Announcements

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.”  (Galatians 5:22)

Many of you know this fall we have been having a Bible study within our congregation on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the early churches in Galatia.  Once again, it has been a very interesting study for me, and I’m grateful for the high level of interest we have in our congregation for Bible study.  Recently, we were reading and reflecting upon the fifth chapter of Galatians, where the Apostle Paul lists the “fruit of the Spirit.”  Paul says that where these experiences are present, the Spirit of God is surely present as well.  He goes on to say that there is no “law” regulating these qualities and characteristics.  There can be as much “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” as possible.  We are free to exhibit these qualities anywhere and anytime, knowing they are a sure sign that we are living “in the Spirit.”

After the study was over one of the participants came up to me and said she would add two more “fruit” to this list, humility and gratitude.  After thinking about it for a moment, I agreed.  These two are additional qualities that reflect the presence of the Spirit of Christ in our lives and in the world around us.  There is no “law” regulating these qualities either.  In addition to agreeing, I said that perhaps the list Paul gives us in Galatians isn’t meant to be exhaustive, but rather simply some examples.  Indeed, we may be able to add some additional “fruit” to this list, qualities that when present, we  know the Spirit of God is actively at work and being displayed.

We are entering a time of year when, perhaps more than any other, we are invited to be humble and grateful.  We are encouraged, in humility, to notice all the gifts that God continues to share with us, and to be grateful for the bounty of God’s blessings.  Although not named on his list of the “fruit of the Spirit,” the Apostle Paul, speaks about the importance of gratitude in other places.  For example, in his letter to the Philippians he says, “Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:6-7).  In his letter to the Colossians, he states “Let the word of God dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”  (Colossians 3:16). Clearly thankfulness and humility at important qualities within a follower of Christ, qualities against which there are no laws, and therefore qualities we can share and show not only this season, but throughout the year. 

To close I’ll share a few additional thoughts on gratitude that I have recently come across in my readings:

Authentic work comes from a deep place of gratitude.  Indeed, work is about gratitude; it is the expression of our gratitude for being here.  (Matthew Fox)

Food teaches us gratitude.  The rabbis insist that anyone who partakes of this world without first giving thanks has stolen from God.  That’s why in Jewish law there is a blessing to say before eating, even the smallest morsel of food or before taking even a sip of water.  (Rabbi Naomi Levy, Einstein and the Rabbi)

 Acts of gratitude make one grateful because, step by step they reveal that all is grace.   (Henri Nouwen)

Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness.  It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.  (Amy Collette)

Blessings to all in this wonderful time of year!

Pastor John

Calling all SYUMC Lifesavers!

Once again, we have an opportunity to give those at Independence House a full and celebratory meal for THANKSGIVING!  We are collecting donations of food and money to create Thanksgiving bags for the women and children being supported by Independence House, Cape Cod’s leading Domestic and Sexual Violence Resource Center.  Please stop by the table in the Parish Hall and take a TURKEY!  On each “turkey” there’s an item to be purchased and returned for a bag.  Our goal is to put together 12 gift bags for a lovely Thanksgiving meal.  Let’s work together through Christ to make this a time of THANKS and a time of GIVING for all.  Please bring in all items by Sunday, November 16^th so we can prepare and deliver the baskets before Thanksgiving.  We thank Sandy Duncan for organizing this initiative and are grateful to everyone for their support.

Remember our Christmas Room opens for the 2025 season on Friday, November 21^st.  It will be open on Saturday, November 22^nd, as well as Saturday November 29^th this month.  Then, the first few weeks of December, Wednesdays through Saturdays with closing day December 13th. The Christmas room is still accepting donations and could use some artificial trees, especially larger ones, and wreaths. These are very popular sale items.  All other holiday-related items are also welcome.  In addition, many volunteers make this ministry possible.  A sign-up sheet is available in the Parish Hall.  We thank Paula Philips and Vicki Balboni for their leadership and everyone who has been working to prepare this space for this festive holiday ministry.

(Rhythm, Melody and Harmony as Theology)

Music plays such an important part of the Advent and Christmas Seasons.  This study will be devoted to looking at some hymns and carols of this special time of year.  As we’ve done in the past, we’ll once again be exploring several different hymns, some may be familiar to us, others may not be.  Each one, however, has a message to tell and can help us more fully appreciate this season.  Each session will be devoted to listening to these hymns and reflecting upon them in greater depth. Some history on each hymn will be given.  Connections to scripture will be made and the theology behind the hymns explored.  An in-person class will be held on Tuesdays, from December 2^nd through December 23^rd in the Parish Hall from 12:30 until 2:00 p.m.  Then, an online session will be offered from 6:30 p.m.to 8:00 p.m.  All are welcome.

