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Crossword Newsletter

St. Martin of Tours Anglican Church

Se

Thanksgiving Photos :

Richard Pullano

Priest Rev. Joan Scandrett

Wardens: Angela Nutter, Vic Wiebe

Website

www.stmartinoftours.ca

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/

Nov, 2012 http://www.anglican.ca/

http://bc.anglican.ca/

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Rev. Joan 3

Stewardship 5

Joint Advisory Committee 6

White Poppy Campaign 7

Prayer Shawl Ministry 8

Holy Communion and

Catholicism

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UN aims to end child mar-riage by 2030...

12

Christmas-Live 13

A Time to Remember 14

Priest Rev. Joan Scandrett

Wardens: Angela Nutter, Vic Wiebe

Prayer Wheel: Phyllis Reeve tpreeve@shaw.ca

Inside this Issue

Crossword Newsletter

Church Calendar of Events 15

Thanksgiving Sunday 16

Remembrance Day 18

“ We are people of God, followers of Jesus, open to the Spirit”

Operation Christmas Child 19

Welcome to Gabriola Joan 20

Church Notices 22

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Words from

Rev Joan

Dear Friends,

The end of October and the beginning of November are interesting times, with Hallowe’en, All Saints’ Day (November

1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2). I’ve done a bit of research that includes a brief history/meaning of each. All

Saints’ Day is what is called a “moveable feast”, meaning it can be celebrated on the Sunday nearest to the date. At

St. Martin’s, we will be celebrating it on Sunday, November 4.

God bless,

Joan

BRIEF HISTORY OF HALLOWE’EN

The history of the term Halloween is a shortened version of All Hallows' Even, which comes from an Old English term Eallra Halgena aefen, the Eve of All Saints' Day, which is on November 1st. All Saints' Day and Halloween used to be celebrated on the same day, but now they are on two different days. The festival of Halloween has its roots in the Samhain, which was celebrated in medieval Ireland and Scotland and means summer's end. It means the end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half. Samhain comes from the Celtic polytheism, which dates back to Roman times. It also borrows from the Festival of the Dead, as the Celts used to believe that on Samhain the boundary between the living and the dead became so thin that spir-its could pass through from one side to another. Harmful spirits were banished, while the spirits of your friends and families were welcomed. When warding off harmful spirits, you could wear costumes and masks and that is where the tradition of wearing costumes comes from. The more harmful you disguised yourself, the more the harmful spirits would want to leave your home. Samhain was also a time to stock up on food for the winter, have a feast and cast the bones of the slaughtered live-stock in to the fire. (Bone fire . . .which later became our present day term “bonfire”.) During Samhain the Irish and Scottish used to place candles in their windows to honour those they have lost during the year, and they would carve pumpkins or turnips. The term of Jack-O-Lantern is believed to lead back to the tale of Stingy Jack. According to legend, Stingy Jack was a drinking, gambling farmer, and he tricked the devil in to climbing a tree and carving a cross into the trunk. This angered the devil so he cursed Stingy Jack so that he would have to wander the earth at night with the only light he had, a candle inside a hollow turnip. Over time, more popular culture legends have become associated with Halloween, but the original traditions remain largely the same.

Cont’d on page 4

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HISTORY OF ALL SAINTS’ DAY

People of different church denominations observe All Saints' Day throughout Canada. For those who observe All Saints' Day, this event gives people a moment of reflection on the lives of saints, as well as a chance to pray for friends or family members who are deceased. Some Canadians feel that All Saints' Day is an underrated event that is not observed by many people because it falls on the day after Halloween. According to some sources, the idea for All Saints' Day goes back to the fourth century when the Greek Christians kept a festival on the first Sunday after Pentecost (in late May or early June) in honor of all martyrs and saints. Other sources say that a commemora-tion of “All Martyrs” began to be celebrated as early as 270 CE but no specific month or date is recorded. Pope Gregory IV made All Saints' Day an authorized holiday in 837 CE. It is speculated that the chosen date for the event, November 1, may have been an attempt to supplant the pagan Festival of the Dead (also known as Samhain or the feast of Saman, lord of death). All Saints' Day is closely tied with All Souls' Day, which was first instituted at the monastery in Cluny in 993 CE and quickly spread among Christians. ALL SOULS’ DAY

The Church prays for, and remembers, the faithful departed throughout the entire year. However, All Souls is the general, solemn,

day of commemoration, when the Church will take this day to offer prayers up on behalf of their departed relatives and friends.

