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 We’re all invited to Diocesan Convention this year! Like our own Annual Meeting in January, this annual gathering of the Diocese includes a worship service at which the Bishop addresses the Diocese, election of individuals to various offices of responsibility and other pieces of business, presentation and discussion of the diocesan budget, and fun videos of widely varying parish missions throughout the Diocese.
Saturday – November 7: The 119th Convention of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts 9:00 a.m.
Zoom meeting, registration required -
REGISTER HERE
The streamlined business portion of the annual Convention including elections, budget and financial information, a look at the year ahead in mission, and other canonically-required elements.
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ONLINE SHOP OPENS on MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, at 9 am
All proceeds go to our Mission Fund which allows us to continue providing free meals and personal items to our community.
We hope you enjoy the Mini Mistletoe Mart To Go!
Here’s how it works:
- The online catalog will be open from Monday, November 9 to Sunday, November 15, 2020
- Browse through our amazing products and click to buy whatever you like.
- Pick up your purchase(s) on Saturday, November 21, 9 am to Noon or Sunday, November 22 from 2 to 5 pm at our walk-up windows at the Saints James and Andrew parking lot, 8 Church Street, Greenfield, Massachusetts.
- Shipping is limited to customers outside of Franklin and Hampshire Counties.
-Di Kurkulonis, for the Fundraising Team
dkurkulonis@gmail.com
Sponsored by the Vestry and the Mission Team
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 Parish Wide Read: Join us for our first ever Parish Wide Read this November-January, where the entire parish will be invited to read Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. The book is available as an audio book, e-book, or available in hardcopy at local libraries, World Eye Book, and a black owned bookshop People Get Ready. There is also scholarship money to help with the purchase of books; speak to Rev. Heather. You are invited to read the book; share reflections about your reading experience by emailing the office or Rev. Heather; shared your reflections with the office or Rev. Heather, which will be shared with the entire parish through a compiled document accessible in the newsletter; gather at Grow in Faith: Becoming Beloved Community on November 22, December 20, and January 17 from 11:30-1 for conversations about what we are reading and next steps as a parish.
Session 1: November 22 (pp. 1-159)
Session 2: December 20 (pp.160-378)
Session 3: January 17 (pp. 379 - 512)
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Notices and Announcements
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*New* Expectations for entering SsJA buildings
Recently, questions arose around what the expectations are for being inside the church buildings to conduct ministry and mission. As a result, the Vestry has adopted expectations for the safety and security of all during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before entering our buildings, we ask that you please comply with the following requirements:
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Wear a mask while on campus. Once you have arrived in the space where you will be conducting your work, if you are alone, you may remove your mask. If others enter the space or you are traveling throughout the campus, please wear a mask.
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Observe social distancing
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While on campus, wipes are available everywhere. Please disinfect any surfaces you’ve had contact with.
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Stay home if you are not feeling well.
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If you are aware of having been exposed, please refrain from entering our buildings until two weeks after the exposure.
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If you have recently traveled outside of our state, comply with the current state travel restrictions and quarantine for two weeks or wait for a negative COVID test before entering our buildings.
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Reopening Status Update
All COVID-19 & Reopening Updates (view here)
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It is time to submit SsJA Cross Nominations: We are receiving nominations for candidates who have shown particular resilience and faithfulness in ministry during the pandemic. The honor will go to an exemplary servant leader who has found creative ways to model living into our baptismal promises during this pandemic. Please email the nominee's name with a brief explanation of why you are nominating them to Rev. Heather by November 15: heather.blais@gmail.com. To learn more, read the October 15 edition of the newsletter on our website.
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Safe Church Workshops for Volunteers via ZOOM: 20 person limit in each workshop.
● Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020, 9 AM to Noon, Registration deadline: 12/2/20
● Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021, 5 PM to 8:00 PM, Registration deadline: 12/20/20
The Rev. Tanya Wallace, Safe Church Officer for our diocese, will be presenting these three-hour workshops. It is recommended that you update your training every three years. Register with Karen Warren via email (kwarren@diocesewma.org) and include the date of the workshop, your name, home mailing address, preferred email, and parish name/location. Free for volunteers.
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Forward Day by Day is a booklet of daily inspirational meditations reflecting on a specific Bible passage, chosen from the daily lectionary readings. We typically have these booklets available for free at church. During this time of social distancing, here are some ways you can still access this rich resource.
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Vestry Points
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We discussed our financial priorities in anticipation of the Finance Team building the 2021 budget.
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We continued our discussion of the challenges we have experienced in worship, and stay tuned for 1 November when we’re trying something new (snazzy and different).
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We approved a new articulation of expectations for entering the buildings (look for it in the newsletter).
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A Friendly Reminder: It’s not too late to pledge your support to Saints James and Andrew for 2021.
https://www.saintsjamesandandrew.org/onlinepledgeform.html
Thank you.