December 2^nd:  Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, Blessed be the God of Israel.

December 9^th: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, MySoul Gives Glory to My God

December 16^th: In the Bleak Midwinter, Love Came Down at Christmas, O Little Town of Bethlehem

December 23^rd: O Come, All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World

Save the date of Saturday, December 6^th at 9 a.m. to decorate our sanctuary and parish hall for the Advent and Christmas seasons.  This is a very special transition that takes place every year.  Our sanctuary looks so beautiful with these additional decorations, and they help us feel the spirit of the season.  With enough volunteers, we’ll have these spaces ready in an hour or two at most.  All are welcome.

On Sunday, November 9^th we’ll be honoring all our veterans during worship, offering them our gratitude for their service.  Be sure to come.

On Sunday, November 16^th, our annual Sukkot Booth will be on display around the altar area.  During this harvest season and time of giving thanks for the fruits of God’s good creation, we are grateful for this festive display.  We offer our thanks to Jane Peabody, Deborah Mitsis, Dacia Knight, Nancy Drew and Carol Livingstone who all assembled this display for us all to enjoy.

On Sunday, November 23^rd, we will be receiving new members into the life of our community of faith.  Be sure to attend and joyfully welcome all our new members. 

 The Thrift Shop and Furniture Barn help us serve our community, promote more responsible, earth-friendly ways of shopping, and financially support all the ministries of our congregation.  Right now, there are a few specific needs and opportunities to support the Shop and Barn.  First, we are looking for ways to increase inventory .  If you have any furniture items you would like to donate, please call the church office.  In addition, we have fliers available to put around town, Senior Centers, Independent Living Centers and so forth, to help us spread the word.  If you’d be willing to post a few fliers, let us know!   Secondly, we are looking for space to store extra items for the Furniture Barn.  If you have an empty garage or barn that we can use for this, we’d appreciate it as well!  Thirdly, the Thrift Shop would benefit from someone who would be willing to come in on Wednesday or Thursday morning to take corrugated cardboard to the transfer station.  If someone else would be willing to dust some once a week, that would be great.  Finally, the craft department is a little low on some popular sale items; yarn, buttons, seashells, and Christmas craft items, and the shop could use some additional pots and pans.  If you can help in any of these ways it would be greatly appreciated, just let Connie, Penny, or Wendy in the church office know. 

At the last meeting of our Church Council, it was decided to partner with the Duffy Health Center and to host their REACH mobile unit once a week, on Mondays.  REACH stands for “Respectful, Equitable, Access to Compassionate Health Care.”  The mobile unit consists of a beautiful van, and two professionals who provide person-centered supportive services to those in need, including access to showers, basic food items, and support with navigating resources on and off the Cape.  We are looking forward to partnering with Duffy Health as we continue to embrace our call to assist our neighbors in need.

We give thanks to all who have made a financial pledge to support our life and ministry together in 2026!  As of this writing, we have received 68 pledges, close to 70% of which remained the same as last year and over 30% representing an increase over last year.  We are grateful for everyone’s generosity and faithfulness.  If someone would like to pledge and has’nt yet, it’s not too late.  Please prayerfully consider your commitment because every gift counts and makes a difference.   We will be presenting a budget in the coming weeks as well as announcing the name with the most votes for the mother Osprey who returns to the nest in front of our sanctuary. 

We thank all the people who gave meaningful stewardship testimonies this past month, Lisa Forness, Paul Sweetser, and Jeanne Huseby.  Each person gave us much to think about and offered a great witness.  We also are grateful to Elena Ghioto for making the wonderful visual art display for our sanctuary,  the “nest” as well as the mother Osprey.  We give thanks to Connie Swedlund for making the tasty “stick treats” too.  A special thank you to all the members and friends of the Stewardship and Finance Committee for their work on this campaign and the delicious celebration luncheon after worship on October 26^th.  The members of the Committee are Connie Swedlund, Penny Bach, Paula Philips, Lisa Forness, Pam Cartier, and Wendy Perry.  The committee is now actively working on building a budget for our life and ministry together in the coming year!