There are many customs associated with All Souls Day, and these vary greatly from culture to culture. Christians have been pray-

ing for their departed brothers and sisters since the earliest days of Christianity. Early liturgies and inscriptions on catacomb walls

attest to the ancientness of prayers for the dead, even if the Church needed more time to develop a substantial theology behind the

practice. Praying for the dead is actually borrowed from Judaism, as indicated in 2 Maccabees 12:41-42. In the New Testament, St

Paul prays for mercy for his departed friend Onesiphorus (2 Timothy 1:18). Early Christian writers Tertullian and St. Cyprian testify

to the regular practice of praying for the souls of the departed. Tertullian justified the practice based on custom and Tradition, and

not on explicit scriptural teaching. This demonstrates that Christians believed that their prayers could somehow have a positive

effect on the souls of departed believers.

Closely connected to the ancient practice of praying for the dead is the belief in an explicit state called purgatory. The New Testa-

ment hints at a purification of believers after death. For example, Saint Paul speaks of being saved, "but only as through fire" (1

Corinthians 3:15). Over time, many Church Fathers, including St. Augustine, e.g. in Enchiridion of Faith, Hope, and Love and City

of God, further developed the concept of a purgation of sins through fire after death.

In the early days, departed Christians' names were placed on diptychs. In the sixth century, Benedictine communities held com-

memorations for the departed on the feast of Pentecost. All Souls' Day became a universal festival largely on account of the influ-

ence of Odilo of Cluny in AD 998, when he commanded its annual celebration in the Benedictine houses of his congregation. This

soon spread to the Carthusian congregations as well. The day was celebrated on various days, including October 15th in 12th cen-

tury Milan. Today Western Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches celebrate All Souls' Day on November 2. Initially

many Protestant reformers rejected All Souls' Day because of the theology behind the feast (Purgatory and prayers/masses for the

dead), but the feast is now being celebrated in many Protestant communities.

Cont’d from page 3

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Stewardship Workshop

The Venerable Dale Huston led a Stewardship Workshop for parishioners of St. Martin’s and Gabriola United

Church on Saturday, September 29th. A total of 21 people (17 from St. Martin’s) attended the full-day session at GUC.

Dale presented an energetic and refreshing perspective on Christian stewardship, describing it as “a natural

and on-going function of daily Christian living” rather than an annual fund-raising activity that is undertaken to bal-

ance the parish budget. He stressed that stewardship does not begin with the need of the church to receive, but rather

with the need of the individual to give. By cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” for the gifts that God has generously

bestowed upon us, good stewards approach life with a mindset of abundance rather than a mindset of scarcity. Chris-

tian stewardship is an expression of one’s relationship with God. Therefore, Dale stressed that helping people grow in

their practice of stewardship is essentially no different than helping them grow in their prayer life, service, or any other

aspect of faith. If stewardship is a tangible expression of our faith, then becoming good stewards of the generous

gifts that God has entrusted to us takes time and sacrifice, and requires considerable personal reflection and prayer.

In his presentation, Dale pointed out that “wealth” is very much a relative concept. Many of us do not consider

ourselves to be wealthy. However, if you have shoes, a change of clothing, a roof over your head, and transportation

other than your own feet, you are a wealthy person. In fact, we are wealthier than 95% of people who have ever

walked on earth.

During his presentation, Dale drew a parallel between wine and wealth. They can both be wonderful things.

For Jesus, wine was both celebratory and symbolic. Also, wealthy people provided Jesus with needed assistance

throughout his ministry. However, both wine and wealth can become “demonic” if, by taking control of our lives, they

lead to alcoholism and greed, respectively. Dale described the type of greed (from the Greek word, pleonexia) that is

described in Luke 12 as a “phenomenon of craving” or a self-destructive compulsion to accumulate material things.

