Dear Friends,

On Sunday, November 6th (the day the clocks are turned back an hour) our liturgy will 'turn back' one hour also, changing the time of our gathering to 4:00PM. As decided at our community meeting, we will celebrate our weekly Sunday Eucharist at 4:00 pm during the winter months while we are on Eastern Standard Time and then evaluate if we want to keep this as our permanent time. This Sunday, October 30 (at 5pm) we celebrate the commissioning of one of our community members in conjunction with the Federation of Christian Ministries as she continues to minister in new directions. Given that next week, the church commemorates the Feast of All Saints and All Souls, we invite you to bring pictures of the "saints" in your lives to our liturgy this Sunday. The "saints" or "souls" may be a loved ones who have died or perhaps they may be among the living whose spirit calls forth your holiness. Also, once again this year, we invite you to inscribe the names of loved ones who have died in our Book of Remembrance which will be available during the entire month of November.

As we celebrate ourselves as saints in the spirit of Catherine of Siena's "All the way to heaven is heaven," we remember All Saints and All Souls, all of our spiritual ancestors on whose shoulders we stand. Joyce Rupp leads us in our remembrance of our spiritual ancestors. We will use this reading as our second reading in our Eucharist.

Remembering Our Spiritual Ancestors

Joyce Rupp

Let us remember the ones who lived and loved deeply,

who found the source of their inner strength from you, the Divine Beloved...

Let us remember the light-filled ones, who enkindled our spirits

with their teachings and the spark of their beliefs...

Let us remember the risk-takers, who faced their fears and took action,

who sought justice even though they had to pay the price for it...

Let us remember the vulnerable ones who allowed us to care for them,

to be with them in their time of need...

Let us remember the faith-filled ones who brought us to the Holy One,

who led us, by their words and example, into deeper relationship with God...

Let us remember the brave ones who walked through their struggles with hope,

who taught us how to trust and have confidence during our times of sorrow and difficulty...

Let us remember the great lovers of life,

whose humor and enthusiasm lifted our spirits and brought us joy...

Let us remember the nurturers who birthed us physically or spiritually,

who gave us sustenance by their caring presence...

May your hearts warmly celebrate those who have nourished your inner spirit.

Ron & Jean