you for being a part of our church family; thank you for participating in the life of St. Martin's.
We have some big things on our horizon:
The first is that this Sunday is our first Sunday in Advent! With temperatures in the morning falling, with COVID community spread being considered low at less than 5 percent, and the fact that the overwhelming majority of our members are vaccinated and many having already received booster shots, we are going to make the move back to fully indoor worship. Our Green Zone (zone for fully vaccinated members that is mask optional) will be expanded. Look for the green tape on the top of the pews. If you choose to sit in our Blue Zone, then please continue wearing a mask.
Secondly, rehearsals for our Christmas pageant have begun! On Dec. 19, we will celebrate the world's greatest Christmas pageant. If you want your children to be a part of this wonderful service, please bring them to the church during our formation hour 9:15-10 a.m. each Sunday from now through Dec. 19. There is still room!
During Advent, we have two Sunday school options. Susan Prinz and Amy Montanez are leading a class for women about women in the Bible. Our second option is "Advent with C.S. Lewis," a class that begins this Sunday, and is being taught by Caitlyn and our seminarian, Chris Johnson. They will be meeting in All Saints' Hall in the Parish Hall. Susan's and Amy's class resumes Dec. 5.
Speaking of Advent, on Dec. 19, our 5 p.m. service will be very different. St. Martin's will be celebrating Lessons and Carols. Our adult and youth choirs have been working extremely hard on this. It will be lovely. Please mark your calendars for this special service.
Christmas Eve services will be back in the church! I am so excited about this. It's been two years since we have had the freedom to do this. I am looking forward to singing the hymns and celebrating with you all. Service times are 5 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve with special music at 10 p.m. We will also have a Christmas Day service at 10 a.m.
And finally, as announced, St. Martin's will be leading a pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago this coming summer. There will be both a youth and adult component. If you are interested in this, please work on getting your passport now. Also, our youth trip will be heavily subsidized by the Clark Fund. With that being said, youth and parents, please know that vestry has spoken about this: Regular attendance at church and at youth events (i.e., youth group, acolyting, etc.) will be a prerequisite for this trip.
As you can see there are some amazing and exciting things on our horizon. Let's band together and pull them off. We need coffee hour volunteers, set up and clean up volunteers for special services, a few more sheep and maybe even a shepherd for our pageant! We need adult acolytes, youth acolytes, Altar Guild participants and more. Please come and enjoy the offerings we have. Please also pray about how you can be of service.
In Christ,
Mitch+