Dale spoke about the parable of the talents (Matthew 25), and how a good steward is expected to make re-

sponsible decisions and act in the owner’s best interest regardless of how many talents (i.e., wealth) he/she is entrusted

with. Although the 10% tithe is often suggested as the standard for charitable giving, Dale thinks a better measuring

stick is to “give until you feel it” or “give until it feels good”. Depending on the level of income, this may equate to

less than 10% for some and more than 10% for others. As stewards, it’s also important to remember that we are re-

sponsible for 100% of what we have, not just the portion that we give to others.

The Stewardship Committee met shortly after the workshop and reflected on the messages that each of us had

received. We don’t promise to totally separate stewardship from our budget needs. As we all know, hiring a half-time

priest will be financially challenging for our small parish. However, we do hope to talk about finances in a different

way. Rather than simply asking for enough annual income to pay for Joan’s salary and benefits, we’d like to focus on

the opportunity that hiring a half-time priest has provided for achieving the goals that we identified during our dis-

cernment process last year. We also hope to provide leadership and forums that will enable us all to grow in our faith

and to encourage us all to reflect on stewardship as a tangible expression of that growing faith.

Rob Brockley

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The first meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee was held Friday October 19th

This committee was formed as an outcome of the Shared Ministry Agreement between Gabriola United Church

and St. Martin of Tours Anglican Church which was signed June 10th, 2012

Committee members are:

Sr. Martin of Tours is represented by: Rev. Joan, our two wardens Angela Nutter and Vic Wiebe and Rob Brockley.

The Alternate person, in case one of the others is unable to be at the meeting, is Hilary Plowright

Gabriola United Church is represented by: Rev Joan, Paddy Waymark, Marie Moore, and Rick Schultz. Alternate

person, Jean Rhodes

The excerpts below are taken from

our Shared Agreement

Joint Advisory Committee (JAC)

Local Implementation

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“...red poppies to remember veter-

ans and white poppies to remember

civilian casualties.”

White Poppy Campaign:

Some History of the White Poppy

The white poppy and the red poppy owe at least part of their inspiration to the same

source: John McCrae’s May, 1915 poem “In Flanders Fields.” McCrae, a medic, wrote

this poem as a lament as he grieved the death of a friend, Alex Helmer, who had been

blasted to bits by a shell. He later told the chaplain of the unit what he meant when he

wrote that critical line: “Take up our quarrel with the foe; To you from failing hands we

throw the torch…” By foe, he meant war itself, and by torchhe meant the passion and

will to realize the ideal of putting an end to war itself.

Enter the Women’s Cooperative Guild. This 19th. Century women’s organization was

among many groups that spoke out trying to prevent war from happening in 1914. When

the forerunner of the British Legion began making and distributing red poppies after the

war ended, the guild asked them to include in the centre the words: No more War. It

was when this suggestion was turned down that the guild chose to begin making white

poppies.

After Hitler came to power in 1933, the Women’s Cooperative Guild began distributing

the white poppy. In 1936, a new coalition called The Peace Pledge Union, took on wear-

ing the white poppy as “a definitive pledge to peace, and that war must not happen

again.” In 1938, 85,000 white poppies were worn at an alternative Remembrance Day

service held in London’s Regent’s Park, after which the poppies were laid at the Ceno-

taph.

Back in 1933, the Women’s Co-operative Guild in England chose to wear white poppies

to symbolize their commitment to work for peace and end their acquiescence to milita-

rism. The Guild stressed that the white poppy was in no way intended as an insult to

those who died in the First World War, but that it was a ‘pledge to peace that war must

not happen again’. Indeed, many of the women had lost husbands, brothers, sons and

lovers.

This tradition has now been adopted in many other communities. Many people are

choosing to wear red poppies to remember veterans and white poppies to remember

civilian casualties.

Borrowed from: http://vowpeace.org/our-work/

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A core group of ladies started St. Martin’s Prayer Shawl Ministry in the spring of 2012 Care and the love of knitting, crochet and fabric have been combined into a prayerful ministry that reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace. Prayers for each recipient are knit into each shawl throughout its creation.

