Worship – It’s the second week of Advent. I am delighted that some of you made your way to the back ‘Prayer Wall’ and tucked some prayers into the wall or placed blue glass stones into the bowl.
The theme this week is We Find Joy in Connection, the scripture is Luke 1: 24-45, where the angel Gabriel visits Mary! You don’t want to miss this Sunday as Mary makes an appearance…
Don’t forget to bring new, warm socks in for a chance to see how many I can catch!
What I’m up to this week!
Monday – I spent some time taking photos and writing descriptions of the silent auction items for Christmas Magic and then uploading them to the event on Facebook. I also created a number of posters and events on Facebook for all the other things that are taking place at St. James this month. I worked on the bulletin, chose hymns for Sunday, and put together the Study Group material for Wednesday. I try and get some reading/research for my Sunday reflection done on Mondays as well.
Tuesday – I spent a brief amount of time with the Food Bank and then was on a Zoom call with the newly named Dartmouth Food Network, a group of people from various community organizations who are concerned about food security in Dartmouth South and who are exploring ways to do something about it collectively. It would be great to have someone from the congregation participate on behalf of St. James. I met with Cathy to make sure we were on the same page for ALL the things that have to get done over the next few weeks. I made a start on the Christmas letter.
Wednesday – Study group in the morning, believe it or not, working on Christmas Eve this afternoon. and a Transition Team meeting this evening.
Thursday – I’ve got an Association of United Church Clergy executive meeting in the morning and then the rest of the day will be spent finishing up what didn’t get done the rest of the week. Thursday evening I may take in some of the Moderator’s Book Club discussion, depending on my energy level. I’ve been reading this book and about Jews and Palestinians.
In between those tasks are multiple emails, writing, writing, phone calls, drop in visitors and writing, writing and more writing!
Last week, I had coffee with two interesting women: Jennifer Dares, whom some of you might know through her grandmother who was a life-long member here at St. James. Jennifer and her husband own The Trainyard on Portland Street and they GIVE away 5% of their profits to various organizations and groups! So far this year, they have given away somewhere around $10,000, what an example of generosity. I also met with Claudia Chender, leader of the provincial NDP and MLA for Dartmouth South.
FYI, despite my best efforts, I almost always wind up writing my Sunday reflection on Saturday morning at home!
St. James United Church Dartmouth 