All Saints' Day 2007

Dear Friends,

Peace be with you. Yesterday someone I hardly know wished me a "Happy Halloween" at the end of a short telephone conversations. I wondered when people started doing that; - since it foretells this day I say to you, Happy All Saints' Day. By that I hope you are happy knowing God's eternal love for you and those around you - past and present together.

This day I pause to reflect and remember. Tonight as this is written there are a few people headed to Framingham to the Marist House for a coed Cursillo weekend. Our own candidates are Cathy Stella and Darin Leedberg. Their sponsors are Marie Figenbaum and Cathy Zechner; and Pete Jeffrey and John Geen respectively. At the same time another group of St. Anne's folks are meeting at the church to take part in a Wellness Workshop.

At the beginning of the week the sale of Helen Wolfe's mobile home became final. a young couple now lives where she had lived for over thirty years. They are happy to be in a place that was so loved over the years. Little signs - the trees, hedges, fence in the yard with a bird feeder, and inside the ceramic outlet plates and reminders of Nova Scotia. Helen lived and died with grace and faith and courage. I also remember her smile.

Olan Mills photographed over one hundred people for the pictorial directory. One of those was the Rev'd D. Gay Cox, who will begin at St. Anne's on 1 Advent as deacon. She will be with us for three years. It is a gift to our parish to experience the work and ministry of a deacon. She will be at St. Anne's 8-10 hours a week and will serve at both Sunday services. Her ministry incurs no cost to St. Anne's excepting mileage.

This week the stump near the back driveway was ground up and looks as if there never was a giant tree on that corner. We are hoping to tackle the Thrift Shop roof next year.

Speaking of the Thrift Shop - many hands helped to remove the old washer and dryer this week. The vestry would like them to have new ones of their choosing. It is not possible to thank the many workers enough for tireless dedication to keeping that Thrift Shop stacked and running smoothly. If you haven't been there lately, you will be pleasantly surprised.

This is the first year in almost eleven that I have been here that we are too busy to schedule an All Parish Event separate from other events. So without a lot of fanfare your commitment card is being mailed to you. We have had a good year financially in the sense that pledge payments did not drop off during the summer months. You may remember that we adopted a "good faith" deficit budget to meet the many demands on the funds. Now as we look toward the end of the year and paying the Diocesan assessment we will be short by at least $4,000, assuming that the proceeds from the fair are $8,000 (this is very optimistic). If for some reason you haven't been able to keep up your pledge or if you are able to contribute toward the assessment it would be greatly appreciated. The amount we are assessed annually by the Diocese is very roughly ten percent of the operating budget.

Of course a lot will happen in the life of the church between now and then. There will be a service of Holy Eucharist on Thanksgiving Eve at 7:30 PM. And then the Holiday Fair will be Dec. 8 from 9 AM - 2 PM, with the Ham and Bean Supper with the Gift Party Book drawings at 5 PM. I am certain there will be fliers around town and wonderful write-ups everywhere to promote it.

This year the Christmas Pageant will be on 4 Advent on December 23 at 10 AM. It will be followed on Christmas Eve by the Festival Eucharist and Silver Tea at 1 PM and the Carol Sing and Midnight Service beginning at 10:30 PM.

As always, I look forward to hearing about your thoughts and dreams for St. Anne's.

Faithfully,

Peggy