When completed, at the monthly meetings, the members pray together for the recipients and requestors, and a final blessing is obtained from a priest or deacon.

When a person wraps his or herself in a prayer shawl, the shawl serves as a reminder of the mercy, peace, and compassion that can be found in God’s loving embrace. All involved sense the unconditional embrace of a loving God. Would you like to join us? Meetings are monthly and usually held on

the third Monday of the month at 1:30pm. GUC

Visitors and newcomers are always welcome.

There is no wrong way to create a shawl; it’s the praying that counts.

“You created every part of me,

knitting me in my

Mother’s womb.

For such handiwork,

I praise you. Awesome this

great wonder

Psalm 139:13-14

Diane Parks with one of her

lovingly crafted Prayer Shawls.

"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the

graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble

work." ~Mother Teresa

What is the Prayer Shawl Ministry at St. Martin’s?

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"Shawls ... made for centuries universal and em-

bracing,

symbolic of an inclusive, unconditionally loving,

God.

They wrap, enfold, comfort, cover, give solace,

mother, hug, shelter and beautify.

Those who have received these shawls have been

uplifted and affirmed, as if given wings to

fly above their troubles..."

Written in 1998 by: Janet Bristow Copyright ©2012

During the Fourteenth

Century, paintings of

the Madonna and Child

began to introduce

imaginative suggestions

of the domestic back-

ground of the Holy

Family. A few of them

show Mary knitting.

Detail from 'Visit of the

Angel', from the right

wing of the Buxtehude

Altar.,1400 -

1410,Meister Bertram

von Minden (1340 -

1414)

The Knitting Madonna

Getting involved in the Ministry

The ministry is open to anyone who has the skills to knit or crochet. Additional hands are always needed! Whether you knit or crochet quickly or slowly, your help is valuable to make our mission suc-ceed. Additionally, if you would like to learn to knit or crochet so you can become a part of the ministry,

We feel blessed to be able to bring the Lord’s comfort

to those in need.

Your prayers for our ministry are greatly appreciated.

Contact Susan Brockley for more information

sbrockley@shaw.ca

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http://www.holyfamilychurch.com/

HOLY COMMUNION AND CATHOLICISM: Recently, the discussion of who can receive communion at a Catholic Church came up while I was having a meal with some pastors of non Catholic churches in our area. Someone mentioned that one of the members of their parish had gone to a Catholic Church for mass and had “been denied communion” and was, afterwards, very upset. I felt bad that this fellow Christian – from a Protestant congregation – felt bad. But I also thought that maybe they, and their pastor, needed a little bit of understanding as to why Catholics do what they do about communion. SO, FIRST, JUST A BIT OF SPECIFIC INFO: The Catholic Church is officially in communion – that is, their members can go to the sacraments, including receiving holy communion at mass, with the following churches -- all the different varieties of the Orthodox Church -- Greek, Russian, etc., and a few other smaller churches like “The Church of the East” and the “Polish National Church.” This is because these other churches are SO SIMILAR in their beliefs about holy communion AND OTHER BELIEFS, that our church feels that their members can receive our communion. Not all these other churches, by the way, do encourage their own members to go to Catholic Churches (and vice versa) for the Eucharist, however. Also, in some dioceses in certain parts of the world (for example, in southern Africa) some other churches which have a somewhat similar belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist (Anglican, Lutheran, etc.) are given official permission to receive communion at weddings, funerals, baptisms, etc. Also, if people have no access to their own minister (an example might be a nursing home resident) there are times when the Church will allow non-Catholics to receive communion, though this is handled delicately. It is a challenge, though, for a Catholic, who makes the main event of their faith be the one thing Christ asked his disciples to do the night before he died on the cross: To gather for the Lord’s Supper/the mass. Because the beliefs of some about the Eucharist can be so different, some churches simply say that their use of bread and wine at Sunday service is just that: Bread and wine (or grape juice) used to REMEMBER that Jesus shared the same at the Last Supper with his disciples. The beliefs of Lutherans and Anglicans are much closer to the Catholic/Orthodox/Coptic/Armenian, etc. position, but they also are different: And it is good to make sure we understand that Catholic/Greek (and other) Orthodox beliefs about the Eucharist do differ from those of the Anglicans and Lutherans. The Catholic and the belief of the other older churches (various Orthodox, the Copts, Armenians, etc.) is TRANSUB-STANTIATION: That the host/bread is CHANGED INTO THE BODY OF JESUS in a permanent fashion at the mass. Lu-therans, though, stress the PRESENCE OF JESUS IN THE HOST/BREAD during the church service itself, but not, neces-sarily, afterwards.

