The clocks go back this Saturday night at midnight … so remember to set your clocks an hour EARLIER before you go to bed. Otherwise you’ll arrive at church much too early on Sunday!   

We are familiar with the secular holiday of Hallowe'en. But did you know that it comes from a holy day, All Saints' Day on Nov. 1, which is followed by All Souls' Day on Nov. 2? The root word of Hallowe'en is ''hallow'', which means ''holy'', and the suffix "e'en" which is an abbreviation of "evening." It refers to the Eve of All Hallows, the night before the Christian holy day that honours saintly people of the past.  All Saints is a celebration of the communion of saints, all the faithful who have gone before us. All Souls' Day is a day to pray for all souls.

On All Souls' Day, most Anglican churches read the names of those who have died in the past year. I will read out the names of all those whose lives we celebrated in the church or in the Memorial Garden in 2019. I also invite you to write the names of your loved ones who died in the past year and put them on the offering plate as you enter the church and we will pray for them during Prayers of the People and during Eucharist. NOTE:  This Sunday’s 2nd reading is 2 Thess 1:1-4, 11-12.   

For those of you who heard Dorraine Baines speak to us briefly about Cursillo for “3rd Sunday” last week and would like more information or would like to be put on the mail-out list for the local Cursillo newsletter, just email Dorraine and she will add you to the list.  

Next week…

Selinde will be in the office Monday and Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, November 10, we celebrate Remembrance Day. 

CALLING ALL TECH-SAVVY peeps!  We have a NEW committee that needs your help!  It will be evaluating our current audio-visual (AV) equipment and how we can best utilize what we have and what we need for the future.  Please speak with Selinde, Elaine or Val for more information.   

The Shortbread Baking workshop is FULL.

There is a new sign-up sheet near the Rector’s office for HUB LUNCH. We need to get more organized so please sign up to bring soup/dessert. Thank you! 

News… 

The deadline for Gift Basket contributions is Sunday November 10th. Also, Jan Evans needs your donations of any kind of preserves and knitting for her “JJJeneral Store” table. Please speak to her on Sunday. Thank you! We are still in need of a few more volunteers to assist with various things.  Please see Shirley Hardy this Sunday.  

SAVE THE DATE:  Our next Parish Social will be on Tuesday November 26th from 4-6pm at Mary Holte’s. Everyone is welcome! Sign up in the Hall on Sunday or RSVP to KAT in the office.

St. Mary’s 30th Anniversary! Next year we will celebrate 30 years as a parish presence in Nanoose. We will begin with a pastoral visit from the Bishop on January 19th and then…..? A skeleton team has been put in place to explore ways to celebrate. They are looking for members to help them come up with a plan. If you are interested in brainstorming and putting into action some interesting and fun ways to honour this milestone, please speak to Val Davies, Mary Holte, Darrell Bell or Marg Denney. Thank you!

Still needed…

We need a Kitchen Coordinator to keep the kitchen organized and clean. Not to do the work itself, but to organize folks to do what is needed. Interested? Please speak to one of the wardens or Selinde. Thank you.