Weekly Epistle - Set Clocks Back - Services Open Sunday - Rector's Update - EDOD Convention - Explore the Diocese: A Voice From the Not So Distant Past

DON'T FORGET TO

SET CLOCKS BACK

1 HOUR

November 01, 10:30am

WE ARE OPEN!

Masks worn by all at worship. Please bring your own!

Only one entrance. Sanitizers

will be located there.

Worshippers/households

separated by 6 feet.

No tactile passing of the Peace

Indoor services will not have congregational singing.

Collection plate placed at

entrance to the Nave

Bread only communion distributed within Diocesan protocols.

Join us for coffee hour

Twenty-second

Sunday After Pentecost

November 1, 2020

ALL SAINTS

Holy Eucharist:

Rite Two Booklet

Mother Evgenike, Sunday of Orthodoxy (Brookline, MA:

Holy Transfiguration Monastery, nd ), encaustic on panel.

RECTOR'S UPDATE

Greetings to the saints at St. Paul’s,

Last Sunday we installed the incoming officers of the Daughters of the King (DOK), and inducted a new Daughter! The new officers are:

· President - Suzanne Taylor

· Vice President - Elaine Hodge

· Secretary - Dana Medford

· Treasurer - Elizabeth Porter

The newest member of the DOK is Rose Dodson. Congratulations to all!

At our local pastor’s fellowship this week we discussed how our churches are doing ministry, and especially worship during corona-time. Some churches have never closed, some are not reopening until 2021. St. Paul’s is somewhere in the middle; from March 15 – May 31^st and July 5^th – September 6^th we only had online worship. All of us expressed concern about the growing needs of our community, and the lack of people and resources to meet these needs. Likewise, all those whose churches are open expressed concern about the lack of attendance at Sunday worship. At St. Paul’s, we’ve been having about 40-50% of our normal Sunday attendance. One pastor commented, “Some people are not coming due to corona, and some due to ‘I don’t wanna.’” Whereas there are legitimate reasons to miss worship, I’m concerned that some may have become lackadaisical about attending Divine worship. Our periodic shutting down of worship (and threat thereof) has not helped to rebuild consistent worship attendance and Christian discipline. This follows Newton's first law of motion: an object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion. We’ve been at rest for too long, and we need to get back into motion! Last Sunday I made the decision that we are NOT going to shut down in-person Sunday service anymore. If GISD shuts down, per Diocesan policy, we will not have the Sunday service inside the church. However, we will have a Eucharist service outside (probably in the breezeway), and this complies with current Diocesan policy. We will continue to broadcast our online services for those who cannot attend in-person worship, and when GISD is open, we will continue to worship inside the church building.

I mentioned on Sunday that since 2020 has been such a unique year, I’m considering burying a Time Capsule around Thanksgiving Day. If you’re interested in this project, please let me know. I hope to elicit our school’s participation in it too.

We have resumed in-person Children Chapel for the Pre-K children at 10 am on Wednesdays. If you’d like to participate, come on over. We are grateful that some of the high schoolers at Greenville Christian School came over and restained our fence. They didn’t charge us anything, as this was a way for them to give back to our community. The only things we (i.e. Frank McKee) provided were the stain and tools. The pictures are below and on St. Paul’s Facebook page.

This Sunday our celebration of All Saints Day falls on the day that we change our clocks. Don’t forget that we fall back one hour! See y’all on Sunday!

COLLECT

O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love thee; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen..

The readings may be found here .

Revelation 7:9-17 Psalm 34:1-10, 22 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12

Rather than the Creed, we’ll Renew our Baptismal vows.

The Renewal of Baptismal Vows

Celebrant: Do you reaffirm your renunciation of evil and renew your commitment to Jesus Christ?

People: I do.

Celebrant: Do you believe in God the Father?

People: I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant: Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?

People: I believe inJesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant: Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?

People: I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Celebrant: Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the

prayers?