I have a Catholic priest friend who recently was surprised to see some Lutherans putting a bunch of hosts that had been blessed at a Lutheran (ELCA) Eucharist, back into plastic bags and back in a storage box after the service was over. This belief (adhered to be Martin Luther) is called CONSUBSTANTIATION – which means that Christ is present DURING THE SERVICE but not afterwards. Some “High Church” Anglicans ad-here to the idea of TRANSUBSTANTIATION. But one of the most recognized/accepted summation of Angli-can belief on “The Real Presence” can be found in

( http://www.holyfamilychurch.com/documents/Holy%20Communion%20and%20Catholicism.pdf )

Holy Family Catholic Church Maryland

( http://www.holyfamilychurch.com/ )

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The Thirty-Nine Articles” from a few hundred years ago in England, in which the Anglican community stated that Christ was present in the Eucharistic meal, in a real way, but which rejected the notion of TRANSUBSTANTIATION. This teaching of Christ’s presence at the mass was left a little open-ended and talked about Christ being present in each person, etc. The teaching has been open to much interpreta-tion over the years because it is, indeed, a bit open-ended. But what it specifically did state is that Angli-cans do not believe in transubstantiation. So, for Catholics, taking communion in a Catholic church is a little bit complicated because, in the end, each person who comes forward to receive is shown the HOST or the CHALICE, and the person being given communion is told, by the priest or deacon or lay minister, that this is “THE BODY OF CHRIST” or “THE BLOOD OF CHRIST” and they are asked to then respond, publicly and for all to hear, “AMEN” which means “I BELIEVEIT.” So, this is a PUBLIC ACT OF FAITH for Catholics. However, the Catholic mindset is not to ever embarrass anyone while in the communion line and I have never seen a bishop ever stop someone in the communion line to ask them if they were of the right de-nomination to receive communion before they gave them communion: Not once in my life. Even Pope John Paul II once gave communion to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (at the time, an Anglican) while he was at the Vatican, though maybe he knew that Tony was thinking of becoming a Catholic (which he did a few years later.) Still, I am sure that the Pope knew that Tony Blair, at the time, was not a Catholic, and he did not deny him communion in a public or embarrassing way. So, I am not espousing that priests, deacons or lay people start asking for “I.D.” before they give people commun-ion!!!! In the end, I would liken the Catholic stance on Communion to be akin to how a Protestant church, which believed in the Bible as God's word, would not want anyone who didn't believe in the Bible the way they did (let's say, someone thought the Bible was "just a nice book but not really inspired by God") to publicly preach from their pulpit or to teach their children at Sunday School. I think that's the same mind-set Catholics are using with regard to people taking communion at mass. It's a public statement where the person receiving is shown the host and the cup and is told "The Body of Christ" and "The Blood of Christ" and they respond "Amen" (I believe it) each time. So Catholics would expect someone taking communion in a Catholic Church share our faith in the same way a Protestant Church would expect someone preaching from the pulpit or teaching Sunday school would need to share their faith.

