Healthy Communication:
Privacy, Confidentiality, and "The Grapevine"      

Your clergy at Holy Comforter want to share a word about helpful and healthy communication in our fairly large parish. Please read more HERE.

Visit the Holy Comforter website weekly to follow the progress of renovations and view pictures. Download the Sanctuary Renovation Plan HERE.

Order Spirit Wear NOW!     

Spirit Wear is clothing that celebrates our parish life together and lets us spread the word about the community of Holy Comforter. The Spirit Wear ordering sight will be "Open" for another two weeks. The site will 'close' and those orders will be fulfilled and delivered. So, ORDER NOW! Follow the link HERE. The rack of clothing in the Narthex holds examples of the various types of clothing, fabrics, colors, and sizes--yes, you can try them on. All proceeds from the sale of Spirit Wear will go into a fund to support individuals and families attending the Annual Parish Retreat to Shrine Mont. For more information, contact Cassandra Bosco.

Our Parish Directory will help us
remember the names and faces
of our Parish Family.     

Sign up online by clicking the PORTRAIT SIGN-UP button (right). 

Sign-ups for photo appointments will continue in the Narthex Sundays after the 7:45 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. services, and after the 5:00 p.m. service on Saturday, November 1.

Lifetouch will be taking portraits for the following ten days: 

Online sign-up is also available via the Holy Comforter website. For more information contact Julie Mehigan or Jeanne Firey.

We need volunteers to help during photo appointments.

This is a one-time volunteer opportunity and a great way to meet people. Volunteer sign-up can be accessed via the Time to Sign Up website. 

Our Church home depends on us!

Pledge online here!

To organize efforts to support our parish family, we are using the Time to Sign Up website. Contact the Rev. Valerie Hayes for more information or if you have a need.

Stephen Ministry Cares!  

Is life feeling overwhelming at the moment? Have you experienced or are you anticipating a loss or transition? Are you facing a difficult decision? You may find the support of a Stephen Minister helpful during this period of time. Stephen Ministers are congregation members trained to offer high-quality, one-to-one Christian care to people going through tough times. If you would like more information, please contact the Rev. Valerie Hayes.  

Adult Forum is offered on Sundays at 10:10 a.m. in the Chapel. Topics will change from week to week and will at times include a series of classes, especially during Advent and Lent. Download an Adult Forum Schedule HERE.

Sunday Adult Bible Study is offered on Sundays at 10:10 a.m. downstairs in the Lillian Croy room. Beginning in Genesis, The Story curriculum studies the major biblical themes (Stories) and provides reading, study, and reflection questions to connect your story with God's story in the Bible.

Mid-Week Adult Bible Study is offered for those who cannot attend the Sunday Adult Bible Study. This mid-week session is held on Wednesdays in the Library at 12:10 p.m. and again at 7:00 p.m. Download an Adult Bible Study Schedule HERE.

For all adults interested in the Adult Bible Study, regardless of which day you participate, follow the link HERE to order your Bible and Participant's Guide, then click on "Adult Formation - Bible Study Materials" to order. Both Kindle and Nook versions are available by following the same link.  

For more information, contact the Rev. Valerie Hayes.

Our Daily Bread November Deliveries   

Our next Our Daily Bread deliveries will be on Sunday, November 9! We welcome your contributions of non-perishable food items, cleaning supplies, and toiletries at the ODB display in the Narthex. A flier with a list of requested items can be downloaded HERE. A few items for which we have a particular need are pasta sauce, canned fruit, oatmeal, and dinner kits such as Hamburger Helper or taco dinner meals. We are also collecting monetary donations so that families can purchase fresh grocery items. If you have questions about our parish's Our Daily Bread ministry or would like to help with our November deliveries (filling grocery bags, organizing, shopping, or delivering), please contact Susan McGuire or Chris Ostendorff. We are grateful for volunteers of all ages! Thank you for your support of this ministry! 

The parish Outreach Team is currently accepting applications for grant funding from organizations that serve God's people in need. We are particularly interested in assisting organizations with which members of our congregation work or volunteer. If you know of an organization that would benefit from our parish's assistance, please feel free to download the grant application HERE and share it with them. Completed applications are due by November 3. For more information, please contact Susan McGuire.

Order Christmas Greens NOW!
Orders Due November 1 

As a fundraiser for the Senior High Pilgrimage, the Senior High Sunday School class is selling Christmas greenery. We will have a table in the Narthex this Sunday, October 26 to accept your order, or seek out a high school Sunday School student who will be happy to take your order.

Greenery will be delivered to the church Thanksgiving week. You also have the opportunity to order greenery as mail-order gifts for friends and family that will be delivered to them anywhere in the US by the first week in December.

If you will not be at church on Sunday, follow the link HERE to view the products that we are selling. Just let us know what you want to order, write a check made payable to Holy Comforter with "wreaths" in the memo line, and send it to the church office. If you want to send gifts mail-order to family and friends, the prices are slightly higher and we will need their addresses. Questions? Contact Cassandra Bosco or Lynne Brents.

UTO Fall Ingathering Nov. 8-9

The 2014 Fall Ingathering for the United Thank Offering (UTO) will be held at all Holy Comforter services on Nov. 8 and 9.  This endeavor is a long-standing project of the Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church Women. Every dollar of the proceeds from the Ingathering is used to fund grants for deserving charitable projects in our diocese, our country, and around the world. Please stop at the UTO display in the Narthex to learn more about this outstanding program and to pick up your UTO Blue Box and/or envelope.

Volunteer at Pennywise Thrift Shop!

Front Desk:

3rd Tuesday - 2 to 4 p.m. 

1st Thursday - 10 a.m. to noon
1st Thursday - noon to 2 pm  

2nd Thursday - 4 to 6 p.m.

4th Thursday - noon to 2 p.m. (2 volunteers) 

4th Friday - noon to 2 p.m.  

1st & 2nd Saturday - 10 a.m. to noon 

Consignment:

1st, 2nd & 3rd Thursday - 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Child care is available for volunteers.

Questions? Contact Frances Sullinger.

Pennywise has a new front door! Grateful thanks to last year's chair Ann Koch for making this happen! Day chairs have keys for volunteers who open and close the shop. Jane Reft has keys for Porch Patrol.  

Greeting people with no qualifications known on either side has kept the Christian Church alive for thousands of years. We ask you to consider this mission as part of your life. A sincere welcome is within you all and is important to us all. We will be making up a bimonthly schedule starting again this September and October. Please join us whenever you are moved to do so. If we have enough volunteers, it will only require once a month service. Please contact Herb Langford (703-938-1304) to volunteer or for more information.

The Holy Comforter A/V Ministry is in desperate need of attendants to monitor the sound in the Sanctuary during Sunday services. The only requirements are that you can tell when the volume is too loud or too soft and can slide a volume control! Please contact Randy McGuire (703-716-0241) to volunteer or for more information.

Volunteers make Coffee Hour possible. Individuals, families, and groups are encouraged to contact Chris Doyle (703-255-6135) for more information.

Most people need a will. When you write yours, remember Holy Comforter's Endowment Fund.