The Shell Newsletter – October 17, 2019

From the Rector – Creating Community Through Studying The Word

One of the most important ways we create community as Christians is through studying the Word of God together, which is why I hope you will sign up to be a part of the upcoming Zoom Lunchtime Bible Studies that are beginning next week. 

Technology is a double edged sword when it comes to connecting with others.  On the down side it can make us feel isolated or lead us to act in ways we wouldn’t if we were face to face.  On the positive side, it allows us to gather with others in chunks of time that wouldn’t otherwise be possible because of busy schedules.  It also makes it possible for us to gather together across great distances.  When that is the impetus for using technology, then we what we are doing is making community.

This is the root hope for our Zoom Bible study.  It’s not about using technology for technology’s sake – but about providing a way for people to connect who otherwise might not have the opportunity.  I think of these communities that form for a specific period of time around a specific purpose as “pop up communities” – and there is grace and beauty in such groups.  For our purpose, coming together to read and reflect on scripture and what it means in our lives, the expanded nature of our pop up community is one of the things I’m most excited about.

So far we have 18 people signed up – folks from St. James’ and St. Andrew’s, along with others from elsewhere too (Chicago and Massachusetts that I know of!).  We know that doesn’t mean that everyone will be able to attend each session, but our hope is that no matter how many people login, we will grow deeper in faith and come away with a renewed experience of Christian community.

Thursday, October 24 is the first session.  If you would like to sign up (for free) please go to https://forms.gle/ES3TJoUMJyTFARLG8.  You will be sent further instructions on how to join in on the fun.    

Yours in God’s peace, Kristin+

Nursery School

October is an exciting month at St. James’ Nursery School! To coordinate with the children’s fire safety lessons, the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Company visited with their gear and trucks. These were very exciting and informative visits for the students to learn about fire prevention, 911, and what to do if a fire were to occur. The 3- and 4-year-old classes had field trips to Summers and Gaver Farms. The children also have visits from the Carroll County Bookmobile, Chapel Time with Rev. Kristin, yoga, and Halloween activities to look forward to in late October! Teachers and staff had an in-service day at the beginning for the month for training and planning. The Nursery School will be visited by a National Association of Educations of Young Children (NAEYC) evaluator to continue the NAEYC reaccreditation process that was begun last year. Please keep the school in your prayer’s during this process. There are still a few openings left at the nursery school so if you know of anyone who may be interested, they can contact Pat Castle at school@stjamesmtairy.org or (301) 829-0014.

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Parish Administrator Hours for the week of October 20, Monday through Thursday 10-4. Exploring the Daily Office—From Our Parish Intern THIS SUNDAY after both the 8:30 and 10:30 AM service, please join our DOV Intern, Tommy Turbyville, for a brief meeting.  We will explore a variety of options for how we might institute the Offices into the rhythm of life at St James’. Let’s see if we can discover together something that works well with the spirit of the community.  We have a number of tools at our disposal to help us, including apps and digital resources to facilitate developing a solid practice.   In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to email Tommy at tommy.turbyville@gmail.com

New Coffee Hour Table for Kids Thanks to a generous family, we now have a table where small children can sit and enjoy coffee hour.  Check it out in the front left corner of the church.

We Want To Know How does St. James’ shine its light on you?  Take time to fill out a star and add it to our bulletin board, we hope to fill it up by the Fall Feast potluck on October 27! Check out the October 13 Stewardship Moment.

Fall Blood Drive Our semi-annual American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held on Tuesday, October 29.  In the spring we received recognition for being a Premiere Blood Partner thanks to your generous gifts of life.  For more information on why giving blood is vitally important please visit our website for our recent blog post on “15 Reasons Why You Should Give Blood”. Please contact Bryant Dulany at 410-596-4227 or wbdulany@hotmail.com to schedule your appointment time.

Thanksgiving Food Drive This year we will be providing Thanksgiving dinner for five local families through Mt. Airy NET.  Please sign up to contribute in the narthex.

A member of the Daughters of the King will be contacting  you this week for special prayer requests.

 

This week's Commermorations (A Great Cloud of Witnesses, 2019, Church Publishing Group)

Novmeber 3	Richard Hooker, Priest, 1600
November 6	William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1944
November 7	Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht, Missionary to Frisia, 739