Peace to all!!! Fr. Andy Dear Hilary, Sure, would be happy to have you all use the article. I hope all the best for you all. It is tough trying to figure out how to handle all of these issues, isn't it? Peace! Fr. Andy

The Thirty-Nine Articles” from a few hundred years ago in England, in which the Anglican community stated that Christ was present in the Eucharistic meal, in a real way, but which rejected the notion of TRANSUBSTANTIATION. This teaching of Christ’s presence at the mass was left a little open-ended and talked about Christ being present in each person, etc. The teaching has been open to much interpretation over the years because it is, indeed, a bit open-ended. But what it specifically did state is that Anglicans do not believe in transubstantiation. So, for Catholics, taking communion in a Catholic church is a little bit complicated because, in the end, each person who comes forward to receive is shown the HOST or the CHALICE, and the person being given communion is told, by the priest or deacon or lay minister, that this is “THE BODY OF CHRIST” or “THE BLOOD OF CHRIST” and they are asked to then respond, publicly and for all to hear, “AMEN” which means “I BELIEVEIT.” So, this is a PUBLIC ACT OF FAITH for Catholics. However, the Catholic mindset is not to ever embarrass anyone while in the communion line and I have never seen a bishop ever stop someone in the communion line to ask them if they were of the right denomination to receive com-munion before they gave them communion: Not once in my life. Even Pope John Paul II once gave communion to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair (at the time, an Anglican) while he was at the Vatican, though maybe he knew that Tony was thinking of becoming a Catholic (which he did a few years later.) Still, I am sure that the Pope knew that Tony Blair, at the time, was not a Catholic, and he did not deny him communion in a public or embarrassing way. So, I am not espousing that priests, deacons or lay people start asking for “I.D.” before they give people communion!!!! In the end, I would liken the Catholic stance on Communion to be akin to how a Protestant church, which believed in the Bible as God's word, would not want anyone who didn't believe in the Bible the way they did (let's say, someone thought the Bible was "just a nice book but not really inspired by God") to publicly preach from their pulpit or to teach their children at Sunday School. I think that's the same mind-set Catholics are using with regard to people taking com-munion at mass. It's a public statement where the person receiving is shown the host and the cup and is told "The Body of Christ" and "The Blood of Christ" and they respond "Amen" (I believe it) each time. So Catholics would expect someone taking communion in a Catholic Church share our faith in the same way a Protes-tant Church would expect someone preaching from the pulpit or teaching Sunday school would need to share their faith.

Peace to all!!! Fr. Andy Dear Hilary, Sure, would be happy to have you all use the article. I hope all the best for you all. It is tough trying to figure out how to handle all of these issues, isn't it? Peace! Fr. Andy

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UN aims to end child marriage by 2030 October 12, 2012

By PETER JAMES SPIELMANN

Associated Press

Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said Thursday he is as committed to abolishing

child marriage around the globe as he was to fighting apartheid in South Africa.

Tutu made his remarks at the launch of U.N. campaign to end child marriage by 2030, in a bid to free girls from poverty, igno-rance and oppression at the hands of their husbands.

The U.N. Population Fund says about 37,000 girls under age 18 are being married off daily, at a pace rising toward 14.2 million a year by 2020, and 15.1 million a year by 2030, if the trend is not curbed.

"I give my commitment to work for the abolition of child marriage. That commitment is my dream, and I want it to be equal to the commitment that I had when I fought against apartheid," said Tutu who is one of the group of "Elders" who advise the U.N. and governments on social problems.

The U.N. agency said the problem is mainly concentrated in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where girls as young as 5 or 6 are married off, but its study, "Marrying Too Young," focused on the developing world, and did not include statistics on child mar-riage in China, Russia, Western Europe, Canada or the United States.

The U.N. Population Fund's executive director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, called for all nations to set a mandatory marriage age of 18.

Many U.S. states allow children of 16 or 17 to marry with parental permission or a court order; some allow marriage at 15 or 14 in special circumstances.

In South Asia, 46 percent of women aged 20-24 had married before they were 18, the U.N. study found. In Bangladesh, the rate was 66 percent.

In sub-Saharan Africa, 37 percent of women aged 20-24 had married before they were 18, the study found. Niger had the highest rate, at 77 percent.

Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s, and girls age 15-18 are twice as likely to die, the U.N. study found. The children of girl brides are 60 percent more likely to die by their first birthday than children with mothers over age 19.