-Di Kurkulonis for the Stewardship Team
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Thank You! I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the people of Sts. James and Andrew for your incredibly speedy and generous response to my appeal for blankets for our neighbors on the margins. Within a week we went from zero to seven blankets and sleeping bags both through the Amazon wish list and from parishioners storage at home. On my next walk after my appeal I was asked if I could possibly secure a blanket for one of the men that I visit with often. As a result of your response I had a blanket in my backpack that I could give him right there. He told me that the people at Sts. James and Andrew were really appreciated by the homeless folks in the area because of our generosity and recognition of them as something other than the dregs of the earth. You do good work.
Please don’t take this as a “we are all set now” because the need is just beginning. The weather continues to cool and jobs continue to be lost as a result of the pandemic. At the moment there are no plans for an overnight warming center this year so the need for warm blankets will only continue.
Once again, please accept my heartfelt gratitude in the name of our neighbors with needs.
-Steve and Charlie for Emmaus Companions
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Yes! You can donate “real” things at SsJA. There are bins placed inside the parking lot door to the parish hall – one for plastic grocery bags only (we have plenty of paper ones) and one for donations to Whitney’s Pantry and Sunday Sandwiches. Whitney’s Pantry again needs bars of soap and toothpaste (regular size, not travel). Sunday Sandwiches needs individual packs of granola bars, peanut butter crackers, and chips or a bag of Hershey’s kisses. Donations of sleeping bags, blankets, and tents may be placed next to the bins. (Please note: We ask that any other food donations be brought directly to the Survival Center.) Donations can be brought when our workers are there: 11:00 – 12:30 on Sundays and 3:30 – 5:30 on Mondays.
Thanks from grateful recipients and the Mission Team!
UPDATE: Whitney’s Pantry can use the extra Christmas cards you may have (please make packets of 5, using rubber bands or baggies) – they must be received by November 30. Extra calendars are also welcome – by December 28. We have plenty of Bombas socks and will not be requesting socks this Christmas – or any other clothing. We appreciate your generosity, but things are different this year and we cannot accept everything that we used to welcome. Remember: NO clothing, and NO food (except the 4 specific items listed for Sunday Sandwiches).
Thanks!
-Doris McLeod for Whitney’s Pantry
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Sunday Sandwiches Program:
Each Sunday four volunteers (who are not experiencing any cold like symptoms) prepare bagged lunches to be handed out from the takeaway window in the Whiteman Room from 12-12:30 PM. Three Ways to Help:
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Donate items: individually-wrapped granola bars, trail mix, plastic sandwich bags and brown paper lunch bags--which can be dropped off at a bin near the elevator in the parish hall between 11 and 12:30 on Sundays.
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Volunteer: To help with preparing, distributing and cleaning up from Sunday Sandwiches, contact Nancy Maleno and she will add you to the schedule (413) 772-0678 or nkmaleno@gmail.com.
- Donate money: You can send donations to the church with a note marking it for ‘mission’.
Weekly Bible Study:
Join us on Mondays from 7:00 p.m. to whenever we finish, usually 8: 15 p.m.
Via Zoom.
Call Charlie at 413-522-7914 to get on the notification list.
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Second Helpings To Go:
On Mondays starting at 4:30 p.m., our volunteers package and distribute a nice hot meal for our neighbors in need! Our “customers” respectfully keep social distance as they pick up their dinner at the Whiteman take-out window.
-Contact Maggie, magsween10@yahoo.com or Erin, erin.donnally.drake@gmail.com for more information.
Weekly Spiritual Reflection:
Join us on Fridays from 7:00 p.m. to around 8:15 p.m.
Via Zoom.
Call Charlie at 413-522-7914 to get on the notification list.
Whitney’s Pantry:
From 4:30 to 5:30 p.m, on the last Monday of the month, a dedicated group of volunteers pack bags of personal essentials for our neighbors in need. The bags are then distributed free of charge at our Whiteman take-out window to very grateful recipients.
-Contact Doris dorismcl219@gmail.com for more information.
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Interfaith Council
A report from Peter Blood at ION (Interfaith Opportunities Network) in Amherst about the impact of the join ION & ICFC virtual event "400 Years: Truth and Healing for the Next Seven Generations": The program has had over 1200 views so far. Many have written how much it spoke to them! It can still be viewed at: 400 Years: Truth & Healing for the Next Seven Generations . The program has raised over $6000 so far in donations. All of this will go either to honoraria for Indigenous presenters or (mainly) to the four projects for Native cultural preservation and land restoration.
-Julie Orvis for the Interfaith Council
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Prayer List: Names are on the list for 4 weeks, then removed. Feel free to add a name again.
Fred, Al, Lynn, Ken, Robin, Barbara, Lawrence, Jeremiah and Family, Carolyn, James, and Richard.
Contribute to The Newsletter: by emailing the office by Monday, November 16, 2020. Published on the first and third Thursdays of the month.
Our Mission:
We believe God is calling us to cultivate a community of love, joy, hope, and healing. Jesus is our model for a life of faith, compassion, hospitality, and service. We strive to be affirming and accessible, welcoming and inclusive; we seek to promote reconciliation, exercise responsible stewardship, and embrace ancient traditions for modern lives.
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Vestry Contact Information
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