Dear Friends,
All I need to do to be thankful on this day is to think about the past month at Calvary! Attendance on Sundays is up! Two families have rejoined our community after many years’absence! Two baptisms (with more to come in January, along with two Confirmations)! A truly lovely Community Thanksgiving service in which we worshiped with our neighbors and provided lively hospitality! 475 cups of cocoa, hundreds of bags of cookies, and close to a half-dozen tours of the church given out at the Ashland Christmas Parade! The sweet wedding of two folks who will join us part-time as they travel between homes in Ashland and New York! Shoeboxes full of goodies sent to children in need!
And we’re not finished with November! Tomorrow, folks will gather at 8 A.M. to assemble 125 sack lunches for distribution to folks who would eat at the Community Kitchen on this day but for the holiday closure. Tomorrow and Saturday, Calvary will host four free showings of The Polar Express. (See note below.)
December continues our abundant opportunities for service, worship, learning, and fellowship with Calvary’s hosting of the final Community Prayer Breakfast (Dec. 8), another Dinner with the Arts (Dec. 8), a Blue Christmas service (Dec. 15), our popular Advent evening program (Dec. 3, 10, 17 – Thursdays this season), Greening of the Church (Dec. 16), a Christmas potluck (Sunday, Dec. 20, following worship), and Christmas Eve/Day services.
I am deeply grateful for the growing vitality in our life together and for the work and ministry we share. Thanks be to God . . . and to you!
Wishing you a blessed day of thanksgiving,
Mtr. TJ