"Let us help those who are already married to lead more fulfilling lives. All members of society will benefit when we let girls be girls, not brides," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

"By 2020, 142 million innocent young girls worldwide will be separated from their friends and family, deprived of an education and put in harm's way because of child marriage," Ban said, adding that young girls are unable to safely bear pregnancies, and their newborns are at risk of low birth weight.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took time out to observe the launch of the U.N.'s first "International Day of the Girl Child."

Ghulam, age 11, and Faiz, age 40, sit for a portrait in her home prior to

their wedding in Afghanistan. According to the women's ministry and

women's NGOs, approximately 57 percent of Afghan girls get married be-

fore the legal age of 16. Once the girl's father has agreed to the engage-

ment, she is pulled out of school immediately. (Stephanie Sinclair/VII)

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Sunday, November 4th at 5:00pm A Time to Remember At the WI Hall Saturday Nov 10th Christmas Tea & Bazaar at Community Centre 2:00-4:00pm The Gabriola United Church Christmas Tea & Bazaar takes place on Sat., Nov. 10 – 2 to 4pm at the Community Hall.

Highlights are the Bake Table, this year featuring homemade soups (frozen), icebox cookies, frozen in rolls; Mollie

Ford’s dark fruit cake; Diane Park’s creamy fudge and an array of sweet and savoury breads and Christmas cookies.

Other tables include Plants; Books; Vintage, Crafts and the Silent Auction table will feature items such as a Catered

Dinner for Four, compliments of Robert of Robert’s Place and he is also including 12 Vouchers for Cake of the

Month. The Tea Room will be waiting for shoppers where sandwiches and sweets will be served with tea and coffee.

Thursday Nov 15th: Cedar Country Christmas self-guided tour for the ladies of St. Martin’s and Gabriola United Church. Sign up sheet is on church notice board

Saturday, December 1: Elementary School Christmas Craft Fair St. Martin’s will have a bake table at the Elementary School Christmas Sale, Sat., Dec. 1 Bring your baking to the school at 9:00am

Saturday, Dec 1: Wine & Wisdom, New Church Year Party, Gabriola United Church for St. Martin’s and GUC more details to follow

Sunday, December 2: GUC Christmas Cantata, 11am worship service. Don, Hiromi and the choir are hard at work rehearsing for this year’s Cantata – come out and enjoy!

Sunday Dec 2nd First Sunday in Advent - Eucharist 5:00pm

Thursday, December 6 : Carol Singing to the shut-ins on Gabriola Island. Meet at the Garden Homes at 6:00pm to carpool around the island. Caroling is hosted by the Gabriola Ecumenical Society followed by refreshments and more fellowship at the Boultons.

Sunday Dec 16th Nine Lessons and Carols 7:00pm at GUC

Saturday, December 22, 6pm: The Commons – Christmas Live! Three Gabriolan churches, working together, will present the Christmas Story, live. It is intended as a gift to our community of Gabriola and an opportunity for us to work together to share a faith story. Christmas - Live! is a narrated Christmas pageant, with real people and animals. St. Martin’s, Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic and Gabriola United have all agreed to spon-sor and to contribute money to fund the project. Additional donations have already been received. Christmas – Live! will be held outside, on the grounds of the Commons at about 6 pm on December 22. The Commons, the Co-op and Village Foods have agreed to lend us their tents. PHC has agreed to open their washroom for that evening and even more generously of-fered their kitchen and dining room, should we want to serve hot chocolate.

Christmas Services– Details to follow

Church Council Meeting 2nd Tuesday of the month

Calendar of Events for November and December

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Thanksgiving Sunday October 7 Creator of the Fruitful earth, you made us stewards of all thing. Give us grateful hearts for all your goodness, and steadfast wills to use your bounty well, that the whole human family, today and in generations to come, may with us give thanks for the riches of your creation

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, accord-ing to the power at work within us

Gabriola United Church decorated by the ladies from St.

Martin of Tours Anglican and Gabriola United Church

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“ABUNDANCE”

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Let us go forth into the world in peace,

Let us be strong and of good courage, holding fast with thankful hearts for all that we have been given by those women and men who

served and are serving our country so well.

Let us rejoice in the power of the spirit that surrounds us and that is within us all.

