Hurricane Sandy

Prayer after a Storm Loving God, we come to you trusting in your mercy and knowing that your steadfast love endures forever. Look with mercy on those who are harmed or displaced by the storm. Give them your strength to meet the days ahead, your peace which passes all understanding and new hope in the resurrection. Move in those who are able to give aid, that we may be your hands and heart on earth. Be with all who offer assistance, may your Spirit may uphold them. As you have made water a sign of your kingdom, and of cleansing and rebirth, grant your people vision to see new life on the other side of disaster. To you be given all honor and praise, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. Amen. (Pastor Kay Braun, adapted) Please consider giving to the ELCA disaster relief to help those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Here is the direct link for online contributions or you can make a check out (put "Hurricane Sandy" in the note line) and give it through the church office. https://community.elca.org/page.aspx?pid=784

Sister Parish Board Visit and Solidarity Walk at St. Thomas

The Sister Parish Board will be holding their annual meeting at St. Thomas November 9-11. There are a variety of opportunities for our congregation to engage in conversations and food with them! Please check the newsletter and bulletins for all of these opportunities. One key opportunity is the Solidarity Walk on Saturday, Nov. 10. Please consider joining in this short Solidarity Walk or supporting it through prayer and/or your donations. This is the one key fundraising event that the national organization does each year to help fund their organization. Sister Parish has also recently updated their website, so you can add this to your bookmarked pages and check it out! http://sisterparish.org/activities/solidarity-walk/ The Mission Committee invites you to join into the conversations, food and fun with the Sister Parish Board Nov. 9-11. Please check the newsletter and bulletin for more details. Thanks to all the people who are helping make this visit possible through their offers of housing, transportation, food and more!

Upcoming Mission Holiday Sale

Beginning November 11, the mission committee will be hosting a sale of items that support several of our mission partners. We will have fair trade items from LWR/SERRV, as well as jewelry from Living Waters and quilted items from an ELCA missionary organization for women and children with HIV/Aids. The mission committee plans on hosting this sale for three weeks, unless inventory runs too low. So please stop by and see if there are any potential gift items you would like to purchase for the holidays. Please also consider if you are able to make any additional small donation beyond the price of the items to support our mission ministries and programs. Thank you!

CROP Walk

Please consider supporting the youth group as they sponsor our participation in CROP Walk this year! They have a table in the narthex, so please check it out. The walk begins this Sunday, October 21, at First United Church. Registration is at 1:30 pm and the walk begins at 2 pm. Please consider making a contribution to this wonderful fundraiser that supports local, national and global hunger and poverty alleviation. You can still contribute even the week or two after the walk occurs. Thank you to our youth group for sponsoring this event for St. Thomas!

St. Thomas Kiva Lenders

Wow! The St. Thomas Kiva Lenders have just hit the $5000 mark for the 160 loans that the team has made to men and women all around the globe! That is really exciting! Thank you for being a part of their stories, walking along side of them as they take the initiative to improve their lives. May this continue to be a blessing for many more. Thank you from the Mission Committee!

Visit From Our New Friends From Living Waters

The visit began with breaking bread together at the Bakken home with our new friends from Living Waters (Cherokee, North Carolina, ELCA).

Pastor Jack Russell delivered the sermon as we worshipped together.

Blessing for our new relationship, walking alongside each other in faith.

Sharing gifts with one another, including this gift to us from Living Waters of a "Dream Catcher." We look forward to growing in faith and friendship together!

Prayer for Restless Discomfort

“May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.  May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.  May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.  May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done. Amen!”

    ~from ELCA blog on hungerrummblings