May peace and reconciliation guide our words and our deeds this day and for ever more.

Read by Rev Linda St. Clair Remembrance Day 2011

Remembrance Day Nov 11th, 2012

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Operation Christmas Child

During the year, we are continuously reminded by a variety of worthwhile charities of their need of funding. It is, of course, impossible to support them all so we make choices to suit ourselves. At this particular time of year, we are reminded of the many children throughout the world who are in dire need. This leads me to remind you about Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child has become a year round endeavour for me. I am constantly on the lookout for bargains in order to be able to fill many more boxes with better gifts than I nor-mally would be able to afford. I have had wonderful opportunities to explain to cashiers and other customers the purpose of the purchases. People have responded positively. Some have helped me pay. Some have given me extra discounts, and others have expressed an interest in getting involved in filling boxes. Last year, at their own expense, John and Grace Roman were able to accompany a shipment of boxes to Guatemala. They can attest to the fact that the boxes arrived safely without any-one helping themselves to the contents first. They had the privilege of experiencing the joy and thankfulness with which the children received the boxes. And what fun it was for me to see a photo of a child with a dress that I had sent! This year, Maureen Chaloner and I were able to fill 100 boxes. These represent St. Martin’s contribution to the Operation Christmas Box Drive. At this juncture, I would like to enlist your aid, in covering the cost of mailing the boxes. Each box costs $7.00 to send, and some pa-rishioners have already helped in this way. However, if you wish to fill your own box, they are available. Also, if you like you could donate a small item which can be used to fill other boxes. Monetary donations can be made in your church envelopes or directly to Diane Parks. I feel very fortunate, at this time, to be working within our church community with so many like-minded people, as we do God’s work in so many ways. Diane Parks http://www.samaritanspurse.ca

ABOUT THIS PROJECT

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of God’s unconditional love.

Learn more about Operation Christmas Child. (PDF)

Discover the Journey of a Shoe Box (PDF)

See how God used shoe box gifts around the world, in our Special Report (PDF)

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St. Martin of Tours and Gabriola United Church

Welcome Rev. Joan to Gabriola Island

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22

Caregivers

Meeting

Meets at 2pm

on the first

Wednesday of

the month.

Gabriola

United Church

For more infor-

mation call An-

gela:

250-247-9732

Bible Study

Wednesday mornings at10:00am Location announced each week Ph. Cheryl @ 247-8664 or Susan @ 247-9467

Sorry but there will be no

Church Council Minutes pub-

lished in Crossword this month

as we have been flouting the

rules and publishing the min-

utes before they had been ap-

proved by council. So, look for

the October Minutes in next

month’s issue of the Crossword.

St. Martin of Tours Parish

Council

The Thanksgiving produce donated by St.

Martin’s and Gabriola United Church was

given to People for a Healthy Community.

It weighed 508 pounds !!! Donations for the Food

Basket for People for a

Healthy Community, Gab-

riola

Please support this vital

ministry to those in need

Donations of food may be

placed in the basket as you

enter church or you may

contribute financially us-

ing the Food Bank jar at

coffee time.

People for a Healthy Community (PHC)

Change of Sunday Service Times: Nov 10th Saturday Service Eucharist Pentecost 24 As Remembrance Day falls on a Sunday this year and many of us would like to participate in the service at the cairn, our Church Service will take place Saturday Nov 10th at 5:00pm

Dec 2nd First Sunday in Advent Eucharist 5:00pm * Please ask fellow parishioners if a ride to church is needed as some of us don’t like driving in the dark. * Please tell your church friends who might not have access to email or the internet about the service changes .

Birthdays this Month.

Congratulations

Nov 11 Lorna Mansfield

Nov 13 Linda St. Clair

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Please submit your articles for the Crossword to Hilary at:

hplowright @shaw.ca

Bulletin Announcements

to Jacquie by Wednesday at 5:00pm

jmjessup@shaw.ca or phone 250-247-8308

Rev. Joan’s ph number : 250-247-7171

Email Address: revjoans@gmail.com

“ We are people of God, followers of Jesus, open to